Beastmaster King

"Fine, fine, as long as you're happy."

Regarding Manager Ying's request, Lu Ran didn't know what to say. But with this settled, aside from #18, Six-Path Flower, and Captain Doofus, all of his familiars' trait slots were finally complete. Dark Crow already had six. If Baby Cloud and Sudden Death King absorbed the Attribute Fusion and Bloodline Dominance traits, they'd also reach six.

"I agree. While you're at it, help me find a Treasure-grade resource to awaken the Space attribute for #18," Lu Ran said.

#18 had just fused with the Mechanical Heart trait and wasn't combat-oriented. Lu Ran also did not plan to train it for battle. However, as a Mechanical familiar, having its spatial backpack filled with pre-made bombs wasn't too much to ask, right? Lu Ran intended for #18 to integrate a Space attribute and possess its own mechanical storage space.

Manager Ying nodded. "Got it. You've just contracted the Mechanical familiar, so there's no rush to train it. As for Six-Path Flower, ordinary traits won't enhance it. It's better to leave slots empty than fill them with subpar traits, as they could hinder its second-stage evolution. If it doesn't reach Intermediate Legendary after evolving, it'd be a loss. So, no hurry there either. That leaves Captain Doofus as the only one among your familiars still lacking traits, right?"

"Yup. Captain Doofus has only fused four traits so far. They are Weapon Control, Nature Manipulation, Absolute Comprehension, and the Space attribute. It's missing two. But the recent Legendary secret realm dropped a decent trait I plan to give it, leaving just one slot left. Don't bother looking for the last one. I plan to fuse a very common trait, something anyone can obtain."

"Huh?" Manager Ying was stunned.

This doesn't sound like him at all.

With this, among Captain Doofus' fused traits, only Absolute Comprehension was somewhat rare.

"What trait is it?"

Lu Ran explained, "Before contracting Six-Path Flower, I intended to fuse the Lucky Clover trait with the swordgrass. But it turns out kin can't with fuse traits. Back then, my plan was to equip the swordgrass with the Lucky attribute and then fuse it with the Critical Trait to make Captain Doofus' slashes even more violent, pursuing the limits of damage. Now, I plan to directly fuse the Critical Trait with Captain Doofus!"

"I see." Manager Ying immediately understood Lu Ran's reasoning.

It wasn't that Lu Ran wanted Captain Doofus to rely on Six-Path Flower's luck-boosting effect to gamble on critical hits. Rather, some time ago, a top-tier academic researcher specializing in trait analysis had deciphered the core mechanics of the Critical Trait.

The essence of the Critical Trait was to give the fused familiar a small chance to enter an incredibly profound epiphany state. In this state, the familiar would momentarily gain insights into its skills that far surpassed its current level. The power of skills released in this state would be incomparable to normal circumstances.

A critical hit was essentially a perfect strike, an enhanced attack achieved through a deep understanding of one's abilities. Many had fused this trait, but most beastmasters treated it as a gamble.

Of course, this was also because 99.9999% of familiars would immediately forget all their epiphanies after landing a critical hit. If not for that researcher's in-depth study, most would still be using the Critical Trait as a gamble.

"For normal familiars, entering the perfect strike state is just that. Aside from occasionally landing a powerful hit, it doesn't have much lasting significance. However, Captain Doofus has fused the Absolute Comprehension trait and consumed so many Treasure-grade Soul Cleansing Fruits to continuously enhance its comprehension. Paired with the Critical Trait, it could trigger a chain reaction, not only making it easier to enter the critical state but also potentially retaining memories of that state, leading to rapid skill advancement."

"Exactly! What do you think of this setup?" Lu Ran asked.

Manager Ying nodded. "It does make sense."

Although Captain Doofus' fused traits would be common, who said common traits couldn't combine into something powerful?

Thinking of that goofy dog, Manager Ying added, "I'll handle this one for you too, so you don't have to grind for it yourself."

"Thanks." Lu Ran smiled.

***

After discussing with Manager Ying, Lu Ran checked the time. The nearest second-stage Evolution secret realm would open in two days, while the one after that was in 16 days.

Like the first-stage Evolution secret realms, the second-stage ones initially appeared in limited numbers but gradually increased. Now, there were five second-stage Evolution secret realms.

The cooldown for each second-stage Evolution secret realm depended on the energy consumed by the evolving familiars, ranging from three months to half a year. This gave many first-generation beastmasters hope. As long as they were patient, they might still get a chance to enjoy Limitless City's second-stage evolution blessing.

