Nie Yan activated the search skill on the Stone of Holy Light. Soon, a coordinate was highlighted on the mini-map. There was definitely a component of the Abak Set nearby!
Nie Yan glanced at his backpack. He had already collected three components of the Abak Set, including the Abak Sealed Hand, the Abak Bloodied Dagger, and the Abak Destroying Cape. The Abak Set consisted of eight pieces in total, so he had already collected three-eighths of the set.
When he reached level 180, wearing the full Abak Set would be incredibly impressive! At that point, compared to ordinary players, he would be like a god in terms of both defense and attack.
He wondered which piece of the Abak Set had been left here.
The Darkwing Dragon quickly descended and landed on the ground. Nie Yan dismounted and surveyed the surrounding environment.
The area was filled with abrupt rocky outcrops, with practically no paths to traverse.
The Abak Set component should be located to the south. Nie Yan looked in that direction. In the distance, strange and jagged rocks stretched endlessly.
Nie Yan recalled the Darkwing Dragon into his pet space.
He dashed forward, leaping nimbly between the rocks as if walking on flat ground. This rugged terrain was nothing to him.
The mountain wind howled as Nie Yan ran and paused intermittently. Halfway up the mountain, he arrived at a stone forest filled with various peculiar rocks, creating a mysterious atmosphere. Some stones bore signs of artificial carving, sculpted into seductive female figures performing alluring poses. Clouds and mist drifted by, and a chill wind blew, creating an eerie and sinister feeling rather than a sense of beauty.
Nie Yan weaved through the stone forest, searching for quite some time but still finding nothing. The map indicated that the item should be right here, but why couldn’t he locate it?
Since he was already here, he had no choice but to continue searching. It might be hidden in some corner.
After searching for a while longer, he passed through a narrow fissure in the stone forest. Ahead, on the rock face, a deep and dark cave entrance appeared before Nie Yan’s eyes. Surrounding the entrance were eerie carvings—alluring female figures with sharp teeth and sinister expressions.
Most likely this was the place. Nie Yan cautiously stepped inside. The cave was dimly lit and the air was damp.
Fortunately, his dark vision was high enough to vaguely discern the path on the ground. As he ventured deeper into the cave, he heard the crisp and pleasant sound of dripping water echoing from its depths.
This section of the cave was approximately three hundred yards long, devoid of any monster activity. The narrow passage twisted and turned into the distance.
Nie Yan placed his hand on the wall and suddenly felt something scratch him—it was a protruding rock. He glanced at the cave wall beside him. The uneven surface appeared to have been excavated with tools like pickaxes. These grayish rocks seemed to be a type of ore.
Nie Yan swung Zeinard’s Sword and sliced off a piece of the rock on the wall, which fell down. He caught it with his left hand with a clack.
After feeling the rock’s fine texture and color, Nie Yan eventually identified it as Harp Metal.
Harp Metal was an exceptional material for forging, capable of crafting level 100 dark gold equipment. The higher its purity, the stronger the attributes of the resulting equipment. Because Harp Metal veins were difficult to locate, in his previous life, a piece of Harp Metal with quality level 5 had once sold for a high price of 600 gold coins, which was an astronomical sum for ore.
Without delay, Nie Yan immediately sent a message to Guo Huai, instructing Tang Yao and others with flying mounts to transport the senior miners from the Bull Tribe to this location to mine the ore.
There were no monsters in the vicinity, so the miners wouldn’t have to worry about being disturbed by monsters while mining.
After arranging everything, Nie Yan continued deeper into the cave. The further he went, the more spacious the cave became. Ahead, a massive stone door appeared, and beyond it, lights flickered—an expansive underground palace.
Nie Yan was quite surprised. He heard a system notification and opened it.
System: You have discovered the Pharaoh Fanas’s Tomb.
Nie Yan recalled that in history, there was indeed a figure named Fanas, the leader of an evil tribe and a dark wizard who worshipped demons and reveled in slaughter. The Holy Sanctuary regarded them as heretics. During the campaign against the heretics, Fanas was captured by the Holy Sanctuary and executed. However, Fanas’s body mysteriously disappeared afterward, becoming an unsolved mystery.
In his previous life, Nie Yan had spent a significant amount of time mastering the knowledge of all ancient beliefs. Familiarity with such history often proved useful, preventing him from being clueless when encountering historical elements.
Stepping into the tomb, Nie Yan saw dimly lit surroundings filled with monsters. He activated stealth mode and crept behind one of the monsters, casting a reconnaissance spell on it.
Dark Maid: Level 110, HP 120,000.
They were regular monsters, wearing black cloaks, and their genders could be vaguely discerned by their figures.
So many Dark Maids!
