Chapter 398 - The Empire’s Six Paths and Eight Divisions

“But what do you mean by the Dog Secret Realm being a good fit for us? Could there really be specialized dog-type resources?” Lu Ran expressed dissatisfaction with Manager Ying's explanation.

Manager Ying rolled its eyes. “Have you forgotten? According to the intel, among the twelve Mythical secret realms of Stellar Moon’s Limitless City, the Xu Dog God wields the power of wind and is also the God of Wind. Among the twelve Zodiac Gods, it’s the only one that controls wind energy, so it’s bound to drop Wing-attribute resources.

“Your dog has the Wind attribute. No matter what, it’ll definitely benefit. Besides, compared to thieves like the Rat God, which steals possessions and memories, the Wind Dog God is relatively less harmful to challengers. It just enjoys extracting and eating the challengers’ bones.”

Lu Ran rubbed his chin and glanced at Six-Path Flower beside him. “Six-Path Flower doesn’t have bones, so this is a harmless boss. Fine, fine. I’ll talk to Six Flower. Get those resources to me as soon as possible.”

***

Lu Ran hung up and turned to Six-Path Flower, shrugging. “No luck. Still couldn’t find a suitable trait for you. Let’s just challenge the Mythical secret realm. And here’s the thing... Can we prioritize realms that match the attributes of Captain Doofus and the others?

“Each familiar can only clear a Mythical secret realm once. If you pick the Grass-attribute Goat Secret Realm, the resources dropped might strengthen you, but you won’t be able to challenge other Mythical secret realms right away.

“My idea is to let you, the stronger one, boost the weaker ones. First, you help conquer challenge realms suited for Captain Doofus and the others, and then we use the resources to strengthen them. After that, they’ll be qualified to challenge Mythical secret realms. Finally, they can tackle realms suited for you. This way, the resources circulate efficiently.”

“I don’t care,” Six-Path Flower spoke indifferently.

To be honest, as a Low Legendary being itself, it wasn’t particularly interested in resources dropped by Zodiac Gods of the same rank. What intrigued it more was the idea of using the Beast Path to strip these gods of their sentience and turn them into puppets—if they weren’t mere illusions but actual living beings.

“Great! It’s settled then!” Lu Ran grew excited.

No one has ever conquered a Mythical secret realm before. What kind of rewards will it drop? Will there be Legendary-grade resources?

***

Not much later, Manager Ying returned to the Beastmaster Empire, bringing the two traits it had acquired. First was the Attribute-Switching Trait, which allowed the user to switch their attribute based on the resources they carried, gaining control over the corresponding elemental energy.

The second was the Star Stone Trait. This trait enabled the creation of an organ capable of devouring meteorites, transforming the user into a space creature with a body sturdy enough to traverse the cosmos.

Lu Ran immediately fused the traits with his two familiars. Unfortunately, despite fusing with the Attribute-Switching Trait, Baby Cloud remained a Superior Overlord. Similarly, Sudden Death King, an Intermediate Overlord, showed no species rank improvement after fusing with the Star Stone Trait.

It seemed that once familiars reached the Overlord rank, further species advancements couldn’t rely solely on traits—evolution was the only path forward.

“The new species talents are decent, though.”

After fusing with the trait, Baby Cloud gained the talent Subtle Influence. If the user maintained an attribute state they didn’t naturally possess for an extended period, there was a slight chance of permanently acquiring that attribute.

For example, if Baby Cloud lacked Earth or Rock attributes but carried corresponding resources to maintain a dust cloud state, it might naturally awaken this form over time.

Sudden Death King’s new species talent after fusion was Meteorite Perception, which initially seemed underwhelming as it was merely the ability to locate meteorites. It was almost like a food-finding talent. However, upon closer inspection, Lu Ran realized its potential.

If the meteorites were of low quality, the talent would be useless. But on Blue Planet, there existed an extremely unique type of meteorite called the Nine-Colored Meteorite, which had triggered the planet’s spiritual energy revival.

Even fragments of this Treasure-grade meteorite could directly elevate a familiar’s level, indicating the immense energy they contained. Yet, since these fragments had fallen into the ocean, they were nearly impossible to find. Lu Ran had collected fewer than five fragments despite working with Mystic Turtle for so long.

This revelation excited him. It meant Sudden Death King could dive into the ocean alongside Mystic Turtle to search for more fragments. With enough fragments, they might eventually reconstruct the complete Nine-Colored Meteorite.

Moreover, if Sudden Death King consumed something capable of triggering a planet’s spiritual revival, something great could happen. Lu Ran was eager to find out. However, with so few fragments collected, he decided to wait until they had more before experimenting.

“For now, let Mystic Turtle continue exploring the ocean. After this trip, we’ll bring it back to the empire for rewards. In the empire’s six paths and eight divisions, Mystic Turtle will belong to the Ocean Exploration Division, under Dr. Gu’s jurisdiction.”

