"Could it be some special application of max-level psychic power?"

"Or did you awaken some kind of special ability?"

After the anomaly happened, Shi Jin had no heart left for class.

His mind was fixed on one thing only: the Tyrannosaurus, the Tyrannosaurus, my Tyrannosaurus...

Shi Jin had a feeling this anomaly might have something to do with Buggy.

Otherwise, why had Buggy also appeared at his side at that very moment?

And Buggy's various abilities all happened to be connected to dreams!

There had to be a connection!

"Let's try again."

Shi Jin called out to Buggy.

Buggy nodded frantically.

Damn it—it still didn't know what had just happened, but that dinosaur had felt awfully strong.

And it hadn't even taken a few extra looks to sense its power.

Otherwise, once it was materialized, there would be another fine fighter on their hands, not one bit inferior to the Frost Dragon.

Then, with the Frost Dragon and the Tyrannosaurus as its two great guardians, would Buggy the Dragon Tamer not soar straight into the heavens?!

Next, Shi Jin once again entered a meditative state.

Then, just as at the beginning, he tried to sense and determine the age of the Tyrannosaurus fossil.

Inside the beast-taming space, Buggy likewise used its psychic power to try to pierce through space and sense the outside world.

It did exactly as before.

And it fixed its target with perfect clarity: the Tyrannosaurus fossil that Shi Jin was also sensing.

In an instant, Shi Jin and Buggy's perceptions synchronized.

Within Shi Jin's pitch-black field of vision, a thread of light appeared once more.

Only this time, it was not as smooth as before.

There was a feeling that it truly could work, but that something was still missing.

As if, like the Listening talent, it all came down to luck.

A willow planted without intent grows shade; a flower tended with care refuses to bloom.

"I hate this..."

A moment later, Shi Jin and Buggy gave up the struggle.

Because the earlier accidental success had stirred no reaction, but when they actively attempted it, Buggy's physical stamina was consumed at a tremendous rate.

To keep from affecting Buggy's condition, Shi Jin stopped at once.

"Alas." Shi Jin reopened his eyes and murmured inwardly, "There's definitely something to this."

"The meditation method Emperor Shi developed is not so simple—it isn't only for detecting ages."

"Combined with a pet beast's abilities, it may have other wondrous uses, and ones that center on the pet beast's power."

"I've made another great discovery."

...

After class, Shi Jin returned to the dormitory.

He sighed, feeling that pitfalls lay everywhere around him.

And all of them were the kind he could not explore in his current state.

The relic crystal Emperor Shi had left behind—he dared not go near it without strength.

The bloodline mysteries of General Ice Dragon and the Empress—he could not even get close to the Phoenix Clan.

Now he had discovered the peculiar nature of the meditation method Emperor Shi left behind, and again he was constrained by Buggy's condition, unable to explore it deeply.

"Just kill me now," Shi Jin said as he flopped onto the bed.

Then he rolled over and began searching for information through Bureau Eleven's channels.

In the end, he shook his head.

"I don't feel like doing the homework. Let me flip through and see if there's an answer key."

Shi Jin decided to go straight to the top and ask an expert.

He was still a student—no shame in asking a teacher.

Just like with that crystal, he refused to believe that no one knew what was going on.

With so many capable people in Bureau Eleven, maybe one of the big shots would know something.

A short while later, Senior Li Lianping of Bureau Eleven answered Shi Ying's call.

This was the foremost authority on fossil research in Donghuang—and indeed the world—an archaeologist and researcher of the highest standing.

"Shi Jin?"

"Is something wrong with that Ginseng Baby of yours?"

Shi Li: "No, Senior Li. I wanted to consult you about a few questions in the field of fossils."

"Oh? Starting to take an interest in fossils, are we?"

Senior Li chuckled. The field of archaeology, after all, had many different branches.

Some archaeologists devoted themselves to investigating myths, some to totems, some to ancient dynasties, and some to the fossils of extinct creatures. Hearing that Shi Jue was interested in fossils, Senior Li laughed.

Suddenly, it felt as though there was someone to carry on the torch...

"Ask away."

"Senior Li, is it possible for a fossil to still be alive? Could it retain a remnant dream? And that special meditation method the Time Emperor left behind for detecting eras—does it have some other special use?"

After a moment, Senior Li Lianping's laughter came through the line: "A fossil can't possibly be alive. Of course, it's not impossible that one day in the future it might revive and evolve into a death-element or elemental life form."

"On that day, perhaps the entire field of fossil research—even the whole archaeological world and the beast-taming world—would be in an uproar."

"It wouldn't compare to the birth of mechanical life, but it would absolutely be a super discovery."

"Your other question was a good one... A fossil can indeed retain a remnant dream. Did you peek into a fossil's dream and accidentally dream your way back to the ancient past?" Senior Li asked with a smile.

"Mm." Hearing her tone, Shi Shuo understood that she did know something after all.

"It's rather troublesome to explain in detail—it's actually a manifestation of time traces, another form of 'spirit,' and it only appears on the remains of powerful ancient creatures."

"The currently known method for peeking into a fossil's dream requires the meditation method developed by the Time Emperor, plus the assistance of a pet beast that has mastered a Dream Stealing skill at the consummate level. Only when the beast tamer and the pet beast merge their perceptions is there a chance of glimpsing an ancient fossil's dream."

"And that chance is even smaller than the odds of a Listening talent seeing a shadow of history. Old woman that I am, I may have bred Dream Stealing pet beasts, but I generally can't be bothered to use the ability. Some Dream Stealers abroad, though, are very skilled at it—after all, their countries have small populations and can't produce more than a handful of beast tamers with the Listening talent, so they have to rely on other methods for archaeology."

"Dream Stealing skill?" Shi Tang said.

[Skill]: Dream Stealing

[Grade]: High-tier

[Description]: A psychic skill that allows entry into another life form's dream to glimpse its secrets, and to copy the dream's phantoms and manifest them in one's own dream world.

"Right. But speaking of which—you actually have a pet beast that's mastered the Dream Stealing skill? And at such a high level?" Senior Li suddenly spotted the oddity.

A consummate-level Dream Stealing skill—across all of Donghuang, fewer than three people currently possessed it... The skill was simply too hard to train.

"I don't..."

Shi Jin was dumbfounded. So there really was a way to enter a fossil's dream—but the problem was, Buggy didn't know that skill!

"You don't?" Senior Li was bewildered.

"It's my Green Silk Bug. It helped me enter that state, but it's in cocoon form right now, and it doesn't have the Dream Stealing skill at all. Wait—the evolution materials I used on it included a Phantasm Dream Fruit!"

"The Phantasm Dream Tree itself masters the Dream Stealing skill. Could this be a sign that the Green Silk Bug will awaken Dream Stealing after evolving...?"

Something suddenly struck Shi Jin.

[Name]: Phantasm Dream Tree