As he passed through the dense jungle, a white Camiel structure emerged into Nie Yan’s view amidst the distant greenery. In the Common Tongue of antiquity, Camiel meant purity and light. Such architectural styles were commonly adopted by holy temples around the world. The most distinctive feature of Camiel architecture was its primary construction material—expensive Camiel white stone, which was more dazzling than ordinary white stone. Under the sunlight, it reflected brilliant white halos, giving an impression of sanctity and inviolability. In addition, the roofs of Camiel buildings were generally composed of deep red domes.
The Hall of Radiance, however, had long fallen into disrepair, covered in grime and devoid of its former luster. Once a holy pilgrimage site for believers, it was now a crumbling shadow of its former glory. Before the Hall of Radiance lay an open square, with a statue of an angel standing at its center. Though the angel’s once-lively expression could still be faintly discerned, the statue was now severely damaged.
Nie Yan made his way toward the entrance of the Hall of Radiance. The grand doors stood wide open, revealing within the cloisters a series of red-cloaked humanoid creatures. These figures were hunched over, wielding two daggers each—they were thieves.
Red-Cloaked Heretics: Level 30, HP 1200/1200.
Humanoid thief-type creatures typically had low health but fierce attacks, occasionally stunning their targets. As humanoid monsters, players skilled in pickpocketing could steal coins from them. Therefore, level 30 thieves with the pickpocket skill found it highly profitable to train here in the Hall of Radiance.
The Red-Cloaked Heretics were evil creatures, and Nie Yan’s Intermediate Demon Hunter class could reduce their attributes by 20%, allowing him to deal around 300 damage per strike. However, Nie Yan was only level 17, and defeating these heretics would take considerable time. Thus, he chose instead to stealthily bypass them.
As he stepped through the entrance of the Hall of Radiance, Nie Yan noticed a boundary stone. It was already in tatters, with only faint inscriptions of the ancient Common Tongue remaining.
“Ten Holy Knights: The dark age is nearing its end. Let us await the coming of light.”
The Legend of the Ten Holy Knights: During the Dark Age, the province of Glemming spread tales of ten holy knights who resisted the cruel rule of the dragonkin and spread the faith of light. These unyielding warriors established the Hall of Radiance, which became the most important force of resistance in Glemming Province. Until the later years of the Dark Age, when the dragonkin’s rule was overthrown, the Hall of Radiance suddenly vanished, and the ten holy knights disappeared without a trace. Some claimed they ascended to heaven to receive divine purification, while others believed they lived peacefully with their beloved in the northern grasslands of Glemming Province.
Later, this Hall of Radiance was occupied by Red-Cloaked Heretics who drove away nearby residents and turned the place into a den of thieves.
What kind of story lay behind the legend of the Ten Holy Knights? The history of faith was always intriguing, compelling people to seek the truth of history.
As Nie Yan entered the Hall of Radiance, sounds of battle echoed from within.
“Tuoba, I just don’t get it. Why would you come to this cursed place? There are way too many monsters here—level 30, and if you run into an elite, we’re in real trouble,” a rough voice reached Nie Yan’s ears, sounding somewhat familiar.
“If we come too late, this place won’t be ours to explore anymore. The legend of the Ten Holy Knights is huge. This place must be connected to them. We might even find a holy knight quest!” Another voice replied lazily.
Nie Yan furrowed his brow. It seemed others had arrived before him. There was only one passage leading into the inner sanctum of the Hall of Radiance, making it hard to bypass them.
He activated stealth and crept forward. As he peeked ahead, he was momentarily stunned.
Nie Yan had assumed other players would at least bring a team of five or six to dare venture here, yet there were only two people ahead.
One was a towering warrior, nearly two meters tall, built like a mountain of muscle. Clad in a full set of Dark Warrior armor, his body gleamed with a dark golden metallic sheen. In his hands was a massive black sword adorned with three sapphire gems on its hilt. He resembled a steel titan, capable of tearing through anything.
Nie Yan’s heart tightened. This guy was impressive—owning a full set of Dark Warrior gear was no small feat at this point. The Dark Warrior set was crafted by the Undead Blacksmith Karu in the Valley of Dark Winds. Karu was an elite monster at level 25, respawning daily. The Dark Warrior set consisted of five pieces—sword, armor, helmet, gauntlets, and boots—so it would take at least five days, possibly longer, to collect the full set.
The other figure was a paladin clad in deep blue armor—the Azure Holy Light set, also a level 25 set. Its difficulty was on par with the Dark Warrior set. Acquiring a full set required significant effort, likely at least seven to eight days of grinding.
