Chapter 531 - Fellow Disciples Turn Against Each Other

The Azure Domain on the Divine Tree Continent was the core region where the Stellar Moon humans of the Plant Era resided. The Tree Monarch’s ruin was located here. However, in the timeline Lu Ran had entered, the Tree Monarch’s ruin had long been cleared. The one who cleared it was none other than the Tree Monarch’s reincarnation, Peanut.

After landing in the Azure Domain, Lu Ran, clad in a black robe with its hood up, walked down the street as passersby avoided him because of his striking handsomeness. Some even covered their children’s eyes to prevent them from looking, as the robed man didn’t seem like someone to provoke.

Lu Ran muttered to himself as he walked. “Azure Domain, Tree Monarch City. This is a familiar place. Is Limitless City hinting at something?”

This ascension mission involved taking in a disciple and nurturing them, but Lu Ran had no intention of wasting too much time on that. In fact, failing the mission didn’t matter as he could retry it infinitely. Finding the Divine Tree to help Six-Path Flower break through was far more worthwhile.

“Finding the Divine Tree is troublesome. I don’t know where it is. Generally, powerful gods have their own divine secret realms, and their entrances are nearly impossible to locate under normal circumstances...

“I should take a step back and find the Divine Tree’s daughter, the Flower God, and have it lead the way. I don’t know where the Flower God is either, so I should take another step back and find the Flower God’s messenger, Peanut. As long as I find Peanut, I can find the Flower God.”

As the Flower God’s messenger, Peanut didn’t actually know the location of the Divine Tree’s headquarters. However, she possessed a tool given to her by the Flower God that allowed her to contact it, who was also traveling the continent. What Lu Ran needed was precisely this tool.

“I can also take the Mythical plantmaster, Peanut, as my disciple, easily completing the ascension mission. But taking Peanut as a disciple only ensures mission completion and not a high score. To get a high score, the disciple must show growth...”

This was also simple. Despite Peanut being three levels higher than Lu Ran, he could still teach her plenty. After all, in this timeline, Peanut had only recently advanced to Mythical, whereas the Peanut heroic spirit summoned by #18 possessed the combat experience of Peanut at her peak Mythical stage. Only her level was lower.

Lu Ran could just have Peanut teach herself, cutting a decade of detours instantly. He quickly devised a plan for the ascension mission. The key now was to find the Mythical plantmaster, Peanut. According to the heroic spirit Peanut’s account, before the Ten Thousand Year Agreement began, she had been traveling across the continent, making her difficult to locate.

But coincidentally, Lu Ran had a ruin branch on him, which could serve as a medium for Dark Crow to use its foresight to locate Peanut somewhere on the continent.

Although Dark Crow’s current strength might not suffice to foresee the location of a Mythical Time-attribute powerhouse, all Lu Ran needed was for Peanut to realize someone was looking for her.

Lu Ran was in a rush, so he quickly left the city and arrived at a wilderness area, summoning Dark Crow and presenting it with the ruin branch.

Caw!

Dark Crow grabbed the branch and began its foresight.

“I seek the Tree Monarch’s reincarnation, Peanut.” It amplified its foresight with its Spiritual Speech power.

The next moment, Dark Crow felt its vision spin, as if entering some kind of domain surrounded by darkness. The darkness gradually brightened, like a cinema screen transitioning from black to light.

Amidst the sound of rustling leaves, Dark Crow heard a voice before its foresight was severed. A drop of blood trickled from its eye.

“Boss, no good. She noticed. I saw nothing. Dark Crow covered its eyes.

“As expected. Now, we wait for her to come to us.” Lu Ran smiled, dispelling the Time Shield effect.

***

Meanwhile, in a forest, Peanut, going by the alias “Nameless,” was investigating a ruin when she suddenly frowned.

She sensed the ripples of foresight mixed with something similar to the Evil God’s curse power and muttered, “The overseas Evil God tribe? Weren’t they already sealed?”

Following the foresight waves targeting her, Peanut summoned her familiar, the Moon Divine Tree. The next moment, she felt as if she had fallen into a moonlit world, where a scene unfolded on the phantom of a full moon.

