Of course, this wasn’t absolute.

For example, in the Challenge Dungeon Forbidden City Showdown, those so called first class experts were actually at the Lord level. Meanwhile, the so called transcendent Blade Saint and Sword God were only at the Elite level.

But Noah understood one thing very clearly. When judging strength, Rank was always the most important factor.

A difference of one Rank meant a tenfold gap in attributes.

Nightmare difficulty was bound to be far more dangerous than Difficult level dungeons.

Originally, Noah had thought he might encounter Fourth Order monsters here.

But now, it seemed just as likely that he would face enemies with higher template levels instead...

Such as Lord level bosses.

"Well... Lord level is more likely."

Trial Instances and Advancement Instances were fundamentally different.

The increase in difficulty for Advancement Instances was mainly reflected in the Rank of monsters. For example, Second Order monsters could appear in a First Order Advancement Instance. In Second Order Advancement Instances, it was even more extreme, with large numbers of Third Order monsters and even the occasional Fourth Order.

Trial Instances were different. At least in Difficult level dungeons, Noah had never encountered monsters of a higher Rank.

"Heh... if it really is Lord level, that would be interesting."

A faint smile appeared on Noah’s face.

His Rank Suppression was at the Fourth Order. Nightmare difficulty only enhanced template levels, not Rank. No matter how abnormal the attributes became, they would still be suppressed by ten percent, making them easier to deal with.

Of course, even without Rank Suppression, Noah had no reason to fear.

Based on template levels alone, his own attributes had already surpassed those of a Lord level existence.

Not to mention, he also possessed skills of a far higher quality.

...

Below, the beast tide had already reached the Blood Dark Fortress and entered close combat. Some demon beasts had even begun climbing onto the city wall.

With a thought, Noah prepared to take out the Sun Shooting Bow and fire an arrow downward to relieve some of the pressure.

But unexpectedly, his hand met empty air.

The Sun Shooting Bow did not appear.

[This dungeon is limited to Tier Three. Perfect grade equipment, items, materials, and special items cannot be used]

A system prompt echoed in Noah’s mind.

Noah immediately understood.

He had almost forgotten that items exceeding the dungeon’s Rank could not be brought inside.

Fortunately, this restriction only applied to external objects such as equipment. His skills remained completely unaffected.

Perfect grade equipment being unusable meant nothing to Noah.

"Boom!"

He dropped straight from the sky like a meteor, smashing into the beast tide and instantly taking countless demon beasts with him.

He could not even be bothered to use rare grade weapons. With nothing but his fists, he tore through the battlefield. Every punch erupted with overwhelming force, turning waves of demon beasts into clouds of blood mist.

With Rank Suppression and his terrifying strength, each of Noah’s strikes far surpassed the destructive power of a tactical nuclear missile.

Elite or Leader level made no difference.

In front of him, they were all the same.

The moment Noah took action, the pressure on Blood Dark Fortress was instantly lifted.

Carving a path through the endless tide, he advanced without pause until he reached the source of it all.

The king of the Endless Forest.

[Earth Tyrant Bear (Lord)]

[Rank: Tier Three]

[Attributes: Strength 470000, Agility 320000, Constitution 500000, Spirit 450000]

Noah did not waste a single word.

He raised his hand and unleashed Mountain River Collapse.

In the next instant, the massive body of the Earth Tyrant Bear was crushed into nothingness.

"Nightmare Instance, that’s all there is to it."

Noah’s expression remained indifferent after he instantly killed the King Of the Endless Forest with a single punch.

He had not even activated his burst state, yet he dealt with the great boss effortlessly. The so called Lord Level did not put any pressure on him at all.

But this was only natural.

After all, it was just a Trial Instance. Even at Nightmare Difficulty, it was nothing special.

The current Noah was no longer the same as when he had just advanced to the third order. Back then, facing the Nightmare Dungeon, the terrifying beast tide, and the Earth Violent Bear with attributes reaching up to 500,000 would have been somewhat troublesome.

Now, however, it was effortless.

As the Earth Violent Bear died, the monsters it controlled lost their backbone and quickly fell into disarray. The crisis at the Blood Dark Fortress was resolved as a result.

[Congratulations on clearing the Trial Instance: Beast Tide Attack (Nightmare). Your evaluation is SSS. You have received the following rewards: Growth Value 20, Strength Crystals x38,000, Agility Crystals x38,000, Constitution Crystals x38,000, Spirit Crystals x38,000, Rare grade item Tornado Magic Scroll]

[Due to this being the first clear and your unparalleled contribution, you have additionally received Strength Crystals x35,000, Agility Crystals x35,000, Constitution Crystals x35,000, Spirit Crystals x35,000, Rare grade equipment Ice Wind Staff, Rare grade material Thunder Oak Wood]

"38,000?"

Hearing the system prompt in his ear, Noah nodded slightly.

The number of attribute crystals was roughly within his expectations.

Excluding the bonus from Level 9 Refinement, an SSS rated Nightmare Dungeon grants about 20,000 attribute crystals.

Even Nightmare difficulty only provides 20,000. One could easily imagine that at Difficult difficulty, the rewards would be even lower, perhaps only around 10,000 for the same growth value.

Compared to a Tier 2 Difficult Dungeon, the rewards had been reduced even further.

As for Ordinary and Simple difficulties, they were hardly worth considering.

"If third order Awakeners still cannot clear Difficult Dungeons, then relying solely on dungeon rewards would likely not be enough to pass the Advancement Instance."

Noah shook his head.

This was only the Ordinary difficulty Advancement Instance. There was no need to even mention High Difficulty and Extreme Difficulty, which only Noah had managed to lead a team to clear so far.