Chapter 201: The Secret of the Lava Forest

A group of people made their way through the dark lava caves and reached the exit.

“Boss, let’s take a photo,” the invincible villain suggested. Such a historically significant moment naturally deserved to be recorded.

Nie Yan thought for a moment and replied, “Alright, but we’ll release it only after this mission is over.” For now, they couldn’t let the Triumph members know they had already left the Molten Fire Forest.

“The Triumph members will probably have ugly expressions when they see this photo. Their guild has nearly combed the Molten Fire Forest upside down with tens of thousands of players, yet they never expected we were already outside the forest,” the invincible villain grinned wickedly.

“Qi Tian will definitely be furious enough to spit blood.”

Xia Chong Yubing and others were already imagining Qi Tian’s expression.

“Come on everyone, gather together and show off your red names.”

Everyone was excited.

The ten people stood together, their red names uniformly eye-catching. Even Daotou Dage Qizai had a red name from previous PKs, though his was slightly lighter than the others, whose names were blood-red and shocking.

The invincible villain, Sun, and others struck a mocking pose, as if ridiculing the Triumph Empire.

Click! The moment was captured.

After this incident, this photo would be uploaded onto the internet.

These ten people would forever be remembered by players for what happened today.

“Alright, everyone go clear your red names now,” Nie Yan instructed the team members. Maintaining red names was too dangerous.

“Gege Nieyan, I’ll scout ahead first,” Sun departed first to check the surroundings. If he encountered Triumph members, he would report back immediately. There were definitely many Triumph members keeping watch nearby, so they needed to avoid their sight when retreating.

“You contact Yaoya and go clear your red names there. After I finish handling things here, I’ll take you all to Eternal City for leveling up,” Nie Yan explained. Perhaps someone among them could drop the Murderer Medal, since their kill count was already very high.

“Alright, be careful,” Daotou Dage Qizai said to Nie Yan and others.

“Boss Nieyan, stay safe. See you later, Boss Nieyan.” The team members said their farewells to Nie Yan.

“Take care on your way,” Nie Yan smiled. He felt quite confident about these team members. With their strength, even if they encountered Triumph players, as long as the numbers didn’t exceed a hundred, they wouldn’t be able to do anything.

A team of nine departed. Nie Yan turned back into the lava cave, swiftly heading toward the Molten Fire Forest while the intimidation effect was still active.

Inside the lava cave, waves of scorching heat surged, and glimmers of firelight came from deep underground.

In his past life, countless players dared to enter the lava caves only when they were level forty to fifty, by which time the toxic snakeflies no longer posed any threat. They passed through the narrow underground tunnels, reaching the lowest level of the lava cave, where they discovered the secret of the Molten Fire Forest.

Nie Yan smiled slightly. What came next would be a disaster for the entire Triumph Empire. Before that, he needed to lure all the Triumph members into the center of the Molten Fire Forest.

Nie Yan exited the lava cave, entered stealth mode, and carefully checked the surroundings. Not far away, some Triumph Empire players were active, and he slowly approached them.

Five Triumph Empire players were chatting casually: a Berserker, an Elemental Mage, a Paladin, a Holy Mage, and a Holy Priest.

They seemed decently equipped, probably around level twenty.

“Do you think how many strong players Ni Ren Tribe has? Those people in the video are too strong. They don’t seem any weaker than Yu Long or Shou Gou Ge,” the Berserker player said anxiously, fearing those people might suddenly appear beside them.

“Perhaps all the experts from Ni Ren Tribe have been mobilized,” the Elemental Mage replied. It was hard to imagine a newly rising guild having so many top experts.

“Why do you think our leaders insist on opposing Ni Ren Tribe? Isn’t that asking for trouble?” the Berserker asked, puzzled.

“You don’t know anything. Ni Ren Tribe has become this strong in such a short time. How powerful will they be in the future? This is a guild strategy,” the leading Holy Priest explained.

“You mean Ni Ren Tribe will threaten Triumph Empire in the future?” the Berserker was surprised.

The several players fell into thought. Judging from Ni Ren Tribe’s momentum, it was indeed possible. If one day Ni Ren Tribe truly surpassed Triumph Empire to become the largest guild, their psychological advantage would vanish. Every time they went out now, they were arrogant, almost wanting to write on their faces that Triumph Empire was the largest guild in Karol City. But if Ni Ren Tribe surpassed them, the glory of the entire Triumph Empire would be destroyed, and what pride would they have left? At that time, many guild members would certainly consider quietly leaving Triumph Empire.

The decline of Triumph Empire would begin from that moment.

