Chapter 1 The Hope of the Life Crystal

Nie Yan had given up hope for the Life Crystal. Just as he was about to abandon the search, news came from Guo Huai that they had found one!

Nie Yan was thrilled by the message and quickly connected to Guo Huai's voice channel.

"Someone's selling a Life Crystal?" Nie Yan asked.

"Yes, someone is. Our people have already made contact. The guy's asking for a high price. He refuses to sell it for less than 100,000 gold coins," Guo Huai said, frustrated.

Selling a Life Crystal for fifty or sixty thousand gold coins was already an astronomical price. Nie Yan had doubled the price, but he didn't expect the guy to think it was still too low.

Nie Yan frowned and asked, "How much is he asking for?"

"He probably saw how eager we were and decided to gouge us. He said at least two hundred thousand gold coins, or he won't even talk. He's also willing to trade for equipment," Guo Huai said. Hearing this price, he felt an urge to kill someone. Asking two hundred thousand gold coins for a Life Crystal? The guy should just go die.

"He wants to trade for equipment..." Nie Yan pondered for a moment, then asked, "What kind of equipment does he want?" Some expert-level players didn't care much about money. They had plenty of it. At their level, they understood that top-tier equipment was often impossible to buy with money. They usually wouldn't sell rare items for money, but preferred to trade for equipment.

"Top-quality Dark Priest equipment, only the stuff that catches his eye. That guy's got some pretty good gear himself, several pieces of Sub-Legendary quality, and a Legendary staff," Guo Huai said with envy.

With such good equipment, Nie Yan was surprised. Dark Priests were the rarest of all classes, and there weren't many expert-level Dark Priests. Of the people Nie Yan had encountered, the only strong ones were Hei Se Di Yu and the guy who injured the Netherhawk. Nie Yan couldn't help but ask, "What's his name?"

"Hei Se Di Yu," Guo Huai said.

"It's him," Nie Yan thought, surprised. This world was small. He never expected to run into Hei Se Di Yu again. A Life Crystal wasn't something you could get without a certain amount of strength. It made sense that Hei Se Di Yu was able to obtain one.

"You know him?"

"He's Hei Se Tian Tang's older brother," Nie Yan said.

"So he's Hei Se Tian Tang's older brother. If he's an acquaintance, that makes things easier," Guo Huai said. When Hei Se Tian Tang first joined Niu Ren Tribe, he was arrogant. But after getting to know everyone, he slowly integrated into the Niu Ren Tribe collective. Hei Se Tian Tang was aloof, but he admired capable people. If Niu Ren Tribe had been full of trash, he probably wouldn't have been able to stay there. He looked down on the players in Niu Ren Tribe, but after losing several duels against Sha Bu Si De Huai Dan and witnessing the strength of Cui Can Dao Guang, Shui Se Yan Tou, and others, he was sincerely impressed. Later, everyone got along well, and they found Hei Se Tian Tang to be a pretty good guy. Since Hei Se Di Yu was Hei Se Tian Tang's older brother, they could have Hei Se Tian Tang negotiate the price.

"Let's see if we can find some good Dark Priest equipment first. We can't take advantage of him for nothing," Nie Yan said. If they could get the Life Crystal, giving up a few pieces of equipment would definitely be worth it.

"Nie Yan, can we recruit Hei Se Di Yu? Since Hei Se Tian Tang is already in our guild, it shouldn't be too difficult to recruit Hei Se Di Yu," Guo Huai suggested.

"It's difficult. I've tried before, but I failed. He seems to have some special feelings for the Dark Wanderer guild," Nie Yan said, shaking his head.

"Dark Wanderer? Hei Se Di Yu isn't wearing a guild badge. He's a free agent. I heard that a Dark Priest killed more than twenty members of Dark Wanderer, including the guild leader, and then left the guild. Was it him?" Guo Huai asked.

Nie Yan hadn't heard about that incident. Guilds like Dark Wanderer were no longer on the same level as Nie Yan's Niu Ren Tribe. He wouldn't pay attention to what happened in those small guilds. Even if Guo Huai knew something, he wouldn't mention it, because guilds like Dark Wanderer posed no threat to Niu Ren Tribe.

"He left the guild?" Nie Yan asked, surprised. Hei Se Di Yu had actually left the Dark Wanderer guild.

Since Hei Se Di Yu had left Dark Wanderer, he might have a chance to recruit him into Niu Ren Tribe.

"How's his skill?" Guo Huai asked excitedly. Everyone could see Hei Se Tian Tang's skill. Hei Se Di Yu was Hei Se Tian Tang's older brother, so he shouldn't be too bad.

"Among all Dark Priests, he's definitely god-tier. If he joined Niu Ren Tribe, he'd probably rank in the top five," Nie Yan said. Being in the top five of Niu Ren Tribe was something many players could only dream of.

Nie Yan's certainty sent a tremor through Guo Huai's heart. The top five in Niu Ren Tribe? What did that even mean? The ones with the strength to rank in the top five were Nie Yan, Cui Can Dao Guang, Shui Se Yan Tou, Sun, and Tang Yao. No one had ever tested Wang Zhe Tian Xia's strength, but according to Nie Yan, Wang Zhe Tian Xia was on par with Sun. Then there were Xie Yao, Yu Wang Ran Zhi Qing Chun, and others. It was too difficult to actually rank them.

