If it weren’t for the Prayer skill significantly enhancing perception, he might have approached without being noticed. Tuobashi felt a chill down his spine.
“Friend, come out!” Tuobashi stared at the direction where Nie Yan was hiding. He could only see a blurry figure and felt surprised. This guy’s stealth was extremely high. A normal rogue, if using Divine Eye, could definitely see the opponent clearly. However, when looking at Nie Yan, he couldn’t see him clearly at all, as if he might lose sight of him at any moment.
Nie Yan saw the divine glow in Tuobashi’s eyes and realized he had been exposed.
He deactivated his invisibility and appeared.
“It’s you?” After recognizing Nie Yan’s appearance, Tuobashi’s gaze sharpened. He recalled the previous encounter with Nie Yan outside the Starry Sky Pharmacy. He never expected to meet again here.
At that time, the Starry Sky Pharmacy had just opened. Now, it had become a giant in the potion industry. Calculating the time, it had been more than ten days.
If they had met in Carol City, Tuobashi wouldn’t have been surprised. However, encountering Nie Yan at the Bright Monastery made him take notice. To dare enter the Bright Monastery alone—Nie Yan was truly audacious, especially for someone only at level 17.
Nie Yan shrugged and said, “I’m just passing by.”
He didn’t want to conflict with Tuobashi and Shishenhaoshuang. The paladin and berserker knight classes were both plate armor classes that countered rogues. Coupled with Tuobashi and Shishenhaoshuang’s excellent equipment and much higher levels, Nie Yan estimated he could ensure his own safety but had little chance of defeating Tuobashi and Shishenhaoshuang.
“Heh, brother, I didn’t expect to meet you here,” Shishenhaoshuang, who was straightforward, greeted with a smile. “You seem to have a red name. Wow, so red. How many people have you killed?”
Nie Yan remained cautious. He was a heavily red-named player. If greedy players coveted his equipment, they might target him.
Tuobashi stopped Shishenhaoshuang, who wanted to approach and greet, and smiled slightly at Nie Yan, “My friend doesn’t mean any harm. Don’t take it the wrong way.”
Nie Yan’s red name was so severe that if Shishenhaoshuang approached rashly, it would definitely cause misunderstandings between them.
Shishenhaoshuang realized his abruptness and scratched his head, laughing awkwardly.
“Interested in forming a party?” Tuobashi was deeply intrigued by Nie Yan. He wanted to find out Nie Yan’s true identity. If Nie Yan joined the party, he would likely dispel mutual hostility, as the game’s AI system prohibited malicious PK among party, team, or guild members. Otherwise, if a team were raiding a dungeon and one or two spies suddenly emerged, maliciously attacking teammates and causing the team’s defeat, such behavior would severely damage trust among teammates, making the game unplayable.
Nie Yan thought for a moment and asked, “Are you planning to farm monsters outside or go inside?”
Nie Yan faced certain difficulties entering the Monastery of Light alone. He could only pass through the ceiling using the Weaver’s Ring and Crawler’s Ring. However, if he formed a party with Tuobashi and Shishenhaoshuang, they could charge directly into the inner sanctum of the Monastery of Light. As for the central hall, Tuobashi and Shishenhaoshuang couldn’t enter—it was accessible only to Nie Yan alone.
“Of course inside,” Tuobashi replied. He was speculating on Nie Yan’s purpose in entering the Bright Monastery.
“We can go together to the inner sanctum of Bright Monastery,” Nie Yan said. He was also speculating about Tuobashi and Shishenhaoshuang’s background. Given their equipment and levels, they likely weren’t ordinary free players. Making more friends would benefit the future development of the Bull Tribe.
“I’ll invite you,” Tuobashi said and sent Nie Yan a party invitation.
Nie Yan accepted.
System: You have joined the party led by Tuobashi.
After forming the party, mutual wariness among Nie Yan and the others diminished significantly.
“Let’s farm monsters first. We can chat while we fight,” Tuobashi suggested. Having a rogue now meant they wouldn’t need to pull monsters themselves.
“How many monsters can you handle at once?” Nie Yan asked, wanting to know Tuobashi and Shishenhaoshuang’s capabilities to pull monsters accordingly.
“About twelve or thirteen,” Tuobashi replied.
Nie Yan was slightly surprised. At their current levels, being able to handle twelve or thirteen Red Robe Heretics was already quite impressive, placing them among top-tier players.
“Okay,” Nie Yan nodded and walked to a pillar, looking ahead where more than thirty Red Robe Heretics were gathered. Normally, Tuobashi and Shishenhaoshuang would pull around ten each time, defeating them in three batches. However, with Nie Yan’s addition, they could pull more at once.
Nie Yan raised his Bloody Crossbow and shot three bolts at the Red Robe Heretics. More than thirty Red Robe Heretics noticed Nie Yan and charged after him in a massive wave.
