Chapter 357 — The Seven-Island Ruins Targeted by Shi Jin

The Undying Dark Phoenix was worthy of being Mu Huiyin's and the Empress's own mother, worthy of being a peak power among the Phoenix Clan, worthy of being a titan who could be reborn as a top-tier totem even after death. What a fortune—far too lavish.

"We can't just give up on it, surely," said Shi Li.

"Of course not," said the Legend of the Overbearing Sea. "So we've been considering whether we might not play the Seven Isles for fools…"

"How?"

"A wager," said Jiang Tianyang with the smile of a young noble. "It's very common. When the Minghua exchange delegation came to Eastern Radiance, didn't you duel their beast tamers?"

He smiled at Shi Jin, who by now had changed his appearance entirely.

"That, in fact, was a wager."

"If Eastern Radiance won, we gained certain advantages in the exchange trade. If Minghua won, we would have to open some of Eastern Radiance's unique training secret realms to their beast tamers."

"We can try the same this time—use a wager to secure exploration rights to the Seven Isles' secret realms and ruins. So long as it's written plainly in black and white beforehand, they can't welch on it afterward."

"Let the Seven Isles feel they've come out ahead in other respects, while we demand exploration rights to a batch of ruins and secret realms they can't crack. Given stakes enough, the Seven Isles' authorities will surely stake those uncrackable ruins—after all, an uncrackable ruin doesn't count as a resource, whereas whatever stakes Eastern Radiance puts up are resources plain to see."

"Even if the Seven Isles knew nothing of the Phoenix Secret Realm, we would still have dug a pit of that kind first, so that after the exploration was done and they discovered the truth, the two sides wouldn't fall to quarreling. And now that the Seven Isles already know of the Phoenix Secret Realm, we must prepare all the more thoroughly—prepare with that specific aim."

"Mm. Apart from those present, no one else knows you can crack the Phoenix Secret Realm with one hundred percent certainty," said the Legend Xiao Shuang. "We can make the Seven Isles swallow a bitter pill in silence."

"If they go back on it afterward, that's their problem. Even the Seven Isles wouldn't want, at a turning point like this, to tear up all face with Eastern Radiance over a single mythic resource."

Having heard out the Legend of the Overbearing Sea and the rest, Shi Shuo was at once reassured.

"You lot are a devious bunch," said the Gem Cat cheerfully, baring its teeth in a grin.

Shi Cen drew a deep breath and said, "It's not out of the question…"

"But how do we set the wager with the Seven Isles to trade for exploration rights to their ruins and secret realms?"

The senior of the Qixia Sect stroked his beard and said, "That… can only be settled after we reach the Seven Isles and talk with the upper echelons of their association."

"It might be that we send their archaeologists to explore the ruins and secret realms we haven't cracked, in exchange for our cracking theirs—a high-stakes gamble in the field of archaeology, where each side gains as much as its skill allows."

"It might be a high-stakes gamble by way of duel and exchange, betting on whose World Tournament contestants are stronger."

"It might require us to put legendary resources on the table—or they might have their eye on certain of our techniques, like the mechanical phantom beast, or the Green Worm Cocoon. In any case, the Seven Isles' association will have something it wants to bet on."

"So long as we're certain we can crack the Phoenix Secret Realm with one hundred percent certainty and take the mythic and legendary resources within, we hold the winning hand in this wager from first to last."

Shi Jin's eyes lit up. "Cracking ruins—now that's a fine wager!" he said.

"Let's see who cracks ruins faster and in greater number. That sort of thing… I'm good at it!!!"

Give him Shi Yun, and he would batter away at every mythic ruin and legendary ruin in the Seven Isles; a few would surely burst open. Cracking the Seven Isles' ruins carried no psychological burden for him at all.

And if he thought about it deeply enough, Shi Yu actually felt a small thrill of excitement.

For the past half month, he had been grinding away at the history of the Seven Isles—wasn't it all so that once he got there, he could really throw his weight around?

