Raking It In

Yin Mountain Realm, a deserted gorge.

The Hundred Ghosts Consortium's three-person Mythic Walker squad stood at the entrance to the gorge, the auras around them gradually stabilizing.

The mythic factors that had been violently surging across their bodies slowly subsided, flowing back into them like seawater at ebb tide.

Dozens of monster corpses formed from vines and flowers lay scattered nearby. Some had been hacked into several pieces, some had been burned to charcoal, and others had been blasted apart by some powerful impact, their fragments strewn all over the ground.

Clearly, this Mythic Walker squad had just gone through an exceptionally fierce battle.

At their head stood a tall middle-aged woman. Her black robe was embroidered with intricate images of ghosts and monsters.

"Same old rules. Clean up the battlefield. These vine monsters may not be strong, but their materials are still worth something."

As she gave the order, the captain took out a piece of Ice Crystal Stone Marrow from within her robe and used the spiritual glow flickering across it to lock onto their direction.

The battlefield was quickly cleared, and the three members of the Hundred Ghosts squad ventured deeper into the gorge.

The mythic creatures had already been wiped out, and aside from its gloomy atmosphere, the gorge held no other threats. Just then, the young squad member in white suddenly spoke.

"Have you heard about what's been happening in this new area?"

The captain did not reply. The other middle-aged man, whose features were more mature, asked in confusion, "What happened?"

With a mysterious look on his face, the young man in white said, "Some exploration squads from Cloud Palace Group, Behemoth Technology, and the Yinshan Investigation Branch claim that strange things have been happening in this new area.

"They clearly used their guidance to lock onto mythic materials, but whenever they arrived, the materials had already been taken.

"Quite a few squads returned empty-handed. Exploration squads from different factions even came to blows over it, causing no small number of casualties."

The middle-aged man looked utterly unconvinced and snorted. "Strange things? Once they've locked onto mythic materials, do you think the materials can just sprout legs and run away? I say someone's trying to line their own pockets!"

Then, in the tone of someone who had seen it all, the middle-aged man said:

"The expansion of the Yin Mountain Realm has revealed far too much unusual information. It's perfectly normal for some people to want to fish out a windfall from it.

"Word got twisted into this probably because someone crossed the line while making their haul, drew an investigation from above, and had to make up an excuse to patch things over."

Hearing the man's confident tone, the young man in white was half-convinced, half-dubious. "Surely it's not that bad?"

Just as the two were about to continue their discussion, the captain, who had been locking onto the target, suddenly raised her right hand and pointed toward a cave in the gorge.

"The item is inside that cave."

The two squad members immediately perked up and hurried into the cave entrance.

The cave was covered in splendid ice crystals. After passing through a tunnel, the Hundred Ghosts squad soon saw an azure cold pool.

"Ice crystal ore, Jade-Cold Pool. The mythic material here should be Frost Marrow Crystal."

A trace of disappointment appeared on the captain's face, but she still ordered her team, "Frost Marrow Crystal isn't worth much, but it's still a Spirit Dust-grade mythic material. Go collect it."

The two squad members immediately flew into the cold pool to search. Yet moments later, a terrified cry came from the young man in white.

"Captain, the Frost Marrow Crystal is gone!"

"What?"

While the Hundred Ghosts squad searched the cave, no one noticed a cluster of light and shadow appearing in the gorge outside.

"The sixth Spirit Dust-grade mythic material!"

Yellow Wind Little Sage held a crystal in its tiny paws, studying it up and down with curious eyes.

The crystal was a deep blue, with light flowing within it like rippling water. A thin layer of frost coated its surface, and waves of cold air radiated from it.

Though it was a Spirit Dust-quality mythic material, Frost Marrow Crystal possessed no mythic trait. It was mainly used to strengthen ice-type spells or refine ice-aspected magical artifacts.

Yellow Wind Little Sage tossed the Frost Marrow Crystal into its mouth. Its consciousness sank into the space within Greedy Mouth, and as it looked at the thirteen scattered mythic materials inside, a satisfied smile appeared on its face.

This was the harvest from Yellow Wind Little Sage's hard day of searching: six Spirit Dust-quality mythic materials and seven inferior materials that did not even qualify for a grade.

At the start of its search, Yellow Wind Little Sage had found two treasures possessing mythic traits in quick succession, but that was largely because it had seized the advantage of being in the first wave of treasure hunters, coupled with decent luck.

Among the many mythic materials, inferior ungraded materials still made up the vast majority. After all, Greedy Mouth's fortune guidance could not judge a mythic material's quality grade.

After searching around, Yellow Wind Little Sage had practically stripped the entire mountain forest clean of every mythic material that could be easily obtained, including another Spirit-Resonance Bud.

The remaining mythic materials were either too far away or carried uncertain dangers, like that black mud swamp.

Yellow Wind Little Sage had originally intended to call it quits for the time being, but the arrival of exploration squads from the Yinshan Investigation Branch and the four mega-corporations gave it an idea.

Yellow Wind Little Sage could tell that these Mythic Walker squads from major factions were all elites. Even the weakest third-tier scavenger members possessed strength on par with Yaksha Demons.

Not to mention that most of their mythic traits matched their divine lineage charts, allowing them to wield strength far beyond that of wild Mythic Walkers.

Although Yellow Wind Little Sage had some confidence in its ability to flee, it had no desire to rashly confront these exploration squads. Thus, it actively avoided them in the vast majority of situations.

But during one of its secret observations, Yellow Wind Little Sage discovered that these Mythic Walker squads seemed to possess methods for locking onto mythic materials.

On further thought, it made sense. Even a Spirit Dust-quality mythic material within Greedy Mouth had a special effect like fortune guidance, let alone the great powers of all those major factions.

Their methods were simply rather crude. They relied more on judging by the concentration of mythic factors in the surroundings, and when faced with dangerous environments, they would try to force their way through head-on instead of avoiding every battle like Yellow Wind Little Sage.

The moment it realized this, Yellow Wind Little Sage chose to hide itself, then used the movements of these Mythic Walker squads to determine which mythic materials they were trying to find.

While the Mythic Walker squads dealt with the surrounding dangers, Yellow Wind Little Sage relied on fortune's precise guidance to swiftly seize the mythic materials before they could.

After several such maneuvers, it had both avoided fighting enemies and successfully obtained several mythic materials, filling its bowls and baskets to overflowing.

Yellow Wind Little Sage glanced into the cave. Angry questioning had already carried from the depths of the cave to its entrance.

With a hint of smug delight, Yellow Wind Little Sage decisively ran toward its next target.

"There are more and more Mythic Walker squads in this area, while over half the mythic materials are already gone. I need to hurry.

"An opportunity this good may not come a second time."