It turns out that this kid does have a weak spot!
Now that Lu Ran was asking for its help, the Guardian Panda’s frustrations melted away.
"Too bad you don’t have a bear-type familiar.” The guardian chuckled. "It would be very difficult to comprehend the armored bear form without one."
"That quasi-Legendary creature is called the Armored Bear?" Lu Ran asked.
The name wasn’t too fancy, but it does have a mythical vibe to it.
"Correct. No one knows how it came to be, but I assume that it’s the descendent of some Legendary bear.
"Generally speaking, creatures can only evolve up until Superior Overlord. It’s extremely difficult to reach the quasi-Legendary rank without a great opportunity.
"There is only one exception to this rule and that is if a creature was born from a Legendary species. Most Legendary species’ cubs are born as quasi-Legendaries.
"Being born lucky is a skill in and of itself. If you are born to the right parents, it could save you countless years of hard work."
It seemed that the Youxiong clan’s guardian was quite knowledgeable on the subject.
"Why don’t you marry into our clan? You’re an orphan, right? I'll handpick a panda for you to contract."
Lu Ran looked at it with disdain.
"That won’t be necessary. I might not have a bear-type familiar, but the body modification technique isn’t exclusive to the Armored Bear."
"You want to teach it to a different species? That’s absolutely impossible!" the panda exclaimed. "You’ve already evolved a dragon so you should know that you need to start with a creature that has a faint dragon bloodline, such as a lizard, carp, or snake.
"Otherwise, why didn’t you just evolve your dog into a dragon?
"Comprehending certain skills is largely dependent on a species' compatibility with the skill!"
"Funny that you mentioned it. Evolving my husky into a dragon was my first idea.”
If he hadn’t contracted Sudden Death King that was a more obvious choice, Lu Ran might’ve really evolved Captain Doofus towards a Yazi.
"Besides, Dragon Intent Formation isn’t an exclusive skill either. I can show you a video of a monkey that’s highly proficient with the Dragon Fists style," Lu Ran mentioned as he started to look for the video on his phone.
It was hard to learn a cross-species skill, but absolutely not impossible.
The Guardian Panda realized that it wasn’t going to convince Lu Ran so it finally gave up. Since Lu Ran was so stubborn, he couldn’t blame it if he ended up wasting his time.
He took out a black fragment the size of a palm and Lu Ran leaned over to get a closer look.
[Description: A fragment of the quasi-Legendary Armored Bear’s heart armor. It is a top-quality material for forging armor, and contains incredible power.
"Is this the Epic item that acts as the Real Secret Realm key?" Lu Ran was puzzled.
Is this his reaction to seeing an Epic item for the first time?
Compared to the Broken Horn of the Divine Deer, it was like comparing heaven and earth. The Heart Amor wasn’t too shabby, but the Broken Horn of the Divine Deer was too amazing.
The Heart Armor came from a quasi-Legendary creature, whereas the Divine Deer was a full-fledged Legendary being.
Both items were of the same grade, but there was a very wide gap.
But at the end of the day, an Epic item was still an Epic item. It was ultimately good enough to make Youxiong Anlin's panda exhibit such awe-inspiring power.
"Oh, I was just so shocked to see such a precious item for the first time that I was speechless," Lu Ran deflected. "So, how did Youxiong Anlin's familiar comprehend the Armored Bear form using this thing?"
The Guardian Panda didn’t hold out on Lu Ran, and began to personally demonstrate.
It held the armor fragment to its chest, and golden energy wrapped around its body. The energy formed into armor that held the fragment in place.
"I am an Armored Bear. I am an Armored Bear. I am an Armored Bear..." The Guardian Panda closed its eyes and began to chat.
"You just have to clear your mind and convince yourself that you are the Armored Bear, and you can tap into the power of the Heart Amor and imitate its form!"
Lu Ran felt that the panda was insulting his intelligence, but after mulling it over, he couldn’t poke any holes in its logic. He had used the same method to teach Captain Doofus the Dragon-Slaying Sword Intent.
If Captain Doofus believed that its enemy was a dragon, then it could apply Dragon-Slaying Sword Intent for the damage buff.
To put it bluntly, with enough conviction, one could manifest their beliefs.
Following that train of thought, if someone pictured themselves as the Armored Bear, then they could absolutely transform into one and utilize the bear’s power through body modification.
"Wait, make sense my ass."
Lu Ran realized that he made this trip in vain.
It turned out that this lot used a trick he’d long since discovered.
"Okay, I’ve taught you the method but I can’t give you the item." The Guardian Panda put away the Heart Armor. "I can rent it out to you for the right price, and you can train under my supervision!"
The guardian finally presented its sales pitch.
What a smart fella. Lu Ran thought to himself. At the end of the day it just wants me to farm resources for it.
Lu Ran didn't fall for the bait.
The Guardian Panda still hadn’t figured it out yet, but Lu Ran didn’t actually have a real interest in the Armored Bear. He just wanted to hijack their method to use with the Divine Deer Pendant.
After all that scheming, Lu Ran didn’t learn a single thing.
None of his familiars could just put on the pendant and picture themselves as Bambi. This method was too unreliable.
The weather sprite was an elemental life form meaning that it could take any shape at will, but it’s attributes weren’t very compatible with the Divine Deer.
Wait, that isn’t the right approach.
He didn’t absolutely have to pursue body modification and copy the Divine Deer.
He needed to learn how to adapt.
Just harnessing a portion of the Nature energy and healing power within the horn fragment could be greatly beneficial to him.
Also, Lu Ran theorized that it could be possible for Captain Doofus to use the pendant as the foundation for an energy sword.
Would the resulting weapon, combined with self-hypnosis, grant Captain Doofus the bonus of an Epic-grade sword?
Of course, this all depended on Captain Doofus being able to convince itself that the energy weapon was a real sword and trick its species talent into kicking in.
"What are you daydreaming about?"
The Guardian Panda saw Lu Ran going into a daze and assumed that he was contemplating what resources he could use to rent the secret realm key.
"It’s ok. We can wait until we see what resources you manage to pull from the secret realm tomorrow."
Lu Ran had already seen through the panda and wasn’t fooled.
"I should go see how Anlin is doing."
Lu Ran waved goodbye to the Guardian.
I’ve already gotten what I need out of you. It’s just the power of mental imagery. I have to admit that it’s a pretty good method for Captain Doofus. We’ll try it out.
Huh? He’s leaving? Does he want the method or not? The Guardian Panda wondered.
It couldn’t understand what the number one fourth-generation beastmaster was thinking.
After he left, Lu Ran didn't actually go to see Youxiong Anlin. He had told Captain Doofus to go all out, but that was in the context of winning the sparring match.
Captain Doofus could compress energy into thirty-times concentration, making it undefeatable, but it had great control over its powers. Although Youxiong Anlin was injured, it wasn’t anything serious. With the resources of the Living Fossil Guild, he would recover quickly.
[The Heavenly Familiar Rankings was updated earlier today. You should see what the rewards are for Overlord-rank familiars! Maybe it’s a billion crystal coins!]
Lu Ran read a message from Manager Ying and scratched his cheek.
That cat is more curious about the reward than I am. It really doesn’t let any information slip by.
However, Lu Ran had to admit that he was really looking forward to the reward. There were only three Overlord familiars known to exist so the rewards should be very generous.
The other three rankings all rewarded copious amounts of crystal coins. Of those, Lu Ran had a familiar ranked first on the Transcendent and Champion rankings. The only reason he didn’t have a familiar on the King ranking was because Sudden Death King and Dark Crow evolved past the rank in one go.
Lu Ran no longer had any shortage of crystal coins. The coins have simply become a means for him to buy food for his familiars and train his followers in Lu Village and Green Sea City.
This was also the same case for many major forces. The only purpose crystal coins served was training new members. Most high-level figures were in urgent need of Treasure-grade resources.
Although Treasure-grade resources had a price tag, very rarely would that price be in crystal coins.
Generally, most people chose to barter those such items for things they needed personally and only used crystal coins to make up the change.
This was the level that Lu Ran was at right now. He could no longer buy what he needed with the crystal coins he was rewarded from secret realms and the rankings. Right now, he was relying on investments from first-generation veterans and trading resources he got from the Legendary secret realms.
This translated to the value of crystal coins heavily diminishing over time.
Since the cat reminded him, Lu Ran began to get excited.
Even if the Overlord Heavenly Familiar Ranking still rewarded crystal coins, it should be some astronomical amount, right?
Cultivating an Overlord familiar couldn’t be done by just piling up Rare-grade resources. Treasure-grade materials were a necessity. So the amount of crystal coins he would receive should be enough to purchase Treasure-grade resources.
Lu Ran immediately returned to Limitless City.
Currently Sudden Death King held the first place ranking for insta-killing the Queen Ant while Dark Crow also held the same ranking in a different Limitless City for transforming some beastmasters and their familiars into pigs.
Lu Ran wasn’t sure why Limitless City decided to record that, but Lu Ran chose to let it be.
"Let’s take a break and wait."
After forging Winter Fang, Lu Ran decided that he needed some time to rest. A moment later, the announcement finally sounded.
[The Heavenly Familiar Ranking is being finalized...]
[The Champion Heavenly Familiar has been finalized...]
[Congratulations to...]
[Dispersing rewards: 1 million crystal coins.]
Captain Doofus held first place on the Champion ranking, but he didn’t really care.
[The Overlord Heavenly Familiar Ranking has been finalized...]
[Congratulations to...]
[Dispersing rewards: Amplification Card (Level 1)]
[Dispersing rewards: Amplification Card (Level 1)]
Lu Ran was surprised to see that the reward wasn’t crystal coins.
What is this Amplification Card?
Simultaneously, in Snow Nation’s Limitless City, Ice King, the leader of the local third-generation beastmasters that evolved the Tundra Mammoth Lord, was also expectantly waiting for the ranking rewards.
"Amplification Card?" he asked himself with a blank expression.
[Name: Amplification Card (Level 1)]
[Description: A consumable item that can improve the item grade of any Common, Advanced, or Rare-grade item to Treasure-grade. Amplification cards come in ten levels. Level 1 cards are the most effective.]