Nie Yan slowly approached, now only five yards from the Holy Priest, yet the five players still remained unaware.

A thief stealthily approaching a priest from behind within five yards without being noticed basically meant the priest’s death. Killing a priest was like a cheetah hunting, where once the cheetah approached close enough to a prey, with its explosive power and running speed, it could instantly pounce and bring down the prey.

A slight sense of danger flickered in the Holy Priest’s mind, but the feeling was too faint and brief. Engaged in conversation, he didn’t sense it at all.

Nie Yan approached the Holy Priest to within three yards, suddenly sprang into action, and drove his dagger into the priest’s head with a stealth strike.

The priest suddenly realized the danger. His reaction was still fast, and he tried to dodge, but Nie Yan’s dagger struck his head, stunning him.

No matter how fast his reaction was, it couldn’t match Nie Yan’s dagger speed.

Nie Yan followed up with a backstab and a brutal rending cut. The priest fell.

The remaining four stood stunned for a moment, and the Elemental Mage launched an Ice Explosion toward Nie Yan.

The Berserker charged forward, and the Paladin cast Mighty Charge on the Berserker, instantly boosting his charging speed.

The Holy Mage cast Holy Judgment.

Nie Yan could clearly sense that this group was much harder to deal with than members from Zong Heng Tian Xia. They must be considered technically skilled players within the entire Triumph Empire.

Although Nie Yan could still kill another two or three before escaping, he didn’t linger and vanished from their sight using Shadow Step.

The attacks from the Holy Mage, Elemental Mage, and Berserker missed, and the surrounding area was empty. Nie Yan had already disappeared.

Nie Yan’s appearance was like a fleeting glimpse, too fast for them to react. Yet in that brief moment, a corpse was left behind.

“I saw clearly, it’s that Ni Ren Tribe thief!” The four of them felt a chill down their spines and instinctively moved closer together, fearing Nie Yan might appear again, with the next one falling being them.

A single thief could be this terrifying.

They sent messages to Yu Long.

“Boss Yu Long, we’ve encountered someone from Ni Ren Tribe,” the Berserker messaged Yu Long, reporting their encounter with Nie Yan.

“What location? Coordinates.”

“2885, 285, 332.”

Yu Long thought for a moment and immediately ordered the first and second teams, totaling over 6,000 players, to converge on that area.

Nie Yan’s actions didn’t stop there, and Yu Long soon received more reports. Coordinates 279, 239, and 202 all showed Nie Yan’s presence. Each time, it was like before—quick, decisive kills, immediately vanishing afterward. No one could grasp his movements.

“What exactly is he trying to do?” Yu Long felt inexplicably anxious. What did Nie Yan’s actions imply? Was he merely trying to ambush Triumph players, or did he have another purpose?

Trying to catch a top-tier thief in such complex terrain was indeed difficult.

Yu Long had to mobilize even more players to converge on that area, especially priests, ordering them to use bright lights to search for Nie Yan’s trail.

Nie Yan clearly felt the Triumph members gradually increasing nearby. Several times, he was exposed to priests’ lights but managed to escape just in time.

“About enough,” Nie Yan smiled slightly at the corner of his mouth. He entered the lava cave, went to the toxic snakefly spawn point, activated intimidation, and then skillfully rushed deeper into the lava cave.

The surrounding temperature kept rising. Nie Yan drank a fire resistance potion and dashed deeper underground amidst the scorching heat.

He saw towering flames, jets of searing fire shooting upward, and below was a flowing river of molten lava.

No toxic snakeflies were active nearby anymore. Continuous -10 damage numbers kept popping up over Nie Yan’s head.

The effect of the fire resistance potion was already very weak. Fire resistance below 30 basically made continuing impossible.

Nie Yan searched among nearby rocks, drinking a mid-tier instant recovery potion and a slow recovery potion along the way, barely enduring the continuous damage.

After spending about three minutes, he finally found a dark golden chest embedded in the rock, hidden in a dark corner. If not searched carefully, it would be impossible to discover its location.

This was it. Seeing the dark golden chest, Nie Yan’s heart leapt with joy. He squatted down and began opening the chest.

System: Chest opening in progress, completed 2%…17%…29%…37%…

Time passed second by second. With a click, the dark golden treasure chest opened. Nie Yan glanced at his health, which was about 27% remaining. He quickly bandaged himself as he stood up, and his health slowly recovered.

He reached into the chest and pulled out two items. One was a round bead, entirely blood-red, crystal clear, emitting brilliant red light in the darkness, like a burning flame. The other was a black skill book.