"Good thing I've already jumped out of that race, directly asking a Legendary lifeform to assist with evolution. Otherwise, I'd have to compete with other beastmasters for the secret realm slots..."

Lu Ran wasn't afraid of losing the competition, but worried he might accidentally monopolize all the blessing opportunities.

"Still, not all of my familiars have access to Legendary blessings. For those like Captain Doofus and Baby Cloud, who haven't found suitable opportunities yet, I'll have to take them to the second-stage Evolution secret realm when the time comes."

Dr. Gu planned to evolve her familiar in the secret realm opening in two days. Lu Ran didn't intend to compete with her, so he set his sights on the one in 16 days.

Right now, Lu Ran could only hope that Dr. Gu would seize the sole blessing opportunity. He felt she had a real shot. After all, the dragon treasure the black dragon had once sought was now in Dr. Gu's possession. The Dragon Pearl was said to have the potential to help dragonkin touch the quasi-Legendary realm.

Although the pearl had been split into four fragments, diminishing its power, it was still formidable. Combined with the Dragon Soul cultivation method and top-tier Dragon Cuisine, Lu Ran believed that the secret realm blessing would go to Dr. Gu. Considering the Azure Sea Dragon's initially low base rank, reaching quasi-Legendary might be a stretch, but Superior Overlord shouldn't be a problem.

"We'll see."

Lu Ran had already discussed with Shi Zhen that after Dr. Gu evolved her familiar, the three of them would challenge the Road to Kingship together.

Although Dr. Gu and Shi Zhen were first-generation beastmasters from Xia, they hadn't yet challenged the Road to Kingship preliminaries, as they still lagged behind the top ten on Blue Planet. Clearing this preliminary stage would broadcast across the entire Limitless City. The trio planned to clear it together, apply for the arena master challenge simultaneously, and give Blue Planet a little Xia-style shock.

While waiting for Dr. Gu, Lu Ran entered the ruin space. Under a tree, Captain Doofus sat cross-legged with a mechanical lightsaber resting on its lap as it meditated. The Starlight Sword had an ability. When carried, it temporarily granted the user the Light attribute and top-tier light control.

Here, Captain Doofus' comprehension advantage shone. While familiarizing itself with the lightsaber, it astonishingly realized it might be able to awaken the Light attribute without any additional resources. In fact, Captain Doofus was close to succeeding. Flickers of the Light attribute were already manifesting. It was on the verge of awakening.

Not far away, the sword spirit and swordgrass were locked in fierce combat. Influenced by Captain Doofus, these two kin also loved to fight. However, currently, the swordgrass was chasing the sword spirit.

[Species: Bloodthirsty Swordgrass]

[Attribute: Grass, Metal]

[Species Rank: Low Overlord]

[Level: 55]

[Main Skills: Grass-Wood Sword Intent, Sharp Metal Sword Intent]

[Species Talent: Bloodthirst (A growth-type talent. Can accelerate growth, strengthen itself, and heal injuries by absorbing animal blood.)]

After consuming a dish Lu Ran cooked using Epic-grade Metal-attribute divine blood, the Longleaf Swordgrass had leaped to Overlord, evolving into the Bloodthirsty Swordgrass.

In contrast, the Winter Sword Spirit, which hadn't received any resource boosts yet, was in a sorry state.

[Species: Winter Sword Spirit]

[Attribute: Undead, Ice, Space]

[Species Rank: Intermediate King]

[Level: 50]

[Main Skills: Soul-Slashing Sword Intent, Blizzard Sword Intent, Void-Splitting Sword Intent, Blizzard Sword Domain]

For now, Corpse Dog remained at Intermediate King rank, forced to flee from the Low-Overlord swordgrass. But it wasn't entirely defenseless. Thanks to its Space attribute, Corpse Dog had mastered its domain earlier than the swordgrass. However, spatial barriers weren't something the swordgrass couldn't slash through.

As the two kins battled around Captain Doofus, the dog remained serene, mind clear of distractions, and cultivation undisturbed.

"With the Bloodthirst talent, the swordgrass can slowly evolve by absorbing blood. As for Corpse Dog... Well, I've already forged an Epic-grade whip, but forging with the Wind Dog God's remains still carries some risk. I'll wait a bit longer. Once it possesses the bone sword and evolves, it should surpass the swordgrass."

Meanwhile, Sudden Death King was busy eating meteorites. Lu Ran had brought back not only Legendary and Epic resources from the Stellar Moon Republic but also a large quantity of Low-grade resources. Most of these were meteorites collected during the republic's space explorations.

Lu Ran had purchased and requisitioned a batch specifically for Sudden Death King, who had fused the Star Stone trait. As Sudden Death King was worried about the risks of fusing the Dragon God's blood later, it had been devouring meteorites to remodel its physique, striving to become even tougher.

While it worked hard, #18 was also in research mode. It was designing blueprints for the Mechanical Shield Star Spirit to create a powerful kin for Sudden Death King. Although Lu Ran urged it to balance work and rest, #18 simply loved research. There was nothing he could do.

As for who was the most relaxed? Without a doubt, it was Baby Cloud. It was sprawled in the sky, fast asleep, completely carefree. Between being researched and serving as transportation, it had been exhausted lately.

Six-Path Flower was also tired, but as a mature elder compared to Baby Cloud, its mental fortitude was on another level. Despite bearing the heaviest load in the ascension realm, it still had enough energy to study Dark Crow's Word Spirit attribute upon returning.

"What's your understanding of the Word Spirit attribute?" Six-Path Flower asked Dark Crow.

"I have Word Spirit, and my king has Flame Spirit. I am the king, and the king is me.Hehe, hehehe..." Dark Crow covered its beak with a wing.

The fuck? Did you awaken the Word Spirit attribute just because it sounds like Lu Ran's Flame Spirit beastmaster skill?

Six-Path Flower was weirded out.

As Lu Ran approached, Six-Path Flower said, "You're finally here. Control this thing. Make it shut up."

"What did it do?" Lu Ran glanced at Dark Crow, which was missing a few feathers and had a slightly swollen face.

"Didn't it awaken that Prophecy Realization talent?"

"Yes." Lu Ran nodded.

"I tested it earlier. This trait is bizarre. Don't let it spout nonsense."

"Why? What happened...?" Lu Ran was puzzled.

"I told it to say, 'That fruit tree over there should yield more.' Guess what happened."

Lu Ran looked at the fruit tree Six-Path Flower had planted. The ground beneath it was littered with dozens of fruits, far exceeding its normal yield.

"It actually came true?"

"It did, but right after the high yield, the tree became covered in black spots and withered. I had to put in a lot of effort to revive it. It also has the Foresight ability, right?"

"Yes."

"Earlier, I planned to take it to a hospital to resurrect someone who'd just died in a car accident using the Prophecy Realization trait. Before that, I had it use Foresight to predict the consequences. Guess what it saw."

"What?"

"The resurrected person came back as a bloated, grotesque zombie monster—a mass of rotting flesh with no human form left."

"Holy shit..."

"Given its level, its vision about ordinary deaths shouldn't be wrong. So, I didn't let it go through with it. Now you understand. This Prophecy Realization ability is truly bizarre. It will fulfill the prophecy, but in the most twisted way possible. Earlier, it hid in a corner and wished, 'I'll eventually become the strongest general in the team, punching Captain Doofus and kicking Six-Path Flower.' I overheard it. Even if it's just a probability, I don't want to be tainted by some inexplicable filth."

Lu Ran understood why Dark Crow had been beaten. Despite its evolved attribute seeming somewhat normal, Dark Crow had still absorbed a significant amount of Evil God power. This meant its Word Spirit still carried a hint of the Evil Gods' nature.

"Don't speak carelessly without my permission, at least until you've fully mastered this talent," Lu Ran told Dark Crow.

This fella kept calling him king, and Lu Ran was starting to worry. While becoming a king through legitimate means was fine, if it happened through some twisted, bizarre method, even Lu Ran would shudder.

Dark Crow wiped its tears. When it awakened the Word Spirit attribute, Lu Ran had been so happy. Now, he wouldn't even let it speak.

All men do is lie...

"Alright, let's focus on serious matters." Lu Ran didn't want to dwell on this.

As long as Dark Crow was careful, it'd be fine. With that, he took out an insect egg. Seeing it, Dark Crow licked its beak and asked, "My King, another snack for me?"

"The fuck? Get it together. I'm planning to have you construct a Time-attribute domain so the Time Worm Egg can absorb energy from it and hatch!"

"Oh..." Dark Crow looked disappointed.

"Six-Path Flower, how about letting the Time Butterfly become your kin?" Lu Ran asked.

"No." Six-Path Flower turned away, exactly as Lu Ran had expected.

Lu Ran sighed.

Fine, I'll just toss it into the Beastmaster Empire and see if the Divine Deer's fawn needs a playmate.