Nie Yan looked into the distance. At regular intervals, at least hundreds of Dark Maids gathered. Sneaking past them all would be very difficult. He would have to clear them one by one.
After thinking for a moment, Nie Yan retreated to a corner and summoned the Golden Earth Dragon. He planned to use the Golden Earth Dragon to crush through the enemies. With its powerful attack, clearing these Dark Maids shouldn’t be a problem, as long as no elite or lord-class creatures appeared.
These Dark Maids were dark creatures, so recruiting a paladin might be useful.
Nie Yan thought and opened the Holy Hire interface, checking the list of available paladins for hire.
His gaze rested on the final entry in the Holy Hire section—Paladin Lefers, a formidable paladin commander who wielded the advanced divine art “Holy Light Illumination,” with a hiring fee of 20,000 gold coins per hour.
For ordinary players, this was an astronomical sum, and few dared to spend so extravagantly.
Even Nie Yan himself was reluctant to use him, as the price was too high. It would probably cost about the same to equip five Bull Tribe players with level 70 dark gold gear.
For that much money, you could only hire Paladin Lefers for an hour.
Since learning Holy Hire, he had never tried hiring Lefers before, unsure of how powerful Lefers really was.
Although 20,000 gold coins were expensive, Nie Yan could still afford it.
Nie Yan decided to hire Lefers and see how strong he really was.
System: Are you sure you want to hire Paladin Lefers?
Yes!
A flash of white light appeared, and a tall paladin clad in silver-white armor materialized before Nie Yan. He looked to be around forty years old, with a full beard and a stern expression. He was enveloped in a white glow, exuding a powerful aura of holy light.
Nie Yan could clearly sense that Paladin Lefers was much stronger than the previous paladins he had summoned!
“Respected Scholar, Demon Hunter, and Master Thief, Mr. Nie Yan, I am honored to serve you,” Paladin Lefers respectfully said.
Nie Yan checked Lefers’s attributes. The Holy Hire description stated that the summoned Lefers’s stats were 300% of Nie Yan’s own.
Nie Yan was already very strong, and multiplying that by 300%—he couldn’t even imagine the result.
After seeing Lefers’s attributes, Nie Yan was completely stunned. Lefers had over 200,000 HP, over 20,000 attack power, and over 10,000 defense. He possessed all the skills of a paladin, along with the advanced divine spell “Holy Light Illumination,” making him an exceptionally formidable combat force.
What shocked Nie Yan the most wasn’t just Lefers’s base stats, but his skill list!
Lefers’s skill setup was modeled after Nie Yan’s own. Nie Yan’s skill list consisted entirely of level 8 or higher skills, including many level 10 and 11 skills. Lefers was even slightly stronger than Nie Yan.
Level 11 “Radiant Presence,” Level 15 “Holy Light Healing,” Level 15 “Dispel,” Level 15 “Holy Judgment,” Level 11 “Holy Strike”…
What an impressive skill list!
Such a paladin was nearly invincible at this level.
Paladins had slightly weaker defense compared to warriors, but their most terrifying aspect was their powerful healing ability. Their solo sustained combat capability was undoubtedly the strongest among melee units. Normally, a minor Holy Light Healing could restore 20%-30% of HP, which was already quite good. However, due to his extremely high skill level, a simple minor Holy Light Healing from Lefers could restore his HP to full. Combined with his nearly 200,000 HP, as long as his mana was sufficient, he never had to worry about HP issues, making him far more durable than any tank.
After seeing Paladin Lefers’s attributes, Nie Yan felt reassured. With such a terrifying ally, what was there to fear!
Under Nie Yan’s command, Paladin Lefers cast a Holy Shield on himself and applied status buffs like “Radiant Presence” and “Holy Empowerment” before charging toward the distant Dark Maids.
The holy light radiating from Lefers immediately drew the attention of the Dark Maids. Their hatred instantly focused on Lefers. As dark creatures, they naturally loathed holy light.
As long as Lefers was in front, attracting aggro, none of the Dark Maids would actively attack Nie Yan.
The Dark Maids gathered dark fireballs in their hands and unleashed countless magical attacks toward Paladin Lefers.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Damage numbers of two or three thousand floated above Lefers’s head. However, for someone with nearly 200,000 HP, this was nothing.
Lefers cast a minor healing spell on himself, instantly restoring his HP to full. He charged toward a Dark Maid, unleashing a Holy Strike and Holy Purge. Damage numbers of three or four hundred thousand floated above her head before she collapsed with a thud.
Lefers began an one-sided massacre against the Dark Maids.
Seeing Lefers’s ferocity, Nie Yan couldn’t help but be amazed. He was just too formidable!
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