Chapter 278 - Calling a Dog a Deer

The next morning, Shi Ze came to visit Lu Ran again.

“Brother Lu, the trial permit for Death Forest has been approved. When do you think we should head out?”

Lu Ran was sitting leisurely at a stone table in the courtyard, enjoying the breakfast that the servants had brought him.

“Brother Shi, want some?”

Although this breakfast didn’t contain Culinary Intent, all the ingredients were goods, making it a unique delicacy in its own right.

“Ah, no need. I’ve already eaten.” Shi Ze politely declined.

“Then I’ll finish up quickly, and we can leave right after?” Lu Ran asked.

“Sounds good.” Shi Ze had no objections.

Lu Ran quickly finished his breakfast. He was looking forward to heading to Death Forest. After eating, the two of them made some brief preparations and set off immediately.

***

On the way, Shi Ze said, “During the next few days, members of the great clans might apply for the Death Forest trial to scout ahead. Some other participants might also use the passageways controlled by Tree World City’s great clans to arrive early and observe the environment.

“So when we enter Death Forest, we might encounter others. Brother Lu, you must be careful. Sometimes, the most dangerous things aren’t the vicious plants, but people. Vicious plants without intelligence won’t scheme against you as they act purely on instinct—following predictable patterns. As long as you understand their behavior, moving through Death Forest isn’t difficult.

“But during the preliminary round, beastmasters are allowed to interfere with and eliminate each other within the forest. So it’s very likely that some plantmasters will have the vicious plants do their dirty work. They will set up traps in advance using these terrifying plants to target other participants. This is the hardest part of the preliminaries.”

“It’s fine.” Lu Ran leaned against the carriage with a slight smile.

“Eliminating other participants during the preliminaries sounds like a great rule. Tell me, what if someone wiped out all the other participants in Death Forest during the preliminaries? Wouldn’t that mean they’d win the championship outright?”

Shi Ze was stunned. “Huh? What? How could that be possible? There are so many participants...”

“You’re right.” Lu Ran shook his head.

Honestly, that thought had just crossed his mind because doing so might earn him a high score. It would also save him time. From what he understood, after the preliminaries ended, participants had to rest for three days before the main competition began. Then, the main competition would last several more days.

At that rate, the 30-day time limit to break through the ascension realm would be completely used up. But if he ended the competition during the preliminaries and secured first place through absolute strength, wouldn’t that mean he could use the remaining time however he wanted? There would be no need to follow the tournament’s pacing.

However, Lu Ran wasn’t sure if this was feasible. If he could send out Dark Crow and use the Divine Deer pendant, there wouldn’t be any pressure at all. After all, long-range scouting plus sniping curses felt like cheating.

But since he didn’t know whether the Evil God’s power was accepted in this era, he decided to play it safe. He would only send out Captain Doofus and Sudden Death King, avoiding unnecessary risks. Two level 30 Intermediate Overlords equaled two level 40 Intermediate Kings.

The previous champion’s ace was a level 41 Superior King. It was theoretically stronger than Captain Doofus and Sudden Death King, but that was just in theory. After all, Captain Doofus had mastered Sword Domain. It couldn’t be treated as an ordinary level 30 Overlord. Once its domain activated, all vicious plants in its sight would be no different from the swordgrass.

Wouldn’t that mean that all the vicious plants would be under its control? Its combat power would skyrocket! This was the so-called plant-commanding beast! Who the real plantmaster here was is still up for debate.

“

Ahem,

Brother Lu. You sure think far.”

Shi Ze felt like Lu Ran was getting too cocky. That Overlord-rank dog was indeed powerful and could crush him, but last year, he had only ranked in the top 32 of the Plant-Beast Tournament.

The higher-ranked participants had even higher-level familiars. And in this Beastmaster Era, the strongest participants were mostly plantmasters. In an environment like Death Forest, plantmasters had a massive advantage.

“

Haha,

it was just a random thought.”

“We’re here!”

It didn’t take long for them to reach the outskirts of Tree World City. They soon arrived at the entrance to Death Forest. At the moment, the entrance was heavily guarded by the city lord’s forces. Aside from Lu Ran and Shi Ze, others had also arrived early to scout the area as expected. After Lu Ran stepped down from the carriage, he suddenly glanced in a certain direction.

“Hm?”

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

In that direction, another person seemed to sense Lu Ran’s gaze and quickly looked over. It was none other than one of the three alternate-world beastmasters Lu Ran had noticed yesterday. It was the one who looked around fifteen or sixteen years old, Yu Rui. Right now, he was standing with two others, led by a woman in a floral dress, waiting outside the forest.

“What is it?”

Noticing Yu Rui’s reaction, Jiang Ming and Liu Man also looked over, their expressions shifting immediately.

Others might not notice his modern attire due to the influence of Limitless City. However, as fellow trial participants, the two of them instantly noticed.

Was he the alternate world beastmaster Yu Rui had mentioned?

“Yo.” Lu Ran smiled and waved at them after seeing their nervousness.

He made no effort to hide his identity, but it was precisely this openness that made the two even more alarmed.

“Brother Lu, you know them?” Shi Ze asked from the side.

“We met briefly during registration yesterday,” Lu Ran replied.

“Oh, they’re with the Yang Clan and got brought here too. Looks like they have quite the background, just like you...” Shi Ze was surprised.

“Not surprising.” Lu Ran withdrew his gaze indifferently.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the woman in the floral dress spoke up with curiosity.

“Is he an acquaintance of yours? A beastmaster?”

Yu Rui shook his head and looked away. “No, but he’s definitely dangerous. Be careful of him during the tournament.”

Jiang Ming and Liu Man hadn’t expected Lu Ran to greet them so openly as if he didn’t care at all about their identities as people from an alternate world. This kind of person was either brainless or extremely dangerous.

Even though they had encountered each other, neither side had any intention of talking. Instead, they made brief preparations and entered Death Forest, each choosing a different path.

***

The deeper one ventured into the Death Forest, the more dangerous the vicious plants became. Following Shi Ze’s lead, Lu Ran encountered many common vicious plants along the way. If they ever awakened, they would only reach the Transcendent rank or Champion rank.

Lu Ran wasn’t particularly interested. He was looking for something at least on the same level as the swordgrass for Fang Lan.

“Brother Shi, take me to see the Dragonblood Willow.”

He wasn’t well-versed in poison, but he knew dragons. His first target was the Dragonblood Willow. If it awakened, it would be a good kinship lifeform for Sudden Death King since it could grow quickly just by absorbing the blood that Sudden Death King constantly lost. It was easy to nurture. But unfortunately, their compatibility wasn’t ideal, making it hard to coordinate in battle.

“Brother Lu, you’re really relaxed. Why don’t you summon your familiar for protection? If I’m the only one scouting, I feel a lot of pressure.”

At this moment, Shi Ze was leading his Moon Devourer Dog ahead while Lu Ran strolled behind him like he was sightseeing. Shi Ze’s mouth twitched.

Was Lu Ran really not worried about sudden dangers?

“You don’t understand. Summoning it would be more dangerous than not summoning it,” Lu Ran said.

With Captain Doofus’ reckless nature, Lu Ran figured that if he summoned it for scouting, the dangers along the way would double.

That mutt isn’t just quick to act but also quick to eat stuff. Back in the Beginner Trial Secret Realm, it even wanted to eat poisonous mushrooms. Months had passed, but it hadn’t really learned its lesson.

After integrating the Absolute Comprehension Trait, Captain Doofus’ perception had improved, but its intelligence had probably taken a hit. Before, at least, it knew that the Broken Horn of the Divine Deer wasn’t a sword. But now? Everything was a sword. It had traded intelligence for comprehension and combat power.

The reason Lu Ran wasn’t too concerned about danger was that, at full strength, his combat power wasn’t much weaker than that of vicious beasts. With the physical enhancements from Super Beast Mimicry, combined with the boost from Flame Spirit, he was practically a Fire-attribute vicious beast himself. He completely countered these plants.

“How does that make sense?” Shi Ze was puzzled.

Summoning it would be more dangerous?

