Chapter 55 - The lower the temperature, the higher the IQ

Lu Ran returned to Golden Hill later that day. After uncovering Captain Doofus's background, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had been investigating the cause of its berserk behavior, but now, with Dr. Gu's help, Captain Doofus would no longer easily go on a rampage.

Even better, the power boost from its berserk state could now be retained in its normal form, marking a complete transformation.

"I actually mooched off of Dr. Gu! Will Fang Lan get jealous since she met Dr. Gu first?"

By the time Lu Ran returned to Rainbow Dojo, the Sudden Death King was still asleep. It had been sleeping since their teleportation, and Lu Ran decided not to wake it. Even now, it remained fast asleep.

"Darn, I should have taken it with me."

Lu Ran didn't know much about Dr. Gu, but since she was a famous beastmaster, a lot of information on her was available on major forums. She famously had a doctorate in familiar evolution.

Her most remarkable achievement was evolving a dragon familiar into a king species—the only person in the world to do so. Moreover, Gu Qingyi's familiar was the only known true dragon in existence.

To be precise, it was the sole true-blooded dragon, as most familiars were merely dragonkin or dragon sub-species. When Gu Qingyi successfully evolved her familiar into an eastern dragon, the western beastmaster world was thrilled, aspiring to evolve their own familiars into giant dragons to rival Xia's Beastmaster Alliance. However, they have yet to make any progress.

This accomplishment earned Dr. Gu the international title of "Dragon Master."

"There are many traits related to dragons, but fusing with them doesn’t necessarily mean they are compatible with a familiar. It doesn’t guarantee that a familiar will evolve into a dragon.

Gu Qingyi's success in evolving her familiar into a king-ranked dragon was likely because her familiar was 100% compatible with dragon traits. Could this guy also be compatible with dragon traits in the future?" Lu Ran wondered, glancing at the sleeping Sudden Death King.

In his heart, Lu Ran deeply desired to evolve Sudden Death King into a giant dragon. However, the more he learned, the more he understood how challenging it would be. The entire Western world had spent three years on this goal and still hadn’t produced a single dragon.

In their desperation to find creatures highly compatible with dragon traits, they even began researching ways to resurrect dinosaurs. The Western world’s obsession with dragons was almost tangible. The next time he encountered Dr. Gu, he planned to have her assess Sudden Death King’s potential.

"The pavilion closest to the water catches the moonlight first.[1] Once I get to know Dr. Gu better, I can ask her about how to evolve familiars into dragons. It would be great if I could evolve my familiar into a giant dragon before the West."

Thinking of this, Lu Ran smiled. The appearance of both Eastern and Western dragons in Xia would surely drive the foreigners crazy.

However, deep down, he felt that the chances were slim. Dr. Gu had likely stumbled upon a rare, unrepeatable opportunity. If it were replicable, Xia might not be overflowing with dragons, but there would certainly be more than one. Perhaps she even possessed a treasure as extraordinary as the Divine Deer Pendant.

Lu Ran didn’t linger outside for long. He quickly teleported back to Limitless City and eagerly opened the secret realm panel to search for the Blizzard Mountain secret realm.

[Name: Blizzard Mountain]

[Secret Realm Level: Beginner]

[Difficulty: Normal]

[Entry Fee: 500 crystal coins]

"Should I give it a go?"

Lu Ran thought for a moment. With nothing else to do, he decided to enter and take a look around.

Gu Qingyi had mentioned that Blizzard Mountain wasn’t easy to clear, but the mortality rate was low. He could explore without much concern. Worst case, he could teleport out if things got overwhelming.

Since the secret realm had no hostile creatures, nature itself was the only enemy. Even if he got buried in snow, he stood a decent chance of survival as long as he activated the teleportation function in time.

[Do you want to spend 500 crystal coins to challenge the Blizzard Mountain secret realm?]

Yes.

As he confirmed his entry, he summoned Captain Doofus from the black card.

[Teleportation countdown: 10... 9...]

***

Ten seconds later, a bone-chilling wind swept by before Lu Ran and Captain Doofus could react. Both handled the cold just fine—Captain Doofus, being a husky, was built for arctic climates, while Lu Ran's enhanced physique from Super Beast Mimicry made him far tougher than an ordinary person.

"Hold on, Captain Doofus," Lu Ran said. "You’re a sled dog. Now that you’re back in your natural habitat and I’m following you through this tundra, why not use this chance to improve our synchronization through Super Beast Mimicry while boosting our cold resistance?"

The idea struck him suddenly, but he quickly shifted his attention to the secret realm’s introduction.

[Transfer completed.]

[Current location: Blizzard Mountain (Beginner Secret Realm)]

[Difficulty: Normal]

[Mission: Traverse the blizzard region.]

[Introduction: Blizzard Mountain, located in the empire's northernmost region, was once home to the Ice Wolf Clan. To expand its territory, the empire mobilized the Beastmaster Corps to battle the mountain's monsters and forge a safe route to other continents. According to legend, after the Ice Wolf Clan's annihilation, their resentment and hatred coalesced into an eternal blizzard, blocking the path of any would-be travelers.]

[Tip 1: The time limit in the beginner secret realm is 8 hours. At any time, beastmasters can choose to leave in advance. It takes 10 seconds to teleport.]

[Tip 2: ...]

"Interesting..."

After reading the secret realm's introduction, Lu Ran glanced at the excited Captain Doofus. So, this mountain was its home turf.

