Nie Yan placed down markers in the southern, eastern, and western part of the Demon Tribe and even some in the Undead Empire. 16 in total. They were at least three hours apart, with the largest distance between two markers being 12 hours away. Meanwhile, Instant Transmission only had a cooldown of 30 minutes. Like this, Angud would have no hope of catching him.

Nie Yan never stayed in the same place for more than an hour, and he continued placing more and more markers.

Back in the Klarence Stronghold, Godking was swamped with work. Angud kept asking him for Nie Yan’s whereabouts. Pantheon’s intelligence network would quickly track down his coordinates and report them to Angud. However, every time he rushed over, Nie Yan would be nowhere to be found. When they checked again, he would be more than a thousand miles away. After this happened several times in a row, Angud began to suspect Pantheon was purposely giving him bad intelligence. He erupted into a violent fit of rage and stormed over to Godking.

“Give me an explanation! You know the consequences for deceiving me!” Angud said coldly.

Godking shivered as he sensed icy killing intent emanating from Angud. If his reply was unsatisfactory in any way, not only him, but all of Pantheon would suffer a calamity. He carefully said, “L-lord Angud, I wouldn’t dare to deceive you. I believe Nirvana Flame has a skill which allows him to teleport freely to any location. That’s why he’s gone by the time you arrive.”

Angud closely observed Godking’s expression, judging whether he was telling the truth or lying.

Godking trembled in fear and trepidation. He bowed deeply in front of Angud, looking like a lamb ready for the slaughter.

Angud’s expression relaxed a little. He said indifferently, “Pay close attention to his whereabouts. If there are any updates, report to me immediately.”

“Yes!” Godking answered solemnly, feeling as though he’d just escape a calamity of epic proportions.

Nie Yan scoured through most of the Demon Tribe and the Undead Empire on his Darkwing Dragon, obtaining clues on Lich King Insar’s Treasure and the Occult Talisman of Empress Finas. However, he didn’t dare to get too invested into any single questline, lest he lost track of time and Angud caught him.

Nie Yan got in touch with the people of Fallen Angel. He planned to sell some of his spoils to them. The meeting point was a place in the southern part of the Undead Empire called Valley of Echoes.

Nie Yan arrived at the designated meeting spot. He examined the surroundings while in stealth. It was a 10-meter wide clearing in the middle of a vibrant forest.

The trees growing here were up to a dozen meters tall. Nie Yan climbed up to the top of one and gazed down below.

The representative of Fallen Angel wouldn’t be late. Likely, they had learned from their previous lesson and dispatched a more reliable fellow this time.

About five minutes before the appointed time, a silhouette appeared in the middle of the clearing. It was Proud Warlance! The two of them had interacted with each other a couple of times before. So, they could be considered acquaintances. Nie Yan didn’t immediately go down. After confirming there was no one else in the vicinity, he used the Pearl of Disguise to become an Evil Faction player and leaped down from the tree.

“You’re here,” Warlance greeted with a smile.

Nie Yan nodded. The two of them knew what the other wanted. Both Asskickers United and Fallen Angels enjoyed great profits from their partnership. He hoped things would continue on like this.

“Do you have anything good for me?” Warlance asked. Their time was short. So, he got straight to the point.

Nie Yan sent Warlance a trade request and placed all the Evil Faction exclusive items he had obtained into the window. There were several particularly excellent items among them.

“These are the spoils of war our players collected from the Satreen Empire,” Warlance said, as he put a great many items into the trade window.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Nie Yan confirmed the trade. He obtained seven pieces of Sub Legendary- and three pieces of Legendary-grade equipment. They were all in the Level 130–140 range, perfectly suited for the elites of the guild.

After completing the trade, Nie Yan and Warlance shortly chatted about the future partnership between their two guilds.

“It’s about time I get going.” Nie Yan turned around. Angud would soon be arriving most likely. Besides, he had things to do, like continuing on with his quests.

“Wait a moment,” Warlance called out.

Nie Yan halted his steps. “Is there anything else?”

Warlanced hesitated for a moment before finally asking, “Do you have the Death God’s Edge on you?”

Nie Yan’s eyes flickered with a sharp light. He locked eyes with Warlance, trying to find a clue for his interest.

Information about the Death God’s Edge being in his possession was already public knowledge by now. How could Warlance not know? Nie Yan slowly nodded.