Nie Yan was confident that Hei Se Di Yu could squeeze into the top five!

Guo Huai's eyes lit up. Anyone who could squeeze into the top five in Niu Ren Tribe was a national treasure!

"I'll have Hei Se Tian Tang talk to him. We can't let such a good thing go to outsiders. If Hei Se Tian Tang doesn't bring Hei Se Di Yu in, I'll make that kid look bad!" Guo Huai said excitedly. He went to contact Hei Se Tian Tang.

Hei Se Tian Tang probably wanted Hei Se Di Yu to join Niu Ren Tribe too. It just depended on whether Hei Se Di Yu agreed. Hei Se Di Yu had wanted to stay in Dark Wanderer before, probably because he had deep feelings for it and couldn't let go. But now that Hei Se Di Yu had left the Dark Wanderer guild, something must have happened. If Hei Se Tian Tang worked hard to persuade Hei Se Di Yu, he might join Niu Ren Tribe.

If Hei Se Di Yu wanted to join a guild, then Niu Ren Tribe would definitely be his first choice, because Hei Se Tian Tang was there.

It was enough to have Guo Huai and Hei Se Tian Tang handle this matter.

As for the Life Crystal, Guo Huai should send it over before logging off. For players of Hei Se Di Yu's level, a Life Crystal wasn't much at all.

The thought of being able to hatch the Darkwing Dragon soon filled Nie Yan with excitement.

Nie Yan glanced at the flying mount rankings. There were already six flying mounts on the list, and the number was constantly increasing. The Netherhawk had been replaced by a flying mount called the Venomous Dragon Fly. Two of these six flying mounts belonged to Niu Ren Tribe, one being Tang Yao's Netherhawk, and the other being Ben Zhi E Mo's Azure Winged Bird, which he had just obtained.

The Azure Winged Bird was a very large bird with strong aerial combat abilities, slightly inferior to the Netherhawk.

The popularization of flying mounts was a trend. There would be more and more flying mounts in the future, and the scale of aerial combat would also increase.

He wondered who the other four flying mounts belonged to.

They might encounter flying mounts tomorrow, but if they had the Darkwing Dragon, Niu Ren Tribe should have an advantage in aerial combat.

More than an hour later, Guo Huai sent someone to deliver the Life Crystal, and he brought good news. Hei Se Di Yu had agreed to join Niu Ren Tribe and would participate in the Battle of the Realm of Death tomorrow. However, Hei Se Di Yu had one condition: to obliterate Dark Wanderer!

If Hei Se Di Yu revealed his identity, he could easily destroy the Dark Wanderer guild with his influence. But he decided to have Niu Ren Tribe do it. He created the Dark Wanderer guild, so let it be buried in history.

Guo Huai agreed without hesitation. Was it worth mobilizing the troops to destroy a guild for one Hei Se Di Yu? Guo Huai could answer without hesitation: it was worth it! Top-tier experts like Hei Se Di Yu were extremely rare, while destroying a declining guild like Dark Wanderer was nothing more than a snap of the fingers for Niu Ren Tribe. As long as Niu Ren Tribe declared war on Dark Wanderer, the Dark Wanderer guild would collapse on its own.

According to Hei Se Tian Tang, they were still in contact with several brothers. If those brothers knew that Hei Se Di Yu had joined Niu Ren Tribe, they would definitely come without hesitation.

For Niu Ren Tribe, this was definitely a profitable deal.

After receiving the Life Crystal that Guo Huai had sent over, Nie Yan looked at his bag. The crystals were neatly arranged, just enough to reach the required amount. Hilton Fortress also had a place to hatch pets. Nie Yan organized his bag and walked towards the pet store.

He glanced at the pet space. The Darkwing Dragon's egg was still lying there quietly. Nie Yan could feel every beat of the small life inside. It was about to hatch and become the undisputed overlord of the sky.

The pet store in Hilton Fortress was a bit dilapidated, having just been rebuilt from the ruins, but the Beast Tamers here were still of a very high level.

Nie Yan walked into the pet store. Cages filled with various pets lined both sides, and unlike those in Calore, there were also a large number of high-level flying mounts here.

Passing through the long corridor, Nie Yan walked straight towards the Beast Tamers in the distance.

It was quite lively here, with people coming and going. There were probably fifty or sixty people in the hall, busy with their own things, and there were also some members of the Alliance of Mages.

Nie Yan frowned. There were too many people here. If he hatched the Darkwing Dragon, many players would definitely see it, especially those from the Alliance of Mages. The news of him hatching the Darkwing Dragon would definitely reach Kuang Fa's ears. He wouldn't be able to hide anything, but he seemed to have no other choice. He had to bite the bullet and walk towards the Beast Tamer.

"Respected Mr. Nie Yan, hello, is there anything I can help you with?" a high-level Beast Tamer wearing a dark red advanced Beast Tamer robe asked as he approached.