"Cough, cough, cough." Everyone's expressions turned strange. Calm down, will you? Right now you're just an ordinary, unremarkable white-haired beast tamer—stop always dreaming of stirring up something huge. Anyway, once we reach the Seven Isles, first thing's first: dig a nice deep pit for the Seven Isles Association and worry about the rest later!!!

Under no circumstances could he reveal his identity too early. The name of Dr. Shi Jin had already spread across the Seven Isles. If the Seven Isles Association learned that Shi Jin had come, they'd probably take him as a stake and make him father a child in the Seven Isles before letting him leave.

Which mattered more in the eyes of the Seven Isles Association—Shi Yan or the Phoenix Secret Realm—was honestly hard to say.

Back then, a certain legendary beast tamer from Donghuang had been talked into going abroad exactly like this. Even heroes cannot pass the beauty trap... and if they had judged correctly, Shi Yu was a... lone wolf?

One Day Off, Plus Beast Data Cards

The old problem has flared up again. I've had a headache for half a day and can't sit still, so I'm taking a day off and will resume updates tomorrow evening. This is my second leave this month. My body is still being nursed back to health—I even applied to delay surgery so it wouldn't hold up my writing. Please bear with me. My health had just started improving this month, and I didn't expect it to act up again. It's really a tough one to deal with.

[Protagonist Name]: Shi Jin

[Beast Space Level]: Tier Six

[Professional License Level]: Top-Tier Beast Master

[Beast Taming Talents]: Telepathy, Skill Codex

[Valuables]: Ruin Ring, Codex (First Bureau, Third Bureau, Fourth Bureau, Eleventh Bureau), Awakening Mirror, Ruin Crystal, Qilin Horn Fossil, Talent Pearl, Spirit-Nurturing Jade, Dragon God's Protection, Aurora Magnetic Gold, Azure Sky Divine Azure Dragon Pearl, Bone Sword, Frost Sky Drop, Earth of Life Divine Soil, Starry Sky Beast Egg

[Important Identities]: Member of Donghuang's First, Third, Fourth, and Eleventh Bureaus; Minister of Donghuang Ocean Environmental Protection in Mirage Abyss City

[Contracted Beasts]: Eleven, Buggy, Baby Ginseng, Crimson Pupil, Susu, Rin

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[Beast Name]: Eleven

[Species]: Iron-Eating Beast · Jiuli War Beast

[Attributes]: Metal, Lightning

[Species Rank]: High Overlord (Quasi-Mythical)

[Growth Rank]: Monarch Level

[Species Skills]:

[Low Tier]: Hardening (Skill Approaching the Dao), Electromagnetic Levitation (Skill Approaching the Dao)

[Mid Tier]: Gigantification (Skill Approaching the Dao), Charged Lightning (Skill Approaching the Dao)

[High Tier]: Impregnable Fortress (Skill Approaching the Dao), Intimidation (Skill Approaching the Dao)

[Super Tier]: Concealed Edge (Mastery), Lightning Rod (Mastery), Quaking Void (Mastery), Beans into Soldiers (Mastery), Unstoppable (Mastery)

[Taught Skills]:

[Mid Tier]: Rapid Healing (Peerless Mastery), Super Vision (Peerless Mastery), Thunder Palm (Peerless Mastery)

[High Tier]: Absolute Sleep (Peerless Mastery), Multiplication (Shrink: Peerless Mastery; Gigantify: Skill Approaching the Dao), Doppelganger (Peerless Mastery), Iron Tendons and Steel Bones (Peerless Mastery), Tempered into Steel (Peerless Mastery), Overlord Body Armor (Peerless Mastery)

[Super Tier]: Undying Golden Body (Mastery)

[Base Energy Value]: Over 8 Million

[Carried Items]: Spirit-Nurturing Jade, Aurora Magnetic Gold

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[Name]: Buggy

[Species]: Butterfly of Fantasy

[Attributes]: Spirit, Space

[Species Rank]: Mid Overlord

[Growth Rank]: Monarch Level

[Species Skills]: