Preparing for Advancement

Several hours after the Rock Giant had left, faint rustling came from the enormous banyan tree that blotted out the sky and sun.

Relying on the information carried back by the breeze, the Yellow Wind Little Sage confirmed that the Rock Giant had truly departed before finally breathing a sigh of relief.

Yet far away at his home in the real world, Zhou Yao's expression was incomparably grim.

Based on what Zhou Yao knew and the conversation between the Rock Giant and Xu Yu, he had roughly reconstructed the cause and course of the whole affair.

Every time the Mythic Invasion of the Yin Mountain Metro added a station, it caused the Yin Mountain Realm to expand.

The Mythic Invasion altered everyone's perceptions, but such violent upheaval from Realm Expansion could not be concealed.

The dangers brought about by Realm Expansion alone were enough to make Mythic Walkers wary of disaster.

Under normal circumstances, if the Yinshan Investigation Branch reported upward and the State Investigation Bureau—or even the General Investigation Bureau—sent specialists to investigate, there was a high chance they would discover the Mythic Invasion in the Yin Mountain Metro.

But the Yinshan Investigation Branch had sealed off the news for its own selfish interests, allowing the Mythic Invasion to openly appear in Yin Mountain City and placing its million residents in peril.

Zhou Yao had always considered himself an ordinary person, without any lofty virtue of taking it upon himself to save the world. Yet he still could not stand by and watch a million people be abandoned for someone's private interests.

Especially when he himself was one of those million abandoned people.

At that moment, he was suddenly glad that, out of caution, he had not gone to the Mythology Investigation Bureau to report the Mythic Invasion.

Even if he had truly drawn the Yinshan Investigation Branch's attention, they would likely have dealt with Zhou Yao first in order to keep the matter buried.

"Yinshan Investigation Branch? The Four Great Megacorporations?"

Zhou Yao murmured softly, his gaze growing ever deeper.

He had thought that after the Yellow Wind Little Sage entered the Scavenger rank, even if he could not resist the Mythic Invasion in the future, he would at least be able to find a way to leave Yin Mountain City and avoid disaster.

Yet the Yinshan Investigation Branch and the Four Great Megacorporations had joined forces to tightly monitor even the channels of information, let alone any attempt to leave Yin Mountain City.

What he now had to face was not only the unfathomable Mythic Invasion, but also these vested interests.

"In the end, I'm still not strong enough!"

"If the external environment were stable, following my previous method of hunting Yin Ghosts for Soul Shards would be an extremely safe choice.

But with Mythic Factors accumulating at such a slow pace, I am nowhere near capable of protecting myself."

"The Four Great Megacorporations all possess Scavenger Perfection Mythic Walkers who have accommodated five Mythic Traits, while the Yinshan Investigation Branch has been stationed in Yin Mountain City for many years. Its strength must run even deeper.

I must do everything possible to strengthen myself, accommodate more Mythic Traits, unlock a second incarnation, and advance to the next rank...

But the prerequisite for all of that is having enough Mythic Factors."

Zhou Yao sank into thought. A faint light flickered in his eyes as he quietly calculated.

"The Mythic Invasion Node has already left the Blackstone Mountain area and arrived in this strange, unknown forest. Even if I enter the Mythic Invasion Node again, I will appear here.

This new area has only just finished expanding. Both its environment and its Mythic Factor concentration appear far superior to the barren Blackstone Mountain. If I scour it thoroughly, I may be able to gather the resources needed for my subsequent advancement.

However, from what those two said earlier, the Yinshan Investigation Branch and the Mythic Walker teams of the Four Great Megacorporations will soon begin exploring this new area as well.

This new area has drawn the attention of every side. The Mythic Walker teams they dispatch will definitely not be the low-level teams the Yellow Wind Little Sage encountered at Blackstone Mountain before. They will surely be each side's elite.

Before the exploration truly begins, I must raise my strength as quickly as possible."

