Heroes' Prison

Chapter 408 - 398 Poet’s Suggestion

Huang Yi bit into a piece of winter melon and said while eating, "I wouldn’t know about that, as I haven’t gone out of my way to understand this part of history. However, in the future, as our strength increases and our influence in The Second World grows, we should come into contact with some of his history, since he’s one of The Second World’s most important historical figures. Some Epic Equipment and even Divine Artifacts should be related to him."

"Haha! God of Slaughter is right! The Yellow Emperor is indeed one of the figures who have shaped the course of The Second World." Just then, an unfamiliar voice suddenly rang out beside Huang Yi.

Huang Yi turned his head to see that the speaker was a passerby walking beside him.

This passerby looked to be around twenty years old, with a lean body and the delicate appearance of a scholar, but he had a large wine gourd hanging at his waist, giving off the aura of a wandering poet.

"Hmm? It’s you!" Huang Yi was slightly surprised upon seeing this person.

"God of Slaughter, long time no see," the man nodded with a hint of a smile, "Ever since we parted ways at the Osmanthus Inn half a year ago, we haven’t seen each other again. At that time, my eyes were poor, and I failed to recognize you as Instakill. I’ve regretted it for a long time, and this time I’ve specifically come to witness your elegance."

It turned out that the passerby was The Poet Huang Yi had met half a year ago when he wiped out Wind Forest Stronghold and was on his way to Bai Long Lake, in a village along the forest at the Osmanthus Inn — The Poet. At that time, he was telling stories to a group of children, coincidentally recounting the tale of how Huang Yi annihilated Wind Forest Stronghold.

Moreover, The Poet was a forum celebrity, regularly compiling information about top players and powers for players from various countries to consult, as well as frequently analyzing current events with well-founded, logical explanations. His influence in the forum was comparable to Huang Yi’s influence in The Second World, alongside others such as Heartless Reminiscence and Wen Tao.

"Do you have something you need from me? How about we find an inn to eat and talk?" Huang Yi looked at The Poet. He held great respect for The Poet and had wanted to chat with him for a long time to hear his thoughts on the current world affairs.

The Poet shook his head and said with a smile, "No need for that, something casual is fine. I didn’t hold much hope when I came here, but I didn’t expect to actually meet you. The things that have happened to you in the past half year have truly astonished me. Seeing you in person has made me very happy. Although I love to drink, I still have some in my gourd. I’d like to go with you to the Tower of Pantheons to level grind. How about we talk while doing that?"

"Sure!" Huang Yi nodded and sent The Poet a team invitation, adding him to his team.

"Poet brother!" At this moment, Xiao Chunzi took another bite of winter melon and asked, "Can you continue with the story about the Yellow Emperor you were just telling? What world did he come from?"

"I’m not sure which world he came from specifically; the ancient texts passed down don’t mention it, but we might know in the future because he is an ultimate figure in The Second World. We will surely touch upon that history one day." The Poet shook his head, glanced at the curious Xiao Chunzi with a smile, and said, "But I do know an interesting story. It is said that a Plot Planner from Era Corporation, during a space journey, accidentally obtained a strange red stone. That night when he fell asleep, he dreamt of a plot, which was later written into the storyline of The Second World. However, this news is just a rumor that circulates online, and who knows if such a fantastical story is true. It’s probably just some writer’s fictional tale..."

The three of them chatted as they made their way to Dragon City’s Teleportation Circle and teleported to the 90th Stage in 5-player mode to start level grinding.

Currently, among the three of them, Huang Yi is the highest at Level 90, The Poet is Level 75, and Xiao Chunzi is even lower, only a bit over Level 50.

However, Xiao Chunzi had awakened the Nefalem’s Bloodline, something even Huang Yi had not managed to do. Under the amplification of her series of support skills, the strength of the three-person team had been greatly enhanced. And as a Bard, a Priest Class profession, capable of healing, the three of them formed a complementary team. Huang Yi usually couldn’t solo grind the five-person mode of the 90th Stage, but now he could.

"Instakill, does your Hero Guild want to go public?" At this moment, Poet healed Huang Yi and asked.

"Yes, as soon as the Sun Guild went public, it jumped to become the world’s The First Guild. Who wouldn’t be jealous? I don’t want to fall behind," said Huang Yi while unleashing various group attack skills.

"But your guild is different from Thunder God’s Sun Guild," the Poet shook his head and analyzed, "Although your guild is very famous, and this continent is even named after your Hero Guild, in reality, the most valuable part of your guild is yourself. Just your ability to summon a large group of Holy Domain Warriors is enough to shock the world. With you, no one dares to offend the Hero Guild, and the hope is limitless. If I were an investor, I would be looking at you, not the guild behind you. Your halo is too big, to the point that it overshadows the guild behind you. Without you, your guild wouldn’t have much to shine with."

