Heroes' Prison

Chapter 638 - 613: Finally Obtained the Imperial Jade Seal

At that moment, the Sand Thief King was like a kite with its string cut, smacked into the air by a powerful blow and crashing fiercely against the wall of the treasure spot, dropping down like a dead dog.

Its health points had plummeted instantly, but it didn’t die on the spot, saved by some life-preserving talent. Worthy of being the ruler who had dominated the Desolate Sands through several eras, it had even withstood this unparalleled attack.

"Could it be that my era has finally come to an end?" The Sand Thief King’s near-death state seemed to last for a while. It surveyed the treasure spot with a hint of sentiment, like a person facing a dead end reflecting on their life for the last time: "I once built myself a magnificent tomb, toiling countless laborers to death, placing endless terracotta soldiers within as if to continue reigning even in death. But ever since I encountered the King of the Fallen, I dismantled that tomb, thinking I would never die, that I would gain eternal life just like him. Yet today, I face my doomsday."

"Your death is not unjust. Even the King of the Fallen does not have eternal life. If its real body dares to show up, it too will face the threat of death," Huang Yi stopped attacking and quietly looked at the Sand Thief King. This peerless warrior, who he could only once look up to, was finally defeated by his hands at this moment. When the timer on its life-preserving state ran out, it would meet its end. The era of this eternal emperor had reached its final moment!

"But I don’t want to die yet!" lamented the Sand Thief King, "Even being a Seaberry Grass is better than death. My life will continue in another form, still overlooking my domain, the land I once ruled!"

By the end of its speech, the Sand Thief King’s voice carried a sense of resolve. It glanced at the Level Two Hundred Barrier and suddenly, its body melted into countless grains of sand, all rushing towards the barrier like a moth to a flame, full of tragic determination!

"Pfft, pfft, pfft!" Soon, a dense sound rang out as the Sand Thief King, turned into sand, bombarded the barrier!

Subsequently, the grains of sand visibly fused with the barrier instantly, becoming indistinguishable from one another! The color of the barrier changed from golden to earthen yellow!

Huang Yi watched in amazement, not expecting the Sand Thief King’s final move to be a fusion with the Level Two Hundred Barrier. And judging by its tragic tone, this fusion seemed irreversible; once merged, they could never separate again!

In other words, the Sand Thief King had now become the barrier itself. As long as the barrier was not shattered, it would live forever! Though this form of life was exceedingly lowly, unable to even move—less than that of a plant like Seaberry Grass which could still sway in the wind.

"Master, we cannot break this barrier now! Not unless a Heavenly Domain Expert helps," at that moment, Blood God waved its eight blood vessels, a few words bursting forth from the heart.

"A Celestial Realm Expert?" Huang Yi muttered, launching a Major Skill he had planned to save—Level Up!

Level Up, that was the set effect of his Jewelry Set. Although the jewelry was just Orange Quality Level One Hundred, it was due to this set attribute that Huang Yi had refrained from swapping to higher-level Orange Quality Jewelry, keeping them on all the time.

The Level Up skill could be used individually, allowing each jewelry piece to gain twenty levels, accumulating eighty levels with four pieces stacked, lasting for ten seconds! At Level One Hundred and Forty-Six, Huang Yi unleashed the Level Up effect of all four pieces at once, skyrocketing him to Level Two Hundred and Twenty-Six! This already placed him among Intermediate Heavenly Domain Experts!

"Swift Judgment!" Now with his attack speed increased by fifty percent, Huang Yi swung his Bloodstained War Halberd at the barrier, not wasting a second! His greatly enhanced attributes, accumulated through various boosts, now poured onto the barrier, making it tremble violently!

For those below the Heavenly Domain, shattering this barrier was impossible, but now that it faced Huang Yi, an Intermediate Heavenly Domain Expert, it was a completely different story!

Huang Yi’s attack speed was incredibly fast, his arms almost creating an afterimage, repeatedly striking the barrier with his weapon, causing its light to dim and its shaking to grow more intense!

He could only maintain this frenzy for ten seconds; after that, he would revert to his previous Holy Domain Rank.

Finally, the tenth second arrived, but Huang Yi still had not managed to break the barrier, and it looked like he was about to fail!

At that moment, his Bloodstained War Halberd triggered an additional attribute effect—every four attacks, the next attack would have a thirty percent power increase and ignore thirty percent of the opponent’s defenses!

Not only that, but his attack also landed a critical hit! His already absurdly high attack power suddenly spiked even more!

"Crack!" A sound like shattering glass resounded!

The barrier finally broke!

It dissipated into the air!

In that moment, Huang Yi saw the Underground Palace outside, witnessed the desert beneath the moonlight outside the palace doors!

