Digimon: I really didn't want to be the Digimon Emperor!

The leader of the other side shook his head, his tone resolute and leaving no room for negotiation: "We have different paths, so we cannot work together. We have our own missions and goals, and we entered the country before you. We don't have time to bring along any burdens. Let's go our separate ways and not interfere with each other. Return the Koga beast to us."

Li Yunjin retorted, "Hmph, that sounds nice! Then why is your Digimon a Kogamon, skilled in ninjutsu? Who knows if you were sent by the Four Islands Nation!"

The bald man chuckled as if he'd heard something amusing: "Digimon web evolution, evolving into different forms based on the data and environment, is perfectly normal. In the Four Islands, there are many Digimon with characteristics unique to our Eastern Kingdom. Kogamon is plentiful in the Eastern Kingdom too. How can you conclude we're from the Four Islands based on that? Young man, don't slander people so easily, or we'll reserve the right to file a complaint with the Tamers Association."

After he finished speaking, he gestured, and the female team member and another tall, thin man tried to push aside the Digimon blocking their way to bring Kogamon, who was surrounded by Soundbirdmon, out.

The Digimon of the people in Shanghai growled, but without a clear attack command from their masters, they would not attack the human tamers and could only be forced to retreat slowly.

Indeed, this ruin is not the private property of the Shanghai Beast Tamer University. Attacking another team of beast tamers in the wild without conclusive evidence would have extremely serious consequences.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Koga quickly ran back to the enemy camp, jumped to the side of the tall, thin man, and whispered a few words in his ear.

After hearing this, the four people from the foundation all showed surprise and solemnity on their faces, and then whispered a few words to each other.

Then, the bald leader (the Seadramon's partner tamer) turned his gaze to Cheng Yuan again, this time with a much more complicated expression.

He took a few steps closer, his tone softening slightly, but still carrying a condescending air: "Kid... can you handle those bizarre monsters that keep respawning?"

Lin Yu, still annoyed by the earlier retort, immediately snapped, "What's it to you! Aren't we all just going our own way?"

The bald leader frowned, then patiently said, "These strange spirits are a bit troublesome. We need your help to clear the obstacles ahead. In return, we can allow you to follow behind us for a while to ensure your safety."

"You guys fight it yourselves, instead of saying we can't work together because we have different ideas." Li Yunjin's temper flared up as well.

"Hmph, I advise you students not to be ungrateful." The woman behind the bald man, who was controlling the poisonous spider beast and had a sinister look in her eyes, immediately retorted. The poisonous spider beast also rubbed its mouthparts and made a threatening hissing sound.

The atmosphere, which had just eased, was about to become tense again.

"You were reluctant to share information with Senior Guan Yan earlier, but now you're begging us for help? Aren't you shameless!" Liu Li said angrily.

Seeing that things were not going well, Zhao Gang quickly stepped forward to block the younger students.

Upon hearing the word "beg," the bald man was clearly displeased.

They were probably all in their 30s and 40s, and it was really embarrassing for them to be described as "begging" by a bunch of young boys and girls.

His eyes gleamed as he stared at Cheng Yuan and said, "Killing a few reborn monsters is just a piece of cake for you. Doing a favor is good for everyone."

Guan Yan sneered, her words sharp: "It's just a small favor? That's a phrase that should be used by the giver, not the one asking for help. Your attitude doesn't sound like you're asking for a favor."

The sinister female beast tamer glared at Guan Yan and said in a low voice, "Kid, are you trying to make a big scene? We have our own ways of dealing with these reborn monsters. We just want to save time and avoid trouble. Don't push your luck!"

"That's all?" Guan Yan didn't back down. "Since you can handle it yourselves, why come to us? Whose money are you being so generous with!"

"This girl is young, but she has quite the temper." The bald team leader's tone turned completely cold, carrying a hint of threat. "Looks like you're also in the archaeology field? After you graduate, do you still want to work in this industry? It seems you have no idea about the influence of our Historical Dust Foundation."

