He Who Steals the Great Dao Is Called a Sage

After fleeing for dozens of kilometers in one breath, Yellow Wind Little Sage finally stopped in a hidden crack in a cliff when the last remnants of his magical power were about to run dry. He then dispelled the wind spell.

Without the raging wind to support it, the steel trident taken from the Yaksha Demon seemed dozens of times heavier. Its entire weight bore down on Yellow Wind Little Sage, nearly crushing him into a mouse pancake.

Hurriedly dodging the falling trident, Yellow Wind Little Sage curled up nearby to recover his magical power.

Far away at home, Zhou Yao finally relaxed and withdrew part of his consciousness. He raised a hand to rub his temples; maintaining such intense focus for so long had left him somewhat mentally exhausted.

"Even a random fierce ghost had such strength. This Yin Mountain Realm was truly terrifying. If ordinary people entered it, they would be walking straight into a dead end.

"But according to the classifications in the books, the Yin Mountain Realm was merely the lowest-grade Celestial Circuit Realm. How did the earliest Mythic Walkers ever explore high-grade Celestial Circuit Realms?"

What Zhou Yao did not know was that such thoughts stemmed entirely from a mistaken understanding born of his lack of formal Mythic Walker education.

Under normal circumstances, when the Federation officially took control of a Celestial Circuit Realm, it would first establish a base at the realm's entrance and clear out the nearby mythic creatures.

Afterward, whether helping ordinary people advance into Mythic Walkers or conducting preliminary explorations of the Mythic Domain, everything would be done within the area cleared by the base.

The true vanguard for venturing deep into unknown territory consisted either of elite Mythic Walker teams backed by major corporations and financial consortiums, or veteran Mythic Walkers from top academies and official research institutes.

Lost Mythology was fraught with danger at every turn. Even the most ordinary Mythic Domain could bury powerful figures within it; one absolutely could not let down one's guard.

Every deep exploration of a Celestial Circuit Realm required meticulous planning. The exploration maps alone had to be prepared days in advance through technological means.

Someone like Zhou Yao, who used the Yellow Wind Little Sage avatar to enter a Celestial Circuit Realm alone through a node of Mythic Invasion, was one in a thousand Mythic Walkers.

And if Zhou Yao had known a little more about Celestial Circuit Realms, he would have realized that the Yaksha Demon from before was by no means an ordinary ghost.

Low-level mythic creatures born within Lost Mythology were usually dim-witted. Once killed, their souls returned to heaven and earth, then were born anew alongside the realm's evolution, making them nearly impossible to exterminate completely.

But not every mythic creature was killed. If some were left uncleared for a long time, there was an exceedingly small chance that they would develop intelligence and become mythic creatures with their own will.

Whether in strength or danger, such mythic creatures far surpassed their peers. They could even cultivate and advance through their own systems.

The Yaksha Demon clearly belonged to the category of mythic creatures that had developed intelligence on their own. If this were a game, it would at least count as an elite monster.

After resting briefly, Zhou Yao finally turned his attention to the steel trident he had carried all the way back.

[Ghost Soldier's Steel Trident

Type: Underworld Artifact

Quality: Spiritual Dust

Mythic Trait: Baleful Chill

Description: A steel trident wielded by a ghost soldier of a hundred years, originally forged from Yinshan Cold Iron and tempered by ghostly qi for another hundred years, making it incomparably hard.]

Seeing the Ghost Soldier's Steel Trident's panel, Zhou Yao's eyes lit up.

"An Underworld Artifact of Spiritual Dust quality, and it even had a Mythic Trait entry. My risk in stealing this artifact had not been in vain."

Zhou Yao had visited quite a few shops in Yin Mountain City and possessed a general understanding of these Mythic Materials.

The lowest-grade Mythic Materials, like Soul Shard Fragments and Spiritwood Branches, were utterly insignificant. Though called Mythic Materials, at most they could be used to extract a few Mythic Factors or to swindle wealthy mortals. They sold for roughly three hundred thousand Federation Coins.

A step above them were Mythic Materials with quality grades. Though Spiritual Dust was merely the lowest grade, such Mythic Materials often possessed special uses and could serve as weapons or auxiliary materials for casting spells and divine abilities.

Mythic Materials of this grade were often valued in the millions of Federation Coins, their worth difficult to measure.

Even among Spiritual Dust-quality materials, however, there were still differences.

Those outstanding Spiritual Dust-grade Mythic Materials possessed Mythic Traits on top of that.

Mythic Walkers could find ways to fuse Mythic Traits into themselves to raise their rank, or extract the traits to forge artifacts.

The value of Mythic Materials with traits could not be measured in Federation Coins at all. Most Mythic Walkers would choose to barter for the Mythic Traits they needed, or exchange them for Mythic Factors to strengthen themselves.

But those were transactions accessible only to properly trained Mythic Walkers. A wild-path practitioner like Zhou Yao clearly had no chance of accessing them, so it was naturally difficult for him to gauge the value of this Ghost Soldier's Steel Trident.

But without question, extracting Mythic Factors from the Ghost Soldier's Steel Trident would be the worst possible choice.

Controlling Yellow Wind Little Sage as he carefully examined the crudely made steel trident, Zhou Yao's thoughts churned as he replayed the earlier battle.

"This Ghost Soldier's Steel Trident was no ordinary object, and the ghost soldier wielding it was even more extraordinary. Even Flying Sand and Rolling Stones empowered by True Samadhi Resonance could not destroy it.

"But the other side certainly had not come away unscathed either. Otherwise, it could not have let me take its weapon so easily."

Recalling the scene, Zhou Yao lightly tapped the armrest with his index finger, his gaze narrowing.

"Thinking about it carefully, that ghost soldier's strength had not actually reached a level where it was impossible to fight.

"Flying Sand and Rolling Stones empowered by True Samadhi Resonance could not kill it, but they had clearly pinned it down completely. Given the right opportunity, it might have been possible to kill it.

"But for some reason, this avatar seemed to lose its judgment when facing a powerful enemy and wanted only to flee. Was it because of the rat demon instincts formed by the avatar, or was there another reason?"

With that thought, Zhou Yao tried looking at Yellow Wind Little Sage's panel.

[Avatar: Yellow Wind Little Sage

Rank: Scavenger

Fate: Great Sage, Great Thief (Comprehension Progress 0.1%)

Talent: Inner Threefold Samadhi (False God Ember)

Spell: Flying Sand and Rolling Stones]

Zhou Yao froze for a moment, surprise surfacing on his face.

He clearly remembered that the Great Sage Thief Fate had previously displayed the words "Not Comprehended."

"The Great Sage Thief Fate had changed. Could it be related to what happened before?"

Zhou Yao had thought that comprehending a Fate required heavenly treasures or an ocean of Mythic Factors, but he had never imagined that he would somehow begin making progress without even realizing it.

As his consciousness lightly settled on the Fate in the panel, a string of clear words flooded into Zhou Yao's mind.