Nie Yan was just about to leave when Guo Huai sent him a message. Guo Huai had just received the latest updates: several members of the Niuren Tribe had successfully completed their first class advancement. The successful ones included Sun, Shuise Yantou, Xihuan Jiangnan, Xia Chongyu Bing, and Yuwang Ran Zhi Qingchun. Among them, Sun had advanced to Grand Thief, Shuise Yantou to Grand Swordsman, and Xihuan Jiangnan and Xia Chongyu Bing became Grand Mages. These four were exactly as Nie Yan had expected. However, Yuwang Ran Zhi Qingchun was a surprise. He had emerged suddenly without any prior indication.
Nie Yan hadn’t heard of him even in his previous life.
“Who is Yuwang Ran Zhi Qingchun?” Nie Yan asked. It wasn’t particularly surprising that one or two strong new players had appeared in the Niuren Tribe, which was a large guild.
“I’m not too clear about him either. Recently, Shuise Yantou, Cui Can Daoguang, and others took Yuwang Ran Zhi Qingchun through several dungeons and gave him some guidance. We didn’t expect that kid to be so quick to grasp things. His strength has even surpassed some of our veteran members,” Guo Huai replied. The guild needed fresh blood constantly rising from below to keep the Niuren Tribe growing stronger.
This was the butterfly effect initiated by Nie Yan himself. In his previous life, players like Cui Can Daoguang, Shuise Yantou, and Leader Brother Qi Zai rarely gathered together. No one could have predicted how much energy they could unleash when united, progressing far more quickly than before. With their mutual encouragement and guidance, even ordinary players in the Niuren Tribe could benefit greatly.
Recently, some previously unknown faces from Nie Yan’s past had started gaining attention, such as Wu Dao, Knight’s Elegy, and others, with Yuwang Ran Zhi Qingchun being the most outstanding. They had been obscure in their previous lives but had risen rapidly thanks to the platform provided by the Niuren Tribe, becoming dazzling stars. Players like Wu Dao and Knight’s Elegy were also attempting their first class advancements.
Currently, the Niuren Tribe was filled with shining stars, especially these newly emerging ones, which made Nie Yan feel particularly pleased.
“Have we signed a contract with Yuwang Ran Zhi Qingchun?” Nie Yan asked. As long as these rising members were strong enough, he had no hesitation in offering them very favorable contract terms.
“Not yet. We’re still negotiating, but he has already agreed. He said that without the guidance of Shuise Yantou and Cui Can Daoguang, and without the platform of the Niuren Tribe, he would never have achieved his current success. He believes one should be grateful and give back. He hasn’t been particular about the contract terms either. However, in my opinion, we should offer him the highest contract rate, so I came to consult your opinion.”
“Follow your suggestion and offer him the highest rate. Let our members know that as long as they are strong enough, the Niuren Tribe will always provide the best treatment!” Nie Yan said. After all, funding wasn’t an issue. It was essential to improve the welfare of the guild members, especially these top-tier players, who would become the backbone of the guild in the future. He couldn’t let them feel like staying in the Niuren Tribe was a loss.
Recently, the Niuren Tribe had been in fierce conflict with Zhandaosuixue, otherwise they probably would have had over a hundred first-class players already. However, the Niuren Tribe still had solid foundations. Once the situation stabilized, the number of first-class players would rise quickly.
After chatting with Guo Huai for a while, Nie Yan ended the voice call.
Nie Yan checked his level. It was a pitiful level 40. As the leader of the Niuren Tribe, that was indeed quite embarrassing. He needed to level up to 50 as soon as possible to advance to Grand Thief. He began searching his mind for a suitable leveling spot.
The Death Ripple was one of the few items that could ignore defense. Its damage was fixed and only effective against living creatures. Therefore, he needed to find creatures with low health, high experience rewards, and preferably slow movement speed so he had enough time to use the Death Ripple skill.
Nie Yan left Carol City and went to a secluded spot to summon his Forckner Warhorse. The Forckner Warhorse galloped across the wilderness.
Just then, he encountered a group of about a hundred players heading to an advanced map, probably to fight a boss creature, otherwise they wouldn’t have mobilized so many people. These players belonged to various guilds, with the majority being independent players.
In his previous life, Nie Yan had often participated in such groups. Usually, one or two people would take the lead, hire a large group of players to help clear a boss, and keep the loot for themselves while paying the players in gold or reputation points.
Such group activities were quite common. Back when Nie Yan was struggling financially in his previous life, he often joined such groups to earn commissions. If he encountered some wealthy patrons, he could often earn five or six hundred reputation points per activity, which would last him a long time.
As Nie Yan watched the group marching across the wilderness, his thoughts drifted back to the past.
