Chapter 494 - The Traumatized Ancient Beastmasters (Part 1)

The four ancient beastmasters, Drought Demon, Demon King, Medusa Queen, and Snow Maiden, had all been gathering intel since they reawakened. They had mostly caught up with everything that happened since the reappearance of Limitless City and had a good understanding of modern society. They were both happy and concerned by Blue Planet’s current power.

Their main concern was that Blue Planet was too weak. There was only one beastmaster known to have cultivated a Quasi-Legendary familiar. On top of that, there were only a handful of level 6 beastmasters, and no level 7s. Compared to what they knew about Stellar Moon, the difference was like heaven and earth. As things stood, Blue Planet didn’t stand a chance against Stellar Moon.

The four of them were aware that they weren’t the most powerful beastmasters of their time, and were lucky to survive by receiving the blessing of powerful creatures that were dying. Perhaps it was all ordained by fate, but even with them on board, it would be hard to defeat Stellar Moon in the upcoming World War.

This made them very worried. The World War was a huge opportunity, but the rest of the team was dragging them down. They couldn’t carry the entire team and beat ten enemies between the four of them. However, they still had two months to prepare, so they wanted to give it a shot.

The good news was that they were the most powerful group on Blue Planet, so they could monopolize the resources, and no one would be able to object.

Medusa Queen, who wore an ancient Greek dress, smiled at Lu Ran.

"Auntie, you have a good eye.” Lu Ran wasn’t daunted in the slightest.

"You’re the number one on Blue Planet right now. Once I beat you, you can just challenge someone else to get your spot back. Don’t tell me that you’re afraid."

The other three watched from the sidelines as Medusa Queen taunted Lu Ran. They all wanted to stand at the forefront of the modern world, and being high-level wasn’t enough to garner the support of the International Alliance. They had to publicly demonstrate their power.

Lu Ran was a super genius who was currently the center of attention, making him a prime target. The others clearly approved of Medusa Queen’s strategy.

"I believe there’s a saying that goes ‘the nail that sticks out gets the hammer.’"

Off to the side, the current president of the Eagle Federation, Oub, leaned against a tree while fiddling with a gun. He glanced at the four ancient Quasi-Legendary familiars. The weakest one of them was the level 73 Quasi-Legendary Snow Goddess. It was more than enough to suppress all the current beastmasters.

Lu Ran only reached level 6 recently, so even if he had a Quasi-Legendary familiar of his own, it would be at least ten levels behind. Lu Ran might have a powerful Time beastmaster skill, but these ancient beastmasters must have their own trump cards.

Has Lu Ran finally met his match?

Having these ancient beastmasters on our side is definitely a win for the Blue Planet team.

Most people were happy that the ancient beastmasters reawakened since the World War was a team event, but if they ultimately lost the battle, then they were better off without them. Regardless of the outcome, Limitless City granted rewards to the top ten beastmasters of their world leading up to the battle. The four newcomers meant more competition.

While the beastmasters of various countries had their own thoughts, the Xia beastmasters were mostly unperturbed. The old president, Gu Qingyi, Shi Zhen, Lin Nian, and others calmly watched Lu Ran to see what he would do. Unlike everyone else who thought Lu Ran’s trump card was a Quasi-Legendary familiar, they knew that he had the Low-Legendary Six-Path Flower! If that flower took the stage, then these ancient beastmasters wouldn’t stand a single chance against him.

The only thing was that it was up to Lu Ran whether he wanted to expose his ace this early. Even if he didn’t want to do it right now, he could still challenge one of the Ten Kings from the other countries.

"Okay. I accept your challenge, but I have a condition."

"What condition?" Medusa Queen showed a curious expression.

Does he have the courage to negotiate?

"The four of you hail from ancient times and technically don’t have citizenship with any modern-day nations. How about this? If you lose, all four of you will join a country of my choosing. Of course, if you win, then my country will do its best to support you in whatever you want to do. What do you think?"

"Huh?"

Medusa Queen was stunned and turned to her teammates to see what they thought. They all nodded, indicating that they were ok with the arrangement. Xia was currently the largest country in the world, but at their level, how could any one country hope to contain them? However, a country could be very useful in helping them deal with some mundane tasks. Either way, they wouldn’t lose out. Of course, this was all predicated on the fact that they were confident that Medusa Queen would win.

“We agree.”

Once both sides came to an agreement, the members of the Ten Kings from other countries silently cursed him for being so sneaky. Whether Lu Ran lost or won the battle, he would still be able to build a closer relationship with the ancient beastmasters.

"Okay, I hope you keep your word."

Lu Ran smiled, knowing that people assumed that he was trying to recruit them for Xia, but they couldn’t be more wrong. These four had no affiliations, so he absolutely had to bring them into the Beastmaster Empire. If they became citizens of Xia, then officials and powerful individuals would definitely try to get some benefits from them and hinder their growth. The best decision was to make them citizens of his Beastmaster Empire to keep them motivated and under pressure. This way, they could continue to grow rapidly.

By now, twenty to thirty people had gathered in King’s Domain. The crowd was excited to see who would win: The modern-day top beastmaster or the ancient powerhouses? While the excitement continued to build, the countdown for the fight began.

