Nie Yan couldn’t be bothered to deal with Minmie and his crew—it simply wasn’t worth his time. However, Minmie had been far too cocky, making it impossible to ignore. That’s why Nie Yan had arranged this little spectacle through Tang Yao. After all, now that the Umbral Thunder Eagle appeared on the flying mount leaderboard, everyone would naturally assume it belonged to Nie Yan, the legendary player known as Nie Yan.
The Umbral Thunder Eagle circled in the sky, flapping its massive wings, gradually flying farther and farther away.
Nie Yan sat on the back of the Umbral Thunder Eagle as it roared through the skies. Mountains and rivers zipped past beneath him. The speed of a flying mount was more than ten times faster than that of a regular mount. Nie Yan suddenly had an idea—having a flying mount meant he could now accomplish many things previously impossible.
“Interested in coming along to pick up a few things?” Nie Yan asked Tang Yao. With the Umbral Thunder Eagle, he could now reach places inaccessible to ordinary players and obtain items others couldn’t get.
Tang Yao fed a piece of meat to the Umbral Thunder Eagle. Hearing Nie Yan’s words, he asked curiously, “Pick up what things?”
Nie Yan smiled mysteriously and said, “You’ll find out soon enough.”
Having a flying mount was simply too valuable to waste!
Tang Yao’s curiosity was piqued by Nie Yan’s words.
“Head east,” Nie Yan instructed.
“Got it.” Under Tang Yao’s control, the Umbral Thunder Eagle swiftly flew eastward. About ten minutes later, they arrived above a mountainous area.
“This seems to be a level 120 map,” Tang Yao said nervously. He had previously studied the general map around Carol City and knew this was a high-level area. No players could possibly be here right now. Level 60-70 players couldn’t even enter this area—it was too dangerous. Any random monster along the way could easily wipe them out. Tang Yao had no idea what kind of terrain lay ahead.
Tang Yao felt uneasy.
Nie Yan, however, was very familiar with these maps. In his previous life, he had spent five months grinding monsters and leveling up in these areas when he was over level 100. He basically knew where the good loot and treasure chests were located.
“Lower altitude,” Nie Yan instructed. Seeing familiar landmarks below, his heart raced with excitement.
“You’re not seriously thinking of going down there? That’s way too dangerous,” Tang Yao warned anxiously.
Despite his concerns, Tang Yao decided to trust Nie Yan. He gave the Umbral Thunder Eagle instructions, and it began circling lower, eventually hovering about fifty yards above the ground.
Nie Yan stopped Tang Yao and said, “That’s low enough. Just keep circling around here. Follow my instructions.” He activated a skill from the Weaver’s Ring, and a strand of spider silk stuck to one of the eagle’s feathers. Then, Nie Yan leapt off.
After falling about ten yards, the spider silk caught Nie Yan midair, halting his descent.
The silk carried Nie Yan as he swung through the air, scanning the forest below for his target. The Umbral Thunder Eagle continued hovering at this altitude. Piercing through the gaps in the trees, Nie Yan spotted a treasure chest in the distance—there it was!
There were a total of 35 treasure chest spawn points in this area, randomly appearing. However, during the first exploration, all 35 points would definitely have chests.
Nie Yan was certain about these 35 spots, but for many other locations, his memory was vague. He would have to rely on fragmented memories to search for them.
“I’m going down. Come pick me up later,” Nie Yan said, then leapt down into the jungle below.
Before Tang Yao could say anything, Nie Yan snapped the silk and jumped.
Nie Yan rapidly descended, adjusting his position midair. He activated the Feather Fall skill from his Feather Fall gem, slowing his fall. Finally, he landed lightly on a large tree.
Looking around the jungle, he occasionally spotted monsters passing by. Searching carefully, he found a golden treasure chest beside a nearby tree—only about ten yards away. His aerial drop had been surprisingly accurate.
Not far away, numerous hyena-like monsters wielding chain hammers roamed—level 120, extremely fierce.
Nie Yan cautiously jumped down, stealthily approaching the treasure chest and began opening it.
System: Opening treasure chest… 3%… 15%…
After a while, a “click” sound signaled the chest’s opening. Nie Yan reached inside and pulled out a dagger and a skill book.
The dagger was a level 120 golden weapon—Butcher’s Dagger—with an impressive attack value of 1200. The difference between level 100 gear and regular level 90 gear was significant.
As for the skill book, it was a rare spell for mages—Quick Teleport.
Excellent finds! These two items were definitely worth a small fortune.
Nie Yan placed both items into his backpack, then quickly climbed to the top of the tree and sent a private message to Tang Yao: “I’m done. Hurry up and pick me up.”
