Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed The World Chapter 281-282

Chapter 281 – Karsi’s Teachings

【Karsi’s Blessing】Background Information: Karsi was born to a poor household with a deformed left hand. Unable to hold a staff, he was deemed incapable of learning magic. However, since childhood he dreamed of becoming a renowned Holy Mage. And so, after experiencing countless failures and tribulations he finally learned—through sheer willpower and perseverance—how to wield a staff, and cast his first spell with only four fingers. Roughly 80 years later, he developed a miraculous Life Magic and became one of the scant few Holy Mages to gain eternal life. He was granted the illustrious position of Grand Archbishop by the Holy Shrine.

Karsi’s Teachings: Only by enduring through suffering will a person truly thrive. Some will taste the final joys and sorrows of life. Others are fated to be buried beneath cold-hard gravestones. Hero! Be grateful of the trials bestowed to you by the heavens, for the path to glory is paved with hardship!

Nie Yan’s heart quivered as these words resonated with him. He recalled the hardships of his past life, the bankruptcy of his family and the death of his parents; it felt as if it were but a hazy dream. Yet it was precisely these experiences that made him the person he was today.

Time washed away his muddle-headedness and inferiority complex. His spirit slowly settled, and his mind gained inner purity.

Karsi’s life resembled the rebirth of a phoenix. It ultimately led him to gain immortality as well as his current fame.

As he read deeper into the background information, Nie Yan found that Karsi had received the blessing of the Ten Holy Paladins. He even participated in the war against the dragon race! Since the start of that ancient era, he had lived all the way to the present. This was a legendary figure!

With Karsi’s power and experiences, he was fully qualified to be a Cardinal. Yet he was content with his title of Grand Archbishop.

Nie Yan revealed a look of excitement and expectation. Maybe I can find some clues about the Ten Holy Paladins from Karsi!

To think that someone who lived through that era was still alive today. It was next to impossible to meet such a person. He absolutely wouldn’t let go of this opportunity!

Nie Yan’s heart filled with burning anticipation.

The Ten Holy Paladins were some of the most famous figures of the ancient era!

They led the resistance against the dragon race, and an archangel even graced them with a visit!

Back then, the Glennin province encompassed the northern part of the Viridian Empire, the western part of the Satreen Empire, and the current Geliro Barrens. Its total size was roughly half that of the Viridian Empire. The influence of the Ten Holy Paladins spread that far!

Just what sort of riches would await him if he dug up all the clues related to them? For now, Nie Yan could hardly imagine. However, any reward related to such a crucial part of the game’s lore couldn’t be small!

Although Nie Yan possessed two lifetimes’ worth of game experience, this was his first time delving into unexplored lore. He had experienced many firsts in this life, such as this Legend of the Ten Holy Paladins quest line.

Nie Yan continued reading. It appeared Karsi had participated in every important military campaign. He had interacted with the Ten Holy Paladins regularly. He could even be described as one of the people closest to them.

If I meet with Karsi, perhaps he’ll have some information that can help me!

After looking through all the information, Nie Yan chatted with Yao Yao for a bit longer before hanging up. At his current pace, he would have to push back his plans with her to tomorrow. Black Sea Devil Banmu’s health was just dropping too slowly.

Only moments after ending his call with Yao Yao, Nie Yan received another call. This time, it was Guo Huai.

「Are you busy right now?」Guo Huai asked.

「What do you need? Speak up.」

「I’ll send you a video.」

「I don’t have the time right now. What is it about?」Nie Yan asked. This video definitely contained something important. Guo Huai would have never disturbed him otherwise.

「It’s a video of Bloodlust Blades capturing their first stronghold. You can watch their core members all riding horses!」Guo Huai replied. It appeared Bloodlust Blades was faster than them by a step. It couldn’t be helped they fell behind, since they were held back in their growth by the combined efforts of Victorious Return and Radiant Sacred Flame. However, they could still catch up!

「Did Bloodlust Blades receive an investment?」Nie Yan asked in surprise. According to his knowledge, the only way for a guild to suddenly have the surplus funds to purchase mounts was by receiving the investment of a financial group.

「I don’t know, yet,」Guo Huai replied.

Nie Yan sank into deep thought. It was very likely Bloodlust Blade had received an investment, and the entity backing them from behind the scenes was almost certainly Century Financial Group. This put him on high-alert.

「How are the negotiations proceeding with the Dragonsoar Financial Group?」Whether they received an investment was crucial to the guild’s growth. He had previously planned to ask his father for help. But after considering, if his father invested into Asskickers United, what would be the fate of the War God Tribe? This was a problem he had to solve himself. He couldn’t always rely on his father to bail him out. Only then could he lead both guilds to glory!

