Chapter 501: Chapter 501

After several calls, the little squirrel snapped back, eyeing Lu Ran and Fang Lan with a strained smile.

“What’s with that look? What happened?”

Squirrel God stared gravely at Lu Ran. “Yeah. It’s over. After all this, the Space Demon God finally broke free and escaped.”

Lu Ran was shocked. “Fuck. What about your main body?”

“My main body’s fine. It’s just weak. The Space Demon God is similarly drained. To break the seal, it must’ve expended immense energy. After escaping, it didn’t linger to fight but left immediately, probably to recuperate. I have no idea what it’s thinking, but if it returns for revenge after recovering, we’re in deep trouble.” Squirrel God clutched its head, rolling around.

“Waaah... Daddy Space Dragon God, I miss you.”

Lu Ran pondered. This was indeed a major crisis. A Superior-Divine Space Demon—even with several kin joining forces, it’d be tough to handle.

“Don’t worry too much.”

“Huh?” Squirrel God’s clone peeked at Lu Ran.

Lu Ran smiled. “Six-Path Flower has advanced to Intermediate Legendary. Regaining its past strength as a level 100 Superior Legendary won’t take more than a few years. By the time the Space Demon God recovers, we might already be strong enough to crush it.”

Squirrel God’s eyes widened.

Right. The Divine Deer’s messenger is a monster, and he even has Six-Path Flower to guard him!

“Also, Lord Divine Deer and I found the timekeeper’s reincarnation. Although some accidents affected its strength and memories, its power is gradually returning.’

“WHAT?” Squirrel God was even more stunned.

That enigmatic timekeeper?

As Lu Ran spoke, Fang Lan’s mind buzzed beside him.

What, what, what? Intermediate-Legendary Six-Path Flower? Timekeeper? What has Lu Ran been up to lately...?

Fang Lan’s jaw dropped, and then she decided to fully submit to Lu Ran’s arrangements.

“Anyway, Squirrel God, don’t despair. It’s not hopeless yet.”

“Fine...” Squirrel God didn’t press for details.

Lu Ran’s reassurance did lift its mood.

It eyed Fang Lan. “Lu Ran, is this the messenger you brought me? She doesn’t seem... very strong.”

Fang Lan’s cheeks puffed, flushing.

What do you mean by “not very strong”? I’m plenty strong! I’m Blue Planet’s top Poison-attribute beastmaster, hello?

Lu Ran coughed dryly. “She’ll have at least two quasi-Legendaries soon. It’s just not time yet. She’s quite powerful.’

“Really?” Squirrel God was stunned.

The Ten Thousand Poisons Mother Tree started as an Overlord. After fusing with six traits and undergoing its second-stage evolution, it’d undoubtedly hit the Overlord’s peak.

With the Intermediate-Legendary Six-Path Flower’s help in evolution and potential unlocking, reaching quasi-Legendary was assured, unless Fang Lan messed up its cultivation. Once Fang Lan obtained another Evolution Crystal, a second quasi-Legendary wouldn’t be hard. That made two.

Fang Lan stepped forward. “Greetings, Lord Squirrel God! I’ll be a worthy messenger!”

“Fine, fine, you’ll do. Weakness doesn’t matter. My main body’s free now, so I can teach you a few tricks.” Squirrel God suddenly remembered something. “Oh, Lu Ran, don’t stay long in Stellar Moon!’

“Why?” Lu Ran was puzzled.

“The God of Battle under the Chaos Dragon God seems to have awakened, too. It’s scouring Stellar Moon for something. I’ve got a hunch that it’s you...”

Fuck. Why am I being hunted by Legendary beasts everywhere?

If the God of Battle had awakened, it made sense to target him. Six-Path Flower’s existence had been exposed through the Mythical secret realms. Although Stellar Moon beastmasters assumed Six-Path Flower was merely a similar species to the Six-Path Reincarnation God, the Chaos Dragon God faction would still want to nip such a threat in the bud.

After all, Six-Path Flower was a mortal enemy to beast gods. Additionally, Lu Ran had Sudden Death King merge with the Chaos Dragon God’s blood. Although the Divine Turtle purified it, no one knew if traces remained. Lu Ran always prepared for the worst.

“Got it. I won’t let them find me easily. Then I’ll take Fang Lan back first. When the time’s right, Squirrel God, your main body can come to Blue Planet to teach her,” Lu Ran said.

“Deal.” Squirrel God nodded.

Its main body could also lie low on Blue Planet. Plus, it wanted to meet the timekeeper’s reincarnation.

What kind of big shot is it?

“How’s Sister Divine Deer doing on Blue Planet?”

“She’s... sleeping very soundly there.”

Still hasn’t woken up.

Lu Ran promptly fled because Stellar Moon was in chaos. With the God of Battle awake, the Space Demon God free, and the Wishful Dream God hunting him, Blue Planet was far safer.

With troubles piling up, Lu Ran pinned his hopes on the Limitless City authority he’d soon obtain. Only with sufficient power could he shake off these threats.

A huge tiger had entered the void for dozens of days, scouring every corner of Stellar Moon, including alternate dimensions. Barring inaccessible zones, its search was exhaustive.

This tiger was the God of Battle under the Chaos Dragon God. Sensing the Dragon God’s bloodline’s emergence, it awoke immediately to hunt down Sudden Death King and eliminate the being that had fused with the Dragon God’s blood.

Unfortunately, against Lu Ran, who spent most of his time on Blue Planet or in Limitless City and had the Time Shield skill, even the God of Battle’s formidable power failed to locate him.

