Beastmaster King

As the system voice echoed through the King's Domain and appeared on all arena screens, the countdown began.

Then, Almi began summoning his familiars. Black cards whirled around him as three massive summoning arrays emerged before him.

Many still believed Lu Ran had a good chance. Even if he was a lower level, Lu Ran's past feats had already proved he had the power to challenge above his level. Almi had only recently advanced to level 6. There's no reason why Lu Ran couldn't surpass him. However, when Almi's familiars appeared, the entire world fell silent.

On the floating island of the King's Domain, even Beastmaster Kings like Oub, Jakov, and Lin Nian revealed expressions of shock.

[Species: Psychic Peacock]

[Attribute: Spirit, Space]

[Species Rank: Intermediate Overlord]

[Level: 62]

***

[Species: Phantom Goose]

[Attribute: Spirit, Space]

[Species Rank: Intermediate Overlord]

[Level: 62]

These were Almi's two main familiars. They were undeniably powerful. But the crowd's real astonishment came from the third summon. It was a familiar Almi had never shown before.

As the peacock and goose emerged from the left and right summoning arrays, the middle one unveiled a towering, humanoid golden elephant king.

[Species: Golden Elephant King]

[Attribute: Metal]

[Species Rank: Superior Overlord}

[Level: 70]

Zhen Dai of Japan gasped. "Holy mother of god! A level 70 Superior Overlord! How did he pull that off?"

"This elephant..." Oub narrowed his eyes.

Uproar followed, inside and outside the battlefield.

"Isn't that the ancient overlord that once rampaged through India?"

"He actually contracted the one he hypnotized into leaving the city?"

"You've got to be kidding... Contracting a level 70 ancient overlord? Isn't that suicide...? Wait, actually, maybe not. Almi's power is psychic domination."

Even the Beastmaster Kings and spectators were floored. No one had expected Almi to be hiding such a trump card. This might be the highest-level contracted familiar on all of Blue Planet!

"Damn." Even those with utmost faith in Lu Ran, like Pig God, paused in disbelief.

Only Gu Qingyi and Shi Zhen remained calm.

"This Golden Elephant King is my newly contracted trump card. Its base species is already Superior Overlord, and its level is an incredible 70. Unfortunately, I haven't had time to cultivate it. It's only fused with two traits so far. But that's more than enough for battle," Almi said with a smile.

His calm smile sent chills down every onlooker's spine.

A level 70 base-Superior Overlord... and it has only fused two traits so far? What if it fused all six and underwent double evolution? Would it reach quasi-Legendary... or even Legendary?

Even now, with just two traits, this beast that was backed by Almi's psychic abilities and two Superior-Overlord familiars was already terrifying. It was enough to rival Xia's Black Dragon King of the past.

Back then, Xia couldn't even handle the Black Dragon King without outside help. No one expected the world's strongest psychic to have made it this far in secret. Did the other Beastmaster Kings also hide such trump cards?

"Is this your trump card?" Lu Ran asked with a relaxed smile, showing no sign of fear despite the terrifying lineup.

"I see you're still pretending to be calm... Summon your familiars," Almi said coldly as the countdown neared zero.

At the same time, he ordered the Golden Elephant King into a combat stance. The beast, now humanoid in form, roared. Suddenly, it sprouted two more heads and four additional arms. Its aura surged as it entered its three-headed, six-armed form. This was likely the second trait Almi had fused into it, meant to be used alongside the first, humanoid form.

The transformed elephant king radiated terrifying power, glowing gold, like a divine being from ancient India. Countless Indian beastmasters watching were in awe.

However, even facing such a foe, Lu Ran felt no pressure. In fact, he felt like he didn't even need Six-Path Flower. He didn't even need Dark Crow. Just one familiar was enough.

Baby Cloud.

Yes. Baby Cloud alone could handle them.

As the countdown reached zero, the world held its breath. Lu Ran raised his arm, and in his hand appeared a mechanical pistol. It was a Treasure item, the Calamity Pistol.

"Huh?"

Everyone stared in confusion. Even Almi's expression shifted. He vaguely recalled hearing rumors. It was something about Lu Ran entering the Mechanical Era and developing a method for merging elemental lifeforms with mechanical evolution. A Mechanical-Elemental Superior Overlord.

According to available data, this Calamity Pistol grew more destructive the longer it charged. If given enough time, it could even threaten the Golden Elephant King.

Somewhat dangerous... but manageable.

