Mythic Walker

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Mythic Walker (神话行者)
Alias(es)	Mythology Walker; Myth Walker 1 13
Occupation/Role	Explorer of the Celestial Circuit Realms who excavates lost mythology, gathers mythic materials, and develops mythic power 1 3
Status	Extant; an established part of Human Federation society and education 1
First Appearance	Lost Mythic Age 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Scavenger Rank — Tier 1	11 80	The first Mythic Walker rank. Its core pursuit is accommodating mythic traits.
Scavenger Ranks — Tiers 2–4	18 25	Intermediate stages within Scavenger; rank is tied to progress in containing the five major mythic traits.
Scavenger Rank — Tier 5	18 19	The highest standard Scavenger tier. A fifth-rank Walker may possess five traits yet still fail to achieve completion if those traits reject one another.
Scavenger Completion	23 33	Requires five compatible traits to be integrated into a whole rather than merely accumulated; completed Walkers can seek advancement beyond Scavenger.
Scavenger Sixth Rank	222	A later documented Scavenger designation. Its precise relationship to the earlier five-rank framework is not explained in the available material.
Fire-Stealing Rank	33 100	A post-Scavenger path involving the theft or temporary occupation of divine status through mythological rites and positions.
Pseudo-God Rank	100 108 174	Also rendered as False God Rank. A high rank represented in the Arctic Exorcism Institute's command-and-law-enforcement hierarchy and among major corporate leaders.
Orthodox God	240	A supreme realm said to require entering a Mythic Echo, enduring the mythic age's laws, and repairing flaws in one's own laws.
Fire-Stealing Early-Stage	270	Zhou Yao reaches this stage through True-Name Usurpation rather than a conventional Fire-Stealing Ritual, igniting the Six Heavens Divine Fire through recognition of his divine identity.
Fire-Stealing Late-Stage	305 306	Zhou Yao's cultivation stabilizes at this stage when he condenses the Six-Heaven Emperor Lord's power into a Seed of Fire and returns from the Mythic Echo.
Fire-Stealing Apex	89 174 305	An advanced Fire-Stealing stage represented by the Yin Mountain Warden and Xuan Yi. Zhou Yao expects to reach it after his return before eventually entering the False God Realm.
True God Realm	305 306	A higher divine realm used as a benchmark for divine attacks and supreme treasures. Zhou Yao could have preserved five attacks reaching this realm, but chooses an enduring Seed of Fire instead; this does not constitute personal advancement to True God.
Great Principle Realm — Projected Potential	305	A possible future destination for Zhou Yao if his Seed of Fire merges with the rebuilt Netherworld and restores the complete Six-Heaven Emperor Lord position. It is not an attained advancement.

Background

After mythology was lost, the surviving myths of human civilization transformed into Celestial Circuit Realms that overlap with the mortal world. Individuals who enter these realms to uncover their remnants are known as Mythic Walkers; the profession is sufficiently established to be taught in school textbooks. 1

A Walker advances by exploring lost mythological environments, acquiring mythic materials and factors, and repairing incomplete myths. Deep exploration is normally undertaken by elite corporate teams, academy veterans, or official research personnel, as even low-level Cycle Realms can destroy powerful explorers. 3 6

Official access to most Celestial Circuit Realm entrances is controlled by the Human Federation. Prospective Walkers must register, submit to background checks and mythic-power assessments, and accept Federation management; unregistered explorers have limited access to legitimate trading and advancement channels. 3 6

Origins of the Cultivation System

The Mythic Walker system was developed by later generations upon the ruins of Lost Mythology. The name Scavenger refers not simply to the quality of materials used, but to the act of finding mythic remnants and establishing karmic and fated connections with them. These connections draw related mythic powers toward the discoverer and support further cultivation. 114

Mythic Walkers have existed for centuries, and general information about them circulates through textbooks and online forums. However, publicly available information mixes truth with falsehood, while crucial advancement knowledge remains closely guarded by major powers. 8 11

Exploration and Society

Federation-controlled realms ordinarily have a base established at their entrance, with nearby mythic creatures cleared away. Initial exploration and assistance for ordinary people becoming Walkers take place within this secured area; expeditions into unknown territory require extensive planning and advance mapping. 6

Walker populations vary greatly by location. Yin Mountain City originally had barely more than a thousand, whereas Zhou Yao estimates that approximately one-fifth of Jade Capital City's population consists of Mythic Walkers. Some cities enforce coexistence with ordinary people, while others have sharply divided social classes or laws granting Walkers disproportionate privileges. 108

