Chapter 1 A Fleeting Shadow of Darkness

A brilliant, dazzling light flashed as the six Chapters of Order merged, transforming into a black, archaic book. The cover was exquisitely crafted, bearing rows of ancient common tongue characters, like sunken stone carvings. The tadpole-like script possessed an elegant, vibrant feel.

The book was quite thick, with several pages, radiating a mysterious power.

Touching the book evoked a sense of wonder, bringing tranquility to the mind.

The book was inscribed with “Chapter of Order, Volume One: Shadow of Darkness.”

System: Do you wish to bind this item?

Yes! Nie Yan confirmed without hesitation. Binding it was the priority, preventing it from being dropped. Once the Chapter of Order was bound, he wouldn't have to worry about losing it.

System: This item is now bound.

The moment the Chapter of Order was bound, Nie Yan felt a significant boost to his attributes, more than fifty percent higher than before. Several words materialized on the book's cover, imprinted on the lower right corner: 'Owner: Nie Yan.'

This legendary item was now permanently marked with Nie Yan's seal, preventing anyone else from possessing it.

Still being hunted, he didn't have time to carefully study the treasure's attributes. Finding an exit was the first priority.

Nie Yan activated Shadow Waltz and darted forward, but the vast, endless wilderness seemed to stretch on forever. No matter how frantically he ran, he couldn't escape. He sensed the five mages behind him drawing closer.

The five figures pursued Nie Yan, their speed rapidly closing the distance.

One figure soared into the sky, seemingly halting time.

Nie Yan looked towards the distant sky, spotting the demonic lord, Sonia. A pair of fleshy wings had sprouted from her back, beating in the air. She hovered above, silhouetted against the bright moon.

Her gaze pierced through the darkness, locking onto Nie Yan fleeing below.

Nie Yan's heart felt pierced. His movements gradually faltered. This demonic lord could fly! At their current level, flying creatures were incredibly difficult to deal with, only manageable with mages engaging in a head-on clash, and even then, the results were often unsatisfactory. Melee combat was out of the question.

This creature possessed demonic vision. Escape seemed impossible. Nie Yan considered this, then placed all his unbound equipment into his bag and continued running.

Sonia waved her staff, uttering a series of obscure demonic words. Her spell chanting was complete.

Nie Yan suddenly felt the endless darkness surge towards him, countless dark tendrils binding him tightly in place.

No matter how Nie Yan struggled, he couldn't break free from the dark tendrils' grasp.

Sonia flapped her wings, slowly flying towards him, her flight speed still clumsy, unable to fully control the wings.

"It's that thief, he's there! It's the Empress' Shadow Bind!"

The five white elves quickly surrounded him, their hands glowing with magical light. They looked at Nie Yan.

*This is it,* Nie Yan thought.

The magic orbs in the five white elves' hands streaked across the sky in arcs, shooting straight towards Nie Yan. *Bang, bang, bang*, the magic orbs exploded on Nie Yan's body, with damage numbers exceeding three hundred points appearing above his head. He was obliterated by the magic and collapsed to the ground.

Sonia flapped her wings and landed beside Nie Yan, wearing a bewildered expression. She couldn't understand why the Chapter of Goodness had vanished along with Nie Yan's demise.

After a long while, Nie Yan opened his eyes, finding his soul in the graveyard.

After struggling for so long, he still died.

System: Do you wish to revive?

Revival offered three options. The first was to run back to the body and revive at the location of death. The penalty was slightly less severe, dropping 50% of experience and inflicting five minutes of weakness, reducing all attributes by 80% during the weakened state. Red names suffered double the penalty based on the severity of their infamy. Choosing this revival method during player-versus-player combat made one vulnerable to being camped.

The second option was resurrection by a priest, with the smallest penalty, losing anywhere from 0% to 50% of experience and one minute of weakness. Red names suffered double the penalty.

The third option was direct revival in the graveyard, with the greatest penalty, dropping one level of experience and inflicting half an hour of weakness. Red names suffered double the penalty. However, this method was clearly safer.

Nie Yan chose to revive directly. He checked his level, feeling frustrated to see that it had dropped to level twenty-three. So much hard work, and now he had to start climbing from the bottom again. Fortunately, leveling up in Eternal City wouldn't take too long.

His attributes were weakened, making this time unsuitable for leveling. Nie Yan teleported back to Calore. He couldn't wait to examine the Chapter of Order's attributes. He had risked more than a dozen levels and the near loss of all his equipment to retrieve it!

He needed to find a quiet place. Nie Yan went to the Starry Night Pharmacy and slipped into an empty laboratory.

