Chapter 1 Nie Yan's Choice

Nie Yan could imagine that in his previous life, many people had wanted to experience walking up these stairs, but the jeers had caused many to give up. Later, an inconspicuous thief climbed to the top of the stairs and received some surprisingly good rewards. He made this known to the public, and players then learned that this was a hidden quest set by the main system. Many wanted to get some easy advantages, but by the time they climbed the stairs, the quest had already ended. Only the first person to climb the stairs received a reward; followers got nothing.

In this life, Nie Yan would be the first. The Thief Guild's high tower had only been built a few days ago. The magic elevator was very fast, and few players chose to climb the stairs. So, in these few days, no player had the perseverance to walk to the top.

Time ticked by, and Nie Yan climbed higher and higher. Looking out the window, everything had shrunk until it was invisible. He was so close to the clouds. The mocking voices continued, but he paid them no mind.

After more than ten minutes, Nie Yan finally reached the top of the main tower and stepped onto the roof.

Many people happened to be looking in Nie Yan's direction.

"Look, it's that fool. He didn't take the magic elevator and actually climbed from the bottom to the top."

"Haha, what an idiot. Seeing him makes me feel intellectually superior."

As they were talking, a white light suddenly shone on Nie Yan's body. The dazzling light was similar to leveling up, but there was a difference. It seemed to be a reward for completing a quest. The players were a little surprised. There were no NPCs near the stairs. Did he get a reward after climbing the stairs?

The players immediately thought of it—a hidden quest! Otherwise, why would that cloaked guy spend more than ten minutes climbing two thousand steps!

No one laughed at Nie Yan anymore. Some people quietly slipped into the magic elevator, intending to climb the stairs like Nie Yan. They couldn't let anyone else get there first!

Nie Yan checked the system notification. He had just heard the system prompt.

‘System: A reward for foolishness. You have gained 10 points of Willpower. When life is dark, may you persevere in your beliefs, even in the face of ridicule from millions of people, until you succeed. Success comes from perseverance.’

Willpower was a relatively rare attribute. Ordinary players had only around 50 points at most. High-end mages might have more, reaching 100 points at most. Equipment that added Willpower was rare. Of course, Nie Yan was an exception. His Willpower had already reached over 200 points.

The Willpower attribute had many uses. People with high Willpower were less likely to be controlled by mental magic, and even if they were controlled, the duration would be greatly reduced. It could also greatly reduce the damage suffered after being attacked by mental magic. Also, Willpower was one of the requirements for certain equipment. For mages, the damage of their high-level spells needed Willpower to support it. Willpower had many, many other uses. It seemed insignificant, but it could be of great use in unexpected situations.

A reward of 10 points of Willpower was quite good.

Nie Yan murmured, repeating the words, ‘When life is dark, may you persevere in your beliefs, even in the face of ridicule from millions of people, until you succeed. Success comes from perseverance.’ A flash of understanding went through his mind, and he smiled slightly. This could be considered one of his gains.

Nie Yan suddenly thought of something and looked at his character status. After Justice, Courage, Benevolence, Honesty, and Sacrifice, there was an additional status: Perseverance. Perseverance referred to having an unshakable and persistent belief.

Unexpectedly, he had gained another status, making it six character statuses already. Nie Yan guessed that he might need to obtain a certain number of statuses to receive a reward.

It was difficult to determine exactly how many.

In the numerology of Faith, 7 was an unlucky number, representing the end of a cycle. Other than the week in astrology, it generally wouldn't appear in other places. 8 and 9 both had some possibility, and it might even require collecting 10 or more statuses.

It might take a long time to collect all the character statuses.

Looking around the hall, he found that everyone was looking at him with strange eyes. Nie Yan ignored them, walked to the balcony, and jumped down. The wind whistled past his ears, and his altitude dropped rapidly. He was getting closer and closer to the ground. Just as he was about to land, Nie Yan used the skill on the Feather Fall Gem and landed lightly.

"Is that guy trying to jump off a building?"

"This main tower has to be at least two or three hundred yards tall."

These people quickly walked to the edge of the balcony, leaning over to look down. They saw that Nie Yan had already landed safely and quickly disappeared into the alleys near the Thief Guild.

"Damn, it's a Feather Fall Device. That guy is rich."

Currently, players with Feather Fall Devices were still rare. Feather Fall Devices had been speculated to astronomical prices in several auction houses.

Nie Yan's appearance and disappearance were just an interlude for these players. They didn't know what reward Nie Yan had obtained. It was a mystery. Many players learned from Nie Yan and climbed from the bottom to the top of the tower, but they gained nothing. Some players were unwilling to give up and even climbed five or six times.