The profession is not limited to ordinary human forms or a single mythological tradition. Demon Race members may themselves be Mythic Walkers, and exploration teams can include practitioners of Eastern talisman systems alongside Western guardian and elf archetypes. 14 124

Abilities & Skills

Mythic Traits

A Mythic Walker's powers, potential, and advancement path are determined by the mythic traits they contain. Traits may offer only modest superhuman capabilities or power comparable to gods and demons. 11

• A Scavenger normally seeks to contain five major mythic traits. 11
• Compatible traits can be organized through a divine lineage chart, which represents following the path of a mythological existence. 23
• Five incompatible traits may produce a fifth-rank Scavenger, but not a perfected one capable of higher advancement. 23
• At Scavenger Completion and beyond, properly resonating traits can undergo deeper interactions and awaken more ancient mythic potential. 131
• Completion produces a combined effect greater than the sum of five individual traits. Yellow Wind Little Sage's ability to produce trait synergy at Scavenger Third Rank is therefore exceptional. 75
• Certain extraordinary traits allow authority to be condensed even at Scavenger Rank. Zhou Yao's Six Heavens of Mount Luofeng requires compatible yin-natured traits as catalysts, but provides a foundation for eventual godhood. 80
• A trait's deeper effects are not necessarily apparent to its user. Rare mythic materials often require prolonged investigation, and incorrect use of their powers is common without appropriate guidance. 156

Mythic Factor Manipulation

Mythic factors are a primary resource for strengthening the body, containing traits, and supporting advancement rituals. 3 11

• Factors help a body meet the conditions necessary to accommodate mythic traits. 11
• Mythic materials may be exchanged for factors, integrated as traits, or refined into Dharma artifacts. 6
• Some Walkers forcefully consume factors to create an imposing spiritual aura, though this can leave that aura unstable. 13

Divine Status Theft

A completed Scavenger can pursue Fire-Stealing advancement by combining their traits and stealing a portion of an immortal or god's divine status. 33

• One method is to act in a deity's name while deliberately drawing close to that deity. 33
• Another uses a mythological faction's register of fate and a large-scale ritual to send a divided soul into Lost Mythology, where it temporarily occupies a mythic position. 33
• Drawing close to a deity risks assimilation. 33
• Fu Ming and Hui Yuan obtained divine clerk positions through Jade Capital Academy's City God system, then waited two years for access to the Ten Halls Reincarnation Ritual before occupying gatekeeping ghost-god positions with divided souls. 33

True-Name Usurpation and Divine Fire

True-Name Usurpation, also called True-Name Theft, is an ancient and especially dangerous form of Fire-Stealing. Rather than merely borrowing a divine office, the practitioner replaces their soul with a divine being's identity and authority, plundering its residual rank and concepts to ignite divine fire representing that deity's origin. Successful practitioners in sealed history could ascend directly to divine positions. 270

• Historical targets included fallen Orthodox Gods and, as practitioners became more ambitious, True Lords, Daoist Golden Immortals, Buddhist Buddhas, and chief gods of the Eight Divisions. Even injured beings who had not fallen became targets. 270
• Zhou Yao's advancement is an exceptional self-stealing cycle: within the Mythic Echo, he both usurps the Six-Heaven Emperor Lord's identity and effectively occupies that identity himself. 270
• The sincere recognition of twenty Netherworld Orthodox Gods merges conceptual power into his perfected Six Heavens God trait, allowing him to advance without completing the normal Fire-Stealing Ritual. 270
• His resulting Six Heavens Divine Fire contains Netherworld authority, concepts, and power. He seeks further acknowledgment of his divine identity to strengthen it. 270
• Zhou Yao later condenses this fire into a black-gold Seed of Fire preserving the Emperor Lord's genuine authority, concepts, and information. This sacrifices five potential True God-level attacks in favor of long-term growth and possible integration with the rebuilt Netherworld. 305
• The Seed of Fire can supply Netherworld Origin for his divine abilities, though this is a documented feature of Zhou Yao's particular inheritance rather than an established universal ability of Fire-Stealing Walkers. 306

Resistance to Mythic Systems

By accommodating materials drawn from mythic civilizations, Mythic Walkers bear multiple mythological legacies and develop unusually high resistance to the powers of different systems. This includes resistance to Old Mythology corruption, which helps them withstand mythological calamities that threaten beings unfamiliar with those powers. Such resistance is not presented as complete immunity. 289

