Heroes' Prison

Chapter 299 - 294: Invisible Competition

This heart was filled with Extreme Cold Power, which Huang Yi couldn’t use right now; he needed Dugu Lengcang’s help.

Last time, at Tiantai City Auction House, Dugu Lengcang purchased a strange metallic block with four Holy Crystal Stones, which could emit Extreme Heat Power, perfect for dispelling the heart’s Extreme Cold Power. Moreover, there was a peculiar creature sealed within the metallic block, and he could use the Heart of the Sand Thief King to probe what kind of changes would occur to that creature.

"Let’s go, next, we head to another underground palace, my incarnation has already arrived there," Huang Yi said to Overlord, and then turned to leave the underground palace.

...

At the same time, Black Serpent was also progressing through the scorching Desolate Sands, searching for the remaining hearts of the Sand Thief King. He and Huang Yi were unknowingly competing with each other, but neither was aware of the other’s existence.

"Black Serpent, are you heading to Dragon City?" At this moment, the python wrapped around Black Serpent asked with a deep tone, as though it were the voice of an important figure pulling strings from behind the curtains, mysterious and secretive.

"Master, I am heading to the two hiding spots for hearts near Dragon City," Black Serpent shook his head, wiping the sweat from his forehead, "I wouldn’t dare go to Dragon City. It has been taken over by the God of Slaughter, who has a Scorpion warrior as a guardian. Even Black Wolf almost died at its hands. My strength is similar to Black Wolf’s; it would be a dead end for me to go there."

"The God of Slaughter indeed is a fine seed. If I could use him, our plan would proceed much more smoothly," the python flicked its tongue, its tone revealing a hint of regret. Its triangular eyes glanced at Black Serpent and continued, "But don’t worry, once you’ve absorbed the 98 hearts of the Sand Thief King, I’ll give you some treasures that no one has ever seen before. Then you’ll be able to step into the Heavenly Domain Level you speak of, and this mainland will be yours to traverse." When it said "this mainland," its tone carried a hint of disdain.

"Thank you, Master! I will do my utmost to serve you," Black Serpent said excitedly, not doubting the python’s words at all. Its eyes shifted, cautiously glancing at the python wrapped around it, and then, with a bit of audacity, asked, "Master, where do you come from exactly? That way, when I carry out tasks for you in the future, I will have more direction."

"Hmph!" The python let out a cold hum as if thunder had struck directly in one’s heart, "Do not ask what you should not. You only need to follow my orders, and when the time comes, your rewards will not be slight."

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Black Serpent’s body trembled, drenched in cold sweat, as he fearfully responded.

Yet in his eyes remained a hint of confusion. He had encountered this python long ago and had witnessed its use of various extraordinary and unheard-of skills, skills no one had ever possessed throughout history, not even recorded in the annals. Its identity had always been an enigma, and where it came from was unknown.

"How much farther to the underground palace? I dislike this Sun! Hurry and find us some refuge," the python said after a while.

"Not far, just ten kilometers away. I’ll get there as fast as possible," Black Serpent promptly replied with respect, his steps becoming a blur as he sped up, leaving a trail of dust in the desert.

...

Huang Yi and Overlord had already emerged from the underground palace. By now, the Oasis had undergone a change; the Sand Trees had withered, their leaves drooping as if wilting, and the Mirage Illusion had disappeared.

Once the Heart of the Sand Thief King was taken, everything here had transformed.

Just then, Huang Yi was suddenly startled and sharply turned to stare in one direction with a grave expression.

"What’s wrong?" Overlord asked, seeing Huang Yi’s serious look.

"Someone is coming," Huang Yi said gravely, "And it’s a big shot, who has Legendary Equipment on him, and he’s approaching us rapidly, as though he’s coming specifically to this place. We need to escape quickly." As he spoke, Huang Yi immediately mounted the Raptor.

Overlord didn’t dare to linger and hastily mounted the Wind Dragon.

The two of them quickly fled the scene, disappearing without a trace, leaving behind an empty underground palace.

"Overlord, have the Wind Dragon continuously blow and scatter our footprints, or else they’ll discover us," Huang Yi looked back at the trail of footprints and said to Overlord.

"Okay!" Overlord nodded immediately and directed the Wind Dragon beneath him to blow, erasing the footprints in the sand until no trace was left.

Shortly after Huang Yi and Overlord left, Black Serpent indeed arrived at the location.

By now, the trees within the Oasis had withered, their leaves yellow, without any sign of life. Black Serpent came upon this scene with slight confusion.

Suddenly, Black Serpent caught sight of the opened entrance to the underground palace!