"You!" Guan Yan had certainly heard of the History Dust Foundation. It was one of the well-known archaeological organizations in China, collaborating with many researchers and enjoying a certain reputation in the field. If the foundation initiated a blacklist, then it would be very difficult for her to get into a well-known archaeological institution.

Her chest heaved with anger, and behind her came an even colder, harsher voice.

All that could be heard was Cheng Yuan saying, "The History Dust Foundation? What is that! And who are you!"

Guan Yan, this archaeological genius, has long been reserved by the Qilin Group. In the future, the Qilin Group will form its own archaeological team, which is a potential competitor to these so-called foundations. There is no need to give them any special treatment.

The bald team leader's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot, his blood boiling from being rebuked by those words: "Kid, are you tired of living? You think you're something special just because you can eliminate a few reborn monsters? If it really comes down to it, you bunch of students won't stand a chance!"

Cheng Yuan chuckled, his tone laced with sarcasm: "You are remarkable, at least more remarkable than some people who only know how to brag and only ask for help when they need it. If you're so good, then you do it, stop bragging."

A fierce glint flashed in the bald team leader's eyes: "A bunch of ignorant fools! This is a ruin, not a place for two teams to interfere. Believe me or not, I'll 'invite' you out right now!"

Chapter 182 Too quick to back down? Professional Beast Tamer!

The two groups of people and Digimon immediately pressed forward again, their auras clashing, neither willing to yield, making the atmosphere even more dangerous than before.

The four people from the foundation looked at each other strangely; they hadn't expected these students to be so stubborn and unyielding.

Based on the information from the Koga Beast, the bald man knew that these young people were capable of completely eliminating those troublesome spirit creatures.

He thought he could use the assessment of Old Deng's identity and the foundation's status to intimidate them and get them to clear obstacles for him, but he was met with a cold shoulder.

Are they a bunch of hotheads?

Or is it that a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger?

Are these really a group of students?

A group of talented students with mature partners and high aspirations certainly have the right to be assertive.

The bald team leader suddenly chuckled, the sound particularly abrupt in the tense corridor, almost making Cheng Yuan think he had been insulted to the point of madness.

All that could be heard was the bald leader's sinister voice: "Hmph, sharp tongue. You've just been through a series of battles, your Digimon are all injured, your energy is greatly depleted, and you're in extremely poor condition. Do you really intend to fight us head-on in this state?"

He sneered and took a few steps back. Behind him, Seadramon, Venomosaurusmon, Wizardmon, Dynamon, and Kogamon all stepped forward at the same time, their powerful aura mixed with killing intent rushing towards him!

"Give it a try?" Cheng Yuan showed no fear, and even had a faint smile on his lips.

With a wave of his hand, a flower-shaped object radiating pure, warm light, with layers of petals and containing immense sacred energy was sent into the arc light machine!

Flower of Light!

During the rest and recuperation period before embarking on his "Road to Success" journey, Cheng Yuan had already used the system and a massive amount of wealth points to cultivate the "Seed of Light" he had previously obtained into a fully-fledged "Flower of Light" through sheer spending money!

It consumed nearly two million wealth points!

Om-!

Centered on Cheng Yuan, a soft, warm golden field instantly expanded, enveloping everyone and all the Digimon at Shanghai University!

The Realm of Light!

Under this warm and sacred light, the wounds on the bodies of the Wind Lion Beast, Grizzly Bear Beast, and Mighty Angora Beast, these "jungle cavalrymen," began to heal at a visible speed. Their fatigue vanished, their energy was rapidly restored, and their condition instantly improved by a large margin!

Among them, the one that receives the most significant boost is undoubtedly the Holy and Light type Gatomon from the vaccine!

It seemed to have returned to its home ground, surrounded by holy light that flowed like liquid metal, its aura rising steadily, its eyes sharp as lightning. Not only did it quickly recover from its previous exhaustion, but its aura was even stronger than at its peak!

What the foundation was most concerned about was the Arc Light Machine in Cheng Yuan's hand, which was emitting a holy light!

The bald leader's expression froze abruptly, his forward steps halted abruptly, and he exclaimed, "Arc...Arc Light Machine?! You're a professional beast tamer?!"