Unofficial History Manipulation

Some Walkers can work with unofficial histories rather than simply excavating established mythological remnants. The Unofficial History Club's methods include fabricating false causality, altering historical developments, and creating effects from seemingly nonexistent foundations. In incompletely explored ruins, these interventions can turn opportunities into traps or treasures into curses. 53 164

Zhou Yao demonstrates an advanced application by extracting the unofficial history he created from a Mythic Spacetime as its echo ends. Those events disappear from that era's historical traces and become enduring rewards, including the Book of Life and Death and the Emperor-Subduing Heart Ape Five Elements Mountain divine ability. The latter is a living segment of Mythic History condensed into a technique, rather than an ordinary Unofficial-History Relic. 305 306

Advancement Requirements

The first mythic material absorbed through an advancement ritual is especially significant, influencing a Walker's upper limit, comprehension, status, and future compatibility. 59

• Advancement rituals must be tailored to both the initial material and the intended mythological system. 10 11
• The Five Great Academies maintain the largest and most reliable collections of advancement blueprints. 10
• A Walker's karmic and fated connection to a discovered material helps draw related mythic powers and opportunities toward them. 114
• Purchasing suitable materials alone does not guarantee a complete advancement; without the proper karmic connection, a Walker may be unable to perfect their five traits. 128
• Ordinary Foundation Establishment is generally limited to Spiritual Dust-grade materials, while exceptional academy geniuses may use Incense Ashes-grade materials. 81
• Before accommodating a trait, an ordinary candidate must strengthen their body with mythic factors, select a suitable material, and study its mythic lore to reduce rejection. The ritual then brings the body into a condition capable of bearing the trait. 10 11
• False God Ember-grade materials are generally unique and cannot readily support repeated experiments using identical examples. Their rituals require custom design, substantial resources, and often the deductions of prophets or other high-rank experts. 59
• A present-day god can forcibly intervene in karma to permit exceptional Foundation Establishment while preserving the necessary fated connection, but the cost is usually prohibitive outside direct divine relatives. 114
• Further advancement also depends on the body's and soul's capacity. Possessing another suitable material does not guarantee that a Walker is ready to absorb it immediately. 110 222

Alternative Foundation Establishment

Some survivors of Mythic Invasions become Walkers without following ordinary material-based advancement. Their first trait originates directly from the invasion and carries its special rule power, making them valuable subjects for research by major factions. Seventeen survivors of the Yin Mountain City disaster were confirmed to have become Mythic Walkers. 100 103

• Invasion-derived traits are described as having foundations at least above incense remnants, but frequently lack systematic divine lineage charts. Many such Walkers stop at Scavenger Fifth Rank because they cannot find the compatible materials required for completion. 127
• Underworld-related invasion survivors may find suitable materials through the Ten Offices of the City God, which maintains resources associated with the revival of that system. 104
• A different method casts aside the mortal body and merges one's essence with a mythic material, turning the practitioner into an extension of it and effectively a true mythic creature. It grants unusually complete access to the material's power but permanently relinquishes human identity. 44
• Zhou Yao uses the Eighteen Levels of Hell invasion as a ritual to accommodate the Godhood of Mount Luofeng. This realizes a previously theoretical approach rather than demonstrating a safe, generally reproducible procedure. 60 79

Higher Advancement and Mythic Echoes

A saying in the cultivation world holds that Walkers born in the Lost Mythic Age cannot reach Orthodox Godhood solely through their own efforts in the present world. They must enter a Mythic Echo, experience the laws of the intact mythic age, and repair deficiencies in their own laws. This requirement places them in contact with genuine mythic lineages and gods at the height of their power rather than weakened remnants. 240

Specialized rituals can also transform a Walker's mode of existence. The Ghost King Gate-Entering Ritual allows a Fire-Stealing Apex practitioner to receive the netherworld's baptism, break the boundary between human and ghost, and become a Ghost King commanding a Ghost Domain. Its documented requirements include one hundred thousand Spiritual Souls with Walker potential, an appropriate realm node, and a full-moon ritual at the hour of the pig. 89

