Chapter 1 Dealing With An Assassin

Even though Nie Yan was bound by Shadow Shackles, unable to move his body, he wouldn't just resign himself to death.

Nie Yan couldn't use active skills at this moment, but he still had passive skills!

The appearance of Ying Sha (Shadow Killer) was fast and sudden, but Nie Yan still reacted in time.

Just as Ying Sha's Backstab was about to hit Nie Yan, Nie Yan reflexively used a Death Immunity skill. This was his reward for completing the Great Thief class advancement quest. It was a passive skill that, when activated, ignored any control skill for two seconds. Many Great Thieves had similar skills, but their effects were much worse than Nie Yan's Death Immunity.

With a thud, the dagger in Ying Sha's hand plunged into the back of Nie Yan's head, causing a damage of -806 to float above Nie Yan's head. Furthermore, the dagger in Ying Sha's hand was smeared with deadly poison. Under the influence of the poison, Nie Yan's skin slowly turned bluish-green. This was the effect of the Petrification Poison. Nie Yan noticed that his limbs were gradually stiffening. Fortunately, Nie Yan had an Antitoxin Pearl in his backpack, which enhanced his resistance to the poison, so the spread of the poison slowed down a lot, and its effect was greatly reduced.

Petrification Poison was a very rare item, generally costing at least several thousand gold coins per bottle. Between the Shadow Shackles scroll and the Petrification Poison, Ying Sha had gone to great lengths to kill Nie Yan, using quite a few good items.

Seeing that his Backstab didn't stun Nie Yan, Ying Sha was slightly stunned. He suddenly remembered the Death Immunity skill! He didn't expect that even after launching a sneak attack on Nie Yan in such a short time, Nie Yan could still use the Death Immunity skill to avoid his control skill.

God-like reaction!

The effect of the Death Immunity skill only lasted two seconds, which was still far too short compared to the duration of the Shadow Shackles. Even if you can dodge it, so what? I can still kill you!

Although Death Immunity could block the control effect of Backstab, it couldn't解除the Shadow Shackles. Death Immunity could resist control skills, but it couldn't remove the controlled state. Taking advantage of the fact that Nie Yan's body was still shackled, Ying Sha thrust his dagger hard at the back of Nie Yan's head again. This was his free skill, which came with a Cripple effect. It could cripple Nie Yan, preventing him from using active skills or escaping.

If Ying Sha's Thrust hit Nie Yan, Nie Yan would basically be dead. After being crippled for just a few seconds, Ying Sha would be able to knock Nie Yan to the ground.

In a fight between thieves, life and death often hang by a thread!

Nie Yan had finally bought himself two seconds with Death Immunity, so naturally, he wouldn't let those two seconds slip away easily. This was his only chance to escape.

The inability to use any active skills meant that Nie Yan had no chance to escape at all. Moreover, his four Devil Forging Blacksmiths and Golden Land Dragon were all more than twenty yards away from him. It seemed a little too late for a rescue. If he stood his ground and used anti-control skills to fight Ying Sha, Nie Yan would definitely lose in the end. In the eyes of ordinary people, this was already an unsolvable situation.

Nie Yan had lost the initiative as soon as the two sides made contact. Now that the other party had gained the upper hand, it would be very difficult to turn the tables.

During those two seconds of Death Immunity, Nie Yan controlled the distant Golden Land Dragon to spit a breath of dragon fire in the direction of himself and Ying Sha, bombarding them.

Dragon Breath was a small-scale area-of-effect magic with extremely high damage. Coupled with the Golden Land Dragon's terrifying attack, the Dragon Breath skill could instantly kill people. At the same time, Dragon Breath ignored friend or foe. Even if Nie Yan was hit by Dragon Breath, he would still die.

Flames streaked across the sky, and a scorching heat wave surged toward them.

Ying Sha's Thrust was about to hit Nie Yan when he suddenly noticed the Golden Land Dragon's Dragon Breath shooting towards their location. He was shocked. He had seen the Golden Land Dragon's Dragon Breath before. This skill had killed many players in the past, and he couldn't guarantee that he could survive the Golden Land Dragon's Dragon Breath.

If he ignored everything and continued to attack Nie Yan with Thrust, the Golden Land Dragon's Dragon Breath would engulf him in the next moment. At this critical moment, Ying Sha decisively chose to retreat.

If he had been even a step slower, it wouldn't have been Nie Yan who was killed, but him.

Could it be that the Golden Land Dragon's Dragon Breath was ineffective against Nie Yan? Ying Sha was slightly surprised.

Just as he was about to be hit by the Dragon Breath, Ying Sha activated Gale Steps and quickly ran out of the Golden Land Dragon's attack range.

In the next moment, the raging Dragon Breath flames engulfed Nie Yan. The flames soared into the sky, and the tongues of fire licked at his body. It was as if there was a faint protective film around him, and the flames were isolated from his body.

When Ying Sha saw this, he instantly understood that this was Kuang Ze Nie Yan's (Crazy Thief Nie Yan's) Divine Judgement skill! He didn't expect that Nie Yan would use such extreme methods to force him back. This method was undoubtedly quite effective.

