Beastmaster King

"About ten more days..."

After Limitless City announced the details of the World War, Lu Ran became even more sensitive to time. In just over ten days, the next evolution secret realm would open. It was the only one in the near future.

If he waited for the one after that, it would be another five months. Unless the number of evolution secret realms increased, this could very well be the last one before the World War.

Currently, within Lu Ran's team, Captain Doofus, Sudden Death King, Baby Cloud, and Six-Path Flower had yet to undergo their second-stage evolution. As for #18, it hadn't even completed its first-stage evolution and was more research-oriented, so Lu Ran didn't count it among the main forces for the World War.

Sudden Death King had one last step, which was bloodline fusion. However, it required waiting two months to seek the Divine Turtle's help. Thus, it was certain that Sudden Death King wouldn't be involved in this evolution secret realm. Moreover, with the Divine Turtle's blessing, the blessing from the evolution secret realm wasn't strictly necessary.

As for Six-Path Flower, due to its immense foundation and numerous abilities, its trait requirements were the highest in the team. It was impossible for it to catch this evolution secret realm, either. Therefore, Lu Ran had to make a choice.

Captain Doofus was already prepared for evolution. Its fifth trait was Critical, and its sixth trait was Equivalent Exchange. Even a Legendary resource, Wind God's Heart, was ready. Baby Cloud's sixth trait, Fusion, was also prepared, and it could evolve at any time.

So, who should get this evolution secret realm opportunity?

"With all these preparations, Captain Doofus is guaranteed to reach at least quasi-Legendary after evolution. But based on the blessings observed in second-stage evolution secret realms, they don't even compare to the blessing Six-Path Flower received from the Divine Deer back then. Even if it takes first place, it still wouldn't be enough to directly elevate a Superior Overlord to quasi-Legendary.

"As for Baby Cloud... Although it has a solid foundation, just absorbing the Fusion Trait alone probably won't be enough to reach quasi-Legendary. Even with the secret realm's blessing, it would only further strengthen its elemental powers at best. If Baby Cloud doesn't reach quasi-Legendary, there's no doubt the team will lack a key player in the World War...

"It seems Baby Cloud still needs to continue down the mechanical evolution path. The Mechanical attribute can temporarily unify its elemental powers, and familiars of the Mechanical and Dragon attributes also have the easiest time reaching quasi-Legendary.

"So, the decision is made. In just over ten days, I'll join the second-stage evolution secret realm and let Baby Cloud evolve. Let's see if it can reach quasi-Legendary.

"As for Captain Doofus, there's no rush. It's the least urgent one. With Equivalent Exchange, the more it accumulates before evolution, the stronger its new power will be after sacrificing those abilities.

"Besides, Baby Cloud is a multi-elemental creature, making it hard to find corresponding gods to bless it. It can only rely on the evolution secret realm. However, it's easier for Captain Doofus. At worst, I can try contacting Death Gun's boss, the God of the Abyss, or another Void God to see if they're willing to help."

After making his decision, Lu Ran entered the ruin space again. When he arrived, Captain Doofus was holding an Epic lightsaber in his mouth, testing a new ability.

Through the Absolute Comprehension trait and the Starlight Sword's synergy, Captain Doofus had independently awakened the Light attribute. This was another step to unifying the Legendary wind seed and later sacrificing it as part of Equivalent Exchange.

Captain Doofus clenched the lightsaber in its mouth, and rays of light fell from the sky like a rain of swords.

"Woof!"

Looks like it learned another boring thing.

This ability to transform light into a rain of sword beams for wide-area attacks was the new skill Captain Doofus had recently mastered. Even it thought it was cool.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

While Captain Doofus thought it was cool, the sword spirit and swordgrass disagreed. With Sudden Death King absent, the two of them had become Captain Doofus' test subjects, enduring endless high-speed attacks. After being pinned to the ground by the falling sword beams, they couldn't even get up.

When Captain Doofus saw Lu Ran enter, its eyes lit up with a gleam of intelligence, eager to switch its test subject to the dog demon Lu Ran. With the protection of Legendary flames, Lu Ran would definitely be more resistant.

Lu Ran declined Captain Doofus' kind offer. It was not because he was afraid, but because he had no time to spar.

