Chapter 1 The Feeling of Unease

Nie Yan killed two more Scaled Toads, and that strange feeling appeared again.

He could clearly sense that someone was trying to approach him.

Looking back, the silent jungle was empty.

Nie Yan walked towards a Scaled Toad when suddenly, a violent magical fluctuation erupted behind him, and a dark power descended upon him.

Weakness! Grief!

Curses were instant, making them particularly terrifying. Without the appropriate potions, or the dispel and prayer spells of priests and paladins, being cursed was a very frustrating thing.

Nie Yan was shocked. The attacker wasn't a Thief, but a Priest! A name flashed through his mind—Black Hell!

He must have used an invisibility potion!

Nie Yan glanced at his stats. His attribute values had decreased by 60%! What a potent curse! An ordinary curse skill could reduce a target's stats by about 20%, which was already quite impressive. These two curses had directly wiped out 60% of his stats!

Before Nie Yan could even activate Stealth, a Light Radiance spell shot into the sky, and dazzling light cascaded down.

Immediately following was a Mark, exposing Nie Yan's location without a doubt.

Then, a Shadow Erosion spell shot towards Nie Yan with incredible speed.

Shadow Erosion was one of the Shadow Priest's most powerful spells, dealing continuous damage and carrying a strong curse effect.

Damn, what a fierce attack! To unleash so many instant-cast spells in one go, this guy's movements were too fast!

Nie Yan rolled to dodge, avoiding the Shadow Priest's Shadow Erosion. With a bang, the Shadow Erosion struck a tree, instantly turning its leaves yellow and causing them to fall. The branches withered rapidly, and the power of the curse turned the tree to decay in the blink of an eye.

Nie Yan glanced over and saw a Shadow Priest in a grey robe standing by a tree about thirty yards away, waving his staff and quickly shaking off a magic scroll.

The intense magical fluctuations were fleeting.

Before his feet could land, a spider web fell from the sky, enveloping Nie Yan.

This was a giant web, clearly more advanced and much tougher than the previous Novice Web spell.

This was a rare spellcaster skill, Web. The Novice Web skill Nie Yan used before was obtained by mages writing scrolls.

Nie Yan activated Hasty Retreat, his speed skyrocketing, and darted backward like lightning, leaping out of the Web's range.

The Web fell, failing to catch Nie Yan.

"Impressive speed and reaction time." Black Hell calmly waved his staff. He had to admit, Nie Yan's speed was truly astonishing. To still be so fast after being hit by his powerful curse... Remembering Nie Yan's stunning blow against Hei Zhuo, no wonder even Yu Long couldn't withstand it.

If he hadn't acted first, it would have been really difficult to gain an advantage over Nie Yan.

Black Hell waved his staff, and a Shadow Bolt shot towards Nie Yan.

Taking advantage of the gap after the Web spell ended, Nie Yan drank a Dispel Potion to remove the cursed state from his body. He activated Shadow Dance, using the nearby trees as cover to dodge the Shadow Bolt, and rapidly approached Black Hell.

Even though Nie Yan was using Shadow Dance, Black Hell could still clearly determine his location based on the Mark on his body, and he continuously waved his staff, unleashing a barrage of spells.

But Nie Yan was too fast. As Nie Yan ran, Black Hell could only see a series of afterimages through the gaps between the leaves.

Black Hell calmly retreated, backing into an open space where no trees grew.

This open space was about 10 by 10 yards.

He and Black Heaven had been following Nie Yan for a long time. They hadn't attacked earlier because they were looking for suitable terrain. If they attacked in the dense jungle and the ambush failed, Nie Yan could use the trees as cover and easily kill them. So he had been tracking them for a long time, until he found this open space before making his move.

He was always cautious, and even when doing something he was very confident in, he always made sure to have a backup plan.

In fact, he was more accustomed to playing warriors. He wasn't particularly proficient with Shadow Priests, but a mastery of one was a mastery of all. Since he often PKed with spellcasters, he was still considered to be quite knowledgeable about how they played.

"Let me see how strong you really are. Come on." Black Hell waved his staff, summoning a Shadow. It slowly condensed into the shape of a person in front of Black Hell, but its specific appearance was indistinguishable, just a patch of darkness.

Nie Yan was shocked when he saw Black Hell's actions. This guy wasn't simple; he even had Shadows.

Shadows were the Shadow Priest's summoned creatures. They had good attack and defense, and were the Shadow Priest's guardians.

Nie Yan quickly entered the open space and pounced on Black Hell.

Black Hell waved his hand and cast a Slow curse on Nie Yan, then quickly retreated and fired off a Shadow Bolt.

Nie Yan was slowed down, his figure slightly paused, and the Shadow Bolt shot straight towards him. The timing was perfect.

Nie Yan activated Holy Descent on his Saint Paladin's Medallion, the Slow effect on his body disappeared, his speed instantly reached its maximum, and he charged towards Black Hell without hesitation. With a bang, the Shadow Bolt exploded on Nie Yan's body, but it didn't cause any damage or negative effects.

