Mouse Thief!

Yellow Wind Little Sage looked at the savage-looking ghost before it, its heart tightening as it instinctively took a step back.

It could clearly sense that the ghost was wreathed in yin energy saturated with dense Mythic Factors. That icy aura had nearly solidified into substance, forming a faint ring of black mist around the ghost's body, far stronger than this incarnation.

The textbooks on the Celestial Circuit Realm had explained that every Celestial Circuit Realm represented a segment of Lost Mythology. Many creatures from the Mythic Era would be born within them, and the vicious ghost before it was one of the iconic beings from ghost and monster myths.

At the very least, these mythic creatures possessed strength comparable to a Scavenger. Moreover, because they came from the Mythic Era, the abilities they wielded far surpassed those of low-level Scavengers whose Mythic Traits had yet to be integrated.

The vast majority of novice Mythic Walkers needed either the protection of seniors or the aid of special weapons to contend with such mythic creatures.

Yellow Wind Little Sage had only just been born. The scant knowledge it had acquired and the instincts engraved into mouse-kind's genes were both telling it to run for its life.

Without much hesitation, wind and sand suddenly rose beneath its feet as it prepared to flee. But the vicious ghost seemed to notice Yellow Wind Little Sage's little movement. Its miserable green eyes widened, and it shouted sharply, "Don't even think about running!"

The next second, the steel fork in the fierce ghost's hand tore through the air. Accompanied by a piercing howl, it crashed toward Yellow Wind Little Sage like a heavy cannon shell.

A vast amount of yin energy surged out like a tide, instantly dispersing the sand and dust that had been about to rise. Yellow Wind Little Sage hurriedly twisted its body, barely evading the steel fork with the aid of the wind and sand.

The fork swept past the tip of its tail, and the gale it kicked up threw the wind and sand around its body into chaos.

Boom! The massive blast shook the earth. The hard black rock of the ground was forcibly smashed into a deep crater by the steel fork.

Tyrannical, frigid yin energy continued spreading outward. Everywhere it passed, the ground rapidly frosted over. The rocks around the crater were covered in spiderweb-like cracks, while shattered stones exploded in every direction.

"This Yin Mountain Realm is this dangerous? Any random fierce ghost has this kind of strength?" Yellow Wind Little Sage was deeply alarmed.

Mana surged within its body, and Yellow Wind Little Sage opened its mouth and unleashed the only spell it had mastered.

"Flying Sand and Rolling Stones!"

In an instant, wild winds swept up roaring yellow sand. The fine windblown grit made it impossible to keep one's eyes open, leaving no way to see what lay within the storm.

Yellow Wind Little Sage had already concealed itself within the wind, waiting to flee the moment the fierce ghost revealed a weakness.

"Petty tricks!"

The dust did not affect the fierce ghost in the slightest. Its faintly glowing eyes had already locked onto Yellow Wind Little Sage's position, while the thrown steel fork let out trembling hums as though it were about to return to its master's hand.

A deadly threat swept over its entire body. Yellow Wind Little Sage immediately stopped holding anything back.

The Inner Threefold Meditation Talent activated, and a wisp of airflow containing True Resonance merged into Flying Sand and Rolling Stones.

Though it was only an insignificant wisp, the instant the True Samadhi Resonance merged into the spell, more than half of Yellow Wind Little Sage's mana was drained away.

The next moment, the howling gale transformed into a massive sandstorm that swept across a radius of several hundred meters. Hard mountain rocks and dust were drawn into the yellow sands, and with the empowerment of the True Samadhi Resonance, every grain seemed to become a razor-sharp blade.

The yellow sand gathered and swept across several hundred meters, like a giant hand blotting out the sky and covering the earth as it smashed fiercely down upon the fierce ghost.

Wherever the wind and sand passed, a layer was scraped from the ground, while shrill howls echoed through the air.

Yellow Wind Little Sage stared at the scene before it in shock. It had always restrained itself when using its spell before. This was the first time it had fully unleashed Flying Sand and Rolling Stones with the aid of the True Samadhi Resonance, and the staggering sight could not help but kindle a sliver of hope in its heart.

