Chapter 1 The Forum

Nie Yan noticed the forum. He hadn't expected to see a video of himself. It seemed his earlier feeling wasn't wrong; there really was a thief approaching him. He looked around, but didn't see anything. The other party was hiding pretty well. However, Nie Yan didn't pay it any mind.

To him, anyone who wasn't a thief of Sun or Wangzhe Tianxia's caliber was just an ant.

Nie Yan was confident they couldn't even get within thirty yards of him! The Frost Aura alone would probably kill them.

*Boom, boom, boom.* The heavy sound of ice storms and the shattering of ice echoed in the air like rolling drums, reverberating again and again.

After a while, another Shadow Demon King roared skyward before crashing heavily to the ground, collapsing among a pile of bones.

*Ding!* A system notification sounded, and a white light fell on Nie Yan, leveling him up!

Nie Yan was overjoyed. He was only a hair's breadth away from Level 200, and killing this Shadow Demon King was just enough to level him.

It had only been a little over three months since he returned to the game. Nie Yan never imagined his leveling speed would be so fast. He thought about it. Whether it was the Dark Death Domain quest or the Light and Dark Sacred Dragon, it was all thanks to the foundation he'd built up in the past. Without those, he definitely wouldn't have achieved what he had today.

Nie Yan picked up the items dropped by the Shadow Demon King. It was a fragment of the Death God's Finger Bone. A strange feeling suddenly rose in his heart, and his expression turned cold. He snorted.

Yu Jian, hiding behind a pile of bones, wanted to jump out several times to snatch the items dropped by the Shadow Demon King. Feeling the surrounding temperature suddenly drop, he gave a wry smile. Thinking about it, the guy in front was so terrifyingly strong that trying to snatch something from his hands was like snatching food from a tiger's mouth. Although the items dropped by a Level 210 Shadow Demon King were definitely good, you had to be alive to take them! So, in the end, he didn't dare to go up and snatch them.

"Eye of Truth!"

Nie Yan coldly shouted, his eyes turning into two beams of red light.

Feeling Nie Yan's substantial gaze sweeping towards him, Yu Jian's heart sank. He shouted in the team chat, "Let's go!"

Yu Jian and Fei Yin on the other side moved their right hands, using a random teleportation scroll. Two beams of white light flashed, and they disappeared from the spot.

Those two guys were quite sensible. Nie Yan withdrew his gaze. If those two thieves continued to stay here, he would definitely send them back! The fact that they were willing to leave on their own saved him a lot of trouble.

Nie Yan continued to concentrate on grinding monsters in place. The experience points from the Shadow Demon Kings were much more than he'd imagined. He estimated that killing all the Shadow Demon Kings here would at least get him to Level 202!

The five-month agreement had only passed halfway!

In five months, Nie Yan would personally go to the Graveyard of the Dead to duel with Duo Duo. However, he understood that the one fighting him then would definitely not be just Duo Duo alone, and Duo Duo would definitely have some deadly tricks up his sleeve. So, he had to have absolute certainty of winning. Level was a very important component of strength.

For the glory of the Niu Ren Tribe, he absolutely couldn't afford to make any mistakes!

Since those two thieves had already discovered this place, there might be more people coming, so he had to speed up. Fortunately, players from the Dark Faction couldn't enter. Otherwise, if Duo Duo knew someone was grinding Level 210 Demonified Lords here, whether it was him or someone else, he would definitely send people to intercept them by any means possible!

Although Nie Yan wasn't afraid of them, his leveling speed would definitely be much slower.

Just as Nie Yan was focusing on grinding Shadow Demon Kings, an Elf Elementalist wearing an Azure Void Robe and holding a Solanda's Void Staff appeared in the Dark Death Domain. He was alone, without joining any team.

Seeing the Elementalist's appearance, the players on the periphery couldn't help but be stunned.

"Isn't that Elementalist Feng Ming?"

"It seems so. Why is he here alone?"

Although Feng Ming was alone, no one around dared to underestimate him. He was one of the two great mages on par with Yao Zi!

Feng Ming didn't pay attention to the players' discussions. He used the Blink skill, teleporting away, and in a moment, he was five or six hundred yards away, disappearing from the sight of the players behind him. The surrounding players exclaimed in admiration. What amazing speed!

He treated the monsters here as if they were nothing, searching in the Dark Death Domain.

After spending a full five hours, Feng Ming looked into the distance. Some huge monsters appeared in his sight, Level 210 Demonified Lord-class Shadow Demon Kings!

That's them! Crazy Thief Nie Yan should be nearby!

Feng Ming estimated that with his strength, he could solo a Level 210 Demonified Lord, but he definitely couldn't reach Nie Yan's effortless level. Nie Yan's strength was indeed very strong. But precisely because Nie Yan was very strong, he wanted to challenge Nie Yan. If it was just an opponent of comparable strength, he wouldn't even have the desire to challenge them!

Feng Ming was a strange person. The more he encountered unbeatable opponents, the more he could display amazing strength, winning with weakness.

