Chapter 1 They've Started

Nie Yan glanced towards the lakeside. It seemed they had already begun.

The murloc tribe was under attack by the Triumphant Empire guild. Only then did the murlocs surrounding Nie Yan abandon him to return to their tribe to defend it. He never expected that the people from the Triumphant Empire guild would save his life. This world was truly wondrous.

With all the murlocs gone, the area was safe. Nie Yan quickened his search for treasure chests and finally found another one among the dense aquatic plants—a white treasure chest.

The surrounding scenery overlapped perfectly with everything in his memories. This was the place!

Nie Yan opened the chest and rummaged inside, pulling out a skill book. It was a Gathering skill book. He crushed the skill book into white light with his hand, and a new skill appeared in his auxiliary skill bar: Gathering.

A good harvest. He wondered if there were any other treasure chests nearby, but continuing to search like this was too much of a waste of time. In any case, he knew the locations of many other treasure chests. Once he leveled up, he could retrieve them at any time.

Nie Yan swam forward, weaving between the aquatic plants, avoiding monsters from afar. After about ten minutes, Nie Yan spotted an island in the center of Lake Ranidor. Only then did he swim towards the surface.

System: You have discovered Heart of the Lake Island.

Nie Yan went ashore and checked the coordinates. It was nearby. He searched with his eyes and spotted a person sitting on the shore, fishing.

It was a very strange NPC, an old man, who would ask every player who encountered him to find fine silk (jing si). Each roll of fine silk could be exchanged for a piece of silk cloth.

The selling price of fine silk at the NPC was three copper coins, while the selling price of silk cloth was two copper coins. Calculated this way, there would be a price difference. After the exchange, this NPC old man would not give the player any compensation.

Many players had done this quest, but they were always at a loss, never receiving any reward.

In his previous life, Nie Yan had also done this quest. After handing in five fine silk, he didn't continue the quest. Exchanging fine silk for silk cloth was really not worth it.

Later, some people didn't believe it and kept handing in fine silk until they had submitted thirty pieces before they received the quest reward. The NPC would teach a Combat Bandage skill, and it would immediately be the Intermediate Bandage skill. When the news broke, the players were in an uproar and rushed to accept the quest, but the NPC was already gone.

There were water spiders nearby that produced fine silk. They were Level 3 monsters, and farming thirty fine silk would take about three days. He could level up while farming water spiders to collect quest items. Exchanging thirty fine silk for thirty silk cloth would only lose him thirty copper coins, which was insignificant compared to the Intermediate Combat Bandage skill.

Nie Yan walked towards the old man.

"Every year at this time, Hilton Fortress welcomes a batch of magical creatures from the distant underground. The warriors guarding the fortress have sacrificed countless blood and lives to protect this vibrant land. The wounded always spend every day and night in pain. Yesterday or tomorrow, tomorrow or yesterday, young man, do you think it's better for me to fish on the shore or in the water?" the NPC old man muttered to himself, turning his head to look at Nie Yan and ask.

The NPC old man's hair was gray, and he was very old, his skin like the withered bark of an old tree, covered with wrinkles. He wore a gray, inconspicuous cloak and held a fishing rod.

In Nie Yan's impression, this NPC old man was a muddle-headed and funny person who asked a series of confusing questions that could be answered vaguely. But now, when Nie Yan heard the phrase "Yesterday or tomorrow, tomorrow or yesterday" again, he had some new feelings.

This NPC old man was not a confused old man, but a wise man!

He could just answer this question casually, but Nie Yan blurted out, "As long as you can catch fish, what's the difference between the shore or the water?"

Hearing Nie Yan's answer, a glint flashed in the NPC old man's eyes.

The NPC old man's gaze fell into Nie Yan's eyes, and he was even more certain that this NPC old man was not simple at all.

"Time is like an illusion, time is like a shuttle, years pass, pain revolves, and in the end, it's nothing more than a pile of withered bones. Even if those warriors guard this great world, they will eventually not escape illness and death, so what's the point?" the NPC old man lamented.

"The meaning of life lies in pursuit and no regrets," Nie Yan said with deep feeling. This was a feeling after experiencing his previous life and this life. He then answered the old man's words, "In this great world, there are their brothers and their relatives. They resist the enemy's attacks, but bring joy to their brothers and relatives. They guard their faith with their lives, which is their glory. The God of Light will bless them."

Nie Yan guessed that this NPC old man might be an NPC from Hilton Fortress who came out to find fine silk.

Listening to Nie Yan's words, the NPC old man's chaotic eyes became clear and transparent.

