Chapter 627 - Teacher Ying and Manager Ying

The main city of the Cosmic Dream Net was a highly technologically advanced metropolitan area. When Lu Ran arrived, he saw hundreds of different races bustling about. Lu Ran’s familiars would be able to fit right in even if they wandered off on their own. The place had great diversity and wasn’t overrun by any one race.

Lu Ran put his hands in his pockets and shook his head. After a quick look around, he decided to log off. Since Infinite Plunder didn’t work in the Dream Net, there was no point in wasting more time there.

“Maybe I can have #18 explore the place on its own later on. It could use the technology in the Dream Net to improve the Hall of Heroic Spirits. I guess that would make this not a complete waste of time,” he said to himself as he faded away and returned to the colossal planet.

A few moments later, a large cat arrived in the plaza, clearly there against its will.

"Where's that person you told me about, Lin?"

"He just logged off."

"What? You made me come all the way here only for him to leave? Why didn’t you stop him?"

"You can go to the coordinates I gave you and find him in the real world."

"You sure he’ll be there?" the cat grumbled while Lin let out a soft chuckle.

A clash between two Cosmic beings can cause serious damage, so it’s better to have them meet outside the Dream Net. This way, even if a fight breaks out, it won’t have anything to do with me.

Lu Ran logging off was exactly what Lin hoped for. There was no reason for it to stop him.

Teacher Ying won't die, right? Meh, it should be fine.

***

After exiting the Dream Net, Lu Ran rose from his bed with a sense of awe.

"I have a general idea of what the Dream Net is. I should be able to access it with my mind directly without having to use this thing next time," Lu Ran said as he took off the Dream Net headgear.

He slowly made his way to the window and looked outside. The space beside him rippled as Manager Ying plopped onto the bed.

"When are we going to use the Seeds of Transformations?" Manager Ying asked.

Compared to Lu Ran and his familiars, Manager Ying was the most impatient to complete their main objective. It couldn't sit still ever since Lu Ran promised it a better future.

"Look at you, getting all worked up again."

Lu Ran took out a bottle of water and took a sip.

"Do you think I'm some overpowered monster like your familiars? A cute little kitty like me doesn't feel safe in a strange new place like this. I need power. Power!" Manager Ying shot back.

"Alright, alright." Lu Ran rubbed his temples.

"We'll go right now. Captain Doofus' fight with the panda made something really clear.

Without using Soul Evolution, Captain Doofus would've struggled a lot more in that match.

In terms of skills and energy utilization, Captain Doofus had an advantage but was lacking in raw strength and base stats.

"It should be the gap from improperly ascending to Primary Divine the Cosmic Will mentioned."

"That's right. I talked to it earlier, and it said the Seeds of Transformation it condensed are especially pure. Once we use them, we should instantly be able to reach the peak of Primary Divine. We will be able to go toe to toe with the strongest Primary Divines of this universe and become unrivaled below the Cosmic rank.

"Most of the Primary Divines of the universe had to settle for using lower quality Seeds of Transformation, so we are actually at a huge advantage!"

"Do you think you'll also be able to reach the peak of Primary Divine?" Lu Ran teased.

"What do you mean? I might be a little weaker than your familiars, but I-"

Boom!

A loud explosion suddenly sounded outside, and the shockwave reached where Lu Ran was staying.

"Is there an enemy attack?"

The female giant from earlier quickly rushed into the room to check on Lu Ran.

"This is bad! The Cosmic Overlord Legion has launched an attack. Sir...”

"I see... They're here, huh. I wish y'all the best of luck!" Lu Ran revealed a hint of pity and took out a few teleportation items to give to the giant.

"We're out of here."

With that, he and Manager Ying vanished into thin air, leaving the female giant standing there alone and bewildered.

"Hurry up!" Lu Ran yelled as he clutched Manager Ying.

Lu Ran wasn't going to help them repel an invasion just because they gave him some information. This was a matter between the giants and the Cosmic Overlord Legion, and none of his business.

He wasn't some saint who couldn't bear to see the destruction of a country or planet. For the most part, the people of this planet were complete strangers to him. However, he didn't run because he was afraid of Sybas. Rather, there was simply no need to go looking for trouble.

Lu Ran and Manager Ying quickly made their way to outer space. Lu Ran's beastmaster skills allowed him to navigate the environment with ease. The experience he accumulated from Infinite Reincarnation maximized his proficiency with each of his skills.

"Let's get further away from here and find a quiet place to use the Seeds. This way, we won't accidentally run into the Sybas Legion again."

"Okay,” Manager Ying agreed.

With that, they vanished once more. Shortly after their departure, the first planet they visited upon arriving in this universe was struck with tragedy as the flames of war raged.

The giants put up a good fight, but the Sybas Legion was a top-tier force. Even a small peripheral unit was enough to wipe out a lesser race. The giants eventually couldn't resist any longer and were forced to flee their home planet.

A few were able to escape the blockade set up by the Sybas Legion using the teleportation items left by Lu Ran.