A young man in a black robe with a gentle face looked at her. Beside him stood a crow, which Peanut deduced was likely the creature that had tried to locate her.

“Peanut, hello. I’m waiting for you at Heavenly Green Mountain on the outskirts of Tree Monarch City. I hope you’ll come in person.”

Crack.

The lunar image shattered as if severed by spacetime, leaving Peanut stunned. Her expression shifted dramatically.

What kind of joke is this? The name “Peanut” is known only to the Flower God and me. Who is this guy? Why does he know my name?

“You wait! Azure Domain, Tree Monarch City, Heavenly Green Mountain.”

Muttering the location, Peanut immediately set off to investigate.

Surely this isn’t some blind date the Flower God set up for me, right?

During her travels, the Flower God had repeatedly encouraged her to find a partner and produce offspring for the sake of nurturing more talented plantmasters. However, Peanut had zero interest.

For a Mythical plantmaster, crossing the continent didn’t take long. Moreover, spacetime was inseparable. Peanut’s mastery of time naturally extended to space.

By the time Lu Ran and Dark Crow were playing military chess on top of Heavenly Green Mountain, Peanut had already arrived nearby. Lu Ran and Dark Crow turned to face the Mythical plantmaster Peanut, who looked identical to the heroic spirit summoned by #18, and steeled themselves.

“Who are you?” Peanut frowned as she appeared, sensing that Lu Ran’s beastmaster level hadn’t even reached Legendary.

However, that crow was quite strong, possibly a quasi-Legendary in species rank. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been able to locate her so easily.

Lu Ran stood up with a smile. “Hello, Miss Peanut. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lu Ran, a messenger of the timekeeper, who has traversed the river of history from the future.”

Peanut’s frown deepened. “Do you think I’m an idiot?”

Lu Ran knew words alone wouldn’t convince her, so he smiled and confidently began summoning a familiar in front of her.

Divine power emanated as Six-Path Flower stepped out of the summoning space. The aura of a level 70 Intermediate Legendary made Peanut’s expression shift to shock.

Even after reaching Mythical, even with her past-life familiars training under the Flower God’s guidance, her strongest familiar was still only Low Legendary.

How does a level 6 beastmaster have an Intermediate Legendary contracted?

Moreover, this Intermediate Legendary gave her an eerily familiar feeling.

“Six-Path... the Six-Path Reincarnation God?”

As the Three-Life Flower, a lower-ranked species she had contracted, trembled in her beastmaster space, Peanut finally realized what the humanoid flower before her was. Staring into its noble golden eyes, she stood frozen, never expecting to see Six-Path Flower, who had died while fighting alongside the Divine Tree in the ancient war, standing before her.

“Are you... The Six-Path Reincarnation God?” Peanut asked.

Faced with her question, Six-Path Flower sighed inwardly, knowing Lu Ran was about to spin another web of lies. Even if this Peanut was already Mythical, she wouldn’t withstand this onslaught of deception.

“It is I.”

Six-Path Flower played along.

Lu Ran chuckled. “Now you believe me, right? Let me explain. You know of the Ten Thousand Year Agreement, correct?”

Of course Peanut knew. Her current travels were preparations for it.

“In the future, the Ten Thousand Year Agreement... Well, the plant god faction neither won nor lost. It ended with both the Divine Tree and the Chaos Dragon God falling into slumber after the great battle.

“But in the distant future, the Chaos Dragon God recovered and awakened before the Divine Tree, wreaking havoc across Stellar Moon and oppressing all species.

“To maintain stability, the timekeeper had no choice but to pluck a version of Six-Path Flower from the river of history, reviving it to counter the beast gods. However, Six-Path Flower needs time to grow to the Divine level, so I brought it to the past to train.”

Hearing this, Peanut remained deeply skeptical as it sounded too absurd. However, with Six-Path Flower standing before her, she reasoned that without an equally absurd explanation, Six-Path Flower’s revival made no sense.

After all, even the Flower God had confirmed that Six-Path Flower and Void Grass had perished completely. It was beyond even the Divine Tree’s power to reverse.

