Chapter 310 - Legend’s Apostle

"Yes, quite a few actually,” Lu Ran responded.

"Why can't the humans from Blue Planet open a beastmaster space like those from the Stellar Moon Continent..."

This question had plagued Lu Ran for a while. In fact, multiple countries around the world had been trying to answer the same question as well, ever since they found out that beastmasters from the Stellar Moon Continent didn’t have contract cards.

The Divine Deer calmly answered, “The humans on the Stellar Moon Continent are more advanced. The humans we brought here were primitive and still not fully evolved. You can think of the beastmaster space as a species talent. It’s something unique to highly evolved humans.

”Natives from Blue Planet just aren’t at the level where they can master the ability just yet, while those from the Stellar Moon Continent have long since reached that stage.”

Lu Ran’s mind was in turmoil. “Is there a way for us to evolve, then?”

“I don't know, but my real body may be able to help you evolve using its power as a Legendary creature. As for other methods, you would have to look into it yourself.”

Lu Ran was majorly disappointed. The Divine Deer was completely unhelpful.

"Lord Divine Deer, if I ever find my way to the Stellar Moon Continent, would you help me create a beastmaster space?"

The Divine Deer took a moment to carefully consider his request. “Being able to obtain my blessing and awaken a special ability means you're one of the most talented on Blue Planet. Are you willing to become my apostle?”

Lu Ran was surprised by the offer. The Divine Deer wasn’t aware of it, but Lu Ran had been masquerading as its apostle for a while already. Nevertheless, now that an opportunity came for him to become its real apostle, Lu Ran didn’t rush to agree.

"Lord Divine Deer, can I ask what responsibilities I'll have as your apostle?"

“The Supreme Divine Dragons created the world and maintained the balance of life and death. Now that they have disappeared, the stability of the Stellar Moon Continent is threatened.”

"Is there a threat of foreign enemies?" Lu Ran inquired.

“The internal strife alone has risen enough to become an existential crisis. Over the countless years, many new Legendary creatures have come into existence and constantly compete with each other for resources. Their conflicts often wreak chaos across the continent, leading to major disasters.

“Moreover, the ocean and land gods have territorial disputes, while plant and animal gods have racial conflicts. On top of that, totem gods also compete with each other for faith.

“As a follower of the Divine Dragons, my duty is to help maintain balance in the world in their stead. If they were still here, they could have easily quelled all the conflicts around the continent. Without them, no one is strong enough to suppress the Legendary creatures.

“As my apostle, your mission is to become strong enough to one day help me suppress those Legendary beings.”

Lu Ran shivered.

I’m still far from reaching the Legendary rank. It’s too early to be talking about suppressing them.

After a second of hesitation, he readily agreed.

"I am willing to become your apostle. I wouldn't be where I am today without the broken horn you left behind. When I reach the Legendary rank, I will gladly share your burdens. I won’t falter come hell or high water."

He wasn’t daunted in the slightest. As the most promising beastmaster of Blue Planet, he was confident enough to become a god like the Legendary figures from the Stellar Moon Continent.

The Divine Deer nodded. “Good. I shall wait for you on the Stellar Moon Continent. Although the power remaining in this clone isn’t enough to help you open a beastmaster space, it’s still enough to help you in some other way.”

"Wait, Lord Divine Deer, how do I get to the Stellar Moon Continent?"

The Stellar Moon Continent seemed like it was in an entirely different world. It could very well be located on a distant planet.

Do I have to contract a familiar capable of space travel and search the galaxy?

“Apart from me, other followers of the Divine Dragons have come here as well. They should have set up a teleportation array somewhere on the planet. All you have to do is find that array.”

Its antlers then began to glow, and Lu Ran’s body lit up in response.

Feeling a cold touch, Lu Ran froze. He could clearly feel his beastmaster skills becoming more powerful.

[Name: Kinship]

[Description: Allows a familiar to contract up to two kin. When acquired, depending on the familiar, the kin will receive a bonus in power, talent, or bloodline. Kins can also perform fusion skills with the familiar they are contracted with.]

[Special effect: Kins are considered extensions of the familiar and can share the same beastmaster space.]

What?

“As a kin of the Life Dragon, I have a certain understanding of the Kinship skill. I noticed that you had it, so I helped improve it. It is now at least twice as effective as before. I hope this helps you rise to power more quickly.”

Lu Ran didn’t know what to say. The new and improved Kinship skill was an unexpected windfall. The new effects were mind-shattering. Besides the sword spirit, Captain Doofus could now also contract the swordgrass.

The addition of a second kin wasn’t even the best feature. The special effect made the kin an extension of the familiar, essentially considering them as one entity.

He didn’t have a beastmaster space, so did that mean up to three creatures could share the same contract card?

Contract cards were technically a substitute for beastmaster spaces!

This could be a workaround for the Limitless City issue.