The fools weren't Nie Yan, but them!

Over the next period of time, Nie Yan upgraded all his equipment, enchanted it, inlaid gems, and upgraded some special items. He still needed to prepare some things before he could incubate the Darkwing Dragon with the Crystal of Life. In addition, he needed to find the Viridescent Crystal of Life to synthesize the Aspiration Necklace.

Niu Ren Tribe (Amazing Neo Tribe) was developing steadily, with one intermediate fortress and ten primary fortresses under its control. In addition, Galan Temple, the Holy Roman Empire, and Holy Light Flame evenly divided twelve fortresses.

In addition to the fortresses, under the command of Guo Huai and others, Niu Ren Tribe began to open up mines outside, allowing miners to mine ores and collect raw materials to supply the consumption of the guild's production professions. However, they encountered trouble several times. Some people from Angel Corps came to attack, causing mining and gathering work to be interrupted several times. However, Niu Ren Tribe also retaliated, sending Sun, Scoundrel, and others to cause them some trouble.

The current Niu Ren Tribe was not yet suitable for investing its energy in harassment. It was better to defend its base first.

After Nie Yan finished dealing with his equipment, he made a trip to the underworld and asked the people from Angel Corpse to find him a suitable place to level up. He leveled up for five days, raising his level to seventy-six, and made more than 800,000 gold coins in total.

"I heard that the Gryphon Woodlands will open in a little over ten days," Guo Huai sent Nie Yan the news he had just received.

Hearing the news from Guo Huai, Nie Yan's heart stirred. He hadn't been to the Gryphon Woodlands in his previous life, but he had heard some news about it. In his previous life, until Nie Yan's rebirth, a total of five flying mount maps had been opened, including Gryphon Woodlands, Wind Serpent Canyon, Dragon Fly Swamp, Phoenix Nest, and Dragon Valley. These places were fraught with danger, and generally required a team of at least twenty people to enter. If you were lucky, you might be able to get a gryphon egg or a gryphon cub, which were the flying mounts that players dreamed of.

Gryphons, Wind Serpents, and Dragon Flies were considered higher-level beings. As for phoenixes and dragons, they only existed in legends, and no one had actually obtained one.

These maps were all located on the edge of the Glimmering Empire and the Satreen Empire, belonging to the three-way zone where no country could incorporate these places into its territory. He remembered that after the Gryphon Woodlands opened in his previous life, countless guilds began to form teams to go to the Gryphon Woodlands to explore, and many teams returned in defeat. However, he heard that some teams had obtained good things. When the team from the Kaiser Empire went down to the Gryphon Woodlands, they obtained a gryphon cub, which caused the entire Kaiser Empire to boil.

Even if they were constantly wiped out and returned, the powerful allure of flying mounts still attracted these guilds to follow one after another.

He was going to the Gryphon Woodlands. A strange light flashed in Nie Yan's eyes. He wondered if the major mage guilds had started selling Mist Dispelling Scrolls yet.

In his previous life, the major mage guilds had started selling Mist Dispelling Scrolls for a period of time before the Gryphon Woodlands opened.

The Mist Dispelling Scroll was a relatively special type of scroll. Its purpose was very simple, but its scope of action was very large. Holding a Mist Dispelling Scroll and having five archmages cast spells could dispel the mist within a radius of three thousand yards, lasting for six hours. Generally, by looking around in the various rooms of the Mage Guild, you could find an inconspicuous archmage responsible for selling Mist Dispelling Scrolls. Unless players actively talked to him, they wouldn't know what he was selling. After talking to him, he would introduce you to the function and price of the Mist Dispelling Scroll.

In his previous life, when Mist Dispelling Scrolls were first sold, players shook their heads and walked away when they saw them. Such a broken scroll was actually sold for the high price of 500 gold coins, which was simply a scam. It wasn't until later, after players became familiar with the Gryphon Woodlands dungeon, that Mist Dispelling Scrolls became familiar to players. The Gryphon Woodlands were full of mist. Without Mist Dispelling Scrolls, it was simply impossible to move an inch. At that time, the mage guilds in each city would only produce five Mist Dispelling Scrolls at 12:00 every five days. Due to the large number of monks and the lack of porridge, many guilds were scrambling for them. They were snapped up as soon as they appeared, which was not enough. Almost every day, players from major guilds were squatting in the Mage Guild, just to buy a Mist Dispelling Scroll so they could go to the Gryphon Woodlands!