Chapter 310: The Cavern Lord

Regarding the process of advancing to Rogue, Nie Yan had already memorized it thoroughly. Having done it so many times in his past life and failed repeatedly, this time he had prepared such excellent equipment that there was absolutely no doubt he would advance to Rogue at level 50.

After advancing to the first class transformation, all attributes and skills would be significantly modified. A player who had undergone class advancement could easily defeat a non-advanced player, and this dominance effect was very obvious. Once players passed level 50, the future battlefield would belong to advanced players. Ordinary players would require five or six, even seven or eight, to match a similarly leveled advanced player.

Nie Yan planned to start organizing all the information related to class advancement from now on. When the elite members of his guild were ready to advance, he would hand them these materials to read, which could greatly improve their success rate of class advancement.

The future would belong to advanced players. As long as they succeeded in advancing and crossed this threshold, they would step into the ranks of true elites.

Originally, Nie Yan had planned to go after the Soghot Shadow Fragment immediately after obtaining the Order Chapter from Canse, and level up to prepare for level 50. However, an unexpected incident occurred, forcing him to postpone his plans for reaching level 50.

At the moment, Bull Tribe wasn’t yet strong enough to safely enter the territory of Blade of Bloodthirst, which was too dangerous.

Blade of Bloodthirst had been operating in Radiant City for a long time; how could they allow other guilds to act recklessly here?

Nie Yan was conflicted. Bringing many people along would attract too much attention and risk being hunted down by Blade of Bloodthirst. Coming alone, however, he would be too vulnerable. As the saying goes, even a mighty dragon cannot overpower a local snake.

The inter-city teleportation cost was too high—requiring one gold coin to teleport here. If the cost were lower, Nie Yan might have brought an entire team to properly confront them.

This time wasn’t too bad of a loss. Their small group had charged through a long distance alone, losing only five members. They had killed countless enemies along the way, so it wasn’t a loss by any means! Although most of the members were now marked red and couldn’t return to the city, hiding inside the Crystal Cavern should keep them safe.

Of course, they couldn’t let their guard down. To avoid further harassment from Blade of Bloodthirst, they needed to keep moving deeper into the cave to ensure their safety.

They had to stay here for a few days to clear their red names before returning to the city.

Nie Yan approached the Sable Guardians and raised his mounted archer crossbow. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Five arrows shot out, striking one of the Sable Guardians.

After being attacked, the seven Sable Guardians noticed Nie Yan and surrounded him.

“Demon, use Shadow Arrow!” Nie Yan said in the team chat.

As soon as Nie Yan finished speaking, Demon fired a Shadow Arrow. A black magical bolt struck one of the Sable Guardians, who shifted its target and lunged toward Demon. However, Demon’s attack didn’t alert the other Sable Guardians, who continued to attack Nie Yan.

One Sable Guardian was separated. CuiLan DaoGuang (Brilliant Blade) rushed forward with a Heavy Shield Strike, hitting the Sable Guardian.

The Sable Guardian swung its spear, performing a piercing strike. With a loud thud, CuiLan DaoGuang’s health dropped by over 800 points. Although CuiLan DaoGuang’s total health was nearly 2000 points, the Sable Guardian’s attack was still very painful.

Cold Aoying (Cold Ao Shadow) and Yi Yan also joined in, the three of them pinning the Sable Guardian down.

Shockwave!

With a loud bang, the Sable Guardian unleashed a shockwave, sending Cuilan Daoguang, Cold Ao Ying, and Yi Yan stumbling backward, leaving them momentarily stunned. Leader Brother Qizai and Lili Huasha swiftly cast healing spells, restoring their vitality.

The Sable Guardian broke free from the three’s encirclement and charged toward the other players in the back.

This Sable Guardian was quite ferocious. The warriors’ damage against it was very low, only dealing tens of points. When the priests healed the warriors, the Sable Guardian redirected its hate toward them, making it very difficult to handle.

Taunt!

ShuiSe YanTou (Smoke Blue) rushed forward and used Taunt, drawing the Sable Guardian’s attention. He charged and pushed the Sable Guardian back a few steps. At this moment, CuiLan DaoGuang and the others recovered from their stunned state and immediately re-engaged.

The Sable Guardian attacked ShuiSe YanTou with a spear strike, draining over 1000 health points. ShuiSe YanTou quickly retreated.

As the Sable Guardian prepared to pursue with its spear, CuiLan DaoGuang precisely positioned himself and roared.

Demoralizing Roar!

Taunt!

