Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 360: The Gift of the Gods

Eight in the morning.

At the entrance to the mine near Base 349, Li Wei personally handed Thomas four Black Iron Tokens, twenty one-star profession cards suitable for synthesis, and ten thousand Standard Gold Coins.

A dividend meant everyone got a share.

"Boss Li, honestly — I'm completely on board with whatever serves the bigger picture."

His reaction time was a bit slow, but that didn't stop Thomas from being genuinely happy.

"Take it. Synthesize all of it into two-star attribute cards and stack your stats as high as you can. You're the team's tank — low attributes won't cut it. Within three years, I want you at full second-tier awakening across all attributes."

"Also, this kind of dividend will happen every year going forward, plus irregular bonuses whenever random events come up."

Li Wei gave him a few cheerful reminders. Even with Dulling awakened, Thomas's combat path still fell under the Warrior Card category — same as Zhao Xuanxuan. Warriors were the most common type, along with Leon and even Zhao Guozhu. Casters, Rangers, and Knights were the rare ones.

After saying goodbye to Thomas, Li Wei climbed into an electric bus and continued west toward Riverside Fortress.

This trip could only go west. East was Zhao Kewu's territory, currently being targeted hard by Frost Duke — going there would be pointless.South had a high chance of running into Frost Duke's Ability User Legion. Li Wei wasn't afraid of them, but the Neanderthal crossers had genuinely left a mark on him, and he had no desire to invite trouble.

The off-season window was short. After finding an ally, he still had to come back and prepare for the autumn harvest.

Besides, Scar's old territory was to the west — about 250 kilometers from Li Wei's.

If Zhao Kewu's territory was also 250 kilometers from Li Wei's, the three of them formed an interesting geometric arrangement.

That would mean all the territories were maintaining roughly 300 to 350 kilometers of distance from each other — maybe in a straight line, maybe in a circle.

If so, was Frost Duke's domain right in the center of that circle?

At ten in the morning, Li Wei arrived at Riverside Fortress in the electric bus. He spent some time talking with Li Yue, ate lunch, and then set out on foot under Li Yue's earnest instructions.

The electric bus had no fixed charging points — it couldn't be used for long journeys. And it was too conspicuous, too easy to spot.

In his own territory it didn't matter, but out in the open it would invite ambushes.

So for safety, Li Wei put Adai into the five-star pet card, avoided roads entirely, and stuck to the wilderness and mountain ridges — wherever the terrain was most complex, that's where he went. He never walked in a straight line, making sure to memorize the topography of every stretch he covered.

Old habit of a scout.

He also didn't head straight west. He first went northwest, crossed the plain, pushed into the northern mountain range, and then headed due west from there.

Higher ground meant a longer view. On these mountains, often seven or eight hundred meters above sea level and sometimes over a thousand, on a clear day you could see two or three hundred kilometers.

And he had to admit — the mountains offered far better chances of finding higher-quality herbs, wild vegetables, and mushrooms.

Occasionally he'd stumble across a stray mutant creature. A treasure trove from head to tail.

Take it down, carefully slice it into minced meat, cut some prime cuts, collect blood, hide, horns, teeth, and claws.

By the end, a Level 4 mutant creature had been reduced to ash without dropping a single four-star Universal Gold Card — but everything of value had been harvested.

That was the proper procedure. Li Wei had brought several blank Resource Cards on this trip. He wasn't worried about having too many magical materials — he packed them in batches, and Second Aunt could use them all to prepare magical potions when he got back.

Providing for the family. Nothing to be ashamed of.

And so Li Wei didn't rush to find Hathaway. He wandered through the northern mountain range for nearly ten days, covering over 2,500 kilometers on foot, until he had memorized every feature of the terrain and accumulated enough scouting experience to upgrade his Scout Card. Only then did he stop.

By that point, all three of his three-star Resource Cards were full. They contained a hundred units of two-star and three-star mushrooms, wild vegetables, and herbs; two hundred units of three-star quality timber; and various magical materials broken down from mutant creatures.

All of that on the open market would fetch no less than ten thousand gold coins.

Taxes still applied, of course. In theory, this entire planet belonged to the Locke Kingdom.

Tax evasion was technically possible — he had three Concealing the Sky with One Hand Cards in his possession. But it wasn't necessary. Not worth it.

He had to acknowledge: without the Locke Kingdom's armies, without Weir Duke holding the front line, this planet would be swallowed by the Neanderthal armies in an instant.

Better to grind for Viscount status and reduce taxes legally.

That day, Li Wei settled into a mountain valley, called out Adai to patrol and keep watch, then lit a campfire and began roasting freshly caught mutant river fish, crabs, and shrimp. A pot of at least two-star quality mushroom broth simmered beside him. He had a bottle of Second Aunt's prized three-star wine in one hand and a roasted fish in the other — he'd prepared over fifty kilograms of food in total.

