Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed the World

Setting foot on the ground, Nie Yan’s calves sank into the snow. A frigid gust of wind blew past him, causing him to shiver.

Nie Yan unsummoned his Darkwing Dragon. Braving the cold winds, he trudged through the snow step by step.

“Phew… It’s a good thing my Ice Resistance is high enough, or else I would’ve frozen to death before I even got here.”

Nie Yan pressed forward through the expanse of white, never veering from his goal.

The monsters that spawned here were Level 60 Tundra Bears. Every now and then, a few of them would come lumbering over. However, after getting a whiff of Nie Yan’s scent, they would immediately do a 180 and run away. Their sharp senses told them they were no match for him.

Even if Nie Yan hunted these Tundra Bears, he wouldn’t gain much experience. He couldn’t be bothered to chase after them. He continued toward his destination.

Nie Yan occasionally spotted a few Elementalists levelling here. One of theirs special skills allowed them to ignore the extreme cold. For the sake of avoiding unnecessary trouble, Nie Yan would enter stealth and take a detour around them.

After about 20 minutes, Nie Yan arrived in front of a lake basin at the foot of a mountain. The water was crystal clear and serene without the slightest ripple. It was so unfathomably deep no light could reach the bottom.

Nie Yan checked his map coordinates. “This is the place!”

This icy lake emitted a frigid aura.

Sulgata’s Feather was fished out of here in the previous timeline.

Nie Yan drank a Master Ice Resistance Potion and dived into the water. A frigid chill immediately permeated his body as he started shivering.

If his Ice Resistance were below 200, he would’ve turned into a human popsicle.

Nie Yan activated the ability of his Water Aversion Pearl and swam further down toward the lake bed. Deep underwater, darkness surrounded him. Thanks to his high Night Vision, though, he could make out a few indistinct shapes.

All around him were stalky plants over a dozen meters in length, swaying back and forth with the underwater currents.

Nie Yan passed through this underwater forest and beyond. The world here was completely alien. From time to time, he encountered schools of fish and other harmless fauna.

About 10 minutes later, Nie Yan finally found what he was looking for—Sulgata’s Feather!

Sulgata’s Feather was a white, six inches long feather which glowed with a holy light. It hovered just above the lake bed in the middle of a powerful underwater current. However, it stayed perfectly in place.

In the vicinity of Sulgata’s Feather, Nie Yan spotted three trident-wielding mermaids. These humanoid monsters with the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a fish were frightening creatures. Their peerless beauty could shake the heart of even the most resilient minds while their tridents flashed with a dangerous light.

Nie Yan hid behind a coral cluster and inspected one of the mermaids with Transcendent Insight.

Sea Demon Villina (Super Elite): Level 120 Health: 2,850,000/2,850,000

Super Elites were just half-a-step below Lords!

The three Sea Demons patrolled the area, never leaving Sulgata’s Feather out of sight for long.

Seeing the stats of the three Sea Demons, Nie Yan furrowed his brows. “Strange… why are there Level 120 Super Elites here? I never heard about any monsters guarding Sulgata’s Feather. I thought that Shadow Dancer just swam up and grabbed it.”

The information Nie Yan obtained was merely second-hand, not something he had personally confirmed himself. For discrepancies to appear was very normal. Things such as rumours grew more distorted the more they were passed on, until they transformed into something else entirely. The fact that he actually found Sulgata’s Feather was already pretty amazing.

“Dammit! How am I supposed to face three Level 120 Super Elites? No way I can get past them either, especially with those underwater currents restricting me…” Nie Yan muttered.

Surveying the surroundings and considering his options, Nie Yan discovered that he couldn’t use his teleportation items. This increased the difficulty even more. Even if he managed to retrieve Sulgata’s Feather, it would still drop if he died here.

Nie Yan dithered around for a long time, unable to come up with a solution. He didn’t have much time. The Water Aversion Pearl only lasted for 30 minutes. Combined with the Underwater Breathing Pill in his bag, one hour was the limit.

Nie Yan had already wasted 20 minutes. Every second was precious. Before the hour ended, he would have to swim out of the teleportation restricted zone and channel a Return Scroll home, or else he would surely drown to death.

“Tsk… But if I return to Calore empty-handed, the whole trip would’ve been for nothing.”

Nie Yan contemplated for a moment. “I wonder if I can sneak past with stealth and snatch Sulgata’s Feather away.”

Sea creatures generally had low Awareness.

Disappear!

Nie Yan blended into the background, then slowly started making his way over.

Eventually Nie Yan arrived within six meters of Sulgata’s Feather. The three Sea Demons appeared to sense something. They turned their heads in his direction and started scanning around before swimming over to investigate.

Not daring to alert the three Sea Demons, Nie Yan could only slowly back up. He hid behind a coral reef roughly 10 meters away from Sulgata’s Feather.

