Chapter 6: Massive Collection (Part 2)

The handsome old man said, “Twelve, that’s about enough. Just collect the corpses and throw them into the Soul Calming Cauldron. I can’t do more—space is already full…”
Guo Twelve was also helpless. The mutated talisman beasts were huge in size. After cutting them apart, only the useful parts were collected. To save space, the old man would first refine the collected items to reduce their size before storing them. Even so, it quickly occupied a lot of space. The excess parts were either thrown into the Soul Calming Cauldron or discarded outside, yet storage space was still insufficient.
The old man comforted him, “You won’t need this much material in your lifetime. It’s not a pity to give up. If your family still existed, it would be worth continuing to collect. But since your family is gone, forget it.”
Guo Twelve sighed bitterly and said, “Sigh, better not talk about it… Once I go out this time, I’ll look for Master枯木 (枯木) -> dead wood and his wife.” The thought of his family made him feel upset, so he began collecting corpses on a large scale. Colorful lights swirled as numerous corpses were drawn into the Soul Calming Cauldron, where countless Spirit Beasts fought fiercely to devour them. Under the suppression of the talisman array, they stopped fighting and only competed for the flesh and blood from the fallen corpses.
The black object remained calm as before, which gave Guo Twelve a slight sense of relief. He didn’t know when the object might change, so he tried not to disturb it. Who knew what disaster might arise if it went mad?
As more corpses were thrown into the Soul Calming Cauldron, the Spirit Beasts devoured them frantically. Gradually, the bodies of some advanced Spirit Beasts became more solid, regaining some of their lifelike appearance. Guo Twelve understood that they were evolving, though he wasn’t sure to what extent.
If other professionals knew that Guo Twelve was using such precious mutated talisman beast corpses to feed the Spirit Beasts, they would likely go mad with anger—it was far too wasteful.
Guo Twelve circled around the mountain, peeling off layers of mutated talisman beast corpses from the mountain like peeling an apple, feeding them into the Soul Calming Cauldron. After all, there were seven or eight hundred thousand Spirit Beasts in the cauldron. Within just over ten seconds after a corpse fell in, only useless residue remained, with all the valuable parts being devoured.
When enough residue accumulated, Guo Twelve threw it out of the Soul Calming Cauldron. Soon, he cleared all the mutated talisman beast corpses from the upper layers of the mountain. As for the corpses accumulated in the lower layers, he stopped collecting them. Although there were many useful materials there, he wasn’t interested.

From the mountain peaks down to the mid-slopes, countless corpses were gathered into the Soul Calming Cauldron. The entire Cauldron was also transforming rapidly, becoming deeper and more majestic. Guo Shier felt this change clearly—he sensed that the Cauldron was growing stronger by the moment. Though he wasn’t sure exactly how strong it had become, he was certain it had far surpassed the level of an eighth-grade sacrificial treasure.

At the mid-slopes, he saw many ancestors collecting materials. Guo Shier skipped over their area and continued to gather the corpses on the ground. He had no intention of stopping; he knew well that once this opportunity passed, it would never come again. Unless the Spirit Beasts no longer needed corpses and flesh, he wouldn’t halt.

Before long, he heard someone shouting frantically, “Ancestor Guo…”

“Ancestor, leave some behind…”

“Hey, why is it so clean…?”

Guo Shier couldn’t help but smirk. The handsome old man said, “Kid, you’ve angered everyone. Hehe, work faster—there’s a high-grade one over there… Hurry up, someone’s coming…”

Hai Miluo flew over and asked, “Shier, why are you gathering so quickly?” Then he witnessed a stunning scene: a beam of colored light shot out from the Soul Calming Cauldron, sweeping up a giant corpse two thousand meters long and instantly putting it inside the Cauldron, leaving behind a huge trench in the ground.

Guo Shier said with a smile, “How’s the harvest?”

Hai Miluo felt bitter. He didn’t dare stop Guo Shier from gathering and said, “The harvest is pretty good. Shier, your speed of gathering… cough… well…”

Guo Shier replied nonchalantly, “Let’s all speed up. A group of professionals will be here soon. By then… do you think there will be much left for our family?”

Hai Miluo was shocked. He quickly realized that this place wasn’t under the control of the Ancient Miluo Family—everything here belonged to no one, and anyone could take it. Full of regret, he said with a smile, “Okay, I’ll tell them to hurry… Hehe, Shier, go on…” Then he flew away immediately.

The handsome old man stared in the direction he disappeared and cursed, “Idiot!”

Guo Shier laughed, “Hehe, he only thinks about his family, which is why he came.”