This barrier, from the Golden Holy Dragon, at the daunting Level Two Hundred, which had trapped numerous adventurers throughout history, completely shattered just like that!

Just then, a warm surge suddenly enveloped Huang Yi, boosting him from Level One Hundred Forty-Six to One Hundred Forty-Seven! The Sand Thief King was completely slain by him, and the immense Experience Points poured into his being!

With the Sand Thief King’s death, the location of the barrier suddenly erupted, expelling two items.

Both items were rings, and after landing on the ground, they rolled off in different directions. One of them happened to roll right to Huang Yi’s feet, lying quietly before him.

Huang Yi squatted down and picked up the ring at his feet, glancing at it, he immediately revealed a smile.

The ring in his hand was none other than the Sand Thief King’s storage ring!

What he liked most was seeing enemies drop storage rings because they often contained a variety of treasures, representing all of a person’s possessions in life. The Sand Thief King had reigned over the Desolate Sands for several eras and was incredibly wealthy to begin with. Moreover, it had taken the treasures of both the Level One Hundred and One Hundred Fifty Treasure Rooms of the Golden Holy Dragon’s hoard, which were probably stored inside this storage ring. This was much more substantial than merely dropping a few pieces of equipment.

Previously, after Huang Yi killed the Celestial Realm Expert, Man Tian, of the Half-Beast Holy Land, he also acquired his storage ring. However, that ring had stringent strength requirements, which had nothing to do with level. Even advancing to the Heavenly Domain Level was of no use; it only depended on Strength Value! Huang Yi’s strength was indeed high, but still not sufficient to meet the requirement, preventing him from opening the ring for the time being and forcing him to store it away.

But the Sand Thief King was merely a Holy Domain Warrior, so his storage ring should be accessible right now.

Huang Yi, filled with anticipation, took a deep breath and chose to open it. Indeed, the storage ring opened smoothly, revealing the items inside.

At that moment, Huang Yi’s eyes seemed to brighten slightly too! He saw that the storage ring was packed with all kinds of treasures, a dazzling array, many of which he had never seen or even recognized before!

For example, Holy Crystal Stones, used as high-level equivalents in auctions, there were dozens of them in the storage ring! Neatly stacked together, they emitted an enticing luster.

In terms of materials, there were Dragon Beast Skins, World Stones, Flowing Cloud Fabric, and other important materials for crafting Legendary or Epic Equipment. These materials were non-renewable. For example, each continent only had about one thousand tons of World Stone, and once depleted, that was it. It was the same for every country’s exclusive continent. Now, with the largest number of players in the China region and the strongest player base, the World Stone had been severely mined, and exhaustion was only a matter of time. In the future, when Chinese players’ Legendary Equipment lost durability, there would be no materials to repair it, and they would have to helplessly watch it become scrapped unless they attacked other continents to plunder such resources.

Beyond that, in this storage ring, there were Spirit Grass, Boss Crystals, high-level potions, and other great items—any of which would be worth a fortune if placed in the auction house.

However, although Huang Yi was happy, he was not surprised. Money was just a string of numbers to him; he had won a vast amount of Gold Coins through betting at the martial arts conference and no longer had much need for wealth. His gaze passed directly over item after item of expensive treasures, searching for the most important thing.

Finally, Huang Yi’s gaze locked onto a corner among the myriad treasures, where a square piece of jade lay quietly! It rested among the countless treasures, unassuming, without any splendor or elaborate design, just simple and squarely-crafted.

But as soon as Huang Yi saw it, he couldn’t take his eyes off it!

Because that square piece of jade was precisely the item he had long pursued—the Imperial Jade Seal!

With the Imperial Jade Seal in his possession, he could establish a nation like Dragon Spike had, and proclaim himself Emperor!

Huang Yi immediately took the Imperial Jade Seal into his hand and caressed it for a while. The Imperial Jade Seal was essentially a large seal, with four antique characters carved on the bottom—ordained by Heaven!

Now that Huang Yi held it, it signified that he was ordained by heaven; he was the Son of Heaven, entitled to rule over a territory!

[Imperial Jade Seal]（Special Item）

As indicated by the Imperial Jade Seal, upon completing all steps, a nation can be established.

Current prompt: Obtain the recognition of one hundred city lords for the Imperial Jade Seal.

The Imperial Jade Seal, just like the Heart of Religion, involved preparatory work, requiring completion of step-by-step prompts, which was quite tedious. However, with the colossal Hero Guild under his command, Huang Yi could easily delegate the preparatory tasks for the Imperial Jade Seal to his subordinates, leaving him just to ascend the throne and become Emperor!

With that, Huang Yi had made the most crucial step in his grand endeavour to build a nation!

Next, he put away the Sand Thief King’s storage ring and picked up the other ring that had fallen.