Chapter 1 The Ancient City

The ancient city walls were covered with mottled traces, many parts already collapsed into ruins, vaguely telling the desolation of history.

This was a square ancient city, covering an area of about 5000 * 5000 yards, with traces of its former magnificence. In his past life, the Triumph Empire first broke through this intermediate fortress, cleaned up the monsters inside, then completely destroyed the city walls and rebuilt the city.

The glory of Cripps Fortress in his past life was a commercial miracle that amazed everyone.

Nie Yan needed to make himself and the Niu Ren Tribe constantly stronger, so that in the future, when facing the Century Financial Group, he would have more leverage. Cripps Fortress was something he had to have in his hands.

In this life, the Century Financial Group had withdrawn most of its funds from the Greenland Empire, and instead put all its energy into Angel Corp, but it still made Nie Yan feel some danger. This super capital behemoth had an energy in the virtual industry that no financial group or anyone could ignore.

Nie Yan, riding Faulkner's warhorse, arrived outside Cripps Fortress like a gust of wind. He jumped off the horse and looked towards Cripps Fortress. There were many buildings inside the fortress, very complex. Investigating such a fortress thoroughly was not an easy task.

Nie Yan walked towards the distance, entering Cripps Fortress. Inside the fortress was a street paved with bluestone, very wide, only a hundred yards, capable of accommodating a hundred people advancing together. On both sides were some dilapidated shops, vaguely imagining the former prosperity of Cripps.

Some swordsmen in black armor wandered the streets.

Specter Swordsman: Level 50 Elite, Health 35000/35000.

Even the most ordinary monsters in the fortress were elite-level, and Lord-level monsters were not uncommon. There would also be a small number of hyper-mutated or demonized Lords. When encountering these super-strong monsters, the only way was to overwhelm them with numbers!

Nie Yan entered Stealth, sneaking into the fortress. Inside the fortress, wide roads crisscrossed, and occasionally there would be one or two small squares, where five or six hundred people could spread out. These places were often occupied by some Lord-level bosses, ranging from level 50 to 60.

Nie Yan marked each street and Boss spawn point, beginning to create a map, marking where each Lord-level Boss appeared. His Stealth and Concealment abilities were very strong. Along the way, not a single monster discovered his tracks.

He continued towards the center of Cripps, avoiding the Specter Swordsmen on the streets. Walking past a badly damaged street, a golden treasure chest came into view not far away. The golden treasure chest was placed in the corner of the street, with a Specter Swordsman wandering nearby.

Only one Specter Swordsman. Dealing with it shouldn't be a problem, Nie Yan thought to himself. He definitely had to get this treasure chest.

Nie Yan crept towards the back of the Specter Swordsman.

The Specter Swordsman wandered, occasionally stopping, looking around, and then resuming his wandering state.

Level 50 elites, especially humanoid creatures, had very high sensitivity.

Nie Yan was very careful, slowly approaching the back of the Specter Swordsman. He adjusted the direction of the Zennarde's Sword in his hand, suddenly jumped up, his body bursting forth, pouncing on the back of the Specter Swordsman, the Zennarde's Sword in his hand stabbing towards the back of the Specter Swordsman's head with a [Muffled Strike].

Nie Yan was extremely fast, pouncing down with lightning speed, and it looked like the Zennarde's Sword in his hand was about to hit the Specter Swordsman.

Just then, a golden light suddenly bloomed on the Specter Swordsman.

Nie Yan's Zennarde's Sword stabbed into the back of the Specter Swordsman's head, but the Specter Swordsman did not faint as expected, but instead swept over with a Whirlwind.

Nie Yan was startled. He didn't expect the Specter Swordsman's combat ability to be so strong. He quickly used a Block. With a clang, he was knocked back several steps by the huge force from the dagger, and a damage value of more than eight hundred floated above his head.

After the Specter Swordsman knocked Nie Yan back, he pounced again.

Nie Yan threw an Obsidian Shield on himself and quickly retreated.

The Specter Swordsman came down with a slash, the sword芒 bursting forth.

Nie Yan moved his feet and used [Backstab]!

His footwork wasn't very agile, and the footwork for [Backstab] was difficult to control. At this time, the Specter Swordsman had already struck, and with a bang, hit Nie Yan. The Obsidian Shield on Nie Yan's body trembled, and a damage value of more than 300 points floated above his head.

Regarding [Backstab], casting this skill was a bit difficult. It seemed like there was some trick to it, otherwise the movements wouldn't be smooth, and performing it poorly would easily cause the skill to fail.

The Specter Swordsman pursued relentlessly, and with another [Cleave], he slashed down at Nie Yan.

Nie Yan used [Hasty Retreat], blocking the Specter Swordsman's attack, and stunned the Specter Swordsman's head with a [Kidney Shot] from the dagger in his right hand.

The dagger hit, and the Specter Swordsman fell into a stunned state. Nie Yan went around to the back of the Specter Swordsman, used [Backstab] and [Eviscerate], and blood flowed from the Specter Swordsman's back.

-539, -538, -288, -100...

Damage values floated from the Specter Swordsman's head. He unleashed skills fiercely, constantly dealing damage to the Specter Swordsman.

Just as the Specter Swordsman was about to wake up, Nie Yan blasted him from behind with [Blast], and with a bang, the Specter Swordsman was blown away, fell to the ground, and struggled for a long time before getting up.

The Specter Swordsman adjusted himself and charged at Nie Yan again.

In order to avoid attracting other Specter Swordsmen, Nie Yan couldn't use items that made too much noise, such as Flash Dust. Seeing the Specter Swordsman approaching again, he activated [Swift Retreat] and quickly retreated.

This area was too small. Running too far would alarm other monsters. Nie Yan could only grit his teeth and fight the Specter Swordsman head-on.

Seeing the Specter Swordsman pounce in front of him, Nie Yan moved his feet.

Shadow Strike Assassination!

His footsteps flashed to the side, his body transforming into several phantoms. He just managed to sidestep, and the Zennarde's Sword in his hand slashed across the Specter Swordsman's neck, blood splashing.

The Specter Swordsman's attack still hit Nie Yan, but it was deflected, dealing 239 damage to Nie Yan.

System: Shadow Strike Assassination completed 35%, dealing 52% attack damage, releasing combo points 0.

Each free skill often has some unique techniques. Before mastering the techniques, even Shadow Dancer-level masters cannot cast it smoothly. It was already very good that Nie Yan could achieve such results on his first cast.

So cold... staying up late is too tragic.