Chapter 1 Nie Yan Completes the Trade

Nie Yan and Kuang Ao Zhan Qiang completed the transaction. They said goodbye, and Kuang Ao Zhan Qiang left first.

Nie Yan checked the equipment he had received in the trade. There was all sorts of equipment. Only a few dozen pieces increased Dark Vision, slightly more increased Focus, and the rest increased Shadow Damage. Surface players had limited demand for equipment that increased Dark Vision. He had sold so much last time that if he transported another one or two hundred pieces, the price would probably drop. He needed to let the surface players digest it. Although equipment that increased Shadow Damage didn't sell as well as equipment that increased Dark Vision, it was still good.

After sorting out his backpack, Nie Yan stood up and walked outside. The two grand thieves saw Nie Yan and Kuang Ao Zhan Qiang leave, so they stood up as well, entered Stealth, gave up tracking Kuang Ao Zhan Qiang, and tailed Nie Yan from a distance. They wanted to know what kind of background Nie Yan had.

Nie Yan looked at his status and discovered he had been hit with a Tracking debuff. This was an exclusive skill of undead thieves, which allowed them to track invisible units. However, the skill would fail beyond a range of one hundred yards.

Nie Yan wandered around Bone Tooth Town for a while and used Gale Steps to accelerate and shake off the two undead thieves. Leaving Bone Tooth Town, he ran wildly. The two undead thieves chased after him, but they couldn't find Nie Yan's tracks anymore.

He had disappeared into the vast darkness, nowhere to be found.

Nie Yan traveled across the wilderness. Some players from unknown guilds were searching for traces of Nie Yan nearby, but to no avail.

Six different guilds! It seemed Angel Corps had quite a few enemies, but it was impossible for them to catch Nie Yan.

Rushing into the distance, Nie Yan found a corner, took off the black cloak, and transformed back into his good and lawful appearance.

Nie Yan began to find a place to grind monsters, waiting for the Dark Portal to cool down in two days so he could return to the surface.

After grinding for five hours straight, all the way to the Level 70+ monster maps, Bennett's Spirit appeared in his field of vision again after passing through a dark jungle. Nie Yan was surprised to find that Bennett's Spirit was larger than before, and the light was even brighter.

It moved faster than before, shuttling through the trees. Nie Yan quickened his pace, closely following behind Bennett's Spirit, and ran south across the map.

After about thirty minutes, passing through grinding maps, they gradually reached the area of Level 100 monsters. Nie Yan felt a bit of a headache. Level 100 was a threshold. Monsters above Level 100 were much stronger than lower-level monsters. Ordinary Level 100 monsters had the strength of Level 90+ elites. Equipment above Level 100 was usually much better than lower-level equipment. The stats of Level 100 white-grade equipment were equivalent to those of Level 90+ gold-grade equipment, and the drop rate was extremely low. Perhaps only one or two pieces of equipment would drop from several hundred Level 100 monsters. Therefore, players often got stuck at the Level 100 mark for a long time.

In his previous life, Nie Yan had deeply understood how difficult it was to break through this threshold. When he was first promoted to Level 100 in his previous life, even white-grade Level 100 equipment sold for sky-high prices. Later, as more and more players reached Level 100 and above, and equipment above Level 100 became more and more common, the price of equipment slowly dropped.

Challenging monsters above Level 100 while wearing equipment below Level 100 was simply courting death, just like the Order Guardians back then, even with their low intelligence, they were so powerful and unmatched.

Nie Yan looked around. On the wide, boundless wilderness, there were several tall Rock Giants. They were up to five yards tall, their skin was a rocky, blue-white color, their bodies were covered in protruding muscles, and they wielded spiked clubs, wandering through the wilderness.

Nie Yan approached a Rock Giant and used Detect on it.

Rock Hunter: Level 100, HP 110000/110000.

Nie Yan searched for the keyword "Rock Hunter" on the official website, and some information popped up.

Rock Hunters were one of the weaker types of Level 100 monsters. They possessed powerful combat intelligence, knew the Rock Shield skill, their attacks inflicted Stun, and they could use Charge, making them mage killers. They also had super-fast movement speed. It was very difficult to challenge them without a movement speed of 500.

Nie Yan didn't dare to come into direct contact with them, but the lure of Finas' Poison Sac was too great. Since he had the opportunity to find it, Nie Yan didn't want to miss it. He would try it out first.

Bennett's Spirit floated into the distance. Nie Yan carefully went into stealth, maintaining a distance of more than thirty yards from each Rock Hunter. The level difference was too great. If Nie Yan got too close, the Rock Hunters might discover him.

Gradually entering a canyon area, seven Rock Hunters appeared ahead, blocking Nie Yan's path.

