Chapter 512 - Unfathomable Strength (Part 1)

[You have received the Super Trait Crystal: Super Fusion. (A familiar fused with this trait crystal can temporarily undergo super fusion with one or more other familiars, transforming into an entirely new form. Post-fusion strength may increase or decrease depending on compatibility with the fused familiars.)]

[The next round of challenges will begin in 5 minutes.]

After waiting for a while, the trait crystal finally dropped. At the same time, a prompt echoed in everyone’s ears, announcing that the next round of challenges would begin in five minutes. The light screen on the arena, which had previously displayed a large “S” score, now switched to a countdown.

Lu Ran ignored the timer, his attention entirely captured by the trait.

The Super Fusion trait? Isn’t this the very beastmaster skill used by the guy lying at my feet? How did it become a trait crystal? Aren’t these supposed to drop one of the familiar’s abilities? Did Limitless City classify Battle God as a familiar?

Although, to be fair, Battle God himself did seem far more formidable than his three familiars. Lu Ran guessed that the God of War had only strengthened Battle God himself, leaving his three familiars untouched.

As for that quasi-Legendary tiger, it was likely a temporary boost from an evolution crystal. This explained why, despite becoming a divine messenger, his familiars hadn’t even reached level 80. The God of War was truly stingy.

It belonged to a faction that oppressed humans. Even if it had found a messenger, it probably wouldn’t invest much effort in nurturing them.

“

Ugh... ugh...

”

While Lu Ran was lost in thought, Battle God, who had been sliced into several pieces, proved he wasn’t dead yet. Still in his fused form, the last remnants of his life force clung to his consciousness.

His severed head, lying among the scattered pieces of his body, stared at Lu Ran with terror-filled eyes, fearing that Lu Ran might deliver a finishing blow. If Lu Ran didn’t strike, perhaps there was still hope for him.

All eyes were fixed on the arena.

The god behind Battle God is called the God of War? Lu Ran had told Battle God to relay a message to his god... What does that mean?

From the very beginning, this battle had been strange, as if Lu Ran and Battle God had known each other beforehand. Many didn’t understand the significance of the title “God of War,” but a few knowledgeable powerhouses fell into silence.

“Go back and tell the God of War that if it still plans to oppress humanity, I’ll eventually hunt it down, even if I have to travel from Blue Planet to Stellar Moon.”

After Lu Ran finished speaking, Battle God was teleported back to the contestant area by Limitless City, now completely unconscious. The other nine Stellar Moon contestants silently watched Battle God.

“So, the god behind Battle God is indeed

that one

.”

“Even

it

is trying to extend its reach into Limitless City now?” the Mechanical Leader murmured.

His words drew puzzled looks from the representatives of Legendary powerhouses like Dragon Rider and Surpassing the Master, who didn’t understand Battle God’s true origins.

Meanwhile, Lu Ran’s declaration sent shockwaves through the audience. This was a secret unknown even to most Legendary figures, let alone ordinary beastmasters.

Faced with the uproar, Lu Ran simply raised a finger to his lips and softly said, “

Shhh,

” instantly silencing the crowd.

“First, let me clarify that I bear no major hostility toward the Stellar Moon Federation. The reason I beat Battle God half to death is simply because the god he serves disgusts me. As everyone knows, it’s always been incredibly difficult for Stellar Moon humans to break through to Legendary.

“The reason for this is that divine beasts, led by the Chaos Dragon God, altered the world’s rules to restrict human evolution. The God of War, whom Battle God serves, is one of the Chaos Dragon God’s kin. During one of my ascension realms, I became a disciple of the founder of the Death Cult, the originator of the Undead attribute.

“His lifelong wish was to shatter these restrictions, and I promised him I’d fulfill that wish. Thus, I’ve always held a poor opinion of the Chaos Dragon God’s faction, which oppresses Stellar Moon’s humans. I don’t know whether Battle God was coerced or joined willingly, but I’ll spare his life for now. Whether he’s a human traitor or not will depend on his choices from here on out.”

After Lu Ran finished speaking, the entire audience was stunned. No one had expected such a massive revelation to come from Lu Ran’s mouth.

Countless people were shocked to learn for the first time that the difficulty of humans reaching Legendary was due to suppression by divine beasts. They also just discovered that the god behind Battle God was part of the faction oppressing humanity.

“Is... is Pedestrian A telling the truth?”

“I—I don’t know.”

“But his actions are tantamount to directly provoking the divine beast behind Battle God. The God of War... just the title alone sounds terrifyingly powerful. How dare he?”

“From the sound of it, Pedestrian A is doing all this to stand up for Stellar Moon’s humans? But he’s from Blue Planet, isn’t he? Is it just because he became a disciple of some Legendary’s projection in an ascension realm?”

“If it’s true, I respect Pedestrian A. To carry out a promise made in an ascension realm even after returning to the real world...”

“What about the leaders? Why aren’t they speaking? Can they confirm this?”

