Heroes' Prison

Chapter 774 - 738: The Great Secret of Heroes’ Prison

The key was astonishingly sentient. Just as it flew in front of Huang Yi, it seemed to detect danger and abruptly shifted its trajectory, darting to another direction. Huang Yi’s speed fell just a fraction behind, and he was about to miss grabbing the key!

"Level Up!" Huang Yi instantly activated the set effects of three pieces of orange-quality jewelry, surging his level up by 60 levels for a duration of 10 seconds!

With that, his speed also increased significantly! Sometimes, even the slightest change can lead to a vastly different outcome.

In the next moment, he suddenly felt a struggling force within his palm, as if he were clutching a slippery eel!

He breathed a sigh of relief — finally, he had caught the key!

Carefully, he pinched the writhing key and brought it up to examine closely!

As expected, there were three enticing numbers engraved on the key’s body — 175!

With his other hand, Huang Yi retrieved the Book of Heroes and quickly flipped to the corresponding information about the criminal —

Harbinger of Doomsday, Lucifer (Level 272, Serial No. 175)

Seeing this name, Huang Yi’s expression immediately changed drastically!

This criminal turned out to be the Harbinger of Doomsday, Lucifer!

He checked the page number once more and confirmed he hadn’t made a mistake in flipping. The criminal corresponding to this key was indeed the Harbinger of Doomsday, Lucifer!

"How is this possible?" Huang Yi was utterly baffled!

He distinctly remembered that the Harbinger of Doomsday, Lucifer, was merely a Holy Domain warrior with a level of 172 and a serial number in the two-thousands.

His very first piece of legendary equipment was the Harbinger of Doomsday’s Footprints, which he was still wearing on his feet. The Harbinger of Doomsday was one of the criminals he was most familiar with, and there was no way he could be mistaken.

Why did the same criminal appear under two different serial numbers?

Moreover, one was level 172 and the other level 272 — that was a leap of 100 levels. What was the true nature of this Harbinger of Doomsday?

Huang Yi quickly examined the description of the level-272 Harbinger of Doomsday —

An Ancient powerhouse who arrived amidst flames of doomsday. For incinerating 35 Messengers from Hell in the Death God’s Temple, committed heinous crimes, captured and imprisoned here for life...

The information about this criminal was identical to that of the level-172 Harbinger of Doomsday, as though it described the same individual.

Why would the same criminal be confined to two separate prison cells? Could one be an incarnation, and the other the main body? Huang Yi quickly arrived at this explanation. But this reasoning seemed flawed — the Death God’s Temple had no reason to do such a thing. Whether the incarnation and the main body were imprisoned together or separately, they wouldn’t be able to escape either way.

Suddenly, an impenetrable sense of mystery enveloped Huang Yi’s heart, and an inexplicable vigilance arose within him. He couldn’t help but scan his surroundings. His gaze swept past the countless golden keys scattered in the air; those keys exuded a vitality of their own, evading his grasp as if alive. Outside the doors of gloomy and dark cells, powerful criminals awaited their exploration...

At that moment, Huang Yi felt that Heroes’ Prison had become eerily unfamiliar, as though the prison itself was a colossal secret...

Huang Yi glanced at the struggling key in his hand, then, following the map inscribed on the key, navigated through dimly lit corridors before arriving in front of Cell No. 175.

From a distance, Huang Yi already felt a wave of scorching heat, and intermittent fiery glows flickered through the crack in the door, as though a fire was burning inside.

Wiping the sweat cascading down his forehead, Huang Yi approached the cell door and peered through the crack.

Inside, the cell had already transformed into a lava pool. Bubbles repeatedly surfaced and popped. A towering red giant lay quietly amidst the lava as though soaking in a hot spring. His entire body was wreathed in flames. Two horns protruded from his head, and massive fleshy wings extended from his back, emanating an overwhelming aura of explosive power. His fiery eyes blazed like twin infernos, locking onto Huang Yi through the narrow slit of the door.

This Harbinger of Doomsday bore an identical appearance to the level-172 version he had encountered before. The only difference was that this particular Harbinger of Doomsday exuded a much stronger presence.

"Harbinger of Doomsday, Lucifer!" Huang Yi called out to the red giant inside.

The Harbinger of Doomsday paid him no heed and continued staring at him.

Huang Yi decided to cut straight to the chase and asked the question weighing on his mind: "Lucifer, why do you have two bodies? And why aren’t they confined to the same cell?"

"Grant me my freedom, and I’ll tell you," Lucifer replied, showing no intention of divulging further. He continued soaking in the lava, his voice as raw and scorching as a volcanic eruption, intensifying the heat that radiated from the cell.

Huang Yi nodded, raising the key in his hand as he said, "I have indeed come to grant you freedom. I hold the key to your cell. As long as you agree to serve as the guardian of my territory, I’ll set you free."

Lucifer’s fiery eyes flared hotter, betraying a spark of eagerness. He quickly nodded and uttered just two words: "Agreed!"

