After dealing with Yang Xishuai, Lu Ran and Fang Lan finally got started on their actual tasks. It took about the morning and part of the afternoon for him to show Fang Lan around Green Sea’s Poison-attribute ecosystem. Fang Lan was thrilled the entire time.
As night began to fall, their day’s work was finally done. A dark crow perched on a tree in the forest, gazing at Lu Ran, Fang Lan, and Sudden Death King.
“Ah, so this is the talking crow you mentioned!” Fang Lan exclaimed, surprised when she saw it. Generally, crows couldn’t talk, though like parrots, they could mimic human speech. But this dark crow from Green Sea City seemed to have evolved with some strange glitch, gaining the ability to actually speak. Lu Ran found it quite exasperating.
“Yeah, that’s it. Dark Crow, I might be leaving Green Sea for a few days, so while I’m gone, listen to her. Keep maintaining order in the city.”
Lu Ran was about to challenge the Hell difficulty of a secret realm to obtain a trait for Captain Doofus. Before leaving, he gave some last-minute instructions.
“Caw! Caw!” Dark Crow cawed in response.
Lu Ran sighed and added, “And take care of this guy for me too! Give him a good workout!”
As he said that, he gave Sudden Death King a kick, nudging him toward Dark Crow. He planned to have Sudden Death King undergo some tough training in the wild, hoping it would trigger a transformation.
“Lightning Dragon...” Dark Crow squinted as it looked at Sudden Death King. So, Lightning Dragon, the one who followed the boss around, was finally about to be set loose?
“Wa... Ka...” Sudden Death King was silent, knowing this day would eventually come. I just hope I can survive long enough to see Lu Ran and Captain Doofus again.
“Don’t worry about things here. If anything happens, I’ll message you,” Fang Lan assured him.
Lu Ran wanted to challenge the Abandoned Laboratory Secret Realm. For that, he had to travel to Limitless City #5. The back-and-forth was indeed a hassle.
“Alright. Hopefully, I’ll get that trait soon,” Lu Ran muttered, scratching his head.
As Green Sea City became more stable and everything was set in place, with Fang Lan sitting in for him, Lu Ran felt at ease returning to Limitless City. It had been over a week since he last raided a secret realm, and he wondered how much progress he had lost.
By now, there weren’t many familiars in the Heavenly Familiar Rankings who hadn’t either fused with a trait or awakened a second attribute. Among the two strengthening paths, awakening a new attribute was more common.
This was because resources with specific attributes were easier to obtain and provided stable growth. Although Trait Fusion was more advantageous for evolution and could significantly boost battle power when perfectly fused, it was much harder to achieve.
Trait Crystals were incredibly rare, and compatibility was like opening a mystery box—not something every beastmaster could handle. Thus, most beastmasters preferred the steady route over gambling on trait fusion.
Before heading to Limitless City #5 to challenge the Abandoned Laboratory, Lu Ran stopped by the smithy in Limitless City #3 to visit Master Lin.
“So, it’s you,” Master Lin said, putting down his magazine and stubbling out his cigarette.
“Long time no see. Ever since you snatched that raid boss from the Galaxy Guild, you’ve been off the grid.”
“Well, the spiritual energy revival on Blue Planet happened,” Lu Ran replied as he sat down.
“Haha, true. Now that Blue Planet is full of resources, raiding secret realms isn’t the only way to level up!” Master Lin nodded. “So, you’ve been pretty productive this past week?”
Lu Ran smiled faintly. “Yeah, I’ve made some good gains, but to go further, I’ll still need to take on Hell-difficulty secret realms. And eventually, an ascension realm.”
Master Lin’s eyes narrowed.
“So, you’re finally ready to go.”
“Yes, that’s why I’m here. Before I tackle a Hell-difficulty secret realm, I’d like to commission you to forge a stronger weapon. But...”
“There’s no ‘buts.’ Don’t worry. I’ll forge a Rare grade sword for you this time! Guaranteed to be powerful!”
“But I don’t have any money,” Lu Ran said, looking innocent.
“What? What the hell are you talking about!?” Master Lin was dumbfounded.
“I want to upgrade my Cascading Wind Sword by adding some materials to make it a Rare weapon. But I don’t have any suitable Rare materials. Do you have any, Master Lin?
“I can give you an IOU. Once I’ve cleared the Hell secret realm, I’ll definitely come out with a bunch of Rare materials and repay you then.”
The odds of a Champion dropping Rare materials were decent, so raiding a Hell-ranked secret realm was a profitable venture.
Though shocked by Lu Ran’s request, Master Lin finally laughed and shook his head.
“Alright, we’ll do it your way.”
Talented people had privileges wherever they went, and for a blacksmith like Master Lin, sparing a few Rare materials wasn’t a big deal.
“Any specific requests?” he asked.
“The weapon’s attack power has to be high. It should also have Ice-attribute properties. Oh, and make sure to include this!”
Lu Ran pulled out a bag full of Captain Doofus’s Advanced-grade teeth from his storage and opened it.
“My familiar’s teeth.”
Though Lu Ran had mentioned embedding Captain Doofus’s teeth into the weapon before, seeing over a hundred of them left Master Lin speechless.
“What did you do to that poor dog of yours!?” He stood up, shocked.
“I just helped it train its teeth, and it went through a bit of a shedding period. I’m just more frugal than most beastmasters, so I know how to collect them,” Lu Ran said with a straight face.
