“Sir Pallot, hello. I’m here to rescue you,” Nie Yan greeted.「Klang! Klang! Klang!」He attempted to break the bars of the cell door with Zennarde’s Sword, but he couldn’t leave so much as a scratch.

Nie Yan was startled. It seemed cutting off these bars was impossible.

He tried other methods like tossing an Instant Transfer Scroll to Pallot, but discovered the runes engraved on the bars prevented the scroll from passing through.

“Greetings, Devil Slayer. That won’t work, the cell is guarded by magic. The only way to open it is by retrieving the key from the Black Flame Hound’s body,” Pallot said with a sigh.

I’ll have to kill the Black Flame Hound to get the key? Nie Yan felt a headache coming on. Unless he had some sort of special method, he was nowhere near a match for the Black Flame Hound. After all, it was a Level 70 Lord!

Nie Yan couldn’t possibly kill the Black Flame Hound in such a cramped space!

He shifted his attention back to the cell door. Guarded by magic?It’s probably some sort of magic circle! I wonder if there’s a method to bypass it?

Looking at the time, there were still 20 minutes remaining before server shutdown. Nie Yan pondered for a moment. He would search through the official website to see if there was any information on breaking magic circles, then come up with a plan for tomorrow.

“Sir Pallot, I’ll return later. I’ll try to think of a way to free you.”

“Alright. Thank you, Devil Slayer. I pray for your safe return.”

Nie Yan could tell Pallot was a figure of high status. The difficulty of this class advancement quest was a bit high. He wondered what sort of reward he would receive for saving Pallot and completing the quest.

Nie Yan put down his gaming helmet. After taking a shower and eating breakfast, he headed off for school.

Even though it was already 8:00 a.m., the morning mist had yet to dissipate due to him living by the lake side. The air was fresh and clean. A blanket of white hung just above the lake as the morning sun refracted beautifully off the water’s surface.

Cars drove past his villa every now and then.

Nie Yan drove for 20 minutes to pick up Xie Yao. Her property was a two-storey villa enclosed by a metal fence. Inside was a lush garden with a variety of blossoming flowers vying for attention within the morning mist. It was a scenic view. A bending stone path led from the house to the road.

Nie Yan stepped out of his car. Taking a glance at the villa in the distance, he walked up to the entrance gate and rang on the intercom.

Before long, Xie Yao’s face appeared on the display. She wore a pink sleeveless nightgown that exposed her delicate shoulders and pajama shorts which showed off her long and slender thighs. She was currently in the middle of brushing her teeth, with bits of foam from toothpaste covering her lips.

「Nie Yan! Wait a moment, I’ll be right down! Just a second!」Xie Yao said, a little flustered.

Nie Yan chuckled. This was his first time seeing Xie Yao so unkempt. It seemed she had just woken up.

A warm feeling surfaced in Nie Yan’s heart. After going through so many hardships in his past life, he had finally achieved a bit of happiness in this one.

After waiting for a while, he saw Xie Yao in a blue tracksuit rushing out to meet him. She looked youthful and energetic.

Xie Yao’s tight tracksuit perfectly accentuated her curves. Nie Yan couldn’t help but recall the recent incident where they both got drunk, his hands grabbing every inch of her soft and supple body. Simultaneously, he was also reminded of that unforgettable night with Yao Yao in the underground chamber. Her beautiful and flawless figure was like a strong spirit. A light sip and he was already intoxicated.

“How come I’ve never seen your parents?” Nie Yan asked. Ever since he started picking Xie Yao up, he had never once seen her parents.

“They’re out travelling,” Xie Yao pouted, a hint of discontent on her face.

Nie Yan found her pouting expression extremely cute. “C’mon, let’s go. I heard we’re getting our academic test results back today,” he said with a smile as he stepped back into the car.

“Mhm.” Xie Yao opened the front door on the passenger side and got in.

The car zoomed away down the street.

The two soon arrived at school. Nie Yan parked the car in the parking lot, and they both got out and walked through campus, hand in hand.

The sight immediately attracted the attention of their fellow students. Regardless of whether it was Nie Yan or Xie Yao, both were well-known in the school. The two of them walking together would naturally raise some eyebrows. Sensing these odd gazes, Xie Yao whispered in Nie Yan’s ear, “Can we walk a bit faster?” She still wasn’t fully used to this feeling. Her walking together with Nie Yan would inevitably arouse questions of their relationship.

At this moment, a female student walked up to them. Dressed casually she had a beautiful appearance with long flowing hair.

Seeing this girl come over, Xie Yao immediately felt her face burn up. She wanted to find somewhere to hide.

The girl looked at Xie Yao with a teasing smile before turning to Nie Yan and sizing him up. “Yao Yao, is this your boyfriend?”

