The open space covered an area of roughly 300 by 300 meters. The ground was uneven with rows of white tents on both sides. Several patrol squads would pass by every two minutes, with each one containing 30 to 40 Bloodshadow Warriors. Nie Yan would have to avoid them if he wanted to get past this place. He would also have to be careful of setting off the Bloodshadow Totems.
Nie Yan gazed past the tents and saw the silhouettes of multiple Bloodshadow Warriors. Some were even gathered around bonfires, seemingly celebrating something.
Nie Yan lingered in the vicinity for a moment. Only by passing through here could he reach the center of the Bloodshadow Legion Encampment. There was no other way.
The six Bloodshadow Totems was also an obstacle he couldn't get around. Nie Yan would have to get rid of them to get past.
Thinking for a bit, Nie Yan played around with the idea of disarming the Bloodshadow Totems, which would turn them into one-time use consumables similar to scrolls. But the process was difficult, and any mishap could lead to his death. A disarming guide was posted on the official forums in the previous timeline. Back then, many people were eager to give it a try, but those who actually succeeded numbered less than 5%.
The method shown in the guide did actually work.
Nie Yan wasn't sure if he could disarm them, but the temptation was too hard to resist. After all, having a few of them in his bag wouldn't hurt, especially for special situations.
In any case, he wouldn't know until he gave it a try. He cautiously approached one of the Bloodshadow Totems, halting his steps when he was 15 meters away. Any closer and it would explode.
Nie Yan took out his Cavalry Crossbow and loaded up a bolt. He didn't need the Penta Bolt Shot right now, so a single bolt sufficed. He examined the Bloodshadow Totem. It was about a meter tall and as thick as his arm. It had wings in the middle with crimson flags sticking out on the side. The main body was covered in peculiar mechanics with a deep thumb-sized hole in the center.
Raising his crossbow, Nie Yan took aim at the hole. Hitting a thumb-sized target from more than 15 meters away was a challenge even for him, but it wasn't impossible. Besides, since he was so far away, he'd have plenty of time to duck for cover if he missed and set it off.
Nie Yan pulled the trigger. A bolt shot out and went perfectly into the hole, jamming the mechanism inside. Like this, the Bloodshadow Totem couldn't explode.
Success!
Nie Yan picked up the Bloodshadow Totem. It didn't explode. He looked it over before checking its properties.
Bloodshadow Totem (Special): Totem Item
Description: After being inserted into the ground, this totem explodes if any creature enters its range, dealing corrosion and shadow damage.
Properties: 15,000 Damage; 30 meter explosion radius; ineffective against plate-armoured units; can be disarmed; 15 meter trigger radius. This item is one-time use only and ineffective against members of the Bloodshadow Legion.
This Bloodshadow Totem was a fairly high level totem. Since it was acquired in a Level 90 map this of course didn't come as a surprise. The damage was impressive too. Mine-type items generally had high killing power because they could only be triggered when the enemy entered their range.
If the Bloodshadow Totem was used well, it could become a powerful killing tool, like the Thunderstorm Mines during the Cripps Stronghold siege.
After disarming the first Bloodshadow Totem, Nie Yan moved on to the next one. Like before, he aimed at the totem's hole. The target was very small. His eyesight wasn't good enough to see clearly from this distance, so his vision was somewhat fuzzy. Pulling the trigger, the bolt shot out and struck the totem itself, missing the target by an inch.
The atmosphere suddenly turned chaotic. Almost immediately after Nie Yan's bolt hit the Bloodshadow Totem, it exploded with crimson rays.
Realizing his mistake, Nie Yan quickly pulled back. Just as the crimson rays were about to sweep over him, he activated Gale Step, taking advantage of the three seconds of invincibility to avoid the attack.
Nie Yan's silhouette transformed into a blur as he dashed away to safety.
Failure!
There were six Bloodshadow Totems in total, and they only respawned once every two days. It was impossible for Nie Yan to visit this place regularly, so every failure meant one less totem.
The explosion of the Bloodshadow Totem alerted the nearby Bloodshadow Warriors. They started searching the vicinity for the culprit.
Nie Yan entered stealth and snuck past the Bloodshadow Warriors. With his cloaking ability, getting away from their pursuit would pose no problem.
