Chapter 1 The Approach of Death

Death crept closer. A chilling glint flashed in Nie Yan’s eyes. He retreated swiftly, watching the ice wolf's claws grow ever closer to his neck. At the moment of contact with death, he executed a Shadow Dance, his movements as swift as the wind, narrowly avoiding the ice wolf.

Nie Yan’s body vanished like a phantom.

The ice wolf missed its strike and landed on the ground. It quickly stopped and turned, searching for Nie Yan’s trail.

Nie Yan retreated a short distance and, instead of attacking the ice wolf, raised his crossbow and fired at the golden earth dragon.

Five arrows shot through the air, hitting the golden earth dragon with a series of *thwack* sounds.

The ice wolf pounced on Nie Yan again.

Nie Yan dashed away, evading the ice wolf.

Because Nie Yan’s attacks inflicted high damage, the golden earth dragon’s attention was drawn to him again. It roared in fury and unleashed a torrent of dragon breath.

Seeing the dragon breath, Nie Yan paused slightly.

The ice wolf leaped high into the air, lunging at Nie Yan. A muffled explosion rang out, like a thunderclap in the sky, as the dragon breath engulfed the ice wolf. The immensely powerful dragon breath blasted the ice wolf into fragments, scattering beautiful ice flowers that shimmered with a myriad of colors in the sunlight.

It was like a magnificent fireworks display.

The ice wolf was annihilated by the dragon breath!

Seeing the ice wolf struck by the dragon breath, Nie Yan smiled with satisfaction. *Well done.*

If Nie Yan had to engage in close combat with this ice wolf, it would have taken him a long time to kill it. What’s more, Ye Po Shen Gun was watching like a hawk. If a real fight broke out, it was hard to say who would win.

Nie Yan had used the golden earth dragon’s dragon breath to easily eliminate the ice wolf.

Now he was free to deal with Ye Po Shen Gun.

Ye Po Shen Gun was shocked to see the ice wolf destroyed. It was as if everything was happening under Nie Yan's control. Nie Yan's timing and positioning were exquisite to the extreme. He didn’t even have time to command the ice wolf to retreat.

Seeing the brilliant rain of ice that the ice wolf became, the guild leaders were speechless. *This is possible?* They had thought Nie Yan was doomed when they saw the ice wolf pounce, but the situation had suddenly reversed.

Besides skill, a flexible mind and keen insight were also crucial to becoming a master. Aside from one's own strength, one must also learn to seize opportunities, like Nie Yan, who utilized everything around him.

Using the golden earth dragon’s dragon breath to deal with the ice wolf was truly ingenious.

The guild leaders saw a blur as Nie Yan charged toward Ye Po Shen Gun. All eyes were focused on him.

They wanted to see how Nie Yan would continue his legend and kill Ye Po Shen Gun on the spot.

Before, they thought it was impossible for Nie Yan to kill Ye Po Shen Gun, but now they weren’t so sure. Nie Yan might really send Ye Po Shen Gun to the graveyard.

At this moment, the players of Holy Empire also felt immense pressure. Warriors and paladins surrounded Ye Po Shen Gun, forming an impenetrable barrier.

There was no way for Nie Yan to squeeze through. They wanted to see how Nie Yan would break in.

Eye of Divinity!

Eye of Divinity!

Divine light erupted from the eyes of the paladins as they tried to lock onto Nie Yan's position.

The priests’ Lights of Illumination soared into the sky. Nie Yan was too fast; they couldn't mark him in time.

Nie Yan had long understood the characteristics of the Light of Illumination and used the shadows of the surrounding obstacles to avoid being illuminated. As long as he wasn’t exposed to the Light of Illumination for more than three seconds, he wouldn't be marked by the priests.

Priests who could mark a target within three seconds were considered experts.

Dai Tou Da Ge Qi Zai held the record for Light of Illumination marking time at around 2.6 seconds, Shi Li Hua Sha at 2.7 seconds, and the rest were slightly weaker, with Hei Se Tian Tang and Yue Er Ya around 3.1 seconds. Everyone had their own strengths. Dai Tou Da Ge Qi Zai and Shi Li Hua Sha were better at PK.

Ordinary priests generally took four seconds or more to mark a target. The priests of Holy Empire were clearly not on the same level as Dai Tou Da Ge Qi Zai and Shi Li Hua Sha, so Nie Yan could easily evade their marks.

Seeing the defense as thick as copper walls and iron bastions, Nie Yan couldn't help but sneer. *Did they think this would be enough?*

A Light of Illumination flew across the sky, showering down white light. Nie Yan was exposed in the white light for about two seconds when an ice spike suddenly shot up from the ground, as fast as lightning.

With his keen reflexes, Nie Yan rolled away.

Then, one ice spike after another, endlessly and at a rapid pace, erupted from the ground. Ye Po Shen Gun wanted to kill Nie Yan directly in this way.

