Chapter 1 Arriving in the Evening

That evening, Nie Yan and Xie Yao once again entered the game. Nie Yan wanted to use the Glorious Gems to enhance some of the special items he had on hand. After mentioning it to Guo Huai, news came back that Sun was doing the quest for the Master Gem Craftsman, Paget. Once Sun completed the quest, he could use gem-related items at Paget's to improve equipment quality and enjoy certain discounts.

Nie Yan thought about it and decided to wait. The effects that a Master Gem Craftsman could achieve were completely different from those of an ordinary Advanced Gem Craftsman. He wanted to maximize the effects of these five Glorious Gems and couldn't afford to waste them. Those special items were his treasures, and the better their attributes, the greater their future impact would be.

Nie Yan's equipment had become more complete than before, and he could now do things that were more beneficial to the guild. Nie Yan thought of the Ironclad Trebuchet!

The combat power of the Ironclad Trebuchet was quite astonishing and very important in guild wars. Usually, players would first obtain a Level 1 Ironclad Trebuchet Blueprint, and the guild's mechanics would continuously improve it to advance it to a higher level Ironclad Trebuchet, somewhat like the Goblin Arcane Fire Cannon.

Ironclad Trebuchets could only be used on plains, as they moved on wooden wheels and couldn't advance on rugged mountain roads. This limited the Trebuchet's use to some extent. Furthermore, since Ironclad Trebuchets were mechanical units, monsters killed by them didn't grant experience, and the equipment drop rate was extremely low; they practically didn't drop anything. Therefore, Ironclad Trebuchets were generally not used for grinding. However, on the battlefield, these Ironclad Trebuchets were incredibly powerful until players reached Level 100, their defenses greatly increased, and a large number of top-tier classes emerged. Only then did the role of these Ironclad Trebuchets on the battlefield slowly diminish.

Nie Yan suddenly remembered a place that had produced an Ironclad Trebuchet Blueprint, and the Ironclad Trebuchet created from that blueprint was more advanced than the one Bloodlust Blades had obtained—the rare Frost Ironclad Trebuchet!

Ordinary Ironclad Trebuchets would inflict some fire-type damage with each shell they launched, but the Frost Ironclad Trebuchet would launch a hail of ice projectiles, freezing all units in the surrounding area. The Frost Ironclad Trebuchet was also much more formidable against large creatures than the ordinary Ironclad Trebuchet.

Before Level 100, building one or two of these trebuchets would be a killing machine on the battlefield. Especially during this period, when the war between the War God Tribe and the Tuoba Family was in full swing, a few more Frost Ironclad Trebuchets would guarantee victory for the War God Tribe.

Although Nie Yan knew the location of the Frost Ironclad Trebuchet Blueprint, he didn't dare to go get it before. The reason was simple: his level was too low and his equipment was too poor. Now, he barely met the requirements and could try. If it really didn't work, he could still use a Random Teleportation Scroll to escape.

Nie Yan teleported to the Soaring Wind Town and bought ten scrolls, including two Intermediate Spider Web Scrolls, three Advanced Entangling Vine Scrolls, and five Intermediate Hate Dissipation Scrolls. He should be able to use all of these. In addition, Nie Yan went to the Starry Sky Pharmacy to get a few bottles of Advanced Instant Recovery Potions and Advanced Ice Resistance Potions to prepare for his upcoming adventure.

With everything ready, Nie Yan told Guo Huai and the others that even if he went to find the Frost Ironclad Trebuchet Blueprint, he could still remotely command the guild's affairs.

Nie Yan left Calore City, summoned Faulkner's Warhorse, and galloped north. The distant mountains were layered upon layered. Nie Yan rode across the wilderness.

Some ordinary players who saw Nie Yan's signature Faulkner's Warhorse had a change of opinion about Nirvana Guild and Nie Yan. Before, Nie Yan was just the chairman of the most powerful guild in Calore City, but now, Nie Yan was practically the master of Calore City!

These ordinary players who wanted to develop in Calore City had to depend on Nie Yan. No one dared to talk about chasing Nie Yan down to steal his equipment anymore; that was simply a death wish. Nie Yan could casually summon a bunch of people to trample them into the ground forever. Although Nie Yan wouldn't do such a thing, it was a powerful deterrent to ordinary players.

He rode past the open grassland, entering the Level 90 area. In the distance, countless white tents stretched across the grassland, with a two-story building in the middle, about three yards high. The circular gold dome shone brightly in the sunlight; this was the Bloodshadow Legion's base.

On the Calonus Plains, there was a group of heretics who had abandoned the faith of the Holy Light. They were dark apostles who lived by plundering the nomadic inhabitants of the plains and were regarded as evil. Their leader was a Level 90 Lord, the Evil Bloodshadow Warrior Philbrazer.

