After familiarizing himself with the Dark Crow's abilities, Lu Ran decided to go shopping. Although very few Rare resources were available for sale, the major limitless cities still offered a comprehensive variety of Rare-tier and lower resources.
There were even plenty of imported goods, and Lu Ran was ready to spend a fortune. However, on the way, he saw that Dark Crow had made the Heavenly Familiar Rankings and overheard something about how pitiful Pluto was.
He thought about it for a moment before muttering, "It’s not my fault."
With a dry cough, he entered the store. He started by buying another batch of Soul Cleansing Fruit, which temporarily boosts comprehension. Obviously, more was better, so he went ahead and purchased a hundred.
Although their effectiveness decreased when comprehending higher-complexity concepts, Lu Ran still preferred them.
Additionally, he bought another sixty Dark Sea Octopus Eyes for Dark Crow’s rations. Its core diet was about to focus on Dark Sea Octopus Eyes with Millennium Soul Bone Soup.
He no longer needed to rely on Xia Ri for cooking. Lu Ran planned to focus on cultivating its soul power during this period so it would be ready to fuse with the Undead Clone trait and lay the foundation for awakening the Undead attribute.
Next, he grabbed thirty Rare-tier Water, Ice, and Lightning crystals to feed the weather sprite.
By the time he was done, he had spent more than 2 million crystal coins. In an instant, Lu Ran fell back into poverty, left with less than a million coins again.
Lu Ran didn’t buy any food for Captain Doofus and King of Death since he still had plenty in storage. After finishing his shopping, he left Limitless City and returned to Green Sea before putting his phone on “Do Not Disturb.”
"Manager Ying, where's Xia Ri?" Lu Ran asked when he got home and saw Manager Ying snoozing next to the weather sprite.
"She left. She asked me to tell you that she’s going back to the university. She should be preparing to challenge the Legendary secret realm."
It had been a month since Lu Ran’s legendary run, and the fourth-generation team, composed of Xiong Anlin, Du Yuan, and others, had successfully cleared a Legendary realm as well. Xia Ri had now comprehended Spear Intent and didn’t want to fall too far behind the others.
"Oh, oh." Lu Ran nodded. To be honest, he also wanted to recruit Xia Ri into the future Flood Dragon Squad.
The spear strikes like a dragon. Although none of her familiars had the Dragon attribute, she still hadn’t chosen a third familiar yet.
Unlike Pluto and Canine King, Xia Ri was also a grassroots genius like Lu Ran. She had no background or faction—just her master, who had taught her the spear.
"Do you want some soup, Manager Ying?" Lu Ran suddenly asked.
"What kind of soup? Fish?" Manager Ying’s head perked up.
"I'm just kidding. It’s a Treasure-tier pork bone soup, made with the resources I got from my ascension realm. I'll boil it later and give you some when it’s ready!"
"I guess that’ll be okay," Manager Ying replied.
Lu Ran set up a soulstone pot in the yard and started boiling water. All of these kitchen utensils were things he had gotten from the ascension realm.
After half a month of cooking in the Undead Cult, Lu Ran had made soup with many rare soul bones, so he had become quite adept.
Soul Culinary Intent had developed from his Soul Sword Intent, so Lu Ran made a bold move and stirred the soup with a sword. He wasn’t afraid of ruining it, as he had previously experimented on his own.
Two hours later, the rich aroma of pork bone soup, which penetrated even the soul, spread throughout the city. All of a sudden, many of the city’s residents developed a mysterious craving for pork, and the local butchers quickly sold out.
"Done!" Lu Ran opened the pot’s lid, and a dazzling golden light burst forth.
He laughed out loud—just by looking at the color, he could tell the soup had reached the threshold for Treasure tier.
Hearing Lu Ran’s excitement, everyone except the weather sprite, who was still sleeping, couldn’t wait to taste the soup. Manager Ying, Captain Doofus, Sudden Death King, and Dark Crow eagerly gathered around.
"Thank you, my king!"
Dark Crow was moved when it saw that it had been served the biggest bowl.
The group quickly began enjoying the soup together. As soon as it touched their taste buds, they felt as if they had ascended to heaven.
The effects of Treasure-tier cuisine were felt instantly by familiars. Manager Ying’s level was too high for the effects to be as pronounced, but Captain Doofus, Sudden Death King, and Lu Ran all experienced a significant change.
The soup nourished the body, increased strength, and replenished stamina! In an instant, Lu Ran, Captain Doofus, and Sudden Death King felt their bones and muscles improve slightly.
Lu Ran glanced at Captain Doofus, who immediately moved to protect its food, thinking Lu Ran was eyeing it.
Besides these ordinary effects, the most important aspect was the enhancement of soul power!
