Chapter 1 The Ancient City

The ancient city walls were covered in mottled marks, many sections collapsed into ruins, vaguely telling of history's desolation.

This was a square-shaped ancient city, covering an area of about 5000 by 5000 yards, faintly visible its former grandeur. In his past life, the Triumph Empire first breached this intermediate fortress, cleared out the monsters inside, then completely destroyed the city walls and rebuilt the city.

The glory of Cripps Fortress in his past life was a commercial miracle, astonishing everyone.

Nie Yan had to make himself and the Niuren Tribe constantly stronger so that in the future, when facing the Century Financial Group, they would have more bargaining chips. Cripps Fortress was a must-have in his hands.

In this life, the Century Financial Group had withdrawn most of its funds from the Greenland Empire, instead focusing all its energy on Angel Corps, but it still made Nie Yan feel some sense of crisis. This super capital behemoth's energy in the virtual industry was not something any financial group or anyone could underestimate.

Nie Yan, riding Faulkner's Warhorse, arrived outside Cripps Fortress like a gust of wind. He jumped off his horse and looked towards Cripps Fortress. There were many buildings inside this fortress, very complex. To thoroughly explore such a fortress was not an easy task.

Nie Yan walked towards the distance, entering Cripps Fortress. Inside the fortress was a street paved with bluestone, very wide, a hundred yards across, capable of accommodating hundreds of people advancing together. On both sides were some dilapidated shops, faintly imaginable Cripps' former prosperity.

Some swordsmen wearing black armor roamed the streets.

Phantom Swordsman: Level 50 Elite, Health 35000/35000.

Even the most ordinary monsters in the fortress were elite level, and lord-level ones were not uncommon. There would also be a small number of super-mutated or demonized lords. When encountering these super-strong monsters, the only way to deal with them was to use numbers!

Nie Yan entered stealth and sneaked into the fortress. Inside the fortress, wide roads crisscrossed, and occasionally there would be one or two small squares, where five or six hundred people could deploy together. These places were often occupied by some lord-level Bosses, ranging from levels 50 to 60.

Nie Yan marked each street and Boss spawn point, starting to create a map, marking all places where lord-level Bosses appeared. His stealth and hiding abilities were very strong. Along the way, no monster discovered his踪迹.

He continued towards the center of Cripps, avoiding the Phantom Swordsmen on the street. Walking along a dilapidated street, a golden treasure chest came into his view not far away. This golden treasure chest was placed in the corner of the street, with a Phantom Swordsman wandering nearby.

There was only one Phantom Swordsman, so dealing with it shouldn't be a problem, Nie Yan couldn't help but think. He definitely had to get this treasure chest.

Nie Yan crept towards the back of the Phantom Swordsman.

The Phantom Swordsman wandered, stopping from time to time, looking around, then resuming his roaming state.

Level 50 elites, especially humanoids, had very high perception.

Nie Yan was very careful, slowly approaching behind the Phantom Swordsman. He adjusted the direction of the Zennarde's Sword in his hand, suddenly jumped up, his body bursting forth, and pounced towards the back of the Phantom Swordsman. He thrust Zennarde's Sword at the back of the Phantom Swordsman's head in a backstab.

Nie Yan was extremely fast, pouncing down with lightning speed. The Zennarde's Sword in his hand was about to hit the Phantom Swordsman.

Just then, a golden light suddenly bloomed on the Phantom Swordsman.

Nie Yan's Zennarde's Sword stabbed into the back of the Phantom Swordsman's head, but the Phantom Swordsman did not faint as expected. Instead, he unleashed a Whirlwind Slash.

Nie Yan was startled. He didn't expect the Phantom Swordsman's combat ability to be so strong. He quickly parried, and with a clang, he was knocked back several steps by the huge force from the dagger, an 800+ damage value floating above his head.

After knocking Nie Yan back, the Phantom Swordsman pounced again.

Nie Yan cast an Obsidian Shield on himself and retreated quickly.

The Phantom Swordsman slashed down, the sword light bursting forth.

Nie Yan moved his foot and countered with a Backstab!

His footwork was not very flexible, the footwork for Backstab was difficult to control. At this time, the Phantom Swordsman had already struck, hitting Nie Yan with a bang. The Obsidian Shield on Nie Yan's body trembled, and a 300+ damage value floated above his head.

Regarding Backstab, casting this skill was a bit difficult, as if there was some trick to it. Otherwise, the movements would be disjointed, and casting it poorly would easily cause the skill to fail.

The Phantom Swordsman pursued relentlessly, unleashing another Cleave, chopping down at Nie Yan.

Nie Yan used Gale Step, blocking the Phantom Swordsman's attack, and then stunned the Phantom Swordsman's head with a Dagger Strike from his right hand.

The dagger hit, and the Phantom Swordsman fell into a stunned state. Nie Yan went behind the Phantom Swordsman and used a Backstab and an Eviscerate, causing blood to pour out of the Phantom Swordsman's back.

-539, -538, -288, -100.....

Damage values floated above the Phantom Swordsman's head. He unleashed his skills fiercely, continuously dealing damage to the Phantom Swordsman.

Just as the Phantom Swordsman was about to wake up, Nie Yan detonated him from behind, and with a bang, the Phantom Swordsman was blasted away and fell to the ground, struggling for a long time before getting up.

The Phantom Swordsman adjusted himself and charged towards Nie Yan again.

To avoid attracting other Phantom Swordsmen as well, Nie Yan could not use items that made too much noise, such as Flash Dust. Seeing the Phantom Swordsman approaching again, he activated Gale Retreat, quickly retreating.

This area was too small. Running too far would alert other monsters. Nie Yan had no choice but to grit his teeth and fight the Phantom Swordsman head-on.

Seeing the Phantom Swordsman pounce forward, Nie Yan moved his foot.

Shadow Rend!

His footsteps flashed to the side, and his body transformed into several afterimages. He barely managed another sidestep, and with a slash of Zennarde's Sword in his hand, he cut across the Phantom Swordsman's neck, causing blood to splatter.

The Phantom Swordsman's attack still hit Nie Yan, but it was deflected, dealing 239 damage to Nie Yan.

System: Shadow Rend completed 35%, dealing 52% attack damage, releasing 0 combo points.

Every free skill often has some unique techniques. Before mastering the techniques, even Shadow Dancer-level experts cannot cast them smoothly. Nie Yan's first casting was already very good.

So cold... staying up all night is too tragic.