Lefis watched as Nie Yan’s back receded into the distance. He left in low spirits. According to later reports from players, Lefis disappeared completely and never reappeared.
The battle between Nie Yan and Lefis became a widely discussed event. Defeating a level 160 Magic Master NPC in a one-on-one duel was undoubtedly a great feat. Videos of this battle were uploaded online by players who witnessed it, and they spread widely among the gaming community.
Nie Yan no longer cared about such fleeting fame; what mattered more to him were the gains from this battle.
Abak Swift Boots: Required Strength 1500, Agility 1200, Level 180. (Currently unusable)
Item Description: Only those who possess the Order’s Chapter and are the Shadow Stalker can wear components of the Abak Dictator set. The entire set must be worn together. Abak worships power; only sufficient strength can maintain dictatorship. Rebels shall perish!
Item Attributes: Defense +1120, Strength +200, Agility +520, Movement Speed +50%. The wearer gains the Swift Running skill. Swift Running: All escape skill effects increased by 50%, Movement Speed increased by 300%. Cannot stack with other speed-increasing skills. Duration: 10 minutes. Skill cooldown: 2 natural days.
This item binds to the player who holds the first volume of the Order’s Chapter. It is non-tradable and non-droppable.
The movement speed bonus from the Abak Swift Boots was particularly impressive. Nie Yan checked his current movement speed, which had already reached 1393—a terrifying number. At this stage, the average player’s movement speed would only be around 300 to 400.
The movement speed cap was 5000 points. Under normal circumstances, even with the best gear, reaching the 5000-point limit was extremely difficult. But seeing the Abak Swift Boots, Nie Yan couldn’t help but wonder—if he boosted his speed to 1700 and then used Swift Running, wouldn’t his movement speed reach the limit?
Nie Yan couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of speed that would be.
Player movement speeds were categorized in tiers: below 30 was extremely slow, 30–100 was slow, 100–300 was fast, 300–1000 was very fast, 1000–3000 was extremely fast, 3000–4999 was lightning fast, and 5000 was the legendary ultimate speed. Nie Yan was currently in the “extremely fast” category, which was vastly superior to the “fast” or “very fast” speeds of ordinary players. For example, over a hundred-meter distance, he could catch up with them in just a few brief seconds.
Speed was the lifeblood of an Assassin. Nie Yan couldn’t even imagine how much of an impact reaching “lightning fast” or “ultimate” speed would have on his strength.
This was the seventh piece of the Abak set. One piece was still unaccounted for, and Nie Yan needed to follow the clues to find it.
Nie Yan pulled up the battle video between himself and the Magic Master Lefis. From his perspective, he could clearly see every move Lefis made. Lefis’s understanding of the elements was beyond what any ordinary player could imagine.
These videos were absolutely invaluable—they accurately demonstrated what a true Magic Master was! Tang Yao, Xie Yao, and others still had much room for improvement, and these videos would definitely be useful to them.
“Guo Huai, I’m sending you a video. Distribute it to every Magic Master in the guild,” Nie Yan said as he sent the recorded battle footage to Guo Huai. “This video must not be leaked.”
Guo Huai was somewhat puzzled—what kind of video could be so important that Nie Yan would be so cautious? He accepted the file and glanced through it casually at first, but his expression quickly turned serious. Although he hadn’t been leveling, dueling, or raiding for a while, as the executive leader of Niu Ren Tribe, he still had the discernment to recognize the immense research value of these battle videos.
“I understand. I’ll send it immediately to Yaozi and the others. I’ll remind them to keep it confidential,” Guo Huai said.
“Good,” Nie Yan replied. He then asked, “Has the Blood Demon Knight Corps appeared?”
“Since the last time, they haven’t appeared again,” Guo Huai replied. Although Niu Ren Tribe had a strong presence in the Grailan Empire, tracking down a few specific individuals across such a vast map was no easy task.
Without any leads on the Bloodmag Knight Corps, Nie Yan was at a loss. He checked his experience bar—still 86% away from level 150. Normally, without grinding level 180 demonic lords, it would be extremely difficult to reach level 150. Nie Yan estimated that at his current pace, it might take about a month to break level 150. If he hunted elites or lords, he might level up a bit faster. He decided to focus on leveling up for now.
“I just received intel that Century Syndicate’s public relations team has been very active underground. Many Demonkin tribes and Undead Empire players are emerging through covert channels. We might be facing some trouble ahead,” Guo Huai said. The influx of Demonkin tribes and Undead Empire players would likely pose significant challenges for the Niu Ren Tribe.
