Chapter 474: Three Lives for Three Lives!

Even though Nie Yan was bound by shadows and unable to move his body at this moment, he wouldn’t just wait helplessly for death.

Nie Yan couldn’t use active skills now, but he still had passive skills!

The appearance of Ying Sha came quickly and suddenly, but Nie Yan still reacted in time.

Just as Ying Sha’s stealth strike was about to hit Nie Yan, Nie Yan instinctively activated a Death Exemption skill. This was a quest reward he received upon his promotion to Grand Thief. It was passive and granted two seconds of immunity to any control skills when activated. Many Grand Thieves had similar skills, but their effects were significantly worse than Nie Yan’s Death Exemption.

With a loud thud, Ying Sha’s dagger plunged into Nie Yan’s occiput, causing a damage number -806 to float above Nie Yan’s head. Additionally, Ying Sha’s dagger was coated with potent poison. Under the effects of the poison, Nie Yan’s skin gradually turned bluish-green, a sign of the paralyzing toxin’s effect. Nie Yan noticed that his limbs were slowly stiffening. Fortunately, Nie Yan had an Antidote Pearl in his backpack, which enhanced his resistance to toxins, significantly slowing the poison’s spread and reducing its effects.

Paralyzing toxin was a very rare substance, usually costing at least several thousand gold coins per vial. With both a Shadow Binding scroll and paralyzing toxin, Ying Sha had clearly gone to great lengths to kill Nie Yan, sparing no expense.

Seeing that his stealth strike hadn’t stunned Nie Yan, Ying Sha hesitated momentarily before suddenly recalling the Death Exemption skill. He hadn’t expected Nie Yan to still be able to activate Death Exemption to evade his control technique, despite launching a surprise attack so quickly.

Incredible reflexes!

The effect of Death Exemption only lasted two seconds, far shorter than the duration of Shadow Binding. Even if Nie Yan could dodge the stun, what difference would it make? Ying Sha could still kill him!

Although Death Exemption could resist the control from the stealth strike, it couldn’t dispel the Shadow Binding status. While Nie Yan was still bound, Ying Sha launched another heavy stab at Nie Yan’s occiput—his free skill, which carried a crippling effect that would disable Nie Yan, preventing him from using active skills or escaping.

If Ying Sha’s heavy stab landed successfully, Nie Yan would be practically doomed. Once crippled, it would only take a few seconds before Ying Sha could bring Nie Yan down.

In battles between thieves, life and death often hung by a thread!

Nie Yan had barely managed to gain two seconds with Death Exemption and naturally wouldn’t let this precious opportunity slip away—it was his only chance to escape.

With all active skills unavailable, Nie Yan had no chance to flee. Moreover, his four Demon Forge Blacksmiths and the Gold Dragon were all more than twenty yards away, making rescue efforts unlikely to arrive in time. Standing still and engaging Ying Sha in a contest of counter-control skills would ultimately result in Nie Yan’s defeat. To an ordinary person, this seemed like an unsolvable situation.

From the moment they engaged, Nie Yan had lost the initiative, allowing Ying Sha to strike first. Reversing the situation now would be extremely difficult.

During those two seconds of Death Exemption, Nie Yan controlled the distant Gold Dragon to unleash a Dragonfire Breath toward his and Ying Sha’s location.

Dragonfire Breath was a small AoE magical attack with extremely high damage, capable of instantly killing opponents when combined with the Gold Dragon’s formidable attack power. Additionally, Dragonfire Breath affected both enemies and allies alike, meaning Nie Yan would also perish if caught in its blast.

Flames streaked across the sky, and a wave of scorching heat surged forward.

Ying Sha was about to launch his heavy stab when he suddenly noticed the Gold Dragon’s Dragonfire Breath heading toward their location, causing his heart to race. He had witnessed the devastating power of the Gold Dragon’s Dragonfire Breath before, a skill that had claimed many players’ lives. He couldn’t guarantee his own survival against it.

If he persisted with the heavy stab, the next moment would see the Dragonfire Breath consuming him. At this critical juncture, Ying Sha decisively chose to retreat.

If he hesitated even a moment longer, it wouldn’t be Nie Yan who perished, but himself.

Was the Dragonfire Breath ineffective against Nie Yan? Ying Sha felt slightly puzzled.

Just before the Dragonfire Breath struck, Ying Sha activated Dash Step and quickly fled the Gold Dragon’s attack range.

The next moment, roaring flames engulfed Nie Yan. Fire licked at his body, but an invisible barrier surrounded him, keeping the flames at bay.

Seeing this scene, Ying Sha instantly understood—it was Kuang Zei Nie Yan’s Divine Arbitration skill! He hadn’t expected Nie Yan to use such an extreme method to force him back, but it was undeniably effective.

Nie Yan timely activated Divine Arbitration, using its spell immunity to resist the Dragonfire Breath’s attack.

