Scavenger Squad

The Scavenger Squad was a type of team that had left a deep impression in the memories Xuan Ye had drawn from. Before this body's father became a retainer of the Kende Family, he had formed a Scavenger Squad himself to provide this body with enough magical beast flesh, as well as Qi and Blood medicinal ingredients.

Although his father had never spoken of the Scavenger Squad's specific circumstances so that he could cultivate in peace, Xuan Ye could still infer its general situation and purpose from certain signs and conditions.

Compared with elite mercenary teams and adventurer teams, which had fewer members, used Sixth Grade Knight Attendants and above as their backbone, and had Level 4 Knight Attendants and above as their baseline, Scavenger Squads were clearly a way for the vast number of ordinary civilians to trade their lives for money. They were also one of the fastest ways for low-level Knight Attendants to make money.

Their job was to follow behind the many mercenary and adventurer teams in the area known as the Desert of the Dead, picking up the "trash" those teams did not want.

Of course, it was only called "trash" because mercenary teams lacked the manpower to carry everything away. Even after the valuable parts had been taken, the remaining meat, bones, and other scattered materials could still amount to at least a fifth of the prey's total value. Besides, they were not picking up the leftovers of just one team.

All in all, after returning to the city, a Scavenger Squad's income would not be lower than that of a mercenary or adventurer team. The problem was that their earnings had to be divided among far more people. They also carried bulky supplies, had much poorer ability to respond to danger, and faced far greater risks.

Bloated teams, low average strength—death was commonplace. It was truly trading lives for money.

Of course, that did not mean there were no experts in Scavenger Squads. At the very least, to deal with sudden incidents and situations they could handle, the captain of a Scavenger Squad was generally quite capable. Xuan Ye's father, for example, had been a Ninth Grade Knight Attendant. Even in Stanrosai City, that qualified him as a top expert.

Then there was the bearded man named Luo Luoji who had saved him...

"No way. I may not know much, but don't lie to me. H-he's a Professional Rank Expert?"

As he listened to the youth before him, Gypsy, who was around his age but only a Third Grade Knight Attendant, mysteriously reveal this information, Xuan Ye felt his worldview crumble. Even his originally stiff, halting speech, caused by his unfamiliarity with the Human Race's common language, seemed to have become much smoother from fright.

What Xuan Ye found unbelievable was that the leader of this Scavenger Squad, Luo Luoji, was actually a well-known expert in Stanrosai City. He was a Professional Rank Expert who had surpassed the limits of a Ninth Grade Knight Attendant, successfully evolved through a class change, and condensed a Professional Core!

Professional Rank Experts and Knight Attendants were entirely different levels of life. It was not merely a matter of strength. From First to Ninth Grade Knight Attendant, the body's losses were severe. Even with enough medicinal ingredients to compensate, one's lifespan would not increase in the slightest. It might even decrease due to hidden injuries.

Yet once one broke through to the Professional Rank, their remaining lifespan could double! There were also many practical new traits. For example, Burning Core allowed one to fight desperately across ranks, making even stronger opponents unwilling to push them too far. Or, when near death, one could seal their Essence, Qi, and spirit into their Professional Core. After freezing the body, their existence could be extended dramatically. If necessary, they could even strike once more, serving as a deterrent to their family.

It could be said that once one successfully changed classes and became a Professional Rank Expert, they would belong to the privileged class anywhere, not just in Stanrosai City.

The leading forces in Stanrosai City, including the City Lord's Mansion, had all tried to recruit him. So had the top-ranked mercenary groups. Yet he had turned them all down. After gathering his own people, he had not entered the mainstream mercenary business, but instead made a flourishing career out of scavenging. No wonder Gypsy said his Luo Luo Scavenger Squad had become one of Stanrosai City's foremost top-tier Scavenger Squads.

With someone strong enough to serve as a mercenary group's leader leading them, while they merely followed behind to pick up leftovers, the money might not come the fastest, but the work was relatively easy. Moreover, the Scavenger Squad's greatest weakness—the danger—had been greatly reduced by his presence.

Of course, because he had so many subordinates to support, his personal income was indeed far lower than what he could have earned by building a mercenary group himself.

But just as Xuan Ye was secretly admiring the hearty man's disregard for his own earnings in favor of the common people, Gypsy beside him quietly "instructed" him in a low voice.

"When we run into something beyond our control, with so many excellent meat shields around, the captain—the strongest one—can slip away without much risk."

That bit of "instruction" instantly transformed Luo Luoji's image in Xuan Ye's mind from that of a bold, straightforward northerner into a shady fake medicine salesman...

The nature of Scavenger Squads also made Xuan Ye think of something that interested him greatly: Spatial Equipment!

Having been influenced by the internet in his previous life, he was naturally no stranger to the concept of such equipment.

However, after searching through his memories, he learned that although Spatial Equipment did exist in this world, it was exceedingly rare. Even Professional Rank Experts might not be able to obtain one. And even if they got lucky enough to acquire one, its internal space would most likely be extremely small. Half a cubic meter could already fetch an astronomical price, and it was the kind of item with demand far exceeding supply.

