Myths are rarely fools, nor are they weaklings. He didn't agree against his will under pressure; he had merely considered the cause and effect, the battle process, and gained some clarity!
A hegemonic power like the Gu Yue Dynasty would certainly not curry favor with a mere Blazing Fire Merchant Guild. Madam Gong must have had her reasons for arranging the contribution distribution this way.
There were just a few pieces of information he wasn't entirely clear on.
The founder of the Dragon Horse Escort Agency, the myth Dragon Horse, immediately recalled the white-robed figure who had clasped his hands together not long ago, conjuring an boundless forest.
Could that esteemed individual not be reinforcements summoned by the Gu Yue Dynasty, but rather the hidden strength of the Blazing Fire Merchant Guild?
And it seemed their origins were quite significant, even more so than Xi Guang, the demigod!
Observing the subtle shifts in expression on the faces of the other myths, Dragon Horse Myth felt he had likely guessed the truth: the Blazing Fire Merchant Guild seemed to have a major backer. He would have to check the records upon returning.
The ancient rules possessed a detailed system for assessing contribution points. Of course, rules were rigid, but people were flexible. As the myth presiding over the contribution assessment today, Madam Gong held considerable power within this system. Her assessment of the Blazing Fire Merchant Guild receiving half the contribution points was not only a recognition of the Blazing Fire's immense efforts but also a gesture from her and Lord Xi Guang.
This was a show of goodwill from Xi Guang, the demigod.
Had it not been for the intervention of the ancient being, few in their team, besides himself, would have survived. Naturally, the ancient being resided at a level beyond his comprehension, and to speak of repayment would be too presumptuous; the ancient being's needs and what they possessed were on entirely different planes.
He was merely making a gesture towards the Blazing Fire Merchant Guild for having summoned this ancient being.
"Moreover, ancient gods are not easily awakened. It costs a great deal to summon even a wisp of their divine essence. Even if the Blazing Fire Merchant Guild receives one-third of the spoils, it would be difficult to compensate for the price they paid to summon the ancient one."
What surprised Xi Guang, the demigod, even more was how the myths of the Blazing Fire Merchant Guild managed to summon that Lord of the Forest in such a short period.
He himself hadn't even finished preparing to summon the "Moon Lord."
Xi Guang, the demigod, could only speculate that the three myths of the Blazing Fire Merchant Guild held a relatively important position in the heart of that ancient being. But then again, two of the three myths were exceptionally talented, so it wasn't impossible for them to attract the attention of an ancient being.
"Not only that, but the 'Lord of the Forest' is likely a benevolent and great ancient being to have descended so promptly."
Not all ancient gods were benevolent and great. In the previous era, there were not a few evil and chaotic ancient gods. It was only after the Outer Gods descended and corrupted the entire world that "evil gods" specifically referred to those corrupted Outer Gods.
The fact that the Blazing Fire Merchant Guild could gain the attention of an ancient being was, in itself, enough for their Gu Yue Dynasty to pay them serious attention.
After more than half an hour, the contribution points for all parties were tallied. If a party had two or three myths, the subsequent distribution was their own affair.
As the one with the most contribution points, Xing Jing Lei represented the Blazing Fire Merchant Guild in selecting the spoils.
"We'll take these. For the rest, please convert them into nine categories of basic resources for us."
"A trivial matter."
The spoils Xing Jing Lei chose were mostly corrupted divine crystals and a small amount of damaged divinity. He only picked a few materials and no precious legendary materials or epic anomalous items.
This inadvertently earned him the favor of many myths. After all, spoils of the same value varied in desirability. Divine crystals stained with corruption were among the most cumbersome. Even if priced at only a tenth of true divine crystals, the myths still found them too expensive. Moreover, most of them dared not use such divine crystals and would have to find a way to sell them, which would require further effort.
Once the spoils were in hand, the small oasis fell silent again.
Xi Guang, the demigod, awaited word from the dynasty or other teams. The other myths either continued to meditate and heal their wounds or pondered something.
Xing Jing Lei and the other two found a dry patch of grass and also began rubbing their palms, awaiting the tabulation of their own rewards.
