Nest-Stealer, Thief of Fire

The two ghost gods were profoundly shaken. They had clearly heard that in the Lost Mythology echo, the ghost god of the Netherworld Bureaucracy had addressed the one wielding great divine powers as the Yellow Wind Great King.

One had to know that in Lost Mythology, the names of deities all carried supreme mighty power.

Even one who attained the rank of a False God could reach the realm where "recite their name, and they will surely know."

As for those seated above the immortals and gods, their honored names were equivalent to the Great Dao being etched into the mortal world.

Even if such beings fell, so long as someone stole their name, they would become a medium through which they could return from Lost Mythology.

In the three hundred years since the Human Federation was founded, countless people who saw themselves as protagonists favored by destiny had stolen divine names, only to have their nests taken over by the deities in the end.

Even within the Federation's current Supreme Council, there were councilors who had been replaced by deities.

Yet constrained by the deities' mighty power, neither the lineages behind those councilors nor the Supreme Council could do anything but tacitly acknowledge their identities, allowing those deities to exercise a councilor's authority.

The Yellow-Haired Little Rat before them bore the name Yellow Wind Little Sage. He was surely connected to that Yellow Wind Great King.

Although the Yellow Wind Little Sage's previous behavior had been strange, it could only arouse some suspicion. Before the name of a deity, such trivial matters were utterly insignificant.

Whether the one before them was a medium for the Yellow Wind Great King's return or a reincarnated contingency left behind by a deity from the Mythic Era, he was not someone they could afford to provoke.

With that thought, the two ghost gods exchanged a glance, then both dropped to one knee and respectfully saluted.

"Merit and Demerit Office subordinate, Yin Clerk Fu Ming, keeper of the brush."

"Merit and Demerit Office subordinate, Yin Clerk Hui Yuan, keeper of the registers."

"Greetings, Little Sage!"

The Yellow Wind Little Sage narrowed his eyes slightly, revealing a trace of surprise.

"One of the Ten Offices of the City God, the Merit and Demerit Office? Is there still a City God manifesting in this world?"

Fu Ming and Hui Yuan both trembled inwardly.

They had deliberately mentioned the Merit and Demerit Office partly to test the Yellow Wind Little Sage.

But the Yellow Wind Little Sage had immediately named the Ten Offices of the City God, causing much of their suspicion toward him to dissipate.

Seeing this, Fu Ming said, "Reporting to the Little Sage, the City Gods of the Netherworld Bureaucracy vanished from the world along with Lost Mythology long ago. A mighty figure obtained the methods of the City God and reestablished the Ten Offices of the City God in the present world.

"We entered the Merit and Demerit Office merely to seek a breakthrough, picking up scraps from another's table."

The Yellow Wind Little Sage's expression remained unchanged, but Zhou Yao, far away in the present world, suddenly contracted his pupils, a look of shock appearing on his face.

Neither Fu Ming's manner of speaking nor the information in his words sounded like that of ghost gods left behind from the Mythic Era.

Together with the various abnormalities Fu Ming and Hui Yuan had displayed earlier, Zhou Yao formed a bold conjecture.

"These two so-called ghost gods of the Merit and Demerit Office are actually Mythic Walkers?"

Zhou Yao took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the shock in his heart.

Within the Northern Yin Mountain Temple, the Yellow Wind Little Sage looked meaningfully at the two ghost gods, his expression half-smiling as he said, "Taking over a magpie's nest just to seek a breakthrough?"

Panic appeared on Fu Ming and Hui Yuan's faces, as though they did not know how to answer.

In the end, Hui Yuan hesitated for a moment before saying, "Little Sage, you should know that after we Mythic Walkers reach Scavenger Perfection, if we wish to advance to the next rank, we must integrate our own traits and steal a thread of the divine status of the immortals and gods.

"The simplest method on this path is, when accommodating five Mythic Traits at the Scavenger Rank, to consciously draw close to a deity. Then, with a mortal body, one acts under that deity's name, thereby stealing that deity's status.

