In the Limitless City of Antarctica’s Evolution Secret Realm, the uneven ground split open as countless streams of light surged forth. At that moment, hundreds of beastmasters simultaneously threw their specialized Trait Crystals toward their familiars.
Lu Ran also took out his Dragon King Bloodline Trait Crystal and hurled it toward Sudden Death King.
Under the watchful eyes of Captain Doofus and Dark Crow, Sudden Death King was exceptionally tense.
As the first to undergo phase one evolution within the team and currently having the lowest species rank, the pressure on it was immense. However, as it recalled all the hardships and beatings it had endured, its gaze grew increasingly fierce.
It swore to itself that it must acquire the world’s strongest defense!
With a hum, the Dragon King Bloodline Trait Crystal merged with it upon contact.
Simultaneously, an immense surge of evolution energy erupted from the secret realm, enveloping Sudden Death King in a cocoon of white evolutionary light.
Nervousness, unease, and anticipation swirled in Lu Ran’s mind.
"Believe in yourself."
Standing on a boulder not far away with Shi Zhen, Gu Qingyi advised calmly while observing Lu Ran.
With Treasure-grade resources and the Dragon King Bloodline Trait Crystal, there shouldn’t be any issues at all.
Although Lu Ran’s Scaled Dragon Lizard was initially subpar—achieving only a Champion Species Rank after merging two traits—unlike the Tyrannosaurus Rex, which could reach Low-King rank with the same number of merged traits, they believed that supplementary Dragon Cuisine would bridge the gap.
"Of course, I believe."
What no one else knew, not even Gu Qingyi, was that Lu Ran was actually hoping for Sudden Death King to leap from Intermediate-Champion to Overlord in one go!
He wasn’t worried about whether it could transform into a dragon or reach Superior-King rank.
Sudden Death King’s perfect dragon soul was a secret Lu Ran had kept hidden. After all, a non-undead-familiar consuming souls for growth was rather unconventional. To avoid shocking Manager Ying and Dr. Gu, he had glossed over the matter.
However, if the soul cultivation method were validated in this Evolution Secret Realm, it would undoubtedly shatter conventional norms.
Not just undead creatures—regular ones could also enhance their souls by consuming them.
I’m definitely not a villain, he reassured himself.
Seconds ticked by, and Sudden Death King remained wrapped in the evolutionary light, further strengthened by Lu Ran’s Soul Amplification.
Meanwhile, hundreds of beastmasters watched their evolving familiars with bated breath. Overhead, more than a hundred powerful individuals from various countries, perched on flying familiars, monitored the progress through their Eye of Detection.
They hoped their allies and compatriots would succeed—and their adversaries would fail.
Additionally, some elite journalists flew above, documenting the evolution process.
A white-haired reporter riding a Flying Squirrel scanned for potential headlines.
Her main focus was on figures like Lu Ran, the Dragon Chef, and Pig God Zhu Kaixin, though she occasionally glanced at other beastmasters.
Soon, familiars began completing the first batch of evolutions under the embrace of evolution energy.
A massive King-rank aura erupted like a storm, sweeping through the evolution energy and blanketing the skies.
Unfortunately, as the reporter observed dozens of familiars completing their evolution, she found no satisfying material.
Most familiars, even after phase one evolution, only reached Low-King rank at best.
"Low... Low... Intermediate... Low..."
Her Eye of Detection displayed the data endlessly.
To be fair, achieving Low-King rank in phase one evolution already justified the 100,000 crystal coins spent, while reaching Intermediate-King rank was a massive gain.
After all, even Superior-King-rank familiars under contracts with senior beastmasters often required multiple trait fusions to reach their apex. Thus, achieving Intermediate-King rank in phase one was considered excellent.
But it wasn’t enough.
The reporter wanted unique evolution forms, like Superior-King rank or familiars with ultra-rare attributes.
Finally, under her gaze, two stellar lights ignited against the pitch-black starry sky.
One was red, and other one black.
The twin stars burst into dazzling brilliance, descending like meteors.
Countless beastmasters raised their heads in shock, following the stellar beams to their recipients.
The red light enveloped a bird-type familiar belonging to an orange-haired beastmaster—someone named Phoenix—who stood jubilantly nearby.
"Stellar Blessings!" he exclaimed.
The black light, meanwhile, descended upon a tiger-shaped familiar belonging to a chieftain.
"Excellent!" the chieftain beamed with satisfaction.
This scene elicited envy from countless onlookers.
Shortly thereafter, the two familiars completed their evolution.
One was a Firebird, emerging bathed in stellar flames, its majestic Superior-King-rank lineage unmistakable, with a faint phoenix shadow visible behind it.
[Name: Phoenix of Immortality]
[Attribute: Fire, Light]
[Species Rank: Superior-King]
[Description: Contains Phoenix Bloodline, awakened self-healing powers.]
The other was a black tiger that roared, shattering the evolutionary cocoon.
[Name: Darklight Tiger]
[Attribute: Dark, Space]
[Species Rank: Superior-King]
[Description: Perfect fusion of space attributes.]
As more stellar blessings illuminated the sky, an increasing number of beastmasters turned their focus to the Eagle Federation’s Dinosaur Research Team, the most closely watched group in this Evolution Secret Realm.
The federation, having recently dominated international headlines, was rumored to be conducting its second dragon transformation experiment here. Would it succeed?
In the midst of a burst of dragon power, the team’s Tyrannosaurus Rex, fortified by stellar blessings, began evolving.
The evolutionist was a young man with brown hair and glasses, appearing refined and scholarly as he eagerly watched his newly evolving familiar.
As the evolutionary light shattered, the dragon aura exploded. A colossal Earth Dragon, over twenty meters tall, emerged and let out a ground-shaking roar that spread in all directions.
"Perfect!" The brown-haired beastmaster cried out with excitement.
The continuous roars echoed through the area, causing the newly evolved creatures within a hundred kilometers to show signs of fear and unease.
Meanwhile, the attributes of this Primal Rock Dragon quickly appeared in the Eye of Detection of many powerful individuals, leaving them astonished.
[Name: Primal Rock Dragon]
[Attribute: Dragon (Earth, Rock)]
[Species Rank: Superior-King]
[Description: Awakened ancient dragon bloodline, with evolution potential approaching Overlord Species!]
This sight caused Professor Haydn’s joy to overflow. Many international journalists gasped, their breaths quickened.
"My goodness, the second familiar with the Dragon attribute has been born on the Blue Planet!"
"The Eagle Federation has successfully cultivated a second Dragon-attribute familiar."
"Its evolution potential has been rated by Limitless City as close to Overlord Species! Is this the power of dragon attributes?"
"This ancient dragon bloodline is too powerful. I wonder what’s happening on Professor Lu Ran’s side?"
With this remarkable scene, countless experts turned their attention to Lu Ran, the Dragon Chef from the Xia.
Everyone knew that the Xia and the Eagle Federation had been fiercely competing in Dragon-attribute research. Now, the Eagle Federation had undoubtedly proven its success.
But what about Lu Ran? Even Professor Haydn, who had stubbornly insisted on the superiority of his research, couldn’t resist flying higher on his familiar to peer at Lu Ran’s direction.
This kid... He has to admit defeat this time, right? What could compare to a Primal Rock Dragon? What could he do with a mere Intermediate-Champion-rank dragon lizard?
To everyone’s confusion, Sudden Death King was still wrapped in evolutionary light. It had neither received Stellar Blessings nor completed its evolution. It was as if it were stuck.
"The Eagle Federation’s Dinosaur Research Institute has evolved the second Dragon-attribute familiar on Blue Planet. What is your response?"
At this moment, a reckless journalist, flying on their familiar, approached Lu Ran to pose a provocative question. Their allegiance to the Eagle Federation was clear.
Before Gu Qingyi or Shi Zhen could lash out, Lu Ran, who was in the process of soul amplification, smiled faintly and raised a hand to calm them.
"Apologies. I don’t have the time to worry about ‘second’ or ‘third’ titles." He looked at Gu Qingyi with an unwavering gaze. "I already have a ‘first’ beside me, so I, too, aim for ‘first.’"