Chapter 388 - Temporary Return to Blue Planet

In the Slumbering Forest on the Second Continent, Squirrel God was catching up on some beauty rest when it jolted awake.

"This aura... Is the Divine Deer here?"

On that cue, Lu Ran and the Divine Deer arrived at the underground altar.

"I was right! Sister Divine Deer~!" Squirrel God’s eyes teared up as it teleported through the air to hug the Divine Deer.

Unfortunately, the Divine Deer didn’t appear as if it wanted the hug. A barrier of light appeared and blocked the Squirrel God’s advance.

Smack!

"Ow! How can you be so heartless?" the Squirrel God asked as it slid down the light barrier.

"Hey, Squirrel God! The Divine Deer wants to return to Blue Planet with me. Will the teleportation array be able to transport both of us?"

"Of course! Y’all are so lucky. If only my main body could leave this place, too,” Squirrel God lamented.

"I’ve been wanting to ask. What is your main body suppressing?" Lu Ran asked curiously.

"It’s Padilla, the Demonic Space God. Why do you ask?" the Divine Deer answered.

Lu Ran had never heard of such a creature, but it must be very powerful for it to be suppressed by a kin of the Supreme Dragons.

"In human terms, it’s essentially a real estate tycoon. There is a limit to the number of independent worlds that a world can support. Too many of them can cause the main world to become unstable. The Demonic Space God started a business where he opened and sold independent space to his subordinates. Over time, it started causing the space in the main world to become turbulent.

“At its peak, it opened over a hundred thousand secret worlds. Even the subordinates of its subordinates were buying up their own minor worlds to use as personal residences. Squirrel God tried to talk to it nicely, but they ended up in a fight.

"Because of Padilla’s powerful Space techniques, it needs to be suppressed at all times or it will escape. Squirrel God can’t step away unless the Space Dragon returns."

"I hate that damn guy," Squirrel God cursed.

In its opinion, the Space Demon God was sick. Why did it open so many minor worlds?

Lu Ran: "..."

The Legendary beings of the Stellar Moon World seemed like a chaotic bunch.

"Let's not talk about this~!" Squirrel God said, "Sister Divine Deer and messenger, I wish you a safe journey."

"..."

***

A while later, Lu Ran was back on Blue Planet after being gone for about a month. He was just in time to challenge his next ascension realm. When they appeared on the altar, they saw a cat licking its paws while looking back at them. This was the Manager Ying clone that was assigned to guard the array.

"As you were," Manager Ying said to its clone.

“Meow!”

The clone meowed before turning around.

Now that he was home again, Lu Ran felt refreshed. There really was no place like home.

"Lord Divine Deer, I remember you wanting to explore the secrets of Blue Planet. I haven't prepared a third trait for Six-Path Flower yet, so if you can give me a few days to prepare. I will contact you once I have everything ready."

"Okay." The Divine Deer nodded.

Without another word, it stepped through space and disappeared.

I'll wait for you to reach out.

Once the Divine Deer left, Lu Ran turned to Manager Ying.

"Alright, give me the usual update on what happened while I was gone."

"Yeah, yeah.” Manager Ying whipped out its phone to contact all of its clones.

"Looks like nothing major happened. A few small countries got wiped out by ancient creatures before the International Alliance could send backup. The ancient creatures seem to be getting stronger and are starting to get into conflicts with human society. It’s not a big issue, as some fluctuations in the global hierarchy don't really have anything to do with you.

"Let's get to the more relevant topics. Gu Qingyi successfully reached level 6, and Xia will become that much stronger because of her. She just came out of the ascension realm recently. Once Six-Path Flower evolves, the two of you should be able to beat the Black Dragon."

Lu Ran nodded in agreement.

"There’s also Fang Lan. She cleared the level 3 ascension realm and is now a level 4 beastmaster just like you. With the assistance of the Ten Thousand Poisons Mother Tree, she has dominated the arena. The name Five Poisons Saintess is now known internationally.

"Your Flood Dragon Squad is struggling a little. Although they’ve put together multiple teams that successfully cleared level 1 Legendary realms, they still haven’t been able to clear a level 2 one. They’re stuck, and there’s really nothing we could do about it because the bosses are on a completely different level.

