Chapter 92: End of Newbie Protection

“You diligently practiced Saber Technique. Congratulations, you have mastered the final form of ‘Six Path Heavenly Tribulation Slash’: Finality Unification.”

“Finality Unification!”

Jiang Yan erupted, swinging his saber with all his strength.

At this moment, the “Six Path Heavenly Tribulation Slash” finally unleashed its full glory. In the sky above, a murderous Qi locked onto Wuhuan. Rolling dark clouds trembled as if Heavenly God Witch Ancestors were chanting incantations. In an instant, a massive ethereal blade descended straight down.

Boom!

The saber blade struck Wuhuan’s protective Qi barrier, instantly shattering it.

Jiang Yan, stepping on “Heavenly Gap Startling Swan,” swiftly charged into the center of the explosion, raising his saber to slash at Wuhuan’s neck.

With this strike, Jiang Yan held a conviction to kill at all costs.

Ssssh!

Extreme lightning pierced through the body identical to his own. Jiang Yan sheathed his saber, already knowing the outcome.

“Congratulations, you have successfully slain the Divine Demonic Creature: Wuhuan.”

“You have obtained the Orange Trait [Soul Shock].”

“Congratulations, you have triggered the guaranteed reward of [Heaven Rewards Diligence]. You have obtained the Orange Trait [Peerless Realm].”

“The probability of rare quality Traits dropping in this Battle Space is increasing. Could it be related to my improved strength?”

Jiang Yan examined the specific descriptions.

[Soul Shock]: Enemies within a fifty-meter radius around you will suffer Soul intimidation, reducing their combat attributes by a certain proportion. (The stronger the enemy, the lower the proportion.) (No Cooldown)

[Peerless Realm]: For ten seconds, your combat intuition, combat skills, combat reactions, and combat decision-making will be greatly enhanced. (Cooldown: 60min)

“Not bad.”

After reading the Trait descriptions, Jiang Yan felt quite satisfied. After studying them for a while, he shifted his gaze to the Battle Space.

“I wonder what kind of monster the next creature will be?”

Killing Wuhuan was already extremely difficult. Jiang Yan could hardly imagine how powerful the next opponent would be.

“Bring it on! No matter how strong, I accept it!”

“Ding. Detected that the Host has successfully slain Wuhuan. The Newbie Protection period has now ended.”

Jiang Yan: ?

“Wait a minute, did I mishear something? Are you telling me that a freak like Wuhuan was merely the BOSS of the newbie period?”

If not for the temporary breakthrough into the final form of the Six Path Heavenly Tribulation Slash, Jiang Yan would have had absolutely no chance of killing Wuhuan. Yet now, the Battle Space suddenly declared “Newbie Protection period,” completely shocking Jiang Yan.

He could already foresee what kind of monsters he would face next.

Jiang Yan completely gave up struggling, quietly waiting to see what nonsense the Battle Space would come up with.

“The Newbie Single-BOSS Instance (Easy) has now concluded. The Battle Space will be permanently available in the future. The Host may challenge previously defeated creatures at any time.”

“Opening Normal Instance…”

“Ding. Creating Instance…”

Soon, the ground within the vast Battle Space trembled, and a large gate appeared before Jiang Yan.

The gate emitted an eerie green glow, as if something terrifying lurked within.

Immediately after, lines of text appeared on the door.

“Instance: Insect Race Calamity.”

“Mission One: Eliminate all offspring insects.”

“Mission Two: Eliminate the mother insect.”

“Note: Only three revivals are permitted. Failure will be considered Instance challenge failure, requiring a restart of the Instance.”

“Instance Reward: One Self-Selected Trait.”

“It’s actually the prestigious Self-Selected Trait!”

Jiang Yan watched with burning eyes, yet he didn’t let greed cloud his judgment and rush headlong into the instance. Instead, he carefully pondered the situation.

