Chapter 515 - Pressuring Lu Ran (Part 1)

[Congratulations, you have received the super trait crystal, Mount Instinct (Riding the familiar into battle will boost its spirits, which increases all attributes and allows it to unleash its full potential.)]

[The next challenge will start in 5 minutes.]

Lu Ran secured another victory, and Stellar Moon’s confidence was starting to falter. The Stellar Moon World’s team thought that Lu Ran’s Quasi-Legendary shield was his trump card, but it turned out to just be a kin! It was absurdly strong for a kin and even absorbed some blood of the Chaos Dragon God!

The audience couldn’t begin to wrap their minds around what just happened. How could a kin be higher level than a Legendary beastmaster’s main familiar?

"If the kin is Quasi-Legendary ranked, then the familiar it’s attached to must be a Low Legendary. Could it be his husky? He could have a sword and shield theme going."

"No, that’s not likely. The Mechanical shield seems to have the Dragon attribute as well. The familiar it’s attached to must be a dragon. I think his second familiar is a dragon king that had ‘shield’ as part of its name... something like the ‘Shieldwing Dragon King.’ This shield must be that dragon’s kin. Lu Ran must have the Kinship skill!"

"I refuse to believe that a level 6 beastmaster can raise a Legendary familiar. That dragon king should be a Quasi-Legendary, too. If Lu Ran found some of the Chaos Dragon God’s blood, then he wouldn’t only give it to a kin."

The crowd wasn’t completely sure how to react. After three battles, Lu Ran still hadn’t revealed one of his actual familiars. Yet, he still managed to defeat three of Stellar Moon’s Legendary beastmasters.

The Stellar Moon team still had their most powerful members cued up, but they couldn’t help but feel tense. With the strength he displayed so far, some of them doubted whether the rest of the team had what it took to win. On top of that, even after they beat Lu Ran, the Blue Planet team still had nine more people.

"Lu Ran really lives up to his reputation."

After watching Lu Ran score three consecutive wins, the old president chuckled to himself, knowing that Lu Ran still hadn’t gone all out.

I wonder if Lu Ran will reveal himself as Beastmaster King and send out Six-Path Flower. Let's see if the next seven opponents can put up enough of a fight to make him show his full power.

While the shield was quite outrageous, Limitless City gradually calmed down again. Ice Emperor needed the Limitless City authority to find a way to revive his sister, so he tried to give some words of encouragement to the team.

"Keep your head up. He had the Chaos Dragon God’s blood but was only able to create a Quasi Legendary. That means he only found a small drop that fell during its historical battle. He got lucky and can be considered the top expert on Blue Planet, but he’s not invincible.

"Even if none of you can beat him, I am the last line of defense and can solo the entire opposing team, but I hope it doesn’t get to that point.”

Even if Lu Ran’s dragon familiar was a Low Legendary, Ice Emperor wouldn’t be intimidated. He had the Low-Legendary Winter Knight gifted to him by the Mythical elementalist, Hel. Even though it was raised by his sister rather than himself, all was fair in love and war.

Back in the Elemental Age, dragons were just one of the many races that lived under the rule of the Elemental Gods. After repeated cycles of ice ages, dragons were slowly driven into extinction. If the Elemental Age hadn’t ended, then the Chaos Dragon God would’ve never gotten the chance to rise to power.

"Don't worry, Ice Emperor. Pedestrian A is strong, but our next teammate going up isn’t a pushover either. Miss Bai Lu, as the messenger of the Divine Deer, do you have the confidence in defeating Lu Ran?" Sprite Queen asked gently.

Sprites have historically had a good relationship with the Divine Deer, so as their inheritor, Sprite Queen had a high opinion of the Divine Deer’s messenger.

"No, I don’t stand a chance against him," Bai Lu replied bluntly as she sat there digging into an ice cream.

Sprite Queen, Mechanical Leader, Divine Throne, and Ice Emperor were all speechless.

How can you be so direct?

The Divine Deer was a kin of one of the Supreme Divine Dragons. Although the kin haven’t done so well as a whole, a starving deer was still bigger than a horse. It should definitely have a stronger foundation than some random guy from Blue Planet.

"How can you be in the mood to eat?" Death Gun was annoyed by Bai Lu’s nonchalant attitude.

"Just do your best." Kong Kongyi cheered her on a bit. It was the same thing that Void Mantis told her before. No matter who won, the Supreme Dragon kin would still end up with a messenger who had authority in Limitless City.

"I know. I know I can't beat him, but I’m not just going to hand it to him either,” Bai Lu declared as she ate the rest of the ice cream in one bite.

Bai Lu knew she was going to lose, but she couldn’t just surrender. The Stellar Moon team hadn’t lost yet, and she needed to do her best so that she could get the best possible score in case they won.

With a flash, Bai Lu appeared on the stage. During the five-minute intermission, Lu Ran called back Little Circle and took some time to study the new trait he had just received.

Lu Ran knew that the opponents would only get tougher, so he had been helping familiars conserve energy, but Little Circle’s time in the spotlight had come to an end. He carefully chose who to send into battle based on type advantage to win with minimum effort.

In fact, in every battle so far, he had always been the second one to send out his familiar. Even though it put him on the back foot, he was confident enough in his own abilities.

Against the plantmaster Legendary Yu, he used a Fire skill, while he suppressed Dragon Rider’s dragon familiar with a superior dragon bloodline using Little Circle. Now that Bai Lu was about to take the stage, he needed to see which three familiar faces she was going to choose.

He beat her before in a one-on-one, but that was before the Divine Deer helped her get stronger. She wasn’t a Legendary beastmaster at the time either.

What kind of trait is this? Was this trait innate or acquired later on? The familiar gets stronger when someone rides it. Maybe the Storm Dragon King is a masochist.

Lu Ran thought that this was the weirdest one out of the three traits he had gotten so far.

"Hey..."

Hmm?

Lu Ran looked across the stage at Bai Lu.

The face-off between the two Divine Deer messengers gave Death Gun and Kong Kongyi an awkward feeling.

[Round 1]

[Defender #4: Bai Lu]

[Challenger #1: Pedestrian A]

[Battle format: 3v3]

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

As the countdown began, Bai Lu put on a serious expression.

"You won’t be able to defeat me without revealing your true power."

"Really? I'm looking forward to it then," Lu Ran said with a smile.

Everyone heard the exchange between the two. The Stellar Moon audience was originally a bit despirited but became reinvigorated when they saw Bai Lu exuding so much confidence. A glimmer of hope rekindled in their hearts.

When Bai Lu summoned her familiars, that hope grew even brighter. The first one to appear was a level 75 Quasi-Legendary Nine-Colored Deer! The second to appear was the level 74 Quasi-Legendary Ancient Tree of Life. Finally, there was the level 75, Superior Overlord, Space-attribute Green Domain Vine.

Bai Lu actually had two Quasi-Legendaries! The audience’s eyes lit up in excitement. This meant that even without an evolution crystal, she was able to raise a Quasi-Legendary all on her own! Two Quasi-Legendaries would surely put some pressure on Lu Ran.

However, the most surprising part had yet to come. When Bai Lu summoned her familiars, a huge deer-shaped domain appeared, enveloping the four of them. The domain looked like a giant phantom of the Divine Deer, several dozen meters high.

As the phantom materialized, Bai Lu’s chest began to glow. Upon closer inspection, there was a pendant hanging on her chest.

"Life Link!"

Immediately, Bai Lu and her familiars’ lives were linked to the phantom, making it radiate with a powerful vitality. It felt even stronger than Lu Ran’s phoenix phantom.

"What is that?"

"I don't know, but I’ve seen it before."

"It looks like Bai Lu used an item! Look!" People pointed at her chest.

[Name: Broken Horn of the Divine Deer]

[Grade: Epic]

[Description: Horn of a Legendary divine deer that gained healing capabilities after absorbing the abundant natural energy of the forest.]

People guess that this pendant was the basis for the Divine Deer phantom, but the phantom itself was far more shocking.

"The phantom’s vitality is comparable to a real Legendary lifeform!" Drought Demon couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

"It feels so real! Defeating it will be no small feat. What an interesting skill."

Most people agreed that its bottomless vitality was the most terrifying aspect of the phantom.

"Look! Pedestrian A is shocked that he hasn’t even sent out his familiars yet."

The Stellar Moon audience thought that Lu Ran was at a loss for which familiars to choose. Bai Lu appeared to be chivalrous and didn’t attack before her opponent was ready, but the reality was that she knew that she couldn’t win.

"The life force of me and my familiars has been linked together to create this phantom of the Divine Deer. It clearly surpasses the phantom of the Divine Phoenix that you conjured, and it can be compared to any real Legendary creature.

"Have you figured out how to beat this?" Bai Lu smirked.

Even though she knew that she couldn’t win, as a fellow messenger of the Divine Deer, she couldn’t just roll over either. She needed to force Lu Ran to reveal some of his trump cards, like the Six-Path Flower.

With her current setup, only Legendary familiars stood a chance. Quasi-Legendaries would barely be able to leave a scratch, and the phantom would be able to heal from those scratches instantly. Any Quasi-Legendary would run out of stamina before the phantom ran out of health.

This fight was bound to be different from the previous ones. Everyone else chose to be on the offensive, but Bai Lu’s strategy prioritized defense to wear him out.

The phantom deer shadow began to move forward step by step. It didn’t appear to have any attack power, but it was still intimidating nonetheless.

Lu Ran looked at the approaching phantom and put on a serious expression.

Is this the skill that the Divine Deer gave her?

Because its vitality surpassed the Flame Spirit’s, his thoughts toward it were somewhat complicated. The kin were definitely not enough to beat it. His own strength wasn’t enough either.

"Look at Lu Ran's face. He's feeling the pressure."

"Hahaha! Bai Lu is the strongest healer in Stellar Moon. She can just stand there and tank the hits. It would be funny if this is how he loses."

Bai Lu’s unique strategy signaled the beginning of a new stage of the competition. This got the Stellar Moon audience riled up, and many people stood up in excitement.