Heroes' Prison

Chapter 248 - 243 Shadow

With this move, Huang Yi had nipped a potential threat in the bud.

However, he now owed Dugu Lengcang a favor. Dugu Lengcang didn’t have to buy the item whose effect was unknown, but now he had taken the risk of offending Black Serpent by purchasing it, which was tantamount to putting his life on the line to help.

Afterward, Huang Yi and Xiao Chunzi waited in the private box for a while until a server knocked on the door and came in, delivering the rune stone and two pieces of Orange Gear he had won.

Huang Yi paid promptly, storing the two pieces of gear in his storage ring. The equipment required level 60 to wear, and Huang Yi, having dropped to level 58, did not meet the requirements yet.

Huang Yi took out the Critical Damage Rune, a blood-red rune stone that he had purchased for 700,000, making it the most expensive rune he had ever acquired.

He immediately absorbed the rune, choosing to bind it to the skill[Heavy Judgment]he had learned not long ago.

[System Prompt]: Congratulations on successfully fusing the Critical Damage Rune into the skill [Heavy Judgment].

The system recognized the fusion. Some runes couldn’t be fused with certain skills under special circumstances. For example, the Dizziness Rune from the previous auction could not be bound to some no-cooldown instant-cast skills. Take Arcane Missiles, for instance, an instant single-target attack skill—an association with a Dizziness Rune would allow continuous stunning of enemies until death, a clear bug that would not occur in the system.

After fusing the rune, [Heavy Judgment]inflicted 30% more damage on enemies. This was an increase in damage, not attack power, and did not account for the enemy’s defense.

Huang Yi and Xiao Chunzi left the private box, and Dugu Lengcang also happened to come out at the same time.

"Long time no see!" Dugu Lengcang looked at Huang Yi with a lazy smile, took out the chainmail helmet from his storage ring, and handed it to him.

"Thanks!" Huang Yi took the helmet and placed it in his storage ring before inviting, "How about we go have a meal together?"

"Sure!" Dugu Lengcang nodded, then glanced at Xiao Chunzi. His languid eyes brightened slightly. He crouched down, pinched her little face, and asked, "Little sister, what’s your name?"

"I’m Xiao Chunzi," she said timidly, holding tightly to Huang Yi’s arm and hiding behind him, appearing a bit shy.

"She’s my sister," Huang Yi introduced with a slight smile, "and just like you, she’s a Cold Storer."

"What a cute loli. She’s sure to become a breathtakingly beautiful woman when she grows up!" praised Dugu Lengcang.

Thenceforth, the three of them left the auction house together and walked downstairs.

"Hmph!" As they left, a figure suddenly materialized in the air—it was none other than the enigmatic Black Serpent. He watched coldly the direction in which Dugu Lengcang departed, a cruel smile appearing on his lips as he followed them quietly.

After leaving the auction, Huang Yi, Xiao Chunzi, and Dugu Lengcang found a luxurious hotel in Tiantai City, chose a private room, and ordered a table full of food.

"You’ve been marked," Huang Yi said to Dugu Lengcang as soon as they closed the door of the private room.

"By your enemy?" Dugu Lengcang asked calmly, looking curiously at Huang Yi, "How did you spot him?"

"That man is Black Serpent, one of the three great generals under the Sand Thief King. He has a piece of Legendary Equipment on him, which I can sense. I noticed that the equipment has remained very close to us, yet we have never seen him. He must have used invisibility to track us. Right now, he’s stopped at the entrance of this hotel, waiting for us to come out," said Huang Yi, taking a sip of tea.

"No worries, we’ve been sticking to crowded places. As long as I don’t wander into deserted alleys, he wouldn’t dare make a move within the city, or else this city’s lord wouldn’t let him off. I’ll head straight to the Teleportation Field later and return to my Lonely City. He won’t be able to catch up," Dugu Lengcang said nonchalantly. "Besides, I’ve stored that treasure in my storage ring. Even if he kills me, he won’t be able to loot it."

"Thanks for stepping in to buy that treasure earlier; otherwise, you wouldn’t have offended Black Serpent," Huang Yi sincerely thanked.

Dugu Lengcang smiled faintly, "Actually, if he had bid just one more Holy Crystal Stone, I wouldn’t have been able to get it. A long time ago, when I was traversing the continent, I found a treasure and acquired ten Holy Crystal Stones. Just now, I used the last four to buy that treasure. It’s a pity I don’t know the specific use of that item."

Huang Yi pondered for a moment, then said, "Visit Tiantai City again in five days, and I will analyze that treasure for you." His plan was to use The Third Eye of his incarnation to inspect it.

That eye was extremely special and even possessed Piercing Vision. At that time, he would be able to see the inner structure of that treasure at a glance, likely finding some clues.

