Nie Yan swept his gaze over the crowd below. He could sense the passion and emotions stirring in each and every one of them.

Bladelight put a hand on Nie Yan’s shoulder and said with a smile, “Go on. They’re all waiting for you to speak.”

“Yeah, Big Bro! They’ve all been waiting for your return,” Sun chimed in.

Tang Yao, Smoke Stub, and the rest nodded in agreement.

Nie Yan looked down at the excited crowd. “Brothers, it’s been three long years. I’m finally back. I am so happy to see all of you again. You know, I was looking at the guild chat earlier and saw some say, ‘Boss, welcome home!’ Yes, I am home, and I’m deeply touched, touched that so many of you didn’t forget me, didn’t give up on me. To be honest with all of you, I’m overwhelmed that so many of you showed up here today. I vividly remember as though it happened yesterday how we fought shoulder-to-shoulder together and broke through all obstacles to rule the Righteous Faction. Today, for the sake of those who fought and still fight with us, for the glory of Asskickers United, join me again as we continue on this path of glory!”

Nie Yan pointed Zennarde’s Sword toward the sky, the blazing azure flames reflecting the excitement in his heart.

 “Long live Asskickers United!”

“Long live Nirvana Flame!”

“Defeat Fallen Angel and rule the world!”

...

The roaring cheers of the crowd shook all of Okoron. Nie Yan knew speaking any more words would simply be superfluous. He was back. That was all that mattered to these players. Their morale skyrocketed to an all time high.

Over the next few hours, Okoron was livelier than ever as Asskickers United launched a massive celebration for the Mad Rogue’s return.

Nie Yan entered a conference hall in the guild headquarters. Guo Huai and the others were already waiting for him.

“Thank you. I know it’s been tough on you guys,” Nie Yan said. He truly meant these words from the bottom of his heart. When news of him being shot came out, Asskickers United might have very well collapsed were it not for the efforts of Guo Huai, Bladelight, and the rest. They fended off the guilds that rose to prominence in his absence, and kept Asskickers United a coherent whole.

“Pfft! What is this courteous and polite nonsense? Don’t treat us like strangers!” Guo Huai said with a smile.

“Right! When we hit the bar later, you can treat us to a few rounds!” Bladelight laughed.

“Consider it your punishment. Going off on a honeymoon with Yao Yao, and leaving us behind! We thought you’d forgotten us!” Smoke Stub broke into a smile. “It’s good to have you back.”

Nie Yan smiled at King of the World and Tang Yao.

They held a short celebration in the conference hall. After all, Nie Yan’s return was an enormous deal.

Nie Yan took the opportunity to get to know some of the new faces. The number of elite experts under Asskickers United’s banner reached the tens of thousands. Many were no less inferior to the likes of Undying Scoundrel, Summer Bug, and them. They had all joined after his departure from the game. For many of them, this was their first time meeting him. Still, he recognized more than half of them, since they were famous experts in his past life. Howling Wind and his group had also arrived. All these talented people were his subordinates. It really was like a dream.

“Guo Huai, how has Fallen Angel reacted to my return?” Nie Yan asked. News of his return had definitely reached Plenty’s ears by now.

“It’s strange. There seems to be no reaction whatsoever. Their members are talking about it, but apart from pacifying some worries, their staff members haven’t expressed any thoughts. Their main team still hasn’t returned either, and Plenty is nowhere to be found,” Guo Huai replied.

“Looks like Plenty is really feeling the heat. He’s probably holed himself up somewhere to raise his level,” Bladelight said.

“I wonder if he’s succeeded in becoming a Legend.”

“Hard to say…”

...

Everyone chimed in with their thoughts.

Nie Yan eventually raised his hand, signalling everyone to calm down. “I’m going to complete a few quests by myself, then head to the Evil Faction to see what’s going on down there for myself.”

“Boss, you sure you don’t want us to come with you?”

“No need. I’ll be going alone.” Nie Yan shook his head.

Bladelight, Smoke Stub, and the others didn’t show much surprise. They weren’t at all worried. There was a reason why Nie Yan remained undefeated. Even if he headed to the Evil Faction alone, he would still be fine.

“What quests do you still need to do?” Bladelight asked. “Need our help with anything?”

“They’re all unique, exclusive quests, including completing the Book of Order,” Nie Yan said. With his current strength, these quests wouldn’t take much time or effort.

“Big Bro, before you go, let us hand over the chapters from the Book of Order we collected for you,” Sun said.

“Ah, right. Yeah, that sounds good.” Nie Yan nodded. He needed all the chapters to complete the Book of Order anyway. There was no need to refuse out of politeness.