Arc light machines, as a strategic resource, have always been prioritized for allocation to formal professional animal trainers!

The significance and challenges of being a professional animal trainer far exceed those of being a group of gifted students!

A fight with a professional animal trainer could have dire consequences if not handled properly!

Moreover, their hidden purposes for this trip could easily be exposed if they were spotted and reported by professional animal trainers!

Cheng Yuan did not answer; his clear, cold voice, like an ice bead falling to the ground, clearly reached everyone's ears: "Prepare for war, defend against the enemy."

"A...a professional beast tamer?!" The group from Shanghai University were both surprised and delighted, as if they had instantly found their greatest source of support!

Although he already knew Cheng Yuan was incredibly strong, he never expected him to be a formal class trainer! Zhao Gang immediately shouted in unison, "Form ranks!"

The jungle cavalry immediately let out an exhilarating roar. With their injuries and energy partially restored, they were in high spirits and instantly assumed their strongest charge stance!

Besides Guan Yan, the animal trainers from Shanghai University also felt the blessing their partners received in the realm of light, which greatly boosted their confidence.

Baronmon is a Virus type, which was suppressed, but it is an Academic type Digimon and not a major fighting force. Instead, it is an object to be protected and does not need to take action at all.

But in order to get into position, it also roared along with the virus-type running beast.

The bald team leader's cold expression instantly turned extremely serious, and he cursed inwardly.

Seriously injured? In extremely poor condition?

Within this bizarre golden realm, these Digimon were all full of energy, their foreheads glowing, as if two large golden characters were written on their bodies: Endurance! Stacking Buffs!

The atmosphere was extremely tense, with energy colliding and hissing, and it seemed that a full-scale battle was about to break out at any moment!

"Damn it... Where did this professional beast tamer come from in the Beast Tamer Association? So young?!" The bald team leader's mind raced as he quickly weighed the pros and cons.

If a fight breaks out and they fail to completely silence anyone, allowing any one of them to escape back to reality, they will face severe repercussions from the Beast Tamer Association!

If we follow the clues, many things behind them may be exposed!

At this critical moment, the fierceness and coldness on the bald leader's face melted away like ice and snow, and he suddenly smiled. Although the smile was a little stiff, his tone softened by eight degrees: "Haha, misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding! Everyone, don't be too nervous. We are all beast tamers from Dongguo. We're all family, so let's not fight among ourselves."

This sudden change of attitude stunned both teams, and one almost strained their back.

"We were in the wrong today, and we were abrupt." The bald leader clasped his hands in a fist and palm salute, his tone even carrying a hint of "sincerity." "Let's continue our individual explorations, and leave each other alone. Farewell. I wish all of you students... and this professional animal trainer a successful exploration."

He thought and thought, and then, realizing he had nothing more to say, he turned and left without hesitation.

Although the other four looked unwilling, they could only hurry to follow. The four of them, along with their Digimon, quickly disappeared into the depths of the dark passage, as if they had never existed.

"Hey! You guys..." Li Yunjin wanted to say something, but Zhao Gang stopped him.

"Let them go." Zhao Gang's face remained grim as he stared in the direction they had disappeared. "Their strength is considerable. Even if we win a real conflict, we will suffer heavy losses. Besides... they give me a strange feeling; they don't seem like ordinary archaeologists or foundation members."

That well-trained indifference, the subtle hostility, and the abrupt retreat at the end all exuded an eeriness.

Cheng Yuan remained silent until the Soundbird Beast confirmed that the other party was indeed far away. Only then did he walk to the ancient female archer soul and manipulate the Dark Warrior soul to completely absorb its soul power.

He didn't want outsiders of unknown origin to know his secret of being able to absorb ancient souls.

Having absorbed the ancient soul energy of this powerful female archer, the seventh blood-red eye of the Dark Warrior's Soul was fully lit, further enhancing the Dark Beast's power.

As the group continued onward, whenever they encountered a fork in the road or had to deal with an ancient spirit, they would instinctively ask Cheng Yuan for his opinion.