Almi wouldn't give Lu Ran that time. His eyes turned gold as he launched a psychic attack to hypnotize Lu Ran directly, but Lu Ran didn't react at all. Nor did Baby Cloud, who floated in vortex-cloud form. It simply merged into the pistol in Lu Ran's hand.

[Species: Calamity Pistol]

[Attribute: Mechanical (Water, Ice, Lightning, Wind)]

[Species Rank: Superior Overlord]

[Level: 60]

No one could understand why Lu Ran had summoned only one familiar, nor why he didn't resist the strongest psychic on the planet.

Also, where are his other two familiars?

"Don't tell me he's going 1v3...?" a Beastmaster King muttered, eyes twitching in disbelief.

Then, everything changed. Almi, having invaded Lu Ran's mind, suddenly felt like he had entered the consciousness of a Legendary Fire-attribute divine beast.

Within moments, he caught fire. He was screaming in agony, his whole body combusting as though being covered in oil.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A chilling, inexplicable scream left everyone in shock. They had no idea what had just happened to Almi while he was hypnotizing Lu Ran.

"Idiot. He really dared to mentally invade someone who's fused with a Legendary Flame," Lu Ran muttered, shaking his head.

Of course, I'm not defending. I've got defenses baked in.

Not only did the Flame Spirit guard his mental and spiritual core, but being contracted to a Legendary being made him nearly immune to hypnosis. Even so, Almi, the strongest psychic, managed to recover quickly. However, he was drenched in sweat.

"Don't let him charge! Attack!" He gasped, trembling.

Despite the trauma, Almi reacted quickly, ordering his familiars to strike. Truth be told, Almi had done everything right, from intel, tactics, to reactions. Under normal conditions, Baby Cloud couldn't win a 1v3 without charging.

"Who told you the Calamity Pistol still needs charging time? And in this era, you're still playing three-headed six-armed gods? Times have changed!" Lu Ran burst out laughing, raising his pistol.

Baby Cloud's Elemental Accumulation did require time, but he had a Time Acceleration Talent. As long as he could burn stamina, one second became a day. It was a god-tier combo if the user had a body strong enough to endure it. Anyone else, even Lu Ran before fusing with Legendary Flame, would've been drained dry.

In an instant, Lu Ran maxed out Time Acceleration. In just one second, he lost more than half his stamina. But in return, the Calamity Pistol was fully charged.

As Lu Ran faced the three fearsome opponents, he grinned and fired. From the pistol's barrel came a massive ice-blue beam, far wider than the weapon itself. It surged forward, roaring with elemental power. It engulfed Almi and all three of his familiars in one devastating shot.

As the ice beam hit, the entire arena fell silent. When the frost dispersed, all four of Lu Ran's opponents—Almi, the Golden Elephant King, and the other two familiars—stood frozen along an ice-covered highway, turned into perfect ice sculptures. Their expressions, frozen in time, still held confusion and panic.

Oub and the others stared with their mouths hanging open. Even Shi Zhen was stunned. He had expected Lu Ran to use Dark Crow and shock Limitless City with a quasi-Legendary. But instead...

"Damn... That pistol looks scarier than the crow," Shi Zhen murmured, pupils shrinking.

No one could believe that this was the result.

None of the Limitless Cities around the world made a sound. Only Lu Ran stood there, blowing on the muzzle of the Calamity Pistol. But in the next second, his smile twitched. The Treasure–grade Calamity Pistol had apparently reached its limit, and cracks spidered across its frame.

Baby Cloud popped out of the weapon's barrel, looking dazedly at Lu Ran with clear disapproval.

You overdid it again.

"Whatever. It's just a gun. I can always make more of this level of equipment." Lu Ran stretched lazily and stepped down from the arena.

At that moment, the Limitless City broadcast rang out.

[Winner: Pedestrian A.]

[Blue Planet World War roster updated.]

[Battle concluded.]

***

Silence. A still, deathly silence.

Lu Ran might have seen his victory as a matter of technique, but to everyone else, it was unfathomable. Beneath the arena platform, numerous Beastmaster Kings and Road to Kingship qualifiers stared at him in disbelief.

"He's... too strong," Lin Nian muttered.

Does my sister seriously think that that fox of hers can allow her to surpass this freak?

To be honest, even Lin Nian herself now felt an inexplicable fear when facing Lu Ran.

"Time affinity..." The Snow King took a deep breath.

