Chapter 858 – Insignia of the God of War
Class swapping to a Raider was an incredibly difficult choice. After all, many Warriors were already over Level 130. Starting over from scratch meant throwing away the time and effort they spent levelling up.

However, according to the information found online, a barbarian Raider was more powerful than a Warrior by roughly 30%.

The structure of levelling up supported the low level players to catch up to the rest. As such, the choice was obvious for some, and they wouldn’t hesitate to class swap to a barbarian Raider.

A Level 100 barbarian Raider was as strong as a Level 130 human or orc Warrior. When adding their class exclusive skills to the equation, the difference in strength only became bigger.

Reaching Level 100 from scratch would take no more than five or six months. With the help of a high level Mage, that could be shortened to half that time.

“Here, take these War God Insignias. When a Warrior changes to a barbarian Raider, they can show the insignia to the tribe elders to preserve their current level.” War God Kelo passed on six War God Insignias to Nie Yan.

“Thank you, sir Kelo.”

“I’ll be taking my leave. If you need my help, crush one of the Kelo Runestones,” War God Kelo said. His face was somewhat pale. The thousand years of imprisonment had probably taken a heavy toll on him.

After bidding farewell, War God Kelo disappeared.

Nie Yan received a notification.

You have completed the quest ‘War God Kelo’s Request’. You have received one level and +300 Influence in the barbarian tribe.

Nie Yan’s eyes lit up with joy. The quest reward was quite generous, especially the level up. As for the influence bonus, he would have to test out the effects himself the next time he encountered a barbarian.

With his business here concluded, Nie Yan teleported away with Instant Transmission.

About 15 minutes later, several Thieves arrived in front of the crucifix. Scattered on the ground were broken chains.

Nie Yan was the first, but not the only one to find the imprisoned War God Kelo. Over the last year, many players had found him chained up to the crucifix. All of them had approached him and attempted to obtain a quest, only to be met with failure.

As a Level 360 Lord, War God Kelo was the highest level NPC players had discovered so far. So, he was quite famous. Like an attraction, people would go on an excursion to see him in the flesh.

However, War God Kelo was gone! It seemed Nie Yan had freed him. This was a bombshell piece of news!

Recalling how Nie Yan was here just moments ago, the Thieves immediately connected the dots. It appeared the Mad Rogue had completed another legendary quest!

…

Back in the Angel Corps guild headquarters, Soaring Angel was anxiously tapping the armrest of his throne. The release of a new race and class didn’t make him feel the least bit excited. Rather, he felt a trace of worry in his heart.

「Did anyone discover what Nirvana Flame was doing in Sinful Gorge?」Soaring Angel asked irritably in guild chat.

「H-he freed War God Kelo!」

「W-WHAT!?」Soaring Angel shot up from his seat. War God Kelo was a Level 360 Lord. If such an existence would help Nirvana Flame, they might as well throw down their weapons and raise the white flag. He restlessly paced back and forth before eventually calming down. Logically speaking, NPCs like Kelo wouldn’t interfere in the conflicts between players, unless it was related to a special quest-related event. For example, the only reason Half-Demon Angud was attacking Asskickers United was to obtain the Death God’s Edge. If Nie Yan handed it over, he would immediately leave.

Nie Yan’s rescue of War God Kelo was probably only a quest. No wonder he had disappeared for such a long time. While Asskickers United was being attacked by Angud, he was busy doing this quest. That had to be it! Soaring Angel suddenly recalled something. He turned to Stone Splitter and anxiously said, “Quickly send word to Pantheon and have Angud return to the underworld. Nirvana Flame is about to make his move!”

“Understood!” Stone Splitter replied. He immediately went to carry out Soaring Angel’s orders.

Soaring Angel’s expression darkened. He glanced at his inventory. Will these be enough? His opponent was Nirvana Flame. No matter how much he prepared, it was never enough.

Soaring Angel rang up Cao Xu. That wily old fox was suspiciously calm. His 20-guild coalition didn’t appear to be making any large moves on the surface, business as usual. But apparently, the Century Financial Group was madly recruiting experts, resorting to any means fair or foul, including blackmail, imprisonment, and of course bribery. All the expert solo players had been recruited by them, and they had surpassed Angel Corps already in the number of Masters. Soaring Angel had no choice but to admit that he was still inexperienced compared to Cao Xu. He didn’t have the courage to be as unscrupulous and underhanded!

