Chapter 1 Qiao Biya the Great

Emperor Qiao Biya was an elderly man, hale and hearty, wearing a silver-white robe that radiated authority. The other six elders were also in their sixties or seventies.

Nie Yan's gaze fell upon one of the elders. With a hooked nose and eyes as sharp as a hawk's, this gloomy fellow was none other than Elder Radewin, notorious among players in his past life, though not for good reasons.

"Greetings, Your Majesty, Emperor Qiao Biya," Karls said, placing his right hand on his chest and bowing slightly.

"Greetings, Mr. Karls," Emperor Qiao Biya replied with a smile and a nod.

"Your Majesty, Emperor Qiao Biya, I have just received word that the vile necromancer Bodman has been resurrected! He is amassing a legion of undead in the eastern part of Emerald City. If he is allowed to grow his forces, it will be a disaster for the Greenland Empire!"

Then, Karls allowed Nie Yan to relate what he had seen and heard.

After listening to Nie Yan's account, Emperor Qiao Biya frowned in contemplation.

Nie Yan observed this legendary figure. Emperor Qiao Biya rarely appeared in the public eye, always keeping a low profile. Even when the Undead Scourge swept through the Greenland and Saturn Empires, he had not emerged. However, it hadn't been necessary then. The Holy Temple's Templar Knights, along with a few legendary NPCs, had kept the situation under control.

This led Nie Yan to a conjecture: Qin Han was essentially courting his own doom. The Undead Scourge was just an expansion pack; no matter how powerful it became, it would only be a flash in the pan. He could not possibly destroy the Greenland and Saturn Empires completely. Nie Yan wondered what Qin Han was really planning. He probably intended to preserve his strength, using a scorched-earth strategy to wipe out the Niu Ren Tribe with a sea of skeletons, leaving his people in sole dominance. Even if he had to delete his account and start over, it would be worth it.

If that was Qin Han's plan, Nie Yan was even more determined to stop him.

"I foresaw a powerful dark force, so I went to the eastern part of Emerald City and made this startling discovery," Nie Yan said, making sure to mention his prediction skill.

"A prediction?" Only now did Emperor Qiao Biya notice Nie Yan's Scholar status.

"You say you discovered the necromancer Bodman in Emerald City. What proof do you have to substantiate your claims?" Elder Radewin asked, his tone accusatory.

*That obnoxious guy!* Nie Yan felt a surge of displeasure towards Elder Radewin, but he didn't show it. He took out the items he had collected from his bag, including the necklace, all of which emanated a powerful aura of darkness.

"Even with these items, you can't prove that the information you've provided is credible," Elder Radewin said, seemingly intent on opposing Nie Yan.

Nie Yan frowned. There were many NPCs in *Faith* who weren't particularly likable, and Elder Radewin was one of them!

If Nie Yan had enough influence in the Greenland Empire, he could completely disregard these detestable NPCs.

Everyone looked towards Emperor Qiao Biya, awaiting his decision.

Emperor Qiao Biya was silent for a moment, then said, "Mr. Nie Yan, you may return for now. We will consider the information you've provided, but we cannot give you any response at this time."

Nie Yan nodded. The NPCs' reaction was within his expectations. This was just a seed he was planting. When the Undead Scourge truly began, these people would remember his words.

"Your Majesty, Emperor Qiao Biya, I shall take my leave. May the Father's glory be with you," Nie Yan said with a slight bow, then withdrew.

As he exited the hall, Nie Yan thought he saw a sinister smile on Elder Radewin's face.

His heart sank.

Karls also bid farewell to the elders and followed Nie Yan out of the hall.

"Don't be discouraged. Emperor Qiao Biya will consider it carefully," Karls said with a smile.

Looking at Karls' gentle smile, Nie Yan felt for the first time that an NPC could have such vivid expressions. However, there was ultimately a difference between NPCs and players. Their words were programmed, lacking the naturalness of ordinary players.

"Thank you, esteemed Mr. Karls," Nie Yan said with a nod.

Karls bid farewell to Nie Yan and headed towards the Holy Temple. Watching Karls' figure slowly disappear around the street corner, Nie Yan couldn't help but imagine how awesome it would be to have Karls as his servant!

That was impossible for now. He estimated that he would need at least fifty or sixty top-tier players in the Niu Ren Tribe before he could realize that dream.

Nie Yan headed towards the warehouse. He needed to clear out some items, and he wanted to start an operation.

"Guo Huai, summon all the flying mounts of the Niu Ren Tribe," Nie Yan said. The Niu Ren Tribe's flying mounts had been recuperating from injuries. Those with minor injuries had mostly recovered and were ready to be fed crystal cores to increase their ranks.

