Chapter 159 - Dark Crow: I’m Invincible (Part 1)

Limitless City #7, Beastmaster Square.

Ranked first on the Champion Heavenly Familiar Ranking, Gale Sword Dog.

Reason for Ranking: Evolved and mutated from the Husky species, demonstrating exceptional comprehension. It fused the Weapon Control and Nature Manipulation traits.

In a Legendary-difficulty level 1 Secret Realm, Dragon King’s Nest, it inflicted damage on the Diamond Dragon using a unique sword qi, successfully breaking through its defense.

Ranked tenth on the Champion Heavenly Familiar Ranking, Scaled Dragon Lizard.

Reason for Ranking: Evolved and mutated from a small lizard species. It fused the Red Lightning and Endurance traits. In the Legendary-difficulty level 1 Secret Realm, Dragon King’s Nest, it survived a direct hit from the Diamond Dragon without dying.

“Holy shit.”

At this moment, Beastmaster Square in Limitless City #7 was bustling with activity. Many new students from Beastmaster University were eating and shopping here. The recent update to the Champion Heavenly Familiar Ranking left all the beastmasters dumbfounded.

News of the Legendary Secret Realm had spread quickly. Everyone was still discussing whether anyone would challenge it soon. And then... someone actually had. That person? None other than Lu Ran, hailed as the strongest fourth-generation beastmaster in Xia.

However, while combining the challenge of a Legendary Secret Realm with making it onto the Champion Heavenly Familiar Ranking should have been a display of dominance, the reasons for Lu Ran’s familiars being listed seemed rather pitiful.

One familiar had merely survived a single blow from the Diamond Dragon to earn its ranking. While the other had made the list simply by breaking through the Diamond Dragon’s defense.

These were perhaps the most underwhelming reasons anyone had ever seen for appearing on the Heavenly Familiar Ranking. If Lu Ran’s attempts were this bad, wouldn’t everyone else stand no chance at all?

“How hard is the Legendary Secret Realm, anyway? Lu Ran’s familiars are so absurdly strong. That sword-wielding dog can trounce Low-King Species Tyrannosaurus Rexes. And yet... its most impressive feat was barely breaking the Diamond Dragon’s defense???”

“That’s not the point! The point is that the Gale Sword Dog pushed Dean Qin Ming’s new familiar down to second place. That’s hilarious! I’d love to know the size of Dean Qin Ming’s psychological damage right now.”

“Honestly, if I were Dean Qin, I’d feel a little awkward too...”

After all, Dean Qin wasn’t just any second-generation beastmaster. For regular second or third-generation beastmasters, being surpassed might not be a big deal. But Dean Qin was different.

His many titles such as the strongest under the first generation, the most powerful second-generation beastmaster, Dean of the Combat Department, and the elusive 14th of the Xia Empire, made the situation rather embarrassing.

And then...getting surpassed by a fourth-generation just like that. It must be frustrating, right?

“Cut him some slack! Dean Qin isn’t primarily a Water attribute beastmaster. That Space attribute orca of his might just be a utility familiar or even a transport familiar for aquatic environments!

“And let’s not forget, even though Lu Ran is a fourth-generation beastmaster, his Nature Manipulation Trait came from a level 5 Hell-difficulty Secret Realm, where it’s only rarely dropped. In terms of resources, their playing fields are pretty even...”

This explanation held some truth. The potential of beastmasters generally increased with each new generation, as fourth-generation beastmasters with backgrounds could acquire Trait Crystals from Advanced secret realms through various means.

Their ability to train familiars was comparable to that of the earlier generations. After all, both could bypass the familiars’ current levels to access Advanced resources. The first-generation beastmasters often struggled because their choices of resources were too limited.

In ten years, this trend would become even more pronounced. By then, beastmasters of the Nth generation might directly inherit beastmaster skills or Trait Crystals from level 8 or 9 secret realms, making their contemporaries far stronger than the current fourth generation.

Many of the Combat Department freshmen stepped up to defend Dean Qin Ming, worried that their dean might feel embarrassed. Of course, the hottest topic in Limitless City #7, other Limitless Cities, and even beyond was still this. If even Lu Ran struggled to clear the Legendary Secret Realm, who was it designed for?

Lu Ran who was once again at the center of public attention, was in his private room with his familiars, grappling with existential doubt.

What the heck? That Diamond Dragon is way too strong.

Lu Ran clutched his head, his scalp still tingling from the dragon’s overwhelming aura and roar.

Sudden Death King, in its peak state, had been fully armored with its Lightning Dragon Armor, offering top-tier attack and defense. Even so, the armor was shattered upon contact with the Diamond Dragon.

