Chapter 1 The Sacred Mountain Range

The sacred mountain range was covered in trees and shrouded in layers of mist.

A figure appeared in the forest, moving swiftly.

This figure was none other than Nie Yan. After the Nirvana Guild stabilized, he handed all affairs over to Guo Huai and sneaked away for some free time.

Nie Yan wasn't really interested in managing complicated guild affairs. Anyway, no one could threaten the Nirvana Guild for the time being, so even if he wasn't around, nothing would go wrong.

Nie Yan checked his backpack. It contained a total of four Abak items, including leather armor, gauntlets, a cloak, and a dagger. One item with a confirmed location was inside this sacred mountain range, and another was in the Emerald City. He had gone to the Emerald City last time but returned empty-handed. Today, he was determined to get the one in the sacred mountain range.

He hadn't leveled up in almost a month due to guild matters, and his level was still at one hundred and twenty. But if Nie Yan wanted to level up, his speed would be very fast.

The level requirement for the Abak set was one hundred and eighty, but because of the Grand Prophet Medal, the level requirement could be reduced by thirty levels. In other words, if he could collect this set, Nie Yan could wear it at level one hundred and fifty, and thirty levels weren't an insurmountable obstacle for him.

If he could collect a complete Abak set, Nie Yan's equipment level would undergo earth-shattering changes.

So whenever he had time, he came to the sacred mountain range to find the components of the Abak set.

Soon, Nie Yan arrived at the coordinates he had recorded when he last tracked the undead mage, Bordman.

The Holy Light Stone emitted a莹莹 (yingying) white light, indicating it was nearby.

Nie Yan searched everywhere, but for two full hours, he almost turned the place upside down and still couldn't find it.

After passing through a dense forest, the surrounding area was full of towering rocks, and the terrain was very complex. While traversing through the gaps between the rocks, Nie Yan discovered a crack hidden in the mountain. Upon arriving here, the light of the Holy Light Stone seemed to be even stronger.

Looking inside, it was pitch black, and he didn't know where it led.

Nie Yan walked inside, passing through the narrow gap.

After walking in the dark for more than ten minutes, the space inside gradually became larger, and some light shone in.

After continuing for a short distance, the space suddenly opened up, and the light made Nie Yan's pupils contract violently. After a moment, the scene in front of him gradually became clear.

A crisp system notification sounded.

System: You have discovered the Gray-Dark Ancient Battlefield.

Looking around, this was a very vast area, surrounded by continuous mountains, and in the middle, there was a vast plain.

There was such a place among the towering mountains?

Nie Yan recalled the strong spatial fluctuations he had felt when he entered, and he suddenly understood. From just now, he had entered a dimensional space.

The ground was covered with corpses. They were either lying flat on the ground, half-buried in the soil, some were already broken and tattered, and some had a broken weapon inserted into their bodies.

A round, blood-red setting sun hung diagonally in the sky. The vast plain, devoid of any vitality, gave people a desolate feeling.

Guided by the Holy Light Stone, Nie Yan walked forward. This vast space was boundless, and he didn't know where the Holy Light Stone would lead him.

After walking on the plain for about half an hour, more than a dozen tall mages wearing black robes and holding scepters wandered in the distant wilderness. Looking at these appearing monsters, Nie Yan didn't take them too seriously. Under normal circumstances, very few monsters could threaten him anymore.

However, out of habit, Nie Yan still entered stealth mode and slowly approached one of the mages, and a cold aura swept over him.

The tall mage looked over here.

Nie Yan's heart skipped a beat. Something was wrong. He immediately cast a Concealment state on himself and held his breath.

The tall mage's face was hidden under the black robe, making it impossible to see what he looked like, but the cold gaze under the black robe was like an icy blade.

His gaze swept over Nie Yan, and after not finding anything, his gaze slowly moved away and he resumed wandering.

Nie Yan cast an Identification spell on the black-robed mage.

Dark Follower: Level 160 Mutant Elite.

It was a mutant elite!

Nie Yan knew how terrifying mutant elites and mutant lords were. In his previous life, when he and some brothers teamed up to kill monsters, there were usually no problems. Although their skills weren't top-notch at that time, they were still pretty good. They could usually deal with elites, but if they accidentally encountered a mutant, it would be miserable. Even mutant elites of the same level as them could easily wipe them out. If they encountered a demonized one, they would basically blink their eyes, and before they could react to what had happened, they would all be dead.

There were more than a dozen mutant elite-level Dark Followers here. He didn't dare to act rashly and carefully dodged them.

They seemed to be guarding something. Nie Yan took a closer look. In the middle of the Dark Followers was a tomb. Behind the tall tombstone, a deep tunnel led to who knew where. It was only enough for one person to crawl into the tunnel.

These Dark Followers moved around, but they would never leave this tomb more than ten yards away.

