“What else do we need to do?” Dusk asked.

“Return the flute to Ianpart and give it to me,” Nie Yan said, looking at Bai Kaishui.

This was a quest item, not really his to keep. Bai Kaishui sighed inwardly and handed the flute to Nie Yan.

Nie Yan looked into the jungle. An old man walked over, his steps faltering.

“Respected Elder, we have punished those despicable dark elves and helped you retrieve your flute.”

“This is my flute, wonderful! Brave adventurers, thank you. The Treant Forest is a complex maze. I will guide you out. May the gods bless you!”

If Nie Yan and the others had secretly kept Ianpart's Flute, the consequences would have been severe. They would have faced Ianpart’s wrath, and this Treant Forest would have become their burial ground.

System: Quest branch Ianpart’s Flute completed. You have gained 28,596 experience points.

Surrounded by a thick fog, Ianpart disappeared into the mist. When everyone could see their surroundings clearly again, they realized they were outside the Treant Forest.

“We can still go to the overseer in Carol City to collect the reward!” Nie Yan checked. Since his quest contribution was the highest, he received the most experience. After getting the experience reward from Ianpart, his experience bar rose again, reaching 73%.

The others were also excited. Leveling with Nie Yan in dungeons was so awesome. After receiving the reward from Ianpart, their experience points had increased significantly.

The group teleported back to Carol City.

Nie Yan headed towards the military camp in Carol City.

The military camp was located in the southwest of Carol City, surrounded by high walls and filled with sentries, its defenses quite strict. Next to the military camp was a white building, where Overseer Kavaroht was located.

Entering the white building, there weren't many NPCs inside. A tall middle-aged man with scars all over his face, wearing a Greenland military uniform, walked over.

Nie Yan used Super Appraisal. It was Overseer Kavaroht.

“Young man, what brings you here?”

“Respected Overseer, we captured two dark elves in the Treant Forest and obtained some information about Hilton Fortress. These are the heads of the two dark elves.”

Kavaroht asked some questions, which Nie Yan answered according to the standard quest dialogue, and handed over the heads of the two dark elves to Overseer Kavaroht.

System: You have completed the Treant Forest sub-quest - Delivering the Message.

System: Hilton Fortress Faction Reputation +12.

System: Carol City Faction Reputation +10.

System: You have gained 32,320 experience.

System: You learned a fighting technique from Kavaroht, gaining an additional +2 Strength bonus.

System: You have received 2 silver coins.

Some hidden quests had additional attribute bonuses. He didn't expect to accidentally dig up two points of Strength, which surprised Nie Yan.

Each member of the team received a good experience and money reward. Nie Yan's experience rose to 97%. As for the money, the reward of two silver coins was nothing to Nie Yan.

Doing quests was much faster than grinding monsters to level up. Of course, quests were graded. The more difficult the quest, the more experience it gave. Simpler quests, such as collecting animal furs, gave much less experience. During team quests, the main system distributed experience based on each player's contribution to the quest. For example, in this quest, Nie Yan received the most experience, while the other members received much less.

“Now that the quest is completed, I should leave too,” Nie Yan said to Yao Yao and the others.

“What are you planning to do next?” Yao Yao asked, feeling slightly reluctant.

“Grind monsters and level up, but you definitely can't go where I'm going,” Nie Yan said. With the Featherfall Gem and the Weaver's Ring, he had many plans to implement.

“He has things to do. Let's team up and level up ourselves,” Dusk suggested. There were so many high-attack mages here; it would be a waste not to level together.

“Fatty has a small AoE skill called Tianyun (Heavenly Meteor). You guys should level up with him; it shouldn't be too slow,” Nie Yan told Yao Yao and the others. He deliberately wanted Tang Yao to become more acquainted with Yu Lan and the others, so they could get to know each other. Tang Yao wouldn't have to worry about not being able to find a team. After so much guidance from Nie Yan, Tang Yao's skills had improved significantly. Although he couldn't be called an expert yet, he definitely had no problem being in a group. After all, arcane mages didn't need too much operation when running dungeons and grinding monsters.

“Tianyun (Heavenly Meteor)?” Everyone was surprised. Mages who had learned a small AoE skill at this time were rare.

“Why didn’t I see you use it just now?” Bai Kaishui asked.

“Using AoE magic in a dungeon is asking for death, right?” Tang Yao said. Nie Yan had repeatedly told Tang Yao not to use Tianyun (Heavenly Meteor) when running dungeons, and he had listened. So he answered confidently.

“That's true.” Bai Kaishui scratched his head awkwardly. Using small AoE magic in dungeons often attracted a large number of monsters and aggro, causing the warrior in front to be unable to hold the monsters.

“Since you have a small AoE, why are we wasting time?” Dusk rubbed his hands. He couldn't wait to see the power of Tianyun (Heavenly Meteor), this rare arcane mage spell.

“I have something to do, so I’ll take my leave first,” Nie Yan said goodbye to everyone. Seeing Yao Yao's unhappy look, he smiled and said, "I'll grind monsters with you guys next time."

"You said it, don't go back on your word!" Yao Yao smiled brightly. Her radiant smile was like the sun, and for some reason, after knowing Nie Yan for a few days, it felt like they had known each other for a long time. There was an extraordinary understanding and sense of familiarity.

Nie Yan chuckled and said, "Definitely."

After saying goodbye to everyone, Nie Yan headed to the auction house in Carol City.

The others watched Nie Yan leave, only regaining their senses after Nie Yan disappeared around the street corner.

"Let's go, let's level up."

Dusk glanced at Nie Yan's back, then turned to the others and said, "Let's go, let's level up." At the same time, he sent a message to Half-Asleep Fox.

"Fox, check out this video."

"What video?"

"You'll know when you watch it."

In the Level 5 Half-Werewolf monster area in Trac Village, Half-Asleep Fox retreated from the front and said to another warrior next to him, "Hold on for a while!"

"Okay!"

The spells of the mages in the rear roared down, smashing several half-werewolves.

Now was the time for him to level up. If Dusk dared to bother him at this time, it must be something important. He clicked to receive the video and found that the person in the video was Nie Yan, which aroused some interest. He continued watching. Nie Yan and the others began to grind treants in the dungeon. Half-Asleep Fox asked in confusion, "This is the Treant Forest. Why are the treants so tanky?" Half-Asleep Fox was knowledgeable and could tell something was wrong at a glance.

"This is the Expert-level Treant Forest!"

"Expert-level Treant Forest? Did you guys clear it?" Half-Asleep Fox became excited. A team with such lousy equipment dared to enter an expert-level dungeon. It was truly a rare occurrence.