On Blue Planet’s side, more people were aware that Lu Ran had become a disciple of the Death Cult’s founder.

After all, Lu Ran was Blue Planet’s Father of the Undead. Hearing Lu Ran reveal these secrets, even though they weren’t from Stellar Moon, as fellow humans, the people on Blue Planet’s side couldn’t help but feel indignant upon learning that humanity was being oppressed by beasts.

“Lu God is insane! Well done!”

“This guy is a human traitor! Just kill him! No wonder he suddenly became a hybrid!”

The arena erupted into chaos again.

After being teleported back, a Superior-Overlord bird-shaped support familiar emerged from Battle God’s beastmaster space, frantically healing its beastmaster.

At the same time, it called out to the other nine. “Help! Please help! If he doesn’t recover properly, we’ll be down a man for the next challenge.”

The others remained silent. To them, Lu Ran’s words were likely true. As humans, they fundamentally weren’t on the same side as Battle God, even if they were teammates now.

At most, they’d ensure he didn’t die, making it easier to extract more information about the God of War later. Of course, the main reason was that Battle God’s strength, while passable, was practically useless in critical battles.

The Ancient Ice Emperor looked at Lu Ran and said, “To make an enemy of a god just because he became a disciple of a projection in an ascension realm? I have to say, I’m starting to see this guy in a new light.”

“To think Blue Planet has beastmasters like this, too.”

“Don’t listen to his nonsense,” Death Gun muttered internally.

Lu Ran’s conflict with the Chaos Dragon God stemmed from multiple factors. It wasn’t just about standing up for humanity.

Still, Death Gun couldn’t help but admire Lu Ran. By slicing the Stellar Moon representative into pieces and beating him to near-death, Lu Ran had somehow gained countless fans among the Stellar Moon audience. He was a monster.

However, setting all that aside, the remaining nine Stellar Moon contestants had to admit that Lu Ran’s strength had suddenly become unfathomable.

According to the data, the swordgrass was a kin of Lu Ran’s familiar, the Sword Domain Dog. Due to some skill or trait, the kin and the Sword Domain Dog were treated as a single entity. This had been confirmed during Blue Planet’s Alliance Tournament, where multiple familiars belonged to the same contract card.

Presumably, the same applied in the World War, and that was terrifying. If a single swordgrass paired with Lu Ran was this powerful, no one knew how terrifying it would be when paired with the Sword Dog.

In essence, this battle was a 0v3. Lu Ran hadn’t even sent out a single main familiar. What if Lu Ran went all out in a 3v3? Faced with this realization, everyone decided to reassess Lu Ran’s strength. Even Ice Emperor, who had contracted a Low-Legendary elemental god, now regarded Lu Ran with wariness.

This wasn’t the time to dwell on how the swordgrass had inherited the Void Grass’ techniques or how to deal with Battle God. The priority was to recognize Lu Ran’s true strength, as it was far beyond what the intelligence suggested.

Originally, the Stellar Moon side had assumed Lu Ran’s trump cards would be his new familiars, like the Mechanical-Elemental being and the Mechanical Angel. This wasn’t an unreasonable guess.

After all, Captain Doofus, Sudden Death King, and Dark Crow had very low base species ranks, far inferior to the likes of Baby Cloud, who was born as a King.

Even the Divine Turtle had to rely on external forces to enhance Sudden Death King’s dragon bloodline before evolving it to quasi-Legendary. This showed how difficult it was for low-base-rank familiars to evolve and grow stronger.

Under these circumstances, it was entirely reasonable to assume Lu Ran’s new trump cards would be high-ranking familiars contracted later.

His early main familiars would reach Superior Overlord or be boosted to quasi-Legendary by evolution crystals at best. That was the logical assumption. However, now, even a mere accessory swordgrass was this absurd. All previous deductions had to be thrown out.

“Regardless, we need to manage the public’s opinion first.”

“The voices from the contestant and audience areas don’t reach the arena.”

“But the arena’s announcements are broadcast to the audience and contestant areas.”

“Both sides’ audiences are now in an uproar because of Pedestrian A’s words.”

“Legendary Yu, you’re up next in the bracket. Represent Stellar Moon and respond to Pedestrian A.”

As Stellar Moon’s backbone, the Mechanical Leader snapped out of his daze quickly and turned to the middle-aged man beside him. Surpassing the Master, whose real name was Yu Mu, was a renowned Legendary plantmaster in Stellar Moon.

Coincidentally, Yu Mu’s son, Yu Rui, was among the first Stellar Moon beastmasters to encounter Lu Ran. During the Plant Era secret realm, Yu Rui had been crushed by Lu Ran in the Plant-Beast Tournament. After learning that Lu Ran had obtained the Tree Monarch’s legacy, the young man’s resolve had shattered.

Yu Mu’s ID, Surpassing the Master, reflected his hope that his son Yu Rui would regain his confidence, surpass him, and become an even greater plantmaster. Whether his son had grown stronger was unclear, but to set an example, Yu Mu had fought his way into the World War, now standing as Stellar Moon’s second-ranked plantmaster.

