Chapter 1 The Beginning

Nie Yan could imagine that in his previous life, many people wanted to experience walking up these stairs, but amidst the ridicule, many chose to give up. Later, a very inconspicuous little thief climbed to the top of the stairs and received some surprising rewards. He made the matter public, and the players then learned that this was a hidden quest set by the main system. Many people wanted to get some benefits, but by the time they climbed the stairs again, the quest had long ended. Only the first person to climb the stairs received a reward; the followers got nothing.

In this life, Nie Yan was the first. The Thieves Guild's tower had only been built a few days ago. The magic elevator was very fast, and few players would choose to climb the stairs, so no player had the perseverance to complete the staircase in the past few days.

Time passed by, and Nie Yan climbed higher and higher. Looking out the window, everything was so small that it was invisible. He was so close to the clouds, and the ridicule continued, but he seemed not to hear it.

After more than ten minutes, Nie Yan finally climbed to the top of the main tower and stepped onto the top floor.

Many people happened to be looking in Nie Yan's direction.

"Look, it's that idiot. He didn't take the magic elevator and actually climbed from the bottom to the top."

"Haha, what a moron. Seeing him, I feel a sense of intellectual superiority."

As these people were talking, a white light suddenly shone on Nie Yan's body. The dazzling light was similar to that of leveling up, but with some differences. It seemed to be a reward for completing a quest. The players were a little surprised. There were no NPCs near the stairs. Did he get the reward after climbing the stairs?

The players immediately thought of a hidden quest! Otherwise, why would that cloaked guy spend more than ten minutes climbing more than two thousand steps!

No one ridiculed Nie Yan anymore. Some people silently slipped into the magic elevator. They were going to climb the stairs like Nie Yan, so they wouldn't be overtaken!

Nie Yan glanced at the system notification. He had just heard the system prompt.

'System: Reward for Foolishness. You have gained 10 points of Willpower. In the darkest moments of life, even in the face of ridicule from millions of people, may you persevere in your beliefs as you do today, until success. Success comes from perseverance.'

The Willpower attribute was relatively rare. Ordinary players had only about 50 points at most. High-end mages might have more, but 100 points would be the limit. There was very little equipment that added Willpower. Of course, Nie Yan was an exception. His Willpower had already reached more than 200 points.

The Willpower attribute had many uses. People with high Willpower were less likely to be controlled by mental magic, and even if they were controlled, the duration would be greatly reduced. It could also greatly reduce the damage suffered after being attacked by mental magic. Willpower was also one of the requirements for certain specific equipment. As for mages, the damage of their advanced spells needed Willpower to support it. Willpower had many, many uses. It seemed insignificant, but it might come in handy in unexpected situations.

A reward of 10 points of Willpower was considered very good.

Nie Yan murmured the sentence, 'In the darkest moments of life, even in the face of ridicule from millions of people, may you persevere in your beliefs as you do today, until success. Success comes from perseverance.' A flash of understanding crossed his mind, and he smiled slightly. This could also be considered a gain for him.

Nie Yan suddenly thought of something and looked at his character status. After Justice, Courage, Benevolence, Honesty, and Sacrifice, there was an additional status: Perseverance. Perseverance refers to having an unwavering and persistent belief.

Unexpectedly, he had gained another status. He already had six character statuses. Nie Yan guessed that he might need to obtain a certain number of statuses to receive a reward.

But it was difficult to determine exactly what that number was.

According to the mathematics of faith, 7 is a number of bad luck, representing the end of a cycle. Except for a week in astrology, it generally doesn't appear elsewhere. 8 and 9 both have certain possibilities, and it might even be necessary to collect more than 10 statuses.

It might take a long time to collect all the character statuses.

Looking around the hall, he found that everyone was looking at him with strange eyes. Nie Yan ignored them, walked to the balcony, and jumped down. The wind whistled past, and his height decreased rapidly, getting closer and closer to the ground. Just as he was about to hit the ground, Nie Yan used the skill on the Feather Fall Gem and landed lightly.

"This guy wouldn't be thinking of jumping off the building, would he?"

"This main tower is at least two or three hundred yards high."

These people quickly walked to the balcony, leaned on the balcony, and looked down. They saw that Nie Yan had landed steadily and was quickly rushing away, disappearing into the alleys near the Thieves Guild.

"Damn, it's a Feather Fall Device. This guy is so rich."

Currently, there were still very few players with Feather Fall Devices. Feather Fall Devices had been炒作 (chao zuo - hyped) to sky-high prices in several auction houses.

Nie Yan's appearance and disappearance were just an interlude for these players. They didn't know what reward Nie Yan had received. It was a mystery. Many players followed Nie Yan's example and climbed from the bottom of the tower to the top, but they gained nothing. Some players were unwilling and even climbed five or six times.

The foolish people were not Nie Yan, but them!

In the following period, Nie Yan crafted all of his equipment, had it enchanted, inlaid with gems, and upgraded his special items. He also needed to prepare some things before he could hatch the Darkwing Dragon with the Life Crystal. In addition, he needed to find the Life Emerald Crystal to synthesize the Long-cherished Wish Necklace.

The Niu Ren Tribe had been developing peacefully, with one intermediate fortress and ten primary fortresses under its jurisdiction. In addition, the Garan Temple, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Holy Flame divided twelve fortresses equally.

In addition to the fortresses, under the command of Guo Huai and others, the Niu Ren Tribe began to open up mines outside, letting miners mine and collect ores, as well as contract for the collection of raw materials, etc., to supply the consumption of the guild's production professions. However, they encountered trouble several times. Some people from Angel Faction came to sneak attacks, causing the mining and collection work to be interrupted several times. However, the Niu Ren Tribe also retaliated, sending sun, Huai Dan, and others to form teams to cause them some trouble as well.

The current Niu Ren Tribe was not yet suitable for investing its energy in harassment. It should secure its foundation first.

After Nie Yan had finished dealing with his equipment and everything else, he made a trip to the underworld and had the people from Angel Corps find a suitable place for him to level up. He leveled up for five days, raising his level to level seventy-six, and earned more than 800,000 gold coins in total.

"I heard that the Griffon Woodlands will be opening in more than ten days." Guo Huai sent the news he had just received to Nie Yan.

Hearing this news from Guo Huai, Nie Yan's heart stirred. He had never been to the Griffon Woodlands in his previous life, but he had heard some news about it. In his previous life, until Nie Yan's rebirth, a total of five flying mount maps had been opened, including the Griffon Woodlands, the Wind Serpent Canyon, the Dragon Fly Swamps, the Phoenix Nest, and the Dragon Valley. These places were fraught with danger, and generally required a team of at least twenty people to enter. If you were lucky, you might be able to get a griffon egg or a griffon cub, which were the flying mounts that players dreamed of.

Griffons, Wind Serpents, and Dragon Flies were considered relatively high-level existences. As for Phoenixes and Dragons, they only existed in legends, and no one had ever really obtained a Phoenix or a Dragon.

These maps were all located on the edge of the Greenland Empire and the Saturn Empire, belonging to a no man's land. No country could incorporate these places into its territory. He remembered that in his previous life, after the Griffon Woodlands opened, countless guilds began to form teams and head to the Griffon Woodlands to explore. Many teams failed miserably, but he heard that some teams had obtained good things. When the Triumph Empire's team went to the Griffon Woodlands, they obtained a griffon cub, which caused the entire Triumph Empire to boil over.

Even if they were constantly wiped out and returned, the powerful lure of flying mounts still constantly attracted these guilds to go one after another.

He was going to the Griffon Woodlands. A strange light flashed in Nie Yan's eyes. He wondered if the major mage guilds had started selling Mist Dispelling Scrolls yet.

In his previous life, the major mage guilds had begun selling Mist Dispelling Scrolls some time before the Griffon Woodlands opened.

The Mist Dispelling Scroll belonged to a relatively special type of scroll. Its use was very singular, but its effective range was very large. By taking a Mist Dispelling Scroll and having five archmages cast spells, the mist within a radius of 3,000 yards could be dispelled for six hours. Generally, by searching the various rooms of the Mage Guild, you could find an inconspicuous archmage in charge of selling Mist Dispelling Scrolls. Unless players actively talked to him, they wouldn't know what he was selling. After talking to him, he would introduce you to the use and price of the Mist Dispelling Scroll.

In his previous life, when the Mist Dispelling Scrolls were first sold, players shook their heads and walked away after seeing them. Such a broken scroll actually sold for a high price of 500 gold coins. It was simply a rip-off. It wasn't until later, after players became familiar with the Griffon Woodlands副本 (fu ben - instance dungeon), that they became familiar with the Mist Dispelling Scrolls. The Griffon Woodlands was full of mist, and without Mist Dispelling Scrolls, it was simply impossible to move an inch. At that time, the Mage Guilds in each city would only produce five Mist Dispelling Scrolls at 12:00 every five days. Because there were too few scrolls for too many players, many guilds were vying for them. As soon as they appeared, they were snapped up, and they were simply not enough. Almost every day, players from major guilds would squat in the Mage Guild, just to buy a Mist Dispelling Scroll so they could go to the Griffon Woodlands!