The party lasted for two hours before everyone dispersed. Nie Yan had Sun and the others hand over their chapters from the Book of Order. Of course, they were non-transferable items and could only drop upon death.

A dazzling radiance shone from Nie Yan’s bags. The scattered chapters fused into complete volumes. Five volumes and five chapters neatly lay inside his inventory.

These five volumes were divided into the Glimpse of Darkness, Glimpse Of Light, Glimpse of Ice, Glimpse of Thunder, and Glimpse of Fire. The Glimpse of Darkness gave the greatest stat bonuses for a Thief with the Glimpse of Light coming in second. The other three volumes didn’t benefit Nie Yan as much, but they were still good. To complete the Glimpse of Divinity and with that the Book of Order, he only needed to find the Chapter of Holiness. Afterwards, he would have another Sacred item in his possession and would be bestowed the title of Supreme Pontiff.

According to rumours, the Chapter of Holiness was in the hands of a Level 200 Demonified Lord called the Void Walker. Nie Yan could only defeat it himself. To others, a boss like the Void Walker was near impossible to beat. To draw a comparison, for the sake of obtaining the last chapter of the Book of Chaos, Plenty had expended an untold amount of effort just to defeat the Level 200 Demonified Lord the Divine Djinn. At that time, Plenty was already level 205. Fortunately, retrieving the Chapter of Holiness would be a cake walk for Nie Yan. After all, he could already solo Level 210 Demonified Lords. What did he have to fear of the Level 200 Void Walker?

Over the next few days, Nie Yan completely engrossed himself in questing. Finally, he found himself at the entrance to the Void Palace, a place deep within the Chaos Temple. Behind those gates was the Level 200 Void Walker.

The Void Palace was the only place in the Chaos Temple that hadn’t been explored yet. Most teams weren’t strong enough to kill the monsters guarding the entrance. And even those teams who did kill the guards found themselves stuck, as the gates wouldn’t budge no matter how they tried. So, they could only turn back in dejection.

Nie Yan stared at the gates, his three giant dragon pets proudly standing behind him. If others were to see him trying to enter the Void Palace alone, they would turn pale in fright.

Nie Yan placed his palm on the gate. It instantly lit up with a dazzling radiance as the gates slowly rumbled open. He blurred into motion and dashed straight toward the Void Walker.

The Divine Eclipse Dragon used Doppelganger and split into five bodies. The 10 heads all started chanting extremely powerful single-target Forbidden Magic.

The Void Walker roared out and slashed out with its ethereal claws. However, no matter how it attacked, it couldn’t land a single hit on Nie Yan.

A dense shower of spells rained down on the Void Walker, causing it to wail out in pain.

A Level 200 Demonified Lord was actually powerless to fight back!

To Nie Yan, fighting this Void Walker was like a walk in the park. The monster continuously wailed out in pain as its health plummeted down. Even a team of apex experts wouldn’t necessarily be able to match this damage!

About 10 minutes later, the Void Walker let out a final mournful cry. Its body started falling apart as it disintegrated into nothing.

To Nie Yan’s surprise, nothing dropped after the Void Walker died.

“Where’s the Chapter of Holiness?” Nie Yan knitted his brows. He looked around the palace hall and found a passage leading to who knew where.

So the Chapter of Holiness wasn’t on the Void Walker after all! The passage was too narrow for the three dragons to fit in. Nie Yan thought for a moment before activating Gale Step and dashing in.

The scene that greeted Nie Yan left him gasping in shock. At the end of the passage was a long flight of stairs. It was about two meters wide, leading up to the endless void. The only interruption were the flaming green meteors streaking past.

This scene was more spectacular than tens of thousands of meteor spells combined together. It seemed like the work of an invincible Mage.

Even though there were countless meteors streaking through the void, none of them struck the stairs.

For the sake of obtaining the Chapter of Holiness, Nie Yan was willing to brave any danger, to say nothing of the fact he had absolute confidence in his strength now. Even if he did meet with danger, he could rely on his skills to turn the situation around to his advantage. 

As Nie Yan ascended the stairs, he felt like he was walking through the void.

Nie Yan had no idea where he was anymore. Around him was a boundless void, and the stairs continued stretching upward without end. It felt similar to the dimension inside the Dark Demonic Space.

After climbing more than 200,000 steps, Nie Yan finally saw a black gate up ahead. It was sealed shut. On it were various strange engravings. He was instantly curious. What could lay beyond here?

Thinking to this point, a speck of light entered Nie Yan’s vision. There appeared to be something floating in front of the gate.

That light couldn’t be more familiar to Nie Yan.

It was unmistakably a chapter from the Book of Order, the Chapter of Holiness!

Nie Yan’s face lit up with elation. The final chapter was almost within reach!