[Defender: Pedestrian A]

[Challenger: Medusa Queen]

[Battle rules: 3V3]

The system announced the terms of the fight as they appeared on the big screens. The beastmasters outside who were just tuning in were still somewhat confused, but news quickly spread about the four ancient beastmasters.

"Are they like that Ice Emperor in Stellar Moon?"

"Damn, that is incredible. I was worried that we wouldn’t be able to beat the Stellar Moon World, but now we should have it in the bag. They only have one ancient beastmaster while we have four!"

"I was wondering why their familiars didn’t make the Heavenly Familiar Rankings, but it turns out that they all have Quasi-Legendary familiars!"

"Why aren't they eliminating the weaker Kings? Viktor from Gaul would probably surrender without putting up a fight at all. They should get rid of him."

All the major Limitless Cities were filled with discussions about the challenge while Medusa Queen seductively stepped onto the battle stage.

"Although it's 3v3, I only have one familiar. While the two of us managed to survive, all of my other familiars have since died. I’m a level higher than you, so I can fight you 1v3. This way it could be close to a fair fight."

Lu Ran stepped onto the stage to face her.

"Can I ask you a question? How did you manage to survive from ancient times? From what I know, that guy from Stellar Moon was able to live so long because he contracted a Legendary Ice familiar. Along with resources prepared by his sister, he was essentially able to put himself in cryogenic hibernation."

Although Blue Planet’s history does go as far back as Stellar Moon’s, it should still be too long for anyone to survive through. Lu Ran stared at his opponents with a burning curiosity.

"Well, it’s not exactly a secret," she replied while pointing at her familiar.

The monster at her side was a humanoid with purple skin and snakes for hair.

[Species: Medusa God]

[Attributes: Spirit (Dark, Rock)]

[Species Rank: Quasi-Legendary]

[Level: 74]

"The four of us are all teammates who challenged secret realms together in ancient times. When spiritual energy began to wither, everyone was looking for ways to save themselves. Some creatures were already coming up to the end of their lifespan, so they decided to give up and pass away peacefully. The four of us got lucky during an expedition where we found a dying god. We built a strong rapport with it and received its blessing, which is why we were able to survive."

"I see. Well, I won’t bully you, so I will also only send out one familiar."

Fwip!

Lu Ran threw out a contract card that embedded itself in the ground. A summoning diagram lit up, and from it, a mechanical angel donning a white lab coat emerged. It had a pair of white wings along with blue hair and red eyes.

"Huh?" #18 looked around before pointing at itself in confusion. "Why me?"

#18 gave Lu Ran a blank stare.

The crowd was equally confused. What the hell was Lu Ran planning?

[Species: Mechanical Angel]

[Attribute: Mechanical]

[Species Rank: Superior Overlord]

[Level: 64]

#18’s information was worlds apart from the Medusa God’s, whether it was species rank or level.

"Is that Lu Ran's new Mechanical familiar?"

"I think he got it from his last ascension realm. It’s pretty cute!"

"A mechanical angel..." Oub's expression stiffened with jealousy.

Damn you! How did you get such a cute mechanical familiar?

"The mechanical angel is unquestionably strong, but does Lu Ran want it to fight the Medusa God? It doesn’t stand a chance, right? He just said he wanted to 1v1 her. He has his own Quasi-Legendary familiar, so he should be well aware of the power gap between Quasi-Legendaries and Overlords. It really doesn’t make sense.”

Even the others from Xia were puzzled by his choice of familiars. It's fine if he didn’t want to use the Six-Path Flower, but going with the mechanical angel was asking it for too much.

"Don't worry. Since it's 3v3, I can still send in another familiar in case you lose. I will also do my best to support you. What, are you not confident in winning?" Lu Ran asked #18.

"I am! Even though it’s my first battle, it should still be easier than the research you give me!"

Lu Ran smiled and tossed an item toward #18.

[Trait Crystal (Blood Control)]

Lu Ran actually gave it a trait crystal!

This only added to the general confusion. Wasn’t it too late to start preparing this close to the battle? The countdown had already started!

The new trait turned #18’s wings bloody red and its eyes an even more alluring crimson.

Hehehe.

#18 immediately understood that Lu Ran was planning to use Heroic Spirit Summoning. Although it was a level 64 Superior Overlord, it couldn’t complete the summoning on its own. The summoned spirit also needed faith and blood energy from the Time Dragon’s kin. The spirit would have much greater combat ability than #18, and could technically be considered as relying on outside support.

While #18 was completely caught up, Medusa Queen still thought that Lu Ran was looking down on her.

"I’m ok with you repeatedly calling me auntie, but how dare you belittle me like this? Destroy them!" Queen Medusa shouted.

The Medusa God’s eyes lit up with an evil energy along with that of her hair snakes.

Petrification curse!

The skill turned any enemy with spirit fluctuations within a certain range into stone and sealed all of their powers. The power of a Quasi-Legendary curse was extremely powerful. However, it was Medusa Queen’s face that ended up petrifying into shock.

The mechanical angel was so weak, but the curse seemed to not have any effect on it at all!

If it was just #18, then she could find a way to accept it, but even Lu Ran, a human, wasn’t affected!

"What's going on?"

The other three ancient beastmasters were shocked by the new development.

The petrification curse was something that they all found difficult to deal with. How could Lu Ran be completely unaffected?

"It really is a curse..."