Nie Yan organized the items in the warehouse. Upon receiving a message from Guo Huai that the Niu Ren Tribe's flying mounts had gathered in the open space in front of the Cripps Fortress guild headquarters, he took a teleportation array to Cripps Fortress with a large number of crystal cores.

Outside the Cripps Fortress guild headquarters, there was a closed-off parade ground that could accommodate five or six thousand people. At this moment, two or three hundred people were gathered there, nearly half of whom had flying mounts. The others had gathered out of curiosity.

Seeing Nie Yan arrive, the guild members greeted him.

"Guild Leader!"

"Guild Leader!"

Nie Yan nodded.

They were all wondering what Nie Yan had called them here for. Was there a mission?

"Summon your flying mounts," Nie Yan said.

Upon hearing Nie Yan's command, the players dispersed to various parts of the open space and summoned their pets.

The plaza was immediately filled with all kinds of flying mounts, numbering over a hundred, astonishing and impressing the Niu Ren Tribe players who were watching. This was the Niu Ren Tribe's air force! Although it couldn't compare to Angel Corp for the time being, since they had started at different points, it was already quite impressive.

Nie Yan distributed crystal cores, one by one, based on the attributes of each pet, to the owners of the flying mounts, who then fed them to their pets.

"Crystal cores! Guild Leader, where did you get these?" A Niu Ren Tribe member exclaimed in surprise.

Everyone looked at Nie Yan.

"I got them in the Ancient World when I did my class advancement," Nie Yan said. His class advancement quest in the Ancient World was no longer a secret. Even if other guilds knew he had obtained many crystal cores from the Ancient World, they couldn't organize a team to farm them there, could they? So it didn't matter if he revealed the source of the crystal cores.

They each received at least five or six crystal cores, which still shocked them. The sheer number of crystal cores was truly astonishing.

Nie Yan checked his bag. These crystal cores were just a fraction of what he had, and they were all Rank 4 or lower. He was saving the Rank 5 and Rank 6 crystal cores for later, when he had more advanced flying mounts. He had at least a thousand more crystal cores in his bag. Five or six crystal cores each were enough for their flying mounts to digest for the time being.

"Feed them a little at a time, so you can ensure that the flying mounts don't sleep for too long," Nie Yan instructed the players.

"Understood."

They began feeding their respective flying mounts on the spot, generally starting with the lowest-rank crystal cores, one at a time.

Nie Yan also fed his Darkwing Dragon a few low-rank crystal cores. He didn't dare to feed the Darkwing Dragon dragon crystals for the time being, because dragon crystals contained too much energy. If it couldn't digest them, the Darkwing Dragon would fall asleep for a period of time.

If it fell asleep, the Darkwing Dragon would be temporarily unusable, which would be very frustrating.

Nie Yan received a message from the Niu Ren Tribe's Thief Team. He had dispatched them to investigate the expansion speed of the Undead Scourge and track its progress.

The skeletons were expanding very rapidly. Qin Han had resurrected at least one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty thousand undead. An army of one hundred and fifty thousand skeletons was already quite terrifying. If they continued to expand, it would be simply dreadful.

Nie Yan was somewhat frustrated that Xie Yao and the others were currently doing their class advancement quests; otherwise, organizing some top-tier players to clear out the skeletons would at least slow down their expansion.

The thought of facing a surging tide of skeletons in the future made Nie Yan's scalp tingle.

What could he do to deal with these skeletons?

Nie Yan racked his brains, feeling at a loss. He could only have the guild's production professions prepare more Light-attribute scrolls, accessories, potions, and other items. The Light attribute was effective against the undead. He suddenly remembered that he could recruit thirty paladins from the Holy Temple and put them to use. Paladins from the Holy Temple were generally very powerful. Thirty of them were a considerable force, especially when dealing with undead creatures, as Holy Light dealt 200% damage to them.

These things were far from enough to deal with the Undead Scourge, but he would have to think of other solutions later.

Nie Yan headed towards the Holy Temple. He wanted to see what kind of paladins he could summon. On the way, he suddenly received a message from Tang Yao.

"I've completed my class advancement."

Tang Yao's message caught Nie Yan slightly off guard, then filled him with joy. "A Grand Magister?"

"Yes!" Tang Yao nodded.

He hadn't expected Tang Yao to complete his class advancement so quickly, much faster than the others. It seemed he had a smooth advancement process.

"That's great," Nie Yan said excitedly. With a Grand Magister, they had another weapon to farm skeletons.

Nie Yan recalled that during the Undead Scourge in his past life, no top-tier classes had emerged yet, and players' levels were around eighty or ninety, which was why level 100 skeletons had seemed so difficult to deal with.

Perhaps he shouldn't care about what the NPCs would do. If the Niu Ren Tribe had more Grand Magisters, what was there to fear!