“What about Angel’s Fall?” Nie Yan asked. Angel’s Fall had deployed a large force to the surface early on. With Niu Ren Tribe’s assistance, they had engaged in several skirmishes against Angelic Dominion, with both sides suffering heavy losses. These were merely preliminary clashes—real large-scale battles had yet to begin.
“They’re worried about heavy losses, so there have only been a few small-scale engagements. Angel’s Fall has occupied three small towns in the Saithern Empire and has started building up defenses, likely aiming for a steady, methodical approach. I think Angel’s Fall might have their own plans. It’s also possible that the Undead Empire is facing some internal issues—they haven’t unified it yet,” Guo Huai speculated.
“For now, we can maintain cooperation with Angel’s Fall, but we still need to be cautious. Send them a message and have them stir up some trouble in the underground world to relieve some pressure for us. As for those coming from the underground, let the NPC armies in Ocorun City deal with them,” Nie Yan said. He had already recruited nearly ten thousand NPC troops in recent times—it was time to put them to use.
“Even if more players from the Demonkin tribes and the Undead Empire arrive, they won’t pose a real threat to us. I’m just slightly concerned that our guild members might get bogged down and unable to level up or raid normally. If we deploy the NPC armies, that would save us a lot of trouble,” Guo Huai agreed with Nie Yan’s approach.
“I’ll go find the remaining Abak set piece first and level up a bit. If anything happens, message me and I’ll come back immediately.”
“Alright.”
After chatting for a while, they ended the voice call. Nie Yan returned to Ocorun City to replenish some consumables before heading out to level up again.
In the following nearly twenty days, the Bloodmag Knight Corps appeared a total of five times. The first time, they ambushed a leveling team from Niu Ren Tribe in Flame City, killing around two hundred members. The second time, they attacked a sixty-member raid team from Niu Ren Tribe in Emerald City, wiping them out completely. The third time, they struck a small fortress in Nisod City, killing over three hundred before retreating. The fourth and fifth attacks occurred in Moonlight City and Carol City respectively. Additionally, many ungrouped, scattered players were also killed by the Bloodmag Knight Corps.
Each time the Bloodmag Knight Corps struck, Nie Yan and the other top-tier members rushed to the scene immediately, but by the time they arrived, the attackers had already escaped using random teleport scrolls, leaving Nie Yan and his team helpless and unable to even engage them. Moreover, the Bloodmag Knight Corps constantly changed locations, never staying in one city for more than two or three days. After each attack, they would disappear for three to five or six days before striking again, making them nearly impossible to anticipate. Several counterattacks organized by Nie Yan and his team were evaded—they would retreat into the mountains, leaving Nie Yan with no recourse.
With Niu Ren Tribe’s operations spread so wide, it was impossible to cover every front. The Bloodmag Knight Corps always found opportunities to strike!
Across Niu Ren Tribe, there was a growing sense of frustration and a burning desire to eliminate the Bloodmag Knight Corps once and for all.
In addition to the Bloodmag Knight Corps, increasing numbers of players from the Demonkin tribes and the Undead Empire were arriving in the Abernathy Grasslands, engaging in fierce clashes with local players. The Abernathy Grasslands had transformed into a full-scale battleground between the two factions.
The NPC garrisons of Ocorun City were stationed across every village and fortress, tasked with maintaining stability in the Abernathy Grasslands. Although Demonkin and Undead Empire players did not dare to directly assault the strongholds of the Niu Ren Tribe, some villages and towns suffered minor harassment.
Guo Huai roughly estimated that there were as many as five to six million Demonkin and Undead Empire players active in Abernathy Grasslands. Some had been hired by Century Syndicate with large sums of money to cause chaos, while others were ordinary players with no specific agenda, merely here to gain reputation on the surface. Fortunately, Niu Ren Tribe wasn’t alone—there were also two to three million players from Grailan Empire and Saithern Empire active in Abernathy Grasslands, diverting some of the pressure. If all five to six million players had focused solely on attacking Niu Ren Tribe’s strongholds, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Although no major incidents had occurred in Abernathy Grasslands yet, the presence of so many chaotic evil-aligned players still made Nie Yan feel uneasy. He issued high-reward bounty quests across many regions of Grailan Empire and Saithern Empire, recruiting and guiding players to enter Abernathy Grasslands and assist Niu Ren Tribe in defending against potential threats.
As tensions between the two sides escalated, Nie Yan sensed an unusual undercurrent—he needed to act quickly!
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage