Chapter 272 - Entering the Ascension Realm Again

“Let me think.”

Lu Ran felt a headache coming on after considering the massive number of crows he had to deal with. For now, he wasn’t sure how to cultivate them. If they were all Dark or Spirit attributes, things would be much easier. These attributes aligned with Dark Crow, making command and cultivation more convenient.

When attributes matched, the power of legion-type skills could be fully unleashed. But there was a problem—Dark and Spirit attributes were rare. With 90% of the crows being Wind attribute, there were only two ways for Dark Crow to command them perfectly.

Either Dark Crow had to awaken the Wind attribute, or the ordinary crows had to awaken Spirit or Dark attributes. It was obvious which option Lu Ran would choose.

Lu Ran looked at Dark Crow.

“Those 12 crows that have already awakened Dark or Spirit attributes must be prioritized for cultivation. For the ones that are naturally Spirit attribute, I’ll buy them Dark-attribute awakening resources.

“For the ones that are naturally Dark attribute, I’ll buy them Spirit-attribute awakening resources. These 12 have talents and potential close to yours. Handle them well.”

“Understood!” Dark Crow had no objections.

These twelve would be its trusted subordinates in the future.

“As for the rest, regardless of their innate attributes, we’ll focus on awakening their Spirit attribute. First, I’ll filter out the ones with decent potential.

“I’ll have the Lu Village Beastmaster Squad and the Flood Dragon Squad farm Spirit-attribute awakening resources from secret realms more frequently. The resources they obtain will be used to awaken Spirit attributes in the crows.”

As to why Lu Ran didn’t start with Dark-attribute awakening, it was simply because obtaining Dark-attribute awakening resources in bulk was much harder. Spirit-attribute awakening resources could be acquired from a level 1 Hell secret realm—an easy enough challenge for those from Lu Village. This way, they could be trained while also collecting a large supply of resources.

“My king, should I leave two undead clones here again this time?” Dark Crow asked.

“Yes. Leave both undead clones behind. Have them coordinate with Manager Ying on how to cultivate this crow army. Your main bodies will enter the ascension realm with me.”

***

A moment later, Lu Ran arrived at the back mountain of Red Leaf Park. Instead of choosing Emerald Mountains as the ascension realm’s opening site, he picked this place closer to home.

More importantly, this was where he had first met Dark Crow. It held special meaning. Then, Lu Ran took out the secret realm card and activated it in the dense forest.

[Would you like to establish an ascension realm in this location?]

Yes.

As Lu Ran confirmed, the secret realm card emitted a faint glow before bursting into flames and turning to ashes. The ashes reshaped into a brand-new black card.

[Name: Exclusive Secret Realm Card]

[Description: A card tied to a Real Secret Realm. It allows a specified object to be transformed into a secret realm key. The keyholder has the authority to open and close the secret realm.]

As the key card formed, a dimensional gateway appeared before Lu Ran. Circular in shape, its surface rippled like a lake, glowing with eerie hues of black, purple, blue, pink, and white, connecting to another dimension.

“Caw!”

Lu Ran glanced at Dark Crow, who immediately plucked one of its feathers. Taking the feather, Lu Ran transformed it into the secret realm key before handing it back. From this moment on, Dark Crow had full control over the secret realm.

“Do a good job.”

With that, Lu Ran stepped into the ascension realm. It was roughly the size of a small town. Not too large, but sufficient. The newly opened realm was barren, but the density of spirit energy was remarkably high. With the right spirit plants, the environment would soon be transformed.

For instance, filling the realm with Fire-attribute plants would quickly convert it into a natural Fire-energy-rich secret realm, ideal for Fire-attribute familiars. Since this was meant for the crow army, Lu Ran would tailor it toward Wind, Spirit, and Dark attributes.

Hmm... Now that I think about it, the scenery might turn out rather terrifying.

Looking at the empty ascension realm, Lu Ran suspected that in a month, it would become a truly eerie place. For modifications, he planned to contact the professor who gifted him the Longleaf Swordgrass to seek assistance.

After a full day of preparation, Lu Ran finalized everything. He also worked tirelessly to prepare a stockpile of Dragon Cuisine and Soul Cuisine. With no further concerns, he was ready for his ascension mission.

***

“Manager Ying, I’m heading off. I’ll leave things to you.”

Before leaving, Lu Ran said goodbye to Manager Ying. At this moment, the Weather Sprite floated on its left, while a Winter Sword Spirit hovered on its right.

A newborn elemental being and a newly-born undead being perched on either side of Manager Ying’s head, engaging in some sort of bizarre cross-species conversation. One was going

Liii!

and the other

Woof!

Neither had any idea what the other was saying.

Seeing Manager Ying’s despairing expression, Lu Ran coughed and was about to make his escape when it called out.

“Hold on!”

“Huh?” Lu Ran halted mid-transfer. “What is it?”

“Take this.” Manager Ying tossed him a box and said grumpily, “It’s an Ethereal Flower, a Space-attribute awakening resource.”

“Oh? That was fast.” Lu Ran was surprised.

“Hmph. It’s rare, but easier to find compared to exclusive traits or skills suited for you.”

“This is worth more than the Queen Ant’s Egg. Want me to pay the difference?” Lu Ran said with a grin.

“No need.” Manager Ying turned away. “Gu Qingyi and I worked together to get it. I didn’t lose anything. Just make sure to help her cultivate her familiar after you return from the ascension realm. With your dragon cuisine and dragon soul cultivation method, she might even make the top ten.”