There were no major downsides in Asskickers United receiving financial support from the outside. After redistributing the shares, Nie Yan would hold a 56% stake, Dragonsoar Financial Group would hold a 30% stake, and Guo Huai and the other would hold a 14% stake, meaning absolute control of the guild would still fall to Nie Yan. Although all the shares would no longer remain inhouse, their value would skyrocket following the investment. With a powerful financial backer, Nie Yan could rapidly raise the strength of his core guild members as well as alleviate any concerns they had for the future, allowing them to focus solely on serving the guild.

Obtaining Dragonsoar Financial Group’s investment also meant obtaining their backing. As rivals, there was definitely no small number of conflicts between Dragonsoar Financial Group and Century Financial Group. If Nie Yan pitted these two financial powerhouses against each other, he would gain a powerful ally. After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend!

No matter how strong Asskickers United was, it had no chance competing against an entity like Century Financial Group. This was why Nie Yan had to exploit every avenue available to him!

This was what you called seizing the opportunity!

「We’ve pretty much finished negotiations. This is the fruits of our final talks. Take a look. They’ve already said this is the best they can offer.」Guo Huai sent the final draft of the contract to Nie Yan.

Nie Yan looked over the terms. Dragonsoar Financial Group would provide support to Asskickers United in many ways, such as giving all contracted members a monthly salary of 5,000 credits paid out in Nie Yan’s name. Dragonsoar Financial Group would start acquiring gold from the marketplace and invest 300,000 gold into Asskickers United. This gold would be divided into 50 payments over the course of two months. It would be used to improve the equipment quality of the guild members. Dragonsoar Financial Group would send over a supervisor to manage how the gold was utilized.

There were so many players in the entire Viridian Empire that the Credit Exchange would exchange several hundred gold every single day! It wasn’t too far-fetched to say the Dragonsoar Financial Group could accumulate 300,000 gold in just two months. After all, such a massive consortium would naturally have various supply chains such as employing gaming organizations, buying from professional players, and much more. Their resource-amassing capabilities were far beyond what Nie Yan could even dream of. They wouldn’t just gather gold from Calore but also other cities, including even the headquarters of Bloodlust Blades, Alliance of Mages, and Divine Protectors! Gold from all over the Viridian Empire would gather into one place, the pockets of Asskickers United!

If they could secure such a massive investment for themselves, they wouldn’t have to fear hitting a brick wall in their growth!

Cao Xu’s Century Financial Group would also operate similarly.

Nie Yan could imagine how difficult it would be for Asskickers United to resist Century Financial Group if they didn’t receive the investment of another powerful financial group.

After reviewing the conditions of the contract, they could be best described as extremely generous!

However, Asskickers United did indeed possess such negotiating power!

Nie Yan thought for a moment, then decided it’d be best to add a few more conditions. For example, he wished to include that Dragonsoar Financial Group was not allowed to interfere with Asskickers United’s commands. This clause allowed the guild leader to make a major mistake leading to severe losses, but he would be forced to compensate the Dragonsoar Financial Group for any damages suffered. He sent the contract back to Guo Huai, avoiding any possible dangers that might arise from any loopholes.

Guo Huai sent the revised contract to the Dragonsoar Financial Group.

The contract stipulated an initial investment of 20,000 gold, which Nie Yan could use for various purposes. He could buy horses and other items for Asskickers United’s core elites, fund the money-burning undertaking known as leveling up in Everlasting City, or boost their players’ strength as quickly as possible. After all, these elites were the true backbone of Asskickers United!

Dragonsoar Financial Group showed great sincerity allowing Nie Yan to feel reassured. Their requirement was for Asskickers United to capture a Basic Stronghold within the next five days and 5 Basic Strongholds within the first month. From Nie Yan’s perspective, this was a trivial matter.

If Nie Yan used the 20,000 gold to create a valiant 500-man team composed of all Level 40 or higher players, clearing out a Basic Stronghold would be a piece of cake!

As for the video Guo Huai sent over, he would watch it some other time. Nie Yan hung up, then focused his attention back on dealing with Banmu. When 2 PM came around the corner, he received an update from Guo Huai. Dragonsoar Financial Group had agreed to the additional terms.

Nie Yan signed his name, the person over on the side of Dragonsoar Financial Group and Guo Huai also signed their names, and the contract was complete.

Tomorrow, the first payment of 20,000 gold would be deposited into their account!

Nie Yan was somewhat excited. By partnering up with Dragonsoar Financial Group, only now was Asskickers United taking its very first step on the path to hegemony!

After waiting for a full seven hours, Nie Yan finally heard the despairing wails of a dying Black Sea Devil Banmu. It was finally dead! Looking down, he could barely see past the turbulent waves caused by the boss’ death throes. As the waters slowly settled, the monster’s red eyes dimmed and it sank to the bottom of the cove.