He recalled that Lu Ran had once cleared a Time secret realm. Indeed, the Time attribute was the strongest attribute. And that strongest attribute, merged with the Mechanical attribute, was the perfect psychic killer.

"That cloud of yours isn't even quasi-Legendary?" Oub finally couldn't resist asking as Lu Ran walked past.

This guy... has fused elements and technology to such an incredible degree.

Lu Ran heard him and, for once, replied. "Quasi-Legendary isn't that easy to reach. Even if you max out all six traits, evolve twice, and get Limitless City's blessings for Almi's elephant, it still might not make it."

Although Dark Crow had a low base species, its traits were cherry-picked, its resources were top-tier, and it had the help of an Intermediate-Legendary Abyss God to merge its elements. Even then, it only barely reached quasi-Legendary.

You couldn't make the leap from Superior Overlord to quasi-Legendary by just stacking traits. Quantity didn't create quality. No matter how many trash abilities you stacked, if they didn't synergize, you'd never cross that line.

Everyone fell silent.

At that moment, Oub was forced to admit that Lu Ran's mechanical skill had surpassed his own. Lu Ran had gotten first place in the invention competition, so he had surely reaped great rewards.

Damn it.

Oub looked at the platform, then at Lu Ran, and said, "Lu Ran, you remember our bet, don't you?"

He wanted to revise the wager.

"I can't recall. I'm in the Mechanical Era now. You might not even match me anymore. I'm not playing with you."

"You... You can't be serious!" Oub fumed.

Lu Ran smiled and said, "Yup. And what can you do about it? But if you want to change the stakes, maybe I'll consider it."

"That's exactly what I mean. The old bet's no longer relevant," Oub admitted.

"Alright. If I win, make me the President of Eagle Federation. I'll lead your citizens to become the strongest. No one understands the Mechanical attribute better than I do."

Oub's hands trembled.

Damn, this guy is a freak.

After the King's Battle, India's entire internet went dead silent. Not a single soul dared to make a peep. Lu Ran's elemental and mechanical evolution route, paired with his Time Acceleration beastmaster technique, struck terror into all Beastmaster Kings.

After returning to his country, Oub immediately began researching Anti-Time and Anti-Psychic Domains. Clearly, he feared this combo greatly.

That same day, after Lu Ran's total annihilation of the world's strongest psychic, the title "God Lu Ran" was acknowledged across the entire beastmaster world. He had shattered all doubt. Even the strongest Beastmaster Kings of Blue Planet couldn't stop his advance.

"He's too strong... but this is good. The stronger our World War team is, the better our chances. I heard the Stellar Moon Federation already has a Legendary beastmaster aiming to reach level 8. We need a cheat-level monster like Lu Ran!"

"Exactly. Honestly, I thought Almi would win. But now... do you think Almi will challenge someone else's World War spot next? He's still strong. If he beats someone else, it'll just prove how far everyone is from Lu Ran..."

That same night in India, Almi had recovered from his injuries using Limitless City's healing facilities. But while his physical wounds had healed, his mental trauma was far from gone. Even after leaving Limitless City, Almi still looked dazed. He didn't understand how, after doing so much, he had still lost. And not just lost, he was crushed.

"Monster... Is that kind of attack even something a level 5 beastmaster can unleash? The Mechanical attribute... The Mechanical Era... Is it really that powerful? Is this the pinnacle of human ingenuity, a power that rivals Legendaries?" Almi trembled.

He made a decision to visit the Divine Bull and ask it how to become stronger. To defeat Lu Ran and regain his honor, hehadto raise a quasi-Legendary familiar.

The reason Almi had even convinced the Divine Bull to serve as India's guardian beast was because one of his ancestral psychics had once been friends with the bull in ancient times. Would the bull, for the sake of that relationship, help him again?

What Almi didn't know was that the Divine Bull now had its own problems.

Divine Bull Mountain.

A colossal, jet-black bull was resting. Its metallic skin was rippling like black mercury. Suddenly, the void split open, and a terrifying, blood-red eye emerged, staring down at the bull.

The Divine Bull immediately stood up, eyes serious and wary. "Who's there?"

"I am the king, and I request an audience!"

The Divine Bull snorted and kicked the Evil God's Eye—Dark Crow's Evil Eye—into dust. "King, my ass. You think you have the right to speak to me? You call yourself the king? I didn't even see you in the ancient era! You want to meet me? Get over here yourself, you little punk!"