Marcus pointed at himself, clearly stunned. Liam Windrunner, that stingy bastard, was suddenly acting generous?

"Yeah."

Liam simply nodded. He summoned a white wind hawk to retrieve his arrows and showed no interest at all in the Venomous Horned Serpent’s corpse.

"Fine."

Marcus didn’t bother pretending. He was straightforward by nature, and since Liam had said it himself, there was no reason to hesitate or act polite. He ran straight to the serpent’s body and began harvesting it with his Advanced Gathering skill.

"Ha ha."

This was a jackpot. Gathering materials from a Divine Beast was a once-in-a-millennium chance. At that moment, Marcus felt like Liam Windrunner, the King of the Mountains, was actually a pretty likable guy.

No wonder he was a top-tier expert. Someone willing to be this generous deserved respect. Of course, Marcus knew this was all thanks to Hunter Wayne’s Eagle’s Crest.

A system notification chimed.

Ding!

[Congratulations, player Stonehaven. You have obtained Venomous Horned Serpent Skin. Your Gathering proficiency has increased.]

As the pleasant sound faded, Marcus continued collecting materials.

—

Venomous Horned Serpent Skin – Mythic-grade material. The black skin of the Venomous Horned Serpent. Can be used to craft lightweight armor or auxiliary attack items. Provides strong poison resistance.

—

He unfolded the skin. It measured about five meters long and two meters wide, enough to make at least three pieces of light armor.

—

Venomous Horned Serpent Meat—High-grade cooking material. Delicious flavour.

—

Marcus had no interest in eating snake meat. Still, the serpent had yielded dozens of pounds of it, and it was heavy. He decided he would have Path to Heaven sell it later. As a high-grade cooking material, it was likely rare across all of Dominion.

—

Venomous Horned Serpent Horn—Mythic-grade material. The serpent’s horn contained powerful lightning and toxic energy and could be used to forge weapons.

—

Just looking at the sharp horn and remembering the creature’s strength made it clear this was valuable.

—

Venomous Serpent Gallbladder—Mythic-grade material. A thousand-year-old gallbladder with strong energy and many uses. Handle with care.

—

Marcus laughed under his breath. With Alana, a Grandmaster Alchemist, on his side, there was almost nothing he couldn’t make use of.

—

Black Crow Poison Fruit—Mythic-grade herb. A five-hundred-year-old fruit from the Black Crow Poison Weed, highly toxic and suitable for crafting poisons.

—

It was unfortunate for the serpent. The fruit was a hard-shelled toxin container, not something that could be absorbed quickly like other spiritual items. The creature hadn’t even had time to use it before being killed, and it ended up in Marcus’s hands instead.

That worked out well. If the serpent had absorbed it and evolved further, they might not have survived the fight.

Every drop from a Divine Beast was valuable.

With a series of quick, practiced motions, Marcus gathered everything. Nothing was wasted, and his Gathering proficiency increased by another five percent.

Thanks to his Advanced Gathering skill and high Luck, his success rate for anything below Divine-grade was already above seventy percent.

In less than a minute, the massive corpse disappeared completely.

"You... you..." Liam stared at him, unable to hide his shock.

"Your Gathering is Advanced?"

"Yeah."

Marcus looked at him, confused about why that mattered.

Liam almost spat blood.

He had only reached Advanced Gathering a year ago, yet Marcus not only had the same level but was faster and more precise. Who was supposed to be practicing this skill? Him, not Marcus. How could Liam not be frustrated?

"Everyone has their own strengths."

He tried to console himself. Maybe Marcus was just naturally talented at gathering. Still, when he thought about Marcus’s pets and the strength he had shown earlier, it only made things worse.

"The new generation really is replacing the old," Liam muttered. "I don’t know where Wayne found someone like this."

He glanced over again. Marcus had already finished gathering and was now digging through the loot with no restraint, completely ignoring the composed image a Knight was supposed to have.

"Not just talented... Shameless and greedy too."

"Whoa! A Divine Artifact!"

Marcus’s eyes locked onto a longsword among the drops. The hilt looked refined, the blade shimmered green, and it gave off the distinct purple glow of a Divine-tier item.

That made sense. A Divine Beast always dropped a Divine Artifact. If it didn’t, something would be wrong.

And this one was a weapon he could actually use. Excited, Marcus reached for it, but a blur passed him. Liam grabbed it first.

"Hey—"

"Boss, that’s a Knight weapon."

Marcus glared at him. If Liam were a Knight, he wouldn’t argue. After all, Liam had killed the beast. But Liam was an Archer. The sword meant nothing to him.

This felt like bullying.

Before Marcus could react, Liam swept up the rest of the drops without leaving him a chance.

"Kill your own monsters for loot. Stop relying on others," Liam said, completely unapologetic.

"Cheap." Marcus shook his head. This guy clearly didn’t care about helping new players.

Before he could press the issue, Liam pointed at the Eagle’s Crest on Marcus’s chest.

"Wayne gave you that?"

"Yeah."

Marcus nodded, about to say something to ease the tension, but Liam cut him off.

"Stonehaven, I understand what Wayne had in mind. If you were an Archer, I could pass my combat skills on to you. But you’re a Knight. It doesn’t match."

He paused, thinking it through.

"So here’s what we’ll do. I’ll give you two options. You choose."

Marcus crossed his arms. "Go on."

"First, I will give you a strong set of gear, teach you some basic universal skills, and..." Liam raised the Divine Artifact longsword, "...you get this for protection."

"And the second?"

"You take my trial and prove your strength. If you pass, I’ll teach you something much stronger. If you fail, I take back the Eagle’s Crest."

Liam’s expression turned serious.

"The trial is dangerous. Think carefully."

Marcus considered it for a moment, then said firmly, "I choose both."

Liam blinked. "Both?"

"Dude," Marcus said, almost exasperated. "I take the first option, gear up, grab the sword, then go do the trial."

He smiled, clearly pleased with himself. "Perfect plan, right?"

"No." Liam almost shouted it. He hadn’t expected Marcus to be this shameless and greedy. It nearly drove him crazy.

"No? Why not?" Marcus looked genuinely confused.

Liam opened his mouth, then closed it again. For a moment, he didn’t even know how to explain.

"Enough. You have one choice only. Decide now, or I’ll pick the first for you."

His patience was gone. If not for Wayne, he would have walked away already.

"Bossy," Marcus muttered. After a short pause, he sighed. "Fine. I’ll take the second. I’ll do the trial."

"Good. You have three hours to prepare. Meet me at the weapon shop in Blue Sea Citadel."

Liam turned to leave. His equipment had taken a beating during the fight, and he needed repairs.

"Boss, wait—" He hadn’t even taken a step before Marcus called out again.

"What now?" Liam asked, already irritated.

"I’ve got a quest nearby, at Blackfire Cavern. It might take some time. Could you—" 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Liam stared at him. Was this guy negotiating?

"Ten hours. That’s the minimum," Liam said, trying to keep his composure as he prepared to leave.

"Boss, wait—"

"What?"

Liam was close to losing it again.

"I couldn’t find Black Earth Cavern. Do you know where it is?"

Liam nearly stumbled.

"Go straight from here for about ten miles. You’ll reach a yellow rocky area full of caves."

He pointed across the Black Crow Marsh, then looked back at Marcus.

"Ten hours. Not a minute more." With that, he activated a Town Portal Scroll and disappeared.

"Boss, wait—"

Marcus had wanted to ask about the Black-Horned Pangolin too, but Liam was too fast.

"No patience." He muttered, then urged Blackie into the air, crossed the Black Crow Marsh, and flew toward the direction Liam had pointed.