Walking was too slow. He needed to get a horse to travel around on. That would be much faster, Nie Yan thought. However, horses wouldn't become commonplace until at least two months from now. They were just too expensive. Even the crappiest horse cost over ten gold coins, which wasn't worth it.

Nie Yan used an acceleration scroll and dashed towards Sote City.

Like a streak of rainbow light, he flashed across the plains, quickly disappearing into the horizon.

Half an hour later, Nie Yan gradually entered a dark swamp. Because it was far from any towns, there were much fewer players grinding here. Few would come to such a remote place. Of course, that wasn't to say there were none. Plenty of high-level players loved to adventure. He ran into a few teams along the way.

Short shrubs scattered everywhere, mist lingered, blocking out the sunlight, and the occasional cold wind blew past, making the surroundings somewhat gloomy.

The ground was full of potholes and puddles of water, with a rotting animal carcass here and there. Now and then, a snake would slither through the bushes. Unforeseen dangers lurked everywhere in the dark swamp.

System: You have discovered the Natlan Marsh.

"I'm here." Nie Yan thought as he looked at the misty Natlan Marsh. It would take some effort to cross this area.

Nie Yan carefully weaved between the bushes, trying to avoid any creatures that might appear. As he passed through a patch of dense grass, his extremely high perception warned him of danger.

With a whoosh, a thick figure shot out from the grass, pouncing on Nie Yan.

Instinctively, Nie Yan rolled away, dodging the figure. He saw clearly what it was: a Swamp Giant Lizard. It was a massive lizard, over two meters long, its greenish skin covered with black spots. Its head, claws, and tail were covered with spikes, coated with a green fluid: the Swamp Giant Lizard's poison. This poison could cause total body stiffness, leading to petrification for two or three seconds. This made them extremely dangerous.

"It's one of these things." Nie Yan's heart tightened. These Swamp Giant Lizards didn't have much health, and were quite fragile, but getting hit by one could be fatal.

A maxim passed down from experts in his past life: Never underestimate any monster, even the lowest-level Swamp Giant Lizard, as it could petrify you.

At low levels, these giant lizards were practically assassins for mages and thieves. Once poisoned, they could be petrified, and the lizards would tear them to shreds. Even heavily armored shield warriors could fall to these giant lizards if they weren't careful.

Swamp Giant Lizard: Level 6, Health 360/360.

The Swamp Giant Lizard missed its attack and landed on the ground with a loud thud, sending dirt flying.

After rolling away, Nie Yan struck the back of the Swamp Giant Lizard's head with the hilt of his dagger, inflicting Stun. Then, he followed up with Assassinate, Eviscerate, and Backstab. -79, -83, -97. Damage numbers floated up above the Swamp Giant Lizard's head. It twitched a few times and collapsed.

These giant lizards were quite fragile. As long as you didn't let them hit you, killing them was quite simple.

Under Nie Yan's attacks, the Swamp Giant Lizard didn't have a chance to fight back.

After equipping a Level 5 set, Nie Yan's attack had already reached over sixty points. Such high attack power was unimaginable to other players at the moment. With such a high attack, coupled with a thief's naturally fast attack speed, his damage output was ridiculously high. Aside from the leaders of the big guilds, few players could equip gear equivalent to Nie Yan's. Not to mention, Nie Yan had a heaven-defying item like the Chapter of Courage.

With a strong will, keen perception, extreme agility, sharp attacks, and extremely fast attack speed, Nie Yan could easily kill monsters like Swamp Giant Lizards above his level, without feeling strained at all.

Slashing and killing Swamp Giant Lizards along the way, Nie Yan's nimble movements meant the lizards didn't even get close.

Deeper in the swamp, the fog grew thicker and visibility was low, which made Nie Yan very careful with every step. Although he could easily kill Swamp Giant Lizards, their poison was deadly.

The mist drifted, and shadowy phantasms appeared in the fog from time to time.

It was a distant battlefield, the warriors' roars and the horses' neighs still echoing in his ears. A wisp of wind blew past, and these desolate and ancient images dissipated.

The sound of heavy footsteps mixed with the auditory hallucinations, creating an unreal sensation.

At first, Nie Yan didn't notice anything unusual. It wasn't until he felt the vibrations under his feet that he realized something was wrong. He glanced around, and a giant lizard slowly crawled out of the bushes beside him, flicking its scarlet tongue. A stench wafted over.

This giant lizard was five yards long, its entire body covered in gray-black scales. Its strong limbs were propped on the ground, and its long, thick tail was covered in spikes. There was a strange pattern of white scales on its neck.

In the eyes of the Natlan Marsh's original inhabitants, giant lizards with white scale patterns were extremely terrifying. These patterns represented mystery and death.

This giant lizard was clearly different from the ordinary ones.

The giant lizard spotted Nie Yan and quickly ran, pouncing on him. When they ran, their bodies and tails writhed back and forth, but their speed was astonishingly fast. This bizarre crawling posture allowed them to gain even greater speed. In an instant, it was upon Nie Yan.

As he retreated quickly, Nie Yan cast a Detect on the giant lizard.

Serpent Lizard: Level 7 Sub-Elite, Health 1200/1200.

Realizing it was a Serpent Lizard, Nie Yan's heart clenched. How could he have run into this guy?

Serpent Lizards only appeared in the Natlan Marsh. They were sub-elite creatures. At Nie Yan's current level, running into even a normal level 7 Elite would be a death sentence, not to mention a sub-elite. The reason he was able to kill the level 7 Elite Lion King and the level 8 sub-elite Ogre Devourer before was because the terrain there was unique and he was able to take advantage of it. Here, it was basically impossible for Nie Yan to fight a Serpent Lizard. They were the true overlords of this swamp.

Compared to other elites of the same level, the Serpent Lizard didn't have much health, but its attack was very powerful. It had poison, mud, and mist. Players below level 10 couldn't solo a Serpent Lizard at all. Only a team of five or more level 10 players would dare to challenge one. They were known as the swamp assassins, and many players who trained in the swamp had died at their hands.

The Serpent Lizard pounced at Nie Yan like a bolt of lightning, spraying a cloud of poisonous mist. The green mist quickly spread.

The green poisonous mist reeked, and even a slight whiff made him feel dizzy.