Both figures seemed vaguely familiar. Nie Yan cast Super Insight on them.
Tuoba Shi: Level 25.
Shifen Haoshuang: Level 25.
Nie Yan’s heart sank. Both were level 25, yet their names weren’t on the leaderboards. It seemed they, like Nie Yan, had chosen to remain hidden. Nie Yan had seen them before at the entrance of the Starlight Apothecary, but hadn’t thought much of it then. Now, seeing them in such impressive gear was a shock. At level 25, with full sets of Dark Warrior and Azure Holy Light armor, their strength was formidable.
No wonder they dared to come to the Hall of Radiance with only two people.
Nie Yan had never heard of these two players in his past life, but there were many unknown experts—skilled players who weren’t professionals. For them, gaming was a hobby, not a pursuit of fame or fortune. Many of them had strong financial backgrounds, so the gains and losses of in-game gear meant little to them.
Nie Yan himself could have assembled a top-tier golden set within six or seven days. But for him, spending that much time on a set that would soon be obsolete wasn’t worth it. Acquiring six Order Chapters to synthesize the first volume of the Order Scroll was far more crucial for future development. Even obtaining the Sogot Shadow Fragments to assemble the Sogot Shadow would be more worthwhile than chasing a golden set.
Beside Shifen Haoshuang and Tuoba Shi, a pile of corpses already lay scattered.
Shifen Haoshuang charged forward, casting Taunt, drawing the attention of over a dozen Red-Cloaked Heretics.
Whirlwind Slash!
With a sweeping strike of his greatsword, Shifen Haoshuang dealt over -200 damage across multiple enemies. Meanwhile, the heretics’ attacks on him barely scratched him, dealing only 20–30 damage each.
Although the Dark Warrior set leaned more toward offense, its defensive capabilities were not to be underestimated.
Additionally, warriors had a damage bonus against cloth-wearing targets, making Shifen Haoshuang’s attacks especially effective.
Tuoba Shi cast a basic heal on Shifen Haoshuang and followed up with a Holy Strike on a heretic, dealing -430 damage.
The paladin’s holy attacks were especially devastating against evil creatures. After the Holy Strike, Tuoba Shi activated Holy Retribution, his body radiating a piercing light that scorched the heretics. Under its effect, the surrounding heretics lost 20 HP per second.
Shifen Haoshuang unleashed another Whirlwind Slash, dealing massive damage. Soon after, a pile of Red-Cloaked Heretics lay dead on the ground.
Tuoba Shi collected the dropped loot while the two sat in a corner eating bread to restore their health.
“All this talk about the Ten Holy Knights legend—it’s probably just made-up lore. There might not even be anything here. Is it really worth the risk?” Shifen Haoshuang’s voice, even in casual conversation, carried explosive force.
“Who knows? We came to check it out. If we run into elites, we can handle them. If there are more than two elites, we’ll just retreat,” Tuoba Shi replied casually.
Shifen Haoshuang knew he couldn’t convince Tuoba. Though the guy seemed laid-back, he was stubborn once he made a decision—unmovable even by ten oxen. Originally, they had a six-man party planning to train together, but Tuoba insisted on coming here. The others didn’t want to, and eventually only Shifen Haoshuang remained with him.
“With a friend like you, what can I do? I guess I’ll just have to follow you into the fire,” Shifen Haoshuang chuckled bitterly.
Tuoba Shi smiled slightly. Though Shifen Haoshuang was loud, he was genuine and sincere.
As for Tuoba Shi, though usually lazy and indifferent, he was also fiercely loyal. That was precisely why these two, so different in personality, had become friends.
Once their health was fully restored, they stood up, ready for the next wave of monsters.
Shifen Haoshuang prepared to charge.
Tuoba Shi cast Blessing on both himself and Shifen Haoshuang, boosting their strength, agility, and perception. As his perception increased, a strange sensation stirred in his mind.
“There’s a thief nearby. Watch out!” Tuoba Shi activated Divine Sight, narrowing his eyes toward the distance. He spotted Nie Yan about ten yards away, but there was no sign of aggression.
Shifen Haoshuang blinked in surprise. As a warrior, his perception was far inferior to a paladin’s. Combined with his naturally carefree nature, he was more suited for charging in headfirst than detecting stealthy thieves. Moreover, with his top-tier gear, he rarely encountered thieves in the wild. Thieves were foolish to target a warrior with such strong equipment. Even if stunned for a few seconds, a warrior could still survive. Once he counterattacked or used hamstring, any ordinary thief would be rendered useless.
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