Chapter 1 The Beginning

The skills attached to the Ring of the Weaver and the Ring of the Creeper had already brought Nie Yan a bountiful harvest. Without these two treasures, he wouldn’t have been able to collect all the Fragments of Shadow. Now, he had another Ring of the Leaper. Though he didn’t have enough ring slots, he could keep it in his bag and take it out when needed.

His equipment was becoming increasingly complete. He thought about it. The Ring of the Leaper would be very useful for overcoming obstacles that were otherwise impossible to pass.

Nie Yan considered his situation. Now that he had so many treasures, plus a sub-legendary rank riding crossbow, he could go and get himself a powerful set of divine equipment! Of course, by divine equipment, he only meant sub-legendary rank equipment. As for legendary items, he wouldn’t think about those for now.

Additionally, he had to put some sub-legendary items in the guild warehouse. The guild warehouse had to have a few trump cards.

Nie Yan continued searching, but found nothing else. Then, he left the building and darted towards the direction his team was advancing.

He quickly rejoined the team. They had already advanced quite a distance, and fortunately, there were no casualties.

Under Nie Yan’s guidance, they entered a wide-open plaza. It was more than large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people, easily enough for a team of over six hundred to spread out. A giant mechanical puppet, seven or eight yards tall, was active in the center of the plaza. Its body was covered in fitted steel bars and giant screws. In its left hand was a thick iron pillar, and in its right hand was a giant cutting machine. Its whole body was covered in mottled rust. Its lower body resembled a tank, with thick treads on each side, moving back and forth like a tank.

This terrifying, large machine was like a giant beast baring its fangs.

This was one of the five lords of the Eternal City, the Goblin Ripper!

It was definitely a fierce and powerful fellow. Countless teams had been wiped out by it in his past life. It generally respawned every three days and dropped at least Dark Gold-grade equipment, with a one-in-a-thousand chance of dropping a sub-legendary item.

“I’ll go take a look,” Nie Yan said, and moved forward. The tall Goblin Ripper gave off a suffocating sense of oppression.

Nie Yan concealed his presence and cast Detection on the Goblin Ripper from behind.

Goblin Ripper: Level 40, Health 100,000/100,000.

The Goblin Ripper had several powerful skills, such as Mechanical Cut, which could instantly unleash a 3x critical strike. If a Lord-class monster triggered a 3x critical strike, even a Shield Warrior with high defense could be instantly killed. It also had Charge, which could send players flying, and Crush, an area-of-effect skill that dealt heavy damage to all units within three yards.

In his previous life, Nie Yan had teamed up with others to grind the Goblin Ripper, wiping twice before finally killing it.

Back then, there were over a hundred of them, all above Level 40.

They compared notes with the strategies on the official website while personally experimenting, discovering some tricks to dealing with the Goblin Ripper after wiping twice. Now, although Nie Yan and the others had over six hundred people, their levels were too low. He didn’t know if they could succeed.

“Dao Guang, come with me. And one more Thief and a Priest!” Nie Yan said in the team chat.

Brilliant Knife Light glanced at the other Thieves around him, unsure of who to call. Unyielding Heart stepped out from the crowd and said, “Let me come.”

Big Brother Seven also came out from the team. “Count me in.”

“Invite Shi Li Hua Sha, Yue Er Ya, and Black Heaven into the team, but don’t have them come over. If we die, have them come revive us,” Nie Yan said. This was a necessary precaution.

Brilliant Knife Light, Big Brother Seven, and Unyielding Heart ran over to Nie Yan’s side.

Nie Yan had a lot of faith in their skills. He said to Brilliant Knife Light, “Don’t attack for now. Just hold the Goblin Ripper in place. Pay attention to adjusting your position and maintain your defensive stance at all times! The Goblin Ripper moves very fast when charging forward, but it’s not easy for it to change direction. As long as you stay in front of it, it will take a long time to get around you.”

He had the players in the team hide far away to avoid being affected.

Nie Yan said to Unyielding Heart, “When Knife Light is holding it, listen to my instructions. We’ll slowly lead the Goblin Ripper to the fountain and flower beds in the center of the plaza.”

“What do I need to do?” Big Brother Seven asked.

“You just need to heal Knife Light,” Nie Yan said. Big Brother Seven had the easiest job of them all.

There were some fountains and statues standing in the center of the plaza, which were excellent obstacles that could limit the Goblin Ripper’s movements. If the team fought the Goblin Ripper in an open area, the Goblin Ripper could easily break out of the Warriors’ encirclement with Charge or Crush. What awaited Nie Yan and the others would be an undoubted massacre.

There was a special method to dealing with the Goblin Ripper!

He explained the whole process of pulling the monster to Big Brother Seven, Brilliant Knife Light, and Unyielding Heart. They understood, but the actual operation would be difficult, and they might not succeed on the first try. So, Nie Yan and the others would likely die once or twice.

