Chapter 389 - - 386 Duge’s Martial Spirit_1

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Heh heh!

That’s all there is to it!

The provocation tactic from the Great Motherland never goes out of style, thanks to the wisdom of our ancestors…

“Old man, we are about to face Duke Linqi,” Duge reminded.

“I’ve said it already, I’m not afraid of him,” the old man said.

An old man who isn’t afraid of Duke Linqi, what a treasure!

Duge glanced at the old man and turned to Simon, instructing, “Simon, go and release the old man! Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure. We need someone with life experience by our side to guide us forward and to correct the path when we stray.”

“Yes, Mr. Holley,” Simon, now completely subdued, nodded in obedience and went to release the old man, though he still didn’t give the man who had just mocked them a friendly face.

The old man stood in front of Duge, looked him up and down, and then said, “Holley, I might have been wrong about you. You are indeed a special fellow; you have a special charm about you, unlike those arrogant squires.”

What a joke!

I have unified the Martial Worlds, resurrected the Sea God, established nations…

What right does any squire have to compare with me?

Duke Linqi? Pffft!

My enemies are civilizations several dimensions above ours, okay?

If I didn’t have this demeanor, why would they believe in me?

Duge smiled modestly and said, “You flatter me, old sir. Anyone who has walked the line between life and death would be changed. May I ask your name?

“Just an ignorant old man, no need to ask my name,” the old man huffed.

Duge looked toward Simon.

Simon shook his head, “Mr. Holley, nobody in the prison knows his name.”

“Old man, without a name, how shall we address you?” Duge grew even more respectful, as the very lack of knowledge of the man’s name by the prison guards suggested he might be a true powerhouse.

The old man looked at Duge and said, “You can call me Gao.”

Gao?

Duge searched through Holley’s memories but found no clues about Gao.

In fact, most of Holley’s memories were rather useless.

With a viscount father covering for him, that guy hardly cared about high society, or otherwise he wouldn’t have provoked Saima Lynch at a banquet.

Duge paid no more attention to Old Gao but instead turned to Simon and asked, “Simon, how many prison guards are there outside in total?”

The more powerful Old Gao might truly be, the less they should rely on him at a time like this; it was only by demonstrating their own abilities that they could truly hope to gain his assistance.

“Mr. Holley, there are three prison guards on duty every evening in the area for prisoners with serious crimes,” Simon said. “During this time slot, the other two take rest, with me on duty. In half an hour, John is due to take over my shift.”

“Three prison guards?” Duge frowned slightly.

“All the prisoners with serious crimes have their Martial Spirits sealed and are no different from ordinary people. And being at the bottom layer of the prison, having three guards is already sufficient.” Old Gao interrupted before Simon could speak, “The real danger is the external blockade. Outside the prison, aside from the guards on regular duty, there are at least three teams of Samurai patrolling. Each team has at least one Samurai who has awakened a three-star or four-star Martial Spirit. And the warden of this prison… has awakened at least a seven-star Martial Spirit…”

“A seven-star Martial Spirit?” Li En’s face changed.

“Yes, a seven-star Martial Spirit.” Old Gao mockingly looked at him, “Scared now?”

Li En looked serious and said nothing.

Duge too was silent, recalling the battle system of this world.

In this world, there are two major combat systems: Magic and Martial Spirits.

Everyone has a chance to awaken their Martial Spirit, with a success rate of around one-fifth. Upon awakening a Martial Spirit, one obtains higher-level choices.

The range of careers available widens.

A one-fifth chance of awakening might sound high, but most people awaken Martial Spirits that have no special abilities, like Foxtail Grass, Caterpillar, Little Snowflake, and such, which basically have no capacity to grow or evolve; these Martial Spirits are unranked.

Only those with stars are Martial Spirits of value, helping their bearers to grow, and as the Spirits evolve, they awaken to special Soul Skills.

These skills can aid their bearers in combat, but in terms of effects, they fall far behind key-word awakened skills. However, the skills from Martial Spirit awakenings can evolve indefinitely upwards.

Some skills, when evolved to the top tier, are not much weaker than some key-word skills.

In the Martial Worlds, among those who managed to awaken their Martial Spirits, only one out of ten could awaken a star-rated Martial Spirit.

One star being the lowest, nine stars the highest.