…

The north of the Satreen Empire. In the eastern district of a small town stood a grand castle. Most recently, it had been bought by the Century Financial Group and became Cao Xu’s private residence.

Cao Xu was sitting in a recliner leisurely reading a book titled, “Legends of the Atlanta Continent”.

Be it Conviction’s history, geography, culture, or anything else, no one was more knowledgeable than Cao Xu. Though he might not enjoy the thrill of battle, his understanding of every class, skill, synergy, and PvP technique that had ever appeared had reached the acme. Even Nie Yan’s techniques were thoroughly analyzed and passed on to the Thieves under him. He spoke over 200 languages in the game and frequently interacted with NPC scholars, obtaining clues about various quests. More than half of all the experts in the Century Financial Group had received pointers from him.

The Century Financial Group’s venture into the Viridian Empire ended in failure. So, Cao Xu focused his attention elsewhere. It didn’t take long for him to secure a foothold in the Satreen Empire, to the extent that he could go toe-to-toe with Angel Corps. At the same time, he also controlled a significant stake in Angel Corps. To have accomplished this much in such a short span of time was simply astonishing.

Cao Xu had 200 players standing behind him in rank and file. They were all recent recruits of the Century Financial Group.

Even though the Century Financial Group acquired a majority stake in over 20 guilds, they never established one themselves. The 100,000 players directly under Cao Xu weren’t allowed to join any guild either. Like this, they appeared like random solo players to the public.

“You’ve all arrived,” Cao Xu insipidly said, flipping over to the next page of his book.

Among these 200 people, many were glaring daggers at Cao Xu.

“I know many of you here wish nothing more than to rip me to shreds. You’re free to do as you please. However, I hope you think about the loved ones at home. Surely, they desire to see you again. So, make sure you complete your missions. I won’t tolerate any mistakes,” Cao Xu said in a calm, leisurely tone.

Many of those present trembled at Cao Xu’s words. They all understood what he meant. If they dared to pull anything funny, one could imagine what sort of fate awaited them. They were already in the palms of his hand.

Some were here under duress. Others were lured in by fat stacks of cash. However, they all understood one thing. They could not disobey Cao Xu.

“Did you collect the items I asked for?”

“We’ve gathered most of them. However, the Occult Talismans, Book of Resurrection, and Chapters of Order are fairly difficult to obtain. We’ve only obtained two low-rank Occult Talismans and six chapters, but they’re not part of the same volume.”

“Useless idiots! Did I not give you all the quest clues for the Occult Talismans and the Book of Resurrection? As for the chapters, I’ll give you three more days to complete a volume!” Cao Xu said in a grave tone.

“T-that’s impossible…”

“Yeah, there’s no way we can do that!”

…

Cao Xu’s orders were immediately met with opposition.

“Obtaining the high rank Occult Talisman is a legendary quest. We’ve already wiped more than 10 times!

“The Book of Resurrection is maybe even harder! We need to kill the Level 180 Variant Lord General of Darkness to reach that chest. We need at least a 5,000-man expedition team,” a Champion stepped forward and said. His words immediately received the agreement of several dozen others.

An elven Magister also stepped forward. “It’s impossible for us to complete a volume in three days. We pretty much have to kill Nirvana Flame to finish any volume. We’re not his match!”

After hearing their words, Cao Xu furrowed his brows. It appeared obtaining these last few items simply wasn’t possible right now.

As Cao Xu was pondering, two Shadow Dancers stepped forward. “Boss, leave the Occult Talisman and Book of Resurrection to us.”

Cao Xu shot a glance at the two Shadow Dancers and waved his hand. “Fine, don’t disappoint me.”

“Understood!” The two Shadow Dancers bowed before withdrawing.

“Forget about the Chapters of Order. I’ll give you a new mission,” Cao Xu said. After learning the other chapters were in the hands of Nie Yan, he had no choice but to give up.

The meeting continued for another 20 minutes before everyone scattered. Cao Xu reclined back into his seat and looked out the window. In the distance was an endless barren, and on the horizon was the blood red setting sun.