Chapter 58 - The Foolish Rich Kid

Lu Ran decided not to challenge any more secret realms that day. Although each trip had yielded good rewards, both he and Captain Doofus were running low on energy.

However, he planned to keep up the momentum tomorrow and check out the Mantis Jungle Secret Realm. Over the coming days, he intended to alternate between Blizzard Mountain and Mantis Jungle, challenging each at least once daily.

He would continue until their collected resources strengthened Captain Doofus to its maximum potential.

First, Captain Doofus would transform its common Wind-attribute power through the Blizzard Mountain Secret Realm into cold Wind-attribute power. Next, following Dr. Gu’s advice, they would try to evolve their Beast Sword Momentum into Blizzard Sword Momentum.

After that, they would use the Blade Grass from Mantis Jungle Secret Realm to continuously enhance the cutting properties of Captain Doofus’ wind energy. Then, they would use the Mantis Wing to boost Captain Doofus’ sensitivity to wind power.

Finally, they would use the Heart of the Insect, a metal attribute resource, to strengthen Captain Doofus’ teeth, aiming to upgrade them to superior grade. This would, in turn, create a more powerful sword.

Once Captain Doofus had fully absorbed these resources, and its corresponding attributes could no longer be enhanced by low-level materials, it should be ready to challenge a hell-difficulty secret realm with the Cascading Wind Sword.

“Eat up. Fill up now because you might not have the appetite tomorrow,” Lu Ran told Captain Doofus.

Captain Doofus was confused.

“Woof!”

Captain Doofus wasn’t about to be intimidated!

***

“Time to treat myself to something nice.”

After filling its belly, Captain Doofus went into the Black Card to rest. Today, Lu Ran had not touched its food. Even though he still seemed to owe a large sum of money, with the 8,000 crystal coins he had recently earned, he was now a full-blown wealthy man.

Moreover, after the Heavenly Familiar Ranking was settled, another large influx of crystal coins would come his way. Lu Ran realized that while he could save on small details, he shouldn’t cut corners when it came to improving his strength.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

He decided to find a restaurant in Limitless City to try some of the gourmet dishes made from secret realm ingredients. These dishes were known to provide significant attribute boosts to beastmasters, making them worth the investment.

On top of that, Lu Ran planned to visit the smithy and consult with Master Lin to see if Captain Doofus’ fangs could be used as materials to forge a weapon.

Not long after, Lu Ran arrived at the smithy. Seeing that the door was open and business hours were still in effect, he sighed with relief and walked in.

Master Lin had no customers at the moment. He was smoking a cigarette and casually flipping through a rather suggestive manga titled

Beast-Eared Girl Love

. Sensing someone entering, he swiftly shoved the book under the counter and looked toward his guest.

“Damn it.”

But as soon as he saw who it was, he stood up abruptly and slammed his hand on the table. He stared wide-eyed at Lu Ran.

“It’s you!”

If there was one thing Master Lin regretted lately, it was not befriending the strange beastmaster who had come in to forge a sword for his dog. If Lu Ran had vanished without a trace afterward, missing that connection wouldn’t have mattered.

But when Lu Ran shot to the top of the Heavenly Familiar Ranking, Master Lin immediately knew that the young man who had come to forge the sword was undoubtedly a rising star.

There were only seven Heavenly Familiar Rankings in all of Xia, and Lu Ran held the top spot in Limitless City #3, meaning he was potentially among the top ten in the entire fourth generation of Xia’s beastmasters. Such a promising newcomer was someone worth befriending early on.

“Master Lin, long time no see.” Lu Ran grinned.

“You actually made it to the top of the Heavenly Familiar Ranking! You really mastered that fighting style,” Master Lin praised.

“When I forged your weapon back then, I never expected this outcome.”

“Haha, I am just lucky.” Lu Ran laughed.

“Master Lin, I’m here to consult you about weapon forging.”

“What, you think the Cascading Wind Sword isn’t strong enough and want to upgrade it?” Master Lin asked.

“For a beginner, superior-grade weapons are good enough. If the weapon grade is too high, it requires too much power from the user and can be difficult to handle unless it’s an absolute masterpiece.

“I’m not looking to replace my weapon just yet. This is more of an inquiry in advance,” Lu Ran said.

“I wanted to know if this material could be incorporated into a sword.”

With that, Lu Ran took out the Wind Hound Fangs and placed them on the table.

“I’m not expecting them to enhance the sword’s power or level. I just want them to be perfectly integrated without compromising the sword’s other functions or quality,” Lu Ran explained.

“Hm...” Master Lin picked up one of the Wind Hound Fangs and examined it closely.

“These are your familiar’s teeth? You’re trying to fuse them with the weapon to increase the compatibility and connection between your familiar and the sword?”

Lu Ran was taken aback.

“Wow, Master! You really know your stuff.”

Master Lin laughed heartily.

“In all of Xia, my forging skills rank in the top ten. You think I wouldn’t recognize what you newcomers are trying to do? There’s no problem with your plan,” he said.

“If you want to forge a new weapon, contact me again. I’ll make sure you have nothing to complain about. The only shame is that your familiar’s teeth aren’t fully developed.

“Otherwise, fusing them into the sword could enhance its power. But I get it. If it already uses a sword, there’s no point in further developing its teeth. No matter how sharp its teeth or claws get, they’ll never match a weapon made from rare materials.”

Lu Ran considered this and asked, “So, if I could provide teeth of higher quality, could they be used as the main material for forging the weapon?”

Master Lin nodded. “Of course. A skilled forger always tailors the weapon to the materials provided. I’m not like those amateurs who mass-produce standard-issue weapons.”