Chapter 282 – Chapter of Peace

When Black Sea Devil Banmu finally fell to Nie Yan, Lil’ Gold lit up with a brilliant radiance and levelled up six times, all the way to Level 26. Since Nie Yan had changed his experience settings, Lil’ Gold received full experience from Banmu.

Nie Yan jumped down from the cliff face and landed on one of the three rocky islands. He called Lil’ Gold out of his hiding spot, then checked his upgraded stats: 1,030 health and 730-757 attack and magic power. As Lil’ Gold’s level rose, his frightening growth rate would start showing an increasingly greater effect. His stats would soon reach ludicrous heights!

Nie Yan could scarcely imagine just how powerful Lil’ Gold would become down the line.

Lil’ Gold also grew another head taller, making him about as tall as Nie Yan.

Nie Yan recalled Lil’ Gold in a brief flurry of excitement. He still hadn’t collected the loot that dropped from Banmu!

He jumped off the rocky island, falling roughly 30 meters before plunging into the water with a loud splash.

Nie Yan activated his Underwater Breathing Pearl and dove down. Swimming ever deeper, he followed the columns of light that bore down from above the water’s surface until he arrived at the bottom of the cove, where they could scarcely reach. By now, Banmu’s corpse had despawned. He searched around the seafloor for a while before eventually finding the drops. A certain item among the pile drew his attention, a pearl that emitted a faint glow in the surrounding darkness.

Nie Yan’s heart quivered. Could it really be…? No, I’ll get back up to the surface first.

Stuffing all the items into his bag, Nie Yan was about to swim back ashore when a shimmer in the far distance caught his eye.

Nie Yan raised an eyebrow in surprise. He was familiar with this sort of light. This gentle yet piercing radiance without a doubt belonged to a chapter from the Book of Order!

He immediately started swimming towards the light. I’ve never heard of there being a chapter in this area…

Swimming through the murky waters, Nie Yan was suddenly caught by a strong current which nearly swept him away.

An intense feeling of foreboding surfaced in his heart. Aside from Banmu, was there another powerful monster lurking in these water?

Nie Yan took out an Unknown Transfer Scroll. If he encountered any danger, he could use it to escape at a moment’s notice.

After much struggling, he regained control of his body and continued swimming forwards. About five minutes later, he could almost touch the source of the light. Only a few meters away, he saw its origin—a golden scroll floating calmly in the darkness, giving off a dazzling radiance.

Nie Yan’s heart shook in excitement. It really was a chapter from the Book of Order!

He wondered if anyone had found this chapter in the previous timeline. He never knew there was one here. This encounter was purely coincidental!

If he hadn’t noticed that faint shimmer in the distance, he would’ve never come searching in this area.

Nie Yan pondered on the information he collected in his past life. Every chapter from the Book of Order was discovered by players exploring maps for the first time. Only 31 were ever found. As for the remaining five, no one knew of their locations.

There weren’t many chapters near Calore, only about 12 in total. The other 24 were scattered in maps around other cities. Some were even located in the distant Satreen Empire. Nie Yan knew the rough locations of many of them. However, acquiring them was but a wishful dream for now. They were either guarded by extremely terrifying existences or hidden in almost impossible to reach places. Him completing the Glimpse of Darkness at this stage of the game was already an extraordinary accomplishment.

Nie Yan was overjoyed at finding another chapter from the Book of Order. The Glimpse of Darkness was already overpowered. If he could complete another volume, just how much power would he wield?

Nie Yan vigorously swam toward the chapter.

A strange, captivating melody drifted over from somewhere far out in the abyss.

Nie Yan’s vision swam as illusions of scantily clad maidens, showing off their bare-naked skin, appeared before him. His eyelids grew heavy, his body relaxing as drowsiness took over him. It was as if he was atop cloud nine!

At the very last moment before he lost consciousness, Nie Yan’s mind shook in alarm as he quickly regained his senses. His intuition told him he fell subject to the Song of the Siren!

Legends told of Sirens living far out at sea that sung bewitching melodies which invoked the deepest desires of men. Anyone who heard their songs would fall fast asleep, only awakening after what felt like an eternity.

Only those with an especially firm will could resist their song.

The Siren’s melody was otherwise impossible to escape.

Nie Yan was done for if he waited for the Siren to come closer. It was a Level 100+ monster!

He struggled to maintain a semblance of clarity as he swam closer to the chapter. However, a surging current knocked him about a meter back.

Nie Yan spotted a faintly glowing figure swimming towards him in the far distance. Its upper half was a young naked woman while its lower half resembled the tail of a fish covered in dark scales! It wielded a large golden trident which flickered with a sharp light.