Lu Ran chuckled and looked at him. “Because it has a death wish... Whatever, I’ll summon it. As long as I keep an eye on it, there shouldn’t be any trouble. Besides, I need to test its ability.”

Then, Lu Ran summoned Captain Doofus. He intended to have it activate Sword Domain and see if it could control the vicious plants. It would also serve as a rehearsal for the upcoming preliminaries.

“

Woo~!

”

The moment Captain Doofus appeared, its sharp eyes scanned the surroundings.

“What ability?” Shi Ze asked curiously.

“Controlling vicious plants,” Lu Ran replied.

“For real? Brother Lu, I didn’t study much, but don’t try to fool me.” Shi Ze wasn’t convinced.

Fighting with a blade of swordgrass is one thing, but a dog controlling vicious plants? That doesn’t sound reasonable. It sounds like suicide.

“Captain Doofus, give it a try. See if you can control those vicious plants.” Lu Ran pointed ahead.

Up ahead was a group of Bean Shooters, a type of vicious plant with different attributes. Some could fire ice blasts, and others could fire lightning projectiles. While they weren’t particularly powerful, their sheer numbers made them a headache to deal with.

“

Woof!

”

Captain Doofus remained calm. It was just about to activate Limitless Sword Domain to engulf the vicious plants and turn them into plant swords when it suddenly had a realization.

Do I really need Sword Domain to control mindless plants? Isn’t that a waste of energy? What a waste of talent!

Its eyes gleamed with wisdom. Another thought then struck it.

I could probably control these plants without Sword Domain. Divine Deer!

A single Broken Horn of the Divine Deer could convert the natural energy of plants into life force. Its control over nature was unparalleled. If it cosplayed as the Divine Deer, wouldn’t the plants obediently listen?

“

Huu, huu~!

”

Captain Doofus exhaled heavily, its eyes brimming with intelligence, thinking it was just too smart.

With that, two intertwining antlers, shaped from energy, quickly formed on top of its head.

I am a deer, I am a deer, I am a deer...

Shi Ze and Lu Ran were baffled.

“Brother Lu, what is it doing?”

“You’re asking me?” Lu Ran was speechless.

I told you to activate Limitless Sword Domain. Why the fuck are you cosplaying as the Divine Deer? Even if the Divine Deer is a divine beast that controls the life force of plants, a dog attempting to cosplay as it doesn’t seem...

But before Lu Ran could even finish his thought, a special aura erupted from Captain Doofus’ body. It was identical to that of the Broken Horn of the Divine Deer. A radiant golden-green light enveloped it, obscuring its original dog form. From its silhouette, it looked like an actual deer.

“Holy shit! A deer-dog?” Shi Ze was dumbfounded.

Lu Ran’s brain short-circuited for a moment.

Intent Formation? Is this a joke? It actually grasped Intent Formation? Is this because Captain Doofus has been using the Broken Horn of the Divine Deer for so long, and because it recently obtained the Absolute Comprehension Trait? Fuck

.

Lu Ran was stunned. He had misjudged things. Absolute Comprehension really was more suited for Captain Doofus!

As Captain Doofus used Intent Formation to give itself antlers and take on a deer-dog form, countless Vicious Plants around them suddenly trembled.

It was as if they had sensed an immense force. Despite lacking intelligence, they instinctively displayed submission and even attempted to offer their power!

Shi Ze and his Moon Devourer Dog stood with their jaws open, unable to comprehend what was happening. Somewhere else in Death Forest, many other vicious plants quivered as well.

Meanwhile, deep in the forest, Yu Rui’s group came to an abrupt halt, their faces shifting dramatically.

“What’s going on?”

It wasn’t just the vicious plants. The Ancient War Tree, a Low Overlord, standing beside Yu Rui, also trembled violently. It was as if it had encountered an overwhelming force. It couldn’t resist bowing toward a certain direction.

The vicious plants reacted like inferior species encountering a higher lifeform. They lost control of themselves in an instant and the forest shook.

At the same time, in the City Lord’s Mansion.

Inside a secret training room, a white-haired elderly woman suddenly opened her eyes. Her gaze was sharp as she looked toward Death Forest.

“The vicious plants... What have they encountered?”