Nie Yan took out the Chapter of Order, Shadow of Darkness, and placed it on the table, examining its attributes.

Chapter of Order, Volume One: Shadow of Darkness: Legendary Item. Item Level: 1. Item Level is upgraded by slaying evil creatures.

Item Description: The bearer of the Chapter of Order will receive the inheritance of the gods. Your mission is to spread the glory of the gods.

Item Attributes: The bearer of this item gains five additional attribute points and three skill points every five levels. Strength +100, Agility +200, All Attributes +30, Extra +50%. Grants 500 virtual attribute points. Grants the Shadow of Darkness skill tree.

Usage Restriction: Only usable by player Nie Yan.

Note: This item's effects are active when placed in the inventory.

This item provided a huge boost to basic attributes. As for the Shadow of Darkness skill tree, he wondered what it would be like. Seeing that the Chapter of Order granted 500 virtual attribute points, Nie Yan's brow twitched.

A full five hundred virtual attribute points! What a treasure!

Virtual attribute points differed from real attribute points. Adding them didn't affect his inherent stats. Otherwise, adding five hundred points to Strength would be ridiculously overpowered. However, they were effective for equipping items. In other words, by allocating the virtual attribute points, he could equip various items even if his actual Strength and Agility didn't meet the requirements.

Nie Yan immediately thought of the Headless Horseman Doro's Repeating Crossbow. If he added some virtual attribute points to Strength, he could equip Doro's Repeating Crossbow, which was several levels above his current requirement. This powerful crossbow, with its incredible damage output, would undoubtedly bring Nie Yan significant benefits.

He turned to the second page of the Chapter of Order, revealing a tree-shaped skill panel with over twenty skills, all incredibly powerful. Several skills at the bottom were already lit up. These included Vanish and Lasting Strike from the Chapter of Freedom, and Super Perception and Divine Judgement from the Chapter of Courage. Surprisingly, these skills were placed at the very bottom. He could use them as if he were still holding the Chapter of Freedom and Chapter of Courage.

Above them were many darkened skill icons, including Storm Assault, Shadow Slaughter, and others, along with their activation requirements. Some required slaying one hundred thousand evil creatures to activate, while others required slaying one thousand elite-level evil creatures of the same level.

The countless skill icons dazzled Nie Yan. Each skill was comparable to Divine Judgement and Lasting Strike, but the requirements to unlock them were extremely high, ridiculously so.

To acquire such powerful skills, one naturally had to pay a substantial price.

Nie Yan understood the meaning of the Chapter of Order's opening words: "The bearer of the Chapter of Order will receive the inheritance of the gods. Your mission is to spread the glory of the gods." It seemed his future would be spent constantly slaying evil creatures. Once he had better equipment, he could explore the dungeons.

The power of Shadow of Darkness was undeniable, evident from the skill tree filled with countless formidable skills.

Turning to the third page, he saw images of eight pieces of equipment: leather armor, a cloak, gauntlets, leggings, boots, shoulder guards, and two daggers. The style of the equipment was unique, a dark-purple set, each piece bearing a different rune, appearing ancient and timeworn. Nie Yan's gaze was immediately drawn to the equipment, especially the daggers. The strangely curved blades of the daggers exuded a suffocating killing intent, delivering a powerful visual shock.

Ancient Order: Abak the Tyrant's Set.

In the distant era of shared rule, the human leader Abak was a tyrannical ruler. He brutally murdered the human monarch Agnes and expelled the council. Under his bloody rule, the kingdom fell into darkness. Later, he was killed by Warlord Brooke, and this set was lost ever since. Shadow of Darkness will provide you with some clues, brave adventurer. Embark on your journey to find the lost Abak Set.

A legendary set left behind by a legendary lord!

Abak the Tyrant's Set!

This was truly divine equipment!

Nie Yan looked at the quest clues below.

"The Tyrant Set has been lost for many years. The Abak's Bloodstained Daggers were last seen more than ten years ago in the town of Kunlan. The old mage Kreegan might know something."

"The Tyrant Set's leather armor is already in tatters. It is said that a vagrant who found the armor auctioned it off for two silver coins at the auction house in the center of Calore, where it was purchased by Earl Kerfield."

.......

These quest clues could guide Nie Yan to find the traces of this set, though there would certainly be some difficulties.

Since it was a legendary set, even though the current quest clues seemed simple, Nie Yan was certain that he didn't yet have the strength to collect the entire set. However, the Tyrant Set was definitely unimaginably good equipment. When players were at level eighty or one hundred in the past, they would call a sub-legendary set a divine set. Legendary items, in their eyes, were mythical, with only one or two people possessing one or two pieces. As for a legendary set, no player dared to dream of it!