Chapter 625 — Protective Archaeology and Destructive Archaeology

On the whole, their methods were too one-dimensional, their accumulation insufficient. The Female Emperor specialized solely in the Phoenix race, the Dragon Emperor solely in the Dragon race, the Martial Emperor solely in physique… Their techniques lacked subtlety and variation… And so first place in the Apotheosis War went to Karn once again. Among them, both the Dragon Emperor and the Martial Emperor managed to knock one Time Imprint off Karn before being ground down by him.

It was just like the Martial Emperor's battle against the Meteor Moose back then—because his methods were too few, he had been worn down by the Meteor Moose's radiation.

Although the Shi Yun Secret Realm had accelerated their accumulation, Karn also came from a great clan of the Shi Yun lineage, had a Transcendent God elder of his own, and certainly had decades more accumulation than the Martial Emperor and the others. For an ordinary genius to defeat Karn, there was still a long road ahead.

But precisely because of this, the people of Realm King Star were left utterly silent.

They understood all the more clearly what kind of monster Shi Jin was.

The Donghuang Martial Emperor and the others were terrifying in strength too—not one of them inferior to the Ancient Nether—and yet they had still been defeated by Karn. Karn truly deserved his title of 79-time champion.

And yet this same Karn had been defeated by a single familiar of Shi Ying's, alone… It was simply unimaginable.

Shi Ying's talent absolutely surpassed that of every emperor in Donghuang's history!

Such was the impression of the beastmasters of Realm King Star after watching this year's Apotheosis War.

Still, although Karn had won, having lost two Time Imprints, he had still lost miserably to the mid-level god examiner—the new examiner.

As for the previous Collapse Divine Bull, Shi Jin had beaten it into retirement, and no one knew where it had gone.

And though no one from the Donghuang lineage had managed to take the championship this time, they had still reaped a great deal. Having been revived for less than a year, they had already caught up to the quasi-gods of the universe's first tier. They were well satisfied, believing that another year would let them crush Kaen with ease.

As for the outcome of this battle, Shi Jin was not especially surprised, because when he copied Kaen's skills, Shi Cen had discovered that Kaen had improved considerably over the past year. Perhaps after losing to him, Kaen had undergone some new transformation. These veteran prodigies, too, were advancing at every moment.

"Shi Jin, Shi Jin."

After Shi Jin returned to the King of Realms Planet, the prophetic owl, Shi Yun, came looking for Shi Jin at once.

"What is it?"

Seeing the owl hurrying over, Shi Jin looked puzzled.

"When are you going to the Overlord Domain?" the owl asked.

"Once Teacher Ying breaks through successfully."

"Hmm, the cat still hasn't broken through? Anyway, hurry it up. I'm getting a little impatient myself," said the owl.

"Judging by your expression, you don't look like you're dying to go traveling, and you don't look like you're eager to level up either..." Shi Jin said suspiciously.

"It's nothing much. It's just that these past few days, I've had a vague feeling that something big is going to happen in the Cosmic Sea, and I don't really want to stay around here much longer. My little brother feels the same way, but the Astrologer Clan's foundation is here, so it can't leave."

"But I don't have any such ties, so I'll just come along with you on a long trip for a while."

"What?" Shi Shuo was stunned. "You've all sensed it? How come I'm the only one who hasn't?"

"Who else?" The owl was baffled.

"Lan Yanzhi. She also sensed that the Cosmic Sea isn't calm, and that it might not be as safe as the universe's frontier, so she plans to wait a while before deciding whether to head to the Cosmic Sea."

"Ah, that." The owl was taken aback.

"Can't you Astrologers foresee what's going to happen in the Cosmic Sea?" Shi Tang asked.

The owl shook its head. "Dunno. I can't foresee anything. From the perspective of foresight, everything is peaceful and tranquil. Even the great war between the Land of Pollution and the Environmental Army won't affect anything."

"Unless the Dark King makes a move against the Cosmic Sea... but that's basically impossible."

"Anyway, there's just this unscientific nth sense that's making me and my little brother feel like something's off lately. Strange."

"If it were just the two of us, fine, we could chalk it up to a decline in our state from foreseeing too much. But even Lan Yanzhi..."

She sank deep into thought. What could it be, that would make the Cosmic Sea anything but calm?

"Forget it, never mind. Small disasters you can't dodge, great disasters you can't escape. Just do what you have to do. If the sky falls, the King of Realms will hold it up," said the owl.

"True enough." Shi Li said, "The Cosmic Sea may not be safe, but the King of Realms Planet definitely is. So let's leave it at that. You go to Blue Star first and wait for Teacher Catcat. I have some things to take care of, and afterward we'll set out from the King of Realms Planet."

"All right," said the owl. "It just so happens I can go have some exchanges with Blue Star."

...

Next, Shi Jin first went to the Archaeology Association of the Suspended Realm Domain. After the Suspended Realm Domain was promoted to a first-tier realm domain, the Archaeology Association had also opened a branch here.

As for the president, it was Xuan Yizong of the Lü family, one of the four great families of the Suspended Realm Domain.

Of the four great families—Wang, Lin, Lü, and Zhao—the latter two could actually be seen as the families of the respective wives of Emperor Kong and Lin Feng. Each family also had a Jinshuang Peak holding sway within it, though compared to the two Jinshuang Peaks of the Wang and Lin families, their strength still lagged by a huge margin.

Among them, Xuan Yizong of the Lü family had done some research on archaeology and had previously been a member of the Archaeology Association. This time, with the rise in the Suspended Realm Domain's status, he too had been promoted along with it to president of the Suspended Realm Domain's Archaeology Association.

When Shi Jin paid a visit, President Lü was astonished, but Shi Jin merely used his authority to request some materials on protective archaeology techniques, and then left.

Afterward, just as Shi Jin had expected, the level of the King of Realms Planet's Archaeology Association was indeed vastly inferior to that of the Cosmic Overlord Legion. Shi Jin only had to read through these materials once to conclude that they would be of little use in exploring the Chiyou Ruins.

"If I joined them, I'd at the very least get to be a headquarters president." Shi Li.

Still, they were more or less new pieces of knowledge, and Shi Yu studied them all, laying the groundwork for later learning techniques akin to the Passage of Time.

Then, several days later.

Two figures appeared in the Donghuang Realm Domain.

"From this day forth, I am a Super God!!!"

"Are you done being annoying? This is the seventh time you've said that. You muttered it to yourself once when you broke through, once when you met Lan Yanzhi, once when you met Emperor Kong, and once when you met me..."

Teacher Tuna trailed alongside the Gem Cat, grumbling away.

"You don't get it!" The Gem Cat wore a rich smile, and even the gloomy sky looked exceptionally clear to it.

"You have no idea how strong a Super God level is!"

"Who says I don't get it!"

The two cats bickered endlessly. It was precisely the Gem Cat, having already broken through to Super God, who had returned to the King of Realms Planet together with the owl.

As the two cats squabbled, each gave a snort, and then together they went off to find Shi Jin.