The Gap

"Yo, Luo Luoji, you got here pretty fast—like Sand Dogs that caught the scent of blood."

A man beneath the shadow of a sand dune stepped out after spotting the large group that could not possibly stay hidden. He showed no concern as he teasingly spoke. With black hair and black eyes, he belonged to the same Xia Descendant Tribe as Xuan Ye.

"I was afraid we'd arrive too late and find you eaten by that Spine Demon. Tsk, tsk... Looks like you made a decent haul. So, did you get a Magic Core?"

Luo Luoji did not mind the other man's tone. Instead, he asked about the haul. Clearly, the two sides had known each other for a long time.

"Bah, don't mention it. We only got this thing. Adding up all the scraps, we barely broke even."

As if performing a magic trick, Huo Yuan flashed the bottle in his hand and curled his lip. Magical beasts at Predator Rank all had Magic Cores in their bodies, but when extracting them, most Magic Cores dissolved on their own after leaving the beast's corpse.

They were as rare as bezoars or dog gallstones back on Earth.

There were ways to prevent it, but the alchemical products required were far too uneconomical and could even result in losses. It was better to collect the dissolved Magic Fluid directly. Though its value dropped to a tenth of the original, it could still sell for five hundred silver coins.

The meat from the entire Spine Demon carcass was only worth about that much. However, the difference in volume was enormous. Along with the back spines, teeth, and belly hide, the mercenary group had still taken the lion's share.

What they were discussing now was the remaining beast meat.

Since they were old acquaintances, the negotiation went very quickly. After a simple appraisal, Luo Luoji took out a money pouch and tossed it over. Judging from the clinking sound, it contained around fifty or sixty silver coins, roughly a tenth of its value in the city.

The Sand Rat Mercenary Group naturally had no objections to that price. It was indeed only one-tenth of the market value, but they had already filled their load capacity. Any additional weight would affect their Dexterity in action and greatly increase the danger. Even if no one paid for it, they would have had to throw it away. Getting value for something that would otherwise be discarded meant they were not losing out.

"Ha, Luo Luoji, you're as straightforward as ever. But you're a mighty Professional Rank Expert, yet you spend every day collecting junk. Isn't that embarrassing? Why not join us? The captain mentions you all the time."

Huo Yuan weighed the pouch in his hand and put it away without even counting it. Luo Luoji had an excellent reputation in that regard.

After teasing Luo Luoji one last time, the group prepared to head back. They had collected enough, and this trip had been quite profitable.

"Oh, right. There's a group of unfamiliar faces to the southwest. They're tough, and there aren't many of them. If you follow them, you might get some gains. If you make a big haul, don't forget to pay me some information fees later."

After packing up and preparing to leave, Huo Yuan climbed the dune. Just as he was about to depart, he seemed to recall something and turned back to speak to Luo Luoji.

"Unfamiliar faces?"

Hearing Huo Yuan's reminder, Luo Luoji was tempted but also hesitant. The other man had said they were tough, which meant there might be Professional Rank Experts among them. If they were unfamiliar faces, following them without knowing their background was far too risky.

"Haha, they might be elite students from Dream Island. If they really meant you harm, you wouldn't have even seen us. Communication won't be difficult. They seem to be investigating the Wanderers that have been appearing frequently lately, and they probably won't even care about the trash they kill along the way. They won't charge you anything. Whether you go is up to you. We're off."

Huo Yuan seemed to laugh self-mockingly before his figure disappeared beyond the dune.

"Students from Dream Island? Tsk... Let's do it. We'll follow them first and see."

Luo Luoji scratched the beard on his chin with fingers as thick as carrots and made up his mind. Given Huo Yuan's group's strength, for them to say that they would not even have been seen if the other party harbored ill intent, that team's lineup had to be extraordinarily impressive.

Following a team like that would bring incredible gains. In all the years since he had formed the Scavenger Squad, he had only encountered such an opportunity a few times. It would be a shame to miss it.

