There were several suitable levelling spots for him and Xie Yao in the vicinity of the Hilton Stronghold. After finally deciding on one, Nie Yan headed to the Starry Night Potion Shop and picked up 100 Advanced Fire Resistance Potions and 10 Intermediate Invisibility Potions. Intermediate Invisibility Potions were fairly common, costing about 5 gold each. On the other hand, the material cost of Advanced Fire Resistance Potions alone was already 10 gold. Adding in labour costs, the production cost for a single potion was 60 gold. However, Advanced Fire Resistance Potions sold for at least 300 gold each in the marketplace. This was a markup of 400%! Ordinary players couldn’t bear to casually use such a precious potion, saving it only for special occasions, such as running an especially challenging dungeon.

For every Advanced Fire Resistance Potion sold, the Starry Night Potion Shop pocketed 240 gold. They were a money-making machine!

At this stage of the game, Advanced Alchemists were relatively rare and Advanced Fire Resistance Potion Recipes were difficult to come by, while demand was only increasing. This ensured the price of Advanced Fire Resistance Potions remained high. Ordinary players would think twice before using up such a precious potion. After all, 300 gold was enough to buy a piece of decent Gold-grade equipment. However, once you drank a potion, it was gone.

In the previous timeline, Nie Yan couldn’t bear using such a costly potion. Obtaining one alone was enough to make him go wild with joy. However, in this life, he didn’t even bat an eye at the sight of a hundred.

With his financial resources, Nie Yan couldn’t care less about this amount of gold. Only vast sums could pique his interest.

Advanced Fire Resistance Potions provided 50 Fire Resistance for two minutes with a cooldown of 10 minutes.

Besides the Fire Resistance Potion, Nie Yan still had the Kiln Fire Heart.

Properties: Fire Resistance +50, Fire Magic Amplification +20%

Kiln Fire: Allows the user to possess the strength of the Kiln Fire, becoming immune to all fire damage for 30 seconds. The user can survive in lava. Cooldown: 20 minutes.

The Kiln Fire Heart and Advanced Fire Resistance Potion gave a combined total of 100 Fire Resistance. Add this to the 20-30 base Fire Resistance most players had, and you could completely ignore the fire attacks of ordinary monsters. If that still wasn’t enough, you could activate Kiln Fire to become completely immune to fire damage.

Nie Yan had also snagged himself a couple pieces of Thief equipment with high Fire Resistance, further increasing his Fire Resistance by another 70–80.

About 20 minutes later, Xie Yao arrived at the Hilton Stronghold. The two met up outside the entrance of Nie Yan’s villa.

Xie Yao wore a tight-fitting, light blue robe which accentuated her slender figure. It emitted a gentle blue glow that paired well with her fair face as well as the blue ribbon tied to her hair. She looked lovely and adorable. Her staff was about a meter long and crafted from Magic Redwood. It had a large blue magic crystal at the tip which swirled with magic energy.

The blue glow around Xie Yao’s robe made her look even holier and pure.

“The robe, staff, and ribbon are all part of the Saintess Christiana Set. What do you think?” Xie Yao said with a smile. She twirled around to give Nie Yan a look.

Nie Yan couldn’t help but be captivated by Xie Yao’s smille. All the worries in his heart disappeared.

“You look great.” Nie Yan nodded. This was undeniable. A naturally beauty like Xie Yao would look good in anything she wore. One could also see this from the reactions of the surrounding players. They couldn’t help but gawk. When they saw Nie Yan next to her, their eyes were filled with envy.

While the two chatted and strolled along the streets, time seemed to freeze around them. Everyone dropped what they were doing to gaze after Xie Yao.

“Who is she?”

“Yao Yao, Nirvana Flame’s girlfriend.”

“Then that person in the black cloak must be Nirvana Flame!”

“Yeah, probably...”

The players on the streets chatted with one another in hushed tones. After the incident with Eternal, Yao Yao had entered the limelight. When it was later revealed she was Nirvana Flame’s girlfriend, only then did everyone understand what was going on. Even his girlfriend was strong!

“Nie Yan, what are we going to do?”

“We’re going to hunt demon beasts.”

“Just the two of us? Don’t we need more people?” Xie Yao asked in shock. She heard that even the weakest demon beasts were Level 70–80 Elites and Lords. They were incredibly difficult to deal with.

“It’s fine, trust me,” Nie Yan chuckled. Two players hunting demon beasts made for quick levelling. If they formed an expedition team, the experience would be divided up between many more players.

“Where are we going?”