The past was gone. Nie Yan sped away.
Seeing Nie Yan’s figure disappear into the distance, the group of players erupted into a buzz of excitement.
“That looks like the leader of the Niuren Tribe, Nie Yan. I’ve seen many of his videos. It must be him. That warhorse is definitely the Forckner Warhorse!”
“Shouldn’t we chase him? I heard that Zhandaosuixue has increased the bounty on his head to over 8,000 gold coins. Besides, any piece of equipment dropped by him is worth at least a few thousand gold coins.”
“Killing him would get us at least ten thousand gold coins.”
“With so many of us, shouldn’t we try?”
“Are you trying to get yourself killed? Forget about how the Niuren Tribe would retaliate against us, can we even handle Nie Yan himself? Zhandaosuixue couldn’t catch him with thousands of people. Do you think we can catch him with just us?”
Hearing this player’s words, those who had suggested pursuing Nie Yan felt a chill run down their spines. They had indeed been blinded by greed, forgetting that the player they were considering targeting was someone they could never afford to provoke.
They could hunt ordinary members of the Cowherd Tribe, as the guild wouldn’t be able to track down and retaliate against every single one of them. After all, nearly all the top players in Carol City were involved in hunting the Cowherd Tribe—the guild couldn’t possibly retaliate against everyone.
But if they were to chase down the leader of the Cowherd Tribe, the situation would escalate dramatically. Did they still want to maintain their foothold in Carol City? While the Cowherd Tribe might not be able to retaliate against every ordinary player, dealing with a few of them would be all too easy.
When they looked toward the horizon again, Nie Yan had already vanished from sight.
Nie Yan continued galloping south from Carol City, passing through a vast grassland without stopping. He had been riding for more than twenty minutes, which would take an ordinary player at least an hour and a half to cover on foot.
He passed through level 50, 60, and 70 maps without stopping.
Various giant creatures rushed past Nie Yan on both sides, countless scenes flying by.
While galloping on horseback, Nie Yan glanced at his quest status. He still had one quest to complete: finding the Abak Set and meeting with Count Kelphid. This quest had a ten-day time limit, and he had accepted it before going underground. Calculating the time, about five and a half days had already passed.
He understood that once he met Count Kelphid, the quest storyline would be triggered, but he had no idea what situation he would encounter. It would be better to level up a bit first to be more prepared.
He also glanced at the Assassin Alliance. The Niuren Tribe’s expenditure there had reached an astonishing 250,000 gold coins. Counting two gold coins per head, the Assassin Alliance had already killed 128,382 people.
This was an astonishing number, considering the current total number of members in the Assassin Alliance was only around 36,000.
The top performers in completing missions were: first, King World, with a total of 1,328 kills; second, the Frog in Distress, with a total of 1,021 kills; and about fifty to sixty others who had reached seven or eight hundred kills.
The two top killers were rogues, as rogues had an absolute advantage in stealth and assassination, being able to kill and retreat quickly.
King World… Nie Yan suddenly recalled him. In his past life, there were rumors that King World had served in the military and undergone special training, though whether it was true remained unverified. However, his reputation was undeniable. King World had once been a member of Dark Ranger, then transferred to Light Holy Flame, and later joined Triumph Empire. During his time with Triumph Empire, his fame even surpassed that of Sun and Shadow Kill, earning him a place among the Shadow Dancers. Later, for reasons unknown, he had a falling out with Triumph Empire and departed. In retaliation, Triumph Empire placed a bounty on King World. During the ensuing manhunt, King World, leveraging his extraordinary assassination skills, managed to eliminate over a thousand pursuers, severely embarrassing Triumph Empire. Eventually, for reasons still unclear, King World vanished without a trace.
The incident didn’t end there. Later, Break Sky and another person nicknamed Night Cat were found dead in their villas. There were no wounds anywhere else on their bodies, only two blood holes in their throats. It was determined that they had been pierced by a sharp object like a dagger. The murderer had undergone special training. The police reviewed satellite footage and found that the area’s satellite cameras had been completely erased by hacking. The murderer was never tracked down, and many suspected that it was King World, but they had no evidence. After that, Triumph Empire was taken over by Break Sky’s son, and King World never appeared again.
This was one of the few serious incidents that occurred after the launch of Faith, and it had been widely reported by the media.
Break Sky was in cahoots with Cao Xu of the Century Financial Group. In his previous life, Nie Yan had naturally paid attention to these news stories. After King World’s disappearance, many players felt very sorry for him. If he hadn’t disappeared, he could have become a legendary thief, not just Sun and Shadow Kill, but also King World. In this life, if King World hadn’t appeared on the Assassin Alliance’s leaderboard, Nie Yan wouldn’t have thought of him at all.
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