Chapter 591 - Divine Dragons’ Offspring (Part 2)

Baby Cloud was confused by why it was suddenly the center of attention, wondering why the Federation officials were staring at it.

"It doesn’t matter how I did it, as long as the Evil God is dead. Let’s meet up in Limitless City so that you can pay me. Hmm? Do you have something to say?" Lu Ran looked at Ji Yuan. "Are you angry that I stole your kill?"

"No. I’m willing to admit that you’re stronger than me. You deserved the kill because you were powerful enough to do so. I’m also willing to let go of the fact that you attacked me. All I want from you is to know whether you have a way of lifting my curse.

"I heard that you raised a crow with the Evil God’s bloodline, so you must have used the Evil God’s corpse to further nurture that crow. That means you should have a way to lift my curse.”

Although he was infuriated with Lu Ran, Ji Yuan decided to endure it for the sake of a cure.

Lu Ran shook his head in response to Ji Yuan’s inquiry.

"If my crow was that great, then do you think I would still look like this? On the bright side, it’s still a work in progress. It should be able to help you, given enough time.

"Actually, you can help accelerate its growth by gathering 100 billion crystal coins for me. I'll use them to buy more resources to help it power up faster. We’ll just count it as your medical fees."

Ji Yuan was bewildered by Lu Ran’s demands. He had no concept of how much money 100 billion crystal coins were. Mechanical Leader, on the other hand, took a deep breath when he heard the exorbitant demands.

Lu Ran's greed made him look like a villain robbing anyone in sight. If they weren’t the ones who resurrected Ji Yuan, then he might’ve even suspected that Lu Ran secretly cursed the poor guy himself.

"Don't think that I’m being greedy. Curses are easy to cast, but difficult to resolve."

This was the truth. The curse on Ji Yuan wasn’t simple, and it wasn’t caused by the Evil God. It was more like a price that he had to pay for his resurrection. Dark Crow’s prophecy seemed to work on some sort of karmic principle that involved a give-and-take system.

"Alright, let’s get going."

Lu Ran entered Limitless City without another word, as he was impatient to get his money. Ji Yuan clenched his fists as he watched Lu Ran disappear. He didn’t have the courage to do anything as Lu Ran had two Superior-Legendary familiars.

"I understand why Stellar Moon hates that alien bastard so much now. He's flat out evil."

***

Lu Ran was soon back on Blue Planet with his protection money in hand. He planned to fully utilize the resources he had harvested from his last ascension realm.

Captain Doofus had developed an impressive comprehension ability. During his first encounter with the Evil God, Lu Ran used Soul Evolution to transform it into its werewolf form. Although it was a brief encounter, Lu Ran got his money’s worth out of the soul clone.

Afterwards, Captain Doofus took advantage of its form to master a new technique that allowed it to temporarily lock in the power granted by Soul Evolution.

The Soul Evolution state typically granted explosive but short-lived power. Once activated, it puts a tremendous strain on the body and rapidly depleted the user’s stamina in exchange for a huge boost in combat power. There was no way to moderate or temporarily halt the effects.

Captain Doofus’ technique was unique in its ability to fully control the power granted by Soul Evolution and even store it in its body for future use. As long as Lu Ran provided Captain Doofus with a steady stream of resources that nourished the soul, it would be able to activate Soul Evolution on its own without Lu Ran having to initiate it.

Sudden Death King and Dark Crow had just achieved their own Soul Evolution forms, but Captain Doofus had made significant progress, far surpassing them.

"I see. Talent is crucial in the early stages, but as time goes on, comprehension ability becomes increasingly more important."

Dark Crow was able to come into its own windfall. After harvesting a complete Curse Core, it just needed to work on digesting it now. Lu Ran was planning to let it take its time in doing so. If everything went as expected, it should be able to create even more clones and boost its power to be on par with the original Evil God.

As for Six-Path Flower, it managed to snag another Grass-attribute God’s heart. It was a perfect match for it, given its base attribute. It also needed time to utilize the resources it gathered to strengthen itself and create a more powerful domain.

Finally, Lu Ran himself was calmly searching for new traits. Although he was constantly exploiting Manager Ying for various tasks, it never stopped collecting rare traits for him. Public secret realms and ascension realms were still a consistent source of Unique traits.

He was mainly looking for a ninth trait for Captain Doofus’ third evolution. Other than that, he also needed some traits to help Black Tortoise lay a better foundation.

During his search, Lu Ran traveled about in secret as he didn’t want anyone to see his child-like form. It would be bad enough if Fang Lan or Gu Qingyi saw him, but if Principal Shi Zhen heard about it... he shivered even imagining it.

He actually ended up having to pay Manager Ying a good amount of hush money.

