Lu Ran was directly teleported here by Manager Ying. After recalling Sudden Death King and Captain Doofus, he called Fang Lan.
On the other end, Fang Lan picked up and said, “I saw your message. Everything went smoothly on my end too!”
Upon returning, Lu Ran left a message for Fang Lan, letting her know he was safe and to contact him directly if there was any issue.
“That’s good to hear.”
Lu Ran scratched his head and asked, “Shall I come find you?”
Fang Lan paused to think. “Come over quickly. I’ll ask my parents to join too. We’ve been gone for a month, and they must be really worried. It’s been so long since we had a meal together.”
“Alright.” Lu Ran nodded.
“But let’s not go out to eat. I’ll cook instead.”
“Huh?” Fang Lan was stunned.
“As far as I remember, you either order takeout or eat at restaurants. The most you’ve ever cooked with your own hands is dog food... Can you even cook edible food?”
Lu Ran chuckled. “For my ascension realm trial, I had to pass the gourmet assessment from the Beastmaster Empire’s Gourmet Hunter Society. I had no choice but to master cooking... You’ll see.”
Fang Lan was shocked.
“Chef? You went into a secondary profession ascension realm?”
For a moment, Fang Lan didn’t know whether to say Lu Ran was unlucky or incredibly fortunate. Secondary profession ascension realms were usually more relaxed and safer, but Lu Ran was a combat-focused Beastmaster!
Lu Ran replied, “At first, I wasn’t thrilled about it, but I made it through. What about your mission?”
“Mine was a battle royale. The more participants you defeat, the higher your score,” Fang Lan said dryly.
Their experiences couldn’t have been more different.
“What???” Lu Ran was astonished.
“Don’t worry. No one actually dies. Those who are defeated are sealed by Limitless City and presumably taken for treatment. Once the ascension realm closes, they are teleported out with the others,” Fang Lan reassured him.
“Alright then, you had me worried for a moment,” Lu Ran said, patting his chest.
Fang Lan’s trial sounded way too intense.
“So, did you get a good score?”
“Not bad. An S rank,” Fang Lan said nonchalantly, awaiting Lu Ran’s admiration.
An S rank in an ascension realm was a significant achievement. It was way harder than getting an S rank in the Beginner Trial Secret Realm. She had finally made a name for herself.
“That’s decent,” Lu Ran replied.
The admiration from Lu Ran that she was waiting for did not come. All that came out from Lu Ran’s mouth were the words “That’s decent”.
“What was your score, then!?”
Would it kill you to just give me a compliment?
“It was okay, just an SSS,” Lu Ran said casually.
“SSS!?” Fang Lan froze.
“Wait a minute, wasn’t your trial in a secondary profession realm? How did you manage to get an SSS?”
If Lu Ran had entered a combat-style ascension realm, Fang Lan could understand him earning an SSS rating. But that wasn’t the case!
“Can’t help it. I might really be a versatile genius,” Lu Ran said with mock frustration.
“I’m coming over now. Let’s talk when I get there.”
“I—” Fang Lan felt a headache coming on.
This is so infuriating.
Before long, Lu Ran arrived at Fang Lan’s residence. At this moment, Little Blue, the Poison Healing Spider, was curled up in a grass basket, sound asleep.
Glancing over, Lu Ran noticed it had already reached level 15. It seemed that Fang Lan had managed to gather quite a bit of loot in her ascension realm as well.
Fang Lan immediately pushed Lu Ran onto the sofa as he entered, and the two began exchanging stories about their experiences in the ascension realms.
When Fang Lan learned that sword intent and culinary intent shared commonalities, her reaction mirrored Manager Ying’s, which was absolute disbelief at Lu Ran’s uncanny luck.
“This is just ridiculous,” Fang Lan muttered.
She couldn’t help but wonder if Limitless City had been giving Lu Ran special treatment. After all, rumors of Limitless City possessing a will of its own had been circulating widely.
