Chapter 966: The Demon King’s Stone

The news that Nie Yan was making a comeback had long been known, yet this challenge still struck everyone as somewhat inconceivable.

Nie Yan had not logged into the game for three years! During this time, Duo Duo had risen from level 150+ to 205, just a hair away from Tang Yao, and had acquired high-level titles such as the Chairman of the Dark Council. His equipment had also been painstakingly collected over countless hours. The recent duel further proved that Duo Duo had become the top player in both factions.

Nie Yan had only re-entered the game a little over a month ago, and the leaderboard still showed him at level 156. Although players knew he must have leveled up a bit during that time, they estimated he was probably around 160-170 at most. Yet now, the audacious thief Nie Yan had declared he would challenge Duo Duo within five months!

What an astonishing piece of news!

True to Nie Yan’s nickname, it was indeed bold!

Given Nie Yan’s personality, he wouldn’t issue such a challenge without confidence. Could it be that the audacious thief Nie Yan was really going to challenge Duo Duo?

Did this mean Nie Yan was about to return to his peak?

The morale of the Bull Tribe had just suffered a blow. Although the Bull Tribe’s elite players had successfully taken down nine members of Angel’s Fall, they ultimately lost to Duo Duo, who had snatched away the title of the top player. Naturally, they were not happy about it. At this moment, Nie Yan’s post sent the entire Bull Tribe into a frenzy. The leader Nie Yan wanted to challenge Duo Duo—what an exhilarating piece of news!

Although they found it hard to imagine how Nie Yan could possibly challenge Duo Duo within just five months, hadn’t everything Nie Yan had done before been beyond imagination? Each of them had a blind faith and trust in Nie Yan. If Nie Yan dared to post this challenge, he must have been fully confident.

Everyone from the End Times Canyon had dispersed, and the Angel’s Fall players had also returned underground.

Thanks to Duo Duo’s efforts, the battle was eventually won, and the entire Angel’s Fall was still very excited. After all, their guild leader had secured the title of the top player. However, Nie Yan’s challenge instantly exploded among the players, causing a tremor throughout the entire guild.

“Nie Yan is practically looking for death, claiming he can challenge Duo Duo within five months. It’s like a daydream. Will he even reach level 190 in five months? He probably won’t even make it to 180, not to mention that Duo Duo is now the Chairman of the Dark Council.”

“It’s hard to say. After all, Nie Yan is the leader of the Bull Tribe. He wouldn’t make such a claim without reason.”

The guild chat was flooded with discussions about Nie Yan. Watching the chat scroll by, Duo Duo slightly furrowed his brows.

“Nie Yan is finally making a comeback,” Kuang Ao Zhan Qiang (Arrogant War Spear) looked at Duo Duo and said.

“What do you think?” Duo Duo asked Kuang Ao Zhan Qiang.

“With his personality, he will definitely come within five months. I wonder what his strength will be like then. If he doesn’t have confidence, he wouldn’t have issued such a challenge!” Kuang Ao Zhan Qiang replied.

Duo Duo’s face remained expressionless as he said, “This matter concerns the Bull Tribe’s honor. He wouldn’t do this just for fun. Within five months, does he really have the confidence to return to his peak? If he does, then he will have created another myth. But I won’t stay still and wait for him to catch up. In five months, we’ll see who comes out on top! Gather all the top players in the guild. I have missions for them. I’m going to reforge my equipment!”

Soon, Duo Duo’s orders were issued, and he himself went off to complete missions.

Watching Duo Duo’s back, Kuang Ao Zhan Qiang felt a strange sensation. Could Duo Duo actually lose? But Nie Yan was probably only around 170+ levels at most, far below Duo Duo’s 206. Could he really catch up within five months? It seemed like an impossible fantasy. Could a rogue level up faster than a mage? However, if he knew that Nie Yan had a Light-Dark Holy Dragon as an ultimate pet, and his current level had already reached an astonishing 183, he might think differently.

At this moment, Nie Yan wasn’t paying attention to the psychological impact his post had on the players. He merely glanced at the guild chat, which was already flooded with messages.

Since he had already decided to challenge Duo Duo within five months, he needed to level up quickly. For Nie Yan, catching up with Duo Duo within five months was still very difficult, especially since Duo Duo wouldn’t stay still and wait for him.

Only by giving it his all would he have a chance to win!

First, he needed to complete the Dark Death Zone quest!

Nie Yan stared at the level 190 Demonized Demon King Guard before him. Its health had finally dropped below 30%.

The Light-Dark Holy Dragon moved swiftly, continuously launching magical attacks.

The Demon King’s Guard (Demonized Demon King Guard) had repeatedly attempted to violently break through the blockades of the Golden Earth Dragon and the Purple-Eyed Earth Dragon, but was ultimately halted once more by Nie Yan.

