Chapter 249: Guided Training

Deep within the Vermilion Dream Plains, at the spawn point of hyena monsters, Yaoyao was grinding mobs with Yulan and others.

Yaoyao felt inexplicably restless.

“Yaoyao, what’s wrong? You seem distracted,” Yulan asked with concern beside Yaoyao.

Yaoyao shook her head and replied, “Nothing.”

Just then, Yaoyao’s voice chat notification rang—it was from Ni Ling.

“Yulan, I’ll take this call first,” Yaoyao apologized to Yulan and opened the voice chat.

Seeing Yaoyao’s secretive behavior, Yulan became very curious about what was happening.

“Xiaoling, how is it going?” Yaoyao asked through the voice chat. She felt a mixture of anticipation and unease—an inexplicable complexity of emotions.

“Xiaoling, do you think I should do?” Yaoyao asked.

“Since he’s right in front of you, why not make a move? I think he’s a great guy—talented and seems pretty nice. Let me tell you, nowadays, Nie Yan is super popular in our class. Loads of girls are eyeing him. If you hesitate, don’t regret it later,” Xiaoling teased.

Xie Yao’s cheeks flushed. She still felt a bit reserved at least hoping Nie Yan would pursue her first. Thinking about it, her heart rippled with emotions she couldn’t quite understand.

“He said he wants to date you,” Xiaoling laughed.

“Me?”

“Yes, the real-life Xie Yao. Will you accept? Should I tell him you’re Yaoyao?” Xiaoling asked, clearly delighted at the prospect.

Xie Yao thought for a moment and shook her head. “No, let’s not tell him yet.”

Xiaoling pondered this. Matters of the heart shouldn’t be overly interfered with by others, as it might cloud the judgment of those involved.

“You should handle this yourself. Luckily, none of the other girls know you play the game, or else your identity would be impossible to hide,” Xiaoling said. She could understand Yaoyao’s feelings—on one hand, hoping Nie Yan was the in-game Nie Yan so they could spend time together, while on the other hand fearing the awkwardness that might arise if Nie Yan discovered her identity.

“One day at a time. I hope we can find a suitable way to interact eventually,” Xie Yao replied. The thought of Nie Yan wanting to date her brought a hint of sweetness, but remembering his coldness toward her in the game made her feel a bit disheartened.

Xie Yao noticed that in the game, Nie Yan seemed to intentionally distance himself from her, which made her feel sad.

Nie Yan had no idea that Xie Yao and Yaoyao were the same person. To him, Yaoyao was like an intoxicating poison. He couldn’t forget that night when they had done everything together in the secret room. The lewd memories haunted him constantly—the sight of Yaoyao’s pure, flawless body, like a goddess fallen from heaven, left him entranced. He feared he might fall for Yaoyao involuntarily. Nie Yan did have feelings for Yaoyao, even a strong liking, after spending so much time together. But his feelings for Xie Yao were deep and unforgettable, an indelible mark on his life.

Faced with the choice between the two, Nie Yan would unhesitatingly choose Xie Yao over Yaoyao, especially since nothing had ever transpired between him and Yaoyao. Therefore, he consciously maintained a certain distance from her, preserving only a platonic friendship to avoid causing her any hurt.

Xie Yao had no way of knowing all this.

“He won’t fall for other girls. With such a beautiful Xie Yao around, all other girls would pale in comparison,” Xiaoling comforted Xie Yao.

“You’re just trying to cheer me up,” Xie Yao laughed, her mood noticeably lighter.

“I’m being serious. Nie Yan said he’ll take us leveling. We need to head out now—it’s only two hours. We can talk more later,” Xiaoling said, excited herself about experiencing a legendary figure’s training session.

“Okay, talk to you later,” Xie Yao ended the call, her heart fluttering with mixed emotions.

At Link Town, Nie Yan wore a large black cloak that completely obscured his face.

“Does anyone here have an AoE spell?” Nie Yan asked. Since it was a training session, AoE spells would make leveling faster.

“No.”

“I don’t either.” Several mages shook their heads.

They were lucky to have a few silver-grade equipments, most of which were bronze. They had only saved up a few high-damage single-target spells. Each AoE spell book cost as much as fifty or sixty silver coins—how could they afford that?

Nie Yan thought for a moment and said, “Wait a moment. I’ll call someone else.”

Nie Yan messaged Tang Yao: “Yaozi, come help train my classmates.”

“Sure, send me the coordinates. I’ll be right there.” Tang Yao had been about to go leveling with his teammates but immediately canceled his plans upon receiving Nie Yan’s message and rushed over.

