Chapter 489 - Turns Out We Still Have to Milk the Divine Deer (Part 1)

Blue Planet, Limitless City, Private Room.

As soon as the time limit for the ascension realm expired, Lu Ran returned. In the room, Lu Ran held the imperial seal and scanned it with his Eye of Detection.

[Grade: Epic]

Although it was still the Epic grade, he could sense that the seal’s enhancement effects were noticeably weaker than they had been in the ascension realm. This meant that after the Bai Ze’s projection disappeared, it had been removed from the Beastmaster Empire.

Not only that, but because the Dream God’s consciousness inside it had vanished, its effects were also much weaker than before entering the realm.

Of course, with the Divine Appointment supplementing it and the possibility of rebinding it to a new Legendary creature, its effects might recover. All in all, it wasn’t a loss. The only thing to worry about was the black moon mark on the back of his hand.

No matter what, he’d find a chance to ask the Divine Deer if there was a way to purify it. Even if purification wasn’t possible, this mark also served as a trap for the Dream God in Lu Ran’s eyes.

As long as he was strong enough, the Dream God would come and never leave. The key was still strength.

“This secret realm trip was quite fruitful. Quite fruitful, indeed~!”

While Lu Ran was staring at the black moon, Manager Ying’s clone emerged from the beastmaster space, licking its paws contentedly.

Although it hadn’t expected Lu Ran to hand over all the resources he’d obtained, given that he’d relied on his identity as the Time messenger to secure the help of Squirrel God and the Divine Deer, it wasn’t too much to ask for at least one Legendary resource. Besides, if it grew stronger, Lu Ran’s Beastmaster Empire would also benefit. It was a win-win.

“Yeah, quite fruitful.”

Lu Ran put away the imperial seal, no longer dwelling on the black moon mark, and cheerfully began organizing his gains.

The Nine-Tailed Fox Heart was a Legendary Spirit-attribute resource. Consuming it guaranteed the acquisition of quasi-Legendary telekinesis, with a small chance of obtaining Legendary potential. It was a fantastic item.

The Nine-Tailed Fox Soul was already absorbed to create a soul clone. The bones, flesh, and other organs could be fed to Dark Crow to boost its level.

The corpse of Zhu Yan was a level 100 Low-Legendary combatant. If the rules of the World War permit its use, the combination of Six-Path Flower controlling Zhu Yan would leave Lu Ran feeling virtually unbeatable. If the rules forbid it, keeping it as a trump card to counter potential threats would still be ideal, such as against that troublesome Dream God or future battles with the God of War.

The only drawback was that Zhu Yan’s corpse wasn’t something just anyone could control. Currently, within Lu Ran’s team, only Six-Path Flower’s Beast Path talent could manipulate it. Even Dark Crow’s Spiritual Speech power failed to command Zhu Yan’s corpse.

Until a better method of utilization is found, this remained Six-Path Flower’s exclusive asset. Otherwise, Lu Ran could leverage it alongside other familiars to conquer more Mythical secret realms. For now, Zhu Yan’s corpse was similar to a bomb. Within Lu Ran’s team, only Six-Path Flower could wield it effectively. Any other familiar attempting to use it would only end up harming themselves.

The Qiong Qi’s entire body had been used as fertilizer for the Hell Path by Six-Path Flower. According to Six-Path Flower, digesting the evil energy from the Qiong Qi would significantly boost its power, providing an abundant source of evil energy for high-cost ultimate moves, even allowing it to briefly rival Intermediate Legendaries without worrying about energy depletion.

The Taotie’s Stomach was a Legendary resource, along with the Taotie’s bones, flesh, and remnant soul, used primarily to enhance digestion. Lu Ran planned to give all of it to Manager Ying to help it break through to Legendary.

With the Taotie’s power enhancing digestion, it could fully absorb the Nine-Tailed Fox Heart to gain Legendary potential, then consume the remnant soul of the Time-attribute god, ultimately propelling it to a breakthrough. If three Legendary resources still couldn’t get it to Legendary, Lu Ran could only conclude that it was beyond help.

You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs.

Now, he just had to pray that Manager Ying would step up, break through to Legendary, and carry him while also boosting Baby Cloud, Dark Crow, Six-Path Flower, and #18.

As for the Flower of Time, since it wasn’t mature yet and forcing its growth would take who knows how long, Lu Ran decided to save it for #18 to awaken Time-attribute enhancements for its heroic spirit powers.

“Let’s go and head out. I should have already calculated the time and be waiting for you outside.”

“Got it.”

As soon as Manager Ying finished speaking, Lu Ran teleported back to reality. Sure enough, just as it had said, a large cat was waiting for them outside.

“

Oh,

back already?”

The two cats locked eyes, and their memories instantly synchronized. Immediately after, Manager Ying’s main body began twitching uncontrollably, while its clone fell into deep thought.

“Timekeeper... Ancient Blue Planet... Suicide... Blood extraction? What the hell?”

“Frozen Emperor... Elemental Era... Legendary Conqueror... Damn, Lu Ran’s in trouble.”

It was clear that they were both stunned by the sheer volume of intel. However, the more shocked one was undoubtedly the main body.

Damn it, I knew this kid wasn’t simple!

Just one trip to Limitless City, and he somehow landed himself such an insane identity? Truly, the favorite son of Limitless City.

Lu Ran stretched lazily. “Alright, enough pondering. Manager Ying, you need to decide. Do you want to wait until I master Time Culinary Intent and can cook Legendary dishes before attempting your breakthrough, or should I just give you the Taotie’s Stomach, Four Seasons Goddess’ remnant soul, and Nine-Tailed Fox Heart right now so you can try to evolve to Legendary in one go?”

“Wait, WHAT? You’re giving me all three Legendary resources?” Both Manager Yings stared at him in disbelief.

Lu Ran grinned. “Yeah, why not? Without you, I wouldn’t have gotten any of this. Taking a fair share is only right.”

Manager Ying was still floored.

This doesn’t sound like Lu Ran at all.

“Did Six-Path Flower’s virtuous energy subtly change him?” It was moved.

Good Six-Path Flower. You’re the best sister.

“I can’t wait. I want them NOW! Who knows how long it’ll take for you to master Time Culinary Intent and cook Legendary dishes? With the Taotie’s resources ensuring perfect digestion of Legendary nutrients, that’s more than enough. I’m not greedy enough to demand cooking-enhanced value beyond 100%.”

Lu Ran scratched his cheek. True, mastering culinary arts to the point of amplifying Legendary resources’ nutritional value could take more than a few months. If he were in its place, he’d be impatient too.

“Besides, wasn’t the Four Seasons Goddess’ remnant soul obtained by Squirrel God? I’ll consume one now, and if you manage to get another later, you can cook that one.”

“Right—wait,

huh?

I thought you were against eating souls?” Lu Ran was taken aback.

Manager Ying’s face darkened. “This is for YOUR sake!”

Lu Ran scoffed. “Go on, then. Entertain me.”

Manager Ying scoffed. “Do you know what major events have happened this past month? Let’s just say your plan to dominate the World War isn’t as foolproof as you thought.”

Lu Ran calmly sat on his throne, crossed his legs, and sipped some homemade fruit wine. “Did something happen in Stellar Moon?”

Manager Ying nodded. “First, the three powerhouses of Stellar Moon, Mechanical Leader, Divine Throne, and Sprite Queen, have all broken through to Epic-Legendary. That’s not the main issue, though. The real concern is that the Mechanical Leader cleared a Mythical secret realm!”

Lu Ran stiffened. “That’s impossible! Don’t tell me he cultivated a Legendary mechanical lifeform. He’s only level 8. Even with Limitless City’s help, that’s impossible unless he’s also got Daddy Limitless City on his side and is my long-lost brother. And even if he did, clearing a Mythical secret realm isn’t something a newly minted Legendary can pull off.”

Having challenged Mythical secret realms multiple times, Lu Ran knew their difficulty all too well. Six-Path Flower had relied on millennia of combat experience and Primary Divine talents to clear one.

Sudden Death King had been beaten to a pulp despite possessing Low-Legendary combat power. Captain Doofus had only succeeded thanks to beastmaster skill enhancements and the combined efforts of three top-tier kins.

Lu Ran wasn’t saying only

he could clear Mythical secret realms, but based on the Mechanical Leader’s known achievements, it was implausible.

Is there intel I was missing?

He turned to Manager Ying.

“There’s no concrete evidence the Mechanical Leader has a Legendary mechanical lifeform, but he’s already displayed a quasi-Legendary one. My guess is he relied on external forces to clear the realm.”

“External forces... Yeah, that’s the only explanation.” Lu Ran pondered.

That makes the most sense!