Chapter 289 – God’s Blessing
Zennarde’s Cenotaph was where some of his belongings were buried, including the sword he wielded during the Dark Era. The tyrannical weapon tasted the blood of countless lives, leaving an everlasting mark on history.
It was simply impossible for a person without a Holy Spirit Heart to subdue this godly weapon which brimmed with an aura of slaughter.
Nie Yan didn’t know much about Holy Spirit Hearts except for they were difficult to obtain. Only three players were rumoured to have ever received them in the previous timeline. However, he didn’t know what methods they used. Holy Spirit Hearts weren’t class-exclusive, but Paladins did have a somewhat easier time acquiring them. This was because it was reported a Holy Spirit Heart could be gained after purifying a certain number of undead, and at the later stages of the game, Paladins possessed an aura skill which had a chance of purifying any weak undead that entered their sphere of influence.
No matter how difficult, Nie Yan wanted to at least get a look at Zennarde’s Sword. He knew wanting to obtain it was a fool’s errand. But just seeing it was still within the realms of possibility, right?
Nie Yan and Yao Yao moved in the direction the guidestone pointed.
Still barring their path was the endless sea of Undead Bone Hunters. However, Nie Yan discovered they were a lot easier to deal with than before. He quickly realized why after checking his status:
Advanced Demon Hunter – Increases Influence in all human nations by 30. Reduces the stats of every creature of darkness within 20 meters of the player by 30%.
Intimidate (Enhanced): Inflict the target with fear and cripple their movements for 3 seconds. Range: 5 meters.
Deterrence (Enhanced): Disperse all monsters within the surrounding area for 15 minutes. Not valid if the monsters’ level exceeds the player’s level by over 30.
Advanced Demon Hunter didn’t give anything new, but all of the existing properties received a substantial boost. Nie Yan would probably have to raise the title’s rank again or maybe upgrade it to an even higher tier to receive a new skill.
The greater the debuff to the surrounding undead, the faster Nie Yan and Yao Yao shredded through them.
In the distance, a massive grave gradually revealed itself to them. It was made of ashen gray rocks and piled several tens of meters high. The highest stone, which showed clear signs of weathering, sported a dark entrance that led deep underground.
With his sights set on Zennarde’s Sword, Nie Yan planned to explore the depths of this Cenotaph. Regardless of what happened to him down there, his journey here could be counted a success.
“I’m running out of Spring Water,” Yao Yao said with furrowed brows after checking her bag. Even over 60 stacks couldn’t hold up to so many days of non-stop grinding.
Nie Yan thought for a bit, then suggested, “How about you return to Calore with the Black Sin Lotus without me? I’ll explain you how to proceed with the next step of Karsi’s Blessing. Go find Blacksmith Kade and ask him to craft you a Silver-grade Rosary. Wear it during the next stage of the quest.”
Yao Yao thought for a moment. Without any mana recovery items, she would only be a burden to Nie Yan if she stuck around.
Her only choice was to die to return back to the city.
“Alright, I’ll go finish Karsi’s Blessing by myself.” Yao Yao nodded. Nie Yan appeared quite interested in this quest, to the extent that he wouldn’t be satisfied until he saw it through to the very end.
Nie Yan traded the Black Sin Lotus to Yao Yao. He only needed to give her a bit of guidance for the next stage, and she would be fine. With the Silver-grade Rosary, the difficulty would become a lot more bearable.
“Alright, Nirvana Flame, I’ll take my leave.” Yao Yao’s eyes flashed with deep reluctance as she began taking her equipment off.
“Ok.” Nie Yan nodded. He planned to explore the interior of the grave. If he was going to die anyways, he might as well try to get something out of it.
It took over 20 seconds for Yao Yao to finish unequipping her gear, after which she found a way to commit suicide and return to Calore.
After she left, Nie Yan looked at Lil’ Gold. Without the support of Yao Yao’s area of effect magic, their mobbing speed would drop considerably.
Nie Yan redirected his attention to some guild affairs. This afternoon signalled the end of the five-day deadline between Asskickers United and Dragonsoar Financial Group. He ordered Bladelight, Young Seven, and the others to capture a Basic Stronghold by themselves. With a force of 500 strong, they succeeded after wiping seven times. Although the evil creatures guarding the strongholds gave ample amounts of experience, it still wasn’t enough to cover their losses. On average, each member dropped by 2 levels. But compared to the worth of a stronghold, this was a decent trade-off.
It wasn’t just Asskickers United. Other guilds were also hard at work clearing strongholds, but the losses they suffered in the process were far steeper.
Nie Yan looked at the vast sea of bones before him, waves of them moving around seemingly without purpose. Directing Lil’ Gold, who could massacre entire groups of Undead Bone Hunters with his Dragon Breath, he steadily advanced.
Nie Yan arrived outside the entrance of Zennarde’s Cenotaph. He could detect a dark energy radiating from its depths, giving a cold and gloomy feeling. Before him was a long flight of stairs that led deep underground.
Nie Yan descended the stairs along with Lil’ Gold.
