Chapter 643 — Into the Trap

It had only four skills at consummate mastery and was already this strong. If those dozen-plus control skills all reached consummate mastery, its strength might leap to surpass even Eleven and the others.

Paired with Shi Jin's beast, it would absolutely slaughter.

Of course, this was only one of Shi Jin's many preparation plans. Once all of them were complete, never mind Transcendence 5 — even Transcendence 6, he was confident he could kill with a single blow of his staff.

"All right, other business first." Shi Li.

"Teacher Ying, Teacher Owl." Shi Jin summoned the two cat teachers who had been watching the whole time.

"Ah." At this moment the two cats were somewhat depressed too. They hadn't expected that the moment they returned, Shi Jin would be up to something so thrilling again.

"Go on, tell us what you need us to do." The jewel cat sighed, already knowing Shi Tan was about to begin preparations.

And that she would be dragged in to help.

"Teacher Ying, please help with a wish. I've heard that the Xuanwu supergod of the Xuanwu family has a knack for divination. I'm afraid it might divine its own death and refuse the challenge, and the other Four Sages supergods would chicken out along with it. The odds aren't high... but I'd still like you to step in and, together with Teacher Owl, influence how others divine this duel."

"You needn't worry about that," said Teacher Owl. "Ever since you formed a pact with that Time Ember Beast, your fate is no longer something just anyone can observe. With that old turtle's abilities, he definitely can't divine anything. That said, if we join forces to influence things, it's not entirely impossible—we might even feed him a bit of a misjudgment."

"Good. There's one more thing," Shi Li said. "I want to know more—much more—about the Four Sages' supergods and even the Four Sages' clans. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you'll never be defeated."

"So... you two help me find out who the King of Scoops is. This Jia Qi is so formidable, their intelligence network must be incredibly powerful. Once we find out their identity, we'll make a deal with them."

"Sure!" said the owl. "But I figure we'll need the power of the clan's supreme treasure. Let me get in touch with my little brother."

With that, the owl produced a crystal ball and tapped on it. A moment later, the head of a rat-man appeared within the crystal ball.

The moment this rat-man opened his mouth, an furious voice rang out.

"Big sis, what are you all doing? I've heard about it already—Time Ember, why would you initiate a Transcendence Duel against the Four Sages' supergods?"

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?" said the owl.

"Does he have a death wish? That's the Four Sages' supergods we're talking about."

"Chief Tutu, don't panic. If I'm issuing the challenge, I must have sufficient confidence," Shi Qi said with a smile toward the crystal ball.

"Why don't you do us a favor—we're planning to divine the true identity of the King of Scoops. The King of Scoops should know quite a bit about the Four Sages' supergods' abilities. We need to cooperate with them."

"Ah, this..." Chief Tutu had never imagined he'd end up setting himself on fire.

"It's very difficult. How could the King of Scoops' identity be so easy to investigate?" he said.

The owl said, "Don't worry. See that kitty cat next to me? On this trip to the Overlord's Domain, we successfully found another four Wish Stars. She's now Transcendence 3—the strongest Prayer Star clansman in history. With her power combined, divining the mere identity of the King of Scoops is nothing."

"I've already thought it through. Once we know who the King of Scoops is, we'll first threaten them with exposing their identity, squeeze out every bit of value they have, and then sell them off. Perfect."

"Who knows how many years of our clan's revenue their bounty could cover."

"Heh heh." The cat nodded. Meow-velous, meow-velous.

Chief Tutu: ???

Holy crap, that Prayer Star cat reached Transcendence 3?

Absurd. How could it be that fast?

A Transcendence 3 Prayer Star cat plus the power of the Astrologer Clan's supreme treasure—it really might be possible to divine the King of Scoops' identity...

A bead of sweat the size of a bean rolled down Chief Tutu's forehead.

Wait a minute—damn it, was his own big sis trying to sell him off for money???

"It won't come to burning bridges that quickly. As long as the King of Scoops cooperates obediently..." Shi Li said.

"Hey, hey, hey. There's really no need for this, is there? It's just information on the Four Sages' supergods—the Astrologer Clan has some records too..." said Chief Tutu.

"I think the King of Scoops is no simple figure. It's better not to provoke them so easily."

"Indeed. That's why we need to divine their identity first before deciding whether to make contact," said Shi Li.

"Little brother, bring the clan's supreme treasure to the Donghuang Realm now. Hurry up. Otherwise we'll come pick you up," said the owl.

Chief Tutu: "You people..."

Chief Tutu began to panic. Damn it, these people... could they please do something productive?

"Little brother? What's wrong with you?"

The owl lady looked at the rat-man drenched in sweat inside the crystal ball, her face full of puzzlement.

Shi Cen looked at Chief Tutu in astonishment. They were only divining the King of Scoops' identity—why was this Jia Qi panicking?

[Master, is it possible that he IS the King of Scoops?] Lin said from within the beast-taming space.

Shi Jin: "..."

Holy crap.

"Based on general analysis results..." Shi Qi said, the corner of his mouth twitching as he stared into the crystal ball.

"Chief Tutu, you're so unwilling to cooperate with our investigation into the King of Scoops' identity, and on top of that, the King of Scoops knows everything... Why do I get the feeling that your Astrologer Clan unexpectedly fits the King of Scoops' profile?" Shi Qi looked toward Teacher Owl.

"This little brother of yours—he wouldn't happen to be the King of Scoops, would he?"

The divining owl: ???

Her eyes went wide as she stared at her brother inside the crystal ball, her expression gradually shifting.

"No, no, of course not. What King of Scoops? What scoop?" Inside the crystal ball, Chief Tutu frantically waved his hands in denial.

"Then bring the clan's supreme treasure here to assist our divination," said Teacher Owl.

"This, this, this..." Chief Tutu was dumbstruck.

"It can't really be true, can it!" The jewel cat was also greatly shocked. The King of Scoops was the owl's little brother???

What kind of joke is this.

Damn it. Then how are we supposed to cash in?

"Fine! I admit it—I'm the King of Scoops. You people are insufferable," Patriarch Tutu said furiously.

The moment the words left his mouth, Shi Jin, the jewel cat, the owl, and the rest all fell silent, staring at him fixedly, disbelief written across every face.

What? So it really was him?

"I did it because life forced my hand—for the revival of the Astrologer clan. Don't go spreading this around, and don't even think about divining it. Not a single trace can be left behind, or the Astrologer clan is finished, and none of you will escape either. This is far graver than offending the Four Sages clan."

"You son of a—you're already working with me, so why the hell did you go and foresee something at the cosmic level? Are you trying to get me killed?" Shi Li. What this Jia Qi had done was indeed more dangerous than offending the Four Sages clan.

"And what about you? You've already become the Astrologer clan's Child of Prophecy—wouldn't it be better to develop steadily? Why go stirring up trouble everywhere?"

The two sides instantly fell to arguing.

"Damn it, the King of Scoops turns out to be my own little brother. How are we supposed to sell this now?" Teacher Owl was utterly despondent.

"Kill kin for the greater good?" the jewel cat suggested.