Chapter 282 — Slime VS Little White Dragon

In the end, Shi Jin chose four of the resources.

Once Shi Jin had made his selections, Chancellor Turtle took his leave.

A short while later, after making a round of Mirage Abyss City, Gem Cat returned to Shi Tan's side.

"Yaaawn~~" Gem Cat came in yawning, and caught sight of Shi Jin, who was resting and recuperating.

"Huh? Your hair turned black?"

The moment it came in, it noticed the change in Shi Ying.

"It turned black?"

Shi Cen was briefly startled, then laughed. "Maybe it's because I'm in a good mood."

Gem Cat curled its lip. Who do you think you are, a Mary Sue? Your hair changes color with your mood?

"Where's the Vast Sea Sprite's reincarnation?"

"I brought it something tasty. Come on, let me see it again." Gem Cat urged.

Not just Qixia City and Eastern Splendor — now even a cat wanted to get in good early with the Vast Sea Sprite before it grew up.

"Uh, it's training with Eleven and the others..." Shi Qi glanced over.

"What???" Gem Cat was instantly alarmed.

Gem Cat: w(ﾟДﾟ)w

"Don't tell me you're making a slime go through that brutal training of yours, tempering some Overlord's Will."

Gem Cat immediately began to worry that Shi Jin might train this life's Vast Sea Sprite reincarnation to death.

"Calm down!!"

Shi Qi's mouth twitched. "The Vast Sea Sprite's reincarnation isn't as fragile as you think. It probably already grasped the Overlord's Will back at the Transcendent level, maybe even the Awakening level — a higher will tier than yours. It doesn't need tempering at all; it's practically born with it."

"Hm?" Gem Cat was taken aback.

Are you being polite?

What do you mean, a higher will tier than mine?

Since when did it have to serve not only as a unit of combat power, but as a unit of willpower too?

"Then shall I call it out?" Shi Jin hurriedly changed the subject.

"Call it, call it, call it." Gem Cat urged.

Damn it. This time Shi Jin had won so completely.

"Call Baby Ginseng and the others out too. I swiped some good stuff for them as well."

That "swiped" was wonderfully telling.

Then Shi Jin summoned a whole pile of pet beasts.

Gem Cat immediately turned into a gentle big sister, feeding Susu all sorts of delicacies it had brought from Mirage Abyss City.

Eleven, Chongchong, Baby Ginseng, Crimson Eye and the rest got to share in the bounty and quickly began eating.

"Training hard is fine, but you have to balance work and rest. Look how starved they are." Gem Cat muttered.

Shi Jin: "..."

I've never starved them! Even if they were full, with you pulling out this much food, they wouldn't be able to hold back, all right!

"Where are Senior Bai and the others?" Shi Tang asked.

"Are they on the island right now?"

Gem Cat: "Not sure... maybe they are, maybe they've gone off to play. I wasn't with them."

"That Heavenly King Zou, for instance — seems he headed straight for Black Flood Dragon Isle from the start."

"The banquet's been delayed three days now. I doubt they'll be able to sit still."

"Oh, oh, got it." Shi Heng nodded.

Heavenly King Zou really knew what he was doing.

Before the Dragon Palace banquet even began, he'd already gone to pay a visit to the Black Flood Dragon Overlord. Talk about a clear objective.

Talk about striking first to gain the upper hand.

Talk about the advantage of being close to the water — the first to catch the moon's reflection!

Once the others caught on and realized there was plenty of time, it was only natural that they too went off one by one to study.

"They probably still don't know about the Poison Dragon Totem or about me," Shi Jin said, just to be sure.

"They don't," said Jewel Cat. "Only the totems and the handful of sea beasts who were there in person know about the Poison Dragon Totem. For now the news has been suppressed."

"As for your business... the matter of the Ocean Spirit—well, I'd wager even fewer know of that. Only the fewer than ten who were present at the time."

"But then again—your connection to the Ice Dragon, that much Yu Shu and the others have already reasoned out."

"Oh?" Shi Jin's expression turned curious. "Yu Shu, is it."

"That's right. After you and the Ice Dragon left, he stood frozen in place for the longest time, and then he pieced together your relationship with the Ice Dragon."

"As expected of the very first target Buggy trounced with the Ice Dragon Phantom—the man's got talent..." said Shi Li.

Because Shi Jin had already displayed the Ice Dragon Phantom during the professional examination, Yu Shu, descendant of a dragon tamer line, had looked into him.

Putting together Shi Jin's identity as an archaeologist with the legends of Ice Dragon Snow Mountain and the Ice Dragon Ruins in Icefield City, it was not hard to conclude that Shi Jin and the Ice Dragon might share some connection.

Add to that the fact that the old president of the Ancient Capital University had also come to know a certain guardian deity through archaeology—what could Yu Shu say? He could only chew on his sour grapes and envy Shi Jin's experiences. He was the dragon tamer, and yet Shi Jin, who did not have a single dragon-type on his team, enjoyed a better relationship with dragons than any tamer or dragon clan member alive. Where was the justice in heaven...

Still, though they had guessed that Shi Jin might have met the Ice Dragon while exploring the Ice Dragon Ruins, the Ice Dragon's seniority left Yu Shu and the others utterly stunned.

Even the Sea Dragon King, who had once followed Lin Youshuo, addressed the Ice Dragon as "Senior"... The Ice Dragon had followed the Emperor of Shi—what did that even mean? It left Yu Shu and the others dizzy and reeling, and all the more envious that Shi Jin had latched onto such a towering patron.

……

"I heard Shi Jin is back!"

Outside Skyblue Isle.

A group of people was flying toward Skyblue Isle.

At this moment, Yu Shu, Bai Xi, and the others who had come to visit the Mirage Abyss City were all among them—save for Heavenly King Zou and those two navy Beastmasters.

Ahead of them flew a little white dragon, leading the way.

Behind the little white dragon, Yu Shu and the others wore faces full of delight, having come to understand the benefits of clinging to a strong patron.

And the patron they had chosen to cling to was, naturally, the little white dragon.

These people had indeed not been idling their time away on the island.

After Shi Jin's Ice Dragon departed with the Sea Dragon King, and after the little white dragon's second visit to Skyblue Isle to find Shi Jin had come up empty, Yu Shu and the others seized the chance to latch onto the Third Prince and began running around with it.

Under the guidance of the Third Prince, a local dragon who knew the terrain, they went together to meet any number of Overlord offspring and Monarch offspring, getting their faces known ahead of time.

"Heh heh." Among them, Yu Shu—without even waiting for the Dragon Palace banquet to begin—had gone straight ahead and contracted a dragon of quasi-Overlord race, moving faster than anyone else and winning big.

"Many thanks for the Third Prince's introduction," Yu Shu said, thanking the White Azure Dragon again and again.

"Think nothing of it. Friends of Senior Shi Jin are friends of mine," the little white dragon said with forthright generosity, moving Yu Shu to tears.

"I wonder what Shi Jin... will end up contracting in the end," Yu Shu murmured.

The White Azure Dragon said, "I'll definitely introduce Senior Shi Jin to someone even better! At least sixty percent as excellent as me! Trust my eye for quality!"

Yu Shu: QAQ so envious.

Before long, the group had returned to Skyblue Isle.

Meanwhile, Shi Jin—having just recovered and eaten a mountain of food—was strolling about Skyblue Isle with Eleven, Susu, and the rest, taking in the scenery of the Mirage Abyss City.