CuiLan DaoGuang continuously used skills, and finally, the Sable Guardian’s hate was redirected back to him.

“Everyone hold your positions; casters, focus your damage!” CuiLan DaoGuang shouted, continuously striking the Sable Guardian.

The Sable Guardian relentlessly attacked CuiLan DaoGuang, causing his health to fluctuate wildly, but Leader Brother QiZai and LiLi HuaSha’s healing was timely. Healing spells kept pouring down, and although CuiLan DaoGuang’s health dropped dangerously several times, it was always pulled back up.

“These elite Sable Guardians have such strong attacks. What if we encounter a boss?” ShuiSe YanTou said, as the Sable Guardians’ attacks were incredibly fierce.

“I have an 8th-level Life Shield; not sure if it will help,” CuiLan DaoGuang replied. If he could apply an 8th-level Life Shield, his survivability would increase several times, possibly enough to withstand a Sable Boss.

Everyone was uncertain in their hearts.

Tang Yao and others continuously bombarded the Sable Guardian with magical attacks. As the continuous assault wore on, the Sable Guardian roared furiously and charged around, but its health quickly dropped.

Meanwhile, Nie Yan was in a perilous situation. Six Sable Guardians surrounded him, and in such a narrow area, it was very difficult for him to evade.

The six Sable Guardians blocked Nie Yan from all sides. As he was pushed into a desperate situation, Sun and Yi Chui Ding Qing (One Hammer Decides) were holding their breath for Nie Yan. Suddenly, Nie Yan shot a spider thread from his left hand, sticking it to the distant stone wall, pulling himself into the air.

Nie Yan flew over the six Sable Guardians. At the same time, Demon fired another Shadow Arrow at one of the Sable Guardians, drawing another one away.

Sun and Yi Chui Ding Qing also took the opportunity to draw two Sable Guardians away. Now, only three Sable Guardians chased Nie Yan, significantly easing his situation. With Shadow Dance Steps, Nie Yan could easily evade the pursuit of the three Sable Guardians. His only concern was not colliding with Sun and Yi Chui Ding Qing, as the area was too narrow.

Time slowly passed, and after a minute, the first Sable Guardian fell to the ground. Soon after, Demon lured another Sable Guardian over, and the team systematically attacked the Sable Guardians. They were all highly skilled players, so their coordination was very smooth, with few mistakes. Even if one or two members made a mistake, others quickly corrected it.

From their coordination alone, one could easily see the difference between an ordinary team and an elite team. In ordinary teams, a single mistake often led to total wipeouts. Elite teams, although occasionally suffering wipeouts, rarely did so due to mistakes.

“Did we get anything from that Sable Guardian we just defeated?” ShuiSe YanTou asked CuiLan DaoGuang beside him.

“Not much good stuff. A level 50 golden Shadow Priest Robe, two gems, and… looks like a quest item.” CuiLan DaoGuang replied, sharing the quest item’s details.

Bennett’s Diary of the Sable Lord (Fragment): Quest item, quantity 1/5.

This was a thin scroll, already badly damaged. It contained some fragmented words written in Ancient Common Tongue.

“Beautiful Empress Phinas kissed my forehead. In this cold, lonely night, I am willing to melt into her gentle kiss… The ice cracked the stone inside the Crystal Cavern. On this snowy night, Empress Phinas draped a warm fur coat over me, a coat she handmade… (remainder missing)”

The scroll recounted fragmented memories from a cold winter night, filled with the Sable Lord Bennett’s affection for Empress Phinas. His words were disjointed and lacked logic, but the general meaning was clear.

Everyone looked at each other in surprise. The records on this fragment intrigued them. What clues did this tattered scroll contain?

Nonetheless, they managed to glean some information from the scroll.

This cave should be where Sable Lord Bennett lived. This Sable Lord was not an ordinary boss but one with a name. Such bosses were usually more powerful, so defeating this Sable Lord might prove very challenging.

Additionally, who exactly was Empress Phinas, and why did she appear in this diary? Whether she would appear remained a mystery, leaving them only with these simple speculations.

“Let’s keep it for now. There should be more clues later,” Nie Yan said, after viewing the diary details shared by CuiLan DaoGuang.

Nie Yan carefully recalled Sable Lord Bennett, but unfortunately, he had no memory of him. Most of his memories were tied to Karol City, every corner of which he could recall vividly. As for Radiant City, he wasn’t very familiar with it.

He still had a general understanding of Radiant City’s terrain since it was near Karol City. However, in his past life, he had been too unfortunate to visit Radiant City more than a few times, leaving him unfamiliar with its bosses.