“It looks secret realm doesn't have a 100% drop rate.”
Lu Ran couldn’t help but sigh when he saw that the Blade Mantis didn’t drop a mantis blade or mantis feather. If neither dropped, advanced resources like Blade Grass obviously wouldn’t appear either.
In hindsight, if it were some rich lady that had something like Blade Grass, then it wouldn’t have had to resort to eating male mantises.
“It looks like the moral of this story is to marry someone rich and powerful,” Lu Ran instructed Captain Doofus. Otherwise, it wouldn’t even know that it got suckered one day.
Captain Doofus was confused.
Should I meet someone or not? Didn’t you just say meeting someone special will slow down my blade!?
“You have to consider things from both sides. A rich woman will make your sword faster.” Lu Ran coughed.
“Let’s go. We’ll start looking for Blade Mantises with their own territories that guard blades of Blade Grass.
"Don't get careless. They may be level 9, but they’re probably at the bottom of the food chain. This last one didn’t even know any skills."
Lu Ran put on the Divine Deer Pendant and ventured deeper into the secret realm alongside Captain Doofus, matching their strides. Since the Mantis Jungle was filled with solitary creatures, they only had to engage in one-on-one combat. Technically, this made it easier than dealing with more social creatures.
The main challenge, however, was the hidden danger in this secret realm. The boss monster roamed randomly and didn’t stay in a fixed location. It would only appear after a certain number of ordinary Blade Mantises had been defeated.
This meant that the challenger would have to fight a drawn-out battle and consume a bunch of stamina. For beastmaster teams that wanted to get rich quickly by getting the completion rewards, it was undoubtedly a very troubling setup, but this didn’t affect Lu Ran. His goal was to harvest as many resources as possible, and his wallet didn’t let him look down on ordinary materials.
However, during this process, Lu Ran had to find a way to keep Captain Doofus in the most optimal state as best as he could. They would be at a disadvantage if they encountered the boss with no stamina left to use.
"Rich kids like Pluto have it so great. Can I convert cash into crystal coins? There’s no real point in having so much cash." Lu Ran started thinking about the inheritance left by his parents.
He believed $5 million would be enough to live a very comfortable life. He could even indulge in luxury items with more money—but he didn’t feel the need for them. If he died in a secret realm, any extra wealth would just become free money for the bank.
Lost in thought, Lu Ran was jolted back to reality when Captain Doofus’ nose twitched, and its eyes lit up with excitement.
It tried to get Lu Ran’s attention. There is a scent. It’s strange. It may be a resource!
Lu Ran gave the order, and Captain Doofus charged ahead to lead the way.
Soon, they found green blade-shaped grass not far away. Lu Ran used the "Great Identification Technique."
[Description: Can enhance slash damage of energy attacks if consumed before maturity. Mature Blade Grass is twice as effective.]
Lu Ran and Captain Doofus were happy to discover the Blade Grass, but things didn't turn out too smoothly. Soon, the tree next to the Blade Grass rustled, and a Blade Mantis tore through the foliage and appeared on the trunk.
It didn’t appear friendly.
This level 10 male Blade Mantis was equipped with a pair of extremely sharp scythes much larger than the previous two. Its body was covered in battle scars, memorializing its hundreds of battles. It looked like it was going to be a tough foe.
It didn’t attack immediately. Rather, it waved its scythes to warn the duo to leave. It was waiting for the Blade Grass to mature and wanted to avoid any problems during this critical phase.
"Captain Doofus, prepare for battle."
Lu Ran naturally couldn't leave empty-handed.
Natural resources belonged to those who were strong enough to take them!
Captain Doofus stepped forward, determined to get the Blade Grass.
The Blade Mantis saw that they wouldn’t walk away, so it shot out a wind blade from one of its scythes. Captain Doofus, with sword in mouth, retaliated in kind.
As the white sword ray roared toward the white wind blade, it whipped up a small storm, causing violent winds to whistle by.
The sword qi tore apart the wind blade, causing major turbulence that turned the surrounding leaves to dust. Although Captain Doofus was a level lower, its sword qi was augmented by a weapon, so it easily suppressed the enemy.
The Blade Mantis on the tree staggered back. It wanted to fly into the sky so it could steady itself to launch a counterattack, but Captain Doofus released its beast sword momentum. The powerful aura deterred the Blade Mantis, causing it to pause in horror.
By the time it reacted, sword qi was again crashing toward it. Even though its reaction speed was pushed to the limit, it still lost an arm to the sword qi, causing green blood to splash forth!
It hissed out loudly in pain.
"Luckily, sword momentum can be used as a control skill. Without it, the difficulty of soloing secret realms would be significantly higher," Lu Ran muttered silently.
The Blade Mantis was now seriously injured, and the tide of battle naturally completely shifted in their favor.
Captain Doofus’ eyes flashed. While the opponent was still screaming in pain, it jumped, boosted by the wind. Like a phantom, it streaked past its opponent and cut it in half. The Blade Mantis fell, and Lu Ran’s victory was final.
"Well done.” Lu Ran praised Captain Doofus for a great kill.
Captain Doofus tried to remain calm, but its eyes kept glancing at the fallen Blade Mantis. The next moment, a white light flashed, and the Blade Mantis turned into a blade. Captain Doofus’ face lifted into an innocent grin.
It dropped! It dropped!
This time, the Blade Mantis finally dropped an item: the mantis blade, a valuable forging material for crafting wind-type weapons. Captain Doofus seemed very pleased.
"Good!" Lu Ran's eyes lit up.
"I'll pick up the material while you eat that," Lu Ran said, pointing to the Blade Grass.
"Unfortunately, it hasn’t matured, but if it did, it would be out of our reach."
Actually, Lu Ran had two choices. The other choice was to pick the premature grass and find a plant shop specializing in nurturing premature resources into maturity. Generally, this was the secondary profession of the beastmaster with grass-type familiars.
However, Lu Ran ultimately chose to let Captain Doofus eat this one first. He wanted to see the effect of the Blade Grass. This grass should be abundant here, so it wouldn’t hurt to eat one right now.
Of course, the main reason was that Lu Ran saw Captain Doofus’ greedy expression and couldn’t bear to let it wait too long.
Captain Doofus didn’t need to be told twice before it ran drooling to eat the Blade Grass.
After it gulped down the Blade Grass, Captain Doofus shook its head. Besides tasting delicious, the grass didn’t seem to have any other effect. If anything, it was very sharp. It actually left a cut in its mouth, making Captain Doofus grimace.
"It looks like one isn’t enough, just like the cold wind seed," Lu Ran said as he used the pendant to treat Captain Doofus’ mouth.
"Quantity over quality. We'll go collect more. Your sword qi isn't capable of making a smooth cut on stone, so the slash damage hasn’t been maxed out yet, leaving plenty of room for improvement."
Captain Doofus' sword qi was undeniably powerful, but its effects still required refinement. For example, while it could cleave a stone in half, the resulting surfaces were riddled with cracks. The cut lacked smoothness and was largely uneven—clear indicators of unstable energy and leakage.
If Captain Doofus could achieve a flawless, mirror-smooth cut on stone and metal without any imperfections, it would signify perfection in sword qi proficiency. In short, improving slash damage would directly enhance the power of the sword qi.
Reaching that level would mean transcending physical materials like stone and metal—they would even be able to cut through enemies' energy attacks.
For instance, when Captain Doofus' wind blades clashed with the Blade Mantis’, it was clear that his sword qi was stronger. His wind blade managed to cut through the enemy’s, but in the end, it deformed and dissipated into a mere gust of wind.
If Captain Doofus' wind energy could deal greater slash damage, the clash would’ve ended differently. His sword qi could have instantly bisected the enemy’s attack and continued on to split the enemy itself in half.
Captain Doofus nodded in agreement.
"Hopefully, we’ll get to that point.” Lu Ran pursed his lips.