The Shadow Binding effect on his body quickly dissipated. Nie Yan was still under the paralyzing toxin’s effects. Standing amidst the flames, he looked toward the distant Ying Sha, whose half-body was hidden in darkness, eyes sharp as an eagle’s, staring at Nie Yan.

Nie Yan used the Antidote Pearl’s detoxification ability to remove the paralyzing toxin from his body.

At this point, all control effects on Nie Yan were finally gone, and he regained his combat capability, with all active skills once again usable.

The flames surrounding Nie Yan gradually extinguished.

Using Divine Arbitration had essentially saved his life.

Nie Yan and Ying Sha locked eyes, both now able to use active skills. For Ying Sha to kill Nie Yan now wouldn’t be so simple.

This was their second confrontation, and Ying Sha’s assassination attempt on Nie Yan had failed once again.

“You’re much stronger than I imagined. I admit that in terms of PK skills, I’m indeed inferior to you. But next time, I won’t let you escape so easily,” Ying Sha said. His assassination attempts on Nie Yan wouldn’t end here. Assassination and direct combat were different. Ying Sha wouldn’t give up until his goal was achieved. Although he couldn’t kill Nie Yan, capturing him wouldn’t be easy for Nie Yan either.

“Next time, I won’t give you the same opportunity. Tell me who paid you to target me—I’ll pay double,” Nie Yan replied. Being constantly targeted by an assassin like Ying Sha was truly a headache. One careless mistake could lead to his downfall. Nie Yan often trained in the wilds, where avoiding all mistakes was impossible.

Ying Sha smiled indifferently, saying, “It’s not just about money. Even without payment, eventually one of us will end up on the ground.”

Nie Yan fell silent for a moment, understanding Ying Sha’s meaning. Ying Sha’s assassination wasn’t solely motivated by money. In his previous life, Ying Sha relentlessly assassinated one renowned player after another, with all victims being top-tier experts. Assassins were often incomprehensible, and Ying Sha’s obsession with killing Nie Yan was driven by a desire to challenge his limits, enjoying the thrill of such a game.

Such individuals were the hardest to deal with!

“If I were to assassinate you, once would be enough,” Nie Yan retorted with a smirk.

Upon hearing Nie Yan’s words, Ying Sha sneered. Nie Yan’s confidence seemed excessive. His two failed assassination attempts against Nie Yan were due to the numerous survival skills thieves possessed. In high-level thief duels, unless there was a significant skill disparity, it was difficult to eliminate an opponent. Either one had to catch the opponent off guard, like Ying Sha had attempted. As long as he remained vigilant, even if Nie Yan summoned all his pets to attack him, Ying Sha could still escape effortlessly. Nie Yan claiming he could kill him in one attempt was overly ambitious.

If Nie Yan continued to be persistently targeted by Ying Sha, even without being successfully assassinated, he would still be constantly annoyed. The only solution was to settle their conflict decisively and permanently.

“How about we make a bet?” Nie Yan proposed. “Each of us gets one chance to assassinate the other. Whoever succeeds first wins. If both fail, you win.”

Ying Sha raised his eyebrows. He was equally arrogant and curious to see how Nie Yan would manage to kill him. “This bet sounds interesting. What’s the stake?”

“I haven’t decided yet. You name it,” Nie Yan replied. He couldn’t think of anything specific to bet with Ying Sha, only wanting to resolve this nuisance quickly.

Ying Sha paused briefly before saying, “If you win, our conflict ends, and you can ask me to kill three people for you. If I win, I get to kill you three times.”

“Three lives for three lives—it’s fair,” Nie Yan mused with a smile. He recalled a similar bet he had with Wang Zhe Tian Xia before, but there were differences between Wang Zhe Tian Xia and Ying Sha. Nie Yan knew Wang Zhe Tian Xia’s character well—he was honorable and could be recruited into Nie Yan’s ranks. However, Ying Sha was a profit-driven assassin, not easily swayed like Wang Zhe Tian Xia. This stake was already sufficient.

Nie Yan’s words signified his acceptance of the bet.

“Fine, it’s a deal,” Ying Sha agreed, his eyes gleaming with excitement. This was a thrilling game to him.

Their bet, certified by the Main Brain, took immediate effect without any time limit.

“I’ll wait for you to come kill me,” Ying Sha said, then his figure gradually faded, disappearing into the darkness of a corner, leaving no trace.

Nie Yan couldn’t detect his presence at all—it must be a powerful stealth skill like Vanishing into Nothingness!

Considering Ying Sha as an ordinary thief would be a grave mistake. Nie Yan’s mind already contained at least seven methods to eliminate Ying Sha decisively, making him concede defeat!

After Ying Sha disappeared, Nie Yan’s eyes narrowed sharply. He privately messaged Guo Huai, sending him a message: “Issue orders to the thief guild—immediately track Ying Sha and report his movements to me.”

“Ying Sha? Understood,” Guo Huai nodded, quickly assigning tasks to the thief guild.