Chapter 124 - Contracting Sudden Death King

“

Meow!

So, you’ve entered an ascension realm for secondary professions!”

Manager Ying finally caught on.

What are you doing, Limitless City? You sent such an unparalleled combat powerhouse into a secondary profession realm. What a waste of time and potential!

But logically, entering such an unrelated realm should’ve frustrated Lu Ran. Yet judging by his expression, he seemed thrilled.

“So... you did well?”

“Of course. After training in the realm, there probably aren’t many Beastmaster Chefs in Xia who can rival me now.”

“What?”

Manager Ying was confused. It suspected Lu Ran was joking, but it had no evidence.

“Ah. Let’s discuss later, Manager Ying. Could you transfer us to the depths of Emerald Mountains? I can’t wait to merge the trait crystal with Sudden Death King right now,” Lu Ran said eagerly, picking up the specialized crystal from the table.

“I’ve been anticipating this for a month.”

“Oh, you’re contracting it now?”

Manager Ying hesitated.

While it was reluctant to indulge Lu Ran’s habit of using it for frequent transfers, Lu Ran did just say he’d treat it to fish.

Would outright refusal make me seem petty?

After a brief internal struggle, Manager Ying pouted and performed the transfer, bringing Lu Ran and Sudden Death King to the depths of Emerald Mountains.

“This is the last time.”

Meanwhile, Rain, who had just finished brewing tea, stared at the now-empty seat before her. Holding the tea tray, she fell into contemplation.

Where did they go? The lizard? The cat manager?

...

At the depths of Emerald Mountains. Lu Ran retrieved the contract card awarded by the ascension realm. This contract card had been upgraded twice using 11 upgrade cards. Its quality now matched that of Captain Doofus’ card.

Before merging the specialized trait, Lu Ran first needed to form a contract with Sudden Death King. He glanced at the eager lizard.

“

Rawr!

”

Nearby, Manager Ying yawned, likely tired from late-night gaming sessions. Lu Ran tossed the contract card toward Sudden Death King. As it neared, the lizard was immediately enveloped in the card’s glowing energy and absorbed into it.

Despite Sudden Death King being Level 19, the Advanced contract card and its willingness to form the bond made the process seamless. Soon, the contract stabilized, and the card returned to Lu Ran’s hand upon summoning it.

The moment the contract was formed, Lu Ran’s physique strengthened. Additionally, the mental connection forged by the bond ensured that Lu Ran and Sudden Death King shared both glory and peril.

[Species: Rock Dragon]

[Attribute: Lightning]

[Species Rank: Superior-Transcendent Species]

[Level: 20]

[Skills: Lightning Armor (Energy Formation), Lightning Shield (Energy Formation)]

Compared to Captain Doofus, Sudden Death King’s data was far simpler. Its two skills were both defensive techniques utilizing energy formation. The skill levels were comparable to Captain Doofus’ Gale Wings and Wind Blade, but not particularly Advanced.

This was because Sudden Death King’s talent laid in its physical capabilities rather than its learning potential. Most high-ranking species in the Heavenly Familiar Ranking shared this trait, as highly intelligent familiars were rare.

“Level 20!” Lu Ran exclaimed, delighted.

Before he could feed it the dragonfish, Sudden Death King underwent a growth metamorphosis thanks to the contract feedback. This saved him a lot of effort.

Hmm... the fish feast for Manager Ying can wait. Time to merge the trait!

“This lizard’s meals over the past month were probably even better than Captain Doofus’,” Lu Ran muttered.

No matter how generous he was, his resources couldn’t surpass those of a specialized testing area. Zhao Chen must have invested heavily in Sudden Death King. After all, Captain Doofus was only level 16, still four levels behind. Of course, growth rates could vary between species.

“

Rawr!

”

With the contract complete, Lu Ran immediately summoned Sudden Death King again. Then, he summoned Captain Doofus as well.

“

Woof!

”

Captain Doofus appeared, squinting happily. Seeing Sudden Death King again, it wagged its tail enthusiastically.

“

Waka!

” Sudden Death King greeted Captain Doofus.

“Stop the bonding session, you two. First, we’ll merge the trait. After that, you can spar,” Lu Ran instructed.

Hearing the word spar, Captain Doofus grew excited, while Sudden Death King froze. Though it had grown confident recently, it knew better than to challenge Captain Doofus. It was a relentless, fearless dog unfazed by tenfold compression techniques.

Lu Ran retrieved the Red Lightning Trait Crystal. Now that it could finally be used, he didn’t hesitate. Standing still, he threw the crystal toward Sudden Death King. Like the contract card, the crystal was immediately absorbed upon contact.

When the trait crystal made contact with Sudden Death King’s body, it was immediately surrounded by a red halo of light. In the next moment, the crystal seemed to ripple like a stone hitting the surface of water before quickly merging into its body!

[Defensive talent lizard enhanced by Red Lightning Trait, boosting physique.]

Manager Ying glanced over, intrigued. Suddenly, the three of them, Lu Ran, Captain Doofus, and Manager Ying, could hear Sudden Death King’s thunderous heartbeat.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The trait fusion accelerated its heart rate, startling Sudden Death King. It clutched its chest reflexively.

Perhaps due to the overwhelming aftershock of its racing heart, Sudden Death King’s body began to tremble in sync with the rhythm of its heartbeat. As its body quivered, red lightning arcs gradually started to crackle and spark around it!

“

Rawr!!!

”

Sudden Death King couldn’t hold back a thunderous roar. Finally, accompanied by the most intense vibration yet, a loud “boom” echoed. A massive burst of lightning, like an erupting volcano, exploded outward from Sudden Death King’s body.

