Heroes' Prison

Chapter 245 - 240 Black Serpent

By this time, Huang Yi had completely exhausted the 15-layer limit for his War Soul Layers—nine for his Life Soul and six for his Defense War Soul. He could not activate any more since each person could only activate a maximum of 15 layers.

Next, he decided to eliminate the first six layers of his Life Soul, thereby freeing up some layer limits.

First, he checked the success rate of the Life Soul’s 3rd Stage, which had a high success rate of 98%. To eliminate this layer, he would need to hit that 2% chance of failure, which was as difficult as upgrading the 9th Stage. However, the Energy Value consumed by this layer was much less—merely 10 points, posing almost no burden.

The next moment, Huang Yi saw the success determination for the 3rd Stage—success!

This meant that he couldn’t eliminate this layer.

Afterwards, he checked the success determination for the Life Soul’s 6th Stage, which had a relatively high failure rate, and the system determined it as a failure!

Huang Yi immediately spent Experience Points and Crystals to try again with the 6th Stage, and successfully eliminated it.

Due to a War Soul setting that cleared all War Soul progress at that stage upon failure, the 4th, 5th, and 6th Stages, all belonging to the second phase, were now erased. Consequently, the corresponding Attribute Bonuses also vanished, and Huang Yi’s Life bonus abruptly decreased substantially.

However, this freed up three more limits!

Using these three limits, Huang Yi began upgrading the 7th Stage of his Defense War Soul!

The system determined this layer to be a success, and Huang Yi chose to upgrade, immediately increasing his Defense Points by 8%!

Fueled by enthusiasm, Huang Yi continued to check the success determination for the 8th Stage!

The next moment, he was slightly stunned!

Having braced himself for failure since the success rate for the 8th Stage was merely 5%, he hadn’t expected to see success again!

Once again, he chose to upgrade, activating the Defense War Soul’s 8th Stage, and immediately gained another 9% increase in Defense Points!

But the following 9th Stage wasn’t so lucky—the Eye of Time saw a failed result.

With that, Huang Yi had made some progress on the road to a Perfect War Soul!

His current War Soul Structure was now—Life Soul Layers 1-3 and 7-9 activated. For his Defense War Soul, Layers 1-8 were activated, leaving one more limit available for the Defense War Soul’s 9th Stage.

After this round of War Soul upgrades, his level plummeted to 58, but his strength increased significantly, particularly his ability to take hits, which was now on par with some dedicated tank players.

Now, Huang Yi could both deal and withstand damage, a feat unmatched in The Second World. Take Dao Feng and Thunder God for an example, Dao Feng’s Attack Power was much higher than Huang Yi’s, but his ability to absorb damage was not as strong. On the other hand, Thunder God’s ability to take hits was much higher than Huang Yi’s, but his Attack fell short.

Next, Huang Yi found Xiao Chunzi and Qin Shiyu, and the three resumed grinding levels at the Tower of Pantheons as they had done before.

...

Gradually, night fell.

Tiantai City Auction House was bustling with activity, as one guest after another queued up to enter, guided into the vast auction space by attendants. Today was Zi Wuyan Adventure Group’s special auction event, attracting over eighty thousand people to participate in the bidding, with ticket revenue alone reaching over eighty million Gold Coins! This was the brand effect of Zi Wuyan Adventure Group; they had already made a fortune before the auction even started.

At this time, a tall man carrying a Little White Cat walked in from the outside. The Little White Cat, with its large inquisitive eyes, looked around curiously, licking its paws, portraying the image of a curious baby.

This combination was strikingly conspicuous—the man with a calm expression had a sharp aura that kept people at a distance, while the playful and cute Little White Cat made others want to touch it. Such a contrasting pair managed to blend together unusually well.

This peculiar duo was none other than Huang Yi and Xiao Chunzi. When Xiao Chunzi heard that Huang Yi was attending the auction, she insisted on joining him. Unable to resist her pestering, Huang Yi had no choice but bring her along. Nevertheless, entrance tickets were already sold out, so Huang Yi had to disguise Xiao Chunzi as a Little White Cat, pretending she was his pet to sneak into the auction.

"Are you here to attend Zi Wuyan Adventure Group’s special auction event?" At that moment, an attendant approached and asked respectfully.

"Yes," Huang Yi nodded, handing over an entry ticket.

"I’m sorry, but we do not allow pets inside!" The attendant said apologetically, looking at the Little White Cat in Huang Yi’s arms.

"How about I give you an extra ten thousand Gold Coins, the equivalent of ten tickets?" Huang Yi suggested, pulling out a Diamond Coin and handing it to the attendant.

The attendant looked troubled. "I’m sorry, but we have rules to follow!"