Carved into the walls on either side of the passage were simple murals depicting the history of the dragon race, from their abrupt rise in the Kanasi Mountain Range to their rapid occupation of the territories of other races, then finally the establishment of their empire, ruling over the entire Atlanta Continent.
As the saying went, nothing lasts forever. After dominating the continent for 2900 years, even King Zennarde grew old. In the fight for his inheritance, the ruling class tore itself apart. On top of that, the various races revolted against the dragons’ atrocities, causing the Hiberyth Empire to fall into a sharp decline and never regain its former glory.
In the end, the nobility of the dragon race had no choice but to place Zennarde’s Cenotaph in Zennarde’s Domain. Otherwise, it would be destroyed by the other races.
The dragon race was nearly slaughtered to extinction while the survivors were scattered all over the continent!
Even a powerful existence like the dragon race was ultimately wiped away from the slates of history.
As ancient legends like the one before Nie Yan seeped into both the civilization and various quests, they joined together to form the mystical world of Conviction.
Seeing these simple yet clear murals, Nie Yan felt like he was wandering through the rivers of history.
As Nie Yan travelled deeper into the tomb, the passage gradually grew more spacious. He guessed the ceiling was about 10 meters high, while a couple of meters to either side he was met with bones and skeletons along the wall. Some were human, others were elves, and still others were giants. All of them had fallen victim to a one-sided slaughter. Glowing pearls on the side of the walls lit up the passageway. Under the dim light, he saw several silhouettes flash by.
Nie Yan didn’t know what sort of monsters lurked here. He entered stealth and went forward to investigate. Several figures appeared before his eyes—skeleton mages. Besides their black robes, all he could make out was the eerie green flames flickering in their otherwise empty eye sockets.
One of the skeleton mages suddenly turned around and stared in Nie Yan’s direction.
Nie Yan held his breath. His entire body was hidden and merged with the darkness.
The skeleton mage searched around. But after not finding anything, it continued on its way.
Nie Yan inspected the skeleton mage with Transcendent Insight.
Skeleton Dragon Priest (Elite): Level 50
Health: 5,000/5,000
There were roughly 16 Skeleton Dragon Priests in this area. Could it be that his journey would end here?
Nie Yan wasn’t willing to give up yet. He had already come so far. Besides, even if he decided to stop here, he would still have to die to escape this quest map. He might as well give it a shot. He unsummoned Lil’ Gold, then walked into the room.
After Nie Yan activated the Crawler Ring, he began slowly climbing the walls like a house gecko. He hid in a corner that was the furthest away from the Skeleton Dragon Priests and slowly made his way to the other side with careful control over his every move.
While surrounded by so many enemies, Nie Yan didn’t dare to behave rashly. He looked up ahead and saw two groups of Skeleton Dragon Priests. Although this room was spacious, avoiding them would be extremely difficult.
A Skeleton Dragon Priest suddenly turned its head, staring straight at Nie Yan.
Nie Yan’s heart jumped in fright. He had been discovered!
Then again, in a closed environment like this, it was hard not to be discovered.
The Skeleton Dragon Priest waved its staff and cast Ensnare!
If Nie Yan was immobilized, he would fall down.
However, he couldn’t use any skills right now because he was on the wall!
Miss!
Nie Yan was caught off-guard but overjoyed by this unexpected development. However, why did the Skeleton Dragon Priest’s Ensnare not work on him? He suddenly recalled a certain item, the Chapter of Peace! It had a passive skill that had a chance of nullifying any spell targeted at him!
The Chapter of Peace actually had such a life-saving use. Its value in his heart increased immensely. Sometimes this item could act as a timely life-saver! Targeted spells like Ensnare or Petrifying Gaze from both players and monsters were very difficult to deal with. Because he possessed the Chapter of Peace, when encountering such dangers, his life could potentially be saved!
But he understood there was only a chance for it to activate. In all likelihood, he wouldn’t be so lucky next time! Nie Yan flipped over and jumped off the stone wall. Landing gracefully on the floor, he perfectly executed Shadow Waltz to suddenly rush forward.
The Skeleton Dragon Priests sent over a dozen spells whizzing towards Nie Yan.
Nie Yan leaped out of the way in an attempt to dodge. While midair, he activated the Darkbright Barrier skill from his Darkbright Chestpiece.「Bang! Bang!」Two fireballs still managed to hit him.
−236
−224
What terrifying damage!
Fortunately, Nie Yan managed to avoid the vast majority of the attacks. Otherwise, this barrage would’ve easily sent him to his grave.
He quickly dashed toward the passage. Since he had already been discovered, he might as well make a break for it. The group of Skeleton Dragon Priests attempted to intercept him, sending numerous spells flying in his direction.
Fireballs flew all over the place with dozens of projectiles being launched in each wave!
As Nie Yan made his escape, nasty sizzles sounded out repeatedly as he was hit by one fireball after another. However, he wasn’t instantly killed by the barrage but instead bravely withstood the Skeleton Dragon Priests’ spells to make his way to the next room.
In the instant before the next barrage of spells hit him, marking his imminent demise, Nie Yan activated the God’s Blessing skill from the Chapter of Peace, becoming immune to all magic!