Chapter 742: The Treasure Key

The two-headed giant rushed toward Nie Yan and swung its spiked club down at him.

As the spiked club was about to crush Nie Yan into pulp, Su Youyou and Sanjie Buliu couldn’t help but feel their hearts tighten.

Everyone thought Nie Yan was done for.

As the spiked club was about to strike his head, Nie Yan looked up, and suddenly a divine light flashed in his eyes.

With a loud boom, the club smashed into the ground, but Nie Yan had already vanished from his spot. The two-headed giant wore a confused expression.

Before the two-headed giant could lift its club again, a figure appeared beneath it. Nie Yan delivered an elbow strike to the giant’s fat belly.

A tremendous impact force caused the two-headed giant to stagger backward a few steps.

Nie Yan placed both hands on the ground and pushed hard, launching his body backward into the air. He kicked the two-headed giant’s chin.

With a bang, the two-headed giant flew backward.

The two-headed giant crashed heavily onto the ground, and Nie Yan landed as well, delivering a brutal knee strike to the giant’s abdomen.

Glancing at the system prompt, it showed Combo 3.

But this was just the beginning. Nie Yan had already removed some of his legendary equipment to make his attacks appear reasonably powerful. Still, his damage output reached over ten thousand. Under Nie Yan’s continuous assault, the two-headed giant’s health steadily dropped.

At this moment, Su Youyou, Sanjie Buliu, and others watching Nie Yan fight the two-headed giant were utterly stunned, mouths agape in disbelief.

Nie Yan moved so fast that only afterimages remained. They could only see the two-headed giant continuously being knocked away.

This series of consecutive actions was breathtaking.

Although they couldn’t see Nie Yan’s movements clearly, the constant flashes of afterimages made his techniques appear exceptionally dazzling.

Su Youyou and Sanjie Buliu exchanged glances and simultaneously blurted out one word: “Shadow Dance!” They couldn’t describe their inner shock—they never expected to encounter a Shadow Dancer here!

These people indeed had some knowledge, and upon seeing Nie Yan’s movements, they immediately recognized him.

Ziye’s gaze became somewhat dazed. He had thought Nie Yan was merely an ordinary rogue, never connecting him to a Shadow Dancer. His previous mockery about Nie Yan’s inability to tank monsters had completely become a joke. Nie Yan didn’t even need to tank monsters; he could solo a level 180 two-headed giant on his own!

“Is this guy even human!” exclaimed one of Sanjie Buliu’s warrior teammates beside him.

“Can we find out who this guy is? In the Glireland Empire, there are only a few rogues who have reached the Shadow Dancer level. Where did this guy come from?”

“Judging from his appearance, he shouldn’t be Kuang Zei Nie Yan, nor should he be Wang Zhetianxia or Xiao Yan Bushi. We’re too familiar with those faces.”

They didn’t know about the existence of high-potency disguise potions. Ordinary disguise potions lasting twenty to thirty minutes were already quite good. They had already interacted with Nie Yan for nearly half an hour.

At this point, Nie Yan’s identity no longer mattered. What was important was that Nie Yan was a Shadow Dancer rogue, and he might indeed be able to lead them to the treasure.

Minute by minute passed. Su Youyou checked the time—less than five minutes had passed, and the two-headed giant was already lying on the ground, unable to move.

This guy had single-handedly defeated the two-headed giant in under five minutes—what a monstrous person!

Nie Yan picked up the items dropped by the two-headed giant. There was a level 180 golden equipment piece, which was junk. Under normal circumstances, Nie Yan probably wouldn’t even bother glancing at it. Besides this golden equipment, he also obtained a golden key fragment about the size of a thumb—likely the item they were looking for. Checking the system prompt, it showed a continuous 17-hit combo. Throughout the entire fight, the two-headed giant hadn’t even had a chance to counterattack. Nie Yan was quite satisfied with this. Using skills now felt much smoother than before.

If he wore all his equipment, Nie Yan estimated he could defeat the two-headed giant in under two minutes.

Sanjie Buliu, Su Youyou, and others approached.

Nie Yan tossed this golden equipment piece to Sanjie Buliu and said, “Let’s go. Hurry up. Next one.”

Su Youyou’s clear bright eyes carefully examined Nie Yan’s face, trying to find any clue of weakness. But obviously, she failed. Nie Yan was truly a mysterious person.

“Okay,” Sanjie Buliu nodded and turned to his teammates, “I’m stepping down as team leader. From now on, Tianyuan will be our team leader. Follow his commands.”

“Understood.”

No one expressed any objections, and even Ziye unusually refrained from arguing. He understood that someone like him was merely trash in Nie Yan’s eyes.

