19-Su Mo’s Goal and the Ferocious Boar Forest!

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The Tianfu City Lord's face flushed with embarrassment. He was about to say something when another golden beam shot into the sky. 

Thirty minutes were up—the instance grading was complete! 

Su Mo's figure vanished, reappearing moments later at the instance entrance. 

"It's really graded—and into three tiers at once! Looks like there's definitely a golden boss inside." 

"Too bad we still can't enter. I'd love to check it out myself." 

"Little Su, see if you can go back in." 

Su Mo, gripping his new Zhanmadao, was about to test it when he heard them and hurried over. 

Sure, he'd just left the instance, but if he could run it again for another 500 or 600 free attribute points, he'd be thrilled. 

Plus, it'd be a perfect chance to get used to his new weapon. 

At the entrance, he tried, then shook his head. "Nope. I've already gone in once—gotta wait 24 hours for the next run." 

"That's a shame, but no big deal. Our people will be here soon—they can go in instead." 

Su Mo nodded. "If that's the case, I'll head out then." 

The old men smiled warmly as he left, tossing out reminders to stay safe and drop by for a chat sometime. 

Su Mo gave a polite nod to their pleasantries and took off. 

He had plenty to do next. 

Before leaving, he'd already scoped out two instances. 

First was 5-Kilometers Slope. The second? Boar Forest, 20 miles away. 

Originally, he'd wanted to farm a decent weapon. 

Now that he had one, his next goal was skills. 

There was a huge gap between ability awakeners and profession awakeners. 

Profession awakeners gained innate skills at certain levels, and with special awakenings, they could even unlock hidden ones—perfectly tailored to them. That's why they got stronger later on. 

Ability awakeners, though? They either had to develop their own skills or rely on skill scrolls. 

But not every scroll suited the user, leading to a mixed bag of late-game ability awakeners. 

Some rare few pushed their abilities to the limit and created custom skills—but they were the exception. 

For Su Mo, this was a headache. 

He'd love to develop skills, but how do you "develop" Absolute Defense? 

Stand there, let enemies hack at him until they tire out? 

Or maybe the Heart of Slaughter? 

That just gave attribute points—what else could it do? 

So, his options were farming bosses for skill drops or buying scrolls with cash. 

Beyond that, Su Mo felt a fierce guy like him, wielding a Zhanmadao, needed a proper mount to match his vibe. 

Of course, he wasn't heading to Boar Forest to snag a pig as a ride. 

The main reason was it was the closest instance to the west gate after 5-Kilometers Slope. 

Mounts weren't just anything you could grab and ride. 

If you weren't picky, a horse from the city would do—or go cyberpunk with a motorcycle. 

But with Su Mo swinging multi-ton weapons, a regular horse might end up as dinner on the spot. 

Even a standard bike wouldn't hold up. 

His goal? A mount from an instance—those were the real deal. Buying one? 

He eyed his two black cards. Eight million might not cut it for a top-tier mount. 

Mounts weren't essentials, but they were cool. 

They were toys for rich nobles—think luxury cars starting at tens of millions, often priceless and rare. 

Picture this: at the exams, Su Mo rolls up on a flashy mount, Zhanmadao in hand, dominating the field and claiming the national top spot. How badass would that be? 

His sister would be so proud! 

With that in mind, his feet didn't slow. 

With 57 speed, even lugging a three-ton blade, he covered 9 kilometers in an hour, arriving at the Boar Forest instance. 

Boar Forest was a promotion instance—awakeners at their current tier's peak had to clear it to advance. 

For example, hitting level 20 to become bronze required passing one. 

Boar Forest was exactly that. 

Normally, you could run it anytime, but at level 20, it'd trigger a promotion quest, ramping up the difficulty. 

As Su Mo mulled over the instance details, a 5-meter-tall, 16-meter-long boar locked its red eyes on him. 

Its bristly hair stood like steel needles. 

Tusks jutted out, nearly as long as his Zhanmadao. 

Snorting heavily, it pawed the ground, bent its hind legs, and charged. 

"Watch out—" 

**[Boom!]** 

Despite its bulk, the boar was fast. Su Mo didn't react in time and got launched over 100 meters. 

With his 57 speed, he could've dodged, but since awakening Absolute Defense, "dodging" wasn't in his vocabulary! 

His speed stat wasn't for evasion—it was because he thought he didn't kill fast enough! 

Seeing him flung away, Jiang Xueting dashed toward where he'd landed. 

In her mind, the guy was probably a goner, but she still wanted to check—maybe he could be saved. 

Next moment, a figure leapt from the collapsed trees, appearing atop the boar's head in a flash. 

He raised a 2-meter-plus Zhanmadao high and stabbed it down into the boar's skull. 

A deafening squeal echoed through the forest. 

The massive boar went berserk, charging forward wildly. 

Su Mo frowned, gripped the blade with both hands, and plunged it deeper—70 centimeters of steel sank in. 

Yet, despite its earth-shaking cries, the boar kept thrashing around. 

Su Mo tapped its head lightly with his foot, leapt up, and landed above the blade. 

**[Boom!]** 

One stomp, and the 2.5-meter blade pierced straight through the boar's skull, pinning its head to the ground with sheer force. 

Jiang Xueting froze, staring dumbfounded at the scene. 

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