Deep within the Amazon, Emperor Lu Ran's office had a solemn and imperial air about it. Lu Ran lounged on the throne behind a large desk while he sifted through information on his phone.

"As expected of Manager Ying. These two will be Captain Doofus’ next traits."

[Skill Analysis: Observing the effects of a skill allows the user to comprehend and improve upon it. Actual results will vary depending on the user’s comprehension ability.]

[Hyperactivity: Extends the duration of other skills.]

Manager Ying paid a high price to obtain Skill Analysis, while Lu Ran found Hyperactivity in a Hell-difficulty level 9 secret realm.

Captain Doofus’ Soul Evolution was already quite impressive. Now that it could use the skill by itself, the Hyperactivity trait would be like putting wings on a tiger.

It was also a great fit for #18 since its Hall of Heroic Spirits skill similarly had a short duration. Unfortunately, none of his other familiars were as compatible with the Soul Evolution skill as Captain Doofus, or he would’ve gotten the trait for all of his familiars.

None of the other traits on the list was worth mentioning.

Compared to his other familiars, Black Tortoise would be much harder to find traits for, given its species.

"Perhaps, we can try that method...”

***

In the blink of an eye, half a month flew by. Captain Doofus fused with the Skill Analysis and completed its third evolution. This wasn’t one of those traits that had a significant impact on species rank, so it remained an Intermediate Legendary.

However, the new trait excited it nonetheless, and it immediately started working on comprehending new sword intents. Only after the other familiars collectively ignored it did Captain Doofus stop trying to copy their skills.

During this time, Dark Crow successfully digested the Curse Core and reached Superior Legendary, and Lu Ran's efforts in training Black Tortoise were also beginning to bear fruit.

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

[Species: Divine Dragon Turtle]

[Attribute: Dragon (Water, Rock), Undead, Time, Space]

[Level: 90]

Lu Ran used soul-strengthening resources when it was level 10 and awakened the Undead attribute along the way. Once it reached level 20, he used Space resources, which granted the tortoise the corresponding attribute as well. Then, when it was level 30, it finally awakened the Time attribute with the right resources.

Since it was innately a living being, it technically possessed the four attributes: Life, Death, Time, and Space. Once its dragon bloodline was taken into account, it was bound to evolve into a law-bound lifeform—one step closer to reproducing the awe of the four Divine Dragons.

Lu Ran used the four Divine Dragons as a template for evolving Black Tortoise so that it could serve as a sparring partner for his other familiars. This way, they would be prepared to face the Law power of the Divine Dragons themselves.

At level 40, Lu Ran gave it the Emotion Eater trait, which allowed it to feed on emotions for sustenance. Consuming emotions that matched its current emotional state would offer greater benefits. This allowed Black Tortoise to grow stronger by feeding off the emotions of those who surrendered to it.

At levels 50, 60, 70, and 80, it fused with four more traits: Life Enhancement, Defy Death, Spatial Affinity, and Time Affinity. This further improved the power of its attributes.

These traits were commonly available in regular level 8 and 9 secret realms. Even though they weren’t top-tier by any measure, they were still a great fit for Black Tortoise.

Life Enhancement boosted its vitality while Defy Death strengthened its soul force, making its soul less likely to dissipate. Space and Time Affinity naturally had effects that mirrored their names.

At level 90, Lu Ran finally gave it the pièce de résistance, Law of Surrender, which finally allowed it to evolve into a law-bound familiar.

"With this setup, you’ll look like the offspring of the Divine Dragons rather than the Divine Turtle."

After two weeks of training, Lu Ran became increasingly excited about Black Tortoise’s future.

"Ugh!" The old turtle's head tilted, a look of despair on its face. Every attribute, trait, evolution, and level-up stimulated the most primal strength hidden within its genetics.

Black Tortoise was originally a master at surrendering, and all of this went against every fiber of its being.

"When will this training end, my king? When will it be over?" it complained.

"This is the final step. Although you can fuse one more trait at level 100, I'm capping your level for now and not going to make you fuse another trait for now. That means this is the last one," Lu Ran comforted as he handed the Law of Surrender trait to the tortoise.

"I get to take a break after this?”

“You wish. You’ll need to spar with Captain Doofus and the others, but before that, I need to visit the ancient Blue Planet to see if I can resurrect the Torch Dragon to accompany you," Lu Ran responded.

Six-Path Flower reached a bottleneck, and without the Blue Star Core, it would be difficult for it to reach the Primary Divine rank.

The Torch Dragon was kind of a side quest.

"I wonder what the Torch Dragon’s personality is like. If it turns out to be a terrifying fella, then it’ll be your job to throw in the towel, turtly."