Large crates containing electronic appliances were being unloaded off a truck.

“Uncle is back. Should I go meet him...?” Xie Yao asked after getting changed. Thinking of meeting Nie Yan’s father, she couldn’t help but become a little nervous.

Nie Yan shook his head. “No need. It’s not the right time. You staying at our villa is still a secret. Too many people knowing wouldn’t be good. It would take too long to explain the whole story to my father anyway.”

Xie Yao nodded. She also didn’t want Nie Yan’s father thinking she was frivolous, staying in his home without prior consent.

Nie Yan knew now wasn’t the time to eat up Xie Yao.

“I’ll go meet my father. You stay here,” Nie Yan said before heading downstairs.

There were many workers in the living room busily at work, transporting the crates into the villa.

“What are these for?” Nie Yan asked his father, his curiosity piqued by the strangeness of this all.

Father Nie narrowed his eyes. Looking Nie Yan up and down, he chuckled, “Protective measures. We’re raising the security of the villa.”

“Oh.” Nie Yan sensed a special meaning behind his father’s words.

“Recently, we’ve signed off on a couple of business deals, including a partnership with the Dragonsoar and Glory Financial Groups. The Glory Financial Group plans to enter Conviction and wants our cooperation. They’re willing to support the War God Tribe, and they have high hopes for our future,” Father Nie smiled.

Hearing this, Nie Yan immediately knew this was the handiwork of Xie Jun. World Bloc was still a new organization. It was nowhere close to being on the same level as the likes of the Dragonsoar and Glory Financial Groups. For the Glory Financial Group to be willing to support the War God Tribe meant they were showing a great deal of face to World Bloc.

“Of course, this doesn’t mean we should lose our focus. You’re my son. I’ll always have your back, no matter what. Do whatever you think is necessary. Even if the sky collapses, your old man will be there to hold it up. I’ve already learned about everything that happened in the Moro River Banquet Hall, the words you spoke to the Xie Family. I’m proud of you. Never allow others to look down on you!” Father Nie brightly smiled.

Nie Yan realized Xie Jun had probably informed his father about the situation. He was deeply moved by his father’s words.

“I’ll call Xie Yao over to meet you,” Nie Yan said.

“No need, we’ll meet when the time is right. I’ve already had people investigate the young lady of the Xie Family. I’m satisfied. You’ve made quite the catch,” Father Nie laughed, patting Nie Yan on the shoulder.

The partnership between the Glory Financial Group and World Bloc was undoubtedly a boon for the Nie Family.

However, judging from Father Nie’s tone, it seemed he had no plans of becoming complacent. Face was something given to you, but honor was something you earned yourself. For World Bloc to truly become powerful, they couldn’t simply rely on the charity of the Glory Financial Group.

Nie Yan wanted to turn the Nie Family into a genuine major financial group that didn’t lose out in the slightest to the likes of the Dragonsoar and Glory Financial Groups. He would also have to face the Century Financial Group one day. Regardless of the method, he was determined to take down Cao Xu.

Father Nie had people install the new security system in the villa. From start to finish he watched over their shoulders, ensuring no mistakes were made. He then hurried back to the company. It would be another late night.

Nie Yan and Xie Yao ate dinner before logging back into Conviction.

Nie Yan appeared in Calore. He had today panned out for the most part. He would leave Zhai Hao, Li Rui, and Liu Xuchen in the care of Bladelight’s team. It was fine since they often ran dungeons with newcomers during their free time. Given their strength, they could clear ordinary dungeons multiple times in the span of one or two short hours.

Xie Yao returned to Calore to stock up on consumables. She planned on visiting the Elemental City, Kavodin, to search for clues related to the Legendary-grade equipment set quest.

Nie Yan and Xie Yao happened to bump into each other near the Starry Night Potion Shop. She was dressed in blue and white robes with a striped pattern and carried a sapphire staff. The blue glow of the staff reflecting off her face made her appear especially lovely.

“Nie Yan, I’m about to head to Kavodin to do a quest. I’ll probably be busy the next few days.”

“The Elemental City, Kavodin?” Nie Yan recalled several small guilds had popped up there recently. No guild had unified this city yet, so its current state was still fairly chaotic.

“Yeah, is there anything I need to know?” Xie Yao asked. When moving around in other cities, it was a good habit to avoid getting into conflicts as not to inconvenience the guild.

