Chapter 290 - The Legendary Ruin

Divine Tree Continent, Azure Domain.

Unlike the scattered cities spread across the Divine Tree Continent, the Azure Domain was the core and most prosperous region of the continent. It was home to level 8 plantmasters. Its status was equivalent to Imperial Beast City, the capital during the Beastmaster Empire Era of Stellar Moon Continent.

The Tree Monarch’s ruin was located within the Azure Domain. After confirming their plan to challenge the Tree Monarch’s ruin, the Legendary City Lord of Tree World City and Abundant City, Ye Ying, and Tian Qianmo, brought along their respective disciples to expand their horizons and undergo training.

Above the vast blue sky and endless sea, a green flying vessel soared at high speed. Onboard were City Lord Ye, City Lord Tian, Lu Ran, and Gu Yu. This flying vessel was actually City Lord Tian’s plant familiar.

It was a transportation-type plant familiar specialized in carrying passengers. Riding it felt even smoother and more comfortable than a passenger jet. Inside the wooden cabin of the vessel, Lu Ran sat for a while before feeling restless. He decided to visit his master.

“Master.”

“Ran’er, what is it?”

“Master, just call me Lu Ran.” Lu Ran grimaced. “Being called Ran’er feels strange.”

“What?” City Lord Ye frowned.

What’s strange about it?

“Are you looking down on me?”

She could sense Lu Ran’s discomfort with the name.

“Of course not! It’s just a cultural difference as I’m not used to it. Even calling me grandson would feel more natural.” Lu Ran looked at the elderly woman in front of him.

For a moment, she reminded him of his grandmother. The one who used to boil beast milk for him and cared for him in every way. To be honest, Lu Ran felt incredibly lucky. Both his sect master and city lord master were kind and devoted to their disciples.

Even though City Lord Ye had only recently accepted him, she had already made efforts to visit a Legendary clan just to help him find a way to awaken the swordgrass’ intelligence.

“Alright, alright. If you don’t like it, I’ll stop. I only called you that because Senior calls her disciple that way.” City Lord Ye waved her hand. “So? What do you need? You just advanced to level 3, yet instead of stabilizing your realm and developing your abilities, you keep wandering around.”

Lu Ran grumbled internally.

I’d love to stabilize my realm too. The problem is that I don’t have a beast space to cultivate in. In fact, in just a few days, Dark Crow will reach level 40, and I’ll be able to enter my next ascension realm for another perfect breakthrough.

“Master, I heard that you were originally a beastmaster but later switched to the plantmaster path. There’s also a rumor that you’ve always wanted to take in a beastmaster disciple to inherit your clan’s secrets. Is that true?”

City Lord Ye was momentarily stunned. Then, she sighed.

“That’s not just a rumor. Let me guess. Did Master Tian tell you this?”

“Yeah. In my early years, I did have that thought. When I was young, I became the sole survivor of my family due to certain events. I should have passed down my clan’s beastmaster techniques. But in the end, I chose the plantmaster path instead. After achieving Legendary, I indeed considered taking in a beastmaster disciple to inherit my clan’s techniques.

“But I didn’t want to accept just anyone, so I kept postponing it. Then you appeared. When I first saw your remarkable beastmaster potential, I was tempted. But after thinking carefully, I gave up on the idea. You were raised in Beastmaster Lodge. You’ve probably been exposed to the most powerful beastmaster techniques out there.

“The skills of my clan aren’t anything special. Forcing you to learn them would only waste your energy and delay your proper training. It’s better to let it go.” City Lord Ye shook her head.

“Master, unless you plan to take in another disciple, then you should teach me. Even if your skill isn’t useful to me, as your disciple, I should at least inherit something from you. Even if I can’t master it, one day, when I take a disciple of my own, I might be able to pass it down,” Lu Ran said.

Lu Ran wasn’t interested in City Lord Ye’s beastmaster techniques. First, he probably couldn’t learn them. Second, even if he could, the Beastmaster Research Institute had an endless supply of Rare techniques. And on top of that, he had already looted countless techniques from the Undead Cult.

He only brought it up to make his master happy. Even though he knew this was all an illusion, during his time in the secret realm, these illusions were indistinguishable from real people. They had real emotions.

By expressing a desire to inherit her clan’s techniques, at least City Lord Ye wouldn’t feel like she had taken in a disciple for nothing. If a kind lie could bring her joy, then it was one of the few things Lu Ran could do as her disciple.

“You? Taking in a disciple?” City Lord Ye chuckled.