“Oh my god, pulling so many at once! Brother, do you even know how to pull monsters?” Shishenhaoshuang exclaimed, his face turning green. Normally, they could handle twelve or thirteen as a limit. Even with Nie Yan’s help, handling around eighteen or nineteen would be pushing it. Yet Nie Yan pulled so many at once.
Anyone would suspect Nie Yan of attempting to use the monsters to kill them.
“You’ll see,” Nie Yan said and ran toward them.
“Follow his lead,” Tuobashi said after a moment’s thought. He believed Nie Yan might have his reasons. Even if they couldn’t handle it, he and Haoshuang had escape skills to flee if needed.
Shishenhaoshuang trusted Tuobashi. Thinking that even if surrounded, they could charge out and escape, he rushed forward and used Taunt to attract nearby Red Robe Heretics. Seeing all the Red Robe Heretics charging toward him, he felt nervous.
The Red Robe Heretics’ attacks on him only dealt around ten points of damage, nearly half of what they previously dealt. Swinging his greatsword, he executed a Whirlwind Slash.
-310, -305, -312…
Damage numbers floated above the Red Robe Heretics.
Shishenhaoshuang was stunned. “What the heck? Why such a big difference? Previously, these Red Robe Heretics dealt at least ten points of damage, sometimes over twenty. Now, even the highest is less than ten. My attack damage was previously capped at two hundred, now it’s jumped to three hundred.”
Looking at the Red Robe Heretics’ health, it was now under one thousand. Three Whirlwind Slashes should finish them off.
Tuobashi was also surprised by the drastic difference in the Red Robe Heretics’ strength. Glancing at Nie Yan, who was fighting nearby, he suspected Nie Yan was responsible for this change. What skill was this? It was intriguing.
Tuobashi activated Holy Strike, landed a critical hit, and instantly killed a Heretic with -960 damage. This was unimaginable before.
Nie Yan quickly defeated a Red Robe Heretic. Looking at Shishenhaoshuang, he saw a pile of Heretic corpses around him. Warriors having close-range AoE skills like Whirlwind Slash were indeed advantageous.
“Awesome! These Red Robe Heretics are much weaker now. Even if dozens more came, we could handle them,” Shishenhaoshuang exclaimed excitedly, continuously slashing surrounding Heretics.
Shishenhaoshuang killed the most, nearly twenty, while Tuobashi took down five or six.
After a while, the area around the three was littered with Red Robe Heretic corpses.
Nie Yan collected the dropped items and placed them in a corner to distribute after the party disbanded. The loot was quite rich.
“What skill do you have? It’s so powerful and lasts so long. It must be an aura-type skill, right?” Tuobashi asked. Nie Yan’s skill was extremely potent, even making Tuobashi feel envious. With such a skill, leveling up would be much faster. Aura-type skills were the rarest among all skills.
“It’s an aura-type skill,” Nie Yan nodded. “It reduces the health and defense of evil creatures.”
As for the specific skill, it involved privacy, so Tuobashi didn’t press further.
The trio continued clearing Red Robe Heretics, gradually advancing deeper. After more than an hour, Nie Yan gained a level, reaching level eighteen. As they became more familiar, their conversation deepened.
“Which guild are you from?” Nie Yan finally asked. Without being from a guild, it was hard to imagine solo players obtaining such excellent equipment unless they were also reborn.
“We aren’t from any guild,” Tuobashi smiled. “You must be wondering why Shishenhaoshuang and I have such good gear.”
“Exactly,” Nie Yan nodded.
Shishenhaoshuang laughed heartily, “I was just thinking when you’d ask this question. You finally couldn’t help it. We aren’t from any guild. Tuobashi’s family runs a studio, so it’s easy for us to form a team.”
“What studio?”
Nie Yan was stunned. Which studio could produce Dark Avenger Sets in such a short time?
“Kuye Studio.”
Upon hearing the name, Nie Yan was surprised. Kuye Studio was among the top five studios, on par with Kuangzhan Studio. Founded by a family conglomerate with the surname Tuobashi, the family’s business spanned hotels, clothing, virtual industries, and more than twenty other sectors. They were among the few domestic financial groups rivaling Cao Xu’s Century Financial Group.
Tuobashi observed Nie Yan’s expression. Seeing Nie Yan’s calm reaction, he smiled slightly. If Nie Yan had shown surprise at his family’s wealth and flattered like his group’s sycophants, he would have looked down on Nie Yan.
“Interested in joining our guild?” Nie Yan looked at Tuobashi and Shishenhaoshuang and smiled faintly.
“Bull Tribe?” Tuobashi looked at Nie Yan’s guild emblem on his chest—a totem of the Tauren tribe, ancient and elegant.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage