Heroes' Prison

Chapter 270 - 265 Earth Dragon Valley

"Sorry, there’s a constant shortage of Orange Gear. As soon as it’s available, it gets snapped up at a high price. We currently have no stock. Orange Gear typically appears in large quantities at special auctions, like the recent exclusive auction held by the Zi Wuyan Adventure Group, where over 80 pieces of Orange Gear were auctioned off," Qian Zhe said apologetically.

"All right! I got it!" Huang Yi felt slightly disappointed. He had billions of Gold Coins to spend but could not buy the gear he wanted, thus stuck with wearing the same set he already had.

...

Following that, Huang Yi left the auction house with Qian Zhe’s personal escort and returned to the base through the Teleportation Circle.

At that moment, Qin Shiyu was not at the base, probably busy dealing with Guild affairs. Xiao Chunzi was offline, too—being a Cold Storer, the only reason she would be offline was if she had gone to the forums.

Huang Yi decided to solo run the Tower of Pantheons. Having undergone a Job Change, his strength had greatly increased, allowing him to challenge higher levels of the Tower. Previously, the highest level he managed to clear solo was the 55th floor. This time, he set his sights on an unprecedented 60th floor—equal to his own Level! Currently, only a handful of top players like Dao Feng, Dragon Spike, and the Pope could clear this level. The world record was set by Dao Feng three days ago, finishing at 37 minutes and 22 seconds, when he was Level 65—just five levels above the floor.

The next moment, with a flash of light, Huang Yi appeared inside the Tower of Pantheons.

He activated the Eye of Time, previewing the equipment the floor’s BOSS would drop ahead of time. Entering the Tower at his own level meant a very high drop rate, and with the Overlord’s Pact Storage Ring, the rate would double.

"Huh?" Just then, Huang Yi was taken aback.

He actually saw Orange Gear—two pieces, no less, dropped by the first and fifth BOSSes!

In his previous solo runs of the Tower, the best loot he got was Purple Martial gear, but this time, challenging a floor equal to his level, he finally saw Orange Gear drops!

He was in dire need of Orange Gear, having failed to acquire any at the auction house. Unexpectedly, two pieces were waiting for him here. The only downside was that both were jewelry, not weapons, so they weren’t as valuable. Moreover, this was the 60th floor, and he wasn’t sure if he could defeat it.

However, he was completely confident about the first BOSS. Having completed his Job Change, that first BOSS was like delivering a meal on a platter. It was also a stroke of good luck, as typically, the best gear dropped from the fourth and fifth BOSSes, whom he had no assurance of beating.

Huang Yi gripped his weapon and rushed forward, smashing a small monster with a Heavy Judgment.

"Boom!" The creature burst into a cloud of debris, instantly killed!

This was the 60th floor, equal to Huang Yi’s Level! For others, this was a suicide mission, as challenging floors 10 levels below one’s own was the norm. Yet, Huang Yi was still able to instakill a minor monster at this equivalent floor level. Before his Job Change, this feat would have been impossible, but now, he had entered an entirely different realm of power.

After the Job Change, Huang Yi’s power surged, greatly accelerating his progression. Even the minor monsters of this same-level floor fell to his attacks, succumbing to a round of Plague and transforming into a substantial amount of Experience Points.

Gradually delving deeper, Huang Yi finally approached the first BOSS. This BOSS was a Swordsman, in a white robe with a clearwater longsword—emanating an ethereal aura.

"Are you here to challenge me?" The Swordsman saw Huang Yi and uttered his first line.

"Boom!" In response, Huang Yi launched a Pursuit, followed by a thunderous slam of Heavy Judgment!

The Swordsman was stunned, solidly taking the blow and suffering a brutal attack. Huang Yi’s Heavy Judgment, a powerful single-target skill, had been fused with a Critical Damage Rune and enhanced through the Job Change, resulting in an attack that depleted 5% of the Swordsman’s Health Points!

Huang Yi swung his hammer continuously, relentlessly striking. His Attack Speed and Critical Hit Attribute had increased, making the blows satisfyingly impactful, and luckily, two critical hits emerged. To others, this formidable BOSS might require careful and prolonged engagement, but Huang Yi’s flurry reduced its Health Points to below 70% in just two seconds.

"I won’t let you get away with this!" The Swordsman recovered and shouted his second line, sword raised with furious intensity.

"Disarm!" Huang Yi snatched the weapon right out of his hands, negating the Swordsman’s aggressive strike.

Huang Yi continued his barrage, now with a raised Rage cap of 200 points and increased Rage Absorption rate, effectively raising the frequency of Heavy Judgment strikes.

Gradually, Huang Yi found a stable rhythm, alternating normal attacks with Heavy Judgments, rapidly draining the Swordsman’s Health Points.

Deprived of his weapon, the Swordsman resorted to primitive hand-to-hand combat against Huang Yi, but his martial skills were weak, barely scratching Huang Yi, who barely lost any Health Points, and with his Vampiric Talent, he quickly recovered any lost Health.

After 10 seconds, the Swordsman was down to his last 10% Health Points, while Huang Yi remained at full Health.

"You are seeking death!" the Swordsman finally retrieved his weapon and shouted his third line. He unleashed his dying counterattack, a skill of immense power—a flash of the sword’s brilliance pierced through Huang Yi’s body, dealing a strike devastating enough for an instakill.

This move was the first BOSS’s most troublesome skill, and its release was incredibly fast; melee players could hardly dodge it. The common strategy amongst players was to fight until about 11% of the BOSS’s health was left, then immediately retreat to a distance and continue the assault with ranged attacks. Even melee classes would retreat and throw darts or arrow sleeves, whittling down the BOSS’s health slowly from afar to avoid this skill.

At this moment, Huang Yi wasn’t worried; after his job change to Executioner, he gained a new talent called "Death Penalty Exemption," which prevented him from being instakilled. When faced with a fatal threat, he would retain a sliver of health, and he was planning to take this opportunity to test this ability.

"Pfft!" The next instant, Huang Yi’s health rapidly depleted to the last point, leaving him on the verge of death, where even the slightest touch would finish him off.

"Last Stand!" Huang Yi immediately activated his racial skill. These two skills were a natural pair, perfectly complementing each other when used in conjunction—a racial skill and a class skill, their synergy almost perfect!

At this time, Huang Yi was in his strongest state!

He possessed a racial talent called "Boiling Beast Blood," which increased his attack power by 1% for every 5% decrease in his health.

He also had a class talent "Judgment Aura," whereby for every 1% loss in health, his attack speed would increase by 1%.

The racial skill "Last Stand" also provided a 15% increase to attack power, critical hit rate, and critical hit effect.

Finally, when the new talent "Death Penalty Exemption" triggered, it boosted his attack power by 100% for one minute!

Now, although Huang Yi was closest to death, the stacking effects of his various talents and skills had pushed his attack capability to an extreme limit.

Seizing the moment, he quickly unleashed his most powerful single-target attack skill "Heavy Judgment"—an unprecedented, mighty strike crashed down onto the BOSS!

The blow was so powerful that the tip of the hammer radiated a sharp glow, brimming with strength!

"Boom!" The next moment, the hammer, carrying the might of a peerless strike, mercilessly smashed into the Swordsman BOSS!

Subsequently, the Swordsman BOSS exploded into a shower of blood and flesh, leaving not even a corpse behind!

He was instakilled instantly, deprived of any chance to activate a life-saving skill!

Huang Yi made quick work of this BOSS. If it had been before his job change, he would have had to go to great lengths, but now, just after the job change, it was a matter of seconds to resolve the fight.

After the Swordsman’s death, it finally dropped that Orange Gear—a Level 60 Orange Gear Necklace, which was much better than the Level 50 Purple Gear Necklace that Huang Yi had on him.

This was the first time Huang Yi had ever looted Orange Gear alone since he began soloing the Tower of Pantheons. The last time he obtained Orange Gear from a BOSS drop was when he was with Dao Feng and others clearing the 50th floor, but since the 50th floor was only for 5000 people mode, it couldn’t be soloed.

Huang Yi immediately equipped the Orange Gear. Now his gear was even stronger, bringing him one step closer to Dao Feng and the others. Once his equipment and his Attack Spirit were enhanced, he would be more or less on the same level as they were.

However, Dao Feng and the others had been cultivating in The Second World for over two years; they had the advantage of time, a diversity of treasures, and they had completed many special achievements, each adding an attribute. These weren’t things that could be caught up with in a short time; they required time to stack up.

Of course, Huang Yi had his own unique advantages.

Firstly, he was on the path of the Perfect War Soul. Once he leveled up his Attack Spirit points, his War Soul would become the strongest in The Second World, something Dao Feng and the others could not compare to.

Additionally, he had just completed the S-rank Job Change Challenge, while Dao Feng and the others could only complete up to A-rank, which gave him a permanent lead. The more difficult the Job Change Challenge, the more attribute points it added. Completing the simplest D-rank Job Change Challenge would only provide 500 points, C-rank 1500 points, B-rank 2500 points, A-rank 3500 points. When Huang Yi completed the S-rank Job Change Challenge, the Executioner’s strength increased by 2000 points, with Constitution, Agility, and Intelligence each gaining 500 points. In addition, he received 1000 free attribute points, totaling 4500 points in attributes, permanently 1000 points above Dao Feng and the others who only completed the A-rank challenge.

Huang Yi meditated on the spot, fully restoring his health before continuing forward.

Afterward, he smoothly defeated the second BOSS but was stopped by the third BOSS, falling just short. If his equipment had been slightly better, he could have made it through.

Through this bout of monster-slaying, Huang Yi succeeded in advancing to Level 61, reaping substantial rewards from the endeavor! (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Starting Point (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation ticket and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)