Chapter 1 Target Locked

Nie Yan darted through the forest. After about thirty minutes, he finally locked onto his target.

It was a Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf. Its entire body was silver-white, with only blood-red eyes. Agile and vigorous, it roamed between the trees.

Nie Yan slowly crept closer, the distance shrinking to around five or six yards. The Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf remained unaware.

Nie Yan suddenly pounced, launching himself at the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf's back with lightning speed.

The Zeinar's Sword in Nie Yan's hand revealed its sharp edge, drawing an eerie arc through the air.

The Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf sensed something. It leaped forward, dodging Nie Yan's attack and swiftly lunging at him.

The Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf reacted extremely fast and moved with great agility.

After becoming a Holy Shadow Dancer, his strength had changed slightly, and Nie Yan wasn't quite used to it yet, causing him to miss a little.

Seeing the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf pouncing at him, Nie Yan suddenly had a strange feeling. His body's joints shifted, every articulation point filled with violent energy. Looking at the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf, it seemed as if its movements had slowed down a lot, like a slow-motion scene in a movie. He could easily find the flaws. This feeling became clearer and clearer, and Nie Yan quickly figured out how to respond.

Nie Yan shifted his body to the side, barely a few centimeters away from the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf, narrowly dodging its pounce. Then, he suddenly delivered an elbow strike, slamming his elbow into the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf's forehead with a dull thud. The Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf whimpered and was sent flying, crashing heavily to the ground two or three yards away.

*This* was the Holy Shadow Dance, a sense of unbridled, exhilarating combat that excited Nie Yan.

When he fought the Mirror Thief earlier, Nie Yan didn't feel that the Holy Shadow Dance was particularly powerful, because the Mirror Thief's stats were 130% of his own, even stronger than him, so he didn't notice the difference.

It wasn't until he faced the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf that Nie Yan had a completely different feeling. His speed far exceeded the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf's, so to him, the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf's speed was ridiculously slow.

He had complete control of the battle.

The Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf rolled, landing on the ground. It howled softly, circling Nie Yan, pausing for a moment, then pounced at him again.

Nie Yan's perception quickly spread out, and just like before, the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf's speed was excruciatingly slow.

As the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf pounced, Nie Yan raised his leg and delivered a downward chop, slamming it hard into the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf's head. Another dull thud, and the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf's head slammed heavily onto the ground, leaving it dazed and confused.

The timing and placement of his attacks were perfect.

This was Shadow Dance!

When his various stats reached a certain level, he could look down on low-level creatures like the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf.

Afterwards, the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf kept getting up, trying to pounce on Nie Yan, but no matter how hard it tried or what angle it attacked from, Nie Yan easily thwarted it. After about thirty seconds, the Bloodthirsty Silver Wolf's health finally reached zero, and it collapsed to the ground.

So this was Shadow Dance. No wonder he, at level 160-something in his previous life, could still be toyed with by a level 120 Shadow Dancer.

For the next period of time, Nie Yan continued to challenge stronger creatures. He could easily kill creatures within the sixth rank, and creatures above the sixth rank were a bit difficult, but he could ensure his own absolute safety. Even if he encountered an eighth-rank creature, he could easily run away.

After becoming a Holy Shadow Dancer, Nie Yan continued to stay in the Ancient World, collecting various materials and practicing his various production skills. Although it was very boring, he understood that he was accumulating power. When he left this Ancient World, that would be when his brilliance would shine.

Nie Yan stayed in the Ancient World for another month and a half.

As he killed more and more monsters, his combat skills became more and more refined. He looked at his inventory. Row upon row of potions, ores, and crystal cores, as many as one or two hundred different kinds, twenty in a group, for a total of five or six hundred groups, filled his backpack.

Nie Yan found it difficult to estimate the value of these things. Most of them would not be sold, as the market could only absorb a limited amount, so they should be kept for his own people to use.

All of his production skills had advanced to the Master level or higher. Alchemy, Potion Making, and Mechanics had all been raised to the Grandmaster level. These three production skills could provide a great auxiliary effect in combat.

Nie Yan checked the current levels of the players. He had stayed in the Ancient World for a bit too long. More and more players had broken through the level 100 barrier. He received a message from Guo Huai saying that Sun, Wang Zhe Tian Xia, Xie Yao, Tang Yao, and a total of thirty-six top experts from the Niu Ren Tribe had gone to transfer to top-tier classes. They would need at least a month or so to complete their top-tier class transfer quests. Sun, Wang Zhe Tian Xia, Xie Yao, and the others who were faster had already been in the transfer quest maps for more than ten days, while the slower ones had only just entered the transfer maps.

With more and more top-tier members going to transfer, undercurrents surged in the Grante Empire, and many forces began to stir. Therefore, Guo Huai urgently needed Nie Yan to return to oversee the situation.

