For example, the nutrient fruits Ginseng Baby produced—limited by its growth level, even when it overdrew its power to craft them at full force, the energy level came out at only level four; yet because its Nutrient skill had been maxed out, the fruits it made were of very high quality.

That was what "high quality, low level" meant.

Likewise, the dragon pearl Chongchong absorbed came from a demigod-level Mirage Dragon. At the outset it was a proper legendary-grade resource, a level-nine resource; but due to Shiyun's scouring, its energy had drained and withered, dropping to level four. Still, because it was the dragon pearl of the Dragon God, its quality was surely absurdly high, beyond comparison with any other level-four resource.

And the Mu Huiyin Armor gifted by the Ice Dragon was another example of high quality, low level.

Now, if Shijin wanted Susu's racial level to advance further, aside from waiting for the Ocean Legacy, he could only seek out similar resources.

After all, if a resource's level was too high, limited by its growth level, it simply could not devour or digest it.

"Many thanks, Chancellor Turtle." Shi Jin took the booklet without standing on ceremony and began reading through it item by item.

He was not particularly averse to being invested in. Look across Donghuang—which of the five great consortia had not built itself up by canvassing investment far and wide? Look across history—no powerhouse had ever risen without accepting investment. Accept plenty now, and once he had grown, repay it many times over; that was the aim of every investor. Investment now was for a far greater return later.

Shi Jin was precisely at a stage where he lacked resources. A gift was not to be refused.

Networking everywhere, making friends everywhere, drumming up investment everywhere—that was the fastest way to grow strong!

Of course, the reason he could accept so readily was that Shi Lingdao knew he would have the means to repay in the future, and others knew it too. Plainly, had he lacked potential, he might never have been offered the investment at all.

Mermaid's Tears.

A gemstone-formed resource—the Jewel Cat would be overjoyed, most likely.

Blackwater Pearl.

Much the same; the Jewel Cat would be overjoyed again.

Spirit of Coral, a million-year turtle shell... Shi Jin read on steadily, discovering that Mirage Abyss City was truly wealthy. Perhaps this was not even the whole of Qixia City's collection, merely the Sea Dragon King's personal hoard—was this the foundation of a totem-grade dragon clan?

"Hmm..."

After a moment, Shi Jin fixed his eyes on a resource that seemed rather suitable.

[Name]: Dead Fire Sea

[Rank]: Tier Five

[Description]: When the molten surface of a submarine volcanic eruption was rapidly chilled by seawater on the seafloor, in the interweaving of extreme heat and extreme cold, an elemental spirit of an overlord species was nurtured into being. Yet no sooner had it been born than the harsh surroundings killed it at once; only the elemental core remained.

Shi Jin: "..."

Damn. What an ill-fated little thing.

So it was called Dead Fire Sea?

The moment Shi Jin saw it, he thought at once of the fusion tactic Su Su and Crimson Pupil had just been researching. Su Su, without question, stood for extreme cold, and Crimson Pupil for extreme heat; the power of the two together could bring out the full effect of the Crossed Sword.

But clearly, with the Crossed Sword, Crimson Pupil was the core of the tactic.

This Dead Fire Sea looked somewhat interesting. He wondered whether, if Su Su devoured it, she could evolve some skill better suited to wielding extreme heat, turning their fusion tactic into a dual-core system.

And besides, its rank was not high either...

Shi Jin read on. Perfectly matched resources, however, were not so plentiful; he leafed through many pages and found only Dead Fire Sea as the most intriguing. As for the rest—it was not that they could not be devoured, only that the randomness was too great, and the skills they yielded might be of little value.

"Hm??"

Suddenly, turning toward the back, Shi Jin noticed a portrait that did not fit.

This was... a ram's horn?

No!

[Name]: Qilin Horn Fossil

[Rank]: None

[Description]: Suspected fossil of a mythic-grade lifeform, the divine beast Wind Qilin.

"Holy shit." Shi Jin blurted out in shock.

"Wah!" Chancellor Turtle nearly jumped out of his shell.

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit." Shi Jin exclaimed again and again: "Chancellor Turtle, this fossil... are you serious?"

"A fossil of a mythic creature?? You're not joking?"

"This—that fossil—it is indeed suspected to be the fossil of the mythic creature Wind Qilin. At the very beginning, it may even have been a mythic-grade resource," said Chancellor Turtle.

"It was obtained by some generation of Dragon God from the Dragon God Ruins who knows how many hundreds of millions of years ago. They say that at first its energy level approached that of a Tier Ten mythic-grade resource.

"But the trouble was, powerful as its energy level was, this fossil had almost no effect. It was nothing but raw energy, potent and useless...

"In the end, Mirage Abyss City kept it in its collection for generation after generation, and still it was of no use. It passed from hand to hand until now—hmm—it landed in the hands of Lord Canglong Wang, and its energy level, scoured away over hundreds of millions of years, has fallen to Tier Zero. Not a tremor of energy remains."

"Still, since its origins are truly extraordinary... no Dragon King has ever wanted to throw it out."

Shi Jin stared fixedly at the ram's horn in the manual—ah, no, the qilin horn—depicted there.

A fossil!!??

And the fossil of a mythic creature, no less?!

In that instant, Shi Ying's heart pounded. His first thought was not to let Su Su devour it.

Rather—a fossil, Dream Theft, manifest the divine beast Wind Qilin, even if it were but a phantom with one hundred-millionth of its power!

And then, using the phantom of the divine beast as a template, create the sixth mechanical pet beast!

His original aim had been something like a tyrannosaur—an ancient species. But now, had he actually stumbled upon a fossil from what seemed to be the Mythic Age???

To hell with it—who needed ancient species? He'd go straight for a divine-beast-grade mecha.

The Gundam mecha, Qilin; the super-battleship, Qilin!

Of course, that was provided... this thing had a Dream Realm, and that he and Chongchong could enter it—and copy it.

But regardless of all that, Shi Jin was now completely captivated by this qilin-horn fossil.

"Prime Minister Turtle, can we choose this fossil too?" Shi Tang asked.

"Of course! The Dragon King of the Sea, the Dragon King of the Azure, and the Dragon King of the Immortals all said you may pick whatever you like!" it said.

"But Lord Shi Jin, are you sure you want this one... Many generations of Dragon Gods and Dragon Kings have studied it, and it's essentially useless..."

"Let me think it over," Shi Li said.

"Very well... Oh, right." Prime Minister Turtle reminded them: "The Dragon King of the Sea also said—would you like to go to the treasury and pick out a few more resources, to be used as rewards at the post-ceremony Dragon Palace Banquet?"

"Hm?"

"At the Dragon Palace Banquet, many Overlords will put forth resources as prizes, letting the juniors of the Mirage Abyss City compete and contend at the feast. When the time comes, you and the Dragon King of Ice will also be attending as 'core higher-ups of the Mirage Abyss City.' I wonder—do you plan to take part in this segment of the Dragon Palace Banquet?"

"In the Dragon King of the Sea's view, putting up some resources to exchange greetings with the juniors of the Mirage Abyss City would be a fine choice as well. It will provide the resources."

Shi Jin: "..."