Instance Tower, second floor.

A white light flashed.

The figures of a ten-person team reappeared in front of the teleportation gate.

Their expressions were somewhat dazed, as if they had just woken from a long dream, their eyes still holding a sense of unreality.

Lu Zhiyi had been waiting by the entrance. Seeing them emerge, she subconsciously glanced at the watch on her wrist.

One hour and twelve minutes.

Her delicate brows furrowed slightly as she went to meet them.

"How did you come out so quickly?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Failed again?"

The team leader, the warrior carrying a greatsword, suddenly snapped back to reality.

He stared blankly at Lu Zhiyi, then shook his head ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) vigorously.

"No."

"Senior Sister Lu, we... we cleared it."

"What?"

Lu Zhiyi's expression instantly froze, her clear eyes filled with surprise.

She had played this ten-person Instance before.

At that time, her team's composition was luxurious, even including a Senior Brother with an S-Class Profession.

Even so, it took them a full two hours to barely defend the town.

But this ragtag, third-rate team in front of her had only used one hour?

How was this possible?

She didn't believe it.

Lu Zhiyi's gaze subconsciously turned to the large electronic display screen above the teleportation gate.

【Instance: Defend Tuoye Town (Hard)】

【Clear Record: 1 hour 12 minutes 07 seconds】

【Clear Members: Wang Tao, Li Kai, Sun Qiang... Gandalf】

Ten names were clearly listed.

Lu Zhiyi's eyes widened, and she re-examined the people in front of her with the look one gives a monster.

"You... how did you get so strong this time?"

Under her gaze, a short-haired girl in the team blushed slightly and quickly waved her hands.

"It wasn't us, Senior Sister Lu."

She pointed to Student Gandalf, who had already found a sofa and was sitting quietly, eyes closed, resting.

"It's that Junior Brother you brought... no! It's the Big Shot who's too strong!"

The others also chimed in, their faces showing the excitement of having survived a disaster.

"Yeah! The Big Shot is practically inhuman!"

"We didn't even lift a finger the whole time, we just followed behind and picked up Materials."

"That scene, it's such a shame you didn't see it!"

They spoke all at once, beginning to recount everything that had happened in the Instance to Lu Zhiyi.

In that hour, they finally witnessed what true power was.

No matter how many more Strange Beast surged out, or how much larger they became with each wave.

In front of the Big Shot named Gandalf, it was all just a matter of one Meteor Fire Rain.

"Senior Sister, you didn't see that green flame, it was so bizarre!"

"Those Strange Beast that weren't crushed by the meteors, if even a little bit touched them, they'd roll around on the ground like mad!"

"The screams, they made my scalp tingle!"

"By the time they finally managed to crawl to the town gate, they were already burned alive into charcoal."

What left the deepest impression on them was the two BOSSes that appeared simultaneously at the end.

Two 【Wasteland Giant Lizards】 with a Rank as high as 23.

They all thought they were in for a tough battle.

However, the Big Shot Gandalf simply raised his staff calmly.

A towering azure storm rose from the ground, directly sweeping the two Giant Lizards into the sky.

Then, five meteors burning with green flames descended from the sky.

By the time the two arrogant BOSSes landed again, they had already transformed into two pure experience points.

Terrifying.

Even now, the nine of them still felt like they were dreaming.

After hearing their descriptions, Lu Zhiyi's gaze towards Gandalf was completely filled with shock.

Yesterday, General Zhang had only told her that Student Gandalf was very special and asked her to take good care of him.

But who would have thought he would be so incredibly powerful!

At this moment, the nine people who had just participated in the Instance had become Gandalf's most loyal followers.

They cautiously approached him.

"Big Shot, are you tired? Shall I rub your shoulders?"

"Big Shot, are you thirsty? I'll go buy you a drink?"

"Big Shot, where are you planning to go for the next Instance? Take us with you! We promise not to drag you down and can even help you pick up things!"

Zhou Huai allowed the enthusiastic Senior Brothers and Sisters to rub his shoulders and massage his legs, a smile appearing on his face.

