Chapter 296 - A Drastically Changing Situation

In Pedestrian A’s exclusive room, Lu Ran stood in place and sighed. He sighed again and again. Now, he was certain that Limitless City was absolutely messing with his mind.

It happened last time too. His master, the Cult Leader, had been strengthening his soul, and before he could even confirm whether it was complete or not, he got transported back.

And now, the same thing again. A level 90 quasi-Legendary Time Dragon! Even if he had just half an hour more, he was confident he could at least pluck a few dragon scales. But no, the ascension realm ended just like that. It left Lu Ran feeling utterly crushed.

Historical projections can’t manifest out of thin air. The resources in the secret realm must have utilized some kind of power to turn illusion into reality. Constructing all of this must also drain Limitless City’s energy. By this logic, if a trial participant completes the missions given by Limitless City step by step, it falls under normal consumption.

“But if the trial participant explores the world, interacts with powerful beings, comes into contact with top-tier resources, or encounters Legendary creatures, then Limitless City’s energy expenditure must increase significantly.

“It wouldn’t be that Limitless City is purposely restricting me because it doesn’t want the hassle of recreating Legendary being projections, right?” Lu Ran muttered to himself.

If it didn’t want to, then fine. I can understand. But why let that millennia-old dragon show up at the end? Is it teasing me? What about the supposed illegitimate son privileges?

“Whatever. I’m finally back!”

Lu Ran flopped straight onto the ground, lying on the floor while staring at the ceiling. A month had passed and he had no idea what was happening on Blue Planet right now. Some of the Golden Generation must have undergone phase two evolution by now.

He sat up, left his exclusive room, and casually strolled over to Limitless City #3’s arena instead of returning to reality immediately. He looked up at the King’s Ranking Board displayed at the top.

As expected, after a month, the World War event had made massive progress. By now, several of the first-generation beastmasters had passed the preliminaries and officially become arena masters, securing their spots among the Global Top Ten Kings.

Lu Ran grinned as he scanned the ten names displayed side by side because two of them belonged to Xia’s beastmasters. It was the Old President’s ID: Respect Your Elders and Lin Nian’s ID: Psychic.

The remaining eight spots were claimed by beastmasters from eight different countries.

“Looks like Dr. Gu didn’t make it, huh? Well, no problem. Now that I’m back, let’s see if I can push her onto the board.” Lu Ran crossed his arms.

This time, without an evolution realm pressuring him, his daily schedule would be much more free. He could dedicate more time to familiar training. He planned to call Dr. Gu over and help her evolve a Dragon Overlord.

After checking the rankings, Lu Ran turned and left. He remained fully disguised, and no one realized that the fourth-generation beastmaster who had stirred up a storm on Blue Planet a month ago had returned.

During Lu Ran’s absence, the stage had clearly belonged to the first-generation beastmasters. They had first thrived in the second phase of the Evolution Realm, then rushed to challenge the Road to Kingship. Clearly, this era had nothing to do with the second, third, or fourth generations.

Moments later, Lu Ran transferred out of Limitless City. Checking the Beastmaster King Rankings was enough. There was no need to check the Heavenly Familiar Ranking because, in his storage, three Treasure Amplification Cards were quietly lying there.

Clearly, during his month-long absence, the Heavenly Familiar Ranking had settled again, and he had received three more chances to perfectly enhance his familiars.

Even though three cards sounded like a lot, considering his current lineup—Captain Doofus, Sudden Death King, Twin Dark Crows, Weather Sprite, Sword Spirit, Longleaf Swordgrass, and more—three cards suddenly felt far from enough.

***

In Lu Ran’s real-world room in Green Sea City. As Lu Ran’s figure slowly materialized and appeared, a cat head pressed against the window, peering inside.

Manager Ying was sunbathing in the courtyard. When it sensed life energy, it immediately stood up and then saw drastic changes in Lu Ran.

“Yo.” Manager Ying smacked the glass with a paw and teleported into the room, staring at Lu Ran’s weathered expression. “You’re back.”

Lu Ran smiled. “Yeah. Blue Planet still feels the most comfortable... Manager Ying, what’s been happening on Blue Planet this past month? Fill me in. I’d rather hear it from you than check the internet. There’s too much misinformation there. Your intel is always reliable.” Lu Ran shamelessly flattered Manager Ying.