Nie Yan activated the Divine Judgement skill in time, using the magic immunity of the Divine Judgement skill to resist the attack of the Dragon Breath.

The Shadow Shackles effect on his body quickly dissipated. Nie Yan was still in a Petrification state. He stood in the flames and looked at the distant Ying Sha. Half of Ying Sha's body was hidden in the darkness, and his eyes were like those of a hawk, staring at Nie Yan.

Nie Yan used the detoxification skill on the Antitoxin Pearl to解除the Petrification state on his body.

At this time, the control effects on Nie Yan's body were completely gone. He finally regained his combat power, and all active skills could be used.

The raging flames burning around Nie Yan slowly died down.

Using a Divine Judgement skill could be considered as saving his life.

Nie Yan and Ying Sha looked at each other. Both of them could use active skills. If Ying Sha wanted to kill Nie Yan again, it wouldn't be so easy.

This was their second confrontation, and Ying Sha's assassination attempt on Nie Yan had failed again.

"You're much stronger than I imagined. I admit that in terms of PK skills, I'm indeed not as good as you, but next time, I won't let you escape so easily." Ying Sha's assassination of Nie Yan wouldn't end there. Assassination and direct combat were different. Ying Sha wouldn't give up until he achieved his goal. Although he couldn't kill Nie Yan, it wouldn't be easy for Nie Yan to catch him either.

"Next time, I won't give you the same opportunity again. How much did the person who asked you to assassinate me pay? I can pay double the price," Nie Yan said. Being targeted by an assassin like Ying Sha was really a headache. If he wasn't careful, he might be killed by Ying Sha. He often grinded monsters and leveled up in the wild. How could he not have any weaknesses?

Ying Sha smiled nonchalantly and said, "It's not just about the money. Even if no one paid, one of us would eventually fall to the ground."

Nie Yan was silent for a moment. He understood Ying Sha's meaning. Ying Sha assassinated Nie Yan not only for money. In his previous life, Ying Sha had constantly assassinated one famous player after another. Without exception, all the people he killed were top-level experts. Assassins, as a group, were often irrational. Ying Sha was stubbornly determined to assassinate Nie Yan in order to challenge his limits. He liked to play this kind of exciting game.

This kind of person was the most difficult to deal with!

"If it were me assassinating you, once would be enough." Nie Yan's mind raced, and he smiled contemptuously.

When Ying Sha heard Nie Yan's words, he sneered. Nie Yan's words were a bit too conceited. He had failed to assassinate Nie Yan twice in a row because thieves had too many life-saving skills. In a duel between expert-level thieves, it was difficult to kill the other party unless their strength was vastly different. Otherwise, they would have to launch a sneak attack on their opponent like Ying Sha to have a chance of success. As long as he stayed alert, even if Nie Yan gathered all his pets to besiege him, he could still escape calmly. Nie Yan saying that he could kill him in one attempt was a bit of an overstatement.

If Ying Sha continued to pester him in the future, Nie Yan would be annoyed to death even if he wasn't successfully assassinated. The only way was to settle things between them once and for all.

"How about we make a bet?" Nie Yan said, "We each have one chance to assassinate the other. Whoever succeeds in assassinating the other first wins. If both of us fail, then you win."

Ying Sha raised an eyebrow. He was also very proud, and he wanted to see how Nie Yan would kill him. He asked, "This bet is very interesting. What are the stakes?"

"I haven't thought about it yet. You can say whatever you want," Nie Yan said. He really couldn't think of anything to bet with Ying Sha. He just wanted to get rid of this trouble as soon as possible.

Ying Sha was silent for a moment, then said, "If you win, the matter between us can be settled, and you can ask me to kill three people for you. If I win, I'll kill you three times."

"Three lives for three lives. That's fair." Nie Yan thought for a moment and smiled. He remembered that he had a similar bet with Wang Zhe Tian Xia (King of the World) before, but Wang Zhe Tian Xia and Ying Sha were different. Nie Yan knew Wang Zhe Tian Xia's character. He was very trustworthy, and Nie Yan could recruit him into his group. But Ying Sha was a mercenary killer who wouldn't be as easily subdued as Wang Zhe Tian Xia. Such a bet was enough.

Nie Yan's words were considered to be an agreement to the bet.

"Okay, it's a deal." Ying Sha said. A fanatical light flashed in his eyes. This was an exciting game.

The bet between them was notarized by the main control system and took effect immediately. There was no time limit for this bet.

"I'll wait for you to come and kill me," Ying Sha said. After he finished speaking, his figure slowly disappeared, vanishing into the darkness of the corner without a trace.

Nie Yan didn't even notice his location. It was a powerful stealth skill like Ethereal Concealment!

If Ying Sha treated him like an ordinary thief, then he was dead wrong. Nie Yan had at least seven or eight ways in his mind to kill Ying Sha and make him lose convincingly!

After Ying Sha disappeared, Nie Yan's eyes suddenly narrowed. He sent a private message to Guo Huai, "Order the Assassin Squad to immediately track Ying Sha and report his whereabouts to me."

"Ying Sha? Understood." Guo Huai nodded and immediately went to assign the task to the Assassin Squad.