Chapter 1 Opening the Guild Warehouse

The news of opening the guild warehouse spread like wildfire, triggering a new peak in membership applications.

Guo Huai, Hao Cheng, and Zhao Li clicked the accept button until their hands were sore. Although the players had all joined, they needed to sort through all the guild members in the next few days to ensure the guild's operation. They still had a lot to do.

With Guo Huai and the others managing the guild, Nie Yan wasn't worried. He could let them handle it while he focused on grinding and leveling up.

"Nie Yan, want to run Black Flame together? We're at the entrance now. Yao Yaozi is here, and Yue'er, whom you met last time, is waiting for you," Yao Yao messaged Nie Yan, eager to run the dungeon with him.

Nie Yan thought about it. Running Black Flame wasn't a bad idea. It would only take an hour at most. If it was the Expert level, he might even get a treasure.

"Okay, I'll be there in a bit."

Nie Yan teleported to Idan Beduo Town, located east of Carol City. It was a town full of the flavor of the ancient co-rule era. Many things here still retained the atmosphere of that time. The stone walls had carvings that were almost illegible due to wind and rain erosion. The dilapidated buildings and ancient streets still held the lingering charm of bygone years, giving a sense of profound historical accumulation.

The NPC guards here wore strange attire, still reminiscent of the co-rule era, with short robes, cloth armor, and steel horned helmets, like gladiators from ancient barbarian tribes.

Nie Yan was walking down the street when a group of about sixteen or seventeen players walked towards him. They were well-equipped, at least in the style of Sothis Valley. Nie Yan was quite surprised. They should have graduated from Sothis Valley already, so why were they here?

These people were either burly or lean and wiry, representing various classes. The only thing they had in common was the fierce aura they exuded, causing Nie Yan to frown. Who exactly were these people?

"Skinny Dog, when killing people, the knife needs to be sharp," a tall elemental mage in a gray robe said with a cold smile, glancing at Nie Yan, but his gaze quickly moved on.

"Don't worry, my dagger is definitely faster than your staff," a short, thin thief skillfully twirled a dagger in his hand. His face was hidden beneath a black cloak, making it impossible to see his features.

The players chatted and laughed wildly, glancing at Nie Yan sideways as they brushed past him.

This group seemed a little familiar. Their names were hidden. Nie Yan's memory wasn't good enough to remember every player he'd met in his past life. Unless they had particularly obvious features, he couldn't recall their names.

He probably didn't have much interaction with these players in his previous life.

Nie Yan walked towards the outside of the town. The Black Flame Forest was located north of Idan Beduo Town. It was a scorched wasteland, filled with the charred remains of everything that had been burned. It was said that during the Dark Ages, the Black Flame Phoenix Solusi fell here, transforming into endless black flames that would never be extinguished. When entering the Black Flame Forest, players could still see the giant skeleton of the phoenix, scattered throughout the forest.

The perpetually burning flames attracted a large number of fire elementals to settle here, making it an important low-level dungeon.

The outskirts of the Black Flame Forest were a barren area with numerous jagged rocks and no signs of life. Only level three kobolds spawned here. There was an open space at the entrance to the Black Flame Forest, where teams often gathered to run the dungeon. However, it was a bit deserted today, with few players coming, which was a little strange.

Yu Lan and the others were waiting at the entrance to the Black Flame Forest.

Nie Yan walked over and greeted them with a smile, "Hello everyone."

"We've finally waited for you, busy man," Yao Yao said with a smile, her bright smile making people feel cheerful.

"Nie Yan, we've been waiting for you for a long time."

Nie Yan smiled slightly, nodded to Yu Lan and the others, and greeted Yue'er, who was standing next to Yao Yao, "Hello."

After not seeing them for a few days, Yu Lan and the others had improved their equipment and their levels were also much higher. They were around level ten now. They probably came to Black Flame because they wanted Nie Yan to take them through the Expert level dungeon.

"We're troubling you again to take us through the dungeon," Yu Lan said to Nie Yan, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"You're members of our guild now, so it's only natural for me to take you through the dungeon," Nie Yan nodded, scanning everyone. Including him, there were a total of twenty people, mostly familiar faces. He even spotted Huang Hun.

"Don't you have any guild activities?"

Huang Hun smiled awkwardly and said, "Our guild has activities tomorrow. I'm here to mooch equipment."

Huang Hun already had a full set of equipment from the Temple of Medusa, so he probably wasn't here for the gear. Banished Fox must already know that he and Tang Yao had formed a guild and had sent Huang Hun here for a different reason. However, Banished Fox and Nie Yan had a decent relationship. With Banished Fox's intelligence, he must know that cooperation was mutually beneficial. After all, he knew Nie Yan's background relatively well, with Starry Night Potion Shop as a backer and a mysterious background, Banished Fox wouldn't easily ruin the relationship between them. So it was possible for the Bullshorn Tribe to cooperate with the Holy Roman Empire.

