Chapter 226 - Splitting the Spoils

“Sudden Death King, you’ve worked hard.”

“

Rawr...

”

After the secret realm concluded, Lu Ran began treating Sudden Death King’s injuries. The sheer force capable of instantly crushing an Overlord Species of the same rank was unimaginably terrifying. At this moment, there was no trace of the Ubirath Queen Ant’s intact body.

Though Sudden Death King was also in poor condition, its injuries healed rapidly thanks to the protection of the Dragon King’s Shield at the moment of impact. Combined with its formidable defensive capabilities, it managed to secure the assassination victory at the cost of a heavy injury.

After treating Sudden Death King with the Divine Deer Pendant, it quickly returned to its peak condition.

“

Woo.

”

“

Caw.

”

During this time, Captain Doofus and Dark Crow continued to inspect the massive crater, several hundred meters in diameter, while shaking their heads slightly.

Queen Ant, what a tragic death you faced.

“Let’s head back.” Lu Ran smiled, eager to return and split the spoils.

As for the secret realm itself, Lu Ran had already determined that through Dark Crow’s reconnaissance, nothing valuable remained. Everything had been consumed by the Queen Ant to reproduce her colony.

***

In their personal room, Sudden Death King sat on the floor, exhaling deeply, its heart still pounding in fear. It was fortunate the Queen Ant’s defense wasn’t strong. Otherwise, after the fall, it might have had to battle some sort of ant demon creature.

This result was just fine. It had no desire to fight an ant demon. Even ants can kill a dragon if there are enough of them.

Sudden Death King understood this principle well. No one could predict how powerful an ant demon’s burst of strength might be. If it could be avoided, it was best not to take the gamble.

"Rawr~!"

Squinting, Sudden Death King asked Lu Ran if any of the looted resources were suitable for it.

“This Blood Drop Stone... Sudden Death King, how about having a Dragon King offspring?”

Lu Ran paused mid-sentence as he flipped through the rewards.

“How does this sound to you?”

This time’s Treasure-grade resource was truly bizarre!

Huh?

Sudden Death King was stunned.

Beside it, Captain Doofus and Dark Crow were equally shocked.

No way, there’s a resource like this?

"Rawr!"

Upon hearing Lu Ran’s suggestion, Sudden Death King waved its claws furiously and shook its head.

Is he kidding? I’m a male lizard! How could I rely on something like this to reproduce?

Lu Ran turned to Captain Doofus and Dark Crow. The two also shook their heads repeatedly. They were male too. Absolutely not.

“This thing may be unconventional, but its value is undeniable!” Lu Ran explained.

“Based on breeding science, the higher the species rank and level, the harder it is to reproduce. But the offspring produced are also much stronger.

“If this were used on a Superior-rank species, its effects could be maximized! It might even allow a legendary divine beast to produce a small divine beast!”

Lu Ran’s thoughts drifted, but he quickly shook his head. That was unlikely. After all, this was merely a Treasure-grade resource.

Even if it could somehow allow a divine beast to reproduce, the offspring likely wouldn’t inherit the full bloodline power.

In any case, in Lu Ran’s view, the best candidate for the Blood Drop Stone was Sudden Death King.

With its Dragon King bloodline, unique species type, and high species rank... But since Sudden Death King disliked the idea, Lu Ran wouldn’t force it. For now, he decided to keep it.

Who knows? Maybe in the future, he’d come across a rare species that was older and single. Fostering goodwill could result in a rare offspring.

At that moment, the image of Manager Ying inexplicably surfaced in Lu Ran’s mind.

It was said its true form was a Nine-Tailed Cat, a species of extreme rarity. If its clone was already this powerful, its true form would undoubtedly be even stronger...

“Let’s look at something else.”

Lu Ran pushed aside his thoughts and turned his attention to the Kinship beastmaster skill.

From the moment he saw it, he had decided this would be his next beastmaster skill.

What was Kinship? It was the ability to form a contract between one life and another.

On the Stellar Moon Continent, kinship lifeforms were a unique concept. Typically, only exceptionally powerful legendary divine beasts could create them. They alone possessed the ability to grant kinship.

In ancient mythology, some legendary divine beasts could bestow a portion of their power upon other creatures, triggering their evolution. These creatures, after evolving from divine power, would form an extraordinary connection with the divine beasts.

Their relationship would become as close as blood-related comrades or subordinates.

For example, two of the four Supreme Divine Dragons, the Life Dragon and the Death Dragon, were said to have three kinship lifeforms each, tasked with walking the world and maintaining the balance of life and death.

This skill was essentially a unique legion-type ability. The only difference was that it didn’t train ordinary soldiers—it cultivated elite commanders.

The stronger the divine beast, the stronger its kinship lifeforms. It was essentially a way to recruit subordinates.

What excited Lu Ran most was that Kinship wasn’t a Trait Crystal but a beastmaster skill.

This meant that if he learned it, he could eventually assign a kinship lifeform—or even multiple—to each of his familiars!

For instance, if Captain Doofus gained a kinship lifeform with a sword-type creature, its strength would skyrocket! Not just a little—it would become cheat-code-level powerful.

The stronger Captain Doofus became, the stronger its kinship lifeform would be. Conversely, the stronger the kinship lifeform, the stronger Captain Doofus would become.

Although the potential of this cheat code was unclear, having a sword deeply connected to itself would undoubtedly allow Captain Doofus to take flight.

