The level 15 Instance, the Qingsha General's Nest, was beyond Zhou Yuan's current ability to conquer.
However, the Instance still held immense value for him.
He swung his hatchet, crudely smashing many of the pearls. Tossing his headwrap to the ground, he turned and walked back into the Instance portal.
When he left the cold environment and returned to the Qingsha River, the icy river water felt as comfortable as a gentle hot spring.
He got dressed, went home to grab a large lidded ceramic jar and a set of thick clothes.
Zhao Dahuang hadn't returned yet. The two villagers were sleeping soundly and didn't notice Zhou Yuan's movements.
After returning to the Stone Arch Bridge, he stuffed the two sets of clothes into the ceramic jar, held the hatchet in his teeth, and re-entered the Instance.
The moment he entered, he opened the jar, put on both sets of clothes, and only then began to observe the changes in the environment.
The pristine coral floor, the unbroken pearls, and the vanished headwrap all proved that the Instance had a reset function.
Moreover, this reset function didn't just affect things within the Instance; any external objects left behind would also be reset.
"It doesn't reset when someone is inside, but it resets automatically when everyone leaves.
If someone were to stay here long-term, could this Instance become a secret base for stockpiling supplies?"
"Detached from the normal world, existing in an unknown space, with a self-contained environment... it's a bit like the legendary Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands.
Looking at it from another perspective, if I were a native of this world, I would definitely see such a mystical space as a blessed Secret Realm bestowed by heaven and earth."
"No wonder Ergou's family called this place a Dragon Palace. Hidden at the bottom of a river, guarded by shrimp soldiers, a self-contained space—isn't that exactly what a legendary Dragon Palace is?"
Zhou Yuan stroked the incredibly realistic coral floor, his mind drifting to an ancient text he had studied as a child: 'The Peach Blossom Spring'.
Setting aside the dangerous monsters, this Instance could truly be considered a Peach Blossom Spring for ordinary people, or a Grotto-Heaven for seekers of the Dao.
"The Qingsha River is just one of the many tributaries of the Qu River, and a minor, unremarkable one at that.
If a place like this has an Instance, then the number of Instances in this world must be substantial."
Back on Blue Star, Zhou Yuan had played his fair share of video games.
He knew that if all the prompts for something like an Instance were removed and it was just dropped into a vast game world, it would be incredibly difficult to discover.
But if there were enough of them, someone was bound to stumble upon one by accident.
This implied that some people or factions might pass down the secrets of these Instances from generation to generation, treating them as their own private blessed secret realm.
"The Great Wei Kingdom, families passing down the secrets of Instances, the undying Demons that the village elders said never leave their territory...
This whole situation feels like a normal human society that has been integrated with a game world."
Zhou Yuan shook his head, dismissing such a narrow conjecture. He knew far too little about this world.
Analyzing the state of society based on a single Instance was both unreasonable and unreliable.
However, such speculative guesses weren't entirely useless. At the very least, Zhou Yuan could use them to build a basic understanding of his environment.
"According to standard game logic, the AI of field monsters and Instance monsters should be similar.
The behavior of these six Cold Tide Shrimp Soldiers really did resemble game monsters with a set aggro range.
So, if I don't enter their attack range and just provoke them with sound, will it trigger their attack response?"
With his back to the portal, Zhou Yuan began tapping the coral floor with his hatchet while calling out loudly.
"Hey! Over here, over here..."
The six Cold Tide Shrimp Soldiers didn't even glance at him, remaining as still as six lifelike statues.
This phenomenon was incredibly deceptive. A local would likely let their guard down and get stabbed by a trident the moment they stepped into attack range.
Facing the rigid and unresponsive Cold Tide Shrimp Soldiers, Zhou Yuan instantly thought of various tactics: digging pits, using fire, poisoning.
But the coral floor was surprisingly hard, and using fire or poison would require testing the Shrimp Soldiers' response logic and defensive strength.
For instance, Zhou Yuan could light a fire, use the smoke to affect the Shrimp Soldiers, and see if they would attack the fire source and the arsonist, and whether the flames could reduce their health bars.
The Qingsha General's Nest was an excellent testing ground, and Zhou Yuan had no intention of leaving without gathering some intelligence.
So, he first returned to the riverbank, filled the large ceramic jar with branches and leaves, and went back into the Instance.
He walked twenty paces forward, took out a flint to ignite some tinder, and started a fire. Once the flames were roaring, he tossed in a few thick, damp branches.
He grabbed the front of his clothes with both hands and fanned vigorously, trying to direct the smoke toward the Cold Tide Shrimp Soldiers.
As soon as he saw the smoke drift toward one of the Shrimp Soldiers, Zhou Yuan immediately retreated to the vicinity of the portal.
Before long, a Shrimp Soldier caught the scent of smoke, registered it as an attack, and immediately broke its idle state. It charged toward the fire and scattered it with a single thrust of its trident.
It stomped over the burning branches, crushing them to bits as it continued toward Zhou Yuan. The other five Shrimp Soldiers also entered an aggressive state.
After returning to the riverbank, he had to admit that the Cold Tide Shrimp Soldiers weren't truly rigid or unresponsive. They were efficient killing machines.
As long as they determined they were under attack—even if the attack was incredibly weak and caused no damage—they would switch to an offensive mode.
"The poison and fire method is relatively feasible, but it requires someone to tank the Shrimp Soldiers' attacks while the fire and poison take effect.
A living person can prevent the Instance from resetting, but what about a living animal?"
Zhou Yuan dove into the water and, a moment later, emerged with a palm-sized freshwater turtle. He quickly tied its shell with a grass rope, ensuring its limbs couldn't stick out.
He then took the turtle back into the Instance. As expected, the burnt branches had been reset.
The smooth coral floor and the motionless Cold Tide Shrimp Soldiers made the place look exceptionally tidy.
"My dear turtle, this is a great experiment. I will remember you."
After placing the turtle on the ground, Zhou Yuan expertly exited and re-entered.
Then, something magical happened: the turtle was gone. It seemed the Instance didn't recognize the turtle as a player-like entity and had simply reset it.
"A turtle can't stop the reset, so chickens, ducks, fish, and dogs probably can't either, let alone insects.
Looks like my 'poisoned cockroach' strategy won't work."
His gamified perspective, combined with the Instance prompts, had put Zhou Yuan in a mindset of trying to clear an Instance far above his level.
But reality proved that purely opportunistic tricks couldn't threaten the Instance's monsters.
It would be just as difficult for the natives of this world to defeat powerful Instance monsters with mere schemes.
"A level 15 Instance is too much for me right now. I need a low-level Instance or low-level field monsters.
However, the lower the level of an Instance, the easier it is to clear, and thus the more valuable it is to the locals.
Trying to ask about or find such a low-level Instance will probably be very difficult."
"The murky river water and green algae were enough to obscure my vision.
It kept me from noticing the anomaly in the Qingsha River right away, to say nothing of what might be hidden in the various forests and buildings."
"No, wait... buildings. Unconventional buildings.
A manor deep in the mountains, a floating fortress on the water, even temples or monasteries, or a stockade built on disadvantageous terrain...
Any building that seems out of place could have been built to hide an Instance."
Proofreader: Peter Pan