"Perhaps I can drive this fierce ghost back?"

The next moment, Yellow Wind Little Sage saw a figure standing unshaken amid the yellow sands filling the sky.

The fierce ghost's yin energy had condensed into a black barrier that firmly resisted the assault of wind and sand. The storm that could easily crush mountain rock and grind down steel was unable to so much as shake the fierce ghost.

With no other trump cards left, alarm bells blared in Yellow Wind Little Sage's heart. The hope that had just risen was instantly shattered.

"Run!"

Yellow Wind Little Sage immediately fled into the distance. Wind and sand wrapped around its body, pushing its speed to the limit.

Just as it was about to rush beyond the range covered by the wind and sand, Yellow Wind Little Sage caught sight of the large crater left by the fierce ghost's steel fork. A faint glow flickered from the rubble at the edge of the crater, and words actually appeared before its eyes.

"Mythic Material!"

Without time to examine the words closely, Yellow Wind Little Sage hesitated for less than a second. Then the gale around it abruptly changed direction, sweeping up the steel fork that had pierced through the mountain rock.

With the aid of the wild wind, its palm-sized body forcibly lifted the steel fork, which was more than ten times larger than itself. Yellow Wind Little Sage exerted all its strength and charged into the distance.

After Yellow Wind Little Sage left, the sandstorm filling the sky continued for several whole minutes.

The raging wind and sand ravaged this desolate land, shrouding everything around it in a yellow haze. Only after Yellow Wind Little Sage had completely vanished beyond the horizon did the storm subside, revealing the fierce ghost at its center.

At this moment, the fierce ghost no longer looked vicious as before. Though the fine wind and sand had failed to completely tear apart its yin-energy defense, some had still penetrated the protection and eroded its body. Its seemingly intact body was already riddled with holes.

Those strips of black cloth had nearly been torn to shreds, exposing the mangled flesh beneath. Its blue-gray skin was covered in dense wounds, black blood slowly seeping out.

Its eyes in particular had almost been completely ground apart by the wind and sand. Only sockets filled with yellow sand remained, and the miserable green light had utterly gone out.

The enormous commotion here had long since drawn attention from nearby. Yin Ghosts wreathed in yin energy drifted over from afar, their bodies illusory and translucent, their twisted faces filled with venomous resentment.

When they saw the fierce ghost standing where it was, the Yin Ghosts all looked terrified. They halted stiffly in the distance, not daring to approach.

"Lord Yaksha Soldier!" one Yin Ghost was the first to speak, its voice hollow and stiff.

"Lord Yaksha Soldier!" The other Yin Ghosts followed suit. Yet compared to the Yaksha Demon, both their voices and movements were several degrees more rigid, like puppets without intelligence.

The Yaksha Demon grimly removed the windblown sand embedded in its body. Every grain it pulled out brought a stream of black blood with it.

It could not help growling, "Since when has such a formidable Mythic Walker appeared on the outskirts of this Yin Mountain Realm? Playing mouse to eat an old ghost is one thing, but after severely injuring me, it chose to flee instead of continuing its attack. What does that mean? Has the Mythology Investigation Bureau made another move?"

Its hoarse voice carried traces of wariness and unwillingness.

With its eyes destroyed, the Yaksha Demon sensed the Yin Ghosts around it. Only after confirming that there were no ghost soldiers of the same rank among them did it put on a trace of arrogance and give its order:

"The Mythic Walker has been driven away by me. Go retrieve my weapon."

Obeying the order, the Yin Ghosts began searching the surrounding area. They drifted through the region ravaged by wind and sand, rummaging through every piece of rubble and every depression in the ground.

After a long while, a stiff voice finally rang out.

"Lord Yaksha Soldier, your weapon seems to be missing."

"Huh?" The Yaksha Demon froze for a moment, then immediately understood what had happened.

"Damn mouse thief!"