The higher the star rating of a Martial Spirit, the greater its potential for growth—correspondingly, awakening such Martial Spirits was remarkably difficult and largely dependent on sheer luck.

A seven-star Martial Spirit was already considered one of the ultimate existences in this world.

Originally, the body Duge took over—that of Holley—had awakened a mere four-star Martial Spirit.

Therefore,

when Old Gao mentioned that the prison warden might possess a seven-star Martial Spirit, Li En and the others couldn’t help but turn pale.

“Li En, what star rating is your Martial Spirit?” Duge asked.

“Five stars, Black Tiger, an offensive Martial Spirit,” Li En replied, glancing at Duge.

“And you?” Old Gao asked on behalf of Duge, turning his gaze to Reggie.

“A five-star Martial Spirit, Stone Giant,” said Reggie.

“I have a four-star Martial Spirit, Lightning Leopard, and it’s speed-type,” Ole said with a shrug, still very proud although he stood among two people with five-star Martial Spirits. Speed-type Martial Spirits were rare, and the Lightning Leopard was one of the best among them. It also possessed a certain degree of offensive power, making it almost on a par with the average five-star.

“My Martial Spirit is the Four-winged Angel, six stars,” Lass commented indifferently, glancing at the others. “What’s the use of talking about this now? Our Martial Spirits have all been sealed. Forget about the warden, we couldn’t even beat the patrolling soldiers outside…”

No one asked about Duge’s Martial Spirit. Predictive-type Martial Spirits were at least seven stars, but a failed awakening was not worth mentioning—despite possessing some special Soul Skills, they were useless in combat.

Simon said nervously, “Mr. Holley, if you change into the prison guards’ uniforms, perhaps I can send you out one by one. There’s no need to fight; nobody would suspect that a convicted felon could escape from prison…”

“That’s only possible for him alone,” Old Gao gave him a look. “But now, we have five people and Simon has just over twenty minutes left on his shift. He simply doesn’t have the time to get everyone out. Moreover, continuously leading five people out—do you really think the guards outside are fools?”

Simon grinned sheepishly and fell silent.

The other people in the cells watched the spectacle unfold with amusement, waiting for Duge to seek their help. After all, in an escape, the more people involved, the greater the chance.

It would be best to release all the prisoners, set a fire, and then escape in the chaos.

Duge stared at everyone, lost in thought.

Old Gao turned to look at Duge and chuckled, “Young man, mere passion is not enough without strength. If you can’t even break out of prison, how will you ever confront Duke Linqi?”

Duge glanced at him but remained silent.

Old Gao shook his head and looked at Ole, “Come here.”

Ole, realizing that Old Gao was no ordinary person, hesitated for a moment but walked over to him.

Suddenly, Old Gao reached out and pressed on his forehead: “Don’t move.”

Ole jolted, instinctively trying to dodge backward, but after moving slightly, he couldn’t avoid Old Gao’s finger.

When Old Gao’s finger touched his forehead, a spark of light flickered.

Before the incredulous eyes of the onlookers, the phantom image of a leopard suddenly appeared behind Ole. The beast’s limbs were originally bound by chains, and its forehead was even nailed with a long steel spike, lying there lifelessly.

As soon as the leopard’s phantom emerged,

the chains that bound it inexplicably shattered, and the steel spike on its head was slowly pushed out of its skull…

Boom!

The prison erupted into commotion.

Many criminals rushed to the cell doors, their eyes wide as they watched Old Gao help Ole break the seal on his Martial Spirit.

“Old, can you… can you break the seal on a Martial Spirit?” Even the usually composed Lass couldn’t help but widen his eyes. “Who exactly are you?”

“Who I am is not important. What matters is that without me, not a single one of you would make it out,” Old Gao spoke with some difficulty, a fine layer of sweat on his forehead, breaking a Martial Spirit seal was no easy feat.

Despite this, he still looked proudly at Duge beside him, wanting to see the young man’s astonished and admiring expression who had ridiculed his capabilities.

But when he looked over, he froze in place, his eyes bulging, and his finger almost left Ole’s forehead. “How is this possible?”

Lass was taken aback for a moment, turned his head to look, and then he froze as well.

The prison fell dead silent.

For behind Duge, a sea of illusions roiled silently, and a godlike being, devoid of any clothing and possessing a perfect form beyond compare, slowly rose from the sea surface, holding a scepter…

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