However, his incarnation had already traveled to another major city, and it would take roughly five days to arrive there. By then, he would be able to teleport back.

"Instakill, will you be creating a guild?" Dugu Lengcang asked at that moment.

"I will," nodded Huang Yi, "in about a month."

"If you’re just creating a guild for fun, then it doesn’t matter much. But if you want to develop it formally like the Xuanyuan Clan and Hall of Famous Generals, it will consume a lot of wealth. The first step is to establish a headquarters city, and I can lend you the funds for this city construction,"

Huang Yi shook his head, a mysterious smile on his face, and said, "No, I have a ready-made city. We can save that expense and directly take over that city when the time comes."

"Oh? What city?" Dugu Lengcang’s interest piqued, his lazy expression changing.

"Dragon City!" Huang Yi uttered two words.

Dragon City was now a desolate city, but it was precisely because of this that he had the opportunity to take it over and make it his own. The biggest threat, the Sand Thief King, had already been trapped, and the remaining three great generals were not united, with Black Serpent even considering rebellion. This was the most opportune moment to seize the city. Once he conquered Dragon City, it would be as if he had gained a guild headquarters out of thin air, and Dragon City was much larger than Xuanyuan Town, which would immediately boost their fame.

...

The three of them talked while finishing their meal, and then Dugu Lengcang teleported back to his Lonely City, while Huang Yi and Xiao Chunzi teleported to their base.

Tiantai City was left with only an enraged Black Serpent, who had fruitlessly tracked them, missing any opportunity to strike.

In the days that followed, it was back to level grinding in the Tower of Pantheons.

Five days later, Huang Yi’s incarnation finally reached a brand new city, activated its teleportation circle, and returned to Tiantai City immediately.

That day, as agreed, Dugu Lengcang arrived, and the two of them headed into the Tower of Pantheons. This place, where death did not result in level loss, was the best location for research and experimentation.

Dugu Lengcang opened his storage ring and handed over the round metal block he had bought five days earlier to Huang Yi’s incarnation.

"Hmm? This feels incredibly comfortable!" As soon as Huang Yi took the round metal block, a breath flowed from his hands into his body and with his bloodstream to every corner, especially to his legs, as if he were soaking in a hot spring.

"What’s happening?" Dugu Lengcang yawned, looking like he was still sleepy and forever lethargic.

"This metal block is bursting with fire element, it should be a treasure for a Fire Mage." Huang Yi initially assessed, his incarnation’s blood and legs were of Lucifer, extremely sensitive to the fire element. Holding this treasure, he could clearly feel an ocean of fire element within it, seemingly endless. If a fire-based class obtained this treasure, it would likely boost the damage of fire-based skills significantly.

However, this obviously wasn’t the full extent of the metal block’s purpose.

Huang Yi’s forehead twisted, his skin slowly splitting open to reveal The Third Eye.

This eye was like the Fiery Eyes, possessing incredibly powerful vision, which Huang Yi had nearly fully developed. It had various abilities including extreme long-range vision, seeing through sand and smoke, piercing vision, Dark Vision, seeing through disguises, seeing through Invisibility, seeing through clones, and many other auxiliary skills.

The Third Eye blinked, focusing intently on the palm-sized metal block, with its gaze penetrating inside to see the structure of the block.

Inside the metal block was hollow, filled with a rich fire element aura that had become so concentrated it had turned liquid, occupying the internal space. Huang Yi had never seen such rich fire element; even the previous Lucifer’s Legs had nothing on this intensity. If this metal block burst open and the liquid spilled out, the entire Desolate Sands would likely turn to ashes, much like a nuclear weapon in the real world.

From this perspective, the value of this treasure was definitely worth more than 4 Holy Crystal Stones. Dugu Lengcang had bought a truly valuable treasure at a bargain.

Huang Yi continued to observe carefully. After some time, he suddenly realized that the liquid inside shifted slightly, an almost negligible movement!

If it weren’t for the extreme sensitivity of The Third Eye, he certainly wouldn’t have noticed this change.

As this liquid moved, the fire element aura emitted by the metal block intensified over tenfold. But once the liquid stilled, the violent fire element quickly returned to normal.

Why did the liquid inside suddenly move? Huang Yi frowned and pondered, continuing to scrutinize the metal block with an even more focused mindset, studying the liquid.

Gradually, Huang Yi noticed the liquid moved several times, each occurrence sudden without any warning. And with each movement of the liquid, the fire element emitted by the metal block became more intense and violent.

Finally, the liquid moved once more!

And this time, Huang Yi finally spotted a difference—

There was a tiny dark shadow within the liquid, slowly wriggling around!

That small shadow was actually a living creature!