It is a foolish act for someone to fear being surpassed by others and to be envious of the talented. Only by continuously learning from the strong can one keep progressing. Just like how Sun, in his early days, publicly released PK videos to seek opponents. By constantly challenging stronger players and pursuing greater improvement, he gradually became recognized as a genius.
Even a genius climbs step by step to the peak of strength.
By frequently sparring with Sun, Nieyan could also learn many techniques and gradually improve.
Whatever happens, we must keep Sun, but at the same time give him space to grow, allowing him to follow the same path he took in his previous life.
Another point is that in the future, besides his exceptional skills, Sun would enjoy unmatched popularity among thieves, practically becoming a figure who commands thousands at a single call. A single wave of his hand could summon thousands of high-level thieves. The kind of power this thief could bring to the Bull Tribe is unimaginable.
The Bull Tribe’s brilliance requires the contributions of countless geniuses!
“Master Nieyan, please accept me as your apprentice. Teach me how to play a thief.” After hesitating for a while, Sun finally made up his mind and looked at Nieyan with hopeful eyes. In Sun’s eyes, Nieyan and Tang Yao were both extremely high-level players. Previously, outside the Heiyan Forest in Yidan Bedo, he had witnessed their impressive skills firsthand—killing enemies in ten steps. To him, Nieyan was like a godlike figure, distant and unreachable. Today, after yet another effortless defeat at Nieyan’s hands, he had the audacity to ask Nieyan to be his master. However, he felt uneasy inside, thinking Nieyan would probably refuse. After all, someone like Nieyan would hardly pay attention to a small fry like him.
Nieyan hadn’t expected Sun to make such a request. The genius thief from his past life wanted to become his apprentice. Nieyan couldn’t help feeling a bit insecure, especially considering how brilliant Sun had been in his previous life.
“I know this is a bold request, but I promise to work hard and never disgrace my master’s name. Master Nieyan, please accept me!” Sun looked up at Nieyan earnestly.
Nieyan could see a strong thirst for knowledge, unwavering determination, and the courage to face challenges in Sun’s eyes. Genius is not only about talent but also about possessing qualities that ordinary people rarely achieve.
Would Nieyan worry about Sun disgracing his reputation? Of course not! Looking at the slightly immature and somewhat childish Sun before him, Nieyan recalled how Sun, in his previous life, was actually quite loyal. Once, when his friend was killed, Sun infiltrated the fortress of the Right Wing of Light guild alone, hunted down dozens of people, and escaped calmly. That was one of his greatest feats. It’s hard to bind a genius with material benefits, but even a genius can be bound by emotions. Nieyan could start building a relationship with Sun now. If Sun truly regarded Nieyan as his master in the future, that would be great. Was Nieyan qualified to be Sun’s master?
For the next three years, there would be no problem at all. After all, for a thief to truly reach the level of a great thief, besides talent, one must also possess extraordinary perseverance and persistence. Even Sun needed more than three years to reach that level. As for further development afterward, that would depend on personal talent.
During these three years, Nieyan could continue to spar with other strong players and wouldn’t stop improving himself. Perhaps he could maintain his advantage for another five or six years. After that, if Sun’s talent truly reached an inhuman level and he surpassed Nieyan, well, it’s natural for a student to surpass his teacher, isn’t it? If Nieyan could truly grasp the essence of Shadow Dancer and continue maintaining his advantage, that would be even better.
Seeing that Nieyan had not yet made a decision, Sun grew anxious.
“Master Nieyan, please accept me!” Sun pleaded.
“It’s not that I can’t accept you. But from now on, don’t call me Master Nieyan anymore. I’m not that much older than you. Just call me Big Brother.” Nieyan replied. Taking Sun as his apprentice was indeed a strange thing.
Sun let out a cheer. Still somewhat childish at heart, his joy made Nieyan smile slightly.
“Give me whatever you brought with you first, then help me send some things back to the guild warehouse through the guild leader. Then come back quickly. We’ll take you along to level up together.” Nieyan said. This would allow him to train Sun while building a relationship with him. Also, they still needed someone to run between the leveling spots and the city, delivering equipment they obtained back to the city and bringing consumables back to them. Their wanted status was too high, and they wouldn’t be able to clear it for a few days—probably at least three or four, while Tang Yao might need five or six days.
Nieyan had been waiting for Divine Arbitration and Desperate Strike to cool down so he could complete the pickpocketing skill mission. According to the original plan, he could set out as soon as the game started tomorrow. However, due to the recent incident, he had used up both Divine Arbitration and Desperate Strike, so the mission had to be indefinitely postponed.
