Battles on the left-wing front grew increasingly frequent.
At any given mont, battles flared up in different locations, like sparks flickering in the dark.
Though most skirmishes involved around a thousand participants and weren't particularly large in scale, their proliferation painted a picture of an expanding conflict.
War, however, was a unified whole—each engagent served a greater purpose.
Whether it was large-scale warfare or smaller clashes on the left-wing front, each had its own goal.
If most of these goals were achieved, they ca together to form the overall montum, leading to the final objective.
This was the essence of war—it was a ga of strategy.
Just as Xu Qing and his group had speculated after piecing together all the information: the left-wing central region's strategy had been completed.
At the sa ti, as the layout in the left-wing central warzone was finalized, small-scale battles between gods and cultivators beca increasingly frequent on the frontlines. The underlying purpose behind these frequent skirmishes was actually quite clear.
Both the gods and the cultivators were using these frequent small-scale battles as cover!
For example, among the many sparks of war between the Fourth and Fifth Star Ring, one of them was a zone filled with teors.
There was a bloody battle between the two sides there.
From afar, rumbling sounds echoed as this place collapsed and shattered. The anomalous substances and immortal energy were constantly colliding.
One side wanted to invade.
One side was blocking the path.
It was extrely intense.
On the outskirts, on the scattered teors floating nearby, a group of nearly a hundred people stood, gazing intently at the distant battlefield.
Dressed mostly in gray and black, they resembled vultures, their sharp eyes observing the battle's ebb and flow. They seed prepared to retreat at any mont should the situation take a turn for the worse.
Among them, an old man spoke in a low tone to a group of cultivators standing nearby.
"See? I told you. The battle up ahead isn't going to end so quickly. By my estimation, it'll last at least another hour."
"If I hadn't seen you months ago, learned of your origins, and sensed your tokens earlier, I wouldn't have called you over when you arrived."
As the old man spoke, his gaze swept over the dozen or so people in front of him. He could feel the intense killing intent emanating from them, and it startled him. Especially when his eyes landed on their leader—the overwhelming aura of bloodlust from this person was even more striking.
"That said, you're quite the talk of the town lately, crossing the central warzone to reach the frontlines. Still, since you've chosen to join the scavenging corps, there are certain things you need to understand."
These dozen or so people were naturally Xu Qing and the others.
After they took the initiative to request permission, they arrived here four hours ago according to the mission arrangent. However, before they could get close to the battlefield, they were stopped by the old man guarding the periphery.
They could tell each other's identities. They were all Corpse Looting Teams.
The old man also recognized the origins of Xu Qing and the others. Hence, he emitted goodwill and invited them to join him.
Hearing the old man's words, Xu Qing, Star Ring, and the others looked at each other. They then cupped their fists toward the old man and humbly asked for guidance.
The old man nodded slightly and continued to speak.
"Our title may sound like 'collectors,' but since you've chosen to join, I assu you're already aware. To put it nicely, we clean up battlefields. To put it bluntly, we loot corpses!"
"And cleaning up battlefields, of course, has to wait until the fighting is over before we can go in."
"Otherwise, it's not looting—it's joining the battle."
"Rember, fighting is the job of those military cultivators. We rarely participate. What we do is wait until they finish fighting, then go in!"
"Because… our involvent could potentially disrupt our army's formation. Plus, we have another mission—to ensure a retreat path for our front-line forces in case of defeat!"
When the old man said this, his expression beca much more solemn.
When Xu Qing and the others heard this, they nodded slightly with solemn expressions.
In reality, they didn't plan on entering the battlefield. They just wanted to get closer so that they could collect origin essence imdiately.
After all, they believed that they were good at collecting origin essence.
Ever since they joined the Material Procurent Division, they had done this many tis. Not only did they complete the collection mission, but they had made a huge additional harvest.
However, in the past, they harvested live gods. This was the first ti they were harvesting from the god corpses.
Seeing that Xu Qing and the others had listened to his words, the solemnity on the old man's face dissipated and he coughed.
"All that stuff I said earlier, just listen to it casually. In truth, we don't need to guard the retreat, and entering the battlefield early likely won't disrupt the formations. Those words are for outsiders to hear."
"What you really need to know is this: don't go in too early. If you go in too soon, your life and death will be unpredictable."
"Wait until the battle is over before heading in—that's the safe way. Also, rember, war is unpredictable; victory and defeat are uncertain. We must always be prepared to retreat quickly if those military cultivators lose the fight."
"You're all still too young. If I hadn't stopped you just now, and you got too close, who knows how many of you would already be dead."
"And another thing you need to understand: never, ever clash with the military cultivators…"
Before the old man could finish speaking, Xu Qing's expression suddenly changed. He, Star Ring, and the others looked at the distant battlefield one after another. The old man also paused and suddenly turned his head.