“I see... So everything Pedestrian A said was true. With the spiritual energy revival and the divine beasts awakening, if gods like the God of War continue to oppress humanity, even if the Stellar Moon Federation isn’t as powerful as the Stellar Moon Republic era, we won’t just sit back and take it. Right, Leader?” Yu Mu looked at the Mechanical Leader.

“

Mm.

”

“But with my strength, I’m probably no match for Pedestrian A.”

After saying this, he turned to the young man with the ID Dragon Rider, a famed dragonmaster in the Stellar Moon Federation. Born into a dragonmaster family, this young man specialized in Dragon familiars. Yu Mu’s meaning was clear. If he lost, the next hope would lie with Dragon Rider.

It wasn’t unreasonable for Yu Mu to worry. Battle God, at least, was a hybrid with formidable physical prowess. On the other hand, Yu Mu only had a quasi-Legendary familiar boosted by an evolution crystal. Defeating Lu Ran after his recent display seemed nearly impossible.

The spiky-haired young man clicked his tongue. “To think we’d be cornered right out of the gate by someone under 20.”

The Mechanical Leader added, “Just do your best. Pedestrian A is young and reckless. The fact that he sent out a familiar’s kin to fight Battle God alone shows he’s deliberately chasing a high combat score. Although I don’t understand why that battle only earned him an S, I’m sure he’ll aim for an even higher score next.

“His most likely move is to stick with one familiar, or even just the kin, instead of deploying all three trump cards. Use that to your advantage. Even if you can’t beat him, you might at least drain more of his energy. Legendary Yu. Go all out.”

“I’ll heal you afterward.” Unlike Battle God, the Sprite Queen seemed close to Yu Mu.

This woman, who radiated a natural aura similar to the sprite species, studied Lu Ran with keen interest, particularly fixated on the swordgrass from earlier.

Soon, Legendary Yu stepped onto the arena as Stellar Moon’s second defender, ready to stop Lu Ran’s advance.

Upon entering, Yu Mu made sure to project confidence as he was now representing Stellar Moon’s pride. Facing the new defender, Lu Ran also grew serious.

“The Stellar Moon Federation will take your words seriously. If the God of War still harbors ill intentions toward humanity, the Federation will deal with it.”

“Good.” Lu Ran smirked.

At least he’d reminded the Stellar Moon Federation to keep an eye on the Chaos Dragon God’s faction.

Yu Mu, a square-jawed man with a beard like dried grass, snorted after delivering his response, then abruptly shifted his tone. “Young man, I advise you to go all out this time and stop chasing after combat scores. Otherwise, you’ll regret it.”

This wasn’t genuine advice but a taunt to provoke Lu Ran’s competitive spirit.

In Stellar Moon’s audience, a young man gripped the railing tightly, staring anxiously at the arena.

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

“Dad...”

Yu Rui, who had once crossed paths with Lu Ran in a level 2 ascension realm, never imagined his father would one day face Lu Ran in battle.

Can my dad win? Judging by his confident demeanor, maybe...

“Legendary Yu seems confident. Unlike Battle God, who relied on a divine beast’s blessing to grow stronger, Yu Mu is a seasoned Legendary. He should be able to curb Pedestrian A’s arrogance. Regardless, this is the World War. Defeating Blue Planet takes priority. Without Limitless City, Stellar Moon’s beastmasters would be even less capable of resisting the divine beast’s oppression.”

“Exactly. We can only rely on ourselves. Go, Legendary Yu!”

As a well-known Legendary beastmaster who frequently appeared on the front lines, Yu Mu enjoyed far greater popularity than Battle God. Many beastmasters trusted his strength more.

“So, what will Lu Ran do next...? Which familiar will he send out...?”

[Round 1.]

[Defender #2: Surpassing the Master.]

[Challenger #1: Pedestrian A.]

[Battle Rules: 3v3]

[Countdown: 10... 9...]

As the countdown began, Lu Ran responded to Yu Mu’s taunt with a nonchalant smile. “Sorry, but whether I go all out depends on

your

strength. This time, I plan to send out no familiars at all, and not even a kin.”

Arrogant!

Yu Mu had intended to provoke Lu Ran, but now he wanted to take off his shoe and slap the kid across the face. In all his years, he’d never met someone as brazen as Lu Ran.

“Damn it!” The Stellar Moon side was livid.

Some had just begun to warm up to Lu Ran, but now they only wanted to see Yu Mu crush him. Blue Planet’s audience, regardless of nationality, found this hilarious. It perfectly matched their stereotype of Lu Ran. This guy had been just as cocky back on Blue Planet.

Still, even if Lu Ran’s individual combat prowess was strong, trying to defeat Stellar Moon’s second-ranked plantmaster without summoning a single familiar seemed downright absurd.

The countdown hit zero.