Holy Mountain, this place was filled with dense forest covered by thick fog.
A silhouette emerged flitting between the trees.
This silhouette was Nie Yan. After Asskickers United settled down, he handed over full control to Guo Huai and snuck off on his own.
Nie Yan had no interest in overseeing guild matters. Besides, there was no threat to Asskickers United for the time being. Even if he wasn't there, no problems would crop up.
Nie Yan glanced at his bag. He was currently in possession of four pieces of the Tyrant Abak Set: the leather chestplate, gloves, cape, and dagger. He had also confirmed the location of two other pieces. One was in the Holy Mountain. The other was in Hilderlocke. He previously took a trip to Hilderlocke but returned without much success. Today he would retrieve the piece in the Holy Mountain!
Since he was so busy dealing with guild affairs this past month, he hadn't had any spare time to level. He was still hovering at Level 120. However, if he wanted to raise his level, it would be pretty quick.
The Tyrant Abak Set had a level requirement of 180. But thanks to the Great Prophet Medal which reduced the level requirement of all equipment by 30, Nie Yan could equip it at Level 150. With his levelling methods, he could reach this requirement in no time at all.
If Nie Yan could gather the complete Tyrant Abak Set, the quality of his equipment would undergo a heaven-shaking transformation.
So, the moment circumstances allowed it, he headed to the Holy Mountain to find the piece of the Tyrant Abak Set.
Before long, Nie Yan arrived at the location he previously marked down when he was trailing Qin Han and Necromancer Vorderman.
The Holy Stone glowed with a bright, shimmering light. It's around here somewhere.
Nie Yan scoured the area in search for any traces of the piece of the Tyrant Abak Set. He meticulously looked under every rock and even scanned the individual blades of grass growing here. But he found nothing out of the ordinary.
After passing through an especially dense patch of forest, Nie Yan arrived in a clearing with towering rocks. The terrain was extremely complicated. Shuttling between the rocks, he arrived at a hidden crevice in the mountain, whereupon the Holy Stone glowed even more intensely.
Looking inside, all Nie Yan saw was a pitch-black darkness. He had no idea where this passage led.
Nie Yan headed inside, passing through the narrow crevice.
After walking in the darkness for 15 minutes, the passage finally started widening up a bit. Rays of light shone in here from up ahead.
As Nie Yan continued walking forward, his vision suddenly became enveloped in white. The intense radiance caused his pupils to shrink. Only after a while did he gradually recover his sight.
A crisp notification sound rang out.
You have discovered the Time-Worn Ancient Battlefield.
Nie Yan surveyed his surroundings. He was greeted by a wide expanse. All around him was endless mountain ranges with a vast plain tucked in between, stretching far out into the horizon.
Could a place like this really exist inside the Holy Mountain?
Nie Yan recalled the blinding flash of light a moment ago. He vaguely sensed space warping around him. A light bulb lit up in his head. He had probably entered an instanced world!
The ground was littered with corpses. They either lay out in the open exposed to the elements or were half buried in the earth. Some had decomposed into nothing but bones, their armour loosely fitting. Others still had some flesh and muscle, broken weapons sticking out of their bodies.
A blood red haze hung low in the sky. The wide open plain lacked a single trace of life, evoking a desolate feeling in Nie Yan.
Under the Holy Stone's guidance, Nie Yan continued on. He couldn't see an end to this vast grassland. He had no idea where it would lead him.
After walking through the plains for half-an-hour, Nie Yan spotted a dozen Mages in black robes off in the distance. He wasn't the slightest bit anxious as he got closer to them. At this point, there were very few monsters capable of threatening him.
Nie Yan entered stealth and approached one of the Mages. A cold, gloomy wind brushed past his cheeks.
The Mage looked over in his direction.
Nie Yan's heart trembled. Sensing something off, he immediately buffed himself with a skill that increased his Cloaking.
The Mage's face was hidden behind the black robes. However, the cold eyes beneath the hood were as sharp as blades.
His eyes swept over Nie Yan's location. After failing to spot anything unusual, he turned away and returned to a passive roaming state.
Nie Yan inspected the Mage with Transcendent Insight.
Dark Adherent (Variant Elite): Level 160
It was a Variant Elite!
Nie Yan knew just how frightening Variant Elites and Variant Lords were. In the previous timeline, when he was levelling with his friends, they generally never encountered any problems. With their skills, even if their technique wasn't at the apex, they were still half decent. An ordinary Elite served as breakfast for them. However, if they weren't careful and provoked a Variant Elite, they were usually in for a world of hurt. Even an equal level Variant Elite could easily wipe them out. Not to mention Demonified monsters who were far more dangerous. Often times, they'd be dead within seconds after spotting one.
This place had over a dozen Level 160 Variant Elite-class Dark Adherents roaming around. Nie Yan didn't dare to act rashly and carefully backed away.