Actually, Nie Yan didn’t need these people. He could probably complete the mission alone. However, Sanjie Buliu possessed the treasure map. After preparing for over a month, he certainly had gathered many clues. Thus, they were indispensable—they were essentially acting as tour guides for Nie Yan.

In the following period, Sanjie Buliu, Su Youyou, Ziye, and others witnessed what true monstrosity looked like. Along the way, there were a total of seven elites at levels 170-180. At their own pace, they estimated it would take at least three to four hours to defeat them all. Nie Yan swept through them all in just thirty-five minutes, eliminating all seven elites.

The final elite was a completely blue two-headed giant, a level 180 elite with extremely high defense and area magic attacks. This was the main culprit that had caused Sanjie Buliu, Su Youyou, and others to wipe out multiple times. Yet against Nie Yan, this once formidable foe was pathetically weak, defeated in under three minutes without even managing to cast a single spell. As they passed by the two-headed giant, they felt an unreal sensation—was this really the same creature that had caused them multiple wipes?

Yet the facts were right in front of them!

After collecting eight key fragments, Sanjie Buliu exclaimed joyfully, “That’s enough.”

He brought the eight key fragments together and slowly pieced them together. A brilliant light flashed, and a dazzling glow forced Nie Yan and others to cover their eyes with their hands.

When they looked clearly again, the eight key fragments had merged into a single key.

A palm-sized key—Nie Yan had never seen such a large key before.

Sanjie Buliu and others displayed ecstatic expressions. They had finally obtained this key.

“Where to next?” Nie Yan asked.

“We don’t know either,” Sanjie Buliu replied with a bitter smile. “We only made it to the blue two-headed giant. There are task clues ahead, so we’ll have to continue exploring. However, now that we’ve collected all the keys, there’s no five-hour time limit anymore. We can take our time.”

“Alright then, you lead the way!” Nie Yan said. He could understand that Sanjie Buliu and others had limited strength. Making it to the blue two-headed giant was already quite an achievement.

Sanjie Buliu checked the task clues and studied the treasure map. “Follow me.”

Sanjie Buliu led Nie Yan and the others through the jungle. Along the way, they passed by several dark elf settlements. Some of these settlements were embroiled in chaotic battles, with groups of players farming monsters in the area. When they noticed Nie Yan and his companions approaching, they grew visibly wary. In the wilderness, strangers approaching could easily lead to conflicts—monster stealing, treasure snatching, and the like. Seeing Nie Yan and the others swiftly move on, they finally withdrew their guarded stares.

Passing these dark elf settlements, they gradually approached the center of the dark elf tribe. The dark elves active here were clearly of much higher levels than before, generally around levels 170-180.

In the distant dark elf tribal settlement, houses stretched endlessly, and streets were filled with moving dark elves. Clearing out these dark elves would be quite time-consuming. Without summoning the golden earth dragon and Holy Knight Lefers, it would take at least two or three days to clear them all. However, summoning the golden earth dragon and Holy Knight Lefers would expose his identity.

“No player has dared to farm monsters here yet,” Sanjie Buliu jumped onto a tall tree and peered inside. The center of the dark elf tribe was a plaza. “The location marked on the treasure map should be at the tribal center.”

If that was the case, this matched the information Nie Yan had gathered.

“We can bring some friends and form a 500-member team. Clearing them step by step should take about three days,” Su Youyou looked at Sanjie Buliu and Nie Yan, saying she could gather many high-level teammates, and Sanjie Buliu and others also had extensive connections.

Nie Yan thought for a moment. If he left these people behind, infiltrating the dark elf tribal center should be no problem. He wondered if he could open the treasure alone. At worst, he could give Su Youyou, Sanjie Buliu, and others their share according to the agreement. The only annoying thing was that the treasure map was bound to Sanjie Buliu, who still had some precautions against Nie Yan.

“I’ll go in first to check the situation, then we can formulate a plan,” Nie Yan said after thinking.

“You alone?” Su Youyou was taken aback, suddenly recalling something. “I almost forgot—you’re a Shadow Dancer. For you, infiltrating this dark elf tribe should be no problem.”

“Be careful,” Sanjie Buliu said, handing Nie Yan the key. “Maybe you can bypass the dark elves and open the treasure. The treasure map seems to have instructions on how to open the treasure, but without seeing the situation there, I can’t interpret it.” At this moment, he couldn’t help but envy Nie Yan—being a rogue was so convenient.

Nie Yan nodded. “You guys continue researching. If you discover anything new, send me a message.”

After bidding farewell to Sanjie Buliu, Su Youyou, and others, Nie Yan entered stealth mode and headed toward the dark elf tribe.