“Alright, let’s begin. We’ll practice first,” Nie Yan said, looking at the wandering Goblin Ripper ahead.

“I’ll go first,” Brilliant Knife Light said, and ran towards the Goblin Ripper with his heavy shield raised. Nie Yan and Unyielding Heart also moved out, running towards the east and west sides of the plaza.

Brilliant Knife Light appeared in the Goblin Ripper’s field of vision first. The Goblin Ripper discovered an enemy and immediately activated, charging towards Brilliant Knife Light.

Brilliant Knife Light quickly switched to a defensive stance, holding his heavy shield to block the Goblin Ripper’s attack. With a muffled thud, the heavy shield collided with the Goblin Ripper.

Brilliant Knife Light’s health immediately dropped by over three hundred. A beam of white light landed on Brilliant Knife Light’s head, restoring his health. It was Big Brother Seven’s heal!

Brilliant Knife Light steadied himself, maintained his defensive stance, and tanked the Goblin Ripper’s attacks, but he never attacked the Goblin Ripper.

In the distance, Nie Yan took out his riding crossbow and fired five arrows at the Goblin Ripper, striking its body. Damage numbers of twenty-something floated above the Goblin Ripper’s head.

The Goblin Ripper’s aggro was immediately drawn to Nie Yan. It slowly turned its direction, aiming at Nie Yan.

Just as the Goblin Ripper was about to accelerate towards Nie Yan, Brilliant Knife Light appeared in front of the Goblin Ripper like a roadblock, blocking it and slowly retreating.

The Goblin Ripper slowly moved forward, but it was difficult for it to get around Brilliant Knife Light.

On the other side, Unyielding Heart fired another volley of arrows, hitting the Goblin Ripper and drawing its attention. The Goblin Ripper adjusted its direction again.

However, Brilliant Knife Light followed Nie Yan’s instructions, holding the Goblin Ripper in place, only allowing it to slowly move forward.

In this way, under the guidance of the three, the Goblin Ripper slowly approached the statues in the center of the plaza.

If the Shield Warrior went to pull the Goblin Ripper alone, the aggro would be focused on the Shield Warrior, and the Goblin Ripper would quickly kill him. But with Nie Yan and Unyielding Heart alternating their attacks on the Goblin Ripper, the aggro was split between the two of them, so Brilliant Knife Light wouldn’t be attacked. At the same time, they could slowly lead the Goblin Ripper to the center of the plaza.

Brilliant Knife Light and the others finally understood Nie Yan’s good intentions.

They were careful, not daring to make the slightest mistake.

Under the adjustment of Nie Yan and Unyielding Heart, the Goblin Ripper’s direction of movement slowly entered the designated area in the center of the plaza.

“Coordinates 382.278.285! Hold that spot! Defensive stance!” Nie Yan shouted anxiously.

Brilliant Knife Light’s mind sharpened. He took a few steps back, searching for the location Nie Yan had mentioned, and suddenly stopped. But he was still a little off. The Goblin Ripper unleashed a charge, sending Brilliant Knife Light flying.

The Goblin Ripper broke free and charged towards Nie Yan, who had the highest aggro. Nie Yan hurriedly ran away.

But the Goblin Ripper was getting closer and closer. Its huge cutting machine swept across, and the sharp blades struck Nie Yan.

-723!

Instant kill!

Nie Yan fell to the ground. The Goblin Ripper turned to chase after Unyielding Heart. Before long, Unyielding Heart was also dead. Then came Big Brother Seven, and after a while, Brilliant Knife Light also fell to the ground.

The Goblin Ripper finished its killing spree and returned to its wandering state.

After a while, when the Goblin Ripper had moved far away, Black Heaven, Shi Li Hua Sha, and Yue Er Ya ran over and began to cast resurrection spells to revive Nie Yan and the other three.

Beams of white light flashed, and Nie Yan and the others were resurrected.

Nie Yan picked up the dropped equipment and checked his experience. He had lost more than 30%. The experience loss was quite severe.

The four sat down in an open space on the edge of the plaza.

Nie Yan looked at Brilliant Knife Light and asked, “How was it? Did you get a feel for it?”

Brilliant Knife Light said apologetically, “Sorry, I made a mistake just now. I think I know what to do now.”

Nie Yan nodded. In his previous life, the seven Shield Warriors in his team each experimented five or six times before one of them succeeded. One could imagine the difficulty of that positioning. Brilliant Knife Light had only died once and already figured out what to do. His comprehension was quite strong.

“Under normal circumstances, the Goblin Ripper will only attack with its right hand. As long as you keep yourself to the right side of the Goblin Ripper, you will reduce the damage you take by more than 60%. In that area of statues, as long as you hold the spot I told you about, you can easily deal with the Goblin Ripper,” Nie Yan said. That was the experience accumulated by countless players in his previous life. It could completely nullify the Goblin Ripper’s Mechanical Cut and Charge. That way, they could easily kill this Level 40 Lord!

Fa Biao De Wo Niu