The three Sea Demons searched around. After failing to find anything, they returned to a passive state.

“So close and yet so far…” Nie Yan couldn’t help but become a bit depressed. The underwater currents here were too strong. If he tried to use his Silk Spinner Ring like he normally would in these situations, the web line would only get swept away. This method clearly wasn’t feasible.

“Web line, underwater currents…” Nie Yan appeared to be on the verge of a breakthrough, but the idea failed to solidify in his head.

“There must be a way…” Nie Yan consoled himself. He needed to think it over carefully. The environment here was too distracting. “Let’s go explore elsewhere and clear my head. Maybe I can find another treasure besides Sulgata’s Feather.”

Nie Yan searched around for about 10 minutes, whereupon the Water Aversion Pearl’s ability wore off. He ate an Underwater Breathing Pill and extended his time by another 30 minutes.

“Should I just go back now…?” After thinking for a bit, Nie Yan shook his head. He wanted to test something out first. It would be best if he could retrieve Sulgata’s Feather. If worse came to worst, he would teleport away and try again next time.

After exploring around some more, Nie Yan suddenly found himself being pulled along by a strong current. Thankfully, his Strength and Endurance were high enough. He could swim against it without being swept away, albeit with great difficulty.

At this moment, Nie Yan happened to notice something sparkling in the distance. His eyes lit up. “Is that a treasure chest?”

He borrowed the force of the current to swim toward the light.

After swimming for about 30 meters, Nie Yan arrived in front of a large coral reef. He discovered a silver white treasure chest tucked away in a crack between two boulders. It looked like something from the Dark Era. However, most of the designs and markings were corroded away, making it difficult to identify.

“It really is a treasure chest! Looks like the lock is broken, though…”

Nie Yan couldn’t pull the chest out of the crack. Thinking for a bit, he took out Zennarde’s Sword. He planned to pry it open.

Nie Yan inserted Zennarde’s Sword into the opening of the chest. With a firm twist, he popped the lid open with a click. In the chest lay an ancient book. To his surprise, it was still intact despite sitting underwater for who knew how long. The book was thick and heavy and appeared to be made out of dark grayish leather from some unknown animal. Dark golden characters written in Dragon Tongue were inscribed on the cover.

“Book of Forgotten History…” Nie Yan muttered, tracing his fingers over the characters.

As Nie Yan wondered what kind of item this Book of Forgotten History was, a notification sound rang out in his ears.

You have discovered the Book of Forgotten History, lost at the bottom of a lake basin in the icy tundra at the northern border of the Viridian Empire. Behind its worn out pages is a long and ancient history. Do you wish to retrace the past? Do you wish to recover this forgotten history?

Nie Yan pondered for a moment. “Looks like the start of a quest line… Well, whatever. No harm in taking another quest. I’ll get to it whenever.” He hit confirm without the slightest hesitation.

At this moment, the Book of Forgotten of History blossomed out with a brilliant radiance which completely enveloped Nie Yan while a dark power entered his body. He could sense the Darkwing Dragon in his pet space stirring restlessly. He hurriedly soothed it.

The Darkwing Dragon finally calmed down.

Nie Yan was astonished. “What a frightening power of darkness!”

The Book of Forgotten History flipped open to the first page, which contained a story.

First Chapter – Evil Blade

Description: A lonely hero wandered the dark wasteland, seeking out the Evil Blade so he could destroy it. But when he found the weapon, his resolution wavered and he was possessed by it instead. A pair of black wings sprouted from his back as he transformed into a devil.

Objectives: ☐ Slay Devil Jessup. ☐ Destroy the Evil Blade with the Book of Forgotten History. ☐ Collect Devil’s Feather.

“I was right. It is the start of a quest line. Too bad I don’t have the time to do it right now. It doesn’t look super important anyway. I should be okay putting it off until later.” Nie Yan stuffed the Book of Forgotten History into his bag and then put it out of his mind. His main goal right now was retrieving Sulgata’s Feather.

Nie Yan swam back to the area where Sulgata’s Feather was located. He swept his eyes over the stalky plants growing on the lakebed. They flowed with the underwater currents, swaying back and forth.

“Tsk… the currents here are too strong. You always have to worry about getting swept away. Swimming anywhere is a huge pain in the ass.”

Seeing the swaying plants, a light bulb lit up in Nie Yan’s head. “I’ve got it! I know how I can retrieve Sulgata’s Feather without the Sea Demons noticing!”

Nie Yan became excited. He wanted to test out if his idea would work. He hurriedly swam over to the coral clusters in the distance. The patrolling Sea Demons already entered his sight.

He took advantage of the cover from the coral clusters to make his way forward in stealth.

Nie Yan stopped at about seven meters from Sulgata’s Feather. The closest of the three Sea Demons was six meters away. Seeing them look away from the feather, he made his move.