The shadow clone was only capable of simple actions on its own. However, Nie Yan could take control of it and employ any tactic he himself could do too.

The shadow clone jumped down into the stone room and arrived in front of the sarcophagus.

At this moment, Nie Yan no longer cared. He planned to use drastic measures. Even if the shadow clone died, it didn’t matter. He’d have to wait for it to go off cooldown to summon it again anyway.

Standing in front of the sarcophagus, the shadow clone took a steady stance, gradually building up strength in its fist. When it was ready, it threw out a powerful punch.

BOOM! The sarcophagus was smashed apart. The shattered fragments flew out to two sides and collided into the walls.

The stone room trembled violently. The shadow clone was instantly beset by numerous traps.

Looking down from the tunnel, all Nie Yan saw were arrows, flying knives, and needles flitting past.

Nie Yan gulped. He could already tell the shadow clone’s fate.

Sure enough, Nie Yan promptly received a notification that the shadow clone had died.

For three whole minutes, the traps in the room never stopped firing.

Nie Yan wondered if anyone in the previous timeline had opened up this sarcophagus. Just how many lives would have to be sacrificed!

A while later, the room finally settled back down. Nie Yan poked his head inside to have a look. On the floor lay a carpet of arrows, flying knives, and needles. As for the sarcophagus, no powerful undead or monster popped out like he expected. He saw some hole-riddled clothes and a single item which sparkled with a dazzling radiance.

It was a pair of shoulder guards, pure black with a glossy metallic lustre.

“Found it!” Nie Yan’s eyes lit up. This was merely a cenotaph paying tribute to the deceased and not the tomb of Abak.

Nie Yan couldn’t tell if the room was finally safe. Thinking it over, he shot out a webline at the shoulderguards, then pulled them into his grasp.

“Whew, got it!” Nie Yan examined the shoulderguards closely. Without a doubt, it was a piece of the Tyrant Abak Set. It emanated an icy aura that seeped into his very soul.

Requirements: 1,500 Strength, 1,200 Dexterity, Level 180

Description: This item can only be worn by the owner of the Glimpse of Darkness. It is only equippable when the owner has gathered the full set. Abak held strength in high regard. Only the powerful can become tyrants. Eliminate all traitors!

Properties: Defense +1,220, Strength +500, Dexterity +320, Ice Resistance +300, Ice Damage Reduction +30%, Freeze Immunity

Set Completion: 5/8

Note: Automatically bound to the owner of Volume I of the Book of Order; cannot be traded or dropped.

These shoulderguards made the fifth piece of the Tyrant Abak Set. Only three more pieces remained. Nie Yan was one step closer to gathering the full set.

The properties of these Frostwinter Shoulderguards were excellent, especially the ice resistance. For an item to provide 50 resistance to a certain element was already impressive. For example, the Kiln Fire Heart and Heart of Winter only provided 50 fire and ice resistance respectively. 300 ice resistance allowed Nie Yan to completely disregard most ice-type spells, to say nothing of the 30% Ice Damage Reduction and Freeze Immunity. He would be the nemesis of all ice Mages.

Ice and lightning Mages were the most difficult to deal with for Thieves, since they possessed powerful crowd control abilities. Nie Yan recalled a number of high profile fights were a Magister’s ice magic turned other Masters into popsicles; they’d be frozen solid and at the mercy of the enemy. But with the Frostwinter Shoulderguards, ice Magisters posed zero threat to him. Even if their ice magic hit him head on, he wouldn’t be frozen.

“Sweet!” Nie Yan remarked. Compared to the other pieces of the Tyrant Abak Set, he liked the Frostwinter Shoulderguards the best.

This piece of equipment wasn’t only useful in PvP. It would also be extremely helpful in PvE questing and dungeon running.

Nie Yan stored the shoulderguards away. Glancing at his inventory, he couldn’t use teleportation items here. He could only retrace his steps. Fortunately, all the traps in the tunnel were cleared away. So, he wouldn’t meet with any danger on the way back.

While Nie Yan was walking towards the exit of the cenotaph, Guo Huai sent him a message.「Where are you?」

「I’m in the Holy Mountain doing a quest. Why, what’s up? Did something happen?」Nie Yan asked.