The one who felt this most significantly was Dark Crow, as it had never eaten Soul Cuisine before. In contrast, the rest of Lu Ran’s team had already consumed plenty of high-quality Soul Cuisine during their time in the Undead Cult, so a bowl of pork bone soup didn’t offer them as many benefits.
"Ah~!" It was Dark Crow’s first time tasting something so delicious that its vision blurred.
It quickly finished the entire bowl and seemed to have a moment of enlightenment.
"My king, I want more. I think I’ve tasted something special."
"Drink up. From now on, the soup is all yours."
Lu Ran knew that everyone else’s soul power had already reached the limit imposed by their level. Further improvement wouldn’t be easy, so the best choice was to give all the pork bone soup to Dark Crow.
This was also Dark Crow’s first experience with Treasure-tier food, and Lu Ran knew it would definitely be intoxicated by it.
Dark Crow wildly gulped down the soup. Even as it ate, it couldn’t stop mumbling, "It’s so delicious, my king. It’s not that I’m greedy—I just have a great desire to become stronger."
Woof! Captain Doofus and Sudden Death King both glared at it, ready to give it a beating.
It was fine to be greedy, but why lie and say it was just for the sake of getting stronger?
However, after downing several bowls of pork bone soup, Dark Crow’s eyes flashed, and it spread its wings.
Lu Ran and Manager Ying, who were still sipping their soup, slowly turned their heads to look at the crow.
Lu Ran was shocked and checked Dark Crow’s contract card. Both Sudden Death King and Captain Doofus had acquired new abilities from Treasure-grade cuisine, and it looked like Dark Crow was about to join them.
Lu Ran really couldn’t imagine what Dark Crow could gain from drinking pork bone soup.
Pig-Slaying Arrow Intent?
"Damn!" Lu Ran was taken aback when he finally saw the result.
[Skill: Pig Transformation Curse]
[Description: This curse changes the shape of the enemy’s soul and spirit into that of a pig. The enemy will believe they are a pig and act accordingly.]
"What did it comprehend?" Manager Ying asked.
For a blank slate like Dark Crow, its first experience with high-grade resources should have yielded great benefits. This wasn’t surprising, given its decent potential.
"Hmm..." Lu Ran thought about it for a moment.
"Maybe it’s easier to show you. I want to see its effects too."
"Jeez, so mysterious."
Manager Ying glanced at Sudden Death King.
Sudden Death King frantically shook its head.
"Look, a volunteer,” Manager Ying joked.
In the end, however, Manager Ying used Telekinesis and Instant Teleportation to summon a criminal monkey from Green Sea Prison.
The monkey was aggressive as soon as it appeared. In fact, similar transcendent creatures existed worldwide—once they evolved, they became extremely violent and impossible to tame.
This particular monkey had no sense of its own limits. Its reddened eyes locked onto the weakest of the group—Lu Ran—and it lunged forward, trying to grab him.
"How audacious!" Dark Crow’s pupils shrank.
In the next instant, the monkey, mid-leap, suddenly stopped and crashed heavily to the ground. Then, with a blank expression, it slowly climbed up on all fours.
The monkey started digging in the dirt with its nose like a pig, making strange noises.
"Huh? Did it cast an illusion?" Manager Ying looked at Dark Crow in astonishment.
Seeing the monkey behave like a pig, Manager Ying assumed Dark Crow had used an illusion. But after trying to dispel it and failing, realization dawned.
"It’s not an illusion." Lu Ran took out a Soul Calming Stone and struck the monkey with it.
A pig-shaped soul covered in monkey fur floated out of its body.
Captain Doofus and Sudden Death King’s eyes widened in shock.
How did a pig’s soul come out of a monkey?
A few seconds later, the pig-shaped soul began to twist, transforming back into a monkey before merging with its body again.
"The new skill Dark Crow comprehended uses curse power to turn an enemy’s soul and spirit into a pig! Unfortunately, the effect is only temporary and somewhat weak right now. If there were a way to transform the enemy’s body as well, that would be truly humiliating." Lu Ran laughed.
"Holy shit. How can there be such a disgusting skill?" Manager Ying shuddered.
It immediately pictured Lu Ran’s enemies being cursed by Dark Crow, forced to dig in the dirt with their noses. That was just cruel.
Captain Doofus and Sudden Death King also nodded, glancing at Dark Crow in fear. Being humiliated by being turned into a pig was far worse than suffering a serious injury in battle.
"Manager Ying, don’t you think there’s hope for Principal Shi Zhen now?"
Manager Ying smirked.
"Are you saying that now that you’ve developed a curse to turn people into pigs, you can use it to overwrite the sex-change curse?"
Lu Ran’s expression darkened. "How could that be the solution? What if something went wrong?"
Principal Shi Zhen would rather stay a woman than become a pig. If the curse failed to override the original one and instead fused with it, that would be a disaster.
Lu Ran had no interest in being hunted down by a first-generation combat sow.