As soon as Lin Yan and Shan Shayuan stepped into the pit, they turned a corner and came face to face with a massive beast carcass. Even in death, it still gave off a fierce and oppressive aura.
Shan Shayuan reacted instantly, his Sand Manipulation Gu activating as he prepared to strike.
Lin Yan raised a hand and stopped him. "Don't panic. It's already dead."
His eyes were already burning with golden light, like two flames in the dark. The moment he sensed danger, he had activated Fiery Eyes and Golden Gaze Gu.
In his vision, a layer of red perception spread outward, scanning everything around him. The range was far greater than before, allowing him to see deep into the maze-like tunnels. The Myriad Beast King in front of them showed no heat at all—completely cold, without the slightest sign of life.
Shan Shayuan quickly came to his senses and stepped forward to check. Sure enough, the Thick Earth Giant Lizard Myriad Beast King was already dead. Its massive skeleton was half-buried in the ground, while countless stone-like tendrils extended outward, tightly binding its flesh. It looked as if it had been crushed and suffocated by the surrounding earth itself.
Shan Shayuan's expression turned serious. "Strange… a Myriad Beast King of the Earth Path, yet it died like this, suffocated in its own terrain."
Lin Yan did not speak. The more he observed, the more certain he became—this was the work of a Gu Immortal, and most likely an Earth Path one. From his memories, western desert Earth Path Gu Immortal, Plump Lady, fit this situation perfectly.
For him, this was an unexpected gain. Although Ember Passage Ridge was filled with Earth Path resources that didn't match his own cultivation, they were extremely valuable to the Family. If he gathered enough and exchanged them, he could very likely obtain a White Silver Relic Gu from the secret vault.
Moreover, Lin Yan didn't lack primeval stones right now, but he knew this wouldn't last. Once spring arrived and he went to the Xiao Family's Ten Thousand Li Silk Corridor, truly valuable Gu would appear. At that level, even a million primeval stones might not be enough. So for now, the more he could gather, the better.
The Myriad Beast King's corpse was still intact. After its death, most of the wild Gu on its body had already scattered, but two or three Earth Path Gu remained, barely alive.
Shan Shayuan quickly collected them, glanced over, and smiled. "Earth Thorn Gu, Rock Armor Gu… all Rank 3. Add the corpse itself, and this trip alone is worth about thirty thousand primeval stones."
The key point was that they had taken no risk at all—it was pure profit.
Shan Shayuan's gaze turned toward the deeper tunnels, his expression full of anticipation. He took out a round, plump Rank 3 Earth Path Gu—Earth Kiln Gu—used for storage. It had no special abilities, but its internal space was large, perfect for holding materials like this.
The Family had prepared two of these for each person before the trip, and now they proved their worth. Shan Shayuan stored the entire Myriad Beast King corpse inside the Earth Kiln Gu without hesitation.
Lin Yan and Shan Shayuan continued deeper into Ember Passage Ridge. The underground passages twisted in all directions, with no map to guide them, so they chose paths at random whenever they reached a fork, gradually moving closer to the core.
Along the way, they encountered countless giant lizard corpses—ranging from Myriad Beast Kings down to ordinary beasts. The sheer amount was almost painful to watch. Even with the large storage space of the Earth Kiln Gu, it had limits. In the end, they had no choice but to abandon the corpses of ordinary beasts and even some Beast Kings, taking only the valuable Gu.
By now, the Earth Kiln Gu already held two Myriad Beast King corpses, eight Thousand Beast King corpses, over a dozen Rank 3 Gu, and more than thirty Rank 1 and Rank 2 Gu. All of them were Earth Path, and many were duplicates.
In addition, they gathered various treasures—Dragon Scale Earth, Floating Earth, and Jade Whisker Earth. These were all high-quality soils, rich in nutrients and ideal for cultivating Gu materials. In total, they collected several hundred kilograms.
And this was only in a short time. The total value of what they had already gathered had reached around 300,000 primeval stones.
Lin Yan felt a rare sense of satisfaction. Everything had been obtained without risk—simply picking up what others had left behind.
Shan Shayuan, however, was still not satisfied. He had already acquired one or two useful Earth Path Gu, yet he sighed, "It's a pity we haven't come across any Rank 4 Gu."
Hearing this, Lin Yan was speechless. He hadn't even seen a single Flame Path Gu so far. Compared to that, turning everything into resources and stones was already the best outcome.
By now, they had clearly entered a deeper region of Ember Passage Ridge. The pressure around them grew heavier with each step. Even his Flame Armor let out faint metallic sounds under the strain, and simple movement became difficult. They had no choice but to rely on movement Gu to continue forward.