Its scales had been crushed instantly, and it had sustained severe injuries. Though its Absolute Defense and Heart of the Overlord prevented it from dying outright, allowing it to stand again and launch another attack, Lu Ran knew the outcome wouldn’t have changed.

As for Captain Doofus, its situation was even more absurd. After absorbing the King of Wind Fruit and the Nature Manipulation Trait, its mastery of wind energy reached an incredible level. Combined with its King Species-grade physique, it could compress energy up to 20 times without sustaining serious injuries.

To test the Diamond Dragon’s defense, Captain Doofus pushed itself to its limit. It used energy compression beyond its capacity, enduring the familiar pain of broken teeth.

Additionally, it painstakingly combined its Blizzard Sword Intent with its Dragon-Slaying Sword Intent to increase the difficulty of penetrating the Diamond Dragon’s defenses.

Even with all this effort, it only managed to shatter a few scales and draw a bit of blood. Such minor injuries wouldn’t even faze Sudden Death King, let alone the Diamond Dragon. Although it had been just a brief clash, Lu Ran was certain they had given it their all.

The only thing left unused was the Flame Spirit, but Captain Doofus wasn’t compatible with it. Using it wouldn’t enhance its combat capabilities. While Sudden Death King could use the Flame Spirit to unleash techniques from the Lightning Flame Dragon system, these techniques primarily boosted attack power.

Even then, its attack strength wouldn’t surpass that of Captain Doofus. At best, the Flame Spirit would be a minor enhancement, not a game-changer. This Diamond Dragon was a formidable opponent, leaving Lu Ran unable to see any viable path to victory.

“Dragon-Slaying Sword Intent, it doesn’t seem effective against a real dragon.” Lu Ran glanced at Captain Doofus.

Intent levels had their hierarchy. At its current stage, Captain Doofus’s Dragon-Slaying Sword Intent was barely effective against true dragons. Against a true dragon, it was utterly useless.

It made sense upon reflection. Even if Captain Doofus had remarkable comprehension, it had only consumed a tiny portion of Rare dragon cuisine. The idea that it could slay true dragons with such limited exposure was unrealistic.

To truly develop Dragon-Slaying Sword Intent for real dragons, Captain Doofus would need to slay various types of dragons repeatedly to level up the skill.

“

Woof!

”

Captain Doofus covered its mouth with its paw, lowering its head in frustration. This grudge, it would not forget.

Captain Doofus had once believed that with its Dragon-Slaying Sword Intent, it could confidently face the Diamond Dragon. But this encounter had taught it a hard lesson.

The so-called Dragon-Slaying Sword Dog had been reduced to nothing more than a Scratching Sword Dog.

“In comparison to the Diamond Dragon’s defenses, Sudden Death King, your Lightning Dragon Armor feels like it’s made of paper. Is this the difference between the real deal and a cheap imitation...”

“

Rawr...

”

Although its injuries had been fully healed by the Divine Deer Pendant, Sudden Death King’s pride was still hurt. Hearing Lu Ran’s remark, it paused for a moment before, like Captain Doofus, lowering its head in silent grievance. This grudge, it too would remember. It couldn’t help but envy the Diamond Dragon’s incredible defense.

“I had thought of attempting to conquer the Legendary Secret Realm, but now...” Lu Ran shook his head.

“Maybe bringing three teammates could work...”

He began considering team-based strategies. For instance, if Captain Doofus could barely penetrate the Diamond Dragon’s defenses, perhaps it could coat its blade with poison while Fang Lan provided support.

However, there was a problem. Among all attributes, dragons had the highest poison resistance. Second only to Poison attribute creatures themselves. Most poisons would have little effect.

Furthermore, there was too little information about this boss. Aside from its overwhelming offense and defense, they knew nothing about whether it had self-healing or purification abilities. Strategizing blindly without complete knowledge of the opponent was a rookie mistake.

“There’s another option. Equipping Captain Doofus with a Rare sword. That might temporarily raise its species level to Intermediate or even Superior-King Species, which could improve our odds.”

Forget it. No point in overthinking this now. Let’s focus on clearing Hell-difficulty Secret Realms to strengthen Sudden Death King first.

Ultimately, Sudden Death King was too fragile. If its defense were higher and it could endure a few more rounds, they might stand a chance. With the Divine Deer Pendant’s infinite healing and Captain Doofus’s relentless attacks, they could potentially grind the Diamond Dragon down.

After all, Captain Doofus couldn’t handle both offense and defense at the same time. While it could counter an opponent’s attacks through its own, doing so would greatly diminish its offensive capabilities, rendering its attacks ineffective against the Diamond Dragon.

Lu Ran resolved to continue cultivating Sudden Death King before trying again. For now, the sword-shield combination of Captain Doofus and Sudden Death King was still lacking in defense.

......