After their brief interlude, Lu Ran and Captain Doofus continued hunting. They fought several Blade Mantises guarding their own blades of Blade Grass in succession. Each of these mantises was difficult to deal with, as they all possessed unique skills.
Some mantises could release wind blades or wind blasts, while others used energy formations to cloak their scythes, turning them into greatswords with extended range. This display shocked the doggo, who began imagining how it might use Formation to convert the Cascading Wind Sword into a 50-meter-long claymore.
Ultimately, no matter how tough the enemies were, they fell to Captain Doofus. With each victory, Captain Doofus harvested at least one premature Blade Grass. The materials dropped by the mantises were naturally collected by Lu Ran. The useful ones were given to Captain Doofus, while the rest would be sold to recoup some money.
Lu Ran continued to feed Captain Doofus between battles to keep its stamina up. As for injuries, these mantises couldn’t land a single blow. What ended up dealing the most damage were the Blade Grasses.
Would this be considered an insult to Blade Mantises?
After killing about ten Blade Mantises, the duo finally felt a different aura approaching them. Lu Ran smiled, and Captain Doofus became alert.
The boss is finally here!
"Captain Doofus, it's time to go all out. We don’t need to gauge its strength. We’ll charge straight in. If we beat him, that'll be great, but if we can't, we bolt and rerun it from the beginning."
If they dragged out the fight, Captain Doofus was more likely to get hurt, and it would affect their score. It was better to not play around and just get straight to fighting.
As the powerful aura drew closer, the air began to stir. Captain Doofus, sword gripped in its mouth, had already started gathering energy. Nearly all the energy in its body was being compressed into the Cascading Wind Sword.
At last, a figure unlike any of the previous Blade Mantises appeared. Golden-green in color, it radiated a sharper, more menacing aura. The surrounding wind seemed capable of slicing through steel.
[Attribute: Wind, Metal]
[Species Rank: Superior-Transcendent]
This was obviously a powerful creature that had already awakened its secondary element. Lu Ran instinctively knew that Captain Doofus wouldn’t have any advantage under normal circumstances against such an opponent. Its only hope of victory depended on the support of weapons and the ability to attack without concern for injury.
The moment the boss appeared, Captain Doofus released a huge burst of energy and compressed it to form a Storm Slash, which it released with a swing of its sword.
Its eyes were bloodshot, and the attack shattered its teeth. For any other familiar, this would mean an expensive trip to the vet. If Captain Doofus were just a stray, it would be even worse—it wouldn’t be able to eat.
But Captain Doofus wasn’t the least bit afraid! Captain Deer was the most dependable support!
The alpha Blade Mantis was confused. It had sensed a powerful creature intruding on its territory and rushed over to investigate, but it hadn’t expected such an aggressive and overwhelming opponent. Attacking on sight—how unethical!
Feeling the immense force of the Storm Slash, its expression shifted. It attempted to evade by taking flight, but the chaotic airflow and the enemy's suppressive aura made it impossible to control its movements. Left with no other choice, it poured its energy into its scythe, which extended as it swung to meet the Storm Slash.
In the next instant, gold and blue lights flashed and intertwined.
Smoke covered the area.
[Congratulations on completing the secret realm challenge.]
[Reward: 630 crystal coins.]
[Reward: Advanced resource, Heart of the Insect (metal, wind).]
[Reward: Advanced resource, Mantis Blade (metal, wind).]
[Reward: Advanced resource, Mantis Feather (metal, wind)]
The system prompts sounded. Although Lu Ran saw that Captain Doofus’ mouth was full of blood, he was excited that they made a lot of money this time. They only spent seventy coins on the entry fee in exchange for a bunch of advanced resources.
These resources were enough to boost Captain Doofus’ strength to the next level. It seems that Storm Slash was still very powerful. Although this mantis leader had dual attributes, it was still powerless to resist.
"We’ll feast when we get back!" Lu Ran exclaimed.
Although Captain Doofus was in pain, images of the Heart of the Insect stir-fried in soy sauce, chili-fried, and roasted appeared in its mind. It would make Sudden Death King die of jealousy!