As its search dragged on, the God of Battle grew increasingly frustrated. During its quest, it also heard something even more unacceptable. A plant lifeform named the Six-Path Reincarnation Flower had appeared.

Perhaps modern beings didn’t grasp Six-Path Flower’s terror, but the God of Battle knew. Back then, Six-Path Flower, alongside the Void Leaf and the Divine Tree, had revolted, slaughtering countless beast gods. Some of them were its peers, and others were stronger.

The mere thought of Six-Path Flower’s power filled the God of Battle with dread. Whether this Six-Path Flower was a reincarnation or a similar species, the God of Battle couldn’t allow this archenemy of beast gods to survive. However, like Sudden Death King, it couldn’t find Six-Path Flower.

After research, the God of Battle suspected Limitless City, the bizarre facility that had appeared out of nowhere. Over time, it learned about Limitless City’s nature. Sadly, it lacked the authority to enter.

‘That guy who evolved with the dragon god’s blood, the Six-Path Flower, and the Beastmaster King must be hiding in Limitless City. That’s why I can’t find them. This won’t do. If they hide indefinitely, they’ll grow unchecked.

“I need a human messenger—a proxy to enter Limitless City. Even if they can’t kill them, they will be able to locate them. Once Lord Dragon God awakens, Limitless City will be trivial to breach.”

Originally, storming human strongholds to enslave their elites as messengers was an option. However, the God of Battle wasn’t awakening for the first time. It had roused once during the Mechanical Era, only to be crushed by mechanical torrents and forced back into slumber.

The terror of mechanical systems left the God of Battle wary, fearing the Stellar Moon Republic might still have trump cards. Until the Chaos Dragon God awoke, it wouldn’t confront humanity head-on. Selecting a marginal Legendary beastmaster as a servant would suffice.

After returning, Lu Ran continued systematically cultivating his familiars and strengthening his faction. Most familiars only needed to raise their levels, but #18 required special attention. It was the only one yet to undergo a second-stage evolution. If Lu Ran didn’t plan to contract new familiars, perfecting #18’s combat prowess before the World War would suffice.

Lu Ran believed that this was relatively straightforward. #18 was the least of his worries. For other familiars to reach quasi-Legendary, Lu Ran needed Legendary resources and divine blessings. However, for #18, none of that was necessary.

Mechanical systems inherently possessed the ability to integrate all attributes. For instance, Baby Cloud had advanced to quasi-Legendary by fusing multiple elements through mechanical synergy. Although Baby Cloud was switching paths under Manager Ying’s guidance, awakening the Mechanical attribute could still elevate it to quasi-Legendary.

The same applied to #18. Having awakened the Undead attribute, the Space attribute, and soon the Time attribute, it was guaranteed to reach quasi-Legendary status once they were integrated.

This very advantage had allowed Mechanical Era humans to dominate all species. However, mechanical lifeforms couldn’t integrate powers effortlessly; they needed core technology, which Lu Ran’s group already possessed. After plundering most of the Divine Research Institute’s technical cores, their mechanical research was encyclopedic in scope.

“After #18 fuses with and awakens Mechanical Heart and Blood Dominance, it’ll still need one more trait or attribute resource for its second-stage evolution.

“For the last one, a faith-based trait would best enhance its Heroic Spirit Summoning skill. However, despite its investigations, no such trait has surfaced. Never mind. Let’s secure this trait first. It suits it. The auction ends in a few days.”

Lu Ran entered Limitless City’s auction house, one of its new facilities. Beastmasters could list resources for auction, with others bidding with crystal coins or resources. The lister would then decide the winning offer.

Lu Ran had his eye on one item, which was the Replication Trait Crystal. Unlike copying skills, this replicated resources.

[Effect: A familiar fused with this trait can replicate a natural resource into second, third, and fourth copies and so on indefinitely. However, replication requires significant time and consumes several times the original resource’s energy in stamina.]

On paper, this was overpowered. If #18 fused with this, a single drop of Dragon God’s blood could theoretically become infinite. The catch was that replication took time. Common resources took one hour; Advanced resources took more than one day, depending on quality; Rare resources took more than thirty days; Treasure resources took more than one year; and Epic resources took more than ten years...

Such durations deterred most beastmasters. During replication, the familiar couldn’t battle and required regular feeding to maintain stamina. It was a hefty cost. Despite the harsh requirements, many still coveted this trait. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ novelFɪre.net

Lu Ran’s interest stemmed from his Time-acceleration beastmaster skill, which could shorten replication time. Additionally, #18 suggested using Time-attribute familiar blood as energy to craft time accelerators, further speeding up the process. Thus, replicating an Epic resource might take months or less instead of a decade.

Lu Ran was perpetually resource-starved. Take the Nine-Colored Meteorite Fragments, for example. If replicable, Sudden Death King’s meals would be secured, and other familiars would benefit too. Some unique resources, like the already consumed Time Fruit, could’ve been infinitely duplicated had #18 possessed this ability earlier.

“Even if Manager Ying gets dragged back to the time tunnel forever, preserving a drop of its blood would let #18 replicate endless Time Blood for Heroic Spirit Summoning. This replication trait ensures its research won’t hit resource bottlenecks. It’s too bad we don’t know the auctioneer or can’t DM them. Direct negotiation would’ve boosted success odds.’

Likely, the auctioneer was weak and from a minor faction, fearing exposure.

“We must offer them an irresistible trade...”