Seeing that Lil' Gold had finally reached Level 20, Nie Yan unsummoned him and departed from Everlasting City.
It's about time I unlock the Shadow Slaughter skill from the Glimpse of Darkness!
Nie Yan headed east on horseback, toward the Endless Sea. The tall grass and the wide open plains blurred past him as he galloped through. He occasionally came across a party or two, players who were in the middle of leveling. The mere sight of his Faulkner Warhorse charging towards them sent these players into a flurry of fright and panic. They would fall into defensive formations to repel this mysterious and fearsome enemy, only to discover that he had long since charged right through them and disappeared into the horizon.
The Glimpse of Darkness was extraordinary. But much of its potential still remained untapped, such as the skill tree with over several dozen different skills. Six or seven belonged in the Shadow category alone. Shadow Slaughter was but one of them.
Nie Yan finally arrived at a cliff edge. Ahead of him was a vast body of water, stretching out as far as the eye could see.
The clear sky and blue waters gave for a relaxing sight. He spotted some seabirds flying through the air, which added a scenic touch to the overall view.
You have discovered the Endless Sea.
Nie Yan galloped along the shore edge for about ten or so minutes. Thankfully, he didn't encounter any monsters during this time. After all, this was a level 50 zone!
Although the monsters in the outer regions of the Endless Sea were already quite terrifying, those who dared to dive into the depths of the core region would find themselves faced with creatures with levels in the several hundreds! Of course, a high-grade underwater-breathing potion or skill was required to reach such locations.
Nie Yan arrived at the top of a cliff and looked down. It was about a hundred meter drop to a shallow cove below. The waters were murky black as if they had been contaminated with ink.
Not far from the base of the cliff were three flat rocky islands that stood about 30 meters above the water's surface. They could hold about 60 people altogether.
A creature called Black Sea Devil Banmu occupied this cove. It was one of the few Level 50 named Lords among Sea-type monsters. It was incredibly difficult to deal with, but its drops were phenomenal. It also possessed ranged attacks. Only a team full of Level 50+ players would stand a chance at defeating this boss.
Players would generally use an item with the Featherfall ability to land safely on one of the rocky islands, so they could fight the boss on solid ground.
Nie Yan scanned the cliff wall below before locking his gaze on a small crack in the distance. It was about 50 meters above the water's surface. At this distance, Banmu's tentacles wouldn't reach, but its ranged attacks would still pose an immense threat.
He leapt off the cliff toward one of the rocky islands, the smell of sea salt rushing into his nostrils as the air brushed past his face.
Just as Nie Yan was about to go splat, he activated the Featherfall Jewel and his falling speed slowed to a crawl. He landed gently on one of the rocky islands.
Nie Yan looked down at the murky waters below. He could detect an enormous creature lurking in the depths.
「Caw! Caw! Caw!」Nie Yan looked up at the sky and spotted a flock of large seabirds flying overhead, just as a jet of black liquid shot out over 60 meters into the air and struck one of the birds. It let out a miserable squawk, falling listlessly into the waters below.
Nie Yan felt slightly apprehensive about his odds since he had never attempted such a risky feat before. It was rumoured in the previous timeline that a Thief had single-handedly defeated Banmu by taking advantage of an item called the Levitation Ring. Unfortunately, he didn't own it. But even so, he had done his research. The boss' tentacles had a reach of about 30 meters. As for its ranged attacks, they would put his reaction time to the test! If he reacted in time, he could dodge them.
He had previously seen videos of players fighting Banmu, so he had that much of an impression of the boss at least.
Nie Yan only dared to come here because others had accomplished defeating the boss alone in the previous timeline. If he was forced to walk an untrodden path, who knew how many times he would have to die before finally succeeding.
He was ready to give it a go. If he defeated the boss, he would unlock the Shadow Slaughter skill on top of receiving several pieces of high-quality equipment!
Black Sea Devil Banmu took three days to respawn.
If he succeeded on his first try, he could come here to farm it regularly in the future.
Nie Yan summoned Lil' Gold and hid him in a well-concealed spot where Banmu's attacks couldn't reach.
He activated the Crawler Ring and started nimbly ascending the cliff face.
Nie Yan was quite accustomed to using the Crawler Ring by now. He climbed over 10 meters in no time. After retrieving his Cavalry Crossbow, he shot at the waters below.「Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!」Five bolts flew out in a straight line and struck the water's surface, creating small splashes.
The water trembled before great waves rose and a giant kraken-like creature broke through the surface.
Nie Yan quickly began climbing higher. After reaching an elevation of about 50 meters, he found some shrubbery growing out of the cliff wall to stand on, then turned around and shot at the creature down below.
「Put! Put! Put!」Five bolts struck the target in quick succession, causing damage values to float up into the air.
