Chapter 594 - The Primary Divine, Torch Dragon! (Part 1)

On the ancient land of Blue Planet.

In a vast, boundless wilderness, Lu Ran’s figure slowly materialized. This time, Limitless City hadn’t assigned him any special identity. He would be free to move about ancient Blue Planet as he pleased.

After arriving, Lu Ran walked around slowly, first glancing at the flowers and plants around him before summoning Dark Crow. The main mission this time was to see if he could find Blue Planet’s stellar core, while the side mission was to try to win over the Torch Dragon. Coincidentally, he also aimed to enhance Mystic Turtle’s power.

“Dark Crow.”

Without Lu Ran needing to say more, Dark Crow knew what the task was. After flying out, Dark Crow circled in the air while automatically absorbing the power of countless War Soldiers, and began a location foresight

“

Oh

secret realm,

oh

secret realm, tell me, where is the stellar core of this planet?”

The reason Lu Ran had cultivated Dark Crow to Superior Legendary was precisely because its foresight ability might be key to finding the stellar core.

In the next instant, Lu Ran and Dark Crow felt the world shift around them. It was as if they had entered some kind of domain. Their surroundings turned pitch black.

On the dark earth stood stitch after stitch of suturing needles. From the eye of each needle, a faint light emanated, representing countless locations. Dark Crow flew high above this place, searching among the countless needle eyes for that one target light.

This process was extremely difficult. After all, the stellar core they were looking for was considered a Divine-grade resource, on par with a Supreme-Divine being. Dark Crow was essentially attempting a cross-rank foresight.

Even if it could eventually succeed, the information probably wouldn’t be complete, and the process would require a massive amount of time and energy.

“Accelerate,” Lu Ran said softly.

Ripples of time appeared around him as he used the Time Acceleration beastmaster skill to assist Dark Crow’s foresight speed.

With Lu Ran’s support, the speed at which Dark Crow’s gaze swept over the needle eyes grew faster and faster. After an unknowable amount of time, Dark Crow’s vision caught and locked onto a needle eye emitting an extremely brilliant and dazzling light. With a loud cry from Dark Crow, the other constructs in the foresight world began to vanish.

“Found it!”

Instead, the dark space began to show new light, revealing the target.

As the new image appeared, both Lu Ran and Dark Crow were slightly stunned because the direction indicated by the foresight was a giant tree.

“This is?”

It towered into the clouds, its canopy so lush it blotted out the sky. The bark was covered with the marks of time, each groove seeming to tell an ancient story. Around the tree trunk, a mysterious halo circled, like a protective shield. This halo sometimes brightened, sometimes dimmed, and swayed gently with the wind.

Upon seeing it, Lu Ran felt as if he were seeing another Divine Tree, a witness to the passage of time and the changes of history.

Could this be...

“

The

Jianmu?” Lu Ran quickly recalled a kind of divine tree belonging to Blue Planet recorded in the later Classic of Mountains and Seas.

***

The Jianmu!

This foresight left Dark Crow panting and exhausted. Lu Ran wasn’t much better off, but there were gains. The location of Blue Planet’s core was suspected to be related to the Jianmu.

Legend had it that the Jianmu was a bridge connecting heaven, earth, and the divine, like a ladder allowing travel between the mortal world and the celestial court. The annoying part was that they didn’t know where the Jianmu was.

After quickly flying around Blue Planet with Baby Cloud, they didn’t find the Jianmu on Blue Planet’s surface layer. Likely, the Jianmu was in some deep, alternate space secret realm.

Along the way, Lu Ran and the others harvested the hearts, livers, and stomachs of old friends like the Taotie, asking them if they knew where the tree was after they surrendered. Unfortunately, these divine beasts also didn’t know where it was.

“We can either wait for Dark Crow to catch its breath and foresee Jianmu's location again, or find a stronger divine beast—one that seems more knowledgeable, to ask.”

In the end, Lu Ran chose to flirt with the Torch Dragon, as there was an advantage to approaching the Torch Dragon first. If Lu Ran and the others found Blue Planet’s core first and then went to flirt with the Torch Dragon, and the Torch Dragon had a bad temper and killed them, all the resources gathered would be wasted.

***

Lu Ran and the others set off for the mountain range where the Torch Dragon resided. Back when Lu Ran first came to the ancient Blue Planet secret realm, he had already been fascinated by the Torch Dragon.

However, at that time, Lu Ran and the others struggled even against an Intermediate Legendary like Zhu Yan, needing the Divine Dragon's kin's assistance. At that time, approaching the Torch Dragon, who was suspected to be at least Superior Legendary, was too risky.

This time, Lu Ran, who possessed the power to suppress Superior Legendaries, descended again. But unfortunately, Limitless City stated the Torch Dragon’s strength was at the Primary-Divine level, surpassing the Legendary rank.

This meant Lu Ran and the others still lacked the qualification to speak with the Torch Dragon as equals. Even so, Lu Ran was quite happy. After all, if he could convince the Torch Dragon into signing a contract with him in exchange for resurrection, he would gain a Primary-Divine-level combatant. That was much more satisfying than a Superior Legendary.

Thinking of this, Lu Ran grew even more impatient. “Baby Cloud, accelerate.”

Lu Ran rode Cloud Baby, speeding wildly ahead. He looked forward as an endless blue sky filled his vision. They continuously shot through thick seas of clouds.

Previously, Lu Ran had considered replacing his mount, Baby Cloud, with a spatial familiar. However, since Baby Cloud’s species rank had increased and it had devoured the Wind God’s Heart, its flight speed had become faster and faster, not seeming inferior to spatial teleportation at all. It could still be used for a while longer.

With Baby Cloud’s speed, it wouldn’t take long to reach the area where the Torch Dragon dwelled. However, as they passed over a stretch of sea, a terrifying exotic beast suddenly appeared among the clouds, harnessing the power of wind and extreme speed. It was seemingly chasing after Lu Ran and the others.

Lu Ran lay on the cloud, tilting his head back to look. “What is that?”

The sky instantly darkened. It was a creature of great size, seemingly able to blot out the sky and cover the sun, like a dark cloud pressing down. It was a Peng bird. Its eyes were deep and bright, and it quickly caught up to Lu Ran and the others.

[Species: Kunpeng]

[Attributes: Water, Wind]

[Species Rank: Superior Legendary]

[Level: 100]

After scanning this guy’s information with the Eye of Detection, Lu Ran was slightly stunned. They had encountered a familiar fellow. The Kunpeng Feather that Baby Cloud used before becoming divine was dropped by the Kunpeng species.

“Who are you? I’ve never seen you before.”

This Kunpeng caught up but didn’t immediately treat Lu Ran and the others as prey to hunt. It was probably because Baby Cloud’s strength was too great, now no less than the Kunpeng’s, making the Kunpeng not dare to underestimate them.

Although the Kunpeng didn’t treat Baby Cloud and Lu Ran as prey, Lu Ran’s eyes lit up. After flying around Blue Planet, this was the first Superior Legendary he had encountered.

How about...

The Kunpeng continued speaking, “A strange, cloud-like creature.

Hmm,

very strong. And you, I’ve never seen such a strong human... youngster.”

Baby Cloud glanced at the Kunpeng, and mentally asked Lu Ran if it should take care of it.

—Don’t rush; first inquire about its background.

Lu Ran said, “The Kunpeng, eh? I’ve heard of you. We come from a special place. It’s normal that you don’t know us.”

The Kunpeng said, “

Oh,

where are you going? This direction... could it be you are also going to seek out the Torch Dragon?”

Lu Ran was stunned. “

Huh?

What do you mean by ‘also’? Are you going too?”

The Kunpeng was taken aback. “That’s right. I’ve been stuck at my current level for a long time, unable to break through. So not long ago, I visited Lord Torch Dragon, wanting to ask it for the path to breakthrough. However, it didn’t teach me directly. Instead, it told me to come again today. It would set several tests. If I passed, it would agree to take me as its disciple.”

After hearing this, Lu Ran fell silent. It was a good thing he asked more. It would be awkward if they killed this Kunpeng, who already had an appointment with the Torch Dragon.

“We also wish to follow Lord Torch Dragon, so we came,” Lu Ran said casually.

“I can see that! But what is your relationship? That cloud-like fellow, why don’t you speak?” The Kunpeng looked gravely at Baby Cloud.

It had a feeling that this little guy’s power definitely didn’t lose to its own, having reached the peak state among divine lifeforms.

However, at this level, taking another step further to surpass the divine rank was extremely difficult. Currently, on this planet, the only lifeform the Kunpeng knew that had surpassed the divine rank was the Torch Dragon.

Lu Ran smiled slightly. “It doesn’t like to talk. You can say whatever you need to me on its behalf. By the way, Brother Kunpeng, do you know of a divine tree called Jianmu?”

The Kunpeng said while flying, “No. Never heard of it. Alright... We’re here...”

Both Baby Cloud and the Kunpeng were extremely fast. In the time it took to say a few sentences, they arrived at the great mountain where the Torch Dragon resided.

While searching for the Jianmu, Lu Ran and the others had passed by this mountain range. It seemed unremarkable, but as long as one’s spatial attainment reached a certain level, they could perceive that there was a hidden realm within this seemingly ordinary mountain range. From inside the secret realm, a terrifying aura faintly emanated.

Even if one couldn’t perceive this, staying in the area for a few days should make it clear that a monster dwelled here. After all, in this region, the shifts between scorching summer and severe winter were extremely rapid. Even light and darkness weren’t influenced by the external stars, operating on their own system.

“Lord Torch Dragon, I have come.” The Kunpeng shrank and landed at the mountain’s base, calling out directly.