After mastering the techniques of the Spinal Sever skill, Nie Yan began to train it frantically to improve his proficiency.
Completion rate 93%, 95%, 96%…
As Nie Yan used the Spinal Sever skill more frequently, he became increasingly proficient, gradually mastering more techniques and constantly adjusting his movements during practice. At its peak, the completion rate could reach about 98%. To ordinary players, this was something inconceivable. Achieving 100% completion was nearly impossible, and even reaching 98% was an unbelievable figure.
As Nie Yan continued using the Spinal Sever skill, his skill proficiency skyrocketed. Before long, another crisp system prompt sounded—the Spinal Sever skill had advanced to level 5.
Throughout the entire Granlan Empire, Nie Yan was likely the only player capable of raising a free skill to level 5. Free skills were notoriously difficult to train. Reaching level 5 with a regular skill was already impressive enough, let alone a free skill.
If someone were to land a level 5 Spinal Sever skill with 90% completion from behind on a player, even a warrior would barely survive, losing half their life. Combined with the skill’s stun effect, the target would be completely helpless during that control period and would certainly die.
Nie Yan diligently trained his skills, spending an entire day during which the Spinal Sever skill rapidly advanced to level 8. At 90% completion, this terrifying level 8 Spinal Sever could deal 600% damage!
This damage intensity left Nie Yan speechless. He never realized in his previous life that free skills could be this powerful, which explained why he had only been an average player back then.
Nie Yan stealthed behind a Minotaur Warrior and executed a Spinal Sever. A damage number of 7,500 floated above the Minotaur Warrior’s head, along with a 7-second stun.
After finishing one round of skills, he immediately used Spinal Sever again.
About seventy seconds later, the Minotaur Warrior staggered and fell. Even with a fast health regeneration rate, the Minotaur Warrior couldn’t withstand Nie Yan’s overwhelming damage output.
Previously, it had taken a full two minutes to kill a Minotaur Warrior, but now it only required seventy seconds. This significant improvement in combat effectiveness excited Nie Yan.
The loot from killing the Minotaur Warrior was quite good. It didn’t drop anything else—only skill books, many of them rare skills, including three free skill books, albeit for warriors and paladins.
Since he had already trained it to level 8, Nie Yan wanted to push further, but the higher the level, the more skill proficiency was required. Calculating based on the required skill points for the next level, it would take at least three more days to reach level 9.
While training Spinal Sever, Nie Yan also explored other skills, including Reverse Backstab, Shadow Assassination, Counter, and Instant Strike. With Spinal Sever as a reference, he quickly found some techniques for the other skills.
Reverse Backstab, Counter, and Spinal Sever were somewhat similar, all involving concentrating force into the arms through body movements and then unleashing it explosively. Shadow Assassination and Instant Strike, on the other hand, achieved high damage by accelerating briefly to pierce through opponents.
After spending another day familiarizing himself with skills like Reverse Backstab, Nie Yan didn’t reach the same level of proficiency as Spinal Sever, but he did make some progress.
Soon, Reverse Backstab, Counter, Shadow Assassination, and Instant Strike all advanced to level 5. At level 5, these skills were already extremely powerful. He could easily defeat monsters, taking only fifty seconds to kill a Minotaur Warrior.
Although his character level hadn’t increased, Nie Yan could clearly feel his strength rapidly surging after mastering these skills.
Players like Cui Can Dao Guang (Cui Can Dagger Light) had level 5 or 6 Minotaur Strength and War God’s Fury, making them top warriors. But Nie Yan now had five free skills at level 5 or higher. Even players like Cui Can Dao Guang and Shui Se Yan Tou (Shui Se Cigarette End) would likely not survive a minute against Nie Yan.
After another day of training, Nie Yan checked his Spinal Sever skill’s proficiency, which had reached 36% of level 8. The progress was quite satisfactory.
As Nie Yan was frantically improving his skill proficiency, the war between the Bullman Tribe and the Mage Alliance was also raging on. Once again, the Bullman Tribe displayed their terrifying might.
The Mage Alliance had deployed 200,000 troops with six Ironclad Catapults in an attempt to intercept Bull Man Tribe and prevent them from bringing the war to Edgerton Fortress. Despite having a numerical advantage of 200,000 versus 60,000, the Mage Alliance suffered a devastating defeat, losing over 60,000 troops and all six catapults, retreating in disarray. Bull Man Tribe, on the other hand, only lost around 2,000 troops.
The walls of Edgerton Fortress had been fortified by the Mage Alliance to resemble an impregnable fortress. Bull Man Tribe needed to complete their Ballistic Catapults before launching an assault. Therefore, Cui Can Dao Guang and others weren’t in a hurry to attack Edgerton Fortress. Instead, they engaged the Mage Alliance in a war of attrition to wear down their forces first.
The construction of Ballistic Catapults was proceeding smoothly. Nie Yan had three slaves under his command, including the young female slave Delfinia, who possessed the talent of duplicating blueprints. Within nearly a week, she duplicated the Ballistic Catapult blueprint twice, allowing three mechanical teams to produce them simultaneously, significantly increasing the production speed. Soon, a large number of Ballistic Catapults would be available.
Meanwhile, the number of Frost Ironclad Catapults in Bull Man Tribe continued to rise. One after another, the completed Frost Ironclad Catapults were deployed, and their number had already reached twenty-five, with the count still rising.
With so many Frost Ironclad Catapults, Bull Man Tribe was incredibly powerful, freely dominating Moonlight City. The Mage Alliance could only hide inside Edgerton Fortress, continuously reinforcing their walls. They had somehow acquired some giant crossbows, mounted them on high towers, and placed some Ironclad Catapults on the city walls, making the city’s defenses extremely formidable.
Kuang Fa (Raging Mage) was suffering in silence. Bull Man Tribe had already destroyed six of Mage Alliance’s fortresses, all of which he had invested heavily in building. Now they were reduced to ruins. If Bull Man Tribe had merely captured the fortresses, the Mage Alliance could still fight back. But Bull Man Tribe gave them no such opportunity, completely leveling the fortresses. Even if they reclaimed the fortresses later, they would have to rebuild from scratch.
After destroying the sixth fortress, Bull Man Tribe moved on to the next one. The Mage Alliance, being the wealthiest faction in Moonlight City, had over twenty fortresses. Only six had been destroyed so far. Combined with the five they had won in a previous bet, Bull Man Tribe had only eliminated less than half.
At this rate, in a few more days, the Mage Alliance would be left with only Edgerton Fortress. Kuang Fa would probably find it hard to stay calm. Once the Mage Alliance’s forces emerged from their Edgerton Fortress “turtle shell,” they would once again become targets for the Frost Ironclad Catapults.
Players from both Granlan Empire and Sautern Empire were discussing the war between Bull Man Tribe and Mage Alliance. The current situation showed Bull Man Tribe, with less than half of Mage Alliance’s forces, decisively defeating them, which surprised many. Without reinforcements, Mage Alliance might not be able to hold out. Even if Bull Man Tribe failed to capture Edgerton Fortress, with all other fortresses destroyed, it would take Mage Alliance months to recover.
The war continued.
In the Griffon Grove, thick white mist covered the area, and large bird-like creatures occasionally flew by, making it extremely dangerous.
This was the place to obtain flying mounts. A player team of several thousand people traversed the dense mist, moving through the jungle.
“Boss, we should be near the area we came to last time. Should we use Mist Dispelling Scrolls?” a mage player asked.
Leading this team was none other than Angel Dominion’s leader, Ang Yi Tian Shi (Soaring Angel).
“Have our people found out where the Mist Dispelling Scrolls are coming from?” Ang Yi Tian Shi asked. They had previously used one and found that with the scrolls, their exploration speed in Griffon Grove significantly increased, and their loot improved greatly. However, the expensive price of the Mist Dispelling Scrolls made all Angel Dominion players reluctant to spend. The player selling the scrolls demanded two scrolls in exchange for one flying mount, which was considered extremely unfair. But to accelerate their exploration progress, they had no choice but to comply.
Indeed, after obtaining the Mist Dispelling Scrolls, their gains increased significantly, and unnecessary casualties decreased. Overall, the exchange was worth it, although losing a flying mount was still a bitter pill to swallow. Their greatest fear was that the flying mount might end up in enemy hands, which would be counterproductive.
“It’s said that the scrolls were created by a great mage, but the person selling them refuses to disclose the details,” a tall warrior beside him replied. He wore a full set of golden armor with no gaps at the joints, seamlessly crafted with many rune patterns engraved on it. He was Angel Dominion’s top warrior—Lie Yan (Split Rock).
Nie Yan knew that Angel Dominion was exploring Griffon Grove, but Bull Man Tribe’s players were too occupied fighting the Mage Alliance to spare any for exploration, and the conflict wouldn’t end for several more days. However, Nie Yan had made thorough arrangements. First, he used Mist Dispelling Scrolls to lure Angel Dominion into trading, taking a portion of their profits. Two scrolls for one flying mount—a price that would probably make Ang Yi Tian Shi want to bang his head against a wall. But since the seller was the only one offering the scrolls, Ang Yi Tian Shi had no choice but to comply. Additionally, Nie Yan had Guo Huai spend a large sum to bribe two Angel Dominion players to record their entire exploration process of Griffon Grove and transmit the videos. With this footage, Bull Man Tribe would be able to explore Griffon Grove much more efficiently in the future.
Ang Yi Tian Shi never suspected that the person trading Mist Dispelling Scrolls with them was from Bull Man Tribe. He handed over a flying mount to them without realizing it, and all their exploration footage had been recorded and transmitted to Bull Man Tribe. If he ever discovered the truth, he would probably be furious enough to spit blood.
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