“Great! I’ll prepare the materials and come back to see you,” Lu Ran said.

The Heart of the Insect from the Mantis Jungle Secret Realm might be able to upgrade Captain Doofus’ teeth, which was already part of the plan.

“Hold on a sec,” Master Lin said as Lu Ran was about to leave. “Didn’t you ask me before where you could learn forging?”

“That’s right.” Lu Ran replied, turning to face him.

“Didn’t I recommend Beastmaster University to you? If you’re interested, you should really consider it. The Alliance invited me to teach there, and though I wasn’t interested at first, they made the offer too good to refuse. So I might end up as a professor. If you enroll, I can personally teach you how to forge.

“Since your familiar is accustomed to using weapons, who better to forge its weapon than you, the beastmaster? I’ll even give you special lessons aside from the basic curriculum, of course. I’ll teach you things they don’t cover in school.” Master Lin chuckled.

“Really?” Lu Ran’s eyes lit up.

“Of course!”

Talented people had privileges wherever they went. Master Lin, an elite in the forging profession, had taken a liking to Lu Ran’s potential. After all, seeing his forged weapons wreak havoc in the hands of such a promising beastmaster was a source of pride.

“I’ll seriously consider enrolling in the Forging Department then,” Lu Ran said.

“Sounds good. But if you’re planning to pursue forging, make sure your second familiar is a Fire-attribute beast.”

“Uh...” Lu Ran felt awkward.

His second familiar, Sudden Death King, was already a Lighting-attribute beast. What now? It wasn’t as if he could awaken a fire attribute for either Captain Doofus or Sudden Death King as a second attribute.

Just as Lu Ran was about to delve into a discussion on Fire-attribute familiars, footsteps echoed from outside the shop. A sullen-looking youth in black entered the blacksmith shop.

“Uncle Lin, the guy who topped the Heavenly Familiar Ranking, Pedestrian A... Did he come here to forge a weapon? I heard from some of my guildmates. Do you have his info?”

The entrance of the black-clad youth interrupted Master Lin and Lu Ran’s conversation. Lu Ran made a small noise of surprise and glanced at the youth, who looked to be about the same age as him.

Was this guy looking for him?

“Hm?” Master Lin paused, confused by the boy’s appearance.

Why is this kid here? Could it be...

“You’re helping a customer?” The black-clad youth spotted Lu Ran and said, “Uncle Lin, I’ll wait until you’re done.”

“Are you looking for me?” Lu Ran asked.

The youth froze and stared at him in disbelief. “You’re Pedestrian A?”

“I am. And you are?” Lu Ran asked, though he already had a hunch.

He had noticed the guild emblem on the boy’s chest.

Galaxy Guild?

“Holy shit! I finally found you!” The youth, who was holding his breath, finally let it out.

“I’m Pluto, the one ranked second on the Heavenly Familiar Ranking.”

Lu Ran sighed internally, immediately understanding the boy’s intentions.

“Hahaha,” Master Lin laughed.

“I supply gear to all the major guilds and regularly forge items for dungeon crawls. When you hit the top of the ranking, I bragged a bit to them that your weapon was one of mine. Looks like someone actually took the bait. What’s the matter, kid? Got your rank stolen and can’t accept it?” Master Lin teased Pluto.

Pluto responded, “A bit, yeah. But I’ll be taking my spot back soon enough. Still, ranking doesn’t mean much. I’d rather settle things in the arena.”

He turned to Lu Ran and said, “Interested? I won’t push you into anything now. We can battle once your familiar reaches Level 10 and fuses a trait.”

It was a formal challenge. Pluto was dead serious. Ever since he’d been bumped down to second place, his guildmates had been poking fun at him. He knew they were just teasing, but it still irked him. What he couldn’t understand was why a dog had more potential than his Lightning Eagle.

“What if I don’t want to fight? I’m not interested,” Lu Ran replied, exasperated.

“Huh?” Pluto blinked. “How can you not want to fight?”

“I’ve already planned to challenge two or three secret realms a day. I’m exhausted. No time for it,” Lu Ran casually declined.

Two or three secret realms a day? Master Lin and Pluto both looked at him, wide-eyed.

Is this guy all muscle?

Pluto’s eyes flickered. He understood now why Lu Ran was so formidable. It looked like he’d have to up his game and start doing three secret realms a day too.

“You won’t be fighting for nothing! There’ll be stakes. If you beat me, you can name your prize. And if you lose, I won’t ask for anything,” Pluto added. “The materials you get from secret realms won’t be as rare as what I can offer.”

“Huh?” Lu Ran stared blankly at the boy about his age in front of him.

Is this kid an idiot? A foolish rich kid? Why is he so eager to hand out free resources?

“Are you serious?” Lu Ran asked.

“If I win, and I ask for a lightning awakening fruit, would you give it to me?”

Pluto chuckled. “No problem.”

Lu Ran cursed under his breath.

He really is a foolish rich kid. Wait... maybe I’m not asking for enough? He didn’t even hesitate.

“A little arena PK sounds good!” Lu Ran suddenly shifted, smiling. “When I have the time, I’ll contact you. Let’s add each other as friends?”

Nice! A free awakening fruit for Sudden Death King. No wonder Fang Lan was always hanging around the arena—this beats secret realm farming any day. Thanks, Galaxy Guild, may the stars bless you!

If the top-ranked beastmasters in the other six Limitless Cities were all this foolish, Lu Ran could top all the rankings and gather a load of free resources.

But that might make me a public enemy.

Lu Ran shook his head, amused by the thought.