novelraw Chapter 106-1: Lord of Cinders (1)
Chapter 106-1: Lord of Cinders (1)
Lin Xun stepped forward and tapped on the Book of Arena.
[Would you like to initiate a direct invasion, or join the Public Duel?]
[In the Public Duel, you may choose to spectate or personally participate in combat.]
Lin Xun selected Spectate, intending to first see how others fought.
[There are currently 183 arenas waiting to begin duels. The next wave of duels will start in 293 seconds…]
[Arena 63: Apostle “Blade in Rain, No Umbrella” vs. Apostle “Your Majesty Can’t Touch Me.” Betting ratio: 85.8% to 14.2%]
[Arena 139: Apostle “Lacking Morality in All Five Elements” vs. Apostle “Fairy Wand of a Cutie Pie.” Betting ratio: 81.1% to 18.9%]
[Arena 27: Apostle “Dragon Rider Yin Zhiping” vs. Apostle “Miyazaki the Real Old Thief.” Betting ratio: 79.4% to 20.6%]
—
The game text filled with dense listings, even providing page-turning options.Lin Xun noticed that after each betting ratio, there was an option to select a side and input a wager amount.
After studying the Apostle Forum for a while, he understood the rules.
The Public Duel only consumed Invasion Bookmarks. Even if you lost, there were no penalties.
The betting ratio reflected the total Spirit Essence wagered on each Apostle.
If you bet on the winning side, you would receive a random reward box.
The quality of this box wasn’t solely based on the betting ratio but also influenced by the amount of Spirit Essence you wagered.
It was… similar to sports lottery.
Usually, betting on the right Apostle yielded good rewards, but there were always the unlucky few who pulled junk…
The victor of a duel would also receive a reward box, its quality determined by the total wagers and ratio.
Lin Xun observed that every Apostle’s soul imprint was publicly visible on the arena platform.
This made him frown.
Back when he had joined the organization, the sultry black-stocking lady had told him that your soul imprint should only be shared with trusted teammates to add each other as Book Friends. Unless absolutely necessary, never reveal your soul imprint to outsiders and avoid friending strangers.
Because friending someone equates to exposing your soul imprint.
He hadn’t understood this at first. But after upgrading his invasion privileges, he now saw the reason.
The Invasion feature included an option for targeted invasions. With advanced permissions, Apostles could kill others and loot their items.
It stood to reason that there might also be special Bookmarks designed to forcibly loot equipment, or even specific items.
Independent Apostles were often unaware or unconcerned with this danger. By dueling publicly, they exposed their soul imprint and weapon setups.
If an Apostle with such Bookmarks or advanced invasion rights locked onto them… they’d be in deep trouble.
[You may select an Apostle from the waiting queue to challenge, or join the queue yourself and await a challenger.]
Lin Xun didn’t want to reveal his in-game ID. Fortunately, the black-stocking lady had given him a quest reward earlier.
He opened his Inventory.
[Camouflage Mask (Special Item): You think some people have changed, but in fact, they haven’t changed at all. Their mask simply fell off. Using this item allows you to disguise your Soul Imprint.]
Originally, this item had been intended for infiltrating the Disciple Sanctum…
“But blending work and play is the way of the world.”
Lin Xun grinned and clicked Use.
[You have used Camouflage Mask!]
[Your soul imprint is now disguised. You may change the disguise at any time. Only your Book Friends can see your true soul imprint.]
Opening the Apostle Panel, a new ‘Disguise’ option had appeared next to his soul imprint.
He clicked it, and the imprint became: [Undying One]
Clicked again: [The Tarnished]
Lin Xun clicked repeatedly…
[Outlander]
[Useless One]
[Crippled Ninja]
…
The Camouflage Mask didn’t allow manual input, it only generated random aliases.
After clicking for ages, Lin Xun finally saw one he liked: [Lord of Cinders]
“Hmm, full of flair this is the one!”