「Nah, nothing like that. But I have some news to report. Players from the Demon Tribe and Undead Empire have been spotted moving around in the east and south of the Viridian Empire. I’m guessing they came from the underworld. We’ve had a few clashes with them. Thankfully, we didn’t suffer any losses. There is one thing I’m worried about, though. We’ve seen a large influx of players from the Demon Tribe and Undead Empire appearing on the surface world lately. I’m wondering if the passageway connecting our two worlds is unblocked. Also, Sun, King of the World, Tang Yao, and the others are planning to head down to the underworld. They’re asking if you’d like to come with them.」

「Players from the Demon Tribe and Undead Empire?」Nie Yan sank into deep thought. Calculating the time, the Vengeance of the Undead expansion had released much earlier compared to his past life. Maybe the passage really had been unblocked.「No problem. Even if the passage is opened up, it’ll still be too difficult for most players to make the journey. They don’t pose a threat to us for the time being. Even if they do come, they’re only giving us free Glory. Tell Sun and the others that I’m too busy to go with them to the underworld. I still need to make a trip to the Satreen Empire tomorrow. Tell them to go on without me.」

Guo Huai was visibly relieved that he wouldn’t have to worry about players from the underworld flooding onto the surface world.「If you’re going to the Satreen Empire, why not have Sun and them come with you? It’ll be safer that way, won’t it?」

「No need.」Nie Yan shook his head.「I’m only there for a quest, not to get back at Angel Corps. Besides, too many people will attract unnecessary attention.」He wanted to do the Song of the Bramble Bird quest.[1] Besides, it wasn’t like he’d be easy pickings if he went alone.

「I see. Be careful,」Guo Huai said. If Nie Yan had decided on something, that meant he had a plan.

「Since Sun and them are going to the underworld, if they head to the Undead Empire, have them get in touch with people from Fallen Angel. I’ll teach them the trading method. Have them bring some equipment that is fairly rare in the underworld. They can exchange it for underworld equipment,」Nie Yan said. This business relationship had helped Asskickers United out of a crisis in the past. He wouldn’t forget it.

「Alright, got it. I’ll get to it right away.」Guo Huai nodded. He could simply withdraw some equipment from the treasury. It was filled to the brim and pretty much had anything and everything.

Thinking about Fallen Angel in the Undead Empire, Nie Yan’s lips parted into a faint smile. He was greatly anticipating the opening of the passage from the surface to the underworld. He and Plenty had made an unspoken agreement. Once the passage opened, they would deal with Angel Corps together!

Fallen Angel was the hegemon of the Undead Empire. They weren’t the slightest bit weaker than Angel Corps or Asskickers United. If Asskickers United and Fallen Angel teamed up, Angel Corps’ fate would be sealed. However, Nie Yan knew this was borrowing the might of the tiger to consume the wolf. The Undead Empire and Viridian Empire belonged to opposing factions. They would face off sooner or later. When the common enemy between them was gone, what would happen to their alliance? Now that was hard to say.

However, Nie Yan had his own thoughts. Angel Corps and the Century Financial Group were his greatest enemies! If Asskickers United and Fallen Angel were to clash one day, since they belonged to opposing factions, he could mobilize the NPC army of the Viridian Empire to his cause. So, he wasn’t too worried.

Guo Huai informed Sun and the other Masters of Nie Yan’s trade deal with Fallen Angel. They made their preparations, stocking up on consumables and equipment, then set out for the underworld. Though they were only a party of 14, it’d be incredibly difficult to find an enemy that could pose a threat to them.

Nie Yan carefully snuck toward the entrance of the tomb. He eyed the Dark Adherents.

Since his pygmy transformation had run out, it would be difficult for Nie Yan to get out of this place without being detected.

Over a dozen Dark Adherents were moving around in an area only six meters away from the entrance. The dark energy emanating from their bodies appeared to be all encompassing, making Nie Yan feel as though he could be seen through at any moment.

Leaving the tomb without alerting them would truly be difficult. Nie Yan’s heart sank. Forget it! He activated Gale Step and made a break for it.

Nie Yan suddenly accelerated as his silhouette blurred.

The Dark Adherents immediately discovered Nie Yan and waved their staffs.

Dark Binding!

Shadow Vines!

...

If Nie Yan were hit by these spells, he would be locked down and killed.

Just as he was about to be trapped, Nie Yan activated Death Exemption, evading the skills.

The ground before Nie Yan suddenly gave away, a murky black water filling the hole up. It covered a 10-meter wide area.

Nie Yan stopped in his tracks. If he took one more step forward, he would be sucked into a deep quagmire. The Dark Adherents were hot on his heels. Not lingering for even a second, he leaped forward with the Web-Crawler Ring, flying more than 20 meters in the air and crossing over the swamp. Just as his feet touched the ground, he activated Shadow Waltz and vanished.

The Dark Adherents continued chasing. However, they had completely lost track of Nie Yan.

“Smell you later!” Nie Yan smirked, glancing back at the Dark Adherents getting farther and farther away. He quickly sprinted out of the exit of this instanced world.

Nie Yan arrived back in the crack in the mountain. When he turned around, he discovered the entrance to the instance had disappeared without a trace.

1. It’s mentioned in Chapter 488 that Nie Yan has to head to the Satreen Empire to find clues about the Eight Thieves.