−50
−100
−51
−53
−100
Although Banmu was a Level 50 Lord, it didn't have any armour plating to protect its body like Machine-type monsters, so the Piercing Damage of Nie Yan's Cavalry Crossbow was extremely effective. There was also the additional 100 Fire Damage.
Seeing the Cavalry Crossbow's damage, Nie Yan felt a little relaxed. With such potent firepower, it was possible to slowly grind down Banmu's health bar.
Nie Yan could finally make out Banmu's appearance.
It was a massive, pitch black meatball floating just above the water's surface, resembling a hill with countless tentacles extending outward. As soon as it spotted Nie Yan, it sent a tentacle lashing towards him.
「Boom!」That thick and solid tentacle slammed into the cliff face.
But with an attack range of only 30 meters, it couldn't even scratch Nie Yan who was over 50 meters above the water. Due to him being at a higher elevation, his attacks also gained additional range, so he could even further increase the distance between them.
Nie Yan inspected Banmu with Transcendent Insight.
Black Sea Devil Banmu (Lord): Level 50
Health: 99,301/100,000
Far from having super-high health or an impenetrable defense, what made Banmu the 6th most dangerous Level 50 Lord in the game was its terrifying attack power. It possessed an extremely deadly skill which could kill a player instantly by wrapping them up with its tentacles and flinging them away. Even Fighters were no exception. With the tank gone, the rest of the team was doomed for failure.
Its health regeneration wasn't all that high, but its tentacle attacks also possessed a life draining effect. Any damage it dealt to players would directly restore a portion of its own health.
Fortunately, Nie Yan was outside the range of these frightening tentacles, so none of that was of concern to him. The only thing he had to worry about was dodging its Toxin Jet skill which contained a highly-potent poison that could easily kill a player.
For these reasons, Nie Yan selected Banmu out of the numerous Level 50 Lords. It was the only one he could handle at his current level!
Hanging off the cliff face, Nie Yan shot out a steady stream of bolts at Banmu as a continuous line of damage values floated up into the air.
The amount of damage Nie Yan dealt every second barely surpassed Banmu's health regeneration. Nevertheless, its health was being slowly chipped away.
Banmu furiously lashed its tentacles at the cliff face. However, Nie Yan was far out of its range, so none of its attacks connected. It was resigned to passively take a beating.
Nie Yan continuously fired his Cavalry Crossbow from the cliff face.
At this moment, Banmu's eyes which were as large as saucer plates flashed, and it shot out a jet of viscous black liquid.
Seeing Banmu's eyes flash, Nie Yan shot out a web line from his Silk Spinner Ring and swung away to a different patch of shrubbery nearby.
The vicious black jet struck his previous position and splashed out in all directions. It let out a sizzling noise as smoke arose.
It was a successful dodge!
Banmu's Toxic Jet skill had a one minute cooldown while Nie Yan's Silk Spinner Ring had a 20 second cooldown. This meant he could dodge these attacks indefinitely.
After successfully dodging, Nie Yan found the last missing piece of confidence. He fired a continuous volley of bolts at Banmu.
Nie Yan slowly wore away at Banmu's health. With nothing to do, Lil' Gold was sleeping soundly in his hiding spot on one of the rocky islands below.
Slowly, seconds turned into minutes.
During this time, Nie Yan received a call from Yao Yao asking if he was free to help her with the Karsi's Blessing quest. Since he was currently busy dealing with Banmu, he had to slightly push this back.
「I did a bit of research and found some information related to Karsi's Blessing. Do you want me to send it over?」Yao Yao asked. For the sake of clearing this quest, she had made ample preparations.
「Sure, why not? So, what do you need to collect to complete this quest?」Nie Yan inquired. Each quest that Karsi handed out would differ slightly from one another. The first was always a collection quest, however. The higher the player's level during the time they received the quest, the more difficult the item they would be tasked to retrieve. After handing the requested item over, the player would go through a trial. It was at this stage Nie Yan knew of a special method that allowed Yao Yao to pass through more easily.
「I need to collect a Black Sin Lotus,」Yao Yao replied. This item could be found in the depths of Sinful Gorge. She was pleasantly surprised. It was evident that Nie Yan was familiar with the Karsi's Blessing questline. Otherwise, he wouldn't have known she had to collect something.
「Black Sin Lotus?」Nie Yan asked with a hint of surprise. Obtaining this item posed quite the challenge. Ordinary players would have to form a large party to have a chance of gathering just one.
「Is it that hard to find? If it's too difficult, just forget it,」Yao Yao said in a slightly disappointed tone.
「No, it's fine. Let me take a look at the information you sent over first,」Nie Yan replied. He only knew some general advice and tricks to help make clearing the quest easier. He wasn't too knowledgeable about the specifics.