The Poet spoke with ease, as if directing the affairs of the world and analyzing the global situation: "On the other hand, the core competitiveness of the Sun Guild, apart from having a leader like Thunder God, who is as renowned as you, is that they are the only guild in the world to own a Deep Sea Battleship. They dominate the oceans and control transoceanic trade between continents. This is the strength of the guild itself."

Here, the Poet chuckled and said, "To put it bluntly, even if Thunder God died one day, it wouldn’t affect their deep-sea fleet. They could still operate and continue to dominate the world. This is their core competitiveness. What your Hero Guild lacks is exactly this point. If you died, your guild wouldn’t be able to compete with the Sun Guild at all."

"So, what should we do?" Huang Yi asked, listening humbly to the Poet’s advice.

"Do you still remember Dao Feng?" The Poet suddenly asked back, his expression turning somewhat nostalgic: "Half a year ago, when the second annual grand ceremony was about to be convened, Dao Feng didn’t focus on improving his own strength but chose to push for the first kill of the 50th stage of the Tower of Pantheons with his team. He also sought your cooperation to jointly defeat the Zombie King. In fact, the situation Dao Feng faced back then was a bit like what you’re facing now. At the time, the largest guild in the world was the Pope’s Heaven’s Guild, and although the Xuanyuan Guild behind Dao Feng was also well-known, it relied more on Dao Feng himself and had difficulty aiming for the best guild award."

Dao Feng was clearly aware of this, so he focused on the competition for the first kill to strengthen the guild’s own team cohesion and combat power. He first found Thunder God and then you, all in an effort for this cause. You know the result, he succeeded. He led the Xuanyuan Guild to the best guild award. Since then, the Xuanyuan Clan has had its real competitiveness, especially their Yanhuang Legion, which has made very visible progress."

"In the past three months, the Yanhuang Legion has even surpassed the previous winner of the best team award, the Heavenly Group, in all the indicators such as instance clearance time, casualty rate, and pioneering efficiency, ranking first among all instance groups in the world. Furthermore, their team attrition rate has remained the lowest among all S-rank teams in the world. They have solidified as a unit now; it’s tough for others to poach from them, such is Dao Feng’s effort. Otherwise, do you think he would retire so confidently? Now, Dao Feng has been retired for a long time, and the Xuanyuan Guild indeed isn’t what it used to be, but after all, the damage hasn’t reached the core, and they are still a behemoth with the core competitiveness still intact," said the Poet, his face showing reverence as he clearly felt deep respect for Dao Feng, the reclusive giant.

Huang Yi nodded, recalling that day’s events: "Indeed, I still remember that day when the Pope suddenly pulled together a bunch of Rare Class Holders, and while no one was paying attention, he suddenly started the race for the first kill of the Zombie King. At that time, Dao Feng had me command the Yanhuang Legion, and when we vied with the Pope for the first kill, he bowed to me. It was quite shocking at the time. Such a character would actually bow to a newcomer like me for the guild’s first kill. His dedication to the Xuanyuan Clan was truly all-out, and his failure to win the best individual award later might have been related to the distraction during that period."

The Poet took off the Wine Gourd from his waist, tilted his head back for a drink, with the liquor spilling from the corner of his mouth, dampening his clothes. He wiped his mouth, looking at Huang Yi, and said, "So, Dao Feng’s approach could also offer you some insight. At the moment, it’s basically just you holding up your guild, and your team hasn’t made a name for itself or become an S-rank team. But if you’re willing to put in the effort to nurture it, there’s still a great chance of catching up. After all, your guild has the highest number of Rare Class Holders of any guild in the world. Dao Feng had the annual celebration of The Second World as an opportunity, and now you also have one, the tournament. If your guild can win the first place in the team competition, that too can prove the overall strength of your guild."

Huang Yi frowned, his tone somewhat solemn, "But that’s too late, I can’t wait until then. The development of The Second World changes day by day, and if we wait to go public after the tournament, we would be too far behind others. Even if we are highly valued, it wouldn’t be of much use. And I can’t guarantee that our Hero Guild team will definitely win the team championship. Although our guild has many Rare Class Holders, they haven’t yet truly grown. It’s easy to defeat normal players, but to really compete with world top teams like the Yanhuang Legion, the Heavenly Group, and the Angel Legion, that would be suicide."

(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Starting Point (qidian.com) to cast Recommendation Tickets and Monthly Tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)