On the distant battlefield, the immortal energy suddenly soared and waves of cheers spread in all directions.
One could vaguely see a Dao Banner standing there.
"We won!"
The old man's eyes lit up. He couldn't be bothered to talk about the rules with Xu Qing and the others. His body suddenly swayed as he shouted in all directions.
"Everyone, it is ti for work!"
As his voice echoed, the old man was the first to rush over. His team also flew out. All of them licked their lips and flapped their wings like vultures, speeding forward with all their might.
Xu Qing and the others also imdiately followed behind.
Just like that, in a short period, everyone rushed into the center of the teors like sharp blades and saw the battlefield at close range.
In this vast area, the god corpses were everywhere and divine blood filled the ground. Broken limbs and shattered magic treasures could be seen everywhere.
There were also many cultivators' corpses.
The cultivator army had already left. However, they left behind so military cultivators who were also clearing the battlefield and collecting origin essence.
Regarding this, the old man and his subordinates seed to be used to it. They didn't even look at it and headed straight for the corpses that no one had collected.
So were cut, so were harvested, and so were stored…
They had good coordination and their speed was astonishing.
They were extrely familiar with the process.
In the span of more than ten breaths, they had cleaned up quite a lot. Wherever they passed, the path would be cleaned out.
The god corpses in their path were collected, but the cultivator corpses were placed there and not touched.
When Xu Qing and the others saw this, their pupils constricted. This was especially so for Zhou Zhengli and the others, who felt even more solemn.
The old man and his subordinates were even more skilled at harvesting than them!
Their speed was astonishingly fast.
"This group of people is good at corpse looting. They're different from us!"
Xu Qing and the others looked at each other and imdiately rushed into the battlefield to collect.
However, it had to be said that even though they were from the Material Procurent Division, compared to the old man, their harvesting speed was still much slower. Moreover, it wasn't that clean.
Additionally, when harvesting from corpses, the origin essence left behind due to the death of a god was no longer active. Furthermore, the quantity was significantly less than when they were alive. As a result, even after great effort and hardship to gather it, the amount of origin essence obtained was often nothing more than a drop in the ocean.
Fortunately, there were many corpses.
If they wanted to obtain enough, they had to deal with even more god corpses.
The Corpse Looting Teams seed to have their own rules. Once a god's corpse was obtained by soone, even if it was still in the process, no one else would fight for it.
Xu Qing and the others quickly discovered this and followed this rule.
However, there were still snatchers.
It wasn't the Corpse Looting Teams but the military cultivators who remained behind.
They were usually very domineering. Whether the corpses were collected or not, they would arrive rudely. Their expressions more or less contained disgust and helplessness.
This was understandable. After all, it was their legion who killed the gods…
However, all war materials, including spoils of war, were under centralized managent, so they had no grounds for complaint.
To ease emotions, though, various legions would leave behind so personnel to carry out the collection even after the main army had withdrawn following a battle.
All of these were tacitly approved.
As for the corpse-searching team led by the old man, they were clearly used to this long ago. They would give up imdiately after encountering it and rely on the speed of collection to find their next target.
However, this was the first ti Xu Qing and the others had looted corpses. Their speed was clearly inferior, so they beca the focus of those military cultivators.
Just like that, several hours later, this area of the battlefield that originally had a large range beca so large that there were almost no traces left.
All the cultivator's corpses were placed very well.
They were taken away by the military cultivators.
As for the collection of the god's corpses, the team led by the old man took almost 60%.
As for the military cultivators, they took 30%.
The last 10%… was obtained by Xu Qing and the others.
Hence, after the military cultivators left after the cleanup, Xu Qing and the others couldn't help but feel a bit contemplative.
Seeing this, the old man who had gained a lot smiled and walked over.
"Are you feeling a little helpless? Are you a little angry from being robbed? You have to get used to it. After all, they were the ones who killed Them. It's normal for them to take so away."
"Just experience more and increase your harvesting speed."
With that, the old man waved his hand and bade farewell. He then led his team of corpse looters and left the battlefield.
After everyone left, Xu Qing and the others continued to ponder in the central teor..
The old man's judgnt was clearly wrong.
Xu Qing and the others' silence wasn't because they were helpless or because they were angry.
After all, the gods here were killed by those military cultivators. It was only right and proper for them to take so corpses away. In fact, from another perspective, if soone else ca to collect the gods they killed, they wouldn't agree either.
Hence, what they were pondering about was…
"On speed, we can't compare to the other corpse looting teams, and there's no reason to compete with the military cultivators for the spoils…"
"Since the Corpse Looting Team only enters after the battle ends, then…"
"If we enter the battlefield in advance…"
As Xu Qing and the others pondered, they each raised their heads and looked at each other.
They all saw the strange glint in each other's eyes.
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