Chapter 622 — The Chiyou Ruins (Monthly Ticket Bonus +11)

After all, when Goddess Wa sealed these ruins, she had only been a top-tier god.

The strange dreams were the power of this epoch's ruins leaking out and affecting the surroundings.

"Understood!" Lin Zhuo said at once. "Assistant is fine—just take us along!"

"Mm, but you follow my orders."

"First, Aunt Hua, have the chancellor of Divine Capital University clear the campus."

"Alright." Hua Che nodded.

Before long, upon learning that Shi Jin was taking charge, the chancellor of Divine Capital University was overwhelmed with flattery and immediately did as Shi Ying instructed: the entire faculty and student body were given a month's leave, the campus sealed off, and no living being was to appear within Divine Capital University.

Even the university's guardian deity and guardian overlord were driven out along with everyone else...

Once that was done, the chancellor himself beat a hasty retreat, leaving the entire Divine Capital University City—larger than a tier-two city—to Shi Yan, Lin Zhuo, and the others.

"Shi Jin, just what kind of ruins are these?" Sister Xiong Qi couldn't help asking.

By now, Shi Jin and Lin Zhuo had wandered to a back hill of Divine Capital University. As for Hua Che, at Shi Ying's request, she was doing her best to evacuate the residents around the university city and temporarily settle them elsewhere——Shi Jin had Bug Bug casually mold a habitable secret realm space, conjuring up a pile of villas out of thin air.

"Senior, have you ever heard that the universe perishes and is reborn every ten billion years, opening a new cycle?" Shi Li said. "One such cycle is called a cosmic epoch."

Lin Zhuo shook her head. She had been busy cultivating her panda legion, and was only rank eight herself now; she didn't know much about matters beyond Blue Star.

"The iron-eating beast race actually existed on Blue Star in the previous cosmic epoch, over ten billion years ago."

"Its origins go back that far?" Lin Zhuo was astonished.

"It's fine. Besides, who can say whether the previous cosmic epoch was the true origin." Shi Li said, "The ruins I'm about to explore are epoch ruins that have survived from the previous epoch to this day!"

"They're said to be the ruins of a battlefield."

"Created by the clash between a powerful beastmaster who commanded the Genesis Divine Dragon and another powerful beastmaster who commanded a legion of iron-eating beasts."

"From the clues I've gathered, these ruins can only be entered by humans who have contracted beast pets of specific races."

"And the iron-eating beast is one of those specific races."

"My guess is that those beastmasters having the strange dreams were affected by these battlefield ruins."

"Gulp." Lin Zhuo's beautiful eyes went wide. No wonder Shi Jin loved exploring ruins so much—her curiosity had already been hooked by just a few words from him.

If Shi Jin left her behind to explore the ruins himself now, she would die of curiosity.

"So what do we do next?!" Lin Zhuo was already raring to go.

"Hmm. I took a look just now—the main body of the ruins is still sealed by a barrier. The seal has loosened, but for now I don't plan to break it immediately. It'd be fine anywhere else, but this is a major city after all. No one knows what effects epoch ruins might bring."

"My plan is to first enter through dreaming, letting the ruins affect me passively, and see whether I can uncover any clues before deciding."

"This way, the impact on us and on the outside world should be minimal—at most, like those students, we'll wake up feeling a bit mentally exhausted."

"So what you're saying is, I hold Huahua first, you hold Shiyi, we fall asleep just like those students, and let the power leaking from the Epoch Ruins drag us into the dream battlefield?" Lin Zhuo said.

"Exactly." Shi Jin extended his hand, and a panda the size of an apple appeared in his palm.

Sitting in Shi Jin's palm, Shiyi yawned, first glancing cautiously around, then letting out a "Yip!" in greeting to Lin Zhuo.

"Huahua, you come out too."

Senior Lin, for her part, also summoned her own iron-eating beast—a panda now at the Invincible Overlord level, evolved into a Devil God Iron-Eater, named Huahua.

It too was currently in its restrained state, still as adorable as ever, showing not a trace of its Devil God bearing while suppressed.

"Yip yip yip!" Shiyi greeted again.

"Yip!" Lin Zhuo's iron-eater was delighted to see Shiyi as well.

"Once Aunt Hua's side is more or less ready, we'll eat the cultivation fruit and fall asleep," Shi Li said.

"Ah." Lin Zhuo blinked, then said, "Eat that thing and fall asleep...?"

Shi Li: "Of course. The cultivation fruit boosts comprehension and learning ability. If we eat it before sleeping, then whatever strange things we encounter in the dream world, we'll be able to grasp and learn them all the faster."

"I see." Lin Zhuo was still a little uneasy. "But I forgot to bring the neutralizer."

"What's that?"

"It's my favorite drink—take it together with the cultivation fruit, and it masks the taste a bit..."

Shi Jin: "..."

...

Once Shi Yun was more or less done, Shi Jin cradled Shiyi and Lin Zhuo cradled Huahua, and the two of them found a spot within Divine Capital University, ate the cultivation fruit, and prepared to enter sleep.

The power of the Epoch Ruins was something even Xuanxiao Peak could not peer into the source of, so Shi Jin and the others had no choice but to investigate step by step.

Thanks to the cultivation fruit, Shi Jin and the others quickly drifted off to sleep...

In the haze of consciousness, Shi Jin gradually opened his eyes awake—though by virtue of his formidable control over his body, Shi Ling observed: this was a dream.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself inside a soldier's tent.

"So that's how it is. In this dream world, I've become a soldier who truly existed in the previous epoch but has already died. Role-play, is it? Then what about you?"

Shi Qi turned toward the panda sprawled on the ground; this panda also opened its eyes and let out an "Ao."

Clearly, it was Shiyi.

Apart from Shiyi, Shi Jin could sense no connection to any other beast at the moment. Fortunately, he could still feel that his own and Shiyi's level and power remained—that was a relief...

No wonder those Divine Capital University students died the moment they entered. With their strength, joining the great battle between Yinglong and Chiyou—how could they possibly survive?