Of course, no one from any nation had successfully communicated with Limitless City’s consciousness yet.
“You weren’t doing too badly either! It’s hard to find specialized poison-focused factions. You became a saintess, eh? You’ve really pulled it off.”
Hearing Fang Lan’s story, Lu Ran was equally speechless. In her ascension realm, Fang Lan had exploited her knowledge advantage to first join a poison-based faction, the Poison God Cult, and then solved an otherwise incurable poison within the cult.
This display of poisonous talent had earned her recognition as the cult’s heir, securing their resources and full support. A perfect demonstration of her abilities.
No wonder her nickname was Five Poisons Saintess. Even if it wasn’t that title, becoming the Poison God Cult Saintess fits just as well.
“Not bad, but the cult leader was only a level 4 beastmaster and not nearly as powerful as the second-generation beastmasters on Blue Planet,” Fang Lan said with some regret.
“Still, the cult leader was kind and provided me with all sorts of resources. I almost didn’t want to leave. Honestly, ascension realms feel so real. How do you think Limitless City pulls this off?”
“No idea,” Lu Ran replied, seeing that Fang Lan shared the same sentiment.
He couldn’t help but marvel.
Such unparalleled power... could it truly be achieved by level 100 Legendary species?
The ability to create entire world projections, and even replicate an 86th-level Superior Overlord Species like the Flame Dragon King, was nothing short of terrifying.
Moreover, that ascension realm was only one of many realms Limitless City maintained at the same time. What kind of unfathomable strength would it take to achieve this?
Lu Ran wondered if, after finding The Stone of the Other Shore tied to the Death Dragon, as suggested by his mother’s message, he might finally uncover some of Limitless City’s secrets.
“Anyway, from this perspective, I still had it better than you!” Fang Lan said with a cheerful grin.
“At least I wasn’t stuck slicing fruits in agony every day.”
In the Poison God Cult, she was treated as the next leader, with an endless stream of resources provided to her. It was just that the Poison God Cult wasn’t particularly powerful. It wasn’t like the Galaxy Guild.
Otherwise, Fang Lan might have had the confidence to challenge Lu Ran to a duel right now.
“Alright, alright.” Lu Ran rolled his eyes, deciding to let Fang Lan enjoy her moment of pride.
Otherwise, if he revealed that major families across the entire province had been rushing to invest resources in him and that an 86th-level Overlord Dragon was even giving him preferential treatment, Fang Lan might just storm off in frustration. Comparisons like that could genuinely drive people crazy.
“Ah, ascension realms are so fascinating,” Fang Lan admired.
“It’s just a shame the entry conditions are so stringent. I can’t enter again until my familiar reaches level 20...”
“True,” Lu Ran replied with a laugh.
Coincidentally, Sudden Death King was already level 20, but Lu Ran had no plans to re-enter an ascension realm in the near future.
Leaving aside whether he could even get matched with others as it might require a long wait, entering ascension realms back-to-back was too exhausting.
For now, he planned to focus on training Captain Doofus and Sudden Death King to their peak within their current realm. For Captain Doofus, the immediate priority was raising its level and awaiting its trait fusion.
As for Sudden Death King, the focus was on learning additional skills. Relying solely on Lightning Armor and Thunder Shield wouldn’t cut it, especially against experienced opponents.
It was rendered almost powerless, much like its battles against Captain Doofus, where it was utterly outmatched and toyed with. Sudden Death King desperately needed ranged attack capabilities.
“You should call Mom and Dad over. I’ll cook later. Don’t worry about ingredients. I’ve got plenty in my storage,” Lu Ran assured.
“Okay okay, then I’ll go make a call,” Fang Lan replied.
Since cooking with Culinary Intent was effortless, Lu Ran wasn’t in a hurry to prepare in advance. Leaning back on the sofa, he turned on the television, enjoying a rare moment of relaxation. The screen was currently showing news regarding Beastmaster University.