“Plenty wants to buy it from you. Just state a price. So long as it’s within what we can bear, everything is negotiable,” Warlance said. Nie Yan’s sharp gaze caused his heart to tremble.

The Death God’s Edge had caused huge waves in the underworld. Even though Nie Yan couldn’t use this Sacred Object for the time being, he could confirm that it had something to do with the main quest in Conviction. Guo Huai was already investigating the secrets behind it and why the players and most importantly the NPCs of the Evil Faction coveted it so much.

Since Warlance had asked, this meant Fallen Angel was also after this Sacred Object!

The Death God’s Edge was part of Nie Yan’s quest. He still needed to bring it to Archangel Tallod. He didn’t know what the consequences of losing it would be.

“Tell Plenty that I need the Death God’s Edge for a quest. So, I’m afraid I can’t sell it to him.” Nie Yan turned around and left.

Seeing Nie Yan disappear into the forest, Warlance rang up Plenty.

「How’d it go?」Plenty asked.

「He said the Death God’s Edge isn’t for sale, that he needs it for a quest. This might just be an excuse. Boss, what do you think?」

「I doubt he’d lie about it. The Death God’s Edge is indeed a quest item. As for whether he can sell it or not, I’m not sure. Let’s leave it be for now. Before we wipe out Angel Corps, we need to maintain our relationship with Asskickers United,」Plenty said. He needed Nie Yan’s strength to deal with Soaring Angel. Though the Death God’s Edge was important, he couldn’t get his priorities mixed up.

「Are we just going to give up on the Death God’s Edge? What about that quest? Should we keep in contact with him? Maybe we can get him to change his mind.」

「Don’t worry about it. Just do as I say.」

「Alright.」Warlance didn’t ask any further questions and hung up the call. He glanced back at where Nie Yan disappeared before leaving himself.

Nie Yan teleported to a prairie in the eastern part of the Demon Tribe. He glanced at the Death God’s Edge in his bag. Carrying this item really was a calamity. The entire Evil Faction was after it, and they definitely wouldn’t give up easily. As for Fallen Angel, their interests were tied too deeply to those of Asskickers United, and there were still many more opportunities to work together in the future. They wouldn’t abandon this alliance just yet.

Nie Yan’s interest in the Death God’s Edge was piqued even more. Just what made this item so attractive?

Angud hadn’t shown his face for quite some time already. Nie Yan could only guess he’d given up for the time being.

Nie Yan finally received a solid clue for one of his quests. His quest objective was located in Silvermoon Gorge in the southeastern part of the Demon Tribe.

Following this clue meant that Nie Yan could possibly be held up in a single location for more than an hour. He decided to take some precautions first. He teleported to a location far in the northwestern part of the Demon Tribe, then attacked a nearby village, killing over 1,000 players before leaving.

Before long, Nie Yan received a report from Guo Huai that Angud was heading toward the northwest. He smirked. This was exactly what he wanted.

Nie Yan teleported to Silvermoon Gorge with Instant Transmission. After which he infiltrated the inner region of the map while in stealth, making sure no one saw him.

The outer region of Silvermoon Gorge was inhabited by Level 120–130 monsters. So, players often partied up and came here to level. However, once you reached the inner region of the map, Level 170–180 monsters would start appearing, and the number of players decreased drastically.

After passing through a dense forest, a large clearing entered Nie Yan’s vision. Up ahead was a small village. The scattered buildings were made out of straw and mud.

Looking into the village, Nie Yan spotted some Nagas moving around. These monsters had the lower body of a snake and upper body of a human. They had six arms with each hand wielding a halberd-like weapon.

They were Level 180 Elites!

Nie Yan was just about to go forward and clear out the village, when he noticed a commotion among the Nagas. It appeared something had agitated them. Looking over in the direction they were gathered, he could see a battle going on.

People? Could a team be levelling here?

Nie Yan inched closer until he finally got a good look. It wasn’t a team fighting the Nagas but rather a single person. Judging from his appearance, it was a Spectral Thief.

The Spectral Thief raised his short bow. Whoosh whoosh whoosh! He shot out several arrows in quick succession, hitting the Nagas. They were enraged. Flicking their red tongues, they moved in to surround him.

The Spectral Thief immediately retreated back while crushing several scrolls. Flame Walls rose up between him and the Nagas. When the Nagas passed through the fire, a string of damage values floated up above their heads.