“Consider it done.” Lu Ran weighed the box before storing it in his card pouch. “Tell Dr. Gu thanks for me. Alright, I’m off. Baby Cloud, Corpse Dog, listen to Manager Ying. I’ll be back in a month!”

Ignoring the pitiful gazes of the Weather Sprite and Winter Sword Spirit, Lu Ran vanished.

***

Pedestrian A’s personal room in Limitless City #3.

This was Lu Ran’s third time entering an ascension realm. He had been looking forward to this. Walking up to the secret realm system, he activated the interface and entered the realm selection.

[Name: Ascension Realm]

[Grade: Level 2]

[Difficulty: Unknown]

[Entry Fee: 0 Crystal Coins]

[Introduction: You will enter an unknown world and undergo an ascension trial.]

“Here we go.” Lu Ran took a deep breath. “I wonder how long the matchmaking will take. At this time, there probably aren’t many people queuing for a level 2 ascension realm, right?”

Most fourth-generation beastmasters would still be queuing up for a level 1 ascension realm, or even an apprentice one. Level 2 was rare. Perhaps some third-generation or second-generation civilian beastmasters were still at level 2. But even then, finding a match would be difficult.

“Please don’t make me wait for days...” Lu Ran prayed.

[Do you want to enter the ascension realm?]

Yes.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

[Searching for a suitable ascension realm.]

[Matching.]

[Please wait.]

[Estimated wait time: 1 second.]

“Again? One second? That’s suspicious. Are there really that many level 2 beastmasters entering an ascension realm at this time?”

Lu Ran was confused.

Then his expression shifted.

[Match found.]

[Realm Type: Multiplayer, Cross-World (You have been matched with beastmasters from another world’s Limitless City).]

[Teleportation Countdown: 10...9...8...]

“Wait, what? Cross-world?”

Lu Ran stared at the words cross-world on the interface, momentarily stunned.

Fuck. Fuck!

In just a few short seconds, his brain went through a mental tornado of calculations before locking onto a few critical conclusions.

“What the hell is going on?”

Seeing the words cross-world on the screen, Lu Ran had no doubts. His mind immediately recalled the recent World War update in Blue Planet’s Limitless City.

Originally, most beastmasters on Blue Planet had speculated that the upcoming conflict would involve battling projections of powerful figures from Stellar Moon Continent’s past. But now, that assumption was completely overturned.

Perhaps, just as Manager Ying and he had speculated, Blue Planet wasn’t the only world selected by Limitless City. There was at least one other alternate world that had also been integrated into the system, granting a batch of its people the status of Limitless City beastmasters.

If that were the case, then the alternate world might very well be a modern continuation of Stellar Moon Continent. This meant that Blue Planet’s opponents were not mere projections. They were real, living people.

“Am I the only one who got matched with an alternate world’s beastmaster? Or can every beastmaster on Blue Planet match with them now? Is this all preparation for the upcoming World War? Is Limitless City using these cross-world matches to let both sides get familiar with each other in advance?

“If that’s the case, then Limitless City really is a massive, cross-world server spanning at least two entire worlds. I have no idea how strong the level 2 beastmasters from this other world are. Am I about to get completely crushed?”

Lu Ran had no way of knowing anything. If other beastmasters from Blue Planet could also match into cross-world realms, he would only find out after leaving the ascension realm a month later. The 10-second countdown was done, and Lu Ran was instantly transferred.

In the darkness, more details of the ascension realm began appearing, accompanied by floating phantom text. Lu Ran focused intently as the introduction unfolded.

[Transfer in Progress...]

[Destination: Tree World City of the Divine Tree Continent]

[Historical Context: In ancient times, this world was untamed and wild, where humans and vicious beasts struggled for survival. Through the power of beastmastery, humans quickly gained the ability to stand against these beasts.

[To strengthen their civilization, humans and beasts waged endless wars over the continent’s resources. This reckless exploitation led to severe environmental destruction, causing the extinction of many rare plant species.

[Then, one day, the world’s fundamental rules changed. On this continent, flowers, grasses, trees, and every plant suddenly gained sentience and demonstrated even greater evolutionary potential than humans and beasts.

[The number of resource-type plants drastically dwindled, while vicious plant-type beings surged in population. As these plants evolved rapidly, all other creatures, including vicious beasts and humans, became prey to the new plant species.

[To survive, some humans adapted. They discovered how to form contracts with vicious plants and transitioned into a new profession known as plantmasters. From then on, beastmasters declined, while plantmasters became the dominant force of the continent.

[Tree World City was one of the last major human strongholds. It housed numerous beastmasters and plantmasters. While beastmasters have mostly faded into obscurity, some ancient families and sects have persisted, preserving their beastmaster heritage.]

In the darkness, Lu Ran hesitated for a moment.

Divine Tree Continent... Isn’t this the world dominated by plant familiars? Did I actually enter a plant world this time?

Before he could process the implications, the ascension mission appeared before him.

[Ascension Mission: Achieve Top 32 placement in the Plant-Beast Tournament held in Tree World City.]

[Tip 1: The Plant-Beast Tournament is a large-scale competition jointly hosted by various factions in Tree World City. The participants are primarily young elites from surrounding factions. It is a key battleground where the two transcendent professions—plantmasters and beastmasters—compete.]

[Tip 2: This ascension realm is a historical projection.]