"But this path is not easy to walk. Most Mythic System Diagrams followed by Mythic Walkers do not point to any specific deity, and drawing close to a deity carries the risk of being assimilated.

"After countless mighty figures of the Human Federation refined the process, another path came into being."

"We Mythic Walkers at Scavenger Perfection can use certain mediums to enter a mythic faction. If we can be listed in its register of fate, it counts as bearing that faction's mark.

"After that, we can use a large-scale ritual to send a divided soul into a Mythic Domain. That wisp of divided soul will randomly drift into some Lost Mythology, temporarily stealing a mythic position."

"For example, we are both scholars of Jade Capital Academy. We honor the Jade Capital City God and entered the Merit and Demerit Office to obtain the positions of divine clerks.

"Afterward, we waited in line for a full two years before obtaining a slot to use the Ten Halls Reincarnation Ritual. More than a month ago, we finally descended with divided souls and successfully stole the positions of two gatekeeping ghost gods.

"Though the bodies of these two gatekeeping ghost gods are incomplete beyond recognition, they are manifestations of the rules of the Northern Yin Mountain Temple and can still be considered ghost gods of the Netherworld Bureaucracy.

"So long as we occupy these ghost god bodies for a long time and comprehend divine intent, we will have a chance to steal that thread of divine status from the immortals and gods and ascend to the second rank."

Hui Yuan paused slightly, and a trace of longing showed in his eyes.

"The second rank of Mythic Walkers is called the Thief of Fire.

"In Titan Mythology, a deity once stole the fire of the divine realm and brought it down to the mortal world, bringing fire and civilization to the secular world.

"The original meaning of Thief of Fire is to steal the fire of the gods, their divine status, and remake oneself!"

After this explanation, Zhou Yao finally understood the many unreasonable aspects of the Northern Yin Mountain Temple.

People had initially been able to enter the Northern Yin Mountain Temple. Yet after the fourth Northern Yin Mountain Temple appeared, the Yinshan Investigation Branch gathered the strength of the entire Investigation Bureau, but no one could enter the temple again.

All of this was simply because the gatekeeping ghost gods had initially enforced the rules strictly.

But after the gatekeeping ghost gods were occupied by Fu Ming and Hui Yuan, they wanted to monopolize that thread of ghost god status. Thus, they were unwilling to let other Mythic Walkers enter the temple, so they twisted the rules to bar Mythic Walkers from entering.

Beyond that, the other information revealed by Hui Yuan also deeply shook Zhou Yao.

"Jade Capital Academy, one of the Five Great Academies, can, through the strength of a single academy, rebuild the City God mythic system and construct the Ten Halls Reincarnation Ritual.

"The waters of these Five Great Academies seem far deeper than I imagined!"

As someone from a fourth-tier small city, Zhou Yao only knew that entering the Five Great Academies would surely allow one to become a Mythic Walker. He knew nothing at all of the gap involved.

The only student from the Five Great Academies he knew anything about was Xie An, the owner of Fortune Shop.

From the scattered remarks of Fu Ming and Hui Yuan, the Five Great Academies seemed like another world entirely.

Beyond that, Zhou Yao was greatly interested in how the two had sent down wisps of divided souls into the Celestial Circuit Realm and transformed into gatekeeping ghost gods.

"This operation is basically players role-playing as NPCs!"

"I just wonder whether such a ritual has any restrictions, and whether there are specific rules for a divided soul possessing a body."

The more Zhou Yao considered it, the more extraordinary Jade Capital Academy seemed.

"In this era of Mythic Loss, the Federation is ultimately still in control, and the Five Great Academies hold an important place within it.

"If I can survive this Mythic Invasion disaster, I must find a way to enter one of the Five Great Academies!"

Having made up his mind, Zhou Yao knew that both the Five Great Academies and the Thief of Fire rank they had described were far too distant from him.

Compared to those, the secrets of the Northern Yin Mountain Temple before him were far more worthy of attention.