Chapter 1 Locking the Target

Nie Yan darted through the jungle. After about thirty minutes, he finally locked onto his target.

It was a Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf, its entire body silver-white, with only blood-red eyes. Agile and vigorous, it roamed through the trees.

Nie Yan slowly crept up, getting closer and closer to the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf, only about five or six yards away. The Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf still hadn't detected him.

Nie Yan suddenly pounced, leaping onto the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf's back, his speed astonishingly fast.

The Zennarde's Sword in Nie Yan's hand was sharp and revealed its full potential, drawing a strange arc in the air.

The Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf smelled something, jumped forward, dodged Nie Yan's attack, and quickly lunged at Nie Yan.

The Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf reacted extremely quickly and moved very nimbly.

After being promoted to Holy Shadow Dancer, his strength had changed somewhat, and Nie Yan wasn't quite used to it yet, so he missed his mark a bit.

Seeing the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf pouncing, Nie Yan suddenly had a strange feeling. The joints in his body moved a little, and every joint was filled with violent energy. Looking at the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf, it seemed as if its movements had slowed down a lot, like a slow-motion scene in a movie. He could easily find the flaws. This feeling became clearer and clearer, and Nie Yan quickly figured out how to respond.

Nie Yan leaned to the side, only a few centimeters away from the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf, barely dodging its attack, then suddenly delivered an elbow strike, his elbow slamming into the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf's forehead. With a dull thud, the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf whimpered and was knocked away, falling heavily to the ground two or three yards away.

This was Holy Shadow Dance, a free and exhilarating feeling in battle, which excited Nie Yan.

When fighting the Mirror Thief before, Nie Yan hadn't felt any particularly strong points of Holy Shadow Dance, because the Mirror Thief's stats were 130% of his own, even stronger than him, so he hadn't noticed the difference.

It wasn't until he faced the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf that Nie Yan had a completely different feeling. His speed far surpassed the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf, so to him, the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf's speed was incredibly slow.

The battle was completely under control.

The Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf rolled over, landed on the ground, and howled softly, walking around Nie Yan. After a moment of hesitation, it lunged at him again.

Nie Yan's perception spread rapidly, and just like before, the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf's speed was terribly slow.

Just as the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf was about to pounce, Nie Yan raised his leg and delivered a downward chop, slamming it hard on the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf's head. Another dull thud, and the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf's head slammed heavily on the ground, leaving it dazed and disoriented.

The timing and location of the attack were perfectly grasped.

This was Shadow Dance!

When all the stats reached a certain level, he could despise low-level creatures like the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf.

After that, the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf kept getting up, trying to pounce on Nie Yan, but no matter how hard it tried, no matter what angle it attacked from, Nie Yan easily defused it. After about thirty seconds, the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf's health finally reached its limit and it fell to the ground.

So this was Shadow Dance. No wonder that in his previous life, when he was over level 160, he ran into a level 120 Shadow Dancer Thief, and the other player still managed to kill him.

For a period of time after that, Nie Yan continued to challenge stronger creatures. He could easily kill creatures within the sixth rank, and creatures above the sixth rank were a bit more difficult, but he could ensure his absolute safety. Even if he encountered an eighth-rank creature, he could easily run away.

After being promoted to Holy Shadow Dancer, Nie Yan continued to stay in the ancient world to collect various materials and practice various production profession skills. Although it was very monotonous, he understood that he was accumulating power. When he left this ancient world, it would be the moment of his glory.

Nie Yan stayed in the ancient world for another month and a half.

As he killed more and more monsters, his combat skills became more and more refined. He looked at his inventory. Inside were rows and rows of potions, ores, and crystalline cores, as many as one or two hundred different kinds, twenty in a group, for a total of five or six hundred groups, filling his backpack.

Nie Yan found it hard to estimate the value of these things. Most of them wouldn't be sold, as the market could only absorb a very limited quantity, so they should be kept for his own people to use.

All of his production profession skills had been promoted to Master level or above. Potioneering, Alchemy, and Mechanics had been upgraded to Grandmaster level. These three production profession skills could play a huge supporting role in combat.

Nie Yan looked at the current level of the players. He had stayed in the ancient world for a bit too long. More and more players had broken through the level 100 barrier. He received a message from Guo Huai that Sun, Wang Zhe Tian Xia, Xie Yao, Tang Yao, and a total of thirty-six other top experts from the Ni Ren Gong Hui (Nirvana Guild) had gone to advance to top-tier classes. They would need at least a month to complete their top-tier class advancement quests. Sun, Wang Zhe Tian Xia, Xie Yao and others who were faster had already been in the advancement quest map for more than ten days, while those who were slower had only just entered the advancement map.

As more and more top-tier members went to advance, undercurrents surged in the Greenlund Empire, and many forces began to stir. So Guo Huai urgently needed Nie Yan to return and take charge of the overall situation.