"Corpse Dog and the swordgrass are still too weak. As they are now, they definitely can't participate in the World War independently. I'm thinking, should I just sacrifice you two as well and convert your power into Captain Doofus' strength?" Lu Ran rubbed his chin, looking at the sword spirit and swordgrass.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

The sword spirit and swordgrass stared at Lu Ran in horror, then pleaded with Captain Doofus. However, Captain Doofus wore a thoughtful expression, looking completely dazed. The sword spirit and swordgrass panicked even more.

Lu Ran chuckled. "Hey, don't look at me like that. It's definitely not about sacrificing your lives or power. I'm not some kind of villain. As sword kins, you're also part of Captain Doofus' strength. Captain Doofus can borrow your power through the kinship contract to strengthen itself.

"I'm wondering if the kinship contract can be part of Equivalent Exchange by using the price of Captain Doofus never being able to borrow your power through the kinship contract again. For example, dissolving the kinship contract with you in exchange for even greater sword power."

The swordgrass and sword spirit hugged each other, feeling like their dad was becoming more and more like a villain.

What happened to the power of bonds?

Lu Ran said with a kind smile, "If you don't want to be sacrificed, then work harder. Dogtail, you've awakened the Bloodthirst talent. From now on, you can raise your level and species rank just by sucking blood. With this talent, reaching Superior Overlord shouldn't be a problem.

"My research into the soul evolution method has hit another bottleneck. I plan to perform soul forging on the Dog God's remains soon to help Corpse Dog undergo Possession Evolution. With that, reaching Superior Overlord shouldn't be an issue for it, either.

"If, by the time Captain Doofus evolves, you two can't defeat three Stellar Moon representative familiars, don't blame me for being ruthless..."

The sword spirit and swordgrass shuddered, hugging each other and crying. Amid their tears, they pointed at the lightsaber in Captain Doofus' mouth, asking when that thing would also become a living kin. The pressure shouldn't fall solely on them, as they were two infants who were barely a few months old.

Speaking of the mechanical lightsaber, Lu Ran headed to another area, where #18's mechanical research lab was undisturbed by Captain Doofus' training.

If anyone could evolve the Starlight Sword into a mechanical lifeform, it was #18. This little one was still researching Sudden Death King's kin shield. Although Lu Ran felt a bit guilty for overworking a "child laborer," there was no better alternative at the moment.

"#18."

"Master, you're here! My research on the Shield Star Spirit is almost done! It won't be long before we can forge it together!" #18 said excitedly.

Lu Ran praised it. "Good job. I came to ask for another favor."

"What?" #18 looked at Lu Ran warily, afraid he'd propose something outrageous again.

"I want you to use the Epic Nature's Wrath and the temporary mechanical armored evolution tool, Calamity Pistol, as blueprints to create an Epic mechanical evolution tool tailored for Baby Cloud."

#18 put its hands on its hips. "That's it? Leave it to me!"

"I want the design to be a floating mechanical castle, perfectly compatible with Baby Cloud's Size-Shifting ability. It should be able to shrink and enlarge, serve as transportation, and fire super bombs like Nature's Wrath."

"Hmm..." #18 nodded.

That is doable.

"Materials-wise..." #18 began.

"I don't have extra materials for you. If you're missing anything, dismantle and rebuild Nature's Wrath. I doubt we'll need it anyway."

#18's lips twitched. "What? I might accidentally blow myself up!"

"Oh,and considering the speed can't be worse than Baby Cloud's Kunpeng transformation, I'll give you the Kunpeng Feather too. Use it as a reference to optimize the floating mechanical castle's speed. It should surpass the Kunpeng transformation, capable of high-speed movement in both water and air. Let's call it the Kunpeng Fortress. I hope you can finish it in ten days."

#18 was baffled. "Huh?"

"Any problems?"

#18 wiped a tear from the corner of its eye. "No problems. I'll go to the Amazon and ask Aunt Six-Path Flower to reopen the Time Hell for me. I'll move the lab into the Mechanical Space and set off immediately..."

"Right! Once you're there, ask Aunt Six-Path Flower to increase the time dilation rate. That's its territory. It gets buffs in its own domain. It also has the Lucky Flower bonus, so you don't have to worry too much about blowing yourself up while dismantling the bomb. Most importantly, Aunt Divine Deer is there too. Ask it to protect you."