They did not need to distribute it themselves.
This was a commissioned mission. All gains during the mission belonged to the organization. Of course, the amount of gains from the mission directly affected the organizational contribution they received. Concurrently, they had priority redemption rights for the spoils obtained from this battle.
The Xin Huo Organization allocated all large-scale and group missions in this manner.
Xing Jing Lei closed his eyes. From afar, he looked similar to the injured myths, meditating and recovering. In reality, his 'eyes' were fixed on the panel in his sea of consciousness, his heart pounding, and his hands trembling.
'Here it comes, here it comes, it's time for the most exciting contribution settlement!'
On the panel, mission contributions began to be tallied.
Base contribution for this mission;
Daily contribution;
Enemy kill contribution;
Best
— Mentor's reinforcement!
They had borrowed the mentor's power to escape disaster; otherwise, they would have been buried at the bottom of the deep sea long ago. Naturally, a large chunk of mission contribution points would be deducted.
Xing Jing Lei understood, but seeing the seven-digit red font with a minus sign before it, he still felt a pain that made it difficult to breathe.
Clearly, he, Master Xing, was already a distinguished myth. Clearly, his combat power was formidable, and he cultivated his physical body, unlike Pei Hong Jing or Hei Dao who were more expensive or troublesome. Yet, why was he still so poor!
One awakening, poor! Four awakenings, poor! Now that he was seven awakenings and had seven-digit organizational contributions, he still felt that contribution points were never enough.
Xing Jing Lei was greatly distressed. When the mission tabulation was complete and the final contribution earnings were presented before him, he turned his sorrow into joy.
"I didn't expect that even with that major deduction, I, Master Xing, could still receive so many organizational contributions."
"We've made a profit, we've made a profit!"
"This mission, lasting only a little over ten days, yielded more than my previous three or four months combined. It's a shame such special missions are rare, and even when they occur, I might not get a chance."
Xing Jing Lei was quite self-aware. Furthermore, with such a large contribution, his urgency for missions in the next one or two months had lessened. His focus should now shift to cultivation. Perhaps he should save up to equip himself with a legendary anomalous artifact?
He reminisced about the past when he used to drool over "sky-high priced epic anomalous artifacts." Yet, in the blink of an eye, he could afford parts for a legendary anomalous artifact. Time truly flew by.
Xing Jing Lei contemplated his future plans.
He assumed Yi Luoxi and Qian Qiu had also received substantial contributions. They wore smiles, likely browsing the redemption list at this moment, just like him. After all, money saved would only gather dust; only when spent and converted into combat power would it truly become one's own. Moreover, wasn't it improper to get a large sum of money and not indulge in some shopping?
"How do you plan to spend it?"
"Of course, first... first, I'll commission a luxury ride! As a dignified empress, would I travel on foot? I can't stand such indignity!"
Xing Jing Lei directly ignored Yi Luoxi.
Qian Qiu pondered the use of this enormous contribution more seriously. After all, he had been poorer before, to the point of being destitute. To learn various advanced skills, he had even pre-emptively borrowed a considerable amount of contribution.
At this moment, he repaid all those debts and still had a substantial amount remaining.
"I plan to learn a few more interesting skills. Besides that..." He listed some essential expenditures, such as purchasing Life Water, essential potions, spare equipment, and so on, plus some personal hobbies... These items, in total, didn't cost much, less than half of his earnings for this mission.
"The mentor's salary is too high. I feel a bit guilty and uneasy receiving so much."
"Silence!" x2
Ah, this...
Qian Qiu scratched his head. But he had already bought many personal items he had wanted but couldn't afford before, spending only a fraction. He couldn't, like Yi Luoxi, commission a luxury ride to adorn himself, could he? He didn't have that need!
He glanced at the redemption list.
"The little assistant seems to suggest we exchange for more divine crystals for cultivation. Indeed, one's realm is fundamental. If I had accumulated a second wisp of divinity today, I wouldn't have been unable to kill five seven-star anomalous evils. This is why..."
"If I had three wisps of divinity..."
He dared to perform a demonstration on the spot, dragging a demigod enemy into his illusory space. He was that brave!