Nie Yan had to be in the Ni Ren Gong Hui (Nirvana Guild) before these top-tier members came out, otherwise, there would be trouble if something happened.

Although the Ni Ren Gong Hui (Nirvana Guild) was no longer what it used to be, having tripled in size and its position in the Greenlund Empire being very solid, there were still too many forces that could threaten it. After weighing it for a long time, Nie Yan went to the teleportation array below the Heart of the World and stepped into it.

Light and shadow shifted, and when Nie Yan opened his eyes again, he was already inside the Holy Church.

The decorations inside the Holy Church gave him a faint sense of familiarity. Looking ahead, he saw Priest Anniesson at the entrance of the hall, and he suddenly felt like he had returned to the human world.

Priest Anniesson walked over and respectfully gave a salute, "Respected War Angel Kalenna, Holy Shadow Dancer Nie Yan, welcome back."

Priest Anniesson's very solemn etiquette made Nie Yan a little overwhelmed. Priest Anniesson's status in Kalor City was very high, at least at the level of a Grand Duke, and now, he was actually bowing before Nie Yan.

In the Greenlund Empire, the hierarchy of status and identity was very strict, to the point of being almost harsh. If someone offended someone with a higher title than themselves, they would be severely punished. Someone like Priest Anniesson would generally not salute others in the entire Kalor City.

Nie Yan was curious once again, what level was the Holy Shadow Dancer title? Was it even more powerful than a Grand Duke?

At the same time, he curiously glanced at the guardian angel Kalenna on his left shoulder. The guardian angel Kalenna was actually a war angel. Nie Yan remembered that war angels had a very high status among all angels.

Kalenna glanced at Priest Anniesson, flapped her wings, and landed on Nie Yan's left shoulder, amusing herself by playing with a ball of white light.

Nie Yan searched the official website for Holy Shadow Dancer. There was some information about the Holy Shadow Dancer title. In the secular world, the status of Holy Shadow Dancer was the same as that of Shadow Dancer, roughly equivalent to a Count's title, but in the Holy Church, it was very high, equivalent to the level of a Cardinal.

The Holy Church's title system. The lowest level was Third Class Cleric, Second Class Cleric, First Class Cleric, higher up was Priest, higher still was Cardinal, White Robe Cardinal, and above that was the Pope. Due to the absence of the Pope, the remaining members of the Holy Church were three White Robe Cardinals, who were the elders of the Holy Church. Below them were hundreds of Cardinals. The three White Robe Cardinals generally did not appear, and the Cardinals were appointed by the Holy Church, generally hidden among the people. The Holy Church in Kalor City was managed by Priest Anniesson.

Seeing this information, Nie Yan had a general understanding of his position.

A Cardinal had a privilege, which was that they could freely dispatch thirty Holy Knights from the branches of the Holy Church, allowing these thirty Holy Knights to be at their service. Apart from the White Robe Cardinals and Cardinals, any follower of the Holy Church had to be respectful when they saw him.

These privileges were pretty good.

"Hello, Priest Anniesson," Nie Yan replied with a smile.

"You have finally succeeded in advancing. Congratulations, Holy Shadow Dancer Nie Yan. May God's glory be with you," Priest Anniesson said, placing his right hand on his chest and giving a slight salute.

God's glory? Nie Yan wanted to say that the gods had long since died from infighting. He didn't know if the God of Light worshipped by the Holy Church was still around, but since he had entered this system, he had to abide by the rules.

"Thank you for your blessing, Priest Anniesson," Nie Yan nodded.

After exchanging pleasantries with Priest Anniesson for a while, Priest Anniesson led Nie Yan while introducing the history of the Holy Church, as well as Nie Yan's position and rights. Nie Yan listened, secretly taking notes. Some things were roughly the same as the information he had found, but there were also some rules that had to be followed in the Holy Church, such as providing assistance to civilians in need when encountering them outside, and relieving the pain of sick people. Nie Yan couldn't heal, but such small matters were easy for the war angel Kalenna.

After chatting with Priest Anniesson for a while, Nie Yan said goodbye to Priest Anniesson and walked out of the Holy Church. The sun was shining brightly outside, making people feel cheerful.

Looking ahead, the streets were bustling with people, a constant stream, lively and extraordinary.

Nie Yan suddenly felt a deep sense of emotion. He had been cooped up in the ancient world alone for so long, without seeing a single person, feeling so depressed that he had an urge to go crazy. Now, he found that coming back felt so good.

Currently, whether it was the Greenlund Empire or the Satreen Empire, whether it was the undead or the demonkin, he was the only person who had advanced to a top-tier class. From now on, the sea was wide enough for fish to leap, and the sky was high enough for birds to fly! In this world, was there anywhere he couldn't go!

Nie Yan remembered that he was the first person to advance to Shadow Dancer, and he could also go to the Thieves Guild to receive a reward. He wondered what the Thieves Guild would reward him with.