“Flame Cavern,” Nie Yan replied. Flame Cavern was a map where Level 80 Elites and Lords roamed.

Xie Yao figured Nie Yan had probably come up with some bizarre levelling method. She had a type of absolute confidence in him. After he reassured her, she stopped worrying. She would leave everything to him. It seemed like he already had a plan anyway.

“Take these, you’ll need them later,” Nie Yan said. He handed over the Kiln Fire Heart and 100 Advanced Fire Resistance Potions to Xie Yao.

“Mhm.” Xie Yao accepted the trade.

The two departed from the Hilton Stronghold and set off for the Flame Cavern.

...

Inside a house in the Hilton Stronghold, Crazy Magic, Divine Flame, and 15 others had gathered for a meeting. Everyone here was part of the upper echelon of Alliance of Mages or Divine Protectors.

“We’ve received word that Asskickers United’s forces are challenging Level 90 Lords right now. I reckon the amount of contribution we earn from killing six Level 80 Lords won’t equal their earnings from killing a single Level 90 Lord. At this rate, all the properties in the Hilton Stronghold are going to end up in their hands,” Divine Flame said. Merit points were required to purchase properties from the administrator of the Hilton Stronghold. Whoever racked up contribution the fastest would get to snatch up all the good properties first. In the future, the Hilton Stronghold would become the battlefield between the Righteous Faction and Evil Faction, the main place for players to earn glory and achievements. Every expert in the Viridian Empire who planned on walking the martial path would come here. The future prosperity of this stronghold was guaranteed. Not to mention the consumption costs for players here was significantly greater compared to other cities. They definitely didn’t wish to see Asskickers United monopolizing such a large market.

“If worst comes to worst, we’ll have to resort to that,” Crazy Magic said in a chilling tone. He wouldn’t sit idly by while Asskickers United gobbled up all the properties in the Hilton Stronghold. Even a rabbit would bite if backed into a corner.

“We’ll leave this matter to you then. Let us know if you need anything, and we’ll try our best to accommodate you.” Divine Flame let out a lazy yawn. He didn’t enjoy doing this type of work. Whatever plan Crazy Magic came up with, he would be happy to idly follow along.

The relationship between Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors was complex. They shared the same boss, having both received the investment of the Century Financial Group. So, they had to cooperate. At the same time, they were also competing against each other. As Level 7 guilds that occupied a city each, both were important partners of the Century Financial Group. However, neither was willing to lose out to the other. Both wanted to surpass the other and receive more investments from the Century Financial Group, for the sake of growing more powerful. So, from a certain angle, they were also fierce rivals. Since Alliance of Mages was taking the initiative to impede Asskickers United, they were receiving more support from the Century Financial Group. Meanwhile, Divine Protectors opted to recuperate and gather their strength. They didn’t care much for the conflict between the Century Financial Group and Asskickers United. Most of the time, they were only putting in the bare minimum amount of effort.

After hearing Divine Flame’s words, Crazy Magic inwardly snorted. He was quite dissatisfied with Divine Flame’s attitude. However, he didn’t say anything. They were allies, after all. The Century Financial Group wouldn’t permit any internal fighting. There was no reason to have a falling out over something like this.

Crazy Magic gathered some Thieves. After passing down his orders, he had them move out and start tracking the movements of Asskickers United’s forces.

“I heard Nirvana Flame is in the Hilton Stronghold. Apparently, he got himself a villa here,” Divine Flame said. Any news about Nirvana Flame was always world shaking. This matter had already blown up on the forums.

“I know. I bumped into him earlier,” Crazy Magic responded.

“You two met? Where?” Divine Flame was stunned. He wondered what kind of circumstances would lead to the two of them meeting.

“At the administrative hall. After I finished turning in a quest, I saw Ignatius leading him inside. I can confirm whatever quest he received, it wasn’t ordinary. Ignatius is one of the most influential figures in the Hilton Stronghold. However, he was completely fawning over Nirvana Flame. This can only mean one thing. Nirvana Flame has a much higher status than him. Who knows what kind of title he obtained. Not long after that, word came out that he got himself a villa here. That villa is probably a quest reward. It’s best if you steer clear of him in the Hilton Stronghold. His status is higher than ours. If a dispute breaks out, we’ll be the ones suffering,” Crazy Magic said. He recalled a previous incident when the former guild leader of Victorious Return, Heaven Breaker, had been tricked by Nirvana Flame, and was thrown into jail and locked in there for quite a few days before being released. If Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors wanted to harm Nie Yan, they would have to do it outside the stronghold. Furthermore, they would have to make sure the tables couldn’t be turned on them.