It curled its lips. This guy had just returned and was already trying to mooch free intelligence.

Still, considering that Lu Ran had probably gathered plenty of secret intel from his trip, Manager Ying cleared his throat and said, “You were gone for a month. Four major events happened. Three are widely known. One is more classified.”

“Oh?” Lu Ran sat down, ready to listen.

“First, the phase two Evolution Realm situation. Just like with phase one, Limitless City rolled out two more evolution realms after the first batch. And two of them have already been fully cleared. The two beastmasters who received Evolution Blessings were the old president and a cyborg from the Eagle Federation.”

“The old president evolved the first ever Superior Overlord on Blue Planet. It was the Five-Peaks Qilin. And for the cyborg, his familiar somehow turned into a mechanically enhanced Intermediate Overlord during his phase two evolution.”

This news genuinely surprised Lu Ran. “The old president is seriously impressive. Could he be another Totemic Tribe descendant?”

“If he doesn’t say it himself, who knows?” Manager Ying shrugged.

“And that cyborg is interesting. Didn’t the Mechanical Realm’s trial participants get completely wiped out? Yet even after returning heavily injured, he still managed to cultivate a mechanical familiar and outclass all the other first-generation beastmasters in the Eagle Federation? That’s impressive,” Lu Ran mused.

“Agreed. That guy entered MIT when he was 12. He definitely has some skills. Before, his familiar training didn’t fully showcase his talent, so he seemed average. But after one trip to the Mechanical Realm, his potential fully awakened,” Manager Ying said.

“And the second event?” Lu Ran asked.

He wasn’t too concerned about the first-generation’s progress. He still had 11 months left. No rush. He’d catch up slowly.

“The second event is that the global situation has drastically changed. More and more ancient beings have awakened. The current estimate is that at least 50 of them have awakened,” Manager Ying said gravely.

Lu Ran was stunned beyond words.

“And they’ve split into two factions... One faction has dominated the wilderness like the Merfolk King of the Merfolk Kingdom, establishing itself as rulers. These beings have gathered mutant beasts awakened by the spiritual energy revival, forming powerful Beast Empires. Regions such as the Amazon Rainforest, the Sahara Desert, and Mount Everest have already been claimed as territories by Overlord vicious beasts.

“However, the other faction remains friendly toward humans just like the Guardian Panda of the Youxiong Clan. This is the only reason why the International Alliance hasn’t been completely overwhelmed by the rapidly rising beast forces.

“Hmm, the most infamous battle recently took place in Africa. A serpent that was almost a thousand-meter-long awoke in a state of extreme hunger. It devoured an entire small country, from every human to every Transcendent creature living there.

“The International Alliance sent out several first-generation beastmasters, but they failed to subdue it. In the end, they had no choice but to deploy a nuclear weapon to eliminate it.

“A person with special abilities made a prediction that within the next year, these events would occur more frequently. Ancient beings will continue to awaken.

“I’m telling you, at this rate, the disaster you dreamed of might not be far off. It may not be an all-out invasion of cities, but a few ancient beings launching sudden attacks and massacres? That’s definitely possible.

“After all, human cities are now swarming with beastmasters. Their numbers are growing, and to some vicious beasts, beastmaster flesh is an unparalleled delicacy. It’s far superior to any ordinary Transcendent beast.”

Lu Ran fell silent for a moment. “What’s the third major event?”

Manager Ying turned serious. “The third event is even bigger than the first two. Do you remember our discussion about the World War back at the cafe? A few days ago, some trial participants exited an ascension realm and brought back a terrifying revelation.

“They encountered beastmasters from an alternate world! The stellar Moon Continent is real. It is not some ancient era of Blue Planet, but the homeland of an advanced beastmaster civilization.

“That civilization has at least double-digit Legendary figures. Most likely, our upcoming opponents in the World War will be them! This information shook the entire world. If you check online right now, you’ll see heated discussions everywhere!”

“Oh.”

Manager Ying was taken aback. “What the hell is with that reaction?”