If they truly had malicious intentions and their strength exceeded what he could handle, he could always hand over the money pouch. After buying goods a few times along the way, there was not much left in it anyway. With their current haul, returning home would not be a loss.

No one was willing to specifically target a Scavenger Squad, especially when the other party had both strength and status...

The other party had not concealed their tracks in the slightest. With Luo Luoji's tracking skills, honed from years in the desert, the scouting party led by him—several Senior Knight Attendants along with Xuan Ye, a part-time Apprentice Ranger—easily found the team Huo Yuan had mentioned.

Four people! A team of only four was the formidable group Huo Yuan had spoken of!

When Xuan Ye saw from afar a burly man with something like a cigar clenched between his teeth casually swing a Heavy Axe and split a Desert Lizard in two, his calves began to tremble.

The danger level of Desert Lizards was not as fixed as that of Spine Demons. In theory, they ranged from Senior Knight Attendants to Three-Star or Four-Star mid-level Professional Rank Experts.

Yet no matter what, even if Luo Luoji faced the weakest among them, he could never handle it so effortlessly. While that was related to Luo Luoji's profession, it was still enough to show just how powerful the four-person team was!

Not to mention Xuan Ye's innate passive ability. He could clearly sense the man's terrifying strength and speed, and he could even vaguely see unnatural, distorted ripples around him.

From that man's single move, Xuan Ye could already judge that he was considerably stronger than Luo Luoji. As for the other three, their capabilities remained unknown. With Xuan Ye's pitiful experience, if he could not directly interpret their various parameters, he would not even have been able to judge the strength of the man who had acted.

Fortunately, Luo Luoji had enough experience. Frowning, he said,

"Judging by his clothes, the one sitting still is a Ninth Grade Magic Apprentice. The one who acted is a Two-Star or Three-Star Professional Rank Warrior. As for that young woman watching from the side, judging by her equipment, she is probably a Temple Knight or a Paladin. She has at least entered the Professional Rank. The blue-haired young man trying to chat her up is likely a Guardian like me, though stronger than I am. As expected, they can't be locals."

Jack nodded lightly upon hearing that.

"At that age, with that level of strength, and appearing together, they can only be students from Dream Island—elite students, at that. A four-person team can actually afford to have a rare Ninth Grade Magic Apprentice among them. And that Cloud Cigar in the Warrior's mouth is an expensive luxury item. I like them too, but I could never bring myself to buy one."

Xuan Ye had initially focused only on the fierce man who had acted. After Luo Luoji's reminder, he began observing the other three as well.

The man who had acted looked like a carefree, wild fellow. Though not as massively built as Luo Luoji, he was still extremely burly. He wore a foolish grin the entire time, with a faintly silly air about him, but his strength was astonishing.

The thin, expressionless boy sitting on a floating Small Carpet wore a pale blue robe. The back of the robe had nine stars of different sizes on it, making it resemble a starry sky against the robe's base color. That was probably the symbol of a Magic Apprentice Luo Luoji had mentioned.

In terms of equivalence, a Ninth Grade Magic Apprentice had likewise not entered the Professional Rank and had not condensed a Professional Core within the Star Palace. In theory, they were equivalent to Ninth Grade Knight Attendants. However, due to the rarity of mages and their various strange methods, Ninth Grade Magic Apprentices held a higher social status and played a greater role in teams than ordinary Professional Rank Experts!

From Luo Luoji's tone, the member who surprised him the most in this three-person team was actually the Magic Apprentice who had not yet entered the Professional Rank!

That made Xuan Ye involuntarily think of his shattered tragic dream of becoming the Magic King. Sigh, he should honestly advance to the Professional Rank first. Over the past few days, under the Database's fine-tuning and enhancement, the Basic Breathing Technique had already loosened the 'Perception' Inner Palace near his liver. When practicing archery, he could clearly feel that even without activating the Eyes of Lawbreaking, his dynamic vision had improved somewhat. Seventh Grade was within reach.