Tang Yao spotted Nie Yan at the top of the tree and immediately directed the Umbral Thunder Eagle to descend quickly.
Nie Yan waved at Tang Yao. As Tang Yao guided the eagle closer—30 yards, 20 yards…
The Umbral Thunder Eagle’s loud presence attracted nearby hyena monsters, which quickly gathered toward the location. Fortunately, they were melee monsters.
As the eagle approached, Nie Yan activated a skill from his Leaper’s Ring, leaping high into the air, reaching over ten yards up. With a flick of his left hand, a strand of spider silk from the Weaver’s Ring shot out and stuck to the eagle’s underbelly feathers.
Nie Yan retracted the silk, flipped midair, and landed on the eagle’s back, grabbing its feathers.
Nie Yan smiled lightly and said, “Done. Got the loot.”
Tang Yao exhaled in relief. Watching Nie Yan descend into a level 120 monster area was truly nerve-wracking. However, he hadn’t expected Nie Yan to return so quickly.
“Any good loot?” Tang Yao asked.
“Opened a golden chest and got two pieces of equipment.”
Tang Yao was surprised. Nie Yan had returned so quickly after just opening one chest? “What kind of equipment? Let me see.”
Nie Yan shared the attributes of the two newly acquired items with Tang Yao.
A level 120 golden dagger and a mage’s Quick Teleport skill—both were quite valuable.
Tang Yao stared wide-eyed and said, “You actually pulled it off. Your aerial drop wasn’t bad at all. We’re rich!” He immediately realized the immense potential of the aerial drop strategy.
Thinking carefully, Tang Yao realized only Nie Yan could pull off such a method. First, Nie Yan had a Feather Fall device, allowing him to safely descend to the ground. Additionally, he possessed both the Leaper’s Ring and the Weaver’s Ring, enabling him to return to the Umbral Thunder Eagle even when it was twenty yards away. This avoided many potential complications. Otherwise, those powerful hyena monsters on the ground would be extremely troublesome.
Nie Yan turned to Tang Yao and said, “Alright, let’s head to the next target.”
The Umbral Thunder Eagle’s speed was extremely high, which minimized travel time. Nie Yan could continuously hunt for treasure chests, launching a frenzied treasure chest search operation.
Time passed gradually. After nearly five hours, Nie Yan thoroughly searched the surrounding level 100+ maps, opening nearly 150 to 160 chests. Among them were two epic chests, sixteen golden chests, twenty-eight silver chests, and the rest were common chests. While opening the final golden chest, he suddenly heard a crisp system notification.
System: Treasure chest successfully opened. The Lockpicking Expert skill gained 3 proficiency points. Lockpicking Expert skill upgraded to Advanced.
His Lockpicking Expert skill had finally advanced! Since Nie Yan had been opening level 100+ chests, there was additional skill experience for opening higher-level chests, allowing his Lockpicking Expert skill to reach Advanced so quickly.
Nie Yan was ecstatic. With his Lockpicking Expert skill at Advanced, he could now hunt treasure chests in even higher-level maps. Chests up to level 160 posed no problem for him.
In a few days, he might even earn the “Treasure Hunter” title.
“Alright, let’s head to higher-level maps,” Nie Yan said enthusiastically. He was very familiar with maps up to level 180. He had clear memories of at least fifty to sixty treasure chest spawn points. Besides these known points, he could also hang beneath the Umbral Thunder Eagle to search for more chests. He planned to spend a few days opening all these chests, wait for them to respawn, and then open them again. With such an efficient chest-opening capability, Nie Yan felt increasingly close to earning the “Treasure Hunter” title.
The loot from the chests was clearly quite impressive—over thirty pieces of level 100+ gear and a large amount of rare materials. He stored everything in his backpack. Once the players from the Cowherd Tribe reached level 100, they wouldn’t have to worry about gear anymore.
Nie Yan remembered how, in his previous life, when they were level 100+, it often took a group of players two or three days of grinding monsters before obtaining even a single bronze or silver-level piece of equipment. Across vast maps, there were only one or two hundred treasure chest spawn points, and the chests had unpredictable respawn times, often taking several days to respawn. These spawn points were frequently monitored, so even if gear dropped, it rarely went to ordinary players. Therefore, gear above level 100 was extremely scarce in his previous life.
Back then, Nie Yan often stayed in one area for months, grinding monsters and leveling up, exploring every corner of these maps. He had vivid memories of every location. Visiting these places now brought back memories of those days.
While opening the chests, he received an unexpected pleasant surprise—a Life Crystal. His luck was good. If he could obtain one more Life Crystal, the other crystals would be easier to find. Once he collected all the crystals, Nie Yan would also possess a flying mount—his powerful Darkwinged Dragon.
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