Only by challenging those strong people could he constantly improve!

Since becoming the number one mage of the Satreen Empire, he hadn't found an opponent for a long time, and he felt a lonely emptiness at the top.

The only regret Feng Ming had was that he wanted to challenge Crazy Thief Nie Yan before, but he never had the chance. In the three years that Nie Yan disappeared, he felt empty, as if his life had lost some meaning. Until Nie Yan returned to the game, he felt the fighting spirit in his heart burning once again. Because he knew that the former Crazy Thief Nie Yan would return sooner or later. A master like Nie Yan would never be content with loneliness. Some people are destined to make a name for themselves, and Crazy Thief Nie Yan was that kind of person! But even he didn't expect Nie Yan to be so fierce, and in such a short period of time, he had achieved such amazing strength!

Feng Ming teleported a few more times, looking around. A cry of sorrow came from the distance.

Feng Ming raised an eyebrow. Crazy Thief Nie Yan was over there. He activated Blink and quickly swept over.

Nie Yan killed a Shadow Demon King and continued to deal with another one. Suddenly, he felt something and looked into the distance. A figure was flying towards him.

The figure looked somewhat familiar. After returning to the game, Nie Yan had watched a lot of videos in the Black Flame Space to study PK skills, including Feng Ming's, so he was somewhat familiar with Feng Ming. However, because the distance was too far, Nie Yan didn't recognize him.

It's a mage! Nie Yan's expression turned grim. If the other party used magic to interfere with his monster grinding, then he could only kill that mage!

Feng Ming stopped about two hundred yards away from Nie Yan. Seeing Nie Yan dealing with a Shadow Demon King, he stopped and didn't raise his staff to attack, but waited quietly to the side. This was the area where Shadow Demon Kings were active, so ordinary undead creatures didn't dare to approach, and the surrounding area was very empty.

Seeing that Feng Ming didn't move, Nie Yan knew that the other party had no malice, so he focused on dealing with the Shadow Demon King. After fifteen minutes, another Shadow Demon King fell to the ground.

Seeing that Nie Yan was finished, Feng Ming walked towards Nie Yan.

In the dim light, Nie Yan finally saw Feng Ming's appearance clearly. He was slightly surprised. Why would he be here?

"Hello, my name is Feng Ming." Feng Ming felt the cold aura emanating from Nie Yan, as if he was about to be frozen. He stopped about fifty yards away from Nie Yan and spoke.

Nie Yan nodded and said, "I recognize you."

"I know you're Crazy Thief Nie Yan. I want to fight you, here, to decide the victor." A strong fighting spirit surged in Feng Ming's eyes. The person in front of him was indeed Crazy Thief Nie Yan!

"Not interested." Nie Yan said somewhat boringly. So, Feng Ming had rushed over just to PK with him. If he hadn't advanced to Legendary, he might have seriously fought with Feng Ming. But now that he had advanced to Legendary, he had a full set of Divine-grade Void equipment, and he could see that Feng Ming hadn't advanced to Legendary. The difference in strength between the two sides was too great.

Feng Ming paused. He didn't expect Nie Yan to give such an answer. He couldn't help but feel a little sad and indignant. So what if you're Crazy Thief Nie Yan? There's no need to look down on people like that.

"If you don't defeat me, you won't be able to grind monsters here in peace!" Feng Ming said in a deep voice. Only this method could make Crazy Thief Nie Yan fight him with all his strength!

"You're not my opponent. You should go back and come again after you advance to Legendary." Nie Yan shook his head. Although Feng Ming was the number one mage of the Satreen Empire, since advancing to Legendary, Nie Yan could clearly feel that the difference between top-tier classes and Legendary was not just a little bit. Now that Feng Ming was challenging him, he couldn't pose any threat to him at all.

Hearing Nie Yan's words, Feng Ming's breathing stagnated. Could it be that Nie Yan had already advanced to Legendary? He looked at Nie Yan in disbelief. How was that possible? How much time had he been in the game? How could he have completed the Legendary advancement quest faster than all of them!

Crazy Thief Nie Yan, the undefeated myth of the past, there was definitely a reason for it. A trace of dejection flashed in Feng Ming's heart. Was Legendary really that strong? Did he not even have a chance to win?

Looking at Nie Yan, his expression became firm. He raised the staff in his right hand and pointed it at Nie Yan, "I didn't expect you to advance to Legendary so quickly. Although I know you're very strong and I can't win against you, no matter what, I still want to try. Fighting you is my dream for the past three years."

Looking at Feng Ming's firm expression, Nie Yan's heart stirred. No wonder this guy could become the number one mage of the Satreen Empire. There was a reason for it.

"Then come on." Nie Yan said lightly.

A divine light suddenly flashed in Feng Ming's eyes. He cast Elemental Judgment with Solanda's Void Staff in his right hand.

Instantly, six hurricanes formed out of thin air around Feng Ming, sweeping towards Nie Yan's direction. It was a powerful group attack magic, and it was instant!