“Stellar Moon Federation beastmasters, huh? I ran into them too during my ascension realm trial.” Lu Ran looked uninterested. “Tch, and here I thought I was special. Turns out, as the World War progresses, everyone will start encountering alternate-world beastmasters.”

Manager Ying was stunned.

“The fuck? You ran into them too? The chances of encountering them are still pretty low, though! You... you... How did your ascension realm trial go? Did you clash with them? Several groups fought with Stellar Moon Federation beastmasters and got utterly crushed! Their beastmaster standards are way higher than ours.”

Lu Ran chuckled. “Hey, hey! Come on, do you really think I’d be the one getting crushed?”

“Uh. Okay, fair point. At your level, there’s probably no one stronger among your peers. So that means... they got destroyed by you?” Manager Ying guessed.

“Pretty much. I ran into three of them. One of them was the son of a Legendary plantmaster, and he had an Overlord familiar. Under normal circumstances, he could’ve been an absolute monster in the ascension realm. Unfortunately, he ran into me. Poor guy.” Lu Ran chucked. “But don’t worry, I didn’t go too hard on them. By now, they should have made it back to Stellar Moon Federation. I wonder what they’re telling their instructors right now...”

Manager Ying froze.

What kind of unlucky bastards are they?

A standard level 2 beastmaster from Blue Planet would be lucky to have a King-rank familiar. That was already considered elite within the Golden Generation as most were still at the Champion level. Yet they got matched against Lu Ran, who had four Overlord familiars?

“Since you also encountered Stellar Moon Federation beastmasters, you must have gathered a lot of information. You understand what it means for another world to exist, right?”

“Yeah.” Lu Ran nodded. “This world’s structure is way more complicated than I thought...”

Manager Ying scoffed. “You’re the one who’s complicated. You met alternate-world beastmasters and didn’t even mention it first? This is huge! Next time, report this kind of stuff to me immediately! You just casually asked me for updates, making it sound like you had a normal experience! Now spill. What exactly happened in your ascension realm?”

“Chill. There’s still the fourth piece of intel. The classified one. What is it?” Lu Ran asked.

Manager Ying hesitated for a moment.

“Recently, a space probe sent back surveillance data from the moon. Suspicious traces of Transcendent creature activity have been detected. It seems that Transcendent lifeforms exist on the moon as well. Right now, only a handful of nations are aware of this. The information hasn’t been made public yet.”

After Lu Ran heard that, he let out a breath of relief.

“If other human civilizations exist, then life on the moon isn’t surprising either. After all, to us, the Stellar Moon Federation is no different from aliens.”

“That’s a fair point. Alright, now tell me about your ascension realm!” Manager Ying said hurriedly.

Lu Ran patted his chest. “I’m a good beastmaster. But before I say anything, tell me. How are Baby Cloud and Corpse Dog doing? I didn’t sense their presence in the courtyard.”

“Bitch, if you really cared, that should’ve been the first thing you asked! They’re training the Crow Army. You can check on them later. Now, tell meee!”

Lu Ran laughed. “Alright, alright. But before I start, brace yourself.”

Manager Ying snorted. “Let me guess. You got another SSS rank, and the rewards are completely ridiculous, right? I’ve already prepared myself. Just say it.”

Lu Ran shrugged. “SSS rank was a given. But the important part is my secret realm exploration. This time, I apprenticed under a Legendary figure again.”

Manager Ying was speechless.

“Oh, and I entered the Divine Tree Continent. My new master was a Legendary plantmaster. She even gave me thousands of vicious plants to bring back.”

Manager Ying was speechless again.

It stared blankly, took a deep breath, and finally said, “Alright. That’s... acceptable. With your talent, which Legendary wouldn’t want to take you as a disciple? If I were Legendary, I’d also want to snatch you up.”

“I’m not done yet. I also got an Epic artifact. It’s the ruin space. I finally found a storage that can hold living beings. Now, I can fully implement my legion strategy! Not to mention, I discovered the location of the Death Dragon’s kin. I’m getting closer and closer to acquiring materials from the Death Dragon itself...

“But,

haah!

The time given in the ascension realm was too short! If I had more time, I might have even formed connections with a Legendary plant deity called Flower God!”

Manager Ying couldn’t say anything but, “What the fuck...?”