Nie Yan was a bit dazed. Even though he clearly knew Yao Yao was a nickname, he almost misheard it as the Yao Yao from Conviction. The Yáo in Xie Yao was pronounced with the second tone in Mandarin, while the Yǎo in Yao Yao was pronounced with the third.

“Hello, I’m Nie Yan,” Nie Yan greeted.

“Nirvana Flame...?” the girl asked in surprise, then glanced at Xie Yao.

“No! He’s Nie Yan,the Nie written with a ‘pair’ (雙) and ‘ear’ (耳), and the Yan (言) in ‘language’ (語言),” Xie Yao explained in a fluster. Her mind was a bit chaotic. She wouldn’t know what to do if Nie Yan found out she was Yao Yao in-game.

“Oh, so it’s like that? Nice to meet you. I’m Tang Yue.” Tang Yue held out her hand for a handshake. Her smile was like a cool spring breeze.

Nie Yan shook Tang Yue’s hand. Her name was somewhat familiar to him. He recalled someone saying Moon Child’s real name was Tang Yue. Glancing at the slightly nervous and embarrassed Xie Yao beside him, he finally confirmed she was indeed Yao Yao with almost absolute certainty. He also figured she was the person behind the Dragonsoar Financial Group investing in Asskickers United.

Nie Yan’s mind turned chaotic. All of sudden many little clues in his past life started connecting together.

Shortly after graduating high school and parting ways with Xie Yao, he had met Yao Yao through Xia Ling’s friends inside Conviction. He felt a strange bond and sense of closeness to her from the start. She must have already known his real identity back then but still chose to keep it a secret, silently accompanying him for the better half of a decade. Thinking about this, he wanted to ruthlessly slap himself in the face for not realizing the woman of his dreams was right beside him all along.

Back then, he refused to commit to a relationship with Yao Yao. After the incident in the secret chamber beneath Fenarte, he treated her coldly and distanced himself from her. It was him who wounded her heart and pushed her away.

Yao Yao had shown the utmost concern for him, still keeping him company even during the lowest point of his life. It was a pity that at that time his heart belonged only to Xie Yao.

Nie Yan was wracked with shame and guilt. Just how many mistakes did he commit in his past life? One after another, there were simply too many to count!

He took a deep breath, then gazed at the beautiful Xie Yao to his side. She was as pure as a snow lotus. He vowed to never wrong her again!

Tang Yue and Xie Yao happily chatted while Nie Yan followed closely behind. The three entered the classroom together.

Tang Yue turned to Nie Yan and smiled. “Yao Yao and I are going to chat some more. I hope you don’t mind me butting in on your time together?”

“It’s fine, you two keep chatting. I’ll go look for Zhai Hao and the others,” Nie Yan replied with a smile.

Zhai Hao and 10 other students were chatting at the back of the classroom. There were also some students from other classes mixed in. Nie Yan recalled Zhai Hao didn’t have that many friends outside of their class in his past life.

Seeing Nie Yan walk over, Zhai Hao immediately walked up and greeted him with a wide grin. “People saw you walking together with the class goddess this morning. Not bad, bro! You only transferred here recently, and you’ve already made such a big catch!” His voice carried a hint of admiration.

Nie Yan chuckled. “Let’s not talk about me. How are things going with you and Xia Ling? Made any progress?”

Zhai Hao immediately became reserved. “Eh, you know. It’s going...” He was the same as ever. This fellow was normally carefree and chatty. But the moment Xia Ling was mentioned he would become as timid as a mouse. Nie Yan couldn’t help but recall the time they spent together in his past life both in and outside of the game. Even though Zhai Hao was a bit reckless, he was a loyal friend.

Thanks to Nie Yan’s influence, Zhai Hao had also shown some improvement in this life. It was rumoured his academic test results weren’t bad. Other universities also paid attention to the Top Military Academy’s entrance exams. As long as a student scored decently, even if they failed to get into the Top Military Academy, they would immediately be accepted by other famous universities.

Nie Yan didn’t know what university Zhai Hao wanted to enter, but his chances of getting in were probably better this time around.

There was a large group of students behind Zhai Hao. Seeing Nie Yan come over, all of their attention focused on him.

Nie Yan was the man of the hour. Everybody wanted to get to know him. Many of these people previously couldn’t give a rat’s ass about Zhai Hao. But after hearing he was friends with Nie Yan, all of them gathered together to befriend him.

Zhai Hao gave Nie Yan a helpless smile. Nie Yan instantly understood the situation. There was no lack of people with influential backgrounds in a prestigious school like this.

Nie Yan knew exactly how to handle these types of people. He didn’t have the slightest intention of getting too friendly with any of them.