Huang Yi immediately produced a Heavenly Domain-level Contract Stone and said to the Harbinger of Doomsday, "Give me a drop of your blood, and the contract ritual will be complete."

Without hesitation, Lucifer released a drop of fire, which flew through the crack and landed on the Contract Stone in Huang Yi’s hand. The fiery droplet, representing his blood, was immediately absorbed into the stone.

Moments later, Huang Yi heard the System Prompt notifying him that Lucifer had become his territory’s guardian. Without further ado, Huang Yi inserted the writhing key into the cell lock, turned it fully, and opened the door.

"I’m finally free!" the Harbinger of Doomsday, Lucifer, exclaimed with a deep sigh of relief. With a giant sweep of his hand, the lava pool within the cell converged onto his body and was absorbed entirely.

Lucifer stretched and swayed his massive head contentedly before striding out of the cell with the aura of an unchained, devastating beast unleashed upon the world.

Huang Yi tilted his head back, gazing up at the towering Harbinger of Doomsday, and asked, "Now can you tell me why you were imprisoned in two cells?"

Lucifer looked down and fixed his blazing gaze on Huang Yi, replying, "It’s simple — the other is my main body."

Huang Yi was taken aback: "Your main body is only level 172? Then what are you?"

"This is the Divine Embryo I seized."

"Divine Embryo? What’s a Divine Embryo?" Huang Yi muttered to himself, as he had never heard of such a thing before.

Lucifer, seemingly in a good mood after gaining his freedom, elaborated further: "A Divine Embryo is the unborn offspring of a deity, possessing unparalleled potential but devoid of any consciousness. If you seize the Divine Embryo’s body before it matures, it becomes your second body. I encountered a Divine Embryo long ago and claimed it as my own."

"Isn’t that just like the White Dragon Clan’s incarnation ability?" Huang Yi immediately thought of the White Dragon Clan’s special power of incarnation. His current form was an incarnation, while his main body remained aboard a ship heading toward the Central Continent.

"Hmph! Incarnation?" Lucifer sneered, as if he had heard the most ridiculous thing. "In my youth, I fought against the Ancestor of the White Dragon Clan. Back then, I had already demonstrated this Divine Embryo. The White Dragon Clan’s so-called incarnation ability exists only because the Ancestor of the White Dragon mimicked what he saw in my Divine Embryo."

"So the White Dragon Clan’s incarnation ability originated from this!" Huang Yi immediately understood. Incarnation was one of his most critical abilities, allowing him to achieve the work of two individuals and outpace others in progress. It had contributed significantly to his rapid advancement, far exceeding the rate of an ordinary person.

"What’s the difference between an incarnation and a Divine Embryo?" Huang Yi inquired further.

Lucifer answered with a faint air of superiority: "The White Dragon Clan’s incarnation is merely a subordinate of the main body, with only half the main body’s power. But a Divine Embryo is different — it is a true second body. If you’re willing to invest resources to enhance it, it can even surpass the power of your main body. Because it is a creation of the gods, it’s a near-perfect masterpiece, second only to the legendary offspring of gods and demons combined — the Nefalem."

Hearing this, Huang Yi felt a flicker of desire and asked, "Where can I find a Divine Embryo?"

"You want to find a Divine Embryo? Haha!" Lucifer let out a booming laugh, his coarse laughter echoing throughout the prison. "A Divine Embryo is the child of a deity. However, Heavenly Law dictates that gods are forbidden from harboring emotions, let alone producing offspring. Deities who defy this law are few and far between. Moreover, if a god conceives a Divine Embryo, they often choose to bring it to full term. Only a few trembling gods, fearful of punishment under Heavenly Law, would extract the Embryo and discard it before its birth. These discarded ones are the only usable Divine Embryos... you can imagine how scarce they are."

Lucifer paused briefly before continuing: "Before I was imprisoned, there were only 14 recorded instances throughout history where deities became pregnant with Divine Embryos. Most of those deities chose to give birth to their offspring. Only a tiny handful extracted and abandoned their Embryos. Of course, I know nothing about what happened after my imprisonment. Perhaps a few new Divine Embryos have emerged."

Huang Yi fell into contemplative silence. Frowning, he asked, "Are you really telling me everything? The reason they imprisoned you in two cells was solely because this is your Divine Embryo, and the other is your main body?"

"That’s all there is to it," Lucifer replied calmly, his tone betraying no hint of ulterior motives. "You should release my main body now. That way, my power will be even greater and better able to protect your territory."

"One of you is enough," Huang Yi said with a shake of his head, steering away from the topic. "My territory is currently under grave threat. There’s a High-Level Heavenly Domain expert from the Demon Clan attacking it. You should head out immediately to hold the enemy off."

"Fine! It’s been ages since I’ve had a fight. Just thinking about it makes me eager!" Lucifer said with evident anticipation.

Following this, the two of them teleported out of Heroes’ Prison, appearing atop the city walls of Xuanyuan City, where countless spectators laid eyes on their arrival.

——

This Chapter was temporarily revised, resulting in a late update. Two more Chapters are coming up next. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Starting Point (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)