Chapter 620: The Advancement of Zennarde’s Sword

After ruining more than ten Red Dragon Herbs, Nie Yan finally succeeded in digging up one. After slightly processing its roots, he placed it into his backpack.

System: You have collected a Red Dragon Herb and gained 32 points of skill proficiency.

Due to the Red Dragon Herb’s rarity and high level, Nie Yan was gathering above his level, so successfully collecting one provided a large amount of skill proficiency.

Simply gathering Red Dragon Herbs alone could rapidly increase gathering proficiency.

With the first Red Dragon Herb secured, Nie Yan continued his search. Besides Red Dragon Herbs, there were many other types of high-level herbs here. After upgrading his gathering skill to an advanced level, Nie Yan could now freely collect these valuable herbs scattered everywhere.

While gathering various high-level herbs and hunting second-stage creatures, the joy of his gains eased the monotony of leveling up and gathering. The task progressed slowly step by step.

The time required for the Holy Shadow Dancer class change task was much more than Nie Yan had imagined. Soon, nearly half a month had passed.

Judging from the current situation, he still needed to stay here for a while. Nie Yan glanced at the players’ levels. The highest level anyone had reached was only level 90. It would still take them a long time to catch up with him. Levels beyond level 90 were even harder to gain, with each level requiring dozens of times more experience than before. Therefore, he didn’t need to worry about others completing the Shadow Dancer class change before him—he still had ample time.

In the distance, within the jungle, a tall, large werewolf appeared in Nie Yan’s sight. It was a second-stage werewolf. These creatures could walk upright like humans, with their upper bodies indistinguishable from wolves. Among second-stage creatures, werewolves were the most difficult to deal with, possessing very agile movements and strong combat abilities. Nie Yan had previously encountered a werewolf and barely escaped. Since then, whenever he encountered werewolves, he generally chose to avoid them. However, this time, he suddenly felt a desire to challenge one.

Nie Yan stealthily approached the werewolf from behind, completely concealing his presence.

The werewolf did not notice Nie Yan and continued aimlessly wandering.

Suddenly, Nie Yan sprang into action. With Zennarde’s Sword in hand, he slashed fiercely toward the werewolf’s spine from behind, aiming for a crippling strike.

As Zennarde’s Sword was about to strike the werewolf’s spine, the werewolf suddenly sensed something, shifted its body, dodged Nie Yan’s attack, and let out a low growl before lunging at Nie Yan with its sharp claws extended.

Its steel claws were like curved blades, extremely sharp.

What fast reflexes! Seeing the werewolf’s sharp claws sweeping toward him, Nie Yan leaped backward to evade the attack.

The werewolf was even faster than he had imagined, fiercely attacking Nie Yan with incredible speed, so fast that it was almost impossible to dodge. With a plop, the werewolf’s claws scraped across his chest, splattering blood everywhere.

A damage number over 3,000 floated above Nie Yan’s head.

This situation couldn’t continue—he would eventually be worn down and killed by the werewolf!

Nie Yan was forced into a very awkward position, taking two consecutive hits, and his health dropped to around 30%. He quickly drank a high-grade instant recovery potion, restoring his health to full.

Observing the werewolf’s swift footwork during its attacks, Nie Yan thought deeply. Instinctively, he began imitating the werewolf’s movements. Nie Yan, whose speed had previously struggled to keep up, gradually became more composed and fluid.

The werewolf roared and charged forward.

As it was about to reach him, its gleaming claws nearly touching his face, Nie Yan suddenly had an unusual idea. He began to see this place as a fighting arena and the werewolf as his opponent. Almost instinctively, he sidestepped, performing an extremely difficult maneuver. He supported himself with his left hand on the ground, leaned his body forward, shifted his center of gravity, and channeled all his strength into his right foot. “Now!” Nie Yan lowly shouted. With a loud thud, his right foot struck the werewolf’s neck.

With a crack, Nie Yan heard the sound of the werewolf’s neck breaking.

It was an overwhelming, destructive force.

Struck by the heavy blow, the werewolf let out a mournful cry, spat out a mouthful of blood, and was kicked backward for five or six yards before crashing heavily to the ground.

A massive critical hit damage number floated above the werewolf’s head: -7300.

The werewolf was instantly killed and lay motionless on the ground, never to rise again.

Although the werewolf’s agility was extremely formidable, its attack and defense were nothing special. It was practically fragile under Nie Yan’s assault.

Nie Yan was shocked that this kick had such tremendous power. He hadn’t expected such an unconventional move to be so effective. This was real martial arts technique! Nie Yan had perfectly demonstrated real-world martial arts techniques, making them just as deadly as any skill.

Nie Yan increasingly felt the wonder of the Shadow Dancer class. What he currently mastered was merely the surface of it. Yet, even this brief glimpse into its potential had left him deeply amazed.

His exploration of the Shadow Dancer class had only just begun.

