Chapter 267 - Absolute Comprehension, the Perfect Trait

The four stage 1 evolution secret realms were located in the Antarctic Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean public secret realms.

The previous three opened three months apart, and the final one, the Atlantic Ocean public realm, could be the last one to appear for a while.

Just like last time, Lu Ran secretly brought his entourage of bodyguards for protection. He didn’t think anything would happen, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Unlike last time, however, Lu Ran wasn’t planning on baiting anyone. He just wanted to let Captain Doofus evolve peacefully so that he could ascend to the next level.

Of course, even if Lu Ran wanted it to be peaceful, his identity simply drew too much attention.

The second he entered the evolution realm and sat down on a rock, the reporters instantly began to crowd the skies.

"He’s here, he’s here, he’s here! He showed up again!"

"I knew he wouldn’t miss the last secret evolution realm!"

"Yes, this time it's finally the Gale Sword Dog’s turn. As everyone knows, that’s his most popular familiar!"

Many reporters looked at Captain Doofus who was lying next to Lu Ran.

Lu Ran sat cross-legged with his back to the crowd and his eyes closed. Captain Doofus also laid there with its eyes closed, ignoring the surroundings.

Although it was just lazing about, its aura drew the attention of multiple reporters.

[Species: Swift Sword Dog]

[Attribute: Wind]

[Species Rank: Superior Champion]

[Level: 30]

Its attribute was ordinary, but it still gave off a strong sense of oppression.

The reporters weren’t surprised. Even if its information wasn’t on par with the Shieldwing Dragon King or Twin Crows, it wasn’t weak by any measure.

No one had forgotten that it once defeated a Tyrannosaurus Rex of a higher rank.

A Superior Champion trampling a Low King was a terrifying feat no matter who you asked, and that was just the tip of the iceberg.

It also had many achievements that weren’t as well-known. For example, Lu Ran relied on Captain Doofus and Sudden Death King to solo his first Legendary secret realm. Together, they defeated a Superior-King diamond dragon. Captain Doofus was specifically the MVP in that battle.

There were also rumors that when Lu Ran went through an ascension realm, this Swift Sword Dog transformed into a Bony Hellhound to suppress an entire army.

These achievements were the reason why people had so much faith in its potential. It had a batch of hardcore fans who believed in it no matter what.

"Its fur color seems different from before..."

While Lu Ran was mentally transmitting his sword mastery to Captain Doofus through Reverse Super Beast Mimicry, many beastmasters started noticing some of the minute changes on the husky. Its black and white fur began to have a blue hue at the tips.

Although the change was there, it was only barely noticeable. Most people assumed that Lu Ran was using resources to increase its affinity with the Ice attribute.

"I don’t think it’ll be able to become an Overlord."

Not taking a closer look would inevitably come back to bite these reporters in the butt. Captain Doofus’ transformation wasn’t that superficial.

[Species: Gale Sword Dog (Possessed by a Sword Spirit)

[Attribute: Wind (Undead, Ice, Space)

[Species Rank]: Superior Champion (Superior King)

[Level: 30]

Captain Doofus’s true power couldn’t be gleaned from just a glance. The only regrettable thing was that even though the sword spirit had become an Intermediate King with the Space attribute, it still couldn’t bring the dog’s rank up to Low Overlord.

The chasm between King and Overlord was just too big.

Lu Ran estimated that once Captain Doofus reached Overlord on its own, a top-grade sword may only have a marginal effect on its power.

The three minor boundaries of Overlord were leagues apart. Otherwise, Sudden Death King wouldn’t be the only Intermediate Overlord.

Sigh.

Lu Ran's biggest expectation for Captain Doofus was for it to at least reach Low Overlord. That way a good sword could push its power to be on par with Intermediate Overlord’s.

Once that happened, there would be nothing else that he could ask for. An Intermediate Overlord with a domain wasn’t any weaker than an average Superior Overlord.

“Woof.”

Captain Doofus was also making its final push to increase its comprehension of Soul and Psychic Sword Intent.

Soul Sword Intent was geared towards increasing damage against the soul, while Psychic Sword Intent was capable of severing the emotions within the soul.

One was a hammer and the other a scalpel. Not only could Psychic Sword Intent be used for Soul Cuisine, but it could even be used to cut away fear and confusion from the user.

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

***

Time slowly crept past and Lu Ran closed his eyes while mentally connecting with his familiar—completely shutting out the outside world. The reporters didn’t dare to disturb him as they were afraid of Lin Nian getting pissed and killing one of them.

They could only hover in the air on their flying familiars and observed him from afar.

"The participants seem more terrifying than last time."

The media was especially focused on the Heavenly Eagle Federation’s beastmasters.

Currently, the Heavenly Eagle Federation was considered to have the most promising beastmasters. While they had a limited number of native talents, what set them apart was their large inflow of immigrants. They poached talent from other countries far and wide.

This allowed them to widen the power gap between them and the rest of the world. Some minor countries could have finally stepped onto the world stage by relying on their beastmasters but were robbed of the opportunity by a brain drain.

While the media focused on the Eagle Federation’s beastmasters, the Eagle Federation’s beastmasters were focused on Lu Ran. Lu Ran had foiled them twice in previous evolution realms after all.

