Chapter 726: The Tomb of Abak

The sacred mountains, covered in thick forests and shrouded in layers of mist.

A figure suddenly appeared within the woods, swiftly dashing through the trees.

This figure was none other than Nie Yan. After stabilizing the Bullhead Tribe, he had handed over all the management duties to Guo Huai and seized a rare moment of free time to sneak out.

Nie Yan had never been interested in the complicated administrative tasks of running a guild. Besides, no one currently posed a threat to the Bullhead Tribe, so even if he wasn’t around, there wouldn’t be any major issues.

Nie Yan checked his backpack. Inside were four pieces of Abak equipment, including leather armor, gauntlets, a cape, and a dagger. According to his information, one of these items was located in this sacred mountain range, and another was in the Emerald City. The last time he had visited the Emerald City, he had returned empty-handed. Today, he was determined to obtain the piece hidden in the sacred mountains.

He hadn’t leveled up in nearly a month due to being preoccupied with guild affairs, remaining at level 120. However, Nie Yan could level up extremely quickly when he wanted to.

The Abak set required a level of 180, but thanks to the Prophet Medal, this requirement could be reduced by 30 levels. In other words, once he collected the entire set, Nie Yan would be able to wear it at level 150. For him, thirty levels were not an insurmountable obstacle.

If he could gather a complete set of Abak equipment, his overall gear strength would undergo a tremendous transformation.

Therefore, as soon as he had the time, he came straight to the sacred mountains to search for components of the Abak set.

Soon, Nie Yan arrived at the coordinates he had recorded during his last tracking of the necromancer Bodeman.

The Holy Light Stone emitted a faint white glow. It was definitely nearby.

Nie Yan searched all around, but after nearly two hours of scouring the area, almost turning the entire place upside down, he still couldn’t locate the item.

After passing through a dense forest, he found himself surrounded by towering rocks, the terrain becoming increasingly complex. As he navigated through the narrow gaps between the rocks, Nie Yan discovered a hidden crevice within the mountainside. Here, the glow from the Holy Light Stone seemed even more intense.

Looking inside, it was pitch black, with no idea where it led.

Nie Yan entered, weaving his way through the narrow passage.

After walking through the darkness for more than ten minutes, the space gradually widened, and some light filtered in.

He continued forward for a short distance before the scene suddenly opened up. The light caused his pupils to contract sharply. Moments later, the area before him became clear.

A crisp system notification sounded.

System: You have discovered the Ancient Battlefield of Dimness.

Looking around, this was an extremely vast area. The surrounding mountains stretched endlessly, while the center was a wide expanse of plains.

How could such a place exist between these towering peaks?

Recalling earlier, as he entered, Nie Yan had sensed a strong spatial fluctuation. He suddenly realized the truth—he had entered a pocket dimension.

The ground was littered with corpses, some lying flat, some partially buried in the soil. Some were already in tatters, while others had broken weapons lodged in their bodies.

A blood-red sun hung low on the horizon. The vast, lifeless plain gave off a desolate feeling.

Guided by the Holy Light Stone, Nie Yan moved forward. This expansive space seemed endless, and he had no idea where the stone would ultimately lead him.

After walking across the plains for about half an hour, he spotted in the distance more than ten tall mages dressed in black robes, wielding staffs as they wandered aimlessly. Seeing these monsters appear, Nie Yan wasn’t particularly concerned. Generally speaking, few monsters could pose a real threat to him anymore.

However, out of habit, Nie Yan still activated his stealth and slowly approached one of the mages. A chilling coldness swept toward him.

The tall mage turned its gaze in his direction.

Nie Yan’s heart pounded. Something felt off. He immediately cast a concealment buff on himself and silenced his presence.

The mage’s face was hidden beneath the black hood, making it impossible to see its features. However, the chilling gaze beneath the hood was as sharp as a blade.

Its eyes swept over Nie Yan’s location but found nothing. It slowly turned away and resumed wandering.

Nie Yan cast a Detect on the black-robed mage.

Dark Follower: Level 160 Mutated Elite.

A mutated elite!

Nie Yan knew all too well how terrifying mutated elites and mutated lords could be. In his past life, when he and his comrades grouped together to hunt monsters, they usually didn’t run into major issues. Though their skills weren’t top-tier, they were decent enough. They could usually handle regular elites, but if they accidentally encountered a mutated variant, it would be disastrous. Even a mutated elite of the same level could wipe out their entire party. Encountering a demonized variant was even worse—before they could even blink or react, they’d all be dead.

There were over a dozen mutated elite Dark Followers here. Nie Yan dared not provoke them and carefully moved away.

