Chapter 237 - Dark Crow Goes Crazy with Joy

The gathering at the Youxiong clan soon disbanded.

Lu Ran believed that he stood well above his peers, but unlike the first-generation beastmasters, he wanted to challenge the Youxiong clan's exclusive secret realm.

However, since the Youxiong clan already announced that the secret realm wasn’t ready to be opened, he could only wait.

Now that one matter was over, it seemed that Gu Qingyi was ready to move on to the next subject matter which Lu Ran was fully on board with.

After they left, Gu Qingyi gathered several first-generation beastmasters in addition to the Youxiong clan members to meet in Limitless City.

The group met in a private room at Cat Maid Cafe.

"Gu Qingyi, why are you being so mysterious?" a gray-haired young man named Jiang Rui asked.

As the Rat of the Twelve Zodiacs, his ace familiar was a mole widely acknowledged as the strongest Earth-attribute familiar in the country.

It learned the skill Boundless Earth that pulled enemies deep underground to restrict their movements while attacking them with earthquakes.

In spite of its combat abilities, he was mostly in charge of recon missions for the first-generation raid team.

"Is this about Lu Ran?"

Wu Ma, another of the twelve zodiac signs, was a Mongolian beastmaster who once won third place in an international horse racing competition. When he contracted his treasured steed, it was already a Low-Champion species.

Meanwhile, Lin Nian was the Rabbit of the Twelve Zodiacs. In her early days, she would often appear with her Spirit-attribute white rabbit familiar.

Gu Qingyi, Shi Zhen, and Zhu Kaixin were respectively the Dragon, Monkey, and Pig, and were personally closer to Lu Ran.

When Wu Ma saw that Lu Ran and Manager Ying joined in on a meeting of first generations, he had assumed that the meeting had something to do with Lu Ran.

"So here’s what’s going on.” Gu Qingyi began.

"Earlier at the Youxiong clan, you heard them mention the Other Shore, who are suspected to also control an exclusive secret realm to source a stable supply of Undead Resurrection skill books.”

Everyone nodded as they listened.

"I actually have over a hundred Undeath Resurrection skill books at the moment." As Gu Qingyi said this, she pulled out a stack of skill books and fanned them out.

Seeing the large number of skill cards in Gu Qingyi's hand, Lin Nian and others were obviously stunned.

"Where did you get those?" Lin Nian questioned. "Did you destroy a branch of The Other Shore?"

Everyone also stared at Gu Qingyi in astonishment and assumed that she must have razed an Other Shore branch.

Gu Qingyi shook her head.

"No, someone in the upper echelons of the Other Shore gave them to me."

"What?" Jiang Rui asked in confusion.

"Actually, I got them from Lu Ran’s parents.

"They were spies sent by the Xia government to infiltrate The Other Shore during its early days. They have since entered the upper echelons of the organization."

"What?" the group exclaimed.

This revelation was as world-shaking as the awakening of the Guardian Panda.

Xia planted spies in The Other Shore? And they’re Lu Ran's parents?

This information was clearly made up, but Gu Qingyi claimed that Lu Ran's parents were spies planted by the government so that she could give Lu Ran a clean background. The story was flawed if anyone looked too closely, but it wasn’t a major issue.

They only needed to focus on the government’s attitude on the situation.

"D-d-d-damn, Lu Ran, you’re so cool," Zhu Kaixin finally managed to say.

"Are y’all going to finally take down the Other Shore? Auntie and Uncle must be at least level 5 by now!"

Lu Ran shook his head.

"My parents met with an unfortunate accident in an ascension realm some time ago. Their ID has already been deactivated by Limitless City. The skill books we got were part of a deadman switch my parents set up."

"This..." Everyone was still reeling but fell silent when they heard that Lu Ran’s parents had passed.

A moment later, Shi Zhen finally looked at Lu Ran and sighed.

"I'm sorry for your loss. Your parents' spirits will be able to rest peacefully knowing that their son is so outstanding."

"It's okay." Lu Ran smiled. "Just because they disappeared in an ascension realm doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re actually dead. I’m staying optimistic.

"Limitless City can revive us if we die in a normal secret realm so maybe one day when we unlock all of its secrets, we can revive those we have lost."

