Talent Trait Fusion

"Yes, Master!"

Seeing Ye Liuyun close his eyes to rest, Xing'er merely answered softly.

Then she quietly slipped away without disturbing Ye Liuyun's rest.

Yet after closing the door for Ye Liuyun, Xing'er did not leave immediately.

Instead, she raised her hand and looked at it.

Xing'er was no ordinary maid. In truth, she did not need to do much of the heavy, exhausting work.

So her little hands had been kept in fairly good condition.

But times were different. These days, even concubines could be sold off or given away at will, let alone maids.

Words of concern might not have meant much to Ye Liuyun, but they gave Xing'er a feeling she had never experienced before.

She stood there in silence for quite a while before finally leaving quietly. Compared to before, however, there was now an extra smile on Xing'er's face.

The next day, the Wan Shun Marquis did not come looking for trouble as expected.

Who knew whether he was holding back for something big or what.

In any case, it did not affect Ye Liuyun. After adapting for so many days, Ye Liuyun finally decided to visit the Imperial Prison.

The Imperial Prison was located in the Backyard, hidden away, and quite a few Brocade Guards stood watch along the route. Fortunately, Ye Liuyun's identity as a Brocade Guard Centurion was the perfect pass.

"Centurion Ye? What brings you to my Imperial Prison today?"

The one in charge of managing the Imperial Prison was also a Centurion.

His name was Xiao Yongning. Everything within the Imperial Prison was basically handled by Xiao Yongning.

Ye Liuyun had seen Xiao Yongning's name in the roster Ye Liufeng had left behind. Ye Liufeng's evaluation of Xiao Yongning had only two words: greedy for money.

The instant he saw Ye Liuyun, Xiao Yongning was visibly taken aback as well.

The Imperial Prison was dark and damp. Few people usually came here.

"I came to broaden my horizons."

Ye Liuyun smiled naturally. As he spoke, he casually pulled out a silver note.

"I thought I could learn a few more things. I heard the Imperial Prison has all sorts of interrogation methods, so I wanted to come take a look and learn!"

Seeing the silver note Ye Liuyun offered, the false smile on Xiao Yongning's face became much more genuine.

He accepted it without drawing attention to the gesture.

"Haha! Since Brother Ye is so eager to learn, how could I, as your elder brother, stop you? Come, come, I'll personally show Brother Ye the way!"

No matter what our relationship had been before, as long as you were willing to pay, we were brothers.

It had to be said, what Ye Liufeng had written in that roster was quite true.

If he said greedy for money, then he truly was greedy for money.

The Imperial Prison never saw the light of day. Within its dark, damp corridors, the screams and wails of prisoners rang out from time to time.

Just hearing them made one's hair stand on end.

No wonder people always said that those who could remain in the Imperial Prison for long were either strong-willed or mentally twisted. Either way, they were no normal people.

"Basically, no one who enters the Imperial Prison gets to leave alive. And the purpose of our Imperial Prison is to make their deaths a little more painful."

Those whose crimes did not warrant death would never be imprisoned in the Imperial Prison.

Anyone who came in had no chance of surviving.

First, they went through every punishment once. If they did not die, they were locked up for a day, then put through it all again. Whenever they died, that was when it ended.

As Xiao Yongning said this, his tone was utterly unconcerned.

It was as though, in Xiao Yongning's eyes, these prisoners' lives no longer counted as lives.

"..."

Ye Liuyun did not respond. He merely looked around. Aside from those currently being tortured, some were locked in cells, their bodies covered in wounds left behind by punishment.

Seeing Ye Liuyun's distant gaze,

Xiao Yongning watched for only a while before losing interest in continuing.

"How about this, Brother Ye? Keep looking if you want. If you have any questions, feel free to find me!"

"Brother Xiao, if you have matters to attend to, go ahead. I'll be fine here."

Seeing that Xiao Yongning was about to leave, Ye Liuyun naturally would not stop him.

It was the perfect opportunity to give himself time to inspect these people's Talent Traits properly.

After Xiao Yongning left, Ye Liuyun began carefully examining these prisoners.

Most of them possessed some Talent Traits. Of course, none of those Talent Traits were particularly high-grade. Those with high-grade traits would not have been caught by the Brocade Guard.

As he passed a cell, he saw a Brocade Guard whipping a bound prisoner.

Seeing Ye Liuyun approach, the man had clearly been informed by Xiao Yongning. He merely nodded at Ye Liuyun in acknowledgment before continuing to swing his whip.

The screams rang out without end.

Seeing it for oneself truly surpassed hearing about it a hundred times. Even though Ye Liuyun had prepared himself mentally before coming,

once he saw it with his own eyes, he still could not help feeling unsettled.

If his identity were exposed, perhaps he would be the one undergoing punishment now.

Grow stronger!

I must become stronger. Only by becoming powerful myself can I truly fear nothing.

"Whew!"

He still had not fully adapted. Slowly adjusting his breathing, Ye Liuyun pulled himself together again.

At that moment,

the prisoner being whipped let out one final scream and then went completely still.

The person carrying out the punishment merely splashed some water on him. Once he saw that the man was truly dead, he paid no more attention and prepared to find someone else.

But Ye Liuyun's attention

was fixed on several small points of light drifting out from the man's body.

"Detected collectible talents: Strength Beyond Human (Green), Theft (White)."

"Strength Beyond Human (Green): Possesses strength far beyond that of ordinary people."

"Theft (White): Exceptionally skilled at stealing."

The White Quality Theft was one thing, but Ye Liuyun naturally took the Strength Beyond Human Talent Trait without a second thought.

Since he had seen it, there was no way he would miss it.

However,

"Detected a high degree of overlap between the 'Strength Beyond Human' Talent Trait and the 'Strong Body' Talent Trait. Fuse them?"

He had not expected highly similar Talent Traits to be capable of fusion.

This surprised Ye Liuyun, but also delighted him.

"Fuse!"

Without hesitation, he immediately chose fusion.

Talent Trait System!

Host: Ye Liuyun!

Realm: Second-Rate Martial Artist!

Martial Art: Wind Severing Saber Technique!

Talent Traits: Luck (Purple), Strong and Robust (Blue), Blade Talent (Blue).

"Strong and Robust (Blue): Your physique far surpasses that of ordinary people, and your strength is extraordinary."

After the fusion, the Strong Body Talent Trait on his original panel had become Strong and Robust. At the same time, the originally Green Quality Talent Trait had become Blue Quality because of it.

Sure enough, he had come to a place like the Imperial Prison for the right reason.

He clenched his fists.

With only a single quality increase, Ye Liuyun already felt that his strength had risen several levels compared to before.