The mention of the empire, Beastmaster Corps, and other continents caught his attention. These were familiar terms. The Demon Cat Forest beast tide from twenty years ago had been resolved by the empire's Beastmaster Corps, and now Blizzard Mountain's history also tied back to the empire.

This Beastmaster Empire clearly held a significant presence.

"I really look forward to the ascension realm once we hit level 10."

Lu Ran exhaled a breath of warm air. This secret realm was mainly set in the wilderness, but ascension realms had projections of people from the other world. Lu Ran was very curious about alien and ancient human civilizations.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

]

Captain Doofus looked at Lu Ran with a lively expression, asking when they would set off.

"Right now."

Lu Ran was startled when he noticed Captain Doofus’s eyes. They looked completely different—full of spirit! It wasn’t intelligence but a vibrant energy.

It seemed the arctic environment could actually make huskies smarter! After all, many joked that huskies' brains were blocks of ice, which melted into water in hot climates. Now, in its natural habitat, it finally had a chance to shine!

"Alright, let's go scout ahead," Lu Ran said.

He looked out ahead. The blizzard was relatively tame where they stood, but ahead, it was a field of gray with howling winds. Great trials seemed to be waiting for them.

***

Soon, Lu Ran and Captain set off, planning to travel through the blizzard. Although some winter clothing would’ve been great, Lu Ran didn't think it was absolutely necessary. He could save some crystal coins while treating it as an exercise.

I owe Dr. Gu a lot of money, so I have to count every penny!

Whoosh!

Lu Ran had barely stepped into the blizzard when a strange cold wind sliced open the back of his hand. The wound froze instantly, turning bluish-purple before it could even bleed.

Witnessing this, Lu Ran gained a new appreciation for the cold wind’s destructive power. No wonder there were no monsters here—if packs of ice wolves still roamed the area, the difficulty would undoubtedly jump to Hard or even Hell.

"Divine Deer Pendant."

Lu Ran quickly put on the pendant and used its healing effect.

"A cut on the hand is fine. As long as it’s not the face!"

"Woof, woof."

Unlike Lu Ran, Captain Doofus moved effortlessly through the snow, like a fish in water. It shot him an encouraging look, as if to cheer him up.

This dog is getting pretty cocky.

"Are you enjoying this?" Lu Ran asked.

Captain Doofus enthusiastically nodded in response.

"Since the weather has improved your intelligence, you should be able to learn a couple of powerful skills here, right?"

Captain Doofus was inspired.

That makes sense!

It immediately stopped moving and closed its eyes to meditate in the wind and snow.

For real?

"Fuck!"

Lu Ran was about to wake it up when a chunk of hail flew straight toward his face. Reacting quickly, he drew the Wind Slashing Sword and swung it!

Bang!

The sword flashed, splitting the hailstone in half as the pieces landed harmlessly on either side of him.

"Stop meditating and let’s go! It’ll take at least four hours to cross this region, and you can meditate after the mission," Lu Ran said, waking Captain Doofus.

Suddenly, Captain Doofus formed a wind blade in its mouth, holding it with a fierce expression.

"Woof!"

This astonished Lu Ran.

What do you want to do?

What happened next left Lu Ran even more stunned. The wind surrounding Captain Doofus’ body began to rapidly converge toward the wind blade in its mouth, merging with it. The terrifying energy was continuously compressed to its limit in the blade.

Bzz, bzz, bzz.

The wind blade raged like a storm. It dawned on Lu Ran that Captain Doofus was attempting an energy compression skill! While Captain Doofus had tried it before, those attempts had failed due to inexperience and the lack of focus.

However, this time, Lu Ran could tell the compression process was significantly more stable than before.

No way!

Lu Ran watched in silence as the massive wind energy seemed to reach its limit. The wind blade, once white, turned a striking sky blue, as if it had transformed into a heavenly blade!

"Aoooo~!"

Captain Doofus held the heavenly sword and swung it with great difficulty.

Compression, formation, and projection. Three techniques in one!

Storm Slash!

Boom!

The sword qi Captain Doofus unleashed was terrifying. Sky-blue in color, it stretched seven or eight meters in length, far larger than any attack Captain Doofus had unleashed before. Not only had the size of the attack increased, but the energy contained within it was also significantly denser.

For a moment, the roar of the sword qi drowned out the howling wind and snow. Lu Ran focused intently on the path of the sword qi. The blizzard parted as the sword qi sliced through it, splitting the storm in two.

With a single stroke of the sword, the blizzard was dissipated!

Lu Ran took a deep breath.

Of course, this was just an illusion. As soon as the blizzard was cut apart, more snow descended to fill the gap. Overcoming the power of nature was still a difficult task. However, Lu Ran was pleasantly surprised.

Good dog, you actually comprehend something! Something so powerful should be considered an advanced skill, right?

However...

"Woo, woo, woo."

Lu Ran looked at Captain Doofus, who finally turned around. Its face was lined with frozen tears, while its mouth was full of bloody ice chips.

Heal! Heal!

Captain Doofus pleaded.

The backlash of compression techniques was too great. The explosive force directly shattered all of Captain Doofus’ teeth, leaving it with a mouth full of blood. This technique could not be used indiscriminately if they didn’t have the proper healing items.

"It seems that the boost in intelligence is limited. Unless you were just eager to give up a couple of teeth so that we could forge that canine sword?"

"Woo, woo..."

1. Chinese proverb, 近水楼台先得月, meaning that the first to benefit from a situation are those related to someone involved. ☜