As for the Weather Sprite, if it could form kinship bonds with other familiars that also mastered weather powers, its strength would see a qualitative leap.

Even Sudden Death King, the least compatible with kinship lifeforms, could benefit. With a subordinate adept at healing, it would become even more invincible.

However, Lu Ran shook his head. Excelling with this beastmaster skill would essentially mean raising a whole team of new spirits, requiring immense effort and resources.

Moreover, kinship lifeforms likely couldn’t be stored in contract cards, meaning they could only roam freely on Blue Planet and wouldn’t be transportable to Limitless City.

Unless Lu Ran treated kinship lifeforms as a secondary team of familiars for contracting, he’d face a shortage of contract cards.

“

Haih,

someone needs to hurry up and figure out how to use the Beastmaster Space. If I had that combined with contract cards, I wouldn’t be stuck in this dilemma.”

Aside from the challenge of carrying kinship lifeforms, the legion in legion-type skills definitely couldn’t be carried around casually either.

Lu Ran then looked at the Legion Domination Trait Crystal and decided that it would be most suitable for Dark Crow.

Initially, he had debated whether to give a legion-type trait to Dark Crow or the Weather Sprite. But as soon as this trait crystal was revealed, the decision became clear.

The Legion Domination Trait could only dominate creatures sharing its bloodline or species. On Blue Planet, the Weather Sprite was a unique species.

The only way clouds on Blue Planet could gain sentience and evolve into elemental lifeforms would be through a miracle. Thus, the Legion Domination trait had to go to Dark Crow, who already had thousands of crow subordinates back in Green Sea City.

“Captain Doofus, Dark Crow, your futures are bright.”

“Woof!”

“Caw!”

Captain Doofus and Dark Crow exchanged knowing looks. Their plan was simple: Let Sudden Death King do the hard work gathering resources, and they’d use those resources to surpass it.

Perfect.

“

Rawr...

” Sudden Death King sulked on the side.

Wasn’t this supposed to be about helping the Weather Sprite farm resources? How did everything end up going to the dog and bird?

“As for this Queen Ant Egg...”

Lu Ran stared at the newly acquired treasure from the secret realm, deep in thought. He felt that this egg was far more valuable than the Stone Dragon Egg.

While the Stone Dragon Egg belonged to the sub-dragon category, there were countless sub-dragon species. Unless it was a pure dragon type, it didn’t hold much intrinsic value. However, this Queen Ant Egg was different.

If it hatched into a young Queen Ant, it would naturally possess legion attributes as a King-rank creature. If further enhanced with a few trait fusions, it had the potential to evolve into the core of an Overlord-rank legion.

A familiar of this caliber, born with such massive potential, was undoubtedly a treasure. Yet, given how Lu Ran was already troubled by his limited contract slots, he had no interest in raising a Queen Ant.

With plans for familiar kinship, Dark Crow legion, and the Weather Sprite legion, he already had his hands full.

Among the resources gained this time, most were highly useful and worth keeping. However, the one item Lu Ran deemed suitable for trading to acquire other, more necessary resources was this Queen Ant Egg.

Lu Ran was confident that this egg would stir great interest back home, especially among the first-generation beastmasters, since it was a legion-type familiar.

Hmm, let’s see who’s willing to pay the highest price. Highest bidder wins!

***

[Gu Qingyi: Your actions were fast...]

Shortly after Lu Ran’s challenge ended, Gu Qingyi and the others sent him private messages.

Lu Ran chuckled and replied one by one.

[Pedestrian A: The harvest wasn’t bad.]

The others sensed that Lu Ran wasn’t inclined to share more details, so they refrained from pressing further. Only Gu Qingyi probed a little more.

[Gu Qingyi: What’s next on your agenda? Waiting for the next Evolution Secret Realm?]

[Pedestrian A: Not sure yet. I haven’t decided whether to evolve Dark Crow or Captain Doofus first, but I’ve prepared the evolution resources for both. I’ll see which one is ready first in the coming days.]

With the new Legion Domination Trait revealed, Lu Ran was slightly torn. Should he prioritize fusing Undead Clone or the Legion Domination Trait with Dark Crow for its third trait?

After some consideration, Lu Ran decided to proceed with Undead Clone first. After all, trait crystals required compatibility.

Although Dark Crow currently commanded a small flock of subordinates, it didn’t share any deep bond or connection with them. Moreover, these subordinates couldn’t enter the Evolution Secret Realm.

Attempting to fuse Legion Domination Trait under such conditions would feel risky, unable to fully maximize its potential. If Lu Ran fused Undead Clone first, Dark Crow might be able to master its clone abilities by the time it reached level 40.

By then, using its clones as subordinates would at least create a semblance of compatibility with the Legion Domination Trait.

Furthermore, if the fusion didn’t require entering an Evolution Secret Realm, Lu Ran could perform the fusion externally. Having the flock present might even enhance the effect.

“It’s so frustrating. If only Dark Crow’s awareness were more progressive. Otherwise, combining the Blood Drop Stone with the Legion Domination Trait and Kinship skill would have been a perfect strategy.”

“Wait, can an elemental lifeform use the Blood Drop Stone to produce a little cloud?

This sent Lu Ran’s thoughts spiraling again. However, elemental lifeforms probably didn’t have bloodlines, and besides, asking the Weather Sprite that was barely a month old to bear offspring seemed inhumane.