Chapter 356 - History of Rampaging

What happened?

The Six-Path Flower asked when it saw Lu Ran suddenly stop.

"Nothing, it’s just that I once practiced cooking here and now it’s in ruins. Let's keep going."

As Lu Ran’s party continued on, a giant pupil formed in the skies over Ningchuan and stared down onto the creatures scrambling about below.

***

"Is everything done?"

"Yeah, it was pretty easy!"

"It’s all thanks to Queen Six Paths’s training," Dark Crow flattered from Lu Ran’s shoulder.

Hmph.

The Six-Path Flower flat out ignored it.

I still prefer your unruliness from when we first met.

After more than half a month being together, Dark Crow finally grew on the Six-Path Flower once it proved its strength.

The Six-Path Flower’s training regimen for Lu Ran’s familiars wasn’t simply about controlling the core Overlord abilities. It also used its Mortal Path Pollen to help Dark Crow learn Anatomical Curses.

Turning a man into a woman was considered an Anatomical Curse. Such curses could also be used to give the victim an extra eye or mouth. Even miscarriages fell into this category.

Going down a darker path, Dark Crow could combine Anatomical Curses with the Pig Transformation Curse and make someone pregnant with a piglet. Of course, that was getting off topic a little.

The most important thing was that Principal Shi Zhen’s Sex Change Curse finally had a cure.

This made Dark Crow admit that the Six-Path Flower was truly almighty. At the moment, Dark Crow was flattering the Six-Path Flower nonstop because it wanted to learn its Death Intent.

Dark Crow believed that if it could combine the Death and Curse attributes then it would unlock the ultimate curse. It could kill someone with just a glance.

The only one that was still acting rebellious was Captain Doofus. It had racked up a large number of grudges against the Six-Path Flower. It constantly wanted to demolish the Hell Path.

"We’re here."

After flying for a while, the team finally reached the territories of the Ape Empire. The Six-Path Flower detected a strong life force the moment they arrived, which it assumed to be the Ape God.

At the moment, the rulers of the four beast empires and the guardian beasts of the Beastmaster Empire maintained a delicate balance. Neither side was willing to take the initiative and launch an attack. As such, the Ape God could never predict that a level 4 beastmaster would bring a level 99 quasi-Legendary onto its home turf.

After Dark Crow completed its initial reconnaissance, Lu Ran didn’t expect the situation to be worse than Ning Chuan City. There were skulls piled into hills, and bones carpeted the ground like grass. Corpses were littered everywhere. Flesh was rotting into a homogenous layer of mud that gave off a repulsive stench.

The sight made Lu Ran physically ill. In addition, in this huge mountain range, Lu Ran also sensed many surviving humans, who should be the "fresh reserve food" stored by the Ape Empire.

"Our first priority should be to save people."

Lu Ran took a deep breath as the Six-Path Flower slowly emerged. It didn’t take human form this time. Instead, it chose to appear in its true form and floated in the air.

"Alright."

As soon as it said that, the trees surrounding it wove together to form a herd of Wood Asuras. Soon, there were hundreds of them of varying shapes and sizes. Some had three heads and six arms with the ability to breathe fire, while some had four arms that looked like they could tear apart mountains.

The appearance of the Asura horde threw the Ape Empire’s camp into chaos as the soldiers were scared out of their minds. Before they could even react, the apes that were known for their cruelty encountered a far greater evil.

Roar!

A level 60 Overlord ape was instantly obliterated by a single palm from one of the Wood Asuras.

The Wood Ashuras’ primary objective didn’t appear to be slaying enemies. They swept through the apes like they were ants and marched towards the stone prisons to rescue the dying beastmasters within.

None of the beastmasters taken prisoner were below level 5. Although they were all seriously injured, they were still awakened by the commotion. Looking at the Wood Asuras breaking into the prison, they couldn’t understand what was happening.

"I am a disciple of Emperor Yun. I’ve come to destroy this empire and save you all."

In order to garner the cooperation of the prisoners, Lu Ran broadcasted his voice across the entire area. The prisoners were a little bewildered at first, but once they heard what Lu Ran said, they became even more confused.

"The disciple of Emperor Yun?"

One of the Legendary beastmasters slowly raised his head with a puzzled expression.

He was one of the leaders of the Beastmaster Empire’s Tianxuan Army that was defeated and taken as a prisoner of war. Because of his power, they intended to offer him up to the Ape God. The old man originally didn’t have any hopes of surviving but he was suddenly faced with a band of jailbreakers that had penetrated deep into the Ape Empire. The whole situation was incomprehensible to him.

The Ape Empire was guarded by a level 90 Ape God. Escaping wouldn’t be easy even if Emperor Yun came personally. Who was this guy fella claiming to be the emperor’s disciple? Why had he never heard of the emperor taking in a disciple before?

The old man was a unique case but most of the people couldn’t even react before the Wood Asuras grabbed them. Once the Asura made contact, they injected life force into each of the beastmasters, allowing them to heal quickly. Once they were done, the Wood Asuras took to the air.

The sight of the huge Wood Asuras in the air made the beastmasters exchange looks of disbelief.

While they didn't have a clear grasp of the situation, they were still happy to be rescued. That only lasted for a moment before a terrifying aura spread out from the depths of the mountains.

Roar!

The deafening roar shook the heavens and earth. It carried an oppressive rage that made the surround mountains crumble.

The resulting dust storm swept out in all directions. The beastmasters trembled as they looked towards the source of the roar.

[Species: Earthen Ape God]

[Attributes: Earth, Rock]

[Species Rank: Superior Overlord]

[Level: 90]

A huge silhouette dozens of meters high appeared in the smoke that continued to grow bigger and bigger. Soon, it had reached a height of several hundred meters, depicting a beast that could trample anything below its feet.