Although Zhao Gang remains the nominal commander-in-chief, Cheng Yuan has unknowingly become the true core and strongest guarantee of this team.

After all, the heavy responsibilities of detection, offensive operations, and most importantly, dealing with ancient souls almost all rested on his shoulders.

More importantly, he is a professional animal trainer, a professional animal trainer who is even younger than Ji Yueheng!

No wonder he was able to crawl back from the underworld!

Along the way, Cheng Yuan cleared out two more waves of ancient souls, which he accepted without hesitation.

The group then took the opportunity to rest and recover under the blessing of the realm of light.

As Cheng Yuan absorbed more and more ancient souls, he discovered that after the seven blood eyes lit up, the number of Soundbird Beasts no longer increased, but the data of the existing seven Soundbird Beasts was steadily increasing, just like a Rookie Digimon accumulating experience and becoming stronger.

He even began to wonder if these vocal birds could evolve to maturity, but then he thought that it might require a massive amount of ancient soul energy, and realized that the task was far from over.

He had a sudden inspiration and tried to use the system to directly add points to the soundbird beast, but found that it didn't work.

System notification: [The target, the Soundbird Beast Armor Spirit, is not directly bound to the host and cannot be enhanced in terms of attributes.]

Cheng Yuan understood that he was controlling the Soundbird Beast through the Dark Warrior's Soul, but the Warrior's Soul itself was not deeply bound to him.

In other words, whoever possesses the Dark Warrior's Soul can use it to transform into the Dark Beast and control these Soundbird Beasts.

The true form that the Soundbird Beast is bound to is the Dark Beast.

"Wait a minute, what if I evolve into a Dark Beast and then use the system's skill points? Would the Soundbird Beast in Dark Beast form be considered directly bound?"

Chapter 183 Damaging Cultural Relics? A Life in Jail!

The idea excited him, but the current environment was fraught with danger, making it clearly unsuitable to attempt to evolve the Dark Beast.

Cheng Yuan had no choice but to suppress the thought for the time being and focus his attention back on the ancient weapon components in front of him.

As they continued their advance, they made a discovery in a relatively intact side chamber.

Inside were some ancient artifacts that looked like components of precision instruments and weapons.

Baron and Guan Yan were immediately drawn to the sight and went forward to examine it closely.

A moment later, Guan Yan excitedly looked up and said to Cheng Yuan and Zhao Gang, "Cheng Yuan, Zhao Gang! We've made a new discovery about the Baron Beast!"

Pointing to the complex metal components and energy conduits inside, she said excitedly, "This could very well be the armory or repair workshop of this ancient outpost! According to Baron's analysis, these components are part of the structure of some kind of large ancient defensive artillery weapon!"

Although it was mostly damaged and its energy core was lost, its design and energy transfer technology were incredibly advanced! Baronmon said, "There's... there's a possibility of replicating or even reverse engineering it!"

Guan Yan's words were like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirring up ripples.

This is of immense significance! The extent to which ancient digital civilization had developed remains a mystery.

Every discovery of ancient ruins has the potential to lead to a technological leap.

As Digimon level increases, the effectiveness of weapons in the real world decreases. Humans have long since begun developing fusion weapons that combine real-world technology with digital energy, but progress has been slow due to a lack of theoretical foundation and key technologies, and no breakthroughs have been achieved.

If we could truly recreate ancient city defense weapons, even if it were just a matter of reverse engineering some of the energy conduction technology and weapon design concepts, their strategic value would be immeasurable for human outposts that now need to constantly fight against invasions from the Dark Zone and the threat of powerful wild Digimon!

This could even determine the survival of a city!

However, after the initial excitement, a practical problem arose. These ancient digital weapons had enormous and numerous parts, making it impossible for them to move them by hand.

"We can only try to take photos first, to record the structural diagrams and energy circuit details." Guan Yan stroked the cold metal components with regret, then took out a spare camera and scanner to start working.

Baronmon, with its unique digital scholar's perspective, meticulously recorded every detail, its eyes flashing with data streams.