There was a reason for the feast.

Over the past ten days, his Hunter Destiny Grid had risen from 68 to 69, his Woodcutter Destiny Grid from 64 to 65, and his Scout Destiny Grid from 27 to 28. Substantial gains.

But the main event was that he could now upgrade his Scout Card to four-star.

Once Adai had eaten his fill and launched into the sky to confirm no threats nearby, Li Wei focused his intent. A Silver Token vanished. The rare Scout Card shot out from between his brows like a comet trailing brilliant light, soaring upward — and simultaneously pulling his Perception and his very soul to an unimaginable height.

Like ascending to the heavens.

But not quite. More like unlocking layer after layer of magical ciphers.

Perhaps because of his Perception +6. Perhaps because this was a rare card. In that moment, he was granted a glimpse of another side of this world — this planet.

Not the familiar mountains, trees, rivers, and lakes — but countless strange and wondrous magical particles that composed all of it, or were eroding and transforming all of it. Maybe. He wasn't certain.

Perhaps it was a hallucination. Perhaps something else entirely.

He had no time to think it through, and no opportunity. Everything vanished. The Scout Card returned to its place between his brows and activated the four-Destiny-Grid matrix, completing the upgrade.

Even without any notification appearing, Li Wei could clearly sense it — a fundamental, sweeping transformation was occurring within the four-Destiny-Grid matrix.

Yes.

A seed had appeared. Li Wei couldn't tell what kind of seed it was. It was nestled within the light of the Scout Destiny Grid — tiny, fragile, barely there.

Or perhaps it was a seed in a more literal sense?

Then it began to grow — slowly.

But growth needed nourishment. And then, to Li Wei's astonishment, it began to fall.

Like a dandelion seed drifting on the wind.

Within the four-Destiny-Grid matrix, the Scout Destiny Grid's light occupied the highest position.

Below it was the Woodcutter Destiny Grid, then the Hunter Destiny Grid, and at the bottom, the Farmer Destiny Grid.

This tiny seed first drew in 3 points of Scout Destiny Grid from within that light, then drifted down into the Woodcutter Destiny Grid's light, rolled through it, and absorbed 5 points of Woodcutter Destiny Grid.

The sight was extraordinary.

As it continued to drift downward and entered the Hunter Destiny Grid's light, the seed triggered a subtle vision — no, something more like a real presence.

Li Wei watched: within the Hunter Destiny Grid's light, the seed was no longer a seed. It merged with the vision, and there appeared a clear blue sky, a thread of golden morning sun — a morning sun that drifted and fell, filtering down through a lush forest, through ten thousand leaves, down to the ground.

No — not the ground. Into the eyes of a massive black bear running at full speed. Through those eyes he could see crows flying in the sky, eagles soaring, flowers blooming, the sun rising and setting, a wolf king howling, beautiful elk racing across a plain. Was this the manifestation of the Hunter Destiny Grid?

Li Wei could feel it — this seed carried an irresistible force of fate, compelling it to keep falling. Nothing could hold it. Not the Scout Destiny Grid, not the Woodcutter Destiny Grid, not the Hunter Destiny Grid.

Finally, after absorbing a full ten points of Destiny Grid from the Hunter light, the seed drifted down once more and plunged into the Farmer Destiny Grid's light.

In that instant — darkness. Like winter covering the earth. Deep in the soil, nothing could be seen, nothing could be sensed.

Li Wei's vision went black. He collapsed with a thud, feeling as if his very soul had been sucked out and buried.

Only in that moment did he realize — the seed born from the Scout Destiny Grid was his soul.

But fortunately, within just a few seconds, Li Wei came back to himself. Everything was fine. The four-Destiny-Grid matrix had vanished. Even when he summoned it again, there was nothing unusual. The seed was gone.

As if nothing had ever happened.

Only then did notifications flow in, gentle as a stream.

[You have bound and activated a Rare Four-Star Scout Card.]

[Your Scout Destiny Grid +3.]

[Your Agility attribute passive bonus +7 (previously +5).]

[You have gained six profession talents (unchanged).]

[You have gained five free attribute points.]

[The growth ceiling of your hidden attribute Perception +1.]

[Because this is a Rare Four-Star Scout Card, when it reaches a certain level of advancement, it will automatically generate one Source Particle. Note: this is a gift of the gods, attainable only by those who have stepped into the realm of the extraordinary. Due to the nature of the Scout Card's Destiny Grid, this Source Particle belongs to the True Sequence. An ordinary profession card can theoretically generate only one Source Particle. A rare card can generate two. A double-rare card can generate three.]