It seemed they were guarding something. Looking closely, Nie Yan noticed that in the center of the group of Dark Followers was a tomb. Behind the tall gravestone was a dark tunnel leading who-knows-where, just large enough for a single person to crawl through.

The Dark Followers roamed around but never strayed more than ten yards from the tomb.

Something was definitely strange about this place. Nie Yan glanced at the Holy Light Stone—it was glowing more intensely than ever.

This must be the right place.

After analyzing the patrol routes of the Dark Followers, Nie Yan activated the skill from his Gnome Ring. His body rapidly shrank to about one-third of its original size. Activating Shadowstep, he moved like an agile panther, swiftly darting toward the tomb.

Nie Yan maintained a precise distance from each Dark Follower—no more than a yard away. A single mistake could result in being ambushed by over a dozen Dark Followers.

The Dark Followers remained completely unaware of Nie Yan’s presence, continuing their patrols as usual.

With a swoosh, Nie Yan leapt into the tunnel of the tomb.

His figure swiftly disappeared into the passage.

The tunnel was extremely long and narrow. An ordinary person would have to crawl through it.

Thanks to his shrunken size, Nie Yan could actually run inside.

Creak! A strange sound echoed through the tunnel. Upon hearing it, Nie Yan’s heart tightened. Something was definitely wrong.

Three sharp guillotine blades came swinging down from above in rapid succession. If struck, his body would be severed in two.

At this critical moment, Nie Yan lunged forward, rolled, and activated Haste Step, narrowly dodging the deadly blades.

Boom! Boom! Boom! The three blades slammed behind him, their icy edges brushing past his body, sending chills down his spine.

He managed to dodge the blades thanks to both his speed and his reduced size. If a regular player had been crawling through this narrow tunnel, they wouldn’t have had the slightest chance to evade—most likely being cut into four pieces.

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Nie Yan became even more cautious. This tunnel was filled with deadly traps. Arrows and daggers occasionally shot out from the walls, making it nearly impossible to guard against them all.

Nie Yan took a couple of hits, suffering both poison and bleed effects. If not for the ample supply of potions in his bag, he would have died long ago.

Fortunately, he survived. After passing through a tunnel that stretched two to three hundred yards, Nie Yan leapt into a stone chamber. Inside, a massive stone coffin lay horizontally, sealed shut. Examining its front, Nie Yan noticed some faded Ancient Common script. Though most of it was illegible, a few words were still visible: “Abak,” “Dictator,” and others.

Seeing these words, Nie Yan froze. He hadn’t expected this to be Abak’s tomb.

It was said that this dictator had been overthrown and died without a complete body. Why would there be a tomb here?

Staring at the cold stone coffin, Nie Yan took a deep breath. He had seen countless similar coffins before, and they often contained terrifying creatures.

Regardless, he decided to open the coffin.

Nie Yan slowly pushed on it, creating a small gap.

The moment he did, the chamber trembled. Countless arrows rained down from above in dense waves, like a storm, continuously firing.

Nie Yan quickly dodged and cast his Black Obsidian Shield. With several dull thuds, the shield shattered into fragments after absorbing only a few hits.

Nie Yan activated Sacred Hire and summoned the Paladin Lefus.

The summoned Paladin Lefus immediately cast a Level 16 Holy Light Shield over both of them and healed Nie Yan several times.

After three waves of dense arrows, the chamber finally fell silent.

Nie Yan exhaled heavily, looking at the countless arrows embedded around him. Even without any monsters, such traps were enough to kill many players.

He remained near the coffin for a long time, unsure of what other traps might be triggered. But having come this far, he refused to leave empty-handed.

Nie Yan continued pushing the coffin open. As soon as he moved it slightly, countless spinning daggers swept in from both sides of the chamber.

With no way to dodge, Nie Yan extended his left hand, shooting a web at the ceiling of the chamber. Whoosh! He was pulled upward, clinging tightly to the ceiling and narrowly avoiding the deadly daggers.

Paladin Lefus wasn’t so lucky. Dozens of daggers struck him directly. With a loud explosion, his protective shield shattered, and he was instantly killed.

After the daggers passed, the chamber fell silent once more. Nie Yan dropped down, looking at the fallen paladin and then at the coffin, a chill creeping up his spine.

The coffin lay there silently, yet it exuded an overwhelming aura of death. If there were more traps ahead, Nie Yan wasn’t sure he could survive.

Opening this coffin was proving to be no simple task!

Yet, going back empty-handed was simply not in Nie Yan’s nature. Furrowing his brows, he stared at the coffin—it had become an unsolvable puzzle.