Zhai Hao, Li Rui, and others were chatting, excited and looking forward to the upcoming training. Suddenly, someone approached them. He looked slightly overweight, but his gear was top-notch, and beside him walked a chubby blue arcane sprite.

When they recognized who it was, they were all stunned.

They had just been discussing who Nie Yan might call to train them. They never expected to see another legendary figure—Ya Zi (Kite)!

Before the battle at Magma Forest concluded, the most famous player in Bull Man Tribe wasn’t Nie Yan but Ya Zi, who had consistently held the top spot on the level leaderboard, unshakable and extremely popular among players.

Ya Zi was also a legend!

“Are these your classmates?” After confirming with Nie Yan, Tang Yao greeted them, “Hello, I’m Ya Zi.”

Zhai Hao and others were flattered and replied, “Hello.”

The group chatted as they headed toward Rock Plains to farm level 30 Stone Giants.

Facing such high-level monsters for the first time, Zhai Hao and others felt a bit nervous, but what happened next left them speechless.

They stood still as Nie Yan vanished into the jungle. Moments later, he reappeared, followed by a massive swarm of Stone Giants, like a tidal wave rushing toward them.

Tang Yao began preparing his spell. In just a short while, the spell was ready. The sky darkened with red clouds as waves of fireballs screamed down.

Zhai Hao and others worried for Nie Yan, who stood right in the center of the AoE attack. Once the AoE spell landed, Nie Yan would surely die. How could Tang Yao cast such a spell? Was this murder?!

Suddenly, Nie Yan vanished again, disappearing without a trace.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Fireballs exploded across the monsters’ bodies, rows of damage numbers popping up. Soon, the ground was littered with the corpses of Stone Giants.

The monsters couldn’t withstand Tang Yao’s devastating magical damage.

Zhai Hao and others searched desperately for Nie Yan, fearing he had died. But then they saw Nie Yan approaching from a distance, luring another group of Stone Giants.

Tang Yao continued casting area spells, clearing out nearby Stone Giants. Only then did they begin collecting loot from the corpses before moving to another area with more Stone Giants.

After the system update, leveling became much easier, and the Stone Giants offered massive experience points. Zhai Hao and others heard constant level-up notifications—one person leveled up, then another, at an astonishing speed.

With such efficiency, how could leveling not be fast? No wonder Ya Zi had maintained the top spot on the leaderboard for so long.

Zhai Hao and others were ecstatic. Previously, they needed at least two or three days to level up once, but now they had gained two levels in just a few dozen minutes. This was partly due to the system update reducing required experience, but Tang Yao’s incredible monster-clearing efficiency was truly impressive.

All along the way, Stone Giants’ corpses lay everywhere.

Watching Tang Yao’s terrifying spell-casting frequency, which never seemed to stop, Zhai Hao and others were stunned. Was Tang Yao casting spells without consuming mana? The sight was like watching a machine gun firing spells nonstop—truly awe-inspiring.

How was the legend of the top-level player born?

From this display of spell-casting speed, one could glimpse the secret. If Tang Yao trained like this regularly, maintaining the top spot on the leaderboard was no surprise.

In two hours, Zhai Hao and others experienced rocket-fast leveling. Zhai Hao broke level 30, while others reached around level 28 or 29.

Nie Yan reached level 27, allocating all his stat points into agility. As for strength, he had already used virtual stat points to raise it to 800, allowing him to use a cavalry crossbow. Temporarily, there was no problem not adding strength.

“We have a lot to do, so we’ll head out first. We’ll train you again later,” Nie Yan told Zhai Hao and others. Spending two hours was already difficult for him. Next, he and Tang Yao needed to attend a guild event.

“Okay, you go ahead. We understand. People like Nie Yan and Tang Yao must be super busy. Spending two hours training us was already very kind. We’ve already leveled up several times. We can’t ask for more,” Zhai Hao and others replied.

“You’ve already joined the Warrior Tribe. If you want to join Bull Man Tribe, you must pass an evaluation. To maintain fairness in Bull Man Tribe, I must remain impartial. But I can give you some guild contribution points,” Nie Yan said. As the guild leader, he had to set an example by upholding Bull Man Tribe’s rules, so he had to inconvenience these old friends a bit.

Nie Yan gave each of them 500 guild contribution points before parting ways with Tang Yao, bidding farewell to Zhai Hao, Li Rui, and others. He had just received a message from Guo Huai—six hundred guild members had already assembled!