"I wonder what miracles that 'Professor Lu' will pull off this time."

"Psh. Miracles don’t grow on trees."

"There are so many first and second-generation beastmasters here this time that a fourth-generation beastmaster won’t stand a chance."

Many Westerners stood around, conjecturing about how the evolution realm would pan out. They had brought multiple Superior Champions that were favored for the top ten.

The fourth evolutionary realm was on pace to be the most competitive thus far.

The appearance of evolutionary realms had reignited the enthusiasm of cultivating new familiars. The Age of Overlords that followed made everyone double down, so everyone invested all available resources into their familiars.

***

"It's taking so long."

"When is the eruption going to happen?"

Everyone was anxious for the impending climax.

For some, it was the tensest moment they’d ever experienced. For other beastmasters, it wasn’t nearly as tense.

A few of them would spend more money on their familiars than they would their spouses.

[Countdown to the eruption of evolutionary energy: 60 seconds.]

Finally, the moment had come.

"It’s here!"

The prompt finally awakened Lu Ran and Captain Doofus from their meditation.

“Awoo~.”

Where are Sudden Death King and Dark Crow?

"I'm releasing them now," Lu Ran answered.

Since the countdown had begun, Lu Ran decided to summon his other familiars so that they could witness Captain Doofus’ evolution together. After that, he pulled out the Absolute Comprehension trait crystal.

“Roar!”

“Caw!”

Captain Doofus’ fellow familiars both cheered it on, but it turned up its nose in response.

It's too late to flatter me now. I’ll cut both of you down once I evolve!

"Awww, they’re such a great team."

The reporters were moved by Lu Ran’s familiars’ team spirit.

60 seconds passed in the blink of an eye.

"It's starting!" someone shouted.

Fissures began to appear in the evolution realm with light radiating outward.

Seeing the light, Lu Ran whacked Captain Doofus over the head with the trait crystal hoping to knock some last-minute knowledge into it.

"Wake up, Captain Doofus."

***

"Look!"

Countless eyes focused on Lu Ran once they noticed him taking out the trait crystal.

Everyone was curious about what Lu Ran had in store for his husky. Its third trait was going to determine whether it would become an Overlord or not.

If it was a top-quality trait like Dragon King Bloodline, then it was entirely possible to turn its fate around.

However, once the crowd saw which trait it was, they were shocked into silence.

[Name: Special Crystal (Absolute Comprehension)]

[Description: Significantly increases the familiar’s comprehension.]

"Huh?"

"Absolute Comprehension?"

When the trait crystal hit it on the head, Captain Doofus had a look of enlightenment.

◑. ◐

The onlookers were dumbfounded.

They could never have imagined that Lu Ran would give his dog such a trait.

Comprehension wasn’t completely useless, but it was rather arbitrary. Top-quality bloodlines and powerful abilities were what most people associated with a power-up.

On top of all that, the one to get the Absolute Comprehension trait was a husky—notorious for being harebrained.

If it had been anyone else, most people would have understood, but since it was Lu Ran, people were a bit confused.

People were especially caught off guard since a trait improving comprehension wouldn’t have any effect on a familiar’s evolution. Bloodline and rare attributes would’ve had a much better effect.

“What is he doing?”

Everyone was at a loss.

Did Lu Ran give up? Using such a trait at such a pivotal moment was a huge gamble. Awakening a rare attribute like Space would’ve been a much better choice.

“The Absolute Comprehension trait...”

“He’s really betting it all on the husky!”

“Forget it. Geniuses all have their own paths.”

Shi Zhen, Zhu Kaixin, Lin Nian, and the others were all very surprised by Lu Ran's choice at first as well.

To them, the Absolute Comprehension trait wasn’t a bad trait, but compared to something like Dragon King Bloodline and Undead Clone, it really wasn’t much.

Hmph, stupid humans.

Manager Ying rolled its eyes.

It was the one to recommend the trait to Lu Ran. It knew Lu Ran better than anyone else.

Manager Ying was well aware that the dog’s talent even outranked many first-generation beastmaster’s familiars.

Since Captain Doofus had comprehended domains, its monstrous talent, now augmented by the Absolute Comprehension trait, should have risen to new heights!

"Manager Ying, are you hiding something from me?"

Gu Qingyi’s suspicions rose when she saw the cat smiling.

"Nope." Manager Ying frantically shook its head.

You’ll have to find out about the domain and sword spirit on your own. Lu Ran wanted to give you first-generation beastmasters a surprise.

"It looks like Lu Ran’s husky won’t be making any waves," White Mouse mused from the skies above. She also had some doubts because of Lu Ran’s choice of traits.

She thought that Lu Ran no longer wanted to chase after getting another Overlord. After all, he already had two. Maybe he wanted to explore a new direction with his last familiar.

Based on the information available, Lu Ran and this husky were known to specialize in comprehension. They had mastered various skills before reaching level 10.

With that said, Lu Ran's choice was still somewhat out of the ordinary.

Everyone continued with their own theories until the gushing evolution engulfed Captain Doofus and awakened a new species talent within it.

During this process, Captain Doofus reflexively released its power. A huge white sphere appeared instantly, enveloping Lu Ran and his other familiars!

Seeing this huge white sphere, everyone was astonished.

"Wait a minute..."

"Is that... a domain?"