Chapter 503 - World War? How About an Internal Team Battle (Part 2)

While Lu Ran and #18 were busy, the four ancient beastmasters and Lin Nian had successfully opened their beastmaster spaces by hanging from trees. Using Lu Ran’s space as a reference, Six-Path Flower replicated what the Divine Deer had done.

Moreover, Gu Qingyi’s training under Manager Ying was also progressing smoothly. With Baby Cloud’s graduation, Gu Qingyi became the cat’s primary student. Soon, both she and Lin Nian could reclaim their King rankings.

Gu Qingyi was baffled by Manager Ying’s transformation into the Divine Time Dragon’s kin, but seeing how powerful Baby Cloud had become, she stopped questioning it.

“Black cat or white cat, as long as it makes me stronger, it’s a good cat.”

Baby Cloud’s changes proved Manager Ying’s prowess as a time manipulator.

[Name: Nine-Tailed Cloud Cat]

[Attributes: Water (Time), Ice (Time), Wind (Time), Lightning (Time), Fire (Time), Light (Time), Dark (Time), Earth (Time), Rock (Time)]

[Species Rank: Quasi-Legendary]

[Level: 70]

[Species Talent: Elemental Moment (Even the most complex elemental skills can be cast instantly.)]

With this, Baby Cloud’s power far exceeded Lu Ran’s expectations. For one, after integrating the Time attribute into all of its elemental attributes, its wind speed surpassed even the Mechanical Castle phase’s Kunpeng Intent, though the energy cost was also higher.

At least Baby Cloud could still serve as transportation for now. However, the real absurdity was its skill-casting speed. When Manager Ying invited Sudden Death King to be a target, Baby Cloud had 10 nine-element compressed energy bullets ready before Sudden Death King could even activate its Planet Intent.

The energy condensation, fusion, compression, and release speeds were all ludicrously fast. Normally, familiars like Captain Doofus needed several seconds to compress energy nearly a hundredfold before attacking. Baby Cloud did it in less than half a second.

Once again, Sudden Death King was left dumbfounded, experiencing the pain of being outsped.

After Baby Cloud’s graduation, Manager Ying strongly suggested something else. “#18 is quasi-Legendary now. There’s still over a month left. In your current state, you could enter an ascension realm again and advance to Legendary.”

Lu Ran wasn’t falling for it as he had his own plans. “Don’t try to trick me. What Captain Doofus and the others lack isn’t level progression, and what I lack isn’t beastmaster level advancement.

“Captain Doofus and the three kin’s combined domain isn’t complete yet. The Comical Shield hasn’t fused with the Dragon God’s blood. Dark Crow’s core strength lies in legion skills, but the World War forbids legion tactics. It needs other enhancements, like being able to use clones to replace legion members to trigger legion talent effects.

“Baby Cloud and #18, despite their upgrades, need time to master their new abilities in a stable environment. #18 needs to refine the Hall of Heroic Spirits, and Baby Cloud needs to develop more complex, powerful skill domains.

“An ascension realm’s environment wouldn’t allow for this. We’d just be dragged around by missions, exploring the world’s lore instead of training properly.

“Most importantly, didn’t we agree that you’d create a time-accelerated domain for Captain Doofus and the others to train in? Are you trying to back out now? Because if we enter an ascension realm, you won’t have to make the time domain.” Lu Ran squinted at Manager Ying.

He believed that spending this month fully developing their existing power in a time domain was far more reliable than hastily completing an ascension mission.

Manager Ying grimaced. “Fine, fine... I’ll make a time domain for them to train in. However, their levels are too high now. The time acceleration won’t be extreme. Otherwise, the energy cost would be unbearable, and their training would suffer. You’d better cook me some good food to make up for it.”

Lu Ran grinned. “No problem. It won’t take long anyway. I’ve thought of a way to quickly hone their combat skills.”

“

Huh?

”

Lu Ran’s eyes gleamed. “Internal team battles. Captain Doofus, Sudden Death King, Dark Crow, Baby Cloud, Six-Path Flower, and #18... For the next month or longer, in the time domain, they’ll work on their abilities, develop new techniques, and periodically fight each other to test their progress.

“High-intensity battles will force them to adapt. After reaching quasi-Legendary and Legendary, they haven’t fought each other properly. They mostly just used Sudden Death King as a punching bag because there was no suitable battlefield. But now, with Squirrel God on Blue Planet teaching Fang Lan super domain skills, I can ask it to create a sealed space for team battles.

“Remember the sealed space during the Zhu Yan fight? Even Zhu Yan’s power couldn’t break it. It’ll be perfect for internal battles. Just imagine, six monsters like them going all out against each other. Their combat skills will skyrocket!”

“Fucking hell.”

Manager Ying thought carefully.

A Sword-attribute Legendary familiar with three kin... Now that the Comical Shield has fused with the Dragon God’s blood, it’ll probably become the first quasi-Legendary among the kin. When that happens, Sudden Death King’s strength will get a huge boost again.

And then there’s Dark Crow, the madman who’s always sacrificing its eyeballs trying to fight Legendaries way above its level. With Lu Ran’s post-battle healing support, that guy definitely won’t hold back or care about its own body.

