Chapter 414 — The Evolution of Eleven Gods

Heh heh heh~

After returning from the Void Capital, Shi Jin headed back to Pingcheng humming cheerfully.

She had no desire to make another long trip to Tingxiang.

All that back-and-forth travel made her queasy.

Before leaving, Shi Jin had brought Qi along, having already foreseen that she would be too lazy to go back.

At this moment, Qi was inside the ruins.

Shi Shuo had tossed her in early, telling her to go get acquainted with the other team members.

However, when Shi Jin mustered the energy to check on the ruins, she saw that Qi's face was somewhat pale.

At this moment, the one-point-two-meter-tall Qi clutched the Umbrella of Time, deeply uneasy.

Heaven knew what she had seen after entering.

She had seen nine suns strung together in a line, and a black-and-white bear doing "warm-up exercises" amid the suns.

Even from far away, that blazing heat made Qi feel as though her body was about to melt.

She had also seen a butterfly meet thunder with its bare flesh, bathing over and over beneath terrifying white lightning.

A single thread of that lightning was enough to split the earth.

She had also seen a ginseng baby sitting cross-legged in a blizzard, calm and focused.

The raging wind and snow seemed to freeze even time itself; a wisp of its escaping chill froze her very thoughts.

Qi panicked at once.

She finally understood what Shi Jin had meant by "training with me will be very hard."

"So, what do you think?" Shi Jin entered the ruins and asked Qi for her opinion.

Qi's face was deathly pale.

She felt that if she had to endure this kind of training, she probably wouldn't last a day.

But...

When she thought of how Shi Tan's beasts could all endure it, she... she could definitely do it too.

"I believe I can do it," Qi said with a serious expression.

"I can definitely do it," she cheered herself on.

Shi Jin was surprised. "So confident? I originally planned to start you from the basics, but since you're this sure of yourself, I'm relieved. We'll go straight to willpower training."

Qi: ????

Qi's cherry-blossom eyes were filled with bewilderment.

"Lin, help Qi set up her three meals a day, her daily schedule, and her training plan."

"Yes, Master." A cyan-white cube condensed in midair, appearing beside Shi Jin.

The little white-haired girl inside looked at the pink-haired girl before her and said, "You're Qi, right? Starting today, I'm your instructor."

"Just call me Lin."

"Yes... Teacher Lin." Qi felt that the boast she had made would have to be seen through, tears or no tears.

"For now, let Qi train together with Xiao Ji and Yaya," Shi Li said.

"Xiao Ji? Yaya?" Qi looked bewildered.

"My second-team beasts."

Shi Yan said, "Our little family is now divided into Team One and Team Two."

"Team One consists of Eleven, Buggy, Ginseng Baby, Crimson Eye, Susu, and Lin."

"Their strength is uniformly at the Monarch level, but no matter which one of them, they all have the ability to defeat Overlords above their level."

"Oh, right—those pieces of equipment of yours were made by these six. For example, the giant sword is the crystallization of Eleven's Hardening skill and Lightning Rod skill; the bow and arrow is the crystallization of Ginseng Baby and Lin's power..."

"Those dozen or so pieces of equipment are all toys they made with their own skills, and the weapon spirits inside are Buggy's ability, Phantom of Truth and Illusion."

Qi's mouth fell slightly open. Toys? Toys?

"That's right, toys. That's the current strength of Team One. Even without lifting a finger themselves, relying on their clones, they're unmatched among Monarch level."

Qi: ∑(っ°Д°;)っ What!!

Her first thought was that this was utterly absurd, but then she suddenly recalled what Big Sister Annis had said at the exchange tournament.

Shi Ying's Iron-eating Beast... a Monarch-level Iron-eating Beast... it had easily crossed a level and crushed her.

So all of it might actually be true...

And the monster wasn't just that one Iron-eating Beast—it was the entire first team?

"I'm currently a Level Six Beastmaster, with only six contract slots. Every member of the first team is under contract with me."

"As for the second team: there's Little Machine, a mechanical phantom beast that has fused the power of the Earth Giant Dragon and the Ancient Tyrannosaurus, making it a mid-tier Overlord species; and Ya Ya, the reincarnation of an abyssal demigod—an extraordinary species that already possesses an Overlord's will and will one day easily break through to Overlord level."

Qi was stunned again.

A mechanical phantom beast.

Because Shi Jin had chosen her, she had naturally learned about Shi Ying's achievements from Grandmaster Gelin and the others.

A mechanical phantom beast that fused the power of the Overlord species Earth Giant Dragon and the ancient Overlord species Tyrannosaurus?

A mechanical phantom beast could fuse the phantoms of two creatures?

The dragon race alone was formidable enough—the Dragon Empire remained to this day Tingxiang's great enemy—and the Ancient Tyrannosaurus was said to have been the ruler of the earth during a certain period of the Totem Era... Qi could not bring herself to believe the two powers could be combined.

And beyond that, a demigod... reincarnated?

Qi was dazed once more. Was this the demigod she knew of, the one whose power rivaled Her Majesty the Elf Empress...

"Little Machine and Ya Ya are both Commander-level right now, with good potential, but their strength isn't enough to join the first team yet—they can only be the second team. From here on, you'll train alongside them."

Qi: (*+﹏+*)~ S-second team?

"Correct. For the time being, you'll count as a member of my second team. The spots on the first team will have to wait until after I break through—though even after I break through, I won't just contract anyone at random."

"It'll depend on the competition for second-team slots."

"Little Machine can still fuse more phantom beast powers, and Ya Ya was a demigod-level powerhouse in her past life and is currently trying to master that former power. Both of them are eager to enter the first team, so you'll have to work hard."

"Compared to them, you have one enormous advantage: you still have a legendary resource. Once first-team spots open up, you can try challenging first-team members to advance."

Shi Yan said, eyes narrowed.

Let the competition begin.

Qi gripped the Umbrella of Time tightly, shaking her head wildly inside.

No.

She had to get into the first team.

It was just... Qi paused slightly, suddenly noticing that the Umbrella of Time in her hand no longer seemed quite so appealing.

The standard for entering the first team was to challenge a first-team member—yet she was fighting with a toy made by a first-team senior. How could she possibly beat a first-team member?

"As for how to surpass yourselves, that depends on your efforts from here on."

Qi: o_o

"Lin, take Qi to her quarters, and introduce her to Little Machine and Ya Ya along the way."

................

Once Qi was settled, Shi Cen asked Lin to continue researching the Starry Sky Pet Beast egg and the summoned strange waters.

He was worried sick.

Meanwhile, Shi Jin took out Fang Lan's spoils again to examine them.

[Four Symbols Star Formation]

At first glance, Shi Yu thought it had something to do with the four faith totem sacred beasts: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise.

In the end, he found it had merely borrowed the name.

It was simply a high-tier light-element skill.

It was called "Four Symbols" because it required at least four users to activate.

A single pet beast could not use this move at all.

Unless, of course, one resorted to the all-purpose clone.

But the effect would certainly be inferior to four pet beasts of comparable strength using it together.