For that very reason, even high-end teams with Spatial Equipment could not store most magical beasts inside it due to their size.

The root cause seemed to be the rarity of the mineral elements required for Spatial Equipment, along with the scarcity of mages in this world. Mages were already pitifully few compared with physical-type cultivators, and among them, those capable of crafting Spatial Equipment were even fewer.

Among Stanrosai City's four hundred thousand permanent residents and roughly one hundred thousand floating residents, there were fewer than fifty Professional Rank Experts in total—not even one in every ten thousand people. Yet even more astonishingly, there was only one Professional Rank Formal Mage in all of Stanrose!

That mage had settled here and built his own Mage Tower only because he had been on good terms with the previous old city lord.

The reason Xuan Ye cared so much about Spatial Equipment was that he knew if he truly had any chance of finding his way home, he would have to start with space and time!

To cross vast distances in space while also returning to his original time—perhaps not even the gods could accomplish such a thing. It was merely a direction, a hope, a tiny, humble, faint yearning buried deep in his heart.

"Mages, huh... Hah. Looks like I need to make some plans early."

A strange glint appeared in Xuan Ye's eyes, and his steps became much firmer.

Having become a Sixth Grade Knight Attendant and reached the normal limits of the human body, the period from Seventh to Ninth Grade Knight Attendant was one of special accumulation for breaking through to the Professional Rank.

A Sixth Grade Knight Attendant had trained their muscles and physique to the peak of normal human limits. Starting from the Seventh Grade, one had to choose their future Professional Rank path in advance, select one of the six physical Inner Palaces, and begin opening it. This laid the groundwork for taking a Professional Baptism Potion or undergoing a Professional Class Change Ritual later, preparing the Inner Palace where the Professional Core would condense so that it could withstand the Professional Core's power.

Although the ultimate goal of physical-type Professional Ranks was to condense cores in all six Inner Palaces, different condensation orders resulted in vastly different enhancements and thus formed different professions. The same was true for the mage-type Star Palaces. Therefore, choosing the first point to open was undoubtedly choosing one's future direction. The first core condensed was also called the Professional Core.

In theory, after becoming a Sixth Grade Knight Attendant, one could undergo Professional Baptism at any time. It was simply that the success rate before reaching the peak of Ninth Grade Knight Attendant was painfully low. This was the best timing that the Human Race's ancestors had discovered through countless sacrifices of blood and tears.

Xuan Ye was therefore considering temporarily slowing his physical cultivation and advancement. He could continue studying techniques and skills to better protect his life, but he would wait until he had thoroughly planned his direction before raising his rank any further.

If he wanted to study space and time, mages undoubtedly possessed uniquely favorable conditions. Yet the six mental Star Palaces related to magic and the six physical Inner Palaces of the physical type were entirely different cultivation paths.

There were Special Professions such as Gale Swordsmen, Blaze Knights, and Paladins, but without question, once one had opened an Inner Palace, opening a Star Palace afterward became far more difficult. Furthermore, Special Professions could almost never open all six Star Palaces. They could only become professions that used magic as support, which would clearly make it much harder to access profound research into space and time. The Professional Rank chose one's path and confirmed one's profession—that was where the name Professional Rank came from.

Uh, the reason Xuan Ye knew all this was because his amazing old man had constantly drilled it into him, even deciding his class-change direction for him. Well, his old man's "great expectations" were for Xuan Ye to become a Barrier Master, a Special Profession that first opened the Inner Palace of Perception while simultaneously opening the Earth Star Palace.

For the former Xuan Ye, with that diligence and the resources his father had accumulated at the risk of his life, opening the Perception Inner Palace before growing old and weak should have been possible. But attempting a Special Class Change afterward would probably have been a real struggle.

The current Xuan Ye, however, possessed the enormous Database within his body and the mutated Bloodline Power known as the Eyes of Lawbreaking. He should not have a problem with that class change. But clearly, the promising-looking Special Profession of Barrier Master was not Xuan Ye's desired direction. He wanted to become an Omni-Mage and open all six Star Palaces.

After transmigrating into another world, if he could not become the Magic King, what would make him any different from a salted fish!

In that case...

"Hoo..."

After letting out a long breath, Xuan Ye retrieved the information on Basic Meditation from the data in his memories. Since his old man had arranged for him to pursue a Special Profession, he had naturally found a way to get him something like Basic Meditation to train his spirit. After all, there was a Mage Tower in the city.

Uh, although it was as commonplace as the Basic Breathing he used to train his physical Inner Palaces, at least he had the data.

As he instinctively followed alongside the Camel Beast, Xuan Ye let his thoughts drift as he began interpreting and understanding Basic Meditation.

Like Basic Breathing, as he comprehended Basic Meditation, the data within his body was also making minute adjustments to it, turning an originally rigid universal ability into one uniquely suited to himself...

During the new book period, please give me all kinds of bookmarks, recommendations, and accidental clicks.

I want to get onto the new book rankings!

Also, thanks to the readers Long Ying Zhi Ling, Piao Chen ≈ Yun Luo, Shi Sa, Mask Dance Heaven, and Clouds at the Horizon dj for their rewards, as well as all readers for your support!

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