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing dallying like that, with people queued up behind you!" The people at the end of the line grew impatient with Huang Yi’s delay and started to clamor.

The entire queue echoed in agreement, urging Huang Yi to hurry up.

"What is all this commotion about?" At that moment, a questioning voice emerged from inside the auction house, and a young man stepped out.

This man wore a refined golden vest and had his hair slickly combed back, emanating an air of elegant opulence, like some wealthy young master.

"Young Master Qian Zhe, this customer wishes to bring a pet inside, but we have a policy against that, no pets are allowed in the venue," the waiter explained the situation.

"Hmm, I’m very sorry, but our establishment does not permit the entrance of pets!" Young Master Qian Zhe said to Huang Yi with a faint voice.

Huang Yi furrowed his brows slightly. This Young Master Qian Zhe was clearly an NPC, but he appeared to possess a significant rank within the auction house.

Huang Yi looked down at the Little White Cat in his arms, which was now gazing up at him with big, pleading eyes, its tiny claws clutching his clothes as if afraid of being abandoned.

"Sss!" Just then, a sibilant voice hissing with a snake’s tongue sounded, sending shivers down the spine.

An elderly figure, cloaked in black, wearing a black hat, and masked with a black scarf, approached. His entire being was shrouded in black, revealing only his eyes, which made him look extremely mysterious. A black python was wrapped around his neck, with its triangular serpent eyes staring coldly at the crowd, flicking its tongue in a chilling and menacing manner.

Huang Yi’s eyelids twitched and he took another glance at the old man’s cloak.

His "Treasure Sniffing" ability had just detected that the old man’s black cloak was actually Legendary Equipment! Looking at his strange appearance, the man must be a powerful NPC.

"Ah! Lord Black Serpent, what brings you here, please come in!" Upon seeing General Black Serpent, Qian Zhe immediately displayed a face full of respectful smiles and promptly went up to greet him.

"Hmm, I’m here for the auction," the old man turned his head to look at Qian Zhe, his eyes utterly indifferent, and his voice came hoarsely from the black scarf, making it very uncomfortable to listen to.

"An honored guest! An honored guest! Let me personally escort you!" Qian Zhe immediately led the way, walking ahead with the utmost courtesy, ushering the elder into the auction house.

"If pets are not allowed, then why is that person allowed to bring one?" Huang Yi pointed at the dark figure and said to the waiter.

"Can’t you see who he is? Lord Black Serpent’s very name is enough to override any rule; the powerful don’t need to abide by the rules," the waiter sneered at Huang Yi, waving him off impatiently: "Move along, move along! Don’t block the others behind you."

"Yeah! You’re no honored guest, who do you think you are with such privileges! Get going and don’t waste our time here!" The people in the queue continued to urge.

"A name, huh? Then I wonder, does this name have the qualification to go in?" Huang Yi said, pulling out his name card and waving it in front of the waiter.

The waiter, initially looking annoyed, suddenly jerked as if electrocuted upon seeing the two words "Instakill" on the card, then stood there staring blankly.

After a moment, he looked at Huang Yi, his body trembling slightly, and stammered, "God! Slaughter, sla..."

"Lead the way!" Huang Yi immediately interrupted him. He had just evolved again, and his appearance was not quite the same as before. Even if the players around had seen his picture, they wouldn’t recognize him, and as long as he didn’t say anything, no one knew he was Instakill.

"Yes, yes, yes!" The waiter promptly nodded, completely changing his arrogant demeanor, and quickly led the way with respect.

Holding Little White Cat, Huang Yi strode inside.

"Huh? What in the world is going on?" Those in the queue were utterly baffled. The waiter had just been disrespectful to Huang Yi, but his attitude had suddenly changed in the blink of an eye, catching everyone off guard.

...

"Mr. Slaughter, my apologies for the unintended offense. Please, don’t take it to heart!" The waiter led the way, his body breaking out in a cold sweat, his voice low as he trembled when he spoke to Huang Yi.

"It’s fine, keep going," Huang Yi said nonchalantly, casually changing the subject, "So, what’s the story with that Lord Black Serpent?"

He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something very eerie about the old man’s presence, and it seemed somewhat familiar. After evolving as a Half-Beastman, Huang Yi’s sense of smell had increased greatly, making him very sensitive to scents.

"Lord Black Serpent..." the waiter began but seemed hesitant to continue, his expression complicated as he looked at Huang Yi.

"What’s the matter? Go on!" Huang Yi, seeing the waiter’s expression, grew even more curious.

"Lord Black Serpent, he is one of the three great generals under the command of the Sand Thief King..." the waiter said, bracing himself, "and since you have besieged the Sand Thief King, the two of you are actually enemies..."(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please cast your Recommendation Ticket and Monthly Tickets on Starting Point (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)