This place was a bit strange. Nie Yan looked at the Holy Light Stone, and the light of the Holy Light Stone became more intense.

This should be the place.

After studying the Dark Followers' walking routes, Nie Yan activated the skill on the Gnome Ring, and his body quickly shrank, becoming only about one-third of its original size. He activated the Shadow Dance skill and, like an agile leopard, quickly flew towards the tomb.

Nie Yan maintained his distance from each Dark Follower, and the error could not exceed one yard. If there was a slight problem, he might be besieged by more than a dozen Dark Followers.

These Dark Followers didn't notice Nie Yan's踪迹 (zongji, trace) at all and remained in a wandering state.

With a whoosh, Nie Yan jumped into the tunnel of the tomb.

His figure flashed through the tunnel.

This tunnel was very long and narrow. Ordinary people could only crawl into it.

Only after Nie Yan became smaller could he run in the tunnel.

Kacha, a strange sound rang out. After hearing it, Nie Yan's heart tightened, and he felt that something was wrong.

Three sharp guillotines continuously chopped down from above the tunnel. If he was hit, his body would definitely be cut into two pieces.

At this critical moment, Nie Yan pounced forward, rolled, and then used Hasty Steps, quickly dodging.

Boom, boom, boom, three loud sounds. The guillotines chopped down behind Nie Yan. The chilling blade grazed Nie Yan's body, making his hair stand on end.

The reason why he was able to dodge these three guillotines was partly due to his speed and partly because his body had become smaller. If it were an ordinary player crawling forward in this narrow tunnel, they wouldn't even have a chance to dodge when the three guillotines chopped down. They would probably be cut into four pieces.

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Nie Yan became even more cautious. There were really a lot of traps in this tunnel. Crossbow bolts and飞刀 (feidao, throwing knives) would shoot out from the walls from time to time, making them hard to guard against.

Nie Yan took two hits, suffering poison and bleeding effects. If he hadn't brought enough potions in his backpack, he would have died long ago.

Fortunately, he survived. After passing through a tunnel of about two or three hundred yards long, Nie Yan jumped into a stone chamber. In the stone chamber, a huge stone coffin was placed horizontally, in a sealed state. Looking at the front of the coffin, there were some ancient common language characters, some of which were blurred. Nie Yan could vaguely recognize only a few characters, including Abak and Dictator.

Seeing these characters, Nie Yan was stunned. He didn't expect this to be Abak's tomb.

It was said that after this dictator was overthrown, he died without a complete corpse. Why was there a tomb here?

Looking at the cold stone coffin, Nie Yan took a deep breath. He had seen too many similar stone coffins, and some terrifying creatures would often jump out of them.

In any case, he decided to push open the stone coffin.

Nie Yan slowly exerted force, opening a gap in the stone coffin.

As soon as he made a move, the stone chamber shook, and countless arrows shot down densely from above, like a continuous rainstorm.

Nie Yan quickly dodged and cast an Obsidian Shield on himself. After only a few muffled sounds of噗噗噗 (pu pu pu), the Obsidian Shield shattered into pieces.

Nie Yan opened the Holy Hire and summoned the paladin, Leffers.

The summoned paladin, Leffers, immediately raised a level sixteen Holy Light Shield for the two of them and cast a few heals on Nie Yan.

After three waves of dense arrow rain, the entire stone chamber returned to peace.

Nie Yan exhaled a breath of stale air. Looking at the dense arrows around him, he secretly clicked his tongue. Even without any monsters, such traps were enough to kill many people.

He stayed in front of the stone coffin for a long time, not knowing what kind of traps would be triggered next, but since he had come here, he would never go back without getting something.

Nie Yan continued to push the stone coffin. As soon as he pushed it a little, countless rotating飞刀 (feidao, throwing knives) swept across from both sides of the stone chamber.

Seeing that he couldn't dodge, Nie Yan stretched out his left hand, and a spider silk shot at the top of the stone chamber. With a whoosh, it brought him to the top of the stone chamber. His body stuck to the top of the stone chamber, dodging the flying knife attacks.

The paladin Leffers was unable to dodge and was hit by more than thirty飞刀 (feidao, throwing knives). With a bang, the shield on his body shattered into pieces and he was instantly killed on the ground.

After the flying knives, the stone chamber was quiet again. Nie Yan jumped down, looked at the paladin lying on the ground, and then looked at the stone coffin. A chill rose in his heart.

This stone coffin was lying here quietly, but it exuded a strong sense of肅殺 (susha, murderous aura). If there were more traps next, Nie Yan really didn't know if he could survive.

It wasn't going to be easy to open this stone coffin!

However, it wasn't Nie Yan's style to go back empty-handed. Nie Yan frowned. This stone coffin had become an unsolvable problem.

~~More updates later...