There’s no need to mention the Intermediate-Legendary Six-Path Flower, and #18, who’s using its blood as an energy source in its attempt to summon the Legendary Tree Monarch for battle.

Looking at all this, Baby Cloud, whom I just finished training, is about to be thrown straight into hellish training mode. It’ll definitely get stomped by this team of absolute monsters. And when it comes crying to me later for help, I’ll still have to step in and retrain it anyway.

Manager Ying’s face twitched. “Your ‘internal battles’... Will they even be normal? This sounds more intense than the World War. But you’re right about one thing. Try to exploit Squirrel God to the fullest. That disappointment in its eyes when it found out I was the timekeeper? Who does it think it’s looking down on?”

Lu Ran nodded. “A few rounds of team battles, and their combat skills should reach proper Legendary standards. Right now, only Six-Path Flower is flawless.”

***

Lu Ran began preparing for the internal battles. After all, solo training couldn’t compare to internal competition when it came to rapid improvement.

He believed that if Captain Doofus got taken down by Six-Path Flower in one of the matches, with its temper, it’d definitely train even harder out of pride. And knowing how prideful Six-Path Flower was, if it got taken down by Captain Doofus, there was a good chance it’d go full dark mode and come back three times stronger.

Of course, the odds of it actually losing to Captain Doofus weren’t very high. Lu Ran wasn’t about to waste his Undead clone just for an internal battle.

As for the four kin, they needed to fight among themselves, too. If this kept up for a full month, and with the bonus effects from Manager Ying’s time domain, no matter how many powerhouses existed in Stellar Moon World, Lu Ran would still have the confidence to face them all in a battle.

A few days later, Manager Ying’s time domain and Squirrel God’s sealed battle world were ready. For now, Lu Ran assigned training tasks and let each familiar train in the time domain. He also assigned tasks to himself. The team battles would come later.

The trigger would be #18’s progress. It wanted to develop a conscious Tree Monarch Heroic Spirit before facing the team’s monsters.

And soon after its evolution, it succeeded. The Mythical figure from the Divine Tree Era, the Tree Monarch, also known as Peanut, reappeared in the world in a new form. As the white-and-light-green-haired figure opened her eyes, #18 trembled with excitement.

“Where is this...?” The Tree Monarch murmured, gazing at the unfamiliar surroundings and #18.

“

AHHHHHHHHH!

MASTER, MASTER, I DID IT!” #18 flailed like a mad fly, screaming.

The Tree Monarch frowned. Then, Lu Ran rushed over. The moment she saw him, her eyes sharpened.

“It’s you!”

Lu Ran was startled. “You... know me?”

The Tree Monarch frowned again. “Of course. I personally handed my legacy to you. Is this a temporary revival through a time skill? My true self should have reincarnated by now. Yet, this feels like a historical projection.”

Lu Ran understood what she meant. The faith power on the ruin branch that #18 researched came from the ascension realm, so the Tree Monarch’s consciousness was connected to the one he met there, not the real historical figure.

Lu Ran chuckled. “Senior Tree Monarch, you said we’d meet again. Bet you didn’t expect it like this.”

The Tree Monarch stared deeply at him. She had meant a reunion with her reincarnated self, not this.

“Regardless of how you revived me... what do you want? Playing with the dead’s consciousness using time powers... Kid, I didn’t teach you that.”

Master, master, there’s trouble! Conscious heroic spirits are a double-edged sword. They can use their power better, but because they have wills, I can’t control them! Manager Ying’s blood is too strong!

#18 panicked, but Lu Ran remained calm.

Got it.

He addressed the Tree Monarch. “I summoned you to ask for your help in a few battles.”

“No.”

“Aren’t you curious what era this is? The Ten Thousand Year Agreement has ended. With the Flower God’s help, you’ve already reincarnated, and your reincarnated self is dead.”

The Tree Monarch’s expression changed.

“Long story short, the agreement failed. The plant faction lost to the beast gods. The Chaos Dragon God lives. Your reincarnation is gone. But the Divine Tree remains, and the Flower God might still be around. There will be another battle, but you, as a dead person, can’t participate.

“Unless... You fight as a heroic spirit. But first, your spirit form must regain its peak strength. We’re mutually benefiting each other. Since I’m your legacy inheritor and you’re my master... would I lie to you?” Lu Ran scratched his head innocently.

“Master...?” The Tree Monarch’s eyes twitched.

What kind of disciple revives their master as a spirit?

However, Lu Ran’s words troubled her. He looked too young for the Ten Thousand Year Agreement to be over. Yet, he wouldn’t lie. She could verify the truth herself once she interacted with the outside world.

“What should I do? My power is heavily restricted by her. If she dies, I vanish too.” She glanced at #18.

“Nothing. #18 will handle restoring your strength. But it’s not a fighter. During battles, it’ll need you as its guardian spirit to protect it and defeat enemies.

“Before that, if possible, I’d like you to spar with my other familiars. It’ll help you adapt to fighting as a spirit and regain your full power.”

“Fight your familiars?”

Sensing her current strength, she peered at the level 6 Lu Ran and smirked, recalling how he had borrowed external power to inherit her legacy.

“You sure? If your familiars cry from losing, don’t blame me. I’m far stronger than the Tree Monarch ruins’ trial version. You might’ve summoned more than you bargained for.”