Chapter 579: The Holy Judgment Book!

A few seconds later, there was a soft click as the treasure chest was opened.

As Nie Yan opened the chest, a brilliant white light burst forth. It was so dazzling that he quickly shielded his eyes. After a while, the white light gradually dimmed. Looking inside, he saw a small book lying quietly there, resembling an ordinary skill book, but radiating a powerful holy light, giving off a warm feeling.

He reached in and picked up the book. As it slowly opened, a pure white glow enveloped Nie Yan.

It turned out not to be a skill book, Nie Yan mused. He glanced at the text on the cover, which was written in complex ancient Common Tongue. Fortunately, he had studied ancient Common Tongue before and could vaguely recognize it: “The Book of Divine Judgment.”

“You have discovered an ancient book containing some fragmented history. The sentences are difficult and obscure. ‘What the heck is this?’ you can’t help but curse, quickly flipping through the pages until you reach the last one. There is a passage that reads: the powerful holy-word mage Byrds created a mighty holy-word spell. Five grandmaster-level holy-word mages gathered together, invoking this formation in the name of the holy, trapping the dragon clan’s great count, Eastbrook, within the formation. Byrds summoned the holy light into an ultimate judgment sword, piercing Eastbrook’s chest and purifying him.”

Nie Yan read through the passage but still couldn’t figure out what the book was for. Looking down, he saw that on the back cover were etched complex geometric patterns, seemingly a magic formation, with a string of magical symbols beside it, likely readable only by a mage specialized in magic.

Could this be a quest clue?

Frowning, Nie Yan was about to put the Book of Divine Judgment into his backpack when he received a system prompt.

“Go find a knowledgeable holy-word mage. He (or she) will tell you the answer.”

It seems that a holy-word mage is indeed needed to understand this. Nie Yan put the Book of Divine Judgment away and decided to look at it again later.

His skills were nearly maxed out, and it was time to leave here, Nie Yan thought. He still needed three more levels to reach level 100, and only after reaching level 100 could he go to the Holy Hall to complete the class change quest for the Holy Shadow Dancer. Checking the level rankings, the highest-level player in the Grailand region was Tang Yao at level 88, followed by Xie Yao at level 87. There were already many players above level 80. His level advantage was still quite significant. Nie Yan estimated that the Holy Shadow Dancer quest would also take a long time, so he needed to ensure a sufficient level advantage before entering.

The exit of the Mirage Realm would open in about two more hours.

Nie Yan continued training his skills in the Mirage Realm for another two hours while making his way toward its center, where a massive white light portal had appeared.

As Nie Yan walked through the light portal, he received a system prompt.

System: Are you sure you wish to leave the Mirage Realm?

Yes!

After a flash of light, Nie Yan’s vision went black, and he lost consciousness.

After an unknown amount of time, Nie Yan opened his eyes. The sea breeze howled, and the air carried a salty, fishy smell. He got up and looked around, only to find that the dragon girl Benita was already gone. In the distance was an expanse of open sea.

Might as well head back to town first, Nie Yan thought, using a recall scroll. In a flash of white light, he returned to Carol City.

He teleported to the Bull Tribe Guild Headquarters at Krips Fortress and sent a message to Xie Yao, asking her to come and take a look at the Book of Divine Judgment to see what it was.

Xie Yao stopped grinding monsters and hurried back immediately.

Gu Huai and others were at the Bull Tribe Guild Headquarters, discussing the expansion strategy for the Bull Tribe. They served as Nie Yan’s advisors. After discussing a plan, the final decision would be made by Nie Yan. In fact, managing the Bull Tribe didn’t require much effort from Nie Yan. It was like running a company—if the CEO had to personally handle every single detail, he would surely be overwhelmed.

Nie Yan only needed to decide the development direction of the Bull Tribe.

When Gu Huai and others saw Nie Yan return, they all came to greet him.

“You’re finally back. How was your haul?” Gu Huai asked.

“Not bad,” Nie Yan smiled.

Seeing Nie Yan’s calm expression, Gu Huai knew this was just Nie Yan’s nature. Don’t be fooled by Nie Yan’s current nonchalant appearance; when the time came for him to show his strength, it would definitely be shocking.

“Give this skill book to Shui Se and put the other skill books into the guild warehouse. See who needs them,” Nie Yan said, dumping all his skill books onto Gu Huai.

Almost five hundred books in total, nearly making Gu Huai go crazy: “Where did you go? How did you get so many skill books?”

“I was training in a map. It only drops skill books, nothing else,” Nie Yan chuckled.

Gu Huai quickly scanned through the skill books. There were quite a few rare ones, and the value of all these books was immeasurable.

After a while, Xie Yao returned to the guild headquarters.

“How many pieces of the Goddess Set have you collected?” Nie Yan asked. The equipment on Xie Yao emitted a gentle, holy power, enveloping her and making her look like a real goddess, as if she were not of this world. Xie Yao must have collected more set pieces, otherwise she wouldn’t have such a glowing effect.