“The instance actually gives me three chances to revive. Given the nature of the Battle Space, the difficulty of this instance is likely to be calamity-level. I’m definitely going to get utterly crushed.”

As for dying miserably…

“The Insect Race—this is an insanely overpowered race in all novels. And to think I’d encounter it in the very first instance.” Jiang Yan considered himself unlucky, feeling somewhat frustrated.

“Whatever.” With a mindset of giving it a try, Jiang Yan still stepped through the gate.

“Challenge begins.”

Jiang Yan entered a dark, chaotic space. There were no covers, no obstacles—only endless depth and silence.

Creak—

Creak—

Dense crawling sounds came from all directions as black, crawling creatures rapidly approached Jiang Yan, each about the size of a human head.

With black exoskeletons, ferocious mouthparts, and numerous legs, these creatures surged forward like a tidal wave. In the blink of an eye, Jiang Yan’s vision was filled with nothing else.

He soared into the air, looking down at the ever-growing pile of larvae below, his heart surging with emotion.

Endless! Truly endless!

From this height, all he could see was an overwhelming expanse of black—a terrifyingly vast number.

The stench of rot and decay filled Jiang Yan’s nostrils, while the incessant creak-creak of crawling pierced straight into his soul.

“Yan Thunder Destruction Slash!”

Not daring to use Six Path Heavenly Tribulation Slash, Jiang Yan instead employed Yan Thunder Destruction Slash, the least energy-consuming option, to defend himself.

This was a battle of attrition!

Two hours later, Jiang Yan knelt on one knee, utterly exhausted. The prolonged high-intensity use of Martial Skills had taken its toll, even for someone with his foundation.

Once he stopped attacking, the endless tide of insects swarmed over Jiang Yan, frantically pecking at his protective astral shield.

Crack—

Crack—

After holding out a little longer, the protective astral shield began to develop cracks.

Ordinary Fierce Beasts naturally couldn’t breach his astral shield, but the larvae’s mouthparts seemed to possess a hidden mechanism, boasting powerful corrosive effects.

A short while later, the astral shield shattered completely, and Jiang Yan was completely submerged in the insect tide.

Thus, his first life was lost.

Soon, Jiang Yan revived on the spot, only for the larvae to swarm him once more.

…

Jiang Yan exited the Battle Space without a word.

To put it bluntly, Jiang Yan hadn’t even caught a glimpse of what the mother insect looked like before carelessly succumbing to the endless insect tide.

“It seems the gap is still too vast~”

Jiang Yan sighed with regret but had no choice but to accept the outcome.

The Divine Martial Space never gave Jiang Yan anything for free. Every bit of progress had to be earned through his own relentless effort.

In the past, he had died hundreds, even thousands of times just fighting a single Void-Splitting Weasel. What was there to be disheartened about now, having nearly been defeated by an insect tide?

Adjusting his emotions, a smile reappeared on Jiang Yan’s face.

“Damn it, just wait until I finish my training—I’ll come back and take you down!”

He exited the Divine Martial Space and entered the cultivation chamber.

The path of the Martial Way was always this monotonous and tedious—failure after failure, victory after victory, all with the ultimate goal of reaching that destination in one’s heart.

With eleven Spirit Gathering Devices operating simultaneously, even at the late stage of the fourth-rank Inner Astral, Jiang Yan’s cultivation speed remained astonishingly fast.

The System Log updated continuously, and Jiang Yan’s progress grew visibly by the minute.

An hour later, he stopped cultivating, ordered some medicinal potions on his student card, and then continued to absorb Qi.

…

Jiang Yan took the potion and felt its effects were much weaker than before.

“It seems I really can’t take too many medicines—I’ve actually developed a resistance.”

Ah, the troubles of having too many resources.

With that, Jiang Yan swallowed a Qi and Blood ginseng the size of a washbasin in one gulp.

Whether it boosts Qi and Blood or not is another matter—the main thing is that it’s expensive.