But when he focused on his eyes and turned toward the next person using his excellent vision, his expression froze for an instant. Her smooth golden hair fluttered in the wind, made even more dazzling by her fitted white armor and perfectly proportioned armored skirt. Her exquisite, breathtaking features were flawlessly arranged. In terms of facial beauty alone, she was far more striking than the Potion Bitch who had deceived the original owner to his death.

Yet what drew the most attention was her age. She was probably no older than this body's current age!

A sixteen-year-old Professional Rank Expert! No, she might even be Two-Star or Three-Star, and she had a Special Profession that also involved the Star Palace!

Each time a Professional Rank Expert condensed a new core, their existing cores were strengthened once more, while they gained the enhancement ability of the Inner Palace corresponding to the new core. Though their life level did not undergo the same ascension and transformation as when first breaking into the Professional Rank, their overall strength would experience a qualitative leap!

Especially when advancing from Two-Star to Three-Star or Four-Star to Five-Star. Due to the subtle relationship between the number of Inner Palace Cores, the increase in strength was even more obvious. This directly divided the Professional Rank into the beginner, intermediate, and advanced stages!

Damn. Comparing himself to her, Xuan Ye suddenly felt that the original owner, whose talent had seemed fairly decent, had spent his entire life as a dog.

Thinking back now, his father's bitter, world-weary face and the way he had patted his shoulder as if brainwashing him while saying,

"You're a genius!"

That scene...

Made his face burn and his heart race. The embarrassment was overflowing.

But then again, in all of Stanrosai City, the previous record-holder for greatest talent had been the current head of the Kend Family, who had led his family to glory. He had broken through to the Professional Rank at twenty-five. Now, in his early forties, he had reached the pinnacle of the Professional Rank and become a Six-Star Expert who had condensed six Inner Palace Cores!

Seen that way, it seemed that woman—uh, that girl—was simply too monstrously talented.

After all, while the difference between entering the Professional Rank at twenty-five and at sixteen appeared to be only nine years, setting aside the time spent laying foundations, formal cultivation usually began at around twelve. One had taken four years, while the other had taken thirteen. The gap was enormous!

Besides, she had not merely broken through. She had already condensed at least her second Inner Palace Core. This...

Moreover, the Professional Rank was a stage of life's ascension. After breaking through, one's remaining lifespan doubled—remaining lifespan, not total lifespan. The gap between them widened again in an instant. Usually, even a difference of a single year could determine whether someone could continue walking this path, much less such a vast difference.

Where had this freak come from?

As for her appearance... well, it was indeed extremely pleasing to the eye. Even Xuan Ye, who had seen so many beauties online in his previous life, wanted to keep staring at her. Otherwise, that blue-haired handsome man would not have been so eager to please her at her side.

But with the original owner's firsthand experience in his memories, Xuan Ye instinctively felt repulsion and wariness toward beautiful women who were even more stunning. Sally had already been like that. Wouldn't this one be even more terrifying?

How could this useless shut-in, who had never even had a girlfriend, not be afraid? If he developed some inappropriate thoughts and fell for her, he would be finished. He absolutely could not fall victim to one of those three great delusions of life.

He still carried a secret that had to rot in his stomach for the rest of his life.

Looking more closely, the other three were slightly older, but their talent surely surpassed that of the Kend Family head who had entered the Professional Rank at twenty-five. The blue-haired handsome young man did not seem to be over twenty, and his talent was probably second only to that young woman's.

He had always felt that the Kend Family head, hailed as Stanrosai's number one genius, was a mountain over his head. Yet now he suddenly realized that a "genius" who entered the Professional Rank at twenty-five was unbelievably weak!

Uh, of course, the original owner's so-called talent of reaching Sixth Grade Knight Attendant at sixteen was even less presentable. If he really went to serve as their attendant, they would probably find him inadequate...

PS: The few people appearing here possess the absolute top-tier talent in the setting, so the contrast is rather great. Under normal circumstances, Professional Rank Experts are still extremely rare, equivalent to an uncrowned aristocratic class.

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