Divine Flame sank deep into thought. Nirvana Flame truly wasn’t simple. Even though Asskickers United was still only a Level 5 guild, they weren’t the slightest bit weaker than Alliance of Mages or Divine Protectors. In some aspects, such as number of experts, they were even superior. With Nirvana Flame’s esteemed status in Calore and the Hilton Stronghold, defeating Asskickers United would be incredibly difficult. At least, this wasn’t something Alliance of Mages or Divine Protectors could accomplish. It would be better to wait and see what the Century Financial Group had up their sleeve. Perhaps only Angel Corps going all out stood a chance of victory.

At this moment, Crazy Magic received word that the Thieves he dispatched to tail Nie Yan and Xie Yao had completely lost track of them.

Crazy Magic’s expression gradually darkened. It appeared tracking Nie Yan’s whereabouts wasn’t a simple matter.

“Do you know the identity of the five who surrounded and almost killed Nirvana Flame?” Divine Flame asked. It wasn’t easy for him to obtain this insider information from Asskickers United. Alliance of Mages, on the other hand, had a better information network than Dvine Protectors.

“They’re from the Bloodfiends. I’ve already asked. Those five weren’t hired by the Century Financial Group. It appears there are others eying Nirvana Flame besides us. They don’t seem simple either,” Crazy Magic said. They had previously hired Shadow Killer to assassinate Nie Yan, but that ended up in failure. One or two people probably wasn’t enough. If he couldn’t be outmatched in skill, they could only rely on numbers.

“Another major power is eyeing Asskickers United? Isn’t that great! Have you made contact with them yet?” Divine Flame asked with a faint smile. The more hectic things were, the more advantageous for him.

“No, we haven’t been able to reach them, and the Bloodfiends are completely stonewalling us,” Crazy Magic shook his head. “In any case, my scouts have spotted Asskickers United’s forces. What say we stir up some trouble?”

“Up to you. Tell me your plan,” Divine Flame said. He needed to consider things carefully.

...

Outside the Hilton Stronghold, Nie Yan and Xie Yao were swiftly heading towards their destination. Their speed was enough to evade the pursuit of most if not all players. Previously, several players had tried tailing them, only to be quickly thrown off. Their speed couldn’t be compared to Nie Yan and Xie Yao’s. They could only watch helplessly as the two got farther and farther away, disappearing into the horizon.

About 10 minutes later, Nie Yan and Xie Yao arrived outside the entrance of a cave.

This cave was located below a precipice. Waves of scorching hot air were blowing out from the entrance. A faint yellow glow could be seen deep inside.

Nie Yan switched his several pieces of Sub Legendary-grade equipment for equipment with high fire resistance. These pieces of equipment were also socketed with Fire Resistance Gems. Adding everything up, he had roughly 130 Fire Resistance. He turned to Xie Yao and said, “Wear the Kiln Fire Heart I gave you.”

“Already done,” Xie Yao replied. She had equipped the Kiln Fire Heart into her accessory slot.

“What’s your Fire Resistance at right now?”

“Without drinking a Fire Resistance Potion, it’s at over 70,” Xie Yao said. Having that much Fire Resistance at this stage of the game was pretty good.

“Alright, we’re just about ready to go. When we’re fighting the monsters later on, listen to my instructions. Remember to keep drinking the Advanced Fire Resistance Potions,” Nie Yan said. Xie Yao was the main damage dealer. Her damage would fall off too hard if she swapped to Fire Resistance gear. A Mage having 70 Fire Resistance was already quite decent.

“Nie Yan, I have something here. I’m not sure if it’ll be useful or not.” Xie Yao took out two scrolls from her bag.

These two scrolls were embroidered with gold. They had a faint golden glow and looked quite ornate and elegant. It instantly caught Nie Yan’s attention. He could tell they were definitely high-grade goods.

“What are these two scrolls for?” Nie Yan asked.

“Resurrection Scrolls, they can revive a teammate once. I obtained them from a quest reward,” Xie Yao replied. She handed over the scrolls to Nie Yan.

“No wonder, they’re Resurrection Scrolls...” Nie Yan had heard about Resurrection Scrolls in his past life. He knew what they were but had never seen them before. They would sell for thousands of gold and counted as one of the most expensive consumables. However, they were almost never for sale. Generally, only top ranked teams and players could obtain this item. They always kept it for themselves for emergency use. As such, Resurrection Scrolls were impossible to find in the auction house.