"We'll leave the party. You can create the group," Yu Lan said to Nie Yan.

Nie Yan nodded and began to invite them into the party.

System: Player Yao Yao has joined your party.

System: Player Yao Yaozi has joined your party.

...

"Nie Yan, you're level sixteen already? That's so fast," Yao Yao said in surprise. Tang Yao didn't dare to tell anyone Nie Yan's level without his permission, so Yao Yao and the others didn't know Nie Yan's level yet. Although they knew Nie Yan's level was quite high, they didn't expect him to be level sixteen already.

"Why aren't you on the level rankings?" Yue'er frowned slightly, asking in confusion.

"He's hidden his level, so he's not on the level rankings," Huang Hun said, thinking that it was indeed as Boss Fox had guessed.

Nie Yan probably wanted to keep a low profile. Everyone thought about it for a moment and understood. If the top two spots on the level rankings were all from the Bullshorn Tribe, the impact on the other guilds would be unimaginable.

Everyone was now in the team.

"Report your stats as usual," Nie Yan said in the team chat. Although he knew that Yu Lan and the others' stats had already met the requirements, he needed to know each team member's stats in order to be rigorous. If anyone didn't meet the requirements, they definitely couldn't enter the dungeon.

Every dungeon run had to be taken seriously, otherwise even the smallest mistakes could lead to a team wipe. A single team wipe might not cripple a team, but the 20% experience loss was still enough to sting.

Yu Lan, Bai Kai Shui, and the others began to report their important stats, such as defense, magic damage, and health.

"520 health, 180 defense..."

"320 health, 158 magic damage..."

...

After everyone had reported, Nie Yan nodded. It seemed that Yu Lan and the others had put a lot of effort into their equipment. Especially Bai Kai Shui, 180 defense and 520 health was considered quite good at this stage.

Just as Nie Yan and the others' team were preparing to set off, a large group of players emerged from the surrounding piles of rocks and quickly surrounded them.

There were probably two to three hundred of these people, and they blocked all of Nie Yan and the others' escape routes.

Nie Yan felt a chill in his heart. These players were not friendly.

"What's going on?" Nie Yan's heart sank as he scanned the people opposite him. These people were well-equipped and should all be around level ten.

"Who are they?" Tang Yao clenched the staff in his hand. He could feel their hostility.

The members of Yu Lan's team quickly formed a defensive formation, guarding against the players who were surging in from all directions.

"I've seen some of the people in the lead before. They're from Kaiser Triumph," Huang Hun whispered, standing next to Nie Yan.

Nie Yan's gaze fell on the people in the lead. A tall elemental mage and a skinny, monkey-like player were particularly conspicuous. They were the group of players from Sothis Valley that Nie Yan had encountered in Idan Beduo Town.

"We're surrounded. There are at least three hundred of them!" Bai Kai Shui and the others said, slightly nervously. They only had twenty-odd people, while the other side had over three hundred, and everyone's equipment was no worse than theirs!

The difference in strength was too great. If the other side attacked, the entire team would definitely be wiped out!

This wasn't a dungeon. If you died inside a dungeon, you only lost 20% experience and didn't lose any equipment. But if you died outside, you lost a full level and a piece of equipment!

No one could remain indifferent!

What Nie Yan was thinking about at this moment wasn't the issue of levels, but the two Chapters of Order in his bag and Tang Yao's Arcane Sprite!

Could it be that the building he had painstakingly constructed was going to collapse here before it could become a towering skyscraper?

It was already too late to use a return scroll. These people were close at hand and could interrupt the return at any time!

"Skinny Dog, there's a saying called 'trapped turtle in a jar', and it's the perfect way to describe the situation we're in now!" the tall elemental mage laughed wildly. "So what if that Nie Yan is strong? They're finished!"

The thief called Skinny Dog stuck out his scarlet tongue and licked the dagger in his hand, looking at Nie Yan and the others as if they were prey about to be caught.

"They seem to be putting up a desperate struggle. Twenty people, what do they think they can do?" Skinny Dog said smugly.

"Remember to tell your subordinates not to attack first. Send a few people up to turn that Nie Yan into a red name first. The boss ordered us to strip him of all his equipment, leaving nothing behind!"

"Don't worry, I understand!" Skinny Dog fiddled with the dagger in his hand. He liked to bleed people with a knife, the feeling of blood gushing out.

These people were here for him. Nie Yan glanced at the gaunt man, who was less than five feet tall. He vaguely remembered this person. Although he didn't have the name Shadow Dancer in his previous life, he killed a Shadow Dancer. He was ranked sixth in Kaiser Triumph, and his reputation wasn't small either.

~~ So many update votes, pretty ruthless, but Snail is accepting them all.