Bennett's Spirit trembled. Nie Yan could feel its emotional fluctuations, as if it possessed some thoughts. He received the message conveyed by Bennett's Spirit: Finas' Poison Sac was inside this canyon.

Nie Yan touched the cliff wall. The cliff wall was covered in viscous liquid, making it slippery and impossible to use the Creeper Ring. He had to think of another way.

Observing the movement routes of the Rock Hunters, Nie Yan activated the Transform Gnome skill on the Gnome Ring and carefully went into stealth, sticking close to the cliff wall. Nie Yan saw the appearance of these tall Rock Hunters clearly. Their thick arms and ferocious faces gave people a sense of powerful oppression.

After Nie Yan transformed into a gnome, he didn't know what the safe distance between him and the Rock Hunters was. Gradually approaching within thirty yards, Nie Yan's body was completely hidden in the shadows of the corner of the cliff wall.

The Rock Hunters patrolled around. The Rock Hunter closest to Nie Yan walked towards the direction where Nie Yan was.

Twenty-five yards... Twenty yards... Fifteen yards...

The closer he got, the more nervous Nie Yan became.

In the end, Nie Yan carefully retreated and hid in the corner.

After thinking for a while, Nie Yan opened the Divine Hired Mercenaries page, searched for a bit, and hired the Paladin Keo.

At this time, he had to sacrifice a mercenary. Anyway, mercenaries could be resurrected by spending some money.

"Respected Demon Hunter, what are your instructions?" Paladin Keo said piously.

Nie Yan began to use his thoughts to command Paladin Keo to approach the seven Rock Hunters in the distance, slowly entering their line of sight.

The seven Rock Hunters discovered Keo and issued threatening warnings. The language they used was Rock Giant language. Although he couldn't understand what they were saying, he could understand what they were trying to express.

Nie Yan commanded Keo to use Purify on one of the Rock Hunters.

After being attacked, the Rock Hunter immediately called out to its companions. The seven Rock Hunters chased after Keo.

Under Nie Yan's control, Paladin Keo activated his Aura of Courage and ran away, disappearing into the darkness.

Paladin Keo led the seven Rock Hunters further and further away. Nie Yan took the opportunity to pass through this narrow strip of land and entered the canyon.

After a few minutes, a system notification sounded: Paladin Keo had been killed.

Nie Yan continued forward, following Bennett's Spirit, walking through the canyon, and discovered a flat open space, about 500*500 yards in size. The plants here had all been cleared, and the ground had been leveled with small gravel.

In the center of the open space in the distance, there was a rock platform about two or three yards high, about 100*100 yards in size. It was very flat, and there were wide steps connecting all sides. Three Rock Giants wearing black robes were moving around. They were obviously more advanced than the Rock Hunters outside.

System: You have discovered the Kavenel Star Observation Platform.

Nie Yan slowly approached the star observation platform and used Detect on one of the Rock Giants.

Rock Astrologer: Level 100 Elite, HP 150000/150000.

There were no other Rock Hunters here, but these three Rock Astrologers alone were not something Nie Yan could deal with.

It seemed that something was placed on this star observation platform. Nie Yan adjusted his position, and his sight passed through the gap between the two Rock Astrologers. He discovered that in the center of the star observation platform, a strange object was quietly floating in the air, about two or three yards above the platform, about the size of a fist, emitting a green fluorescence, shining brightly in the darkness.

Because the distance was relatively far, Nie Yan couldn't see clearly what it was.

However, at this moment, Bennett's Spirit fluctuated, and Nie Yan received some information. That was Finas' Poison Sac.

Nie Yan searched for Rock Astrologer on the official website.

Rock Astrologer: Servants of Darkness, leaders of the Rock Giant tribe, they can still sense the changes in the stars even in the distant underground. They possess powerful and abundant magic.

They can cast many skills, including Summon Rock Wolf, cast Lunar Rite, causing all creatures within a fifty-yard radius to continuously lose health, and use the Fear Howl skill, causing all units within a thirty-yard radius to lose consciousness. In addition, they also possess considerable physical attack capabilities.

These powerful Rock Astrologers were frightening. Nie Yan tentatively approached, getting close to one of the Rock Astrologers, about thirty yards away. The Rock Astrologer looked towards the direction where Nie Yan was in stealth, its deep gaze hidden under the robe seeming to be able to penetrate the darkness.

Under the gaze of the Rock Astrologer, Nie Yan dared not move.

After a while, the Rock Astrologer's gaze shifted away, and Nie Yan dared to gradually retreat. At this time, Nie Yan was still in the state of Transform Gnome, with strong stealth abilities, but the safe distance was only thirty yards. If he changed back to his original appearance, the safe distance was estimated to increase to about fifty yards.

Three Level 100 elite creatures made Nie Yan not dare to cross the threshold. Finas' Poison Sac was close at hand, but a bit out of reach.