"Your master, Jiang Dou, entered his level 1 ascension realm and has yet to return. Xia Ri successfully birthed a weapon spirit from the spear you gifted her. She seems to have pretty good potential as the spear allowed her strength to skyrocket. You have a good chance of winning that bet you made with the president of the Eagle Federation.

"Your Mystic Turtle has been slacking off lately. It hit a bottleneck and decided to give up. It pretty much retired and is enjoying itself in its territory. Your deep-sea project is probably dead."

"I see." Lu Ran didn't blame Mystic Turtle in the slightest. Its base strength was simply too weak.

"I'll call the old president first after I leave," Lu Ran said to himself as he stepped off the altar.

In a well-known mountain range of Xia, a muscular old man was doing some one-finger push-ups. He had lost count of how many he’d done long ago, and the ground beneath him was completely soaked in his sweat.

Hu! Hu!

The old man panted as he concentrated on his training when a monkey brought him a phone.

"Really? I finally get two days off, and these people can’t give me a break?"

The old president jumped up to his feet and reluctantly took the phone. His expression changed once he saw the caller ID.

"Are you back, Lu Ran?"

"Yes, we’re back. I have successfully opened up a beastmaster space, but it may take some time to research how to help others do the same."

He planned on using Super Beast Mimicry to study the beastmaster space within himself so that he could reverse engineer the method of creating it. If he was having any issues, then he could always consult the Divine Deer.

"I also brought the Mechanical creature that you asked for."

"Good, good!" the old president praised. "Thank you for your hard work. I don't even know how to reward you for such a great contribution. What do you want?"

"Hmmm. There’s nothing in particular... Wait. I originally asked Principal Shi Zhen to help me collect amplification cards. Can the government chip in and help me collect some as well? I also need Treasure-grade resources that improve comprehension. I will probably need a batch of them to study cultivation methods."

Amplification cards were an important strategic resource. No matter what his plans were, Lu Ran’s consumption of them was bound to be high.

"That's not an issue. What else do you want?" The old president didn’t hesitate at all.

"That's it. I don't need anything else for now, but I will let you know if that changes. Oh, where should I drop off the Mechanical creature I brought back? It’s inherently a King-ranked creature, so we need to make sure it goes to the right beastmaster. Does Xia have a talented researcher specializing in Mechanical creatures?"

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

The old president thought about it for a moment before replying.

"This specific area of research isn’t as advanced in Xia. Contracting it to a researcher would be a waste. Xia needs to develop its capabilities with the Mechanical attribute. Right now, it needs to guide us rather than us guiding it. We just need to choose a beastmaster that is guaranteed to stay loyal to Xia and has decent growth potential.

“Its research value should correspond to its level. Low-level researchers definitely aren't a good fit. Ideally, we pick one of the Zodiacs. In my opinion, you should contract it since you were the one to obtain it. Although your level is not the highest, your growth speed should allow you to catch up with the first generation very quickly. This way, you don’t have to trade the familiar for an IOU.

"There are a few of the Zodiacs that should have spare contract cards, but you’re in a different situation. You have just opened a beastmaster space, so you should have plenty of room to contract more familiars, right? What do you think?"

"Why is it always me? I’m sick of babysitting!"

"

Haha,

what’s the problem? Not only can a Mechanical familiar help advance Xia’s technology, but it can also help you discover the secrets of the human body. It is definitely faster than studying some cultivation methods on your own. The familiar could essentially serve as your research assistant."

Lu Ran was shocked by the idea.

Why didn’t I think of that? If I had an assistant to study beastmaster skills, then it would save me a lot of trouble.

Although he had body control skills, not all data collection was intuitive. If he had a Mechanical familiar helping him with physical exams and drafting reports, it would make the process much easier.

No matter how strong he was, there was no way he could outthink a computer.

"That makes sense. I'll give it a shot, but it’s a pity."

"Why?"

"I already used the Absolute Comprehension trait."

Lu Ran now kind of regretted giving it to Captain Doofus. It was obviously more suitable for a Mechanical familiar. An alternative would be to transplant Captain Doofus’ brain into a robot, but it was better not to mess around with that.