Nie Yan checked the description of the Resurrection Scrolls. They could revive a fallen comrade at the loss of only 20% experience. Red named players would be put in a weakened state with all stats reduced by 90% for 10 minutes. Most importantly, this item could be used in the middle of combat!

When there were no Priests around, Resurrection Scrolls were quite useful. For high level players like Xie Yao and Nie Yan, the amount of experience lost from dropping one level was extremely costly, far more than a single Resurrection Scroll.

“Let’s both keep a scroll on us. That way, if one of us dies, the other can revive them,” Nie Yan said. These Resurrection Scrolls acted as a form of insurance. As long as the both of them didn’t die at the same time, it would be fine. Losing 20% experience was still bearable.

With numerous escape skills in his arsenal, Nie Yan wouldn’t die under normal circumstances. However, Xie Yao was different. Most of the monsters here could one shot a squishy caster like her.

The two put away the Resurrection Scrolls in their bags. After finishing their preparations, Nie Yan entered the cave and started scouting the path ahead.

After receiving the okay from Nie Yan, Xie Yao also entered the cave.

Nie Yan relied on the information he found online and his vague memories of the place to explore the cave. He avoided the hot spots for monster activity as they travelled deeper inside. His and Xie Yao’s Night Vision stats were quite high. They were unlikely to lose their way in the darkness.

Nie Yan was at the front while Xie Yao followed closely behind. There was about 10 meters of space between them. This was a fairly safe distance. If he encountered a monster, she would have enough time to duck away to safety.

As the two traveled deeper inside, Nie Yan spotted two chain-wielding flame giants in the distance. They stood two meters tall with sturdy builds. Wearing nothing more than a loincloth, their flesh and muscles of rock stood out.

A trail of flames followed after these giants, wherever they went.

They were Level 80 Lords, Flame Giants!

In the Underworld, Flame Giants were existences ordinary players wouldn’t dare to provoke. They were frequently found in places filled with lava. They possessed extremely high combat strength. Beside their powerful melee attacks, they could also cast formidable fire magic.

“We’re finally here,” Nie Yan muttered. He was about 30 meters away from the Flame Giants. According to his memory and the information found online, there was a tunnel that led to an area with beetle monsters closeby. It was about 200 meters long and could only fit two people side by side. In this tunnel was a suitable spot to kill the Flame Giants.

Nie Yan and Xie Yao needed to get past these Flame Giants first.

Seeing the Flame Giants walking around in the distance, Xie Yao halted her steps and ducked behind a corner.

“Nie Yan, what are we going to do?”

“Drink an Invisibility Potion, follow me,” Nie Yan said. He entered stealth and proceeded forward.

As Xie Yao drank an Invisibility Potion, her body also melted into the darkness.

“What are your coordinates?” Nie Yan asked. He needed to know Xie Yao’s position to make his preparations.

Xie Yao shared her coordinates with Nie Yan.

“I’ll go draw the Flame Giants away,” Nie Yan said. He took out the Dullahan Cavalry Crossbow and fired off a few bolts into the distance.

「Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!」Five bolts flew through the air and struck the ground, creating a sound that rang throughout the cave.

Hearing the sound, the Flame Giants halted their steps and went over to investigate.

“Let’s go, now!” Nie Yan anxiously said. The two rushed forward.

This method would only distract the Flame Giants for a few seconds. Nevertheless, it was enough time to allow Nie Yan and Xie Yao to pass through.

Passing through this area, Nie Yan’s eyes locked onto a corner to the right of him. There were many Firestone deposits here. Firestones were a fairly common ore. Even of you threw them on the market place, they would only sell for 1 gold a piece. He didn’t care about them in the slightest. What he was staring at was a red chest hidden between the Firestones.

This chest was made of an unknown material. Scorched red by the fire elements in the air, it was radiating quite a bit of heat.

With but a glance, Nie Yan could tell this chest was at least Dark Gold-grade! After opening so many chests, his treasure hunting senses had improved greatly.

When Nie Yan passed through here in the previous timeline, he had never discovered a chest. It appeared this chest had long since opened by someone else back then.

A moment later, the heavy footsteps of the Flame Giants could be heard drawing closer. Nie Yan’s face paled. They had to leave quickly! If they were discovered, they would be in grave danger!

Nie Yan and Xie Yao quickly headed for the tunnel up ahead. They would get to safety first. As for opening the chest, they would figure out a way later.

The two vanished into the dark corner.

The two Flame Giants returned to their original positions. After looking around and finding nothing, they continued wandering about aimlessly.

Nie Yan discovered the Flame Giants were closely guarding the chest. Unless he killed them, there was no way of opening it.