Heroes' Prison

Chapter 613 - 588: The Mysterious Thatched Cottage

Huang Yi was generally satisfied with the support rates for various awards; the performance of his people here was not bad. Although such support rates could not represent the final results, they are somewhat indicative and hold great reference value.

Next, Huang Yi entered The Second World and started a new day of journeying.

...

In the Land of Dongying, the city of the Martial Arts Guild—Martial City—Miyamoto Musashi, and Zhitian Shi stood at the very top of City Hall.

At this moment, Miyamoto Musashi’s brows were deeply furrowed, a look of heavy thoughts on his face. Zhitian Shi watched him quietly, her heart aching. Since the competition, Miyamoto Musashi rarely smiled; he wore a serious face every day, as if he had become a different person.

The one who had changed Miyamoto Musashi was Huang Yi. Whenever Zhitian Shi thought of Huang Yi, her heart was filled with complex feelings. On one hand, she was somewhat resentful towards Huang Yi; without him, Miyamoto Musashi would not have ended up like this.

On the other hand, Zhitian Shi held a certain admiration for Huang Yi. She was someone who hardly took heed of anyone, with very few men catching her attention; almost all men could be dismissed from her sight. And Huang Yi was one of the rare exceptions.

In the team finals, Huang Yi won her utter respect. Just when she thought she was about to win, he would snatch victory away. Moreover, Huang Yi was the only man, aside from Miyamoto Musashi, with whom she had combined. Those subtle psychological sensations constantly made her feel as though she’d had physical intimacy with Huang Yi, and in her midnight dreams, scenes of their combination would emerge.

Within her pure female heart, Huang Yi had unknowingly occupied a delicate position, gently tugging at her heartstrings. She did not know how to perceive Huang Yi.

"Brother, have you been distracted by God of Slaughter again? I told you not to look at the Support Rate for Best Individual Award; all we need to do is live our lives well," Zhitian Shi walked up to Miyamoto Musashi, extended her small hand to grasp his, and began to comfort him softly, "Look at Dao Feng, he had the courage to step back from such a high position and live the life he wanted. Why can’t you do the same?"

Miyamoto Musashi fell into silence, unsure if he was moved by Zhitian Shi’s words or had not listened at all. After a while, he suddenly bit his lip, turned to look at Zhitian Shi, and asked, "Sister, do you think I am stronger or God of Slaughter is stronger?" At that moment, his expression was earnest, as if this question was of great importance to him, even displaying a childlike helplessness, seeking Zhitian Shi’s affirmation and comfort.

Zhitian Shi’s beautiful eyes quietly stared at Miyamoto Musashi, she sighed softly, and said, "Usually people flatter you; you’ve heard enough good words already. If I were the same as them, how could I qualify as your sister? Lies do you no good. Speaking honestly, I think you were as strong as God of Slaughter before, but in your current state, you are no longer his match."

"What? Even you’re siding with him now?!" Miyamoto Musashi was enraged upon hearing this answer, he violently shook off Zhitian Shi’s hand, glared at her, and shouted, "Is it because you fell for him after that combination?"

Zhitian Shi was taken aback, not expecting Miyamoto Musashi to lash out at her so fiercely. It took her a good while to recover, and her eyes suddenly reddened, a layer of mist appearing as she said with hurt, "How could you say that!"

Then she turned and ran out, not even closing the door behind her.

Miyamoto Musashi watched Zhitian Shi’s disappearing figure, his brow furrowing even deeper. Eventually, as if he had made some sort of decision, he immediately sent a message to the vice president of the Martial Arts Guild—

"Within one month, I must see a battleship with fire power. Then, we will head to Hero’s Continent!"

...

In the blink of an eye, a week had passed.

This week, Huang Yi’s main body was leveling up in the Tower of Pantheons and successfully reached Level 132. However, maintaining the first place on the World Rankings was becoming increasingly difficult. Yang Yuheng, who was in second place, had rocketed to Level 130, closing the gap to just two levels behind him.

This was within Huang Yi’s expectations; ordinary players level up more than twice as fast as those with a Rare Class. As time goes on, let alone the number one on the rankings, it’s very possible that not a single Rare Class would be seen even in the top hundred, all occupied by ordinary players.

However, this only narrowed part of the gap; the difference in fighting between ordinary players and Rare Classes was still significant. Unless there is a significant lead in levels, exploiting level suppression or status suppression, it’s possible to defeat a Rare Class.

These days, Huang Yi’s incarnation was riding Little Dragon on the road. The location of Dragon City was too remote; he had only covered less than half of the distance. Since splitting from Heavenly Demon Little Dragon, he had not seen another player along the way; the Demonic Beast Mountain Range only had increasingly powerful Magical Beasts, with no traces of humans to be found, as if entering a primeval world.