“What do you want? Why seek me out?” Peanut decided to hear him out first.

Lu Ran said, “To meet the Divine Tree. I want you to take me to it. The Divine Tree is too powerful for me to locate directly right now, and the Flower God isn’t weak either. Finding you first and having you lead the way is simpler. Don’t worry. If I can’t deceive you, do you think I can deceive the Flower God and the Divine Tree?

“Take me to the Divine Tree, and it can judge the truth for itself. I only wish to request its guidance for a period of training, so we can deal with the future Chaos Dragon God. That’s all.” Lu Ran shrugged.

Even if this failed, it didn’t matter. To Lu Ran now, ascension realms were just playgrounds. No matter what, death here would just send them back. So even if Lu Ran had to face the Chaos Dragon God now, he wouldn’t hesitate. At worst, he’d just waste some time failing.

“

Oh,

Peanut, right? Would you like to become my disciple?”

Peanut didn’t understand the sudden shift from seeking the Divine Tree to now offering to teach her.

“Become your disciple?”

“Because in the future, you’ll die in the war between the plant gods and beast gods. You’re strong, having killed many beast gods, but not strong enough to survive. I can help you grow stronger in a short time. If you become my disciple, I’ll teach you how. Mainly because, after crossing time so often, I’ve developed a connection with you. I don’t want to see you die like that.” Lu Ran extended the olive branch.

Six-Path Flower added, “Accept his offer. You’ve likely contracted the Three-Life Flower, a species I enlightened. Although I haven’t regained my past power, I can still help you grow stronger.”

Peanut said helplessly, “Even if you truly are a time traveler, I’m already a level 9 Mythical plantmaster. You’re only level 6. Are you serious about me becoming your disciple?”

Lu Ran chuckled. “Levels are secondary. They’re just surface appearances. Experience and knowledge are what matter. The reason my level is low is that higher levels make time travel harder. I’ve defeated the familiar of Mythical elementalist Hel and entered the research site where the mechanical god was created.

“I’ve even discussed with the Life Dragon’s kin and Space Dragon’s kin in another world, jointly killing an Intermediate-Legendary Evil God. Its corpse is still in my spatial tool. You must understand, every era has its limits. But as the timekeeper’s messenger, I transcend them.”

“Wouldn’t this alter history?” Peanut couldn’t comprehend.

“No. One thought, one timeline. One flower, one world. Every choice spawns a new parallel world. Even if history changes, the main timeline remains unaffected,” Lu Ran said calmly.

A lie. But one she couldn’t disprove. Peanut fell into deep silence, overwhelmed by the information. She retrieved the communicator the Flower God had given her, deciding to contact her first. Regardless, someone claiming to know the future and the Ten Thousand Year Agreement’s outcome had to be seen by the Flower God.

“I’ve contacted the Flower God. She’ll arrive soon,” Peanut said seriously.

“Good. But will you become my disciple or not? I’m just throwing it out there. If you refuse, forget it. I won’t be here long anyway. Miss this chance, and it’s gone. You’ve got one minute to decide.” Lu Ran pressed relentlessly.

Peanut’s heart raced. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

After a moment’s thought, Peanut decided not to let this opportunity slip. Everything Lu Ran said intrigued her.

The Mechanical God, another world?

[Detected level 9 plantmaster, Peanut, seeking to become your disciple. Bind this plantmaster?]

[Yes.]

Lu Ran laughed inwardly.

***

Meanwhile, somewhere else on the Divine Tree Continent, Condor Hero suddenly saw a map appear before him.

[Detected a participant successfully taking a disciple.]

[Coordinates revealed.]

[Teleport to the vicinity to hunt the participant’s disciple?]

Condor Hero was stunned. “Holy shit. Already? This participant works fast! No standards for disciples? Sorry, buddy. I need to revive. I need to complete this mission and retire my master. Your disciple will have to take one for the team. But first, I need to prepare and sharpen my sword.”

He wasn’t in a hurry. The mission showed he was the only deceased one here, so there was no competition for prey. Although assassinating the disciple seemed trivial, the participant would surely protect them fiercely. He couldn’t afford carelessness.