"You’re right!" Zhu Kaixin's eyes lit up. "As long as we grow stronger, anything is possible."

Gu Qingyi spoke up to bring everyone back on track.

"Lu Ran's parents, besides sending back a large number of skill books, also sent back some very important intel which included information on the importance of the Undead attribute.

“Xia has begun secretly researching the Undead attribute since they received the intel, and recently, that research actually made significant progress."

"What progress?" Wu Ma asked with a curious expression.

Just like that, everyone would find out that Xia was researching the Undead attribute.

"We have found a way to eliminate the side effects of consuming souls in Undead familiars.

"The attribute, now without any drawbacks, is just like any other attribute that can be developed normally.

"This means that as long as a beastmaster has the Undead Resurrection skill, their familiars will have a second life.

"The Undead attribute will revolutionize the beastmaster profession. That would be quite the achievement, no?"

Once she was done speaking, the first generation once again fell into silence, unable to believe what they had just heard.

Lin Nian finally broke the silence. "Don't tell me it was this guy that resolved the drawbacks of the Undead attribute."

"Yes, it was Lu Ran."

"Wasn’t there a rumor that in Lu Ran’s second ascension realm, he joined the Undead Cult and became their Holy Son?"

“So that rumor is actually true. He became the cult’s Holy Son and was taken in as the apprentice of a Legendary necromancer. During that time, he studied different methods to resolve the issues with the Undead attribute."

"Huh?"

Godammit, your parents were high-level spies in The Other Shore, and you sneaked into the Undead Cult and became their Holy Son. What is up with your family?

"That’s the jist of it. It all happened by chance," Lu Ran said innocently.

"The problem right now is that Lu Ran got a special reward from the ascension realm, the Undead Clone skill, and he wants to use it for his third familiar. If everything goes as planned, it will acquire the Undead attribute through evolution.

"I'm afraid that when that happens, the beastmasters around him in the evolution realm will attack him because of his Undead familiar. I want to ask all of you to come be his bodyguards for the evolution realm.

“Of course, I won't make y’all work for free. I'll give each of you an Undead Resurrection skill book. What do y’all think?"

"No problem!!" Zhu Kaixin was the first to agree. “Skill book or not, Lu Ran is my idol. I dare someone to attack him ."

Damn.

To be honest, Zhu Kaixin was still a little confused.

He was the Dragon Chef, Overlord Beastmaster, and now he was also a major researcher of the Undead attribute?

He was truly a bit vexed. Lucky for him, Lu Ran wasn’t a first generation, otherwise, none of them would be able to stand out against him.

"After Lu Ran’s familiar evolves, the whole world will be focusing on Xia. Do you want to announce Lu Ran's research results at that time?" Shi Zhen inquired.

"Yes." Gu Qingyi nodded.

"First, we will see who takes action in the evolution realm. Anyone who does will be marked as an enemy. This is our chance to lure out all the hidden dangers.

"The “purified” Undead attribute will definitely be a huge temptation for any country. If they want a share then they have to properly cooperate with us." she continued.

"The next evolution realm opens in three days. Is that when he will be evolving his familiar?" Lin Nian asked.

Gu Qingyi looked at Lu Ran.

"Although I would like to, my Dark Crow isn’t high enough level and I don’t have the right evolution resources for it. I will still have to wait for a while."

"What are you waiting for? Why are you putting off something that’s going to be so much fun? There are so many first-generation beastmasters here and every one of them is a money bag.

“If everyone chips in some rare resource, then we can definitely gather enough resources to evolve your Dark Crow." Manager Ying suggested.

Lu Ran was surprised by what Manager Ying said.

God damn it, cat. You’re a goddamn genius!

"What do you think, Zhu Kaixin?" Manager Ying asked Pig God for his opinion.

"Huh? No problem. Let me see if I have anything that you can use." Zhu Kaixin was willing to contribute as he would inevitably need Lu Ran’s help one day.

Now, Lu Ran was an expert on the Dragon

and

Undead attributes. He was absolutely worth investing in. Maybe Lu Ran will help him create a Dragon or Undead pig.

"Okay, let's do it," Shi Zhen said.