The Beastmaster Empire had now been divided into six paths and eight divisions.

The six paths were as follows. First, the Celestial Path, which managed the empire’s guardian deities, was directly overseen by Lu Ran. Currently, the only guardian deity was Six-Path Flower. Lu Ran hoped to recruit the Divine Deer as another guardian deity someday. Though that would only happen if he could offer something enticing enough to avoid being beaten to death.

With multiple Legendary guardians, the empire’s prosperity would far surpass that of the historical Stellar Moon Empire, which lacked Legendary beings. Even now, despite the empire being a fledgling state with no human inhabitants, the presence of Six-Path Flower had already elevated the imperial seal to Epic grade.

Next was the Mortal Path. This path managed the empire’s civilian beastmasters and population. Since there were no humans in the empire yet, this division remained leaderless.

What followed was the Asura Path. It was the empire’s military force, composed of fierce warriors and plants selected from the Amazon’s hundred beasts and plants. It was thusly named the Asura Legion and served as the empire’s guardian army. However, recruitment hadn’t begun due to the empire’s infancy. In the future, Six-Path Flower would oversee it directly.

The fourth path was the Beast Path. Beasts that defied or rebelled against the empire, or those deemed guilty, would have their consciousness erased by the Six Paths Reincarnation God, becoming puppets and slaves to build the empire. Six-Path Flower would also manage this directly.

Then, it was the Hungry Ghost Path. Beasts that died in service to the empire could be transformed into the undead to maintain the hell created by the Six Paths Reincarnation God. Six-Path Flower would oversee this.

Last was the Hell Path. The empire’s most unique location would be fully controlled by Six-Path Flower. It would serve as an energy domain for judging sinners and facilitating reincarnation.

The six paths formed the empire’s core. It was mostly managed by Lu Ran and Six-Path Flower. Meanwhile, the eight divisions were as follows.

Firstly, the Intelligence Division. This division was responsible for scouting and gathering necessary intelligence, led by Manager Ying.

Secondly, the Archaeology Division. Blue Planet still held many local Mythical secrets, some even the Divine Deer found intriguing. Given the old president’s expertise, Lu Ran reserved this division for him, who had unearthed Epic materials like the Kunpeng Feather.

Thirdly, the Medical Division. The Amazon Rainforest housed the world’s richest and most diverse biological resources, including countless undocumented species. This division would develop miraculous medicines—curative or lethal—under Fang Lan’s management.

The rainforest teemed with toxic flora and fauna, such as the Brazilian Wandering Spider, an ancient Overlord and one of the world’s most venomous spiders native to South America.

Fourth was the Breeding Division, also known as the Education Division. Currently, most Amazon beasts were subjugated by force, which was unsustainable long-term.

Lu Ran planned to establish the Hundred Beasts Academy in the rainforest to educate the offspring of high-level beasts from a young age to instill loyalty to the empire. He hadn’t yet decided on a suitable manager for this division.

I can’t just drag Principal Shi Zhen here, can I?

Then, it was the Foreign Affairs Division. This division handled diplomacy between the Beastmaster Empire, human nations, and other beast empires, sparing Lu Ran from micromanaging every interaction.

Sixth was the Resources Division. The Amazon’s abundant resources, many of which were scarce elsewhere, would be managed and traded with human and beast nations for mutual benefit.

Next was the Construction Division. The empire couldn’t remain a primitive rainforest forever. So, this division would plan and develop areas for human habitation and departmental operations, blending natural advantages with national infrastructure.

Lastly was the Ocean Exploration Division. While the Amazon was enough to occupy them for now, Lu Ran looked to the future. With most land already claimed by humans, expansion into the ocean was inevitable.

Dr. Gu’s Azure Sea Dragon was set to inherit the black dragon’s dragon pearl and was destined to become an ocean Overlord. Given Dr. Gu’s experience managing marine regions in Xia, Lu Ran planned to recruit her to lead this division. He also hoped to eventually assimilate the Merfolk Kingdom by leveraging Dr. Gu’s contract with the mermaid princess.

“I’m such a genius.”

After another bout of narcissism, Lu Ran prepared to return to the Stellar Moon World.

Meanwhile, Fang Lan in Green Sea City and Gu Qingyi in Mystic City received mysterious invitation messages from Lu Ran. Both women fell silent.

Lu Ran: Greetings, I am the emperor of the Beastmaster Empire. The empire never fell. I’ve rebuilt it in the Amazon Rainforest. I urgently need personnel to help manage the empire and stabilize its operations. You can fly here on your familiars if needed. I’ve sent the coordinates. Upon arrival, I’ll assign ancient Overlords as your subordinates, putting you in command of a hundred beasts!

Fang Lan and Gu Qingyi were confused when they saw the text.

A scam message?

However, when they checked the sender’s number and contact name... it was Lu Ran!