Chapter 277 - The Overlord’s Advantage

Lu Ran stayed at the Shi Clan’s residence, where they provided him with fine food and drink. The Shi Clan took his matters seriously. That very day, the second elder of the Shi Clan personally took a carriage to the plantmaster clan, the Teng Clan, in Tree World City to inquire about the awakening process of the Longleaf Swordgrass.

Meanwhile, the third elder of the Shi Clan immediately went to the City Lord’s Mansion to request early access into the Death Forest for Lu Ran.

That night, the Shi Clan hosted a banquet in Lu Ran’s honor. During the banquet, he met more members of the younger generation of the Shi Clan, including the cousin that Shi Ze had mentioned...

However, despite the Shi Clan’s clear intention of matchmaking, this wild and untamed young woman barely paid any attention to Lu Ran. Unlike the Shi Clan elders, who eagerly sought to curry favor, she simply ate her meal and left without a second thought.

In truth, not everyone had the mindset to fawn over a beastmaster with a strong background. Lu Ran actually liked people like that, because he also lacked that mindset. As he ate, his mind had already drifted to the thought of becoming the disciple of a legendary plantmaster.

The fastest way to master the cultivation of plant lifeforms was undoubtedly to become an apprentice of a legendary expert. It was just like when he had once become the apprentice of a legendary necromancer and became the Holy Son of the Undead Cult. Because of that, his understanding of the Undead attribute had instantly surpassed Blue Planet’s knowledge by a hundredfold.

The same logic applied here. If he could become the city lord’s disciple, his exploration of this world would advance.

“Brother Lu, my cousin is just like that. Don’t take it personally. By the way, your familiar is of the Wind and Ice dual-attribute, right? I’ll send over its meal later,” Shi Ze said, raising his wine glass in an attempt to toast Lu Ran, who held a glass of orange juice.

“Cheers.” Lu Ran downed the orange juice in one gulp.

***

After returning to his residence, Lu Ran was soon visited by the Shi Clan’s second elder, accompanied by Shi Ze. First, they delivered some rare meats and vegetables suitable for Wind-Ice attribute dog familiars. Second, they brought him an important piece of intelligence.

The thin second elder sat in a chair, looking at Lu Ran. “Little Brother Lu, I have news!”

“Let’s hear it.” Lu Ran’s eyes lit up.

Shi Ze, standing beside them, also perked up his ears.

“It is said that in the distant west, there is a city comparable to Tree World City. It is known as Ten Thousand Leaves City. In this city, there exists a plantmaster clan known as the Ji Clan. They specialize in contracting swordgrass as their main plant familiar! If you want to know how to awaken the swordgrass, they might have some answers.”

“How far is Ten Thousand Leaves City from Tree World City?” Lu Ran asked.

“If you travel day and night on a Wind-attribute flying familiar, it would take just under half a month to reach,” the second elder replied.

Lu Ran was taken aback.

Forget it. I don’t have that much time!

“Aside from this information, the Teng Clan also gave me a theory. They believe that to awaken a plant, it must first have an optimal growth environment. Second, its innate trait must be honed to its absolute limit!”

“What do you mean?” Lu Ran asked.

“For example, you uprooted the swordgrass. Although you preserved it with special methods, since it has been removed from its original habitat, it will be difficult for it to develop intelligence. Furthermore, every plant has its own trait. Take the Dragonblood Willow, for example. Its trait is that it absorbs dragon blood to grow quickly and robustly.

“Thus, for a Dragonblood Willow to develop intelligence, it must be nourished with a large quantity of dragon blood. Similarly, the trait of the swordgrass is its razor-sharp blade that can cut through anything. Therefore, the Teng Clan speculates that for the swordgrass to awaken intelligence, it must slash through an enormous number of living beings or anything else.”

Lu Ran fell into deep thought. This theory aligned with the second awakening method that the Shi Clan had mentioned earlier. Different plants had different awakening conditions. For the swordgrass, outsiders speculated that its condition was cutting.

However, what it needed to cut seemed to be the key. Just like how the Dragonblood Willow required dragon blood, pig blood or dog blood was completely ineffective. And just like how his dog’s sword spirit had to continuously slay spirits to accelerate the birth of its soul, simply cutting rocks or trees wouldn’t work.

So, did this mean that the swordgrass also needed to cut specific things? What would it be? Animals? Plants? Souls? Metal elements? Although he had no idea what it needed to cut, nor whether this method was even correct, the Shi Clan had provided him with a new line of thought.

Moving forward, he could test it out by letting his swordgrass cut a variety of strange and unusual things to expand its career prospects.

As for its growth environment, Lu Ran believed that the Sword-Nurturing Pot was excellent. After staying inside for months, the swordgrass had not withered but had instead grown even sharper. It was literally a sword-forging pot.

Lu Ran hadn’t even used the Spirit-Converting Pot to preserve the freshness of food for ages. Of course, this was also because he was wealthy now and could buy fresh food directly, reducing his reliance on the pot.

After thanking the Shi Clan’s second elder, the elder took his leave. However, Shi Ze lingered behind, smiling at Lu Ran.

“Brother Lu, do you think those rations will be enough? I’ve never raised an Overlord familiar before, so I have no idea about its appetite.” Shi Ze gestured at the crates of rare beast food that had been delivered to the courtyard. “If it’s not enough, I can send more.”

“This is plenty. I also have a large supply of food stocked up,” Lu Ran said with a smile, not paying much attention to such a small matter.

Shi Ze sighed. “Brother Lu, raising an Overlord familiar must be incredibly expensive, right?”