“I’ve already found five pieces,” Xie Yao smiled slightly. Her harvests had been quite substantial recently.

Xie Yao had already collected five pieces. It looked like she wouldn’t need much longer to complete the set. Nie Yan said, “Help me take a look at this Book of Divine Judgment. What is it?”

Nie Yan took out the Book of Divine Judgment and handed it to Xie Yao. As a holy-word mage, Xie Yao should be quite familiar with holy-word items.

After looking at the Book of Divine Judgment, Xie Yao exclaimed in surprise, “This is actually the Book of Divine Judgment?!”

“You know what it is?”

“The Book of Divine Judgment is from the Dark Ages. Just like the description in the book, it records a piece of history. It is said that five grandmaster-level holy-word mages reading the magic on it can trap some large creatures, preventing them from moving. The symbols at the end of the book are the incantations to activate the formation,” Xie Yao explained.

“How long can it hold them?” Nie Yan asked, surprised that the Book of Divine Judgment was such an item.

“If the trapped creature doesn’t attack the magic formation, it can last about a minute. If it attacks the formation, it’s hard to say. If the trapped creature is too powerful, it might only last about ten seconds. The cooldown time for this skill is two natural days,” Xie Yao said.

“That’s enough,” Nie Yan said. In an intense battle, even ten seconds could affect the entire outcome.

“We need five holy-word mages to practice coordination together to use this Book of Divine Judgment.”

“You find four people in the guild,” Nie Yan thought for a moment. It was better to leave the Book of Divine Judgment with Xie Yao. There was no one more suitable than her.

“Okay,” Xie Yao nodded. Nie Yan had entrusted her with such an important item, which must have had a deep meaning. She immediately felt the weight of responsibility on her shoulders.

After staying at the guild headquarters for a while, Xie Yao went to choose her teammates. Her primary criteria were skill proficiency, and secondarily, female players.

There were still many skilled female players in the Bull Tribe. In the Bull Tribe, the saying “women hold up half the sky” definitely applied.

After arranging everything, Nie Yan took a large number of high-level and mid-level area-damage magic bombs to level up. During this time, Ziyan had made many more area-damage magic bombs for him.

It would take about five more days to level up to 100. Once the area-damage magic bombs ran out, Nie Yan would have to rely on himself to grind monsters for levels. However, he had many unique leveling methods in his mind, techniques developed by eccentric players in his past life. These methods were bizarre but highly effective. Nie Yan’s leveling speed would definitely not be slow.

Studying during the day and grinding at night—this kind of life was quite enjoyable. The Bull Tribe was expanding rapidly, and more and more of its members were beginning to reap the benefits of a stronger guild. Now, wherever they went to grind, players from other guilds would make way for them. Fortunately, the Bull Tribe had always maintained strict discipline and hadn’t developed the arrogant tendencies that guilds like the Triumphant Empire had displayed in Nie Yan’s previous life.

On the third day, Nie Yan returned to the Bull Tribe with a backpack full of equipment as usual, placing all of it into the guild warehouse. Looking at the guild warehouse, the Bull Tribe’s collection was nothing short of spectacular. All the items were neatly categorized, dazzling in variety, totaling as many as 1.6 million pieces. Moreover, the quality of the equipment far surpassed that of other guilds. Nie Yan estimated that only the Angel Dominion of the Grailand Empire and the Saturn Empire could rival the richness of the Bull Tribe’s guild warehouse.

“How have Dao Guang and Shui Se been doing in the Griffon Woods?” Nie Yan casually asked Gu Huai beside him.

“Their recent harvests have been quite good. Currently, our Bull Tribe already has nine flying mounts,” Gu Huai replied. It had cost the Angel Dominion countless losses to explore a section of the Griffon Woods, taking nearly a month to acquire only more than thirty flying mounts. In comparison, the Bull Tribe had suffered minimal losses while reaping substantial rewards. “Dao Guang and the others have just received a task in the Griffon Woods. They need to hunt the Toxic Mist Colossus in the Poisonous Valley to obtain a griffin cage, which can be used to raise griffin hatchlings. So they formed a team and went there.”

“What, you said they went to the Poisonous Valley?” Nie Yan was sitting down preparing bandages when he heard Gu Huai’s words. He immediately stood up, his tone serious as he asked.

“What’s wrong? Is something the matter?” Gu Huai saw Nie Yan’s expression and asked.

“How far have they progressed?”

“They’re currently fighting the boss.”

“Quickly prepare some master-level antidote potions for me. I’m going to the Poisonous Canyon. Hurry up, no delays,” Nie Yan said anxiously. Since they were already fighting the boss, there was no turning back now.

“Alright, I’ll go right away,” Gu Huai said, understanding the seriousness of the situation. He quickly ordered his subordinates to fetch some master-level antidote potions.