As the Demon King’s guard’s health dropped to around 10%, its entire body turned blood-red, and its aura surged rapidly.

It was about to go berserk!

Nie Yan’s heart tensed. He immediately gave orders to the Light-Dark Holy Dragon, which began chanting spells continuously. Within several hundred yards, the elements of light and darkness rapidly gathered toward this area.

Time passed, one syllable, two syllables…

Sensing the violent magical energy in the air, the Demonized Demon King Guard appeared to perceive the threat and abruptly flew into a rage. With a thunderous roar, it sent both the Golden Earth Dragon and the Purple-Eyed Earth Dragon hurtling backward with two resounding crashes.

The Demon King’s Guard (Demonized Demon King Guard) charged toward the Light-Dark Holy Dragon.

Boom! Boom! Boom! The Demonized Demon King Guard drew nearer and nearer to the Light-Dark Holy Dragon.

Nie Yan remained calm as usual, glancing at the Light-Dark Holy Dragon’s status. There was still time!

As the Demonized Demon King Guard was about to reach the Light-Dark Holy Dragon—fifty yards away, thirty yards away—suddenly, an overwhelming pressure descended from the sky.

A colossal Judgment of Light and a massive Dark Meteorite suddenly materialized out of thin air. With two deafening explosions, two devastating single-target forbidden spells struck the Demonized Demon King Guard. Damage numbers floated above the Demonized Demon King Guard, and its remaining 10% health was instantly wiped out.

The Demon King’s Guard let out a mournful wail and collapsed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Nie Yan glanced at his experience points, which had increased by about 6%. The experience was quite substantial, much faster than grinding regular monsters.

Nie Yan smiled slightly. Everything had gone exactly as he had anticipated. He took a few steps forward, searched around the Demonized Demon King Guard, picked up the dropped item, and examined it. It was a cracked gemstone, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, with an irregular shape.

Fragment of Demon King’s Stone (Demon King Stone Fragment): Can be synthesized, quantity 1/5. Special item that reduces the attributes of Dark Death Zone, Dark Demon King (Demon King), and Demon King Guards (Demon King Guard) by 8%.

Upon seeing the fragment’s properties, Nie Yan’s heart stirred. With this in hand, dealing with the Dark Demon King or the Demon King’s Guards would become much easier if he encountered them again.

This was only one fragment. It seemed there should be similar items elsewhere.

If he gathered all five fragments of the Demon King’s Stone and reached around level 185, Nie Yan would even dare to challenge the level 200 demonized lord-class Dark Demon King.

With this in mind, Nie Yan decided to search the surrounding area. He checked if there were any other Demon King’s Guards nearby. After scouting southeast for about half an hour, he spotted a massive Dark Demon King in the distance.

That was the Dark Lord, not the Dark Lord’s Guard!

There was more than one Dark Demon Lord in this Dark Death Zone, which shocked Nie Yan. He quickly hid far away before the Dark Demon Lord noticed him.

It took Nie Yan nearly two full days to finally survey the surrounding terrain. Within a radius of hundreds of thousands of yards, there were a total of six Dark Demon Kings and over twenty Demon King Guards.

Although Tang Yao could solo level 200 demonized lord-class monsters, there were only a few such monsters in the entire Light Faction territory, refreshing once a month. Usually, guilds would organize full teams to farm them, but many others would also compete for the kill. Therefore, it was not guaranteed that these level 200 demonized lord-class monsters would fall into one’s hands.

Nie Yan had no idea what kind of place the Dark Death Zone was, but it was filled with so many Dark Demon Kings!

At Nie Yan’s current level, defeating these Dark Demon Kings was somewhat difficult, so he could only start by eliminating the Demon King Guards one by one.

However, grinding these monsters was quite efficient for leveling up. Nie Yan estimated that if he could stay here for two or three months, his level would increase significantly.

Only after killing five or six Demon King Guards was there a certain probability of obtaining a Demon King Stone Fragment.

About a month later, Nie Yan’s level had rapidly increased to 189.

Previously, he had trained for over a month in the Black Magic Space, and now he had spent another month in the Dark Death Zone. Even with Nie Yan’s strong willpower, he was starting to feel a bit nauseous.

Missing the opening of the portal meant Nie Yan had to stay in the Dark Death Zone for another month.

Besides leveling up, Nie Yan had gained quite a lot this month. The Light-Dark Holy Dragon had reached level 199, while the Purple-Eyed Earth Dragon and the Golden Earth Dragon had both reached level 193.

The Light-Dark Holy Dragon was a full ten levels higher than Nie Yan. For an ordinary player, the Light-Dark Holy Dragon might have already rebelled, but Nie Yan had no such concerns.

The Light-Dark Holy Dragon was just one step away from reaching level 200. Its attributes had already surpassed any player’s imagination. After all, it was the only Earth Dragon King in both factions—the ultimate pet!