Nie Yan extracted the werewolf’s core. The werewolf’s corpse slowly dissolved and was purified. Suddenly, he felt Zennarde’s Sword vibrating intensely in his hand, with waves of black flames rising from it, radiating intense heat.

Nie Yan could feel a powerful force surging from Zennarde’s Sword. He glanced at the sword’s attributes and discovered that another seal on Zennarde’s Sword had been lifted.

Zennarde’s Sword (Sealed): A divine artifact crafted by Karando.

Item Description: A divine artifact commissioned by the Dragon King Zennarde and crafted by Karando, infused with dark magic to create this divine weapon. If you lack the power to control it, you will suffer its backlash. The sword has been sealed with six holy seals by the War God Keros. Seals Unlocked: 4/6.

Item Attributes: Attack 1530-1823, Critical Hit +150, 30% chance to deal 6x critical damage, Ignore Level +25, Ignore Armor. Attached Skills: Infernal Execution – When an enemy’s health is below 20%, this skill has a chance to instantly kill them, success rate depends on both parties’ levels and defense. Skill Cooldown 3 seconds, requires 50 energy. Attached Skill: Supreme Calamity, when attacking enemies, applies five curses: Level 8 Weakness, Level 8 Disability, Level 8 Plague, Level 8 Fear, and Level 8 Corrosion, lasting 10 minutes. Skill Cooldown 1 hour.

Additional: Curse of the Undead Nightmare – The wielder of Zennarde’s Sword is cursed with the Undead Nightmare, reducing all attributes by 20% (suppressed, effect halved).

Usage Restriction: None.

Another seal on Zennarde’s Sword had been lifted, significantly enhancing its attributes. Currently, it already possessed attributes equivalent to a level 120 legendary weapon—extremely powerful. Particularly the Supreme Calamity, with Level 8 curses, even a level 100+ boss would be hard-pressed to handle five Level 8 curses simultaneously.

Black flames roared over the blade of Zennarde’s Sword, leaving a long trail of fire when swung, radiating intense energy.

Nie Yan was somewhat surprised by the upgrade of Zennarde’s Sword. He had thought it would take much longer to unlock the next seal, but it happened sooner than expected. Perhaps because creatures like the werewolf were of a higher level, the sealing on Zennarde’s Sword was being lifted faster than before.

Zennarde’s Sword’s attack power had already exceeded 1500, far surpassing ordinary level 100 daggers or short swords. Nie Yan was even more excited about the sword’s future potential. It was already this powerful after just two seals were lifted—what would happen once all six seals were removed?

As dusk approached, Nie Yan checked his task progress. The second stage of the Holy Shadow Dancer class change task was nearly 55% complete, which was actually quite fast.

Another day had ended. Nie Yan exited the game pod and took a deep breath. Constantly grinding monsters and gathering in the Ancient World every day was indeed exhausting work.

Just like every other day, Nie Yan and Xie Yao washed up, had breakfast, and took the bus to school.

Most students at the First Military Academy already knew that Xie Yao was Nie Yan’s girlfriend. The two walked together to and from school every day, which caused many male students to feel jealous of Nie Yan. After all, Xie Yao was the ideal lover in many people’s hearts, but she was already taken—a fact that frustrated many.

As Nie Yan entered the Command Department classroom, he overheard everyone enthusiastically discussing something.

“What are they talking about?” Nie Yan asked Xia Tianyu and Fei Zhe.

“They’re talking about the dungeon. Zhao Shiyu’s terrible team hasn’t even cleared the Mysterious Cave yet, yet they still dare to brag,” Xia Tianyu said disdainfully.

Nie Yan smiled. The Command Department team had only been formed half a month ago and had already reached the Mysterious Cave, which was quite fast. However, compared to Nie Yan and the elite members of the Bull Tribe, this speed was nothing special.

“Nie Yan, I just got an 85-level Radiant Armor. Its attributes are amazing, with over 800 defense,” Xu Yan said proudly.

“Damn, you’re so lucky. You already got level 85 gear now?” Fei Zhe looked envious. Xu Yan was only level 81, yet he had already obtained such a high-quality armor. He wouldn’t have to worry about gear for a while.

“Where did you get it?” Xia Tianyu was also somewhat envious. He was already level 86, yet only had one piece of level 85 equipment, with the rest being level 80 gear—something he felt somewhat embarrassed about.

“I got it while grouping for a dungeon. We defeated a Kolon Beast, and this armor dropped. The main tank had better gear and didn’t need the Radiant Armor, so it ended up in my hands,” Xu Yan chuckled.

“Your main tank uses what gear? He doesn’t even want the Radiant Armor?” Fei Zhe asked in surprise.

“He’s currently level 83 and wears a full set of Glorious Armor that requires level 90. He lowered the requirement.”

“Damn, a full set of Glorious Armor with lowered requirements? What kind of warrior is that?” Xia Tianyu and Fei Zhe both rolled their eyes simultaneously. They knew the main tank Xu Yan was referring to wasn’t even among the second-tier warriors in the Bull Tribe.