Xing Jing Lei nodded slightly. "Realm is always fundamental. So-called challenging opponents above one's level is merely a helpless measure when the level is too low. If given a choice, who wouldn't want to suppress with sheer power?"
"However, the main issue is that the condensation speed of divinity factors is too slow, and its improvement to combat power is far less significant than skill breakthroughs. But skills also have their limits, and levels must be accumulated slowly over time to break through. For example, I, this great one, exchanged for two divine crystals earlier for cultivation. But as soon as I started cultivating, I received the mission notification."
Xing Jing Lei flipped his wrist, and a rhombus-shaped crystal, emanating transparent, diffused golden brilliance, appeared in his palm.
This divine crystal was still brimming with golden particles, enough to support full-speed cultivation for over twenty days.
Admiring this treasure, Xing Jing Lei's lips curled into a smile. This was the meaning of earning money.
Beside him, Qian Qiu clearly agreed with his viewpoint, nodding in agreement. "Using divine crystals for cultivation at the highest consumption is indeed affordable now. I didn't expect that the divine crystals, which were already very cheap on the redemption list, would actually go on a massive sale, directly at 30% off."
Exchanging for divine crystals for cultivation was the right choice; otherwise, if he were the only one buying luxury goods, it would feel a bit painful.
Xing Jing Lei thought, then suddenly froze.
"Wait, what did you just say? Divine crystals... divine crystals are on a steep discount?!"
He quickly opened the redemption list, flipped to the divine crystal section, and stared at the current redemption prices repeatedly. Xing Jing Lei fell into contemplation.
Before going on the mission, he had spent a colossal amount of contribution points to purchase two divine crystals. Now, how many divine crystals could that amount buy?
He had earned a fortune from this mission, and the essential cultivation material, divine crystals, had drastically reduced in price. Yet, Xing Jing Lei couldn't feel happy for a moment; he only wanted to cry.
Damn it... he had suffered a huge loss!
...
...
The myths did not rest for long in this small oasis before Xi Guang, the demigod, received an important transmission.
"The team from the Red Lotus Empire has also encountered an ambush from the evil god faction. They have managed to escape, but there are still many pursuers. Now, it is time to aid our allies."
Some of the myths present were reluctant, but considering various factors and having no reason to refuse, they could only agree grudgingly. From another perspective, after traveling thousands of miles to offer aid, the rescued myths could not remain entirely ungrateful, could they?
Leaving behind three myths who were severely injured and had their combat power significantly diminished, Xi Guang, the demigod, summoned these allied myths and soared into the sky aboard the Moonlight Palace.
...
Under the shroud of gray mist, directions were indistinguishable. The underwater area, filled with filthy seawater, gave one the feeling of being in an endless abyss, a place of profound silence.
At this moment, in the filthy sea teeming with hidden dangers, a girl in silver armor with short golden hair was strolling through the gray-black seawater. At the top of her hair, a prominent tuft of gold hair, like an antenna, stood upright, subtly rotating like a detector, pointing in all directions.
"Still haven't found the source of the disaster."
"Perhaps I'm too far from the source to see the dark red corrupted aura described by the mentor... or perhaps my 'Evil Tracking' level is too low, only at Grandmaster level. I should have cultivated it to the highest level back at the garrison."
Xiti Na muttered to herself.
The Ming Liu Ring she wore on her hand emitted a faint blue light, and her entire body was enveloped in a thin layer of battle flames, easily repelling the filthy seawater.
Such an action was almost instinctual for her. Even when venturing deep into the filthy sea, her combat power would not be affected in the slightest. Empowered by battle flames, she could survive easily in any extreme environment, let alone the fact that she also possessed the Nirvana Sacred Fire.
However, even though the process was effortless, Xiti Na was not happy.
Not only had she not found the source of the disaster, but she hadn't even encountered a single seven-star anomalous evil!
"Didn't they say the depths of the filthy sea are extremely dangerous? But where are you, anomalous evils?"
Xiti Na could only wander, wander, and wander.
She wandered for days.
She had been deep in the filthy sea for several days. She heard that Yi Luoxi and the others had encountered a great battle, but why was it still so peaceful here?