During his travels, Huang Yi had discovered quite a few Heaven and Earth Treasures using his Treasure-sniffing Ability, including precious ores, Spirit Grass, and Divine Water. He fed everything that Little Dragon could eat to it; the Scales on his head grew by over thirty, starting to look somewhat impressive.

However, what slightly worried him was that, along the way, he indeed found many Advanced Holy Domain Beasts fleeing from the depths of the mountain range. Just as Heavenly Demon Little Dragon said, it seemed something big had occurred inside.

That day, Huang Yi rode on Little Dragon, continuing his flight across the sky over the Demonic Beast Mountain Range.

"Hmm? There’s a Spirit Grass ten kilometers away; let’s head over there!" At that moment, Huang Yi felt a rush of joy as he sensed a Spirit Grass.

On average, each day, he could discover one or two Spirit Grasses, and if the other players knew about this efficiency, who knows how envious they would be? Very few people possessed a treasure-sniffing ability similar to Huang Yi’s. For them, finding a single Spirit Grass in the vast expanse of primeval forests was as hard as finding a needle in a haystack. They might toil for a year, braving mountains and rivers, risking their lives day after day, only to find one or two at best! They couldn’t come close to Huang Yi’s efficiency.

It wasn’t long before Little Dragon swiftly carried Huang Yi to a towering peak that touched the clouds!

The mountain was steep on all sides, as if sliced by a knife, with the cliffs covered in thick undergrowth. The Spirit Grass that Huang Yi sensed was on one of these cliffs. Such precipitous cliffs were impossible for ordinary people to climb, the only way was to fly.

At that moment, Huang Yi’s sharp eyes scanned the area, and he finally spotted the Spirit Grass. It was a fist-sized red Dragon Ganoderma growing in a crevice, having endured countless years of wind and rain, stubbornly growing towards the warm sunlight. There were no guardians around it, isolated as it was; the steep mountain served as its greatest defense.

Huang Yi immediately leaped from Little Dragon’s back, flying to the side of the cliff, and carefully picked the Dragon Ganoderma.

"Yi ya yi ya!" Before Huang Yi even greeted it, Little Dragon eagerly flew over, staring with big eyes at the Dragon Ganoderma, then at Huang Yi, wagging its dragon tail back and forth like a dog pleasing its master.

"Eat up, good boy!" Huang Yi patted Little Dragon’s head and stuffed the Dragon Ganoderma into its mouth.

Little Dragon fluttered its wings excitedly, stirring up gusts of wind, savoring the Spirit Grass. Shortly, a flash of golden light appeared on its forehead, and five delicate little scales grew out.

"Let’s keep moving!" said Huang Yi, patting Little Dragon’s head again before climbing back on.

Having just eaten a Spirit Grass, Little Dragon was full of energy, flying swiftly, carrying Huang Yi like a bolt of lightning, heading towards a distant range of rolling hills.

"Hmm? Spirit Grasses! So many Spirit Grasses!" Just then, Huang Yi suddenly sensed that there were at least a dozen Spirit Grasses ten kilometers ahead!

The Spirit Grasses he found these days were always one at a time, he had never stumbled upon a dozen all at once! It was almost as if they had been planted by hand! What kind of place could nurture ten Spirit Grasses? Huang Yi could hardly imagine!

Little Dragon also seemed to sense that there was more delicious food ahead and flew even faster, quickly closing in on the location Huang Yi had sensed.

Huang Yi’s eyes were fixed on the mountain range ahead, shrouded in mist, exuding an ethereal aura, with countless peaks rising and falling endlessly.

Finally, as they drew closer, Huang Yi’s view became clearer. Through the thin fog, he could see the landscape of the mountains.

Pine trees densely covered those mountains, with a gentle breeze brushing his face, the sound of pine trees in the wind, bizarre rocks jutting out, clear springs bubbling, the remote songs of birds, all exuding an Oriental fairy-like charm. It felt as if Huang Yi had flown from a Western fantasy Demonic Beast Mountain Range right into a mystical Eastern immortal mountain.

Then, on a cliff top of a mountain range, Huang Yi suddenly saw something that should not have been there—a thatched hut!

In these desolate, uninhabited primeval mountain ranges, the sight of a man-made thatched hut struck a chord in Huang Yi’s heart!

The hut was covered in pine needles, but the front was cleaned thoroughly, and a small vegetable garden had been carved out next to the hut, where about a dozen tender grasses were planted!

Huang Yi’s gaze was fixed on that little vegetable garden and the dozen or so tender grasses! Those were the Spirit Grasses he had sensed!

At that moment, his heart trembled immensely! Those dozen or so Spirit Grasses were clearly cultivated by someone, and a well-known characteristic of Spirit Grasses is that they can’t be mass-cultivated. The sight before him blatantly defied this common knowledge.

Who could be the reclusive expert living in that thatched hut? (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Starting Point (qidian.com) to cast your Recommendation Tickets, Monthly Tickets, and your support will be my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)