Lu Ran's heartbeat began to rapidly speed up. The sword spirit being unable to enter Limitless City was proof that there were flaws in the system. If the flaw could be resolved, then the number of creatures he could contract would go up exponentially.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Lu Ran immediately thanked the Divine Deer. Although he hadn’t become proficient enough with the skill to help his other familiars contract kins, it was definitely in the works.

Plip, plip!

The weather sprite was also very excited, clearly looking forward to when it would be able to have kin of its own. It even began to like the Divine Deer a lot more.

Plip, plip!

The weather sprite nudged Lu Ran to remind him that he had forgotten something important.

Lu Ran didn’t forget, but he had already received so many things from the Divine Deer and even gotten appointed as its apostle. Since he hadn’t done anything for the Divine Deer yet, he was kind of embarrassed to ask for more. Lu Ran was thick-skinned, but he still had to draw the line somewhere.

However, the Divine Deer seemed to have read Lu Ran’s mind. “What else do you want? Go ahead and tell me.”

"My lord, the main reason I followed the deer spirits here to find you is that...” Lu Ran went on to explain the situation with the Black Dragon King.

The Divine Deer shook its head. “I don't have that much power left; the faith energy is only enough to temporarily awaken my clone and pass some benefits on to you. This clone will dissipate soon, so I'm afraid you will have to handle this yourself.”

"I understand."

Although it couldn't help, Lu Ran wasn’t too discouraged. He didn't put all of his hopes on the Divine Deer in the first place.

If Manager Ying could be counted on, then the Black Dragon King threat could be considered resolved.

The Divine Deer looked at Lu Ran again and thought for a moment.

The Blue Planet human cub looks unreliable. Although his talent is outstanding, his personality leaves much to be desired. It may be due to his age and lack of experience. I hope he'll be mature by the time he arrives in the Stellar Moon Continent.

It didn't have much hope for Lu Ran. It simply invested in him to hedge its bets since the four Legendary beastmasters currently on the Stellar Moon Continent were only on equal footing with the Legendary creatures. Suppressing those creatures was out of the question.

***

The gate collapsed as soon as Lu Ran walked out of the Divine Deer’s secret realm.

"Humans on Blue Planet and those from Stellar Moon are different, huh? How incredible."

Having gained so much important information from the Divine Deer itself, Lu Ran could already imagine Manager Ying falling into his grasp.

The intel he now held was priceless.

The problem was that Manager Ying was working as an intelligence broker to buy resources so that its main body would reawaken.

Once it succeeded, it wouldn’t bother with work anymore.

"It could’ve done anything, but it chose to become an intelligence broker. It must be related to its instincts. As they say, curiosity kills the cat. It should be easy to manipulate," Lu Ran carefully analyzed.

After notifying everyone that needed to be up to date, he called Dr. Gu to give her a heads-up that the Divine Deer wasn’t able to help. She wasn’t surprised by the outcome.

—Manager Ying's main body awakened and is currently recuperating. Everything is proceeding smoothly on our end. You should come in person to check on the crow situation.

“Okay,” Lu Ran responded.

The crows were supposed to be their main force against the Dragon Palace. With a big enough murder of crows, Lu Ran could annihilate Dragon Palace with a glance from Green Sea City.

The crows were of great strategic value. They were a bit tough on the eyes, but with the Divine Deer pendant, that won’t be an issue.

"Before I put Dark Crow to work, I should check the effects of the Kinship skill."

Once Lu Ran hung up, he returned to the ruin space.

At this moment, Captain Doofus and Sudden Death King seemed to have reached a truce. Sudden Death King was napping in a crater while Captain Doofus was sprawled out on its back with its legs sticking up in the air.

Lu Ran took out the contract card to recall the still-possessed Captain Doofus.

He was shocked to see that both Captain Doofus and Corpse Dog entered the contract card together.

They really were considered one entity!

[Species: Sword-Domain Dog]

[Attributes: Wind, Ice]

[Species Rank: Low Overlord]

[Level: 34]

The information on the contract card showed Captain Doofus’s information as usual, but it had new lines below it as well.

[Kin: Winter Sword Spirit]

[Attributes: Undead, Ice, Space]

[Species Rank: Intermediate King]

[Level: 25]

The information about the duo appeared on the same card! Limitless City likely wouldn't have an issue recognizing the updated Kinship skill.

"We’re unstoppable! Now, we need to find out if kin can also fuse traits and evolve like normal familiars."

Lu Ran was so excited that he couldn't help but immediately plan to awaken the swordgrass’s conscience and have Captain Doofus contract it so that it could dual-wield. There had never been any records of three familiars being recognized as one!

Unfortunately, none of them were very high level. He would have had Captain Doofus take a stab at the Black Dragon and shock the world otherwise. Since that wasn’t an option, he could only leave it for when he competed for a spot among the top ten of the world.

At that moment, Lu Ran suddenly thought of a name for the swordgrass.

Since it was Captain Doofus’s second kin and Corpse Dog's brother from another mother, he decided to name it... Dogtail Grass[1]!

1. Green foxtail is actually called dogtail grass in Chinese. ☜