With so many life-saving skills at his disposal, Nie Yan could afford to take risks. He had no need to fear these Level 90 Bloodshadow Warriors.
Six Bloodshadow Warriors were walking past about five meters away from Nie Yan. Suddenly, two of them halted their steps. Despite not finding anything amiss, they didn't move on. Their eyes lit up bright red, almost as if they had been set ablaze.
Bloodshadow Eyes!
Under their gaze, Nie Yan's figure slowly materialized.
Dammit! They have eye skills!
It wasn't that all Bloodshadow Warriors had eye skills. In fact, only a small portion of them did. Nie Yan was incredibly unlucky.
When he was discovered, Nie Yan immediately bolted away. The Bloodshadow Warriors gave chase, pursuing him closely from behind. He threw out a pouch of Advanced Flash Powder that he got from the Starry Night General Shop. With a poof, a blinding flash lit up the sky. He activated Disappear, causing the Bloodshadow Warriors to lose sight of him, and ducked into a corner.
The Bloodshadow Warriors only regained their sight quite some time later. They looked around and discovered Nie Yan was long gone. They could only give up and slowly dispersed.
Only after the Bloodshadow Warriors walked far away did Nie Yan dare to come out of his corner. He continued to collect the Bloodshadow Totems. Of the six totems, he failed three times and only acquired three totems. He stored them in his bag for later use.
With the Bloodshadow Totems cleared away, the path ahead opened up quite a bit. He moved forward while in stealth. Due to his recent activity, the number of Bloodshadow Warriors in the area had increased exponentially, with patrol groups passing by regularly.
There were too many Bloodshadow Warriors crowding the area. Nie Yan had a much harder time advancing than before.
Slowly but surely, Nie Yan left the open field. At this moment, a group of Bloodshadow Warriors were walking towards him from up ahead. They were searching around, blocking his path forward.
Seeing these Bloodshadow Warriors coming towards him, Nie Yan knitted his brows. It appeared hiding would be impossible.
There were around 100 Bloodshadow Warriors in his direct surroundings. If all of them were alerted to his presence, he would quickly be surrounded and chopped into pieces. It was already difficult facing even a single one of these Level 90 monsters, let alone so many gathered together!
The Bloodshadow Warriors gradually approached within seven meters of Nie Yan. At this moment, they sensed something. One of them activated Bloodshadow Eyes and gazed in Nie Yan's direction.
Once that Bloodshadow Warrior discovered Nie Yan, it immediately let out a thundering roar. The sound alerted the other Bloodshadow Warriors in the area. They quickly rushed over and moved to surround him.
Charge!
A Bloodshadow Warrior rushed at Nie Yan with its greatsword raised. The surrounding crowd of Bloodshadow Warriors also followed suit.
After being completely surrounded, running away became impossible. Since it had reached this point, Nie Yan took out an Unknown Transfer Scroll. He was ready to crush it but wouldn't unless absolutely necessary.
The closest Bloodshadow Warrior was already right in front of Nie Yan. It brandished its greatsword and chopped down. Nie Yan glanced at his skill bar while swiftly pulling back, only to see the opponent's slash cut through him.
−2,203!
What high damage! Nie Yan was taken for a scare. There was no way he would dare to face this group of Bloodshadow Warriors head-on!
These Bloodshadow Warriors were Level 90, almost 30 levels higher than Nie Yan. They easily cut through the protection of his leather armour.
All Bloodshadow Warriors were aggroed onto Nie Yan. It looked like he was going to get mobbed to death. Just as another Bloodshadow Warrior charged up, he quickly activated Langdon's Necklace of Fake Death. He collapsed to the ground. Showing no sign of life, he perfectly resembled a corpse.
Nie Yan's sudden death left the Bloodshadow Warriors in a daze as they lingered around his body. In the same moment he activated Feign Death, he dropped all aggro.
After activating Feign Death, Nie Yan was extremely nervous. He was completely surrounded by Bloodshadow Warriors. If one of them rushed up and attacked him, he would be toast. He was ready to crush his Unknown Transfer Scroll at a moment's notice.
Several Bloodshadow Warriors investigated Nie Yan's body. After speaking some gibberish, they slowly started to disperse.