Red currents surged and soared, creating an electrifying radiance that stretched several meters high. In an instant, the forest was transformed into a mystical and surreal scene, illuminated by the vivid red lightning.

At that moment, Sudden Death King could clearly sense its lightning energy and physique undergoing massive enhancement. It was both astonished and thrilled. In its mind, it could almost see the image of Captain Doofus swinging his sword.

The intense attribute boost sparked a bold thought in its mind.

Perhaps that strike is not beyond my reach. I must achieve the ultimate defense, a defense so strong that it can ignore all attacks!

With this strong determination, the immense lightning energy erupting from Sudden Death King’s body began to take shape externally.

Similar to the phenomenon of Captain Doofus’s trait fusion when all swords returned to the origin occurred, Sudden Death King also displayed a remarkable energy anomaly.

Manager Ying glanced sideways, while Lu Ran and Captain Doofus watched intently. From Sudden Death King’s body, a lightning aura extended outward for six or seven meters, gradually forming a massive silhouette!

This silhouette was clearly modeled after Sudden Death King itself. It essentially created an infinite matryoshka-like duplication of itself, projecting a colossal version of its own figure.

This massive silhouette was further encased in thick energy armor, resembling a god of thunder and war! Double-layered protection!

The red lightning beast silhouette encased the true form of Sudden Death King, its crimson eyes and black scales standing out starkly. The silhouette perfectly synchronized with every move of Sudden Death King, mirroring its actions.

Although it only had one type of skill, it had developed extraordinary ways to utilize it. When the trait fusion was finally complete, Lu Ran couldn’t resist checking its updated stats!

[Species: Armored Lizard]

[Attribute: Lightning]

[Species Rank: Low-rank Champion Species]

[Level: 20]

[Fused Trait: Red Lightning]

[Species Talent: Absolute Defense (Creatures with this talent possess self-aware energy within their heart, enabling them to more keenly sense external dangers and proactively activate defenses.

[When struck by a fatal blow far beyond their endurance limit, this energy stimulates the body to unleash its full biological potential, locking health at one point.)]

[Skills: Lightning Armor, Lightning Shield]

“Absolute Defense?”

When Lu Ran saw the species talent that Sudden Death King had awakened, he was rendered speechless. He couldn’t decide whether to laugh or to feel impressed.

Good grief. You’re a lightning-type creature, and even your fused trait is lightning-based, but you managed to awaken a defensive talent instead? Truly impressive!

Based on what Lu Ran knew, lightning-type familiars that fused lightning traits usually awakened talents that enhanced offensive power or speed. For Sudden Death King to awaken a defensive, health-locking talent was something he had not anticipated.

At this point, Sudden Death King was practically impossible to kill. Even against a single devastating strike from a Superior-level being, where Captain Doofus might fall, Sudden Death King would stubbornly hang on with one point of health, buying several precious seconds.

“

Rawr!!!

”

At this moment, watching Sudden Death King enveloped in its colossal silhouette, Lu Ran couldn’t help but say, “Alright, alright, disperse that energy armor. Isn’t it a waste of energy to maintain such a huge construct?”

“

Rawr!!!

”

Sudden Death King obediently dispersed the energy, returning to its usual standing-lizard form, roughly the same height as Lu Ran. It scratched its head awkwardly, as if to say, it’s really not using that much energy.

For now, Sudden Death King’s appearance had not changed significantly after the initial trait fusion. The only noticeable difference was a lightning-shaped mark now faintly visible in its pupils.

Without missing a beat, Lu Ran retrieved another trait crystal, this one imbued with the Endurance Trait. The effect of the Red Lightning Trait Crystal was to enhance lightning energy, making the creature’s physique stronger when absorbing lightning attacks.

Meanwhile, the Endurance Trait Crystal provided a simpler but more brutal effect which was reducing incoming damage and granting unparalleled defensive strength.

Starting off with Endurance combined with Absolute Defense, Sudden Death King’s future battles would undoubtedly be highly strategic.

Lu Ran tossed out the Endurance Trait Crystal. Having already undergone the previous fusion, Sudden Death King now handled the process more calmly.

Compared to the spectacular phenomenon of the first fusion, this time the changes were more practical. Under the dim red glow emitted by the crystal, Sudden Death King’s body grew even stronger and larger.

Its scales became harder, with each scale undergoing a new round of reinforcement. In the blink of an eye, Sudden Death King, now standing close to three meters tall, was radiating raw power.

Every inch of its body exuded an overwhelming sense of strength, and its scales had transformed into layered armor. This time, it truly looked like a genuine monster.

“

Rawr!!!

”

It let out a thunderous roar, spitting red lightning arcs from its mouth. Each black scale reflected an imposing, sovereign brilliance. When it slammed its tail against the ground, the earth trembled and rumbled.

At this point, Sudden Death King was essentially a dragon in everything but name. It only lacked wings. Furthermore, with this mini-evolution, the nutrients it had been absorbing from its dragon-based diet seemed to have been activated, pushing it closer to a dragonkin transformation!

[Species: Scaled Dragon Lizard]

[Attribute: Lightning]

[Species Rank: Intermediate-Champion Species]

[Level: 20]

[Fused Traits: Red Lightning, Endurance]

[Species Talents: Absolute Defense, Heart of the Overlord (True Overlords are unfazed by the provocations of the weak but will not back down from challenges.

[Creatures with this talent can convert accumulated damage into a devastating counterattack. The more damage they sustain, the more destructive their next strike becomes.)]