“Not really. Here, take these scrolls. They should come in handy when you’re in a bind. Also, here’s a couple of gemstones that boost Holy Damage. You should socket them into your equipment as soon as you can,” Nie Yan said.

“Thanks,” Xie Yao nodded.

Nie Yan gave her more than 20 scrolls. All of them were of high quality and could come in handy.

“Then, I’ll be off,” Xie Yao bid Nie Yan farewell.

“Have a safe trip!” Nie Yan kissed Xie Yao’s forehead.

Watching Xie Yao’s receding back, Nie Yan figured he should get busy too. He needed to break through and become a Shadow Dancer before anyone else. Only then could he become an invincible existence no one could hope to reach for.

Nie Yan recalled a certain item sold by the Great General Causton of the Temple of Light—Javelin Launcher. Many who focused on raising their military ranks in the previous timeline were familiar with this person. Once you reached a certain rank, you would be allowed to purchase items from Causton. He sold all sorts of standardized weapons and equipment. For example, once you became a 100-Man Commander, you would be allowed to purchase 100-Man Commander equipment for a fairly low price. A decent Gold and Dark Gold-grade piece of equipment only cost 10 gold. However, the equipment you purchase was bound to you and couldn’t be traded to others. If you no longer had any use for it, your only option was to sell it back to Causton. Of course, he only bought it back for a reduced price.

If you became a General or Great General, you could even purchase Sub Legendary and Legendary-grade equipment.

In the previous timeline, the highest military rank Nie Yan ever reached was 10,000-Man Commander. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t advance to a General. It was too difficult, not something an ordinary person could achieve. 10,000-Man Commander was fairly easy to acquire, since Honour points accumulated pretty quickly. Going from 10,000-Man Commander to General, however, was extremely difficult. You would have to kill a certain number of opposing faction players every so many days. If you slacked off for only a moment, your Honour would plummet. Sometimes, when you were only a tiny bit away from advancing to a General, you’d go a few days without killing someone, and your Honour would fall right back to where it was at in the beginning. In the previous timeline, the number of players who demoted from General back to 10,000-Man Commander was numerous.

After becoming a 10,000-Man Commander, you could buy fairly good equipment from Causton. He sold all types of equipment, covering every level. The best were Dark Gold-grade. The Javelin Launcher was one of them.

Javelin Launchers were a famous high attack power ranged weapon. They had a maximum range of 200 meters. Warriors and Thieves could use them to deal with Mages. They were pretty useful. Their attack power was much higher than that of ordinary crossbows and bows. This item could only be used by 10,000-Man Commanders. Their only weakness was that they were easily evaded, and their accuracy was low. However, they were quite good for grinding mobs.

Nie Yan headed to the Temple of Light. Before long, he met with Great General Causton. This small giant was a Paladin. He still looked young, and appeared exactly as how he did before in the previous timeline.

“Greetings, Grand Scholar, how may I help you?” Causton asked.

“I’d like to buy some equipment.”

A shop window filled with all sorts of dazzling equipment popped in front of Nie Yan’s eyes. He picked the 10,000-Man Commander section. He could further sort by equipment type, gloves, leg guards, chest armour, weapons, and so on.

Nie Yan picked the weapons section, then opened the page for Javelin Launchers.

Several dozen Javelin Launchers ranging from Level 10 to Level 120 were available for purchase. They were separated by every 10 levels. Nie Yan looked through the list. Every 50 Levels represented a clear jump in quality. He checked the stats of the Level 100 Javelin Launchers, Dark Gold-grade with 3,200 Attack Power. It could be shot once every five seconds. Meanwhile, the Level 90 Javelin Launcher only had 1600 Attack Power. It was quite the difference in quality.

Javelin Launchers could be socketed with two gems.

Nie Yan checked the prices of the Level 100 Javelin Launcher, 210 gold. This kind of price was dirt cheap for a Level 100 Dark Gold-grade ranged weapon.

Nie Yan bought it without batting an eye. Looking at the Javelin Launcher in his hands, it was shaped like a tube and filled with all sorts of complicated mechanisms and springs. This was something crafted by an Engineer. This little thing could shoot a javelin more than 200 meters!

Apart from the Javelin Launchers, Nie Yan looked at the javelins for sale. They were divided into five grades. The cheapest were 50 copper each and didn’t add any attack power. The most expensive were 2 gold each and increased attack power by 30%.

Nie Yan bought 150 stacks of the most expensive javelins without any hesitation, for a total of 3,000 javelin, spending 6,000 gold. These would be very useful in the near future!