His expression abruptly shifted dramatically, as if he’d seen the most unbelievable thing in the world.

"This entrance has been uncovered?!" Black Serpent exclaimed in shock, rushing over to examine closely.

"The soil is still fresh, indicating that this underground palace has been unsealed not long ago. Moreover, there are human footprints on the soil. It appears this palace has recently encountered some turmoil," General Black Serpent muttered to himself before hastily jumping down into the underground palace.

"The temperature is wrong." As soon as they entered the underground palace, the python wrapped around General Black Serpent immediately remarked.

Although the temperature inside the palace was still very low, it had risen considerably since the time the Heart of the Sand Thief King was there; they could almost instantly discern the difference.

General Black Serpent rushed forward, and upon seeing the empty hall, with no guards in sight, his expression grew even more grave.

He ran straight to the deepest part of the underground palace and saw the barren altar with nothing on it.

"Damn it, someone beat us to it!" His expression turned colder than the temperature of the underground palace, and with a sinister look in his eyes, he circled around, saying in a grim voice, "The people here seem to have left not long ago, I want to see who dares to steal my treasure." After speaking, he immediately rushed out of the underground palace, returned to the outside, and began to search for footprints around the area.

"There are no footprints?" After circling the area, General Black Serpent found no traces of anyone leaving, which instantly irritated him, and he didn’t know which direction to chase.

At that moment, the python hissed, "They found this heart, so naturally they can find the next one. You’d better hurry to another underground palace!"

"Yes!" General Black Serpent nodded and sped off towards another underground palace near Dragon City.

...

"Instakill, shall we go to the next underground palace?" Overlord asked Huang Yi while they fled.

"It depends," Huang Yi pondered, "My incarnation is near that underground palace. I will stake it out and see if anyone goes there in two days. If not, we’ll move on. For now, let’s find the next heart. The person we just met reminds me of General Black Serpent, a subordinate of the Sand Thief King. It purchased an artifact with Extreme Heat Power at the Tiantai City Auction House last time, probably deciding to defect and covet all 98 hearts of the Sand Thief King for itself, then dispel the Extreme Cold Power. Now, we are already in competition. It must have collected some hearts already, but our only advantage is that we are hiding in the dark; it does not yet know who we are."

"Alright, then hand me that heart, and I’ll search again. As long as it’s within 500 kilometers and has the same heart, I can find it. Beyond this distance, I’m helpless," agreed Overlord with a nod.

Huang Yi immediately took out the Heart of the Sand Thief King they had just obtained and handed it to Overlord.

Overlord once again used the search skill, chanting that strange melody.

"Found it! There’s another Heart of the Sand Thief King 423 kilometers away. Let’s hurry over!" Soon, Overlord locked on to a new location.

No sooner had they planned to move, Huang Yi’s expression subtly changed. He turned to Overlord and said, "Just now, my incarnation perceived Legendary Equipment rapidly approaching that underground palace. It looks like it’s General Black Serpent, who probably knows all of the specific locations of the underground palaces and is collecting the hearts of the Sand Thief King from each. We have to speed up."

The two of them immediately spurred their mounts to full speed, racing in the direction of their target. Now they were in a race against the enemy, trying to snatch those hearts before the other could.

Three hours later, the two obtained a brand new heart and then set off without stopping for the next location.

Thus, Huang Yi and Overlord raced against time to collect the remaining hearts of the Sand Thief King. They chose a peculiar route, not the nearest underground palace, but rather more distant ones, giving up some hearts in order to buy themselves time.

General Black Serpent, meanwhile, was always trailing behind them, eating their dust. Though he occasionally managed to get some hearts, most of the time, he found the palaces empty. Not knowing who was behind it, he could only hold back his rage.

Days went by.

Huang Yi and Overlord had not returned to the city for more than half a month, constantly scouring the boundless Desolate Sands for the hearts. With their efforts, they had successfully collected 32 hearts, and General Black Serpent had never caught up to them.

Level-wise, both had made huge progress, with each discovery in the underground palaces signifying a feast of Experience Points. Huang Yi had risen to Level 68, while Overlord was still Level 50, as he had put all his Experience Points into War Soul and successfully upgraded his War Soul Points to the 7th Stage.

One day, while the two were slaying monsters in a brand new underground palace, Huang Yi suddenly looked solemn as he sensed Legendary Equipment rapidly approaching.

General Black Serpent, finally here!

————

This extra update is for [koniss]. Seeing a fellow countryman is exciting, thank you for the support! It’s really hot these days, everyone please be careful to avoid heatstroke and keep cool! (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Starting Point (qidian.com) to cast your Recommendation Ticket and Monthly Ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)