Nie Yan had to be in the Niu Ren Tribe before these top-tier members came out, otherwise, it would be troublesome if something happened.

Although the Niu Ren Tribe was no longer what it used to be, with its numbers having tripled and its position in the Grante Empire being very solid, there were still too many forces that could threaten it. After weighing things for a long time, Nie Yan went to the teleportation array below the Heart of the World and stepped into the teleportation array.

Light and shadow flowed, and when Nie Yan opened his eyes again, he was already inside the Holy Church.

The decorations inside the Holy Church gave him a faint sense of familiarity. Looking ahead, he saw Priest Anneson at the door of the hall, and he immediately felt like he had returned to the human world.

Priest Anneson walked over and respectfully gave a bow. "Your Excellency, War Angel Kalenna, Your Excellency, Holy Shadow Dancer Nie Yan, welcome back."

Priest Anneson's extremely solemn etiquette made Nie Yan a little overwhelmed. Priest Anneson's position in Calore City was very high, at least at the level of a Grand Duke, and now, he was actually bowing before Nie Yan.

In the Grante Empire, the hierarchical division of status and identity was very strict, to the point of being almost harsh. If someone bumped into someone with a higher noble rank than themselves, they would be severely punished. A figure like Priest Anneson would generally not bow to others in the entire Calore City.

Nie Yan once again became curious about what level the Holy Shadow Dancer title was. Could it be even more badass than a Grand Duke?

At the same time, he curiously glanced at the guardian angel Kalenna on his left shoulder. The guardian angel Kalenna was actually a war angel. Nie Yan remembered that war angels had a very high status among all angels.

Kalenna glanced at Priest Anneson, flapped her wings, and landed on Nie Yan's left shoulder, amusing herself by playing with a ball of white light.

Nie Yan searched for Holy Shadow Dancer on the official website. There was some information about the Holy Shadow Dancer title. In the secular world, its status was the same as that of a Shadow Dancer, roughly equivalent to a Count's title, but in the Holy Church, it was very high, equivalent to the level of a Cardinal.

The Holy Church's title system, from the lowest level, was Third-Class Cleric, Second-Class Cleric, First-Class Cleric, followed by Priest, then Cardinal, White-Robed Cardinal, and then the Pope. Due to the Pope's absence, the only ones left in the entire Holy Church were three White-Robed Cardinals, who were the elders of the Holy Church. Below them were hundreds of Cardinals. The three White-Robed Cardinals generally did not appear, and the Cardinals were appointed by the Holy Church and generally lived in seclusion among the people. The Holy Church in Calore City was managed by Priest Anneson.

Seeing this information, Nie Yan had a general understanding of his position.

A Cardinal had a privilege, which was that they could arbitrarily dispatch thirty Holy Knights from the Holy Church branch to be used by them. Apart from the White-Robed Cardinals and Cardinals, any follower of the Holy Church had to be respectful to them.

These privileges were quite good.

"Hello, Priest Anneson," Nie Yan replied with a smile.

"You have finally successfully transferred. Congratulations, Mr. Holy Shadow Dancer Nie Yan. May the glory of God be with you," Priest Anneson said, placing his right hand on his chest and bowing slightly.

The glory of God? Nie Yan really wanted to say that the gods had already killed each other to the point of almost dying. He didn't know if the God of Light that the Holy Church worshipped was still around, but since he had entered this system, he had to abide by the rules.

"Thank you for your blessings, Priest Anneson," Nie Yan nodded.

After exchanging pleasantries with Priest Anneson for a moment, Priest Anneson led Nie Yan as he walked, introducing the history of the Holy Church, as well as Nie Yan's position and rights. Nie Yan listened and secretly noted them down. Some things were roughly the same as the information he had found, but in the Holy Church, he also had to abide by some rules, such as giving alms to struggling civilians he encountered outside, and removing the pain of sick people. Nie Yan couldn't heal, but such small matters were easy for the War Angel Kalenna.

After chatting with Priest Anneson for a while, Nie Yan bid farewell to Priest Anneson and walked out of the Holy Church. The sun shone brightly outside, making him feel happy.

Looking ahead, the streets were crowded with people, a constant flow of traffic, and bustling with activity.

Nie Yan suddenly had a deep feeling. He had been cooped up alone in the Ancient World for so long, without seeing a single person, so bored that he had an urge to go crazy. Now he realized that it felt so good to be back.

Currently, whether it was the Grante Empire or the Satreen Empire, whether it was the undead or the demonkin, he was the only one who had transferred to a top-tier class. From now on, the sea was wide for fish to leap, and the sky was high for birds to fly! Was there any place in this world that he couldn't go!

Nie Yan remembered that he was the first person to transfer to Shadow Dance, and he could also go to the Thieves Guild to receive a reward. He wondered what the Thieves Guild would reward him with.