It had simply wandered here from further out at sea. Nie Yan felt incomparably nervous. Although the Siren was only the size of a human, it was still an unrivalled existence, especially at his current level!

Perhaps the Siren had swam all the way over here after hearing the commotion Nie Yan caused by fighting Banmu.

Nie Yan felt a sense of drowsiness wash over as the Siren’s song drifted into his ears. Feeling his eyelids become heavier, he forced himself awake and swam faster toward the chapter.

The Siren brandished its trident and sent a crescent-shaped beam flying towards Nie Yan.

Nie Yan quickly did an underwater tumble as the beam brushed past his body.

The Siren charged toward him, resembling an arrow piercing through the water.

Seeing the Siren about to reach him, Nie Yan reached out and grabbed the chapter, then performed some underwater acrobatics to create space.

The Siren’s trident swept toward him. Nie Yan could feel a cold chill behind his neck. If he was hit, he would be a dead man for sure!

The Siren arrived beside him and slashed down with its trident.

In this life-or-death moment, Nie Yan activated the Unknown Transfer Scroll just in time to see the trident coming down on him.

The surroundings blurred, and Nie Yan was teleported away.

The Siren looked around in confusion. It could no longer sense Nie Yan’s presence.

Nie Yan reappeared on land as he hit the ground with a thud. With his head still spinning, he looked around and discovered he was in a dense forest. He could hear the roars of monsters in the distance. As he felt a heavy drowsiness overtake him, he found a concealed spot between two trees to hide in before losing consciousness.

High Willpower and Focus stats would grant greater resistance to abnormal status effects. But the Siren’s song was simply too powerful. After holding out for a good while, he still eventually succumbed to it.

About 30 seconds later, Nie Yan woke up.

There were many Level 50 monsters roaming around the area. Thankfully, none of them discovered him while he was sleeping. Otherwise, he would find himself waking up in the Calore cemetery.

Seeing several Demon Bears wandering over in his direction, Nie Yan shot out a web line from his Silk Spinner Ring and climbed up a tree. He felt they wouldn’t pose a threat to him this high up.

Nie Yan impatiently took out the chapter and looked over its properties.

Chapter of Peace

Description: The second chapter of Volume V of the Book of Order. A fragment of a Legendary item. Whoever shall possess this chapter will receive the inheritance of the God of Light. Your mission is to spread the glory of light!

Properties: Chance to nullify an incoming enemy spell. Receive 5 additional health every level up. Endurance +30, Resilience +20, Physique +30, Movement Speed +20.

God’s Blessing: Grants immunity to all magic and gain 30% extra health for 60 seconds.

Cooldown: 2 days (1/2)

Restrictions: Can only be bound by a member of the Righteous Guardian of Order.

Note: Item effects are applied immediately upon entering the player’s bag.

Description: The second chapter of Volume V of the Book of Order. A fragment of a Legendary item. Whoever shall possess this chapter will receive the inheritance of the God of Light. Your mission is to spread the glory of light!

Properties: Chance to nullify an incoming enemy spell. Receive 5 additional health every level up. Endurance +30, Resilience +20, Physique +30, Movement Speed +20.

God’s Blessing: Grants immunity to all magic and gain 30% extra health for 60 seconds.

Cooldown: 2 days (1/2)

Restrictions: Can only be bound by a member of the Righteous Guardian of Order.

Note: Item effects are applied immediately upon entering the player’s bag.

The Chapter of Peace was just like any other chapter from the Book of Order. It couldn’t be traded and would drop upon death. It wouldn’t be inferior to other chapters. He still had to do some investigating to find out how useful the first property was. But he could tell that the second property which granted 5 additional health every level up was perplexingly powerful. If he held onto it, at level 100, he would have several hundred more health than other Thieves! As for God’s Blessing, its shorter cooldown made it much more practical than Adjudicator of God, which had a cooldown of 10 days.

Right after binding the Chapter of Peace, Nie Yan received two system notifications.

Cigarette Ash is in possession of the third chapter from Volume V of the Book of Order, Chapter of Compassion. You will be notified of the player’s location once every hour.

Coordinates: Moonlight City, 38535.38532.35582.

Moonlight City and Radiant City were respectively the headquarters of Alliance of Mages and Bloodlust Blades. I wonder if these two players belong to those guilds. A sense of vigilance immediately arose in Nie Yan’s heart.

It would be troublesome if he got ambushed. After thinking for a bit, he decided to ask Guo Huai for more Unknown Transfer Scrolls since he had run out.

Nie Yan planned to have Guo Huai track these two players down. It would be best if he could obtain their chapters without much fuss. Otherwise, if it turned out they belonged to Bloodlust Blades or Alliances of Mages, things could get dangerous with his exact coordinates being reported hourly.