He was still counting on Dark Crow to resolve his curse. He already invested an Eye of the Evil God skill anyway so he might as well double down.

Although the Rabbit, Rat, and Horse felt that something wasn’t quite right, they were still moved by Zhu Kaixin and Shi Zhen’s enthusiasm. It was hard to refuse.

The key point was that investing in Lu Ran wasn’t a bad decision. He was now the founder of the Undead attribute on Blue Planet.

Who could say with absolute certainty that their familiars wouldn’t die in battle one day? Lu Ran was the only one who had the purified Undead attribute cultivation method. There were clearly many situations in which they would need to ask for his help down the road.

Making friends was like buying extra insurance.

"Okay." Wu Ma and others finally agreed.

Lu Ran fell into deep thought.

I didn't get any resources from the panda, but...

He looked at the grinning Gu Qingyi and Manager Ying.

...

We ended up scamming a group of the Twelve Zodiacs.

Dark Crow should be pretty happy.

"Give me the rundown on your crow. Let me see what I should give it," Manager Ying told Lu Ran.

Lu Ran obviously didn’t let this chance slip.

"Well, let me start by thanking everyone here. My crow...”

***

After a brief explanation, everyone learned about its three attributes, skills, species talents, etc. and carefully considered them.

"Damn, I don't think I have a single thing for you. Why don't I go ask around for you?" Zhu Kaixin was perplexed.

"I have..." Shi Zhen frowned. He should’ve been the poorest one in the entire group. The only valuable thing he had on him was the Eye of the Evil God that he already donated a while back. He was actually stuck on what to give Lu Ran as well.

He had precious items but they might not catch Lu Ran’s interest.

"What's wrong with you two?" Rat looked at them with a twitch in his mouth.

The two of you were the first ones to respond, but now all of a sudden you don’t actually have anything to give?

"Here, Lu Ran, what do you think of this?"

Since those two were so unreliable, the Rat could only step up and take out a jade box with a bright red flower.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

[Name: Mandragora Flower]

[Grade: Rare]

[Description: A flower of the underworld born in profound darkness that is a natural Dark poison. If absorbed, it will strengthen Dark attribute powers. If absorption fails then it would cause a backlash and cause the user to fall into perpetual darkness.]

"An evil plant?" Zhu Kaixin looked at the flower.

"Are you trying to help or kill him?"

"Fuck off, whatever it is, it’s better than the nothing that you brought out.

"This resource strengthens the Dark attribute, albeit with certain side effects. It may be tough for ordinary familiars to absorb it, but Lu Ran's Dark Crow has Eye of the Evil God. The Mandragora Flower shouldn’t be able to easily blind the Eye of the Evil God. When the two clashing could ease the absorption process," Shi Zhen explained.

"That’s what I thought. Originally, I wanted to use it to set a trap for a Legendary boss, but I couldn’t bear to use it," the Rat commented.

Lu Ran's eyes lit up. Although this resource had side effects, Dark Crow was highly compatible. It had the Eye of the Evil God and had been eating octopus eyes. Dark Crow had built up a certain level of resistance to toxic resources.

High risk, high reward.

"Don't risk it. Take this." Wu Ma saw what Jiang Rui took out, and also put something on the table.

It was a round stone.

[Name: Agate of Devouring]

[Grade: Rare]

[Description: Ingesting this resource can improve digestion and nutrient absorption for seven days.]

"The Rat is unreliable, and his resource is a bit dangerous. I happen to have an Agate of Devouring. Although it is not an amplifying-type resource, it can help your familiar get the most out of other resources. Not bad, right?

"You can use it with Mandragora Flower."

"Brother Rat and Brother Wu Ma, y’all are my idols!" Lu Ran's heart trembled.

Dark Crow, your chance has come!

"Oh? These aren’t bad," Lin Nian praised.

"I was worried whether his familiar could absorb so many Rare resources in one go, but now it seems that there won’t be any issues.

"I'll throw in a Spirit resource."

She stretched out her hand, and a peanut-looking thing appeared with a flash of light.

[Name: Fruit of Enlightenment]

[Grade: Rare]

[Description: Helps a Spirit familiar access untapped potential in their brain to increase their spiritual power, and their analytical abilities.]