He looked out the window. A ray of sunlight rose from the east, piercing the dim sky.

On the streets outside the residential complex, early risers could already be seen walking one after another toward the metro station.

Zhou Yao checked the time, then rose and left home for the metro station.

When he reached the platform, there were only a sparse dozen or so passengers waiting for the early train. Zhou Yao looked toward the station display and saw that it now listed twelve stations, with Pestle and Mortar Station as the twelfth.

The roar of the metro rose as the familiar train arrived. Zhou Yao boarded, but his destination was not school. It was the newly opened Pestle and Mortar Station.

After the train stopped at the platform, Zhou Yao paused briefly. Once he confirmed that the space around the new station had stabilized and the Mythic Invasion Node could be used again, he used his consciousness to direct the Yellow Wind Little Sage back along the original route.

A few minutes later, a blurred cluster of light leaped onto his shoulder, and Zhou Yao stepped out of the metro station.

Taking out his phone, Zhou Yao casually sent Liu Wenjun a message: "Help me ask for leave."

After leaving the metro station and looking around, he found that Pestle and Mortar Station was located in the old district. Zhou Yao directed the Yellow Wind Little Sage to make a trip to the black market.

Among last night's spoils, although Rune Cores could be directly refined to extract Mythic Factors, the value for money was far too low. Selling them was the better choice.

The two Rune Cores were sought-after goods, and he exchanged them for six Soul Shards at a pawnshop.

Throughout the process, the Yellow Wind Little Sage remained hidden in the wind. The Mythic Walker managing the pawnshop showed no reaction at all, as though he had long grown accustomed to it.

Once everything was done, Zhou Yao hurried back home.

He took out the Soul Shards he had obtained yesterday one by one and began refining Mythic Factors.

Since the Soul Shards varied in size and purity, the number of Mythic Factors extracted from each was different. Fortunately, after loading the spell yesterday, Zhou Yao still had thirty-three Mythic Factors left.

Together with the portion of Mythic Factors that had dissipated from the Yellow Wind Little Sage, he had a total of two hundred and two points.

"Just enough to accommodate a second Mythic Trait!"

A satisfied smile appeared on Zhou Yao's face.

The Yellow Wind Little Sage's innate spell was extraordinary, but because it had accommodated only one Mythic Trait, it was merely at Scavenger First Rank.

The fastest way to increase its strength was naturally to accommodate a second trait and advance to Scavenger Second Rank. Only then could it better handle the elite teams in that newly expanded area.

And Zhou Yao currently possessed a Golden Toad's Mouth. Though it was only Spiritual Dust-grade material, its spatial and fortune-related characteristics made it extremely valuable. It was also the best Mythic Material Zhou Yao could currently obtain.

Before today, Zhou Yao had still hesitated over whether he should use this Golden Toad's Mouth on the Yellow Wind Little Sage.

In Zhou Yao's view, the Yellow Wind Little Sage had been founded upon the hair left behind by the Yellow Wind Great Sage. If he could gather high-quality Mythic Traits related to Wind Arts, he could bring its Wind Arts to the absolute limit. Using the Golden Toad's Mouth would ultimately be settling for something inferior.

But after realizing what the Yinshan Investigation Branch had done today, the crisis was already pressing down upon him. Zhou Yao truly had no need to agonize over so much.

"Maximizing Wind Arts may not necessarily be a good thing. The Yellow Wind Great Sage's divine powers all lay in the Samadhi Divine Wind, yet once Lingji Bodhisattva's Wind-Calming Pearl restrained him, he could only suffer defeat with regret. The Yellow Wind Little Sage is even less worthy of mention."

"Besides, the Yellow Wind Little Sage is a born coward. Even supreme Wind Arts would not suit sending him into battle.

And the Great Sage Thief Fate determines that its nature is not to kill, only to steal. Paired with a Golden Toad's Mouth that only takes in and never lets out, it is rather fitting."