Lu Ran is barely an adult, and he is already thinking about taking a disciple? Isn’t this too soon?

“Master Tian must have put this idea in your head. Don’t worry about it. It’s just a common beastmaster technique. Whether it’s passed down or not makes no difference. But it’s rare to see someone with your mindset. Fine. If you ever find a suitable candidate, help me pass it down.” City Lord Ye smiled and took out a skill manual, tossing it to Lu Ran.

[Beastmaster Skill: Sealed Transformation.]

Lu Ran read the title but he couldn’t tell what it was.

City Lord Ye explained, “Sealed Transformation allows you to seal your familiar’s power, putting it into a sealed state. In this state, your familiar’s appearance changes drastically, becoming much weaker.

“But during this sealed state, your familiar is accumulating power. The moment the seal is lifted and it transforms back, it will experience a massive power surge. It will become far stronger than usual. Basically, you trade a weaker everyday form for a stronger combat form.”

Lu Ran was stunned. “Isn’t that really powerful?”

City Lord Ye shook her head. “On paper, yes. But during the sealed state, your familiar is truly weaker. Many talented members of my clan died in emergencies because their familiars were too weak in the sealed state. They didn’t even have time to release the seal before disaster struck.

“True experts don’t shackle themselves like that. The unsealing process takes time, and in a real crisis, even a split-second delay can be fatal. This skill is great for pretending to be weak, but if you pretend for too long, you might actually become weak.

“For most beastmasters, it’s better to develop a power-boosting skill instead. Such skills may consume stamina, but they offer more tactical flexibility in battle. I never liked this skill’s design, which is why I didn’t refine it further.

“If you hadn’t asked, I wouldn’t have bothered teaching it to you. But it’s still a skill that has been passed down for centuries in my clan. My feelings about it are complicated.”

After City Lord Ye finished explaining, Lu Ran put the manual away and smiled.

“Don’t worry, Master. I’ll study it when I get back. Even if I can’t learn it, I’ll find the right disciple to inherit it.”

“Just don’t waste too much time on it.” City Lord Ye reminded him. “Not to mention it only works on beast familiars. It has no effect on plant familiars. I even tried modifying it, but their fundamental mechanics are too different.”

“I understand, Master!”

***

After flying for some time, Lu Ran and his group finally arrived in the Azure Domain. In the Divine Tree Continent, Legendary experts were considered walking natural disasters. As a general rule, whenever a Legendary expert entered another’s territory, they would announce their arrival in advance.

The Tree Monarch’s ruin was an exceptionally important ruin. Although the Tree Monarch’s dying wish stated that anyone could challenge it, an organization still existed to guard and manage challengers.

“The founder of the plantmaster faction that governs the Azure Domain was supposedly one of Tree Monarch’s suitors. He rooted himself here to guard the Tree Monarch’s ruin and to find a worthy inheritor. And yet look at what happened.

“That suitor is long gone. His descendants have reached level 8. But to this day, no one has ever cleared the Tree Monarch’s ruin.”

As Master Tian stood at the front of the flying vessel, she casually gossiped with Lu Ran and Gu Yu.

“It’s only natural that a prodigy like the Tree Monarch had many suitors.” Gu Yu sighed wistfully. “It’s such a shame. A Legendary figure like her passed away before the age of thirty.”

“The biggest mystery is how she died. Perhaps if someone ever succeeds in inheriting her legacy, they might finally uncover the truth.” City Lord Ye spoke calmly as she glanced at Lu Ran. “At the Tree Monarch’s peak, she was said to be able to fight against Legendary creatures. Don’t underestimate her.”

Unlike outsiders, City Lord Ye was well aware of Lu Ran’s capabilities. She knew that Captain Doofus possessed the ability to mimic Legendary creatures. But mimicking was still just mimicking. The Tree Monarch was said to be capable of battling true Legendary creatures. She wouldn’t be defeated so easily.

“Understood.” Lu Ran nodded.

As they continued talking, the flying vessel approached Tree Monarch City. This city had been specially constructed to commemorate the Tree Monarch. Her legendary feats had been immortalized throughout history.

During her lifetime, she had founded cities for refugees, slain countless vicious beasts and plants, and earned widespread admiration. Even now, many cities still worship statues of her.

Naturally, the site of her Legendary Ruin couldn’t be ordinary. Ahead, there was a massive tree that pierced through the clouds, towering over the city. Just as their flying vessel approached, a figure radiating immense pressure appeared in front of them.

“Are you the city lord of Tree World City and the city lord of Abundant City?”