Its scarlet pupils flashed from within the dust cloud as its voice boomed like thunder.

"You are a disciple of Emperor Yun? Are you here to seek death?"

The Ape God looked like an ordinary brown ape but gave off a suffocating aura. By now, the beastmasters had finally realized who had come to rescue them. They saw a young man in a black brocade attire standing on a dragon. He had an elegant air about him.

"Sister Flower, all I ask for is an intact corpse. I need the resources."

Facing the Ape God, the young man maintained a calm demeanor while everyone else’s jaws dropped.

Before they could react, they found themselves in a terrifying hell. The ground was soaked in blue blood, and the sky turned a dark red. Lu Ran appeared as if he were standing in an underworld palace. The Ape God was also dragged into this space and hacked into countless little pieces, blood raining down where it once stood.

This made Lu Ran’s jaw drop in shock as well.

Is this... the Hell Path Domain?

"Weak," the Six-Path Flower said dismissively.

Did Lu Ran think that the Hell Path Domain illusion it prepared for their training was the fullest extent of its power? I bet he doesn’t doubt whether I can single-handedly defeat the Four Great Beast Empires anymore.

In the Blade Mountain Hell, the Ape God was completely torn apart and turned into an assortment of resources. Flesh, fur, organs...

Lu Ran took a deep breath as the word “Treasure” continuously popped up in front of his eyes. There were even a few “Epics”, peppered in there. He did his best to maintain his composure.

While Lu Ran was able to remain calm, no one else was. The Ape God lost its physical body, but its consciousness still existed. It, along with the other beastmasters, felt an explosion go off in their heads.

"You..." An incredulous voice came from the Ape God’s ripped-off head.

"I already said that I came to destroy the Ape Empire. You, as its master, are just the beginning. If you really want to blame someone, then blame yourself for provoking a species that you shouldn't have."

[Name: Heart of Earth]

[Grade: Epic]

[Description: Consuming it will enhance the user’s Earth attribute power, allowing them to become an Earth Overlord.]

As expected, an Overlord dropped an Epic-grade resource. The effect was pretty self-explanatory. Its main advantage was that it contained higher-purity energy.

Holding the best drop from the Ape God, Lu Ran had a blank expression on his face.

This is probably the worst Epic-grade resource in existence.

"You, go spread word of what happened here to help boost the empire’s morale," Lu Ran instructed the rescued beastmasters. This way, his master could quickly start preparing his reward. He was promised ten times the normal reward after all!

The beastmasters stared back at Lu Ran as if he were a god.

***

A day later, while Lu Ran was invading a different beast empire, news of the Ape Empire incident spread throughout the entire Beastmaster Empire as if it had wings. Naturally, most people regarded it as a rumor.

However, in Imperial Beast City, Emperor Yun’s expression changed when he received the news, and he burst into laughter.

"Hahahahahaha!”

Others didn’t believe it, but he knew better. As someone who had intimate knowledge of Lu Ran's true background, Emperor Yun had a better understanding of the situation than anyone else. It was definitely Senior Six-Path Flower who took action.

"What a glorious victory! Quickly, announce it to the empire!"

Emperor Yun was excited, knowing that this was just the beginning. The war that had plagued the empire for many years had an end in sight.

But soon, he was worried again.

Damn, I promised Lu Ran ten times the military merit!

Lu Ran would successively destroy the Four Great Beast Empires. He would rack up enough military merit to become the emperor. Multiplying it by ten made Emperor Yun almost lose his mind. He thoroughly regretted opening his mouth and talking so big.

***

“Emperor Yun’s disciple, descendent of the Yan clan, invaded the Ape Empire and slew the level 90 Overlord Ape God in a single move.”

The supposed rumor began to spread again once it was endorsed by the royal family. Beastmasters of Imperial Beast City were the first to receive the news.

The senior members of the Yan Clan all crowded around Lu Ran’s residence. They were all shocked to find the room empty.

"Where is Yan Lu?"

"What's going on? What's going on with the information coming from the military and royal family?"

Ancestor Yan Xiao, the family head, was also amongst the crowd. He didn’t have any idea of what was happening.

"Follow me to the palace."

Yan Xiao felt that his head was about to explode as he dragged Yan Feng toward the palace to get a clear answer.

Are they dreaming? What a joke. Let's forget about Lu Ran disappearing to the front line for now. He is a level 3 beastmaster, but he killed the level 90 Overlord Ape God in one shot? That would be impossible even if the Lava Cataclysm Beast took action.

***

The thirteen trialists received their results for the ascension mission. Most of the beastmasters who failed had already left to explore the ascension realm, hoping to make up for some of their losses.

The Golden Generation siblings from Blue Planet were in a particularly good mood. The Stellar Moon Federation’s beastmasters that they got matched with this time were pretty weak. Jialan completed the mission and won second place by simply contracting a Superior King.

That’s also what made Jialan sure that Lu Ran won first place. He most likely contracted an Overlord! Having connections with the royal family would make contracting an Overlord an easy task.

Jialan was devastated when he thought about Lu Ran getting another Overlord familiar and leaving them further behind.

Then, the news of the emperor’s disciple achieving a great victory broke. He did so by slaying the ruler of the Ape Empire. The trialists were unanimously stunned.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"The historical events have gone off script again! Wasn't the Ape God killed by the Starwing Butterfly eight years into the future? The Ape God dying earlier is one thing, but what’s all this about the emperor’s disciple and Yan family descendant? Isn’t he a trialist?”

"Fuck, who is this guy? Is he from Stellar Moon or Blue Planet?" Many trialists were speculating. This was a level 3 ascension realm. If they told others about what happened once they left the ascension realm, no one would believe them!