The Dark Adherents appeared to be guarding something. Nie Yan carefully looked. It was a tomb! Behind the tombstone was a deep tunnel that led to who knew where. It was only big enough to fit one person.
These Dark Adherents wandered around aimlessly, but they never strayed more than 10 meters away from the tomb.
This place gave off a strange vibe. Nie Yan glanced at the Holy Stone in his bag. Judging form its intense glow, this had to be the place.
"No doubt, the piece of the Tyrant Abak Set is probably in there…"
After observing the Dark Adherents' movement paths, Nie Yan activated the Pygmy Ring, causing himself to shrink to only a third of his original size. He activated Shadow Waltz and dashed over to the tomb like a nimble leopard.
Nie Yan maintained a distance of at least one meter between all the Dark Adherents. Even the slightest hiccup, and he would be surrounded by all of them.
Luckily, the Dark Adherents didn't detect Nie Yan's presence. They continued roaming around aimlessly.
Whoosh! Nie Yan jumped into the tunnel behind the tomb.
His silhouette flitted across the passage.
The tunnel didn't leave much space. Ordinary people would be forced to crouch down and crawl.
However, thanks to the Pygmy Ring, Nie Yan could freely run through the tunnel.
Klank! A strange sound rang out. After hearing it, Nie Yan's heart trembled. His danger sense was tingling.
All of a sudden three guillotine canes dropped down from the ceiling of the tunnel. If he were hit, he would definitely be cleaved into four!
In this life-or-death moment, Nie Yan leaped forward. With a nimble mid-jump roll and the support of Gale Step, he managed to get out of the way.
BANG! BANG! BANG! The three guillotines slashed down behind Nie Yan. The sharp edges of the blades barely brushed past his body, causing his hair to stand on end.
Nie Yan managed to evade the three guillotines partially because of his speed and partially because his body had shrunk in size. If it were anyone else in his shoes, slowly crawling forward through this narrow tunnel, they'd be cut down.
After wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Nie Yan grew all the more vigilant. The tunnel was filled with numerous traps. The arrows and flying knives that would sometimes shoot out from the walls were especially difficult to defend against.
Nie Yan suffered two hits and was inflicted with poison and bleed. If he hadn't brought so many potions with him, he would've definitely died.
Thankfully, Nie Yan managed to preserve his life. After travelling for 300 meters, he entered a stone room with an enormous sealed sarcophagus in the center. He examined the face of the sarcophagus. It was engraved with characters in Ancient Common. However, most of them were too worn away to be readable. He could only make out a few words, such as Abak and Tyrant.
Seeing these words, Nie Yan was dumbstruck. He didn't expect this place to be Abak's Tomb.
It was rumoured that when this tyrant was overthrown, his body was completely destroyed. So, why was there a tomb here?
Seeing the ice-cold sarcophagus, Nie Yan took a deep breath. He had already had his fair share of experiences with sarcophaguses. Often times frightening existences would pop out from them.
No matter what, Nie Yan wouldn't turn back. He was determined to open the sarcophagus.
Nie Yan put strength into his arms and slowly pushed open the sarcophagus.
As Nie Yan slightly moved the lid, the entire room trembled. Arrows suddenly came flying out from the walls like a torrential downpour.
Nie Yan hurriedly jumped out of the way and protected himself with the Darkbright Barrier. Put put put! After only a few hits, it shattered into pieces.
Nie Yan hurriedly pulled open the Divine Recruitment window and summoned Paladin Lafus.
Paladin Lafus immediately protected the both of them with Rank 16 Radiant Barriers. At the same time, he also restored Nie Yan's health back to full.
After three waves of arrows, the stone room finally settled down.
Nie Yan breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing all the arrows on the ground, his heart trembled. Even if there were no monsters, these traps alone were enough to wipe out entire teams.
Nie Yan hesitated. He didn't know if there were any more traps waiting for him. However, after coming this far, he refused to go back empty-handed.
Nie Yan continued pushing open the sarcophagus. After moving the lid a little bit more, a second trap was triggered. Flying knives came flying out from both sides of the room.
Just as he was about to be hit, Nie Yan shot out a webline at the ceiling and swung away. He clung onto the ceiling as the flying knives flew past him.
Paladin Lafus couldn't get out of the way in time. After being struck by more than 30 flying knives, the Radiant Barrier shattered. He was killed on the spot.
The room finally settled back down. Nie Yan jumped down from the ceiling. Gazing at Paladin Lafus' corpse on the ground and then at the sarcophagus, his heart was filled with shock.
This sarcophagus was motionlessly lying there, but it seemed to be filled with death. If there were any more traps, Nie Yan wasn't confident in surviving them.
Opening this sarcophagus truly wasn't simple!
But going back empty-handed really wasn't his style. Nie Yan knitted his brows. This sarcophagus had become an unsolvable problem.