The Camouflage Mask effect would remain active indefinitely. Whenever Lin Xun wanted to switch his disguise again, he just had to click the disguise option.
He clicked to view the list of Apostles waiting in the queue. Immediately, a long list of soul imprints appeared in the game text.
Each unfamiliar imprint was accompanied by a popularity ratio, showing how much attention each waiting Apostle had received.
As a newcomer, Lin Xun wasn’t like the old-school gambling addicts who haunted the Book of Arena, memorizing the IDs of frequent duelists.
He could only estimate an Apostle’s strength based on their popularity.
After browsing for a bit, he selected one with a relatively high popularity rating and clicked Duel.
[You have challenged Apostle “Chug the Holy Water” to a duel. Awaiting their acceptance…]
—
Fang Yifei stared at the rows of empty workstations, bored out of his mind.
As one of only two male Apostles in the Intelligence Division, even he wasn’t sure what had possessed him.
Despite having no assignments and being free to stay home, he had still shown up at the office to clock in.
Maybe it was because of a random post he’d seen this morning: “Scientific research shows that frequently looking at pretty women increases lifespan by 13% to 21%.”
But after all this waiting, not a single lady colleague had shown up.
With nothing else to do, he pulled out his phone.
The Book of Salvation, Activate!
[A feeble wandering soul awakens within the Library…]
He opened his Inventory and checked his Spirit Essence balance.
“Not bad. Looks like it’s time for some fun~”
He stepped forward and tapped the Book of Arena.
Fang Yifei loved betting and followed the duels closely, he won far more often than he lost.
[Would you like to initiate a direct invasion, or join the Public Duel?]
He selected Public Duel.
[Would you like to spectate or personally participate?]
He selected Spectate.
The game text unfolded like a waterfall.
Fang Yifei carefully scanned through the matchups, pondering which match to bet on.
“Hmm?”
[Arena 188: Apostle ‘Chug the Holy Water’ vs. Apostle ‘Lord of Cinders’. Betting Ratio: 95.1% : 4.9%]
“Chug the Holy Water” was a moderately famous arena player, known for being powerful and having an impressive win rate in duels.
But his opponent, “Lord of Cinders,” was an unfamiliar ID.
That wasn’t even the most important part. The key detail was that the soul imprint of “Lord of Cinders” was highlighted in red.
Fang Yifei’s eyes gleamed with a peculiar light, that was the luster of Spirit Essence.
In the Book of Arena, red soul imprints signified Apostles participating in the arena for the first time.
In other words, “Lord of Cinders” was almost certainly a newbie.
Just to be safe, Fang Yifei opened his Inventory.
He used an item called Arena Record Directory.
This item could only be obtained after spending a certain amount on arena wagers and allowed three searches per day of specific Apostles’ duel histories.
After using it, sure enough, he saw:
[Apostle “Lord of Cinders”
Arena Duels: 0
Win Rate: 0%]
[Would you like to continue and view the Apostle’s list of defeated opponents in the arena?]
Fang Yifei casually clicked No.
“This newbie’s got guts. Instead of choosing someone from the lower ranks, he dares challenge ‘Holy Water Bro’ to a duel?”
Click. Bet!
[Please select the Apostle you believe will win.]
He chose: Chug the Holy Water.
[Please enter the amount of Spirit Essence you wish to wager.]
A text box popped up, waiting for his input.
Fang Yifei recalled that he was currently stuck in a chapter. The Book of Trade had blocked all related items, preventing him from using any clever bypasses, he could only brute-force the boss.
Rather than stay stuck, he figured he might as well bet on a sure-win match and open a reward box!
Even if the odds of getting an overpowered item or large Spirit Essence payout were low, it was still a guaranteed profit and maybe he’d pull something useful for the chapter.
He glanced at the 5,000 Spirit Essence left in his Inventory. Gritting his teeth, he entered 5,000.
Just before confirming, he deleted it and entered 5,296.
That was everything he had.
“All in!”