The higher the species rank and the higher the level of a familiar, the greater its dietary needs. Ordinary people simply couldn’t afford to raise one. Without proper nutrition, a familiar’s level wouldn’t improve, and in battle, it might be too weak from hunger to fight effectively.

By comparison, plant familiars had a massive advantage over animal familiars. They could root themselves in fertile soil, absorb sunlight and water, and survive just fine.

“It’s not too bad. As long as you’re strong enough, earning resources is fairly quick,” Lu Ran said.

“That makes sense. Brother Lu, I heard that Overlord familiars can modify their bodies and enhance their bloodline. Is that true?”

Shi Ze’s eagerness to engage with Lu Ran clearly stemmed from his curiosity about Overlord familiars.

“Hmm... That’s true. But these abilities must be developed by the familiar itself. For example, my dog familiar is still young, so it hasn’t learned them yet.”

“It’s true?” Shi Ze’s eyes lit up.

The King-rank species had an innate aura of dominance that could easily suppress any weaker minds around them. But Overlord species were even more extraordinary. They weren’t just masters of elemental energy—they also had complete control over their bodies.

Overlord species were the pinnacle of adaptability. If they desired flight, they would rapidly grow wings. If they needed to resist the cold, their bodies would swiftly grow thick, insulated fur. They were, in essence, nature’s perfect organisms.

Beyond that, they had an even more terrifying ability. They could enter hibernation at will to conserve stamina and slow their life force depletion. Thanks to this, an Overlord could sleep for hundreds of years without issue.

Many ancient creatures from Blue Planet that had survived to modern times were Overlords, precisely because of this ability. Lu Ran’s own familiars—Sudden Death King, Dark Crow, and Captain Doofus—had only recently evolved into Overlords.

They hadn’t even fully mastered energy techniques yet, so he hadn’t rushed them into exploring their true Overlord abilities such as body control. But in the future, he definitely planned to develop them.

For instance, Sudden Death King’s body was massive. This meant that even simple daily activities like sitting down to watch a movie consumed an enormous amount of energy.

If it weren’t for Lu Ran and Limitless City, which provided unlimited resources, even finding food would be a struggle. Most of its time would have to be spent dormant just to survive. So, Lu Ran hoped that in time, his familiars would learn to shrink their size. Keeping their bodies small in daily life would preserve stamina.

Then, when battle began, they could return to full size and unleash their maximum power. This would significantly expand their mobility and efficiency.

“That’s amazing.” Shi Ze sighed. “I wish my Moon Devourer Dog could evolve into an Overlord already! I really want it to grow three heads.”

Lu Ran was taken aback.

“Didn’t you say your dog had the bloodline of the legendary Moon Devourer? Why are you suddenly evolving it into a three-headed dog?”

Shi Ze grinned. “You really believed that? There’s no way it actually has the Moon Devourer bloodline. That was probably just our ancestors hyping it up. A real legendary beast cub would at least be quasi-Legendary in species rank, right? Even if its bloodline was diluted, it’d still be an Overlord-rank species.

“But our family’s dogs were all cultivated from Transcendent-rank species. If they were actual descendants of the Moon Devourer, they’d be doing way better than they are now. As for a three-headed dog, doesn’t that sound awesome? We beastmasters should make our familiars as unique and powerful as possible!”

“Well... that’s not wrong...” Lu Ran’s mouth twitched slightly.

Most evolutions had a clear purpose. For example, a wolf evolving into a werewolf was meant to enhance its combat proficiency and weapon usage.

But this guy just wanted a three-headed dog for the aesthetic. I didn’t notice it before, but this guy is definitely the rich landlord’s foolish son.

“Anyway, enough about that.” Shi Ze handed Lu Ran a book. “I found the books you wanted. It’s getting late, so you should rest.”

Shi Ze soon left, and Lu Ran lay on his bed, yawning as he flipped open a book. More specifically, it was a plant encyclopedia. Now that he was on the Divine Tree Continent, he had to quickly absorb new knowledge. Although he had studied some of this before, those records were too limited in scope. The information he needed wasn’t always universal.

These vicious plants’ abilities are way more complex than animals.

Lu Ran turned the pages, intrigued.

For example, he read about a vicious plant called the Parasitic Mushroom. Any lifeform that touched it would soon find mushrooms sprouting from their body. These fungi would drain their life force and grow rapidly.

He also saw an entry on Bone-Melting Grass. It was a bone-dissolving nightmare. If eaten, it would rapidly liquify the bones of any creature. Even the hardest skeletons would be powerless against its effects.

If these vicious plants gained intelligence, their abilities would be practically unstoppable. It was no wonder animals had become prey in this world. Then, he suddenly stopped flipping pages.

Wait a second! These plant abilities are practically curses! Could I extract their core abilities and turn them into actual curses?

As Lu Ran skimmed through the encyclopedia, a new idea formed in his mind.

If Dark Crow could analyze soul bones and unlock the Pig Transformation Curse... Then, could it also analyze these vicious plants and convert their bizarre abilities into curses?

Right now, compared to Captain Doofus’ overwhelming offense and Sudden Death King’s indomitable defense, Dark Crow was lacking in direct combat techniques. If it could gain a variety of strange and unpredictable curses, then even if it wasn’t as strong as its opponent, it could torture them into despair through sheer trickery.

This secret realm is incredible. I should find some vicious plants for Dark Crow to study. Come to think of it, the Absolute Comprehension trait might be perfect for Dark Crow as well...