At this moment, Nie Yan also felt the threat of death. He jumped and rolled continuously. Wherever he passed, dense, frigid ice spikes pierced upward from the ground. Suddenly, an ice spike grew in front of him. He was about to collide with it. If he was hit and stopped for even a second, he would be stabbed to death by the endless ice spikes.

This was the terrifying aspect of Ye Po Shen Gun's skill.

Nie Yan quickened the pace of his feet, turned, and narrowly avoided the frigid ice spike. He could even feel the frigid ice spike brush against his back, sending a chill down his spine.

As he dodged Ye Po Shen Gun, Nie Yan suddenly had some insights. It was useless to blindly pursue speed when dodging. This would fall into Ye Po Shen Gun’s predictions. Ye Po Shen Gun could predict his escape direction in advance and then attack with frigid ice spikes. The pace of his feet began to become unpredictable, constantly changing the direction of his run, quickly closing in on Ye Po Shen Gun.

The two were about twenty yards apart. The area within about ten yards of Ye Po Shen Gun was filled with players from Holy Empire.

Ye Po Shen Gun, who was attacking Nie Yan with frigid ice spikes, made several mistakes in a row. He was slightly startled. He was increasingly unable to determine Nie Yan's position and didn't know where to attack.

Nie Yan calculated the golden earth dragon's attack interval, which happened to be the moment when the golden earth dragon spewed out its dragon breath.

Nie Yan quickly approached the warriors and paladins forming the wall in front of Ye Po Shen Gun.

"He's there!"

"There!" the paladins called out Nie Yan's position.

Nie Yan just flashed past, too fast.

Lights of Illumination flew up, exposing Nie Yan's position. They were about to raise their staffs to mark Nie Yan when something shocking happened. The golden earth dragon opened its mouth and spewed a scorching dragon breath at them.

"Run!"

"Damn, it's dragon breath!"

The people of Holy Empire cried out in alarm, scattering in panic.

Ye Po Shen Gun's brow furrowed slightly, and he quickly retreated a long distance. Thanks to the Haste effect, he retreated quickly.

With a *boom*, the dragon breath exploded in the crowd of Holy Empire, sending rubble and flames flying, sweeping away a large area and killing more than twenty people.

A gap was immediately blasted open in the ranks of Holy Empire.

The scene was chaotic!

The golden earth dragon charged over, and the players of Holy Empire were immediately doomed. The people who had finally gathered were scattered again by the golden earth dragon and could not be organized at all.

To avoid the golden earth dragon, Ye Po Shen Gun had to retreat to an open space.

His Divine Magic and Magic Burning were about to end. He felt a strong sense of irritability in his heart.

Looking into the distance, he saw Nie Yan give him a cold smile in the open space and then enter Stealth.

Without the protection of the wall of people, it was now one-on-one.

Seeing Nie Yan disappear, Ye Po Shen Gun’s heart trembled. He finally felt the immense pressure, the threat from Nie Yan!

He remembered Nie Yan's cruel smile on the treetop, the chilling killing intent that made him shudder.

Death quietly approached.

In just a moment, he suddenly felt a strong sense of crisis coming from behind. *This guy is so fast!*

Ye Po Shen Gun waved his staff and cast a Dispel.

He looked behind him, but where was Nie Yan?

He had been tricked into using a Dispel!

Nie Yan smiled slightly in the shadows in the distance. His psychological warfare against Ye Po Shen Gun had taken effect. He wanted to use this resolute and unmatched aura to make the enemy fear from the bottom of their hearts. Fear would often lead them to make wrong judgments, leading to mistakes.

Even the strongest people had weaknesses.

Ye Po Shen Gun's weakness was that he cared too much about success or failure. Once he failed, it would be a heavy blow to Holy Empire. Therefore, in times of crisis, he could no longer be as calm as usual.

As for Nie Yan, he had been reborn twice and had long seen through these things. What did temporary success or failure matter? The most important thing for a person was that indomitable spirit! With this spirit, even if one was stepped on, they could get up and punch the other person. Nie Yan had endured for so many years in his previous life, paralyzing Cao Xu before finally shooting him. If he couldn't even bear a little failure, Nie Yan would have lived these two lives in vain.

Even in the most dangerous situations, Nie Yan could maintain absolute composure. This was one of the important reasons why Nie Yan's skills had improved so much in this life.

Nie Yan constantly provoked Ye Po Shen Gun from the side, making feints from time to time. Ye Po Shen Gun's nerves were stretched to the extreme, and he would use a skill at the slightest disturbance.

As the two were fighting, the golden earth dragon let out a low roar. Under the dense attacks of the surrounding mages, the golden earth dragon's health finally reached its limit. It let out a shrill scream, and its heavy body crashed down, sending dust flying with a deafening *boom*.

"The golden earth dragon is dead!"

"Quick, grab the equipment!"
Fa Biao De Wo Niu