He opened his eyes and scanned the crowd.

"I want to ask."

"Are there any more Instance like the city-defense one just now?"

He paused, then added.

"Preferably one that only requires defending a single direction."

"Running around is too troublesome."

The warrior captain immediately jumped up from the sofa and patted his chest upon hearing this.

"Yes, Big Shot! There are!"

"There are a total of nine Instance like this!"

Zhou Huai controlled Gandalf to stand up.

"Let's go, take me to see them."

Soon, led by the captain, the group arrived in a grand procession at the sixth floor of the Tower.

The Instance teleportation gates here were all above Rank 25.

The captain led Gandalf to the largest teleportation gate on the entire sixth floor.

The name of the Instance was clearly displayed on the electronic screen above the teleportation gate.

【Defend the Mofei Bridge】.

The captain pointed at the teleportation gate, introducing it excitedly.

"Big Shot, this is it!"

"This Instance only requires defending the other end of the bridge to prevent the army of Strange Beast from rushing over."

"There's no difficulty grading, but there are only two modes: fifty-person and one-hundred-person."

Its difficulty was imaginable.

Zhou Huai looked at the massive teleportation gate, his eyes bright.

This is the one.

He liked Instance where he could madly grind monsters in one direction.

Seeing the eager expression on Gandalf's face, the captain immediately leaned in.

"Big Shot, want to challenge it?"

"Wait for me, I'll go post on the forum right now and help you contact people to come over!"

"Half an hour! No! Twenty minutes! I guarantee I'll gather a fifty-person elite team for you!"

Zhou Huai, however, slowly shook his head.

"No need."

Amidst everyone's puzzled gazes, he calmly uttered the latter half of his sentence.

"I plan to solo this Instance."

As his words fell.

The entire sixth floor seemed to be paused.

The nine team members who had just been following him, their faces filled with admiration, all stood dumbfounded.

A fifty-person Instance.

You want to... solo it?

Did we hear that right?

Although they had already witnessed the Big Shot's strength, a ten-person Instance and a fifty-person Instance were worlds apart.

Lu Zhiyi also hurried forward, her face filled with worry.

"Student Gandalf, isn't it too risky for you to solo it?"

"People can die in Instance."

"If you die in there, how will I explain it to General Zhang?"

Zhou Huai controlled Gandalf to smile at her.

"Don't worry, I won't die."

"I'll go in and experience it first, and if there's any danger, I'll come out in time."

Although the others were still trying their best to persuade him.

But Zhou Huai, controlling Gandalf, had already resolutely walked towards the massive teleportation gate.

He had his reasons for doing so, of course.

Just now, that cold System notification sound had echoed in his mind again.

【Ding! System Challenge Quest triggered!】

【Quest Name: The Strong One's Rapid Advance】

【Quest Goal: Within one month, raise the Rank of Clone 'Gandalf' to 30.】

【Quest Reward: Profession Orb Draw Chance X1!】

One month.

To go from Rank 20 to Rank 30.

It's important to know that as the Rank increases, the experience points required for each Rank grow exponentially.

An ordinary Professional would need at least three to five years to go from Rank 20 to Rank 30.

Even the favored children of Imperial Capital Academy, after three years of arduous training in school, would only be around Rank 30 when they graduate.

Only those true 'grinders' could reach Rank 40 by graduation.

And he only had one month to prepare.

The difficulty was unimaginable.

Therefore, Zhou Huai had to take some extreme measures.

Entering a fifty-person Instance alone meant he could enjoy fifty times the experience.

This was absolutely the fastest method.

Under everyone's worried gazes, Gandalf's figure was slowly swallowed by the massive teleportation gate.

As the light dissipated.

When Zhou Huai opened his eyes again, he found himself standing on an endless stone bridge.

The bridge was wide enough to accommodate dozens of trucks driving side by side.

On both sides were bottomless abysses, shrouded in gray mist.

His lone figure appeared exceptionally small on this gigantic bridge that spanned across heaven and earth.

And at the other end of the stone bridge.

A dense horde of beasts was surging towards his direction like a tide.