Even though traversing the filthy sea posed no pressure for her, and after days her energy and life force were still abundant, Xiti Na was somewhat dejected.
Her head drooped, and the tuft of golden hair on her head spun around with a ding-ding sound. Suddenly, this tuft of hair shot up abruptly, its tip pointing directly in a certain direction.
"A strong energy fluctuation!"
"Is it an anomalous evil, or...?"
The battle flames around her blazed intensely, her entire being enveloped in golden flowing light and flames. She broke through the seawater and rushed towards it.
In just a moment, the dark seabed before her gained other colors.
It was fire!
In the deep sea, flames transformed into a colossal, fiery bird of orange-red hue, steaming away the gray-black seawater and directly bombarding the colossal shadows behind it.
Rumble—!!
Xiti Na saw it more clearly. In the distance were several immensely colossal and ferocious-looking seven-star anomalous evils. Parts of them were illuminated by the flames, roaring, brandishing their claws, fangs, or tentacles as they emerged from the darkness.
On the seven-star anomalous evils, she could vaguely see two or three small but extraordinary figures.
And fleeing were several disheveled-looking human myths. One of them was powerfully built, with explosive, flaming long hair, and a small firebird perched on his shoulder. This was the myth who had just thrown out the firebird to obstruct the enemy.
Xiti Na didn't recognize them, but...
She could discern that the figures before her were myths from the oasis, and those pursuing them were anomalous evils. That was enough.
Swish—
Xiti Na drew the legendary anomalous artifact 'Sword of Endless' from her back. This divine sword had the effect of 'critical hit amplification,' simple and brute-force but powerful. As the battle continued, this 'critical hit amplification' would slowly strengthen.
She liked it very much, but only when facing enemies of the same level did Xiti Na draw the Sword of Endless. Only then would she not disgrace this divine sword.
Around her, golden flames surged, and her radiant golden hair also surged upwards in the flowing flames and light.
Whoosh!
Her figure vanished. When she reappeared, she was in front of a seven-star anomalous evil.
Nirvana Golden Flames blazed intensely. Xiti Na unleashed a brilliant golden sword aura hundreds of meters long. With a single downward slash, she severed the tentacle of an Abyssal Demon Chapter King, as easily as cutting a cucumber.
But this single sword strike was like poking a hornet's nest. The surrounding seven-star anomalous evils immediately attacked her.
She heard shouts from the distance.
"Friend, be careful!"
"There are a total of six world-ending anomalous evils, two of which are equivalent to our human myths with two wisps of divinity! And, and there are at least two evil god servants hidden around!"
One-on-one was completely different from one-on-many.
Xiti Na was confident she could decapitate this Abyssal Demon Chapter King after unleashing more than a dozen more sword strikes, but doing so would mean she would have to withstand at least several attacks from seven-star anomalous evils.
The human body was far less resilient than anomalous evils.
The battle occurred in an instant, between lightning and flint. Xiti Na had no time to think about it, nor was it her habit; her battles always followed instinct!
"Slash!"
Golden sword aura blazed. She held the Sword of Endless with both hands and, ignoring everything, unleashed one sword strike after another towards the Abyssal Demon Chapter King before her.
Behind her, she endured several attacks from seven-star anomalous evils.
"Thwack—"
She spat out a mouthful of golden-red blood, yet her spirit did not wane; her battle intent grew even more fervent. The flames in her eyes burned brightly.
"First one down, continue!"
The golden figure charged rampantly across the dark seabed, unleashing sword aura after sword aura. In a flash, she had slain three seven-star anomalous evils, leaving the oasis myths stunned and the evil god servants terrified.
However, at this moment, the golden-haired female war god also looked quite battered. Her fighting style was too reckless, resulting in many injuries that could have been avoided.
The evil god servants lurking in the shadows surrounded her with cackles.
The oasis myths in the distance urged her to make a tactical retreat.
Xiti Na smiled, a very happy smile.
"It's been a long, long time since I've had such an exhilarating fight."
"Now, let's start the second round."
Around her, flames surged, changing from golden to milky white.
This was the second burst form of the Nirvana Sacred Fire.