Sometimes, he would even summon some low-level Bloodshadow Bone Dragons, which were extremely powerful. In addition, next to the building in the center of the Bloodshadow Legion's base, there were seven Frost Ironclad Trebuchets. If players came in groups, these seven Frost Ironclad Trebuchets would often inflict heavy losses on them.

The Temple of Light would often send Holy Knights to besiege the Bloodshadow Legion, having annihilated the Bloodshadow Legion several times, but they had always risen from the ashes and reassembled. In the Temple of Light, there were special Holy Knight quests to kill members of the Bloodshadow Legion. Each time a member of the Bloodshadow Legion was killed, a certain amount of Honor Points could be obtained.

Nie Yan wasn't a Holy Knight, so naturally he couldn't accept those quests. However, if he could obtain the Evil Orb held by the Bloodshadow Legion leader, Philbrazer, he could also receive rewards from the Temple of Light. It was said that the reward was the Holy Blessing. After receiving the Holy Blessing, if he could also advance to Shadow Dancer, he would become a powerful Saint Shadow Dancer.

The difference between a Saint Shadow Dancer and an ordinary Shadow Dancer was that they could cast blessings on themselves and use some more powerful divine spells. In the previous timeline, someone did complete this quest; he became the only Saint Shadow Dancer among all Shadow Dancers. That person was a thief named Smiling. According to the progress in the previous timeline, at this time, that Saint Shadow Dancer named Smiling hadn't entered the game yet.

Nie Yan's appearance had disrupted the game's progress. In the previous timeline, at this time, players' levels were at most in their thirties or forties, but now, there were already players in their fifties and sixties everywhere. This was the impact of the opening of the Sealed History. The impact he had created spread like a butterfly effect. Many people became stronger, and some people left the stage of the strong. He changed many players and changed the pattern of the entire Greenland Empire. He wondered when that thief named Smiling would appear.

If Nie Yan could obtain the Evil Orb, then he would also inevitably change the game path of that Saint Shadow Dancer.

Nie Yan slowly approached the tent area. Several patrolling Bloodshadow Legion guards passed by about ten yards away from Nie Yan. They wore bright red tight-fitting suits, held dark red greatswords, and exuded a bloody aura. They were mad slaughterers.

Nie Yan cast an Identify spell on one of the Bloodshadow Legion guards.

Bloodshadow Warrior: Level 90, HP 32000/32000.

These Bloodshadow Warriors had very fierce attacks. During battle, they would also cast Berserk on themselves, greatly increasing their attacks, and their attacks had lifesteal, making them extremely difficult to deal with. However, one good thing was that although the Bloodshadow Warriors were humanoid creatures, their intelligence was low. Only their leader, Philbrazer, was a slightly more intelligent Intermediate Intelligence creature with stronger thinking abilities.

However, Nie Yan wouldn't get entangled with these Bloodshadow Warriors. His only goal was the Frost Ironclad Trebuchet Blueprint and the Evil Orb.

This quest was a bit difficult for him at the moment, but it wasn't impossible.

Nie Yan looked towards the tent area. There were some walls set up in front, and things like magic guide cannons were also placed there. The dark muzzles of the cannons were aimed at the plain outside. The defenses here were obviously very strong. If a large group of players came over, they would first have to endure a few volleys of cannon fire.

Nie Yan dodged a few Bloodshadow Warriors who were walking over and reached the wall outside the tent area. With a leap, he grabbed the top of the wall, flipped over, and jumped inside.

He hid behind a tent and gradually felt his way towards the center of this tent area.

In the open space between the tents ahead, there were six wooden poles inserted into the ground. These wooden poles were about one yard high, and six small red flags fluttered on them. The flags depicted some mysterious red patterns. These were the Bloodshadow Legion's most famous and notorious items, the Bloodshadow Totems!

Players had some special methods to remove the Bloodshadow Totems, but if they triggered the Bloodshadow Totems and detonated them, that would be depressing. These Bloodshadow Totems would explode, creating a blood splatter effect. Any players who came into contact with those things would suffer a powerful Corpse Rot effect, drastically reducing their health and defense. Nie Yan had experienced the power of these things in his previous life, when he followed two Level 100, 100-man groups to clear monsters here. At that time, he was a very ordinary mercenary. As a result, those two Level 100, 100-man groups were wiped out, leaving only a few dozen people, suffering heavy losses. Only when the leader obtained the Frost Ironclad Trebuchet Blueprint at the end did they manage to recover some losses. Eighty to ninety percent of over two hundred people were killed. One could imagine how tragic the scene was.

Nie Yan could be said to have some understanding of this map; otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to come alone.

Hearing some movement in the distance, Nie Yan quickly hid in the shadows of a tent corner.

After a while, a team of more than twenty Bloodshadow Warriors walked across the open space. They scanned with their eyes, didn't find Nie Yan in the corner of the tent, and slowly walked into the distance.