The handsome old man said, “How foolish… This place isn’t his family’s property. Kid, ignore him and keep gathering!” He waved his hand authoritatively.

Guo Shier nodded. “Okay, it’s no wonder. I see through the schemes of the family professionals, so… I won’t truly pledge loyalty to any one family. It’s pointless.”

The area below the mountain waist was much larger. Guo Shieru flew around it, abandoning any spot where family professionals were collecting resources and instead looking for unoccupied areas to work in. By the sixth day, a group of professionals finally entered. Feng Miluo gathered everyone to discuss a strategy. Guo Shieru was also called over—he now held the title of a family patriarch and was a true high-ranking member of the family. Feng Miluo also invited Li Ran and Zhen Wuji.

Feng Miluo and the others planned to block the incoming group of professionals from entering this area. Li Ran immediately rejected this idea, saying, “We can’t stop them; let them in.”

Hai Miluo asked in confusion, “Elder, why should we let them in?”

Li Ran replied, “If you stop them, they’ll spread the news. How many professionals are there on this continent? Once they know there’s a treasure here, they’ll swarm over immediately… If we let them collect together, they’ll focus on getting as much for themselves as possible and won’t spread the news easily. This way, we can buy more time to collect resources.”

Guo Shieru agreed, “That’s right. We can issue a warning and ask them to keep the news secret, but it needs to be discussed by someone powerful.” He glanced at Zhen Wuji and Li Ran—only the two of them could handle this task.

Zhen Wuji said, “I’ll do it. Hehe, they’re almost here.”

Feng Miluo worried, “What if they refuse?”

Li Ran replied, “Then kill them.” His casual statement sent chills down everyone’s spines.

There were too many corpses of mutated talisman beasts here. Even with a monstrous sacrificial artifact like the Soul Suppressing Cauldron, Guo Shieru could only collect a limited amount of carcasses. An ancient family could never possess them all; it would be good enough to gather some of the best materials.

Guo Shieru said, “I’ll go with you.”

Zhen Wuji nodded. “Okay, let’s go together.” He summoned his altar—a nine-layered altar capable of intimidating any group of professionals.

After thinking for a moment, Li Ran also followed. Once the news spread, this place would turn into a battlefield. They needed to collect enough materials before large groups of professionals arrived, which would also help the Ancient Miluo family.

Feng Miluo and Hai Miluo also joined them, each summoning their own altar. To intimidate the others, one needed corresponding strength—such was the reality of this world.

This time, Li Ran also placed his altar on his head. He was convinced that as long as he showed his strength, no professional would dare offend him.

It was a group of over sixty altar-level professionals, heading straight for Bone Mountain. Seeing Li Ran and the others blocking their path, the group of professionals was in an uproar, their faces turning pale. It was utterly terrifying—there was a ninth-layer altar user and a master beyond the ninth layer. Without both of them needing to act, just one of them could eliminate all of them, not to mention the several high-level altar professionals nearby. Among those professionals, the leader was a seventh-layer altar master. He flew out of the crowd and said respectfully, “I greet all the seniors.” He was extremely uneasy. On this continent, killings for treasure and fights breaking out over trivial matters were common, so how could he not be afraid facing such a situation? Li Ran and Zhen Wuji remained silent, while Guo Shier just watched. Feng Miluo stepped forward to handle things. He didn’t reveal his family name and simply asked, “Where are you from?” The seventh-layer altar professional replied, “I’m from the Gu Yan family, a seventh-layer altar user, Yan Fei. I greet all the seniors.” He kept a very humble attitude and added, “We have no ill intentions. We heard that there are many mutated talisman beasts here, so we came.” Guo Shier asked, “Didn’t you see any mutated talisman beasts along the way?” Yan Fei smiled bitterly and said, “Along the way, we only saw a few mutated talisman beasts. It’s not as described in the rumors…” Feng Miluo asked, “What do the rumors say?” Yan Fei replied, “They say there are many mutated talisman beasts. Heh, it seems a bit of an exaggeration.” Guo Shier was slightly surprised. They had fought their way in from the outskirts of the Great Abyss, so they knew exactly how difficult the journey was. It was beyond his expectation that these people hadn’t encountered any mutated talisman beasts at all. He asked again, “Did you just arrive on this continent?” Yan Fei said, “Yes, we’ve only been here for a short time.” Guo Shier muttered, “What good luck.” Someone in the group cast an eyesight-enhancing spell and suddenly shouted, “Look at that mountain! Good heavens…” Everyone looked up and was stunned. Due to Guo Shier and the others’ frantic gathering, countless corpses of mutated talisman beasts could be clearly seen on that mountain.