"This planet doesn't look like it's inhabited by anyone powerful. Ugh, Lin gave me bad intel. Let's see if l can try to find out anything through divination," a voice muttered in the void as its pair of eyes observed the war-torn planet.

***

In a different region of space, Limitless City cloaked the area so that Lu Ran could be the first to fuse with a Seed of Transformation.

Lu Ran's current rank was in kind of an odd situation. Lu Ran's familiars all reached Primary Divine, but Mythical beastmasters were only the equivalent of Legendary-ranked creatures. This was mainly due to the disaster in his home universe preventing beastmasters from reaching the Primary Divine level.

Primary Divine creatures were mostly fine as they were only a single individual. Beastmasters, on the other hand, were unique due to their beastmaster space, creating a larger burden for the universe to sustain.

After Lu Ran became the Keeper and dissipated the Black Mist, he could have attempted to break through to the Primary Divine level. However, according to the Cosmic Will, waiting to do so in a different universe would allow him to establish a more perfect foundation. Since that was the case, Lu Ran didn’t rush it before.

After consuming the Seed of Transformation, Lu Ran was now on the same level as his familiars. He stood shirtless as his body glowed in the void. Orbs of light condensed around him as his aura grew increasingly terrifying.

As this progressed, his contract cards appeared and swirled around him. Using his powers as the Keeper of the Universe, Lu Ran shattered the contract cards and merged the broken fragments into his body and beastmaster space.

Contract cards were originally created by Limitless City as external beastmaster spaces that allowed beastmasters to contract familiars beyond their own strength, which was exactly what happened with Lu Ran.

Now that Lu Ran broke through, he no longer needed them. As part of the process of absorbing the Seed of Transformation, he also ended up absorbing his contract cards.

Correspondingly, his six familiars relocated to his beastmaster space. While he was breaking through, his hair was glowing white and gold, but now that the process was complete, it returned to its original color, and the turbulent space calmed.

Lu Ran clenched his fists.

I’m finally a Primary Divine!

"With my current abilities, I should be able to fight Lin Xiuzhu's panda in a one-on-one. You’re next, Manager Ying."

Lu Ran turned to look at Manager Ying as it stood on a nearby asteroid. It drooled as it pictured itself soon becoming as powerful as Lu Ran.

"I’m about to become a Primary Divine cat!" Manager Ying eagerly exclaimed.

"Wait!" the Cosmic Will suddenly interrupted.

"What's wrong?" Lu Ran asked.

"A Cosmic being is nearby and appears to be searching for something."

"Hmm?" Manager Ying, who was just about to merge with the Seed of Transformation, was startled.

"For someone to come at a time like this... Were they attracted by the commotion from my breakthrough? Didn’t you seal off the area?" Lu Ran asked.

"They aren’t here because of your breakthrough. If I'm not mistaken, it should be the Gem Queen that giant told you about. It must be here because of the commotion you stirred up in the Dream Net.

"I’m guessing it came here to look for you specifically. You weren’t at your full strength in the Dream Net, but what you displayed was still enough to set you apart as one of the most powerful individuals under the Cosmic rank.

"Although we left the colossal planet, we didn’t really go far. They didn’t find you on that planet, so it’s not unreasonable for them to search the surrounding space and end up here."

"Damn it!" Manager Ying cursed. "Why did they have to show up right now? I was about to become a Primary Divine!"

"Maybe we should meet it. I'm very interested in the Cosmic Dream Net. If the Gem Queen is friendly, then maybe I’ll be able to meet the Dream Queen and the Mechanica Cosmic being as well."

"As you wish." Since the Cosmic Will was contracted to Lu Ran, it would normally listen to him unless he wanted to do something outrageous.

"But this Gem Queen is kind of useless. Even though you're the Cosmic Will of our universe and technically outrank Cosmic beings, it’s not strong enough to sense us despite being so close."

The Cosmic Will didn't bother replying to Lu Ran and released the camouflage.

Nearby, a white cat covered in Cosmic and Divine-grade jewels noticed something unusual and teleported toward it to investigate. It quickly spotted Lu Ran and Manager Ying standing atop an asteroid, floating through space.

Between the two, Lu Ran matched the description of the person it was looking for, but it was more surprised to see Manager Ying. Manager Ying was equally surprised to see the Gem Queen.

The two of them looked nearly identical! Aside from the Gem Queen's accessories, they could be mistaken for twins. They’re resemblance didn’t come from being the same breed of cats. Their expressions and auras were identical as well! They could even sense a bloodline connection!

The Cosmic Will decided now was the best time to mention something.

"Oh yeah, the Gem Queen of this universe seems to be this universe’s version of Manager Ying. It might even be Manager Ying’s final form."

"Oh my god!" The Gem Queen, also named Teacher Ying, couldn’t stop staring at Lu Ran and Manager Ying.

"Why does that cat look so much like me? Maybe Lin was right and they really are from a parallel universe!"