"Young man, I need a lot of fine silk, can you help me find it?" the NPC old man asked.

"I am willing to serve," Nie Yan said happily. That was what he was waiting for.

System: You have accepted the quest, Physician Bliven's request, to find fine silk.

Nie Yan remembered that in his previous life, he just answered the question casually, and the quest he received was the Nameless Old Man's request, which was a bit different from the quest name in this life.

This old man should be a physician from Hilton Fortress. He came out of Hilton Fortress to find fine silk?

Adding in that this old man taught the Intermediate Bandage skill, Nie Yan was even more certain.

Regardless, he would complete this quest first.

Nie Yan said goodbye to the NPC old man and rushed to the south of the island, where there was a lake area where water spiders were active. Although water spiders were Level 3 monsters, their combat power was not very good. Because they were active on the water surface, it seemed a bit difficult to deal with them.

Diving into the lake again, Nie Yan kept his head above the water. There were no monsters active at the bottom of this area, so he didn't have to worry about monsters attacking from below.

He spotted a water spider. Water spiders were giant spiders that could walk quickly on the water surface. They were a bit different from other spiders in that they did not use venom attacks. They were also afraid of humans. As long as humans did not attack them, they would not attack first.

Water Spider: Level 3, HP 8080.

Nie Yan slowly approached the water spider's back and suddenly erupted, raising his dagger and pouncing on the water spider, stabbing into the water spider's back, attacking several times in succession.

The water spider squeaked and lunged at Nie Yan. Nie Yan dodged, then backstabbed, accumulating enough energy for a Vital Strike, stabbing into the water spider's eyes.

The water spider screamed shrilly, its body curled up together, floating on the water.

This water spider dropped a copper coin. Nie Yan caught the copper coin dropped by the water spider and swam towards another water spider.

The drop rate of fine silk was one in two hundred. In other words, Nie Yan had to kill more than six thousand water spiders to get thirty fine silk, which would take nearly three days.

Three days was enough for Nie Yan to level up to Level 3, learn the Bandage skill, and then go back and buy some skill books, which would greatly improve his strength.

Nie Yan swam towards a water spider that was rapidly crawling on the water surface in the distance.

A Holy Strike fell from the sky, attacking the water spider. A damage value of thirty-six points floated above the water spider's head.

Holy Strike, a Holy Word mage skill.

Were there other people here?

Nie Yan became cautious and looked over there, discovering that three water spiders were chasing someone.

It was a bit far away, and Nie Yan could only see that it was a Holy Word mage, and a woman at that, wearing a white robe and holding a blue staff, but he couldn't see her specific appearance clearly.

It seemed that person was in trouble. Nie Yan was silent for a moment, then plunged into the water and swam over there. If it was a hostile player, he would kill her. If there was no old grudge, he would give her a hand.

The Holy Word mage was dealing with the approaching water spiders while swimming towards Nie Yan.

Nie Yan emerged from the water, about five yards away from the Holy Word mage.

The Holy Word mage was nervous when she saw Nie Yan appear not far from her and immediately turned around and swam to the other side.

Being chased by monsters, if she encountered someone who added insult to injury, she would definitely die.

The distance between the two was already very close.

When the Holy Strike mage turned her face, Nie Yan saw her appearance clearly. She was a beautiful woman with her hair tied into a ponytail in the back, a strand of hair hanging down from the side, her cheeks fair, and her bright eyes clear as water.

Although Faith adjusted the appearance of players, it only made slight modifications. Beauty and ugliness would not change and were basically the same as in the real world. This was also the reason why Faith was so attractive.

Nie Yan could tell at a glance that the Holy Word mage was a beauty.

The Holy Word mage looked at Nie Yan with concern. Their eyes met. The Holy Word mage turned her head and continued to deal with the water spiders. It was indeed a bit difficult to dodge three water spiders at the same time, but she was very calm, using an Acceleration Scroll, which immediately increased her speed a lot.

Seeing the other party's appearance clearly, Nie Yan's mouth was wide enough to fit an egg. How could he meet her here!

He couldn't help but sigh that the world was so small.

That beautiful Holy Word mage was called Yao Yao. Speaking of which, the two of them had an unresolved karma in his previous life. He didn't expect to meet her here again. It really was true that enemies were destined to meet.

Perhaps there was a kind of fate called destiny.

Nie Yan and his friends were running a dungeon together, and they were short a mage. His friend pulled Yao Yao in, which was their first meeting. Later, there were more opportunities to run dungeons, and they gradually became familiar with each other. Later, many more stories happened.

An old friend was still the same, and Nie Yan was filled with emotion.