Nie Yan was instantly in front of him, as fast as lightning. The dagger in his hand thrust towards Black Hell's forehead with a Stunning Blow.

Nie Yan's speed seemed to be even faster than when he killed Hei Zhuo in the video. Black Hell was shocked. His figure flickered, he waved his staff, and the Shadow moved in from the side, blocking him at just the right moment.

Nie Yan couldn't help but sigh inwardly. This guy really had some skill. In such a short time, he was able to successfully get the Shadow to block him.

Nie Yan's dagger struck the Shadow, and the Shadow tightly缠住(chan zhu - entangled) Nie Yan. The three-second Holy Descent state on the Saint Paladin's Medallion quickly expired.

Shadow: Summoned Creature, Health 1200/1200.

Nie Yan's dagger pierced the Shadow and slashed open with a Gouge.

The Shadow's health dropped by more than 500 points. It waved its hands and lunged at Nie Yan. Nie Yan dodged, and just as he was about to get around the Shadow, a dark force tightly bound Nie Yan.

Shadow Shackles!

Shadow Shackles only lasted for one second. In that brief moment, Black Hell retreated about three yards, and a brilliant beam of light fell on Black Hell's body. Black Hell's robe billowed out, and his whole body was radiant, like a god descending to earth.

He waved his staff, and the light shone brightly.

It was the deepened state magic from the Chapter of Justice!

This state skill could make all the Priest's blessings stronger, and all the curses even more terrifying!

This guy was finally pulling out his trump cards. Nie Yan's heart tightened. Was he going to use Divine Judgement from the Chapter of Courage? If he did, that would mean he couldn't use Divine Judgement again for ten days.

Nie Yan was pounced on by the Shadow, and a damage value of more than 100 points appeared above his head.

After getting around the Shadow, Nie Yan pounced on Black Hell, who was about to wave his staff and cast a curse. Nie Yan tossed out a pinch of Intermediate Flash Powder. With a bang, a strong, blinding light, like sharp knives, pierced into Black Hell's eyes.

Black Hell's vision went dark.

Nie Yan rolled to the side, dodging Black Hell's Weaken Curse.

Black Hell's powerful curse would normally decrease an opponent's stats by about 60%, but after using the deepened state magic, who knew what it would do.

After being hit by the Intermediate Flash Powder, Black Hell lost his vision, but his strong mental fortitude prevented him from panicking. He waved his staff repeatedly, casting curses based on his sense of direction, and calmly took out a Potion of Remove Blindness.

Black Hell's curse effects were too terrifying. If he was hit, Nie Yan's stats would drop by at least 90%.

Even while blinded, this guy's movements were still not slow at all, and he unleashed curses one after another. What was even more frightening was that his judgment was exceptionally accurate. If Nie Yan was even a step slower, he would have been hit by the curse effects.

Using the Shadow Dance skill, his speed reached its peak. He dodged Black Hell's attacks, quickly circling around behind Black Hell, and landing a Muffle Strike on the back of Black Hell's head.

Fear Shriek!

Black Hell's throat vibrated, and he let out a piercing shriek.

Nie Yan's Muffle Strike was only halfway through when he suddenly felt something was wrong. He sensed a strange tremor. It was Fear Shriek!

Fear Shriek was the Shadow Priest's most terrifying skill, a mind-control spell. Quite a few Thieves had died under the effect of Fear Shriek, because this skill was too difficult to defend against. The casting time was extremely short, and if you were hit by Fear Shriek, you would lose all control of your body, and the Shadow Priest would be able to kill the Thief at his leisure.

Nie Yan quickly activated Mental Immunity on the Murderous Rampage Medallion. A sharp, piercing sound entered his mind, and some chaotic illusions appeared in his mind. Nie Yan's movements froze, and his dagger stopped in mid-air.

Fortunately, he had activated Mental Immunity in time, before he was completely controlled. The illusions in his mind disappeared, and Nie Yan's dagger stabbed into Black Hell's body.

However, the Muffle Strike had been ineffective.

Nie Yan used a Backstab and then an Eviscerate. Black Hell's health dropped to almost nothing, and a series of Bleed and Poison damage values floated up above his head.

Black Hell waved his staff, casting a Lesser Heal, restoring a large chunk of his health. He quickly fled.

Nie Yan followed closely behind Black Hell, landing a Vital Strike on his back. Black Hell's health finally bottomed out, and he fell to the ground.

Black Hell was indeed a troublesome opponent. If his skills hadn't been so effective against Black Hell, he probably wouldn't have been able to kill this guy.

"I won," Nie Yan said calmly. He bent down and picked up the Chapter of Justice and another piece of equipment that Black Hell had dropped, a Shadow Robe for Shadow Priests. He unceremoniously kept the Chapter of Justice. After thinking about it, he decided to return the Shadow Robe to Black Hell.