Chapter 1 What a Title is Worth

The precise value of a title is something many players can't quantify. Even the lowest-level title grants players slightly preferential treatment from NPCs in cities. As for high-level titles like Demon Hunter or Great Scholar, their benefits are self-evident. Demon Hunter significantly boosts Nie Yan's reputation in human cities, while Great Scholar gives him special privileges in numerous cities.

He wondered what rewards he would receive for upgrading from Intermediate Demon Hunter to Advanced Demon Hunter.

With this in mind, Nie Yan allocated all experience points to Goldie. Goldie's monster-killing speed was clearly much faster than his own, and leveling up a few times would only increase its efficiency.

Based on Nie Yan's predictions about the Zennarde Domain, they would likely be staying here for the next few days.

He wondered how long it would take to clear out these endless fields of undead Bone Howlers.

These Bone Howlers dropped nothing but game coins, about one silver coin each, making the overall yield quite considerable.

Nowhere else could you find such a high drop rate.

Yao Yao sat in the corner, drinking spring water to replenish her mana, while Nie Yan continued to lure monsters, firing arrows to attract groups of Bone Howlers.

Then came Yao Yao's and Goldie's magic display. Goldie unleashed a dragon breath attack, followed by Yao Yao's area-of-effect spells, felling swathes of Bone Howlers.

Nie Yan's Demon Hunter kill count steadily increased. He noticed the kill count was calculated in a certain way, only registering the final blow. Therefore, Nie Yan instructed Yao Yao to avoid killing the undead creatures, only reducing them to low health, allowing him or Goldie to deliver the final strike. This allowed them to accumulate kills.

Goldie charged into the Bone Howlers, sweeping away hordes of them.

Goldie's level rose to twenty-eight, and it learned two new skills.

Novice Meteor Fall: Summons a massive meteor, dealing 200% area-of-effect damage to all monsters within a 20x20 yard radius, inflicting continuous burning damage for 20 seconds. Skill cast time is 10 seconds, and skill cooldown is 30 minutes. Next level requires level 60.

It also gained a passive skill, Counterattack Storm, which had a chance to trigger a 200% damage counterattack when attacked. Next level requires level 50.

Both skills were incredibly powerful.

Although it became increasingly difficult for Goldie to level up, its strength grew exponentially with each level gained.

Seeing Goldie's newly acquired skills, Nie Yan raised an eyebrow. Goldie's growth was exceeding his expectations.

Nie Yan was determined to prioritize Goldie's leveling, even at the expense of his own.

Nie Yan used the Headless Horseman Doro's Repeating Crossbow to lure five or six hundred Bone Howlers. The hordes of undead Bone Howlers roared as they surged forward like a raging tide. A scorching meteor fell from the sky with a resounding crash, detonating in the midst of the Bone Howler swarm. Sparks flew in all directions, and the continuous flames incinerated entire ranks of Bone Howlers.

Nie Yan checked his Demon Hunter kill count: 122,350,000.

The kill count was rapidly accumulating.

"How much spring water do we have left?" Nie Yan asked Yao Yao. Mages had poor sustained combat ability, requiring frequent consumption of mana potions and spring water.

Yao Yao checked her backpack and replied, "I prepared a lot before we came. I still have over sixty stacks."

Since Yao Yao purchased the highest quality Magic Spring Water, drinking a single bag was enough to fully replenish her mana, unlike other players who needed to drink five or six bags to recover their health. Therefore, these sixty-odd stacks would last a long time.

Sixty-odd stacks, twenty bags per stack, equaled over a thousand two hundred servings of spring water, enough to last at least five or six days.

Nie Yan was secretly astonished. Yao Yao only bought the best Magic Spring Water, costing one silver coin per bag. At this rate, one thousand two hundred bags of Magic Spring Water equaled one thousand two hundred silver coins, or 12 gold! Only Yao Yao would prepare so much spring water at once; Nie Yan wouldn't dare to use it so lavishly.

Since Yao Yao had plenty of spring water, they could stay here for a few more days.

These days were relatively peaceful for Nie Yan and Yao Yao. Nie Yan occasionally checked on external affairs, such as the progress of the Asskickers United, and the movements of Battle Blade Thirst and the Mage Union. The rest of the time, they spent leveling.

Yao Yao enjoyed these days, which were simple yet fulfilling.

This period was a time of rapid expansion for the major guilds. Asskickers United's membership also grew rapidly, upgrading to a level five guild with nearly sixty thousand members. The remaining five subsidiary guilds also expanded to over one hundred thousand members.

Thanks to the capital injection from the Longyue Financial Group, more and more members advanced to level forty and above. Many of them were equipped with mounts, with the mount adoption rate among Asskickers United players reaching 10%, marking the dawn of a new era. Players were no longer confined to a single city, and began traveling between cities.

Nie Yan understood the significance of this better than anyone!

Guo Huai reported that some Battle Blade Thirst players were already farming monsters and leveling up near the border of Calore. Since Calore City and Glory City were the closest, the two guilds had already had some contact, but the two sides were still relatively restrained and had not yet engaged in any conflict. However, the atmosphere was thick with tension.

In the future, the two guilds were destined to become enemies in the battle for fortresses.

On the second day of farming monsters in the Zennarde Domain, Nie Yan advanced from Intermediate Demon Hunter to Advanced Demon Hunter, gaining an additional 30 points of reputation in each city.

Nie Yan had a goal: to reach 100 reputation. When a player's reputation in a city exceeded 100 points, they could obtain special rewards, one of which was the Glory Set.

Among all equipment, the Glory Set was second only to the sub-legendary sets, considered god-tier equipment by players. Few people wore the Glory Set in his past life. A few thousand throughout the entire Viridian Empire would be considered impressive.

Most players only wore it after level 100.

In addition, after upgrading to Advanced Demon Hunter, Nie Yan received quest progress 7.

System: Quest progress 7, kill 200,000 undead creatures level 30 or higher, kills 0/200000.

He wondered what came after Advanced Demon Hunter and what rewards it would bring. Nie Yan and Yao Yao had been continuously farming undead creatures in the Zennarde Domain without interruption.

By the fifth day, Nie Yan's undead creature kill count reached 162,832,200,000, just a little short of two hundred thousand.

Furthermore, after killing so many undead creatures, Nie Yan unlocked a skill on the Shadow of Darkness, Storm Assault. When Storm Assault was active, movement speed increased by 200%, but it could only target one enemy. Attacks against that target received a 60% damage bonus, ignored armor, and ignored level +7. The skill had a cooldown of 5 real-world days.

As he gained more and more powerful skills, Nie Yan's strength was skyrocketing. As for his level, although Nie Yan had just leveled back up to 30, this level was quite low. Yao Yao, for instance, had just reached level forty-two. The level rankings were filled with players at level forty-five and forty-six. Level didn't mean everything; Nie Yan could catch up anytime. What excited Nie Yan most was that after sacrificing so much experience, Goldie had successfully reached level thirty-five. A level thirty-five Goldie with over three thousand health and over a thousand attack power was already enough to make players gape in awe. With Goldie as a backup, what was there to fear even if his level lagged behind?

Unfortunately, he couldn't allocate any more stat points after reaching level 30. According to Faith's settings, losing a level didn't reduce stat points, and leveling back up wouldn't grant an extra set of stat points.

Since they were stuck in the Zennarde Domain and couldn't leave, Nie Yan didn't participate in the Holy Roman Empire and Radiant Sacred Flame's fortress war, only sending over a hundred people. With Brilliant Diamond and the others present, capturing the fortress was definitely not a problem. Battle Blade Thirst, the Mage Union, and Holy Protectors didn't send anyone, as their elites were busy clearing the fortress, too preoccupied to care about Radiant Sacred Flame and Triumph Empire's petty squabbles. A small accident occurred during the war when Half-Asleep Fox was killed by Shadow Killer, nearly causing the Holy Roman Empire's side to collapse. Fortunately, the hundred-plus elites from Asskickers United managed to turn the tide, forcing Radiant Sacred Flame and the Triumph Empire back. Shadow Killer vanished after killing Half-Asleep Fox, never appearing again. However, Shadow Killer left a message, telling Nie Yan to wash his neck and wait, as he would come to claim it!

Shadow Killer's arrogant words ignited the entire Asskickers United guild, and they issued a kill order for Shadow Killer.

Nie Yan, who was in the Zennarde Domain, smiled wryly when he heard this. If Shadow Killer dared to come, Nie Yan wouldn't mind facing him.

In his past life, someone like Shadow Killer was beyond Nie Yan's reach. But after his rebirth, the current Nie Yan had undergone a qualitative transformation, emerging from his chrysalis as a butterfly, from an unknown nobody to the guild leader of Asskickers United. The current Nie Yan was no longer the Nie Yan of the past! The fearless are invincible; this was Nie Yan's greatest realization in this life.

Keeping an eye on the outside world, Nie Yan and Yao Yao continued to push deeper into the domain. Once the undead Bone Howlers were killed, they wouldn't respawn. The two couldn't find their way until Nie Yan discovered a directional stone tablet covered in cracks, eroded by the wind. The broken stone tablet depicted a compass and bore powerful draconic script: "Tomb Leading to Zennarde."