#18 left, taking its carefree childhood with it. With the tasks delegated, Lu Ran patted his belly in satisfaction and returned to researching the soul evolution method.

***

A few days later, in India, on Divine Bull Mountain.

Almi had settled here, humbly training under the ancient Divine Bull.

"Divine Bull, how do I unify powers? I want to awaken the Spirit attribute for the Golden Elephant King and merge its Metal attribute into it. That way, it'll synergize better with my psychic abilities."

"If you ask me, then who should I ask? I only know that unifying powers are a way for Overlords to raise their species limits. Even I'm still figuring it out. But I do know that once you achieve attribute unification, you shouldn't lose to that guy again. To be instantly defeated... If the totem your ancestors worshipped were still alive, I'd definitely laugh at it!"

"That's not it. Lu Ran is just too weird. He has terrifying flames and time abilities... I was careless..."

The mere thought of his battle with Lu Ran made Almi's lungs burn with rage. Time acceleration combined with charging was just too cheap a move. If that were all, he could have countered it. No beastmaster could easily buff their familiars in front of him. But the main point was that his hypnosis had no effect on Lu Ran. Instead, he was the one who suffered backlash.

"No excuses. As long as your opponent is still an Overlord, losing is inexcusable," the ancient Divine Bull said calmly.

Almi didn't dare refute. Although there was only one rank between Superior Overlord and quasi-Legendary, he had sparred with the ancient Divine Bull before and was crushed. The pressure he felt then far exceeded that of the Calamity Pistol's shot. It wasn't about energy levels but life hierarchy.

As they conversed, the void suddenly rippled. A massive eye opened in the air, staring at the ancient Divine Bull and Almi.

Upon seeing this eye again, the Divine Bull frowned. However, Almi looked shocked.

That familiar pupil...

"You're that crow from Lu Ran's team?"

He had watched the live broadcast of Xia versus the black dragon. During the stream, he'd seen those eyes guarding Xia's cities, instantly killing sea beasts from the Dragon Palace.

"You know the owner of this eye?" The ancient Divine Bull turned to Almi, who had spoken in surprise.

"Yes. This eye belongs to a familiar of Lu Ran who defeated me. It is the Twin Crows! Why is it here? What do you think you're doing, invading India's sacred land?" Almi's expression quickly turned serious.

Dark Crow hadn't expected its master's defeated foe to be here. But this weakling, who couldn't even beat Baby Cloud, wasn't worth its attention. Last time, it had been careless and got its head kicked off by the ancient Divine Bull. Now, it was here for revenge. However, as a civilized crow, Dark Crow preferred to reason first.

"Rude one, I'll give you a chance. Submit to me." Dark Crow stared at the Divine Bull.

"Huh?" The ancient Divine Bull froze.

Almi was even more stunned and baffled.

Is this crow insane? Lu Ran's familiar came to India's sacred land to demand submission from a level 73 quasi-Legendary creature?

"You're asking for death!"

Before the Divine Bull could react, Almi flew into a rage and glared at the Evil God's Eye, attempting to hypnotize the familiar. However, the moment Almi moved, his expression twisted in horror.

"Halt!"

A voice rang out from the void, and Almi found himself completely immobilized. Even his thoughts froze. He could only stare wide-eyed, passively receiving information from the outside world but unable to process it. Fear, confusion, panic—all of these surged through him as if an invisible hand had clenched around him.

"You dare!"

The ancient Divine Bull still couldn't comprehend why Lu Ran was so audacious. It kicked at the black eye in the void again, but this time, Dark Crow wasn't caught off guard.

"Sever!"

With that single word, blood sprayed through the air. The leg that was kicking out abruptly stopped mid-motion. It was because at the sound of the word, it had been cleanly separated from its body. The Divine Bull's eyes turned blood-red as it stared blankly at its own leg flying through the air before crashing to the ground with a thud.

Although Almi couldn't think, the scene burned into his vision. His breath hitched in disbelief.

Although its body was still flesh and blood, its bones and skin had long since hardened like metal. The Divine Bull hadn't felt pain in ages, and this bizarre injury left it completely bewildered.