Equipment / Methods

• Mythic materials — Sources of traits, advancement resources, and artifact components; materials possessing traits are especially valuable. 6
• Dharma artifacts — Refined from extracted mythic traits or mythic materials for specialized combat and utility. 6
• Rune equipment — A practical source of offensive and defensive capability for low-rank Scavengers who possess too few innate methods. 18
• Talismans and arrays — Used by Walkers following talisman-oriented systems for attacks, barriers, detection, and transport. 53 112
• Appraisal methods — Most Walkers require specialist Pawn Appraisers, mythic knowledge, and special traits to determine a material's true properties. 71
• Material guidance and detection — Exploration teams use compasses, crystal balls, technological instruments, and factor-based guidance to locate materials. These methods may infer targets from concentrations of mythic factors and are not necessarily precise. 25 27
• Divine office tokens and assumed identities — Genuine tokens, secret mythic lore, and carefully constructed identities allow Walkers to claim authority within Historical Shadows. Major factions deliberately prepare some explorers to pose as divine descendants or envoys. 179
• Historical remnants — Repeating scenes and surviving mythic creatures provide information about the lost past, but their records require independent judgment because unknown forces may have altered them. 165
• Supreme treasures and historical divine abilities — Exceptional exploration can produce enduring powers beyond ordinary artifacts. Zhou Yao's Book of Life and Death and Emperor-Subduing Heart Ape Five Elements Mountain derive from his Mythic Echo experiences and accumulated unofficial history. 305 306

Risks and Limitations

• Realm hazards — Lost Mythology is inherently dangerous; even seemingly minor realms can bury experienced Walkers. 6
• Trait incompatibility — Randomly combining traits or rituals can damage future potential even when advancement succeeds. 11
• Ritual failure — A mismatched ritual can injure the soul, destabilize mythic factors, or permanently prevent proper advancement. 59
• Aberration — A rare survivor of an incorrect ritual may become an Aberrant: a degraded, nonstandard form of Mythic Walker with no mythic traits, fused directly to mythic material and vulnerable to assimilation by Lost Mythology. 37
• Limited lifespan — Most Scavenger-rank Walkers cannot exceed roughly 120 years of age, though slowed aging is common. 29
• Mythological judgment — Realm rules can kill even high-rank Walkers when their conditions are violated; Yin Mountain Metro's hell-like judgment has claimed Fire-Stealing-rank Walkers. 66 70
• Rushed advancement — Absorbing materials is an ordeal for both flesh and soul. Inadequate preparation or recovery can cause genetic collapse, mythic contamination, monstrosity, or destruction of one's foundation. 222
• Unreliable mythic records — Contradictory realm information, altered historical remnants, and fabricated unofficial histories can misdirect cultivation and exploration. Most Walkers cannot reliably distinguish official history from unofficial history. 7 53 165
• Malicious materials — Apparently beneficial relics may contain concealed traps. The Replacing Hua with Wa trait is designed to alter talented Walkers' identity and allegiance despite its favorable quality and compatibility. 133
• Historical rule restrictions — Powerful entrants face greater restrictions in historical ruins. False Gods who enter rashly may trigger annihilating heavenly punishment; major factions therefore send lower-rank Walkers ahead to investigate rules and taboos. 187
• Loss of human identity — Complete essence-fusion with a mythic material can produce a born-sacred existence at the cost of permanently ceasing to be human. 44
• Institutional exploitation — Official protection is not universal. The corrupt Yinshan Investigation Branch supported prohibited Aberrant production, monitored civilian Walkers, and later killed black-market Walkers to harvest their souls. 37 87
• Resource-limited divine power — Possessing a high-grade treasure does not eliminate the need for supporting laws and resources. In the incomplete Netherworld of the Lost Mythic Age, Zhou Yao's Book of Life and Death must consume stored Netherworld Origin with each use. 306

Affiliated Institutions

Institution	Relationship to Mythic Walkers
Human Federation	Controls most legitimate Celestial Circuit Realm entrances and regulates Walker registration, assessment, and supervision. 3
Mythology Investigation Bureau	Guards and investigates mythological incidents, maintains strict review systems for rituals and mythology-system charts, and commands local exploration operations. 19 59
Five Great Academies	Preserve major advancement blueprints and provide systematic, high-level Mythic Walker education. 10 80
Major corporations	Field elite exploration squads and compete with official forces for mythic materials and newly opened realms. 25 28
Unofficial History Club	A natural mythic-world phenomenon recognizing Walkers who use Ember-grade or higher unofficial-history materials for Foundation Establishment. Its members can manipulate historical causality, making the Club a feared influence on ruin exploration. 81 164
Arctic Exorcism Institute	One of the Investigation Bureau's largest enforcement institutions, possessing a highly complete Walker system and severe hierarchy. It assumes control of Yin Mountain City after the disaster and investigates the surviving Walkers. 100
Ten Offices of the City God	Revives the City God system and maintains Underworld-type materials suitable for compatible advancement. City God students who reach Scavenger Completion during university may enter directly without examination. 104
Heretic Tribunal	Investigates and punishes certain abuses of mythic power, including criminal misuse of mythic materials and sacrificial rituals. 42 156