Chapter 84: The Sea of Fireflies that Devours Souls

It is worth mentioning that on her journey, Yu Yan saved quite a few people along the way. Of course, it was always in passing—if something would delay her too long, Yu Yan simply pretended not to see it. She was no saint; if she had to choose between strangers and her family, even though her feelings for her parents were ordinary and not as deep as in most families, her parents were still far more important than outsiders.

“Mom, it’s a double-S instance.”

They were about to reach Fenghe Village. Yu Yan could already see the clusters of dark green, almost black leaves on the big banyan tree at the entrance to the village. But now, a double-S instance blocked their path. In that moment, Yu Yan really wanted to curse!

Her face darkened as she led Yun Duo’er through two low-level instances, circling around to another entrance—

S-level Instance: Firefly Soul-Devouring Sea.

Creature types: Soul-Eating Grass, Ghost Orchid, Corpse Worm, Firefly-Patterned Yellow Butterfly, and others.

Warning: “Instance levels range from F to 3S, F being the weakest, 3S the strongest!”

Yu Yan was speechless.

She had a few choice words she didn’t know whether or not to say.

Fenghe Village was small—the entire village covered less than two kilometers in radius. A double-S instance and an S-level instance wrapped the tiny village up tight.

If she wanted to get inside, she’d have to either pass through the double-S instance at another entrance…

Or… Yu Yan’s gaze flickered as she studied the introduction to this S-level instance she’d never heard of before.

Soul-Eating Grass, Ghost Orchid, Corpse Worm… Just the names sent chills down her spine.

No wonder, despite being only ten kilometers away from her parents in her previous life, no matter how she inquired, she never found any trace of them.

This village—most likely, everyone had been swallowed up by these two instances.

Except during the welfare and adaptation periods, maybe someone could have escaped by chance. The Yu Zhiqian she’d met ten days ago must have fled during the adaptation period. No wonder he’d seemed evasive and secretive when speaking to her at the time.

His aura was also stronger than the average enhanced person in that group.

His ability must have advanced to the second tier!

After all, to escape from an S or double-S instance, he must have obtained at least one tier-five or higher material.

Should she go in or not?

Yu Yan had no other choice.

Unless she was willing to watch the last hope for her parents’ survival vanish before her eyes.

“Duo’er…”

“Mom, I understand. I’ll go into the small world,” Yun Duo’er said obediently, not waiting for Yu Yan to finish.

Having entered and exited instances repeatedly lately, Yu Yan would always let Yun Duo’er take the lead in instances below B-level. This was because those instances generally didn’t have earth-ranked creatures—the most powerful would be at most half a step into earth rank.

Against beings of the same or lower rank, even if Yun Duo’er couldn’t defeat them, with Jinling and Xiao Qing supporting her, she wouldn’t be in any real danger for a while.

Under Yu Yan’s watchful eye, Yun Duo’er had personally slain quite a few instance creatures, even taking down several tier-five monsters. She was no longer as self-conscious about her abilities as before, nor afraid she’d hold her mother back.

Especially after saving several humans trapped in instances.

Comparing herself with them, she realized she’d become someone they could only look up to in awe!

Only her mother, out of concern, remained cautious and careful for her sake.

Yun Duo’er didn’t want to add to her mother’s burden, so she volunteered to go into the small world.

Maybe one day, if she could surpass her mother, her mother would truly see her as a partner in battle. But with her gone, what if her mother got hurt?

Yun Duo’er frowned, sounding every bit like a little adult. “Mom, I don’t have to go into the instance with you.”

“But you must promise me to take Jinling with you. Xiao Qing is only third-tier; entering the instance might just hold you back. But Jinling is different—already at the peak of fourth-tier, just a bit of luck away from advancing to fifth-tier.”

“It’s also skilled at hiding and ambushes, so it might actually be able to help you.”

Once a spirit pet or enhanced being reached the profound rank and above, it wasn’t just a matter of accumulating spiritual energy to advance; they also needed a stroke of fortune.

This fortune could be a psychological breakthrough or overcoming a bottleneck in power.

The Bloodthirsty Vine, Jinling, had been absorbing high-rank spirit beast blood daily, and had been stuck at the peak of fourth-tier for two days now. To help it settle its mind and not miss its opportunity, Yu Yan had even stopped its blood supply.

Now, pitifully coiled around Yun Duo’er’s wrist, it nodded its emerald leaves at her as if to say, “Have pity on me, master. Can I have a little something to eat?”

If it followed her into the S-level instance, there was a real chance it could break through at any moment!

Yu Yan nodded. “Alright, Mom will do as you say.”

The peak-fourth-tier Jinling could change its size at will. At her words, it stretched a bit, growing slightly larger, then crawled from their joined hands onto Yu Yan’s wrist, quickly coiling into a bracelet of gold-spotted vine.

Yu Yan put Yun Duo’er and Xiao Qing into the Plant Spirit Small World.

Without hesitation, she stepped into the S-level instance, “Firefly Soul-Devouring Sea”!

Despite the name, this “sea” was nothing like the ocean. The moment she entered, she was surrounded by towering, cloud-piercing trees. The leaves were remarkable, each with a silver-gray vein bulging with thumb-sized nodules.

Every leaf was as large as a fan!

Rising more than thirty meters above the ground, from a distance, they looked much like any other tree leaves.

The spacing between the trees seemed deliberately and precisely planned. Even though the canopies were dense and full of leaves, sunlight still streamed down abundantly. Underfoot, Yu Yan felt a soft, cushiony sensation, as if she were sinking into cotton. She looked down—

It was a thick meadow.

The grass was long, soft, and tough, the veins a metallic gray, looking utterly harmless.

But Yu Yan’s hair stood on end!

These seemingly innocuous, ordinary-looking grass plants were, by her spiritual senses, at least third-tier each—a continuous expanse of plant-based instance monsters.

For some reason, though, they displayed no hostility at the moment.

She could trample them as much as she liked, and they remained docile and unresponsive.

Yu Yan tried tugging on a blade of grass. It yielded softly to her touch. Still, she didn’t dare push her luck—though she was now at peak fourth-tier, even elephants can be bitten to death by enough ants!

But these plant monsters, all at least third-tier, were hardly ants.

“Wind Step.”

The ground wasn’t safe. Yu Yan chose to take to the air.

At least, by her spiritual senses, these trees were just ordinary, albeit saturated with spiritual energy.

But soon enough… damn!

Ordinary trees?

Yu Yan stared in bewilderment at the strange parasitic things clinging to the tree trunks. Each one sprawled unevenly atop the highest branches, with long, emerald jade-like leaves and clusters of white or pink flowers.

The flowers hung in strings, each blossom no bigger than a fingernail, exuding a rich, peculiar fragrance.

Oddly, each tiny flower was shaped like a miniature ghostly face. Their bizarre stamens traced out features—some fierce, some smiling, some indignant, some aggrieved… Each ghostly visage was lifelike and vivid.