Nieyan suddenly realized a life lesson: no matter whether you are reincarnated or not, no matter how perfectly you plan your future path, unexpected and uncontrollable events will always disrupt your plans. You can only rely on your efforts and accumulated resources to move forward step by step. No matter how much your plans are disrupted, as long as your determination and confidence to move forward remain unchanged, everything will be fine.
“Big Brother Nieyan is going to train me? That’s great!” Hearing Nieyan’s words, Sun jumped up excitedly. “I’ll send the stuff back right away.”
In terms of personality, Nieyan found it hard to associate the current Sun with the powerful genius thief he had been in his past life. Thus, without realizing it, Nieyan started to overlook Sun’s past achievements and instead viewed him as a half-grown child.
“This kid is quite interesting.” Yaoya looked at Nieyan. She had thought Nieyan would coldly refuse Sun, but she didn’t expect Nieyan to accept him. It seemed Nieyan was actually quite soft-hearted.
Besides Sun’s status as a genius thief in his previous life, his admirable personality traits were also one of the reasons Nieyan accepted him. If someone was ungrateful and broke promises, no matter how talented they were, Nieyan would have told them to get lost.
Sun gathered all the equipment Nieyan wanted to send back into his backpack. Because he was too excited, he almost missed a few items while hastily organizing his full backpack, then quickly picked them up with an embarrassed smile before starting to read the recall scroll.
Underneath the halo of genius, he was still just a somewhat clumsy kid.
After Sun returned, Nieyan thought about how long it might take to clear their wanted status. Based on the current situation, he wouldn’t be able to return to the city for a few days. The money from the Starry Pharmacy had already accumulated to a large amount—at least dozens of gold coins. If he left it there, it would be a huge loss, as in-game currency would depreciate over time.
Nieyan thought for a moment and decided to have Guohuai withdraw some gold coins from the Starry Pharmacy and purchase some prime real estate in major cities like Moonlight City, then transfer it to his name. This way, Nieyan wouldn’t have to worry about his money losing value. Buying real estate was a surefire way to profit.
When Guohuai heard Nieyan wanted him to buy real estate in other cities, he was quite surprised and asked, “Why not buy land in Carol City? Going back and forth between cities to buy land will cost teleportation fees. That’s a huge waste.”
“Who said I didn’t buy land in Carol City? Just follow my instructions. In the future, we will expand to other cities, so owning land there will be much more convenient.” Nieyan smiled slightly. In Carol City, Nieyan had already bought a total of twenty-two plots of land, at least twelve of which would become prime real estate in the future, with the rest also being valuable. Nieyan’s wealth was largely due to his foreknowledge—he had purchased many items at auctions that would appreciate in value, then sold them at the right time to gain massive profits. While outsiders estimated the daily income of the Starry Pharmacy to be around 20 gold coins, the actual amount was far more. The exact figure would only be known after Birdburiedegg completed the accounting.
After hearing Nieyan’s explanation, Guohuai was shocked. Nieyan had already purchased land in Carol City. Although he didn’t know exactly how much Nieyan’s assets were, one thing was certain: with Nieyan’s vast wealth supporting the Bull Tribe, the guild would have more development opportunities, and a grand vision lay ahead.
After instructing Guohuai, Nieyan also gave Birdburiedegg some orders. It was about time to start gathering alchemists from the market, but not in a conspicuous way—quietly recruiting them would suffice. Nieyan also provided Birdburiedegg with a list of targets, making the search much easier. Although various guilds also employed some alchemists, they hadn’t yet placed much emphasis on them, nor did they impose many restrictions. Under the financial pressure from the Starry Pharmacy, it would be strange if those alchemists didn’t switch sides. After all, the Starry Pharmacy already had a good reputation, and with generous offers, many alchemists would be willing to change jobs.
Once enough alchemists were recruited and their products started to be accepted in the market, Nieyan planned to open a shop dedicated to selling alchemy items. This would definitely generate profit, perhaps even rivaling the income of the Starry Pharmacy.
After a while, Sun ran back, panting, “I’m back.”
Once everyone was ready, Nieyan said, “Let’s go. Let’s take advantage of the time before the game shuts down to clear some red names and gain more experience.”
The group traversed one high-level map after another, heading deep into the distant forests. As they ventured further into the high-level zones, Sun became increasingly excited. Were they really going to the level 30 map to grind experience? Would it be dangerous? But this thrilling danger was even more exciting.
Perhaps every player who chooses the thief class carries a bit of that passionate, risk-loving gene in their personality.
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