Chapter 589 - Lu Ran, the Third Threat (Part 2)

"Senior Ghost Mother, this is a divine beastmaster skill I developed called Soul Evolution. I think that you should’ve heard of it. During the World War, my husky used it to cut down Ice Emperor.

"The skill isn’t solely designed for Captain Doofus. I’ve since adapted it to be used on Dark Crow and Sudden Death King. My compatibility with Dark Crow and Sudden Death King naturally can’t compare to what it is with Captain Doofus due to our differences. Sudden Death King specializes in defense, while Dark Crow specializes in talking. In contrast, Captain Doofus and I both specialize in swordsmanship, so we are much better aligned.

"This translates to Soul Evolution having a more muted effect on Dark Crow. This is especially since Dark Crow is a Superior Legendary while I’m still only an Epic-Legendary beastmaster. However..."

Lu Ran took out the Stone of the Other Shore and activated it to turn Dark Crow's soul clone into a level 100 Superior Legendary.

“I can use the Stone of the Other Shore to increase the soul clones' compatibility with Dark Crow. This significantly improves the effect of Soul Evolution to an extraordinary level."

With that, Dark Crow opened its mouth and swallowed the soul clone in a single gulp.

"I shall once again merge with the king’s soul!" Dark Crow excitedly exclaimed.

Did this crow get possessed by the Evil God?

Ghost Mother wondered with a frown.

Next, Lu Ran consecutively unleashed his other skills.

Sealed Transformation, Devour Life, Fusion!

"On top of Soul Evolution, I can then add Soul Amplification to further buff Dark Crow even further."

The soul clone's energy was fully activated, and a gray mist expanded to envelope Lu Ran.

Soul Amplification!

His soul acted as a bridge and connected his spiritual energy to Dark Crow.

Boom!

With a loud burst, the soul mist quickly dissipated. This wasn't Lu Ran's first time using the skill, so he and Dark Crow were able to activate it flawlessly. When the fully transformed Dark Crow emerged, Ghost Mother understood the source of Lu Ran's confidence.

Without the mist shrouding its appearance, a humanoid crow clearly stood in the Abyss. It looked both eerie and shocking.

The monster had a tall, pitch-black black body that had a faint luster. Upon closer inspection, its skin was actually formed from crow feathers. The fusion transformed them in such a way that they almost looked like scales, and upon each one there were mysterious and ancient inscriptions.

Its head was part crow and part human. The human features appeared lifeless and hideous. Its eyes were deep and had a razor-sharp beak in place of a mouth. Its arms were well-toned with claw-like fingers on its hands.

A pair of massive crow wings grew out of its back that consisted of dense and lustrous feathers that were permeated with powerful Cursed energy.

The crowman's legs were slender but powerful, and its clawed feet tightly gripped the ground.

A chilling aura emanated from its body that reeked of darkness and death. Its presence seemed to mock the world and aimed to instill fear in anyone who laid eyes on it.

Its appearance was terrifying, but not more so than its power.

With various buffs in place, Ghost Mother sensed that the crowman’s power rivaled the Evil God when it was in its prime. It was a Superior Legendary that was only separated from the Primary Divine rank by a thin margin.

"Hehehehe..."

Dark Crow's gaze swept over Ghost Mother. It chuckled, knowing that its transformation was still incomplete.

"If this is all you have, then it’s not enough to curse the Evil God to death through the seal. It’s the creator of the Curse attribute and thus highly resistant to it. Even if it’s weakened after being sealed for so long, killing it would come at a high cost."

Death Sacrifice.

Lu Ran opened the Soul-Restraining Bottle. Under Ghost Mother's incredulous gaze, the remnant souls of over a dozen Low and Intermediate Legendary beasts poured out of the bottle. They carried endless hatred, like the vengeful souls of those who died unjust deaths.

"What are those things?”

"Nothing much. We hunted some Legendary creatures before going into the ascension realm, and we captured their souls once we erased their free will.

"Originally, we just wanted to drop a few elemental bombs to shock the world on our way out of the realm, but Dark Crow happened to gain the Death God talent that doubled the effect of any skill requiring a soul sacrifice.

“For our last day, we ran around pissing off the Chaos Dragon God's minions. If we just straight nuked them, then their souls would’ve been vaporized as well."

Ghost Mother fell silent.

In addition to those sacrificial souls, Dark Crow's eyes flickered as it began sacrificing its own life force to make the most out of Death Sacrifice and Death God’s effects. Its previously vigorous body rapidly wilted, but its soul power reached unprecedented heights and gradually began to shrink the gap between its current rank and Primary Divine.

Whoosh!

The horde of souls turned into a fog as they were sacrificed. Unfortunately, Dark Crow's strength reached a bottleneck that made further advancements difficult. Otherwise, Lu Ran could likely sacrifice a Superior-Legendary soul clone to boost the effect of Dark Crow’s next curse.

"Since Dark Crow's power could affect reality from the moment it evolved, then, theoretically, its curses should be able to penetrate the seal."

Dark Crow called out a single word.

"Death."

"This power might actually be able to..."

Ghost Mother clearly sensed that Dark Crow's power had now surpassed the Evil God when it was in its prime. Although it was the result of combining various skills, it was still Dark Crow’s power nonetheless.

Inside the seal, the Evil God, who had been trapped for countless years, was slowly eroding the seal in hopes of escaping one day. It could almost see the light at the end of the tunnel, but the sealed space was suddenly overwhelmed by an external Curse energy. A cluster of dark-golden runes illuminated the entire area, and the Evil God’s instinct desperately tried to warn it of danger.

"What... is that?" The Evil God incredulously stared at the cloud of runes that was slowly descending.

***

As Dark Crows and the Evil God competed for the seat of the greatest Curse user, the Federation finally detected something abnormal with Ji Yuan’s vital reading. They immediately dispatched personnel in teleportation machines to search for him.

When they found the desiccated Ji Yuan that was receiving blood transfusions from his familiars, they immediately notified their superiors.

In a secret Federation base, Mechanical Leader, Elf Queen, and several other important figures immediately rushed to see Ji Yuan.

"What the hell happened?" Mechanical Leader questioned upon seeing Ji Yuan’s miserable state.

Didn’t he go see Ghost Mother to check on the Evil God’s seal? Did the Evil God escape?

"It was a strange child." One of Ji Yuan’s familiars finally spoke up. It was a giant thunderbird that was capable of human speech.

"He was about seven or eight years old. Not only did he know our identities, but he was also aware of why we were there."

"A seven or eight-year-old child?"

"His power was terrifying. He instantly unleashed a force capable of suppressing all of us at once. We were paralyzed and unable to resist in the slightest. Our inability to react in time caused our master to suffer a miserable defeat."

Mechanical Leader and the other officials were stunned by the Thunderbird's testimony.

When did such a figure appear in Stellar Moon World?

Cough, cough, cough.

Finally, with the combined efforts of his familiars and the Federation, Ji Yuan quickly regained consciousness. He stood up in panic, feeling extremely unwell.

"Are you alright, Ji Yuan? We have a general idea of what happened. We will look into who that mysterious child was." Elf Queen stepped closer and expressed her concern.

"I’m ok." Ji Yuan didn't know what else to say. He was deeply ashamed of how miserably he lost.

But before the investigation could start, Mechanical Leader's cell phone suddenly rang. After glancing at it, he was startled by the caller ID. He wanted to answer the call in private, but the caller hacked his phone and forced the call to connect.

"Good job, #18. You’re getting better." Mechanical Leader vaguely heard over the line.

The voice then sounded again, louder this time.

"Mechanical Leader? It's me, Lu Ran."

"Oh, it’s just Pedestrian A.” Mechanical Leader took a deep breath.

"I'm calling you to inform the Federation that I've killed the Evil God. You can send someone to verify the body. Of course, the more important part is that you don’t forget to pay the protection fee.

"Also, while I was trying to kill it, the Evil God cursed me, so I’ve been turned into a child and can’t change back. That means I’ll need hazard pay and reimbursements for mental distress and disability."

Mechanical Leader's pupils shrank.

"Were you the one who injured Ji Yuan?"

Damn, I forgot about that.

"Oh yeah! Well, we had a contract for killing the Evil God, and he was going to steal my job. I couldn’t let him get in my way. Wait, did y’all send him?"

"No..."

Both parties decided to leave it at that. Lu Ran set a deadline for the protection fee and hung up.

Although the call volume wasn’t loud, everyone in the room heard it. Without exception, everyone's expression was filled with bewilderment.

"That kid was Pedestrian A?" Ji Yuan stared at Mechanical Leader in disbelief.

The others also turned to stare at Mechanical leader as well.

"How could he possibly be so strong?”

“If he didn't have that kind of strength, then the Six-Paths Flower wouldn't have cooperated with him in the first place," Elf Queen commented.

"If the Evil God is really dead, then the only major threat that remains is the Chaos Dragon God."

"Since Lu Ran teamed up with the Six-Paths Flower and the Divine Tree, they will inevitably have a decisive battle with the Chaos Dragon God. I wonder if he can successfully eliminate it as well."

"I have a premonition that Pedestrian A will one day become a threat to the people of Stellar Moon as well. There’s no one to keep him in check."

Mechanical Leader had a foreboding feeling. Some time ago, Merlin had a dream in which he predicted that Lu Ran would one day sacrifice all life in Stellar Moon and Blue Planet to grow stronger.

As it stands now, Stellar Moon and Lu Ran weren’t entirely on the same side, but he wasn’t entirely evil. Regardless, Mechanical Leader still harbored some concern.

Now that Ji Yuan had been defeated, he no longer held out hope for the transexual Mythical beastmaster.

***

Back in the Abyss Dimension, Lu Ran held a brand new Cursed Core in his hand with a faint smile on his face. He casually tossed it to Dark Crow before storing away the Evil God's flesh and blood. The corpse was earmarked to be used for raising Dark Crow’s War Soldier clones since it no longer had any effect on Dark Crow.

"It's over." Ghost Mother finally breathed a sigh of relief. The Evil God it guarded for so long, which once wreaked havoc across the world with its curses, ironically died from a curse itself.

"By the way, King Lu." After Lu Ran killed the Evil God, Ghost Mother willingly addressed him as King. This was the first time it had done so since joining the Beastmaster Empire.

"What's wrong?"

"That Divine Turtle seems to have given birth."