While collecting over a hundred teeth might seem crazy, it wasn’t entirely impossible. Items like the Broken Horn of the Divine Deer could help with this, as could strong healing-type beastmasters or other healing resources. Lu Ran had gathered the teeth without much trouble.
Master Lin stood there, dazed. After a moment, he nodded.
“Alright, fine. For this hundred-teeth tribute, I’ll pour all my skills into crafting an amazing sword.”
“Thank you, Master Lin. Oh, right. I’ll leave this with you as collateral.”
Lu Ran took out the flawed Dragon Blood Crystal he had obtained earlier.
“I don’t know its exact value, but it’s at least a Rare resource. If I die in the secret realm, consider it compensation for your materials. If I make it back, I’ll redeem it.”
Although Lu Ran didn’t believe he would fail, he felt it necessary to show some sincerity, given that Master Lin was helping him out.
“Alright.” Master Lin didn’t hesitate, accepting the bag of teeth.
“Give me three hours. You can wander around in the meantime. Oh, and hand over the Cascading Wind Sword.”
Lu Ran handed over the sword but chose not to leave the shop. After Master Lin went to work, he stayed behind to review the information and strategies for the Abandoned Laboratory Secret Realm.
The Abandoned Laboratory was a Hell-difficulty beginner secret realm. The boss was the Minotaur Boss, a level 10 Intermediate-Champion Dark-attribute creature.
The Abandoned Laboratory had once been one of the Beastmaster Empire’s research facilities, primarily focused on developing biological weapons. The Minotaur Boss was one such experiment, possessing the Weapon Control trait and wielding a Rare-grade battle-axe that amplified Dark-attribute power, giving it extremely high attack power.
It was primarily an offensive beast with good defense and low speed. The Minotaur Boss had mastered three energy manipulation techniques: Energy Acceleration, Energy Release, and Energy Formation, each tied to its skills.
It could use Dark-attribute energy to form Magical Armor, as well as release ranged shockwaves. In short, it was highly versatile.
The most dangerous part was that once the Minotaur Boss entered a low-health state, it would go berserk, entering a state of enhanced Energy Acceleration, similar to what happened when one ate an Overflow Fruit, giving it a short burst of power. Its proficiency in Energy Acceleration was superior to the other two techniques.
Typically, to defeat a creature like the Minotaur Boss, you’d need group effort. Lu Ran’s seniors had teamed up with three other talented first-generation beastmasters, and it had still taken them a long time to wear the boss down.
Now, Lu Ran was planning to take it on solo. The challenge would be immense, but the good news was that his opponent was just the Minotaur Boss. Hence, Captain Doofus had a chance.
His hope lay in the fact that Captain Doofus had mastered Energy Compression, a technique the Minotaur Boss didn’t possess. On top of that, Lu Ran had the Broken Horn of the Divine Deer.
As long as they could break through the Minotaur Boss’ defenses and apply the poison Fang Lan had given him onto it, Lu Ran felt there was a decent chance they could outlast it.
Lu Ran kept running different battle scenarios in his head, envisioning Captain Doofus fighting the Minotaur Boss. Simply defeating the boss wasn’t enough. He wanted to have a decent chance of obtaining a Trait Crystal, so they needed at least an S-rank score. Though the drop rate for Trait Crystals was higher than it was for beastmaster skills, it wasn’t by much.
Who knew how many times they would have to fight it to get a crystal?
After roughly three hours, Master Lin finally emerged from the smithy. He still had the Cascading Wind Sword, though now it was silver with added blue lines. Its appearance hadn’t changed much.
“Haha, summon Captain Doofus. Let him try out this new weapon!”
Master Lin sounded quite excited.
Lu Ran quickly summoned Captain Doofus, eyeing the sword that now had a few additional patterns.
[Name: Frosty Sky Greatsword]
[Description: Offers excellent Wind and Dark-attribute energy conduction and amplification. Contains mysterious power.]
Looking at this modestly designed sword, Lu Ran was puzzled by the description and why it was called a greatsword.
“Don’t be confused. Have him try it, and you’ll understand,” Master Lin said confidently.
With that, he tossed the Frosty Sky Greatsword to Captain Doofus.
Catching the sword, Captain Doofus immediately noticed how it felt better than before.
The sword was cool to the touch, like an ice pop.
“Doofus, try channeling your energy into the sword. Remember, you’re channeling, not covering or wrapping it.”
At Lu Ran’s instruction, Captain Doofus’s eyes sparkled with understanding. It followed the command. The next moment, Captain Doofus was startled.
As soon as it channeled its energy into the Frosty Sky Greatsword, the sword glowed white, radiating a mysterious power.
In an instant, the sword was bathed in light and its shape began to change. What had been a reasonably sized single-handed sword was now transforming into a massive, two-handed greatsword!
From its size, this greatsword was almost as large as Captain Doofus itself. The combination was an awe-inspiring sight.
The blade, now white with an icy blue glow, seemed gigantic. Yet despite its enormous size, Captain Doofus was surprised to find that it felt weightless in its mouth, and wielding it was effortless!
Captain Doofus was amazed. It could feel a subtle connection with the sword.
“How about that? The Frosty Sky Greatsword! It has two forms. The first is a standard form, which is what you saw at first, and a greatsword form. When the sword’s true wielder uses it, they can switch to the greatsword form.
“In this state, its power multiplies, offering explosive strength and destructive force, making it capable of taking on ten foes at once! Of course, using this form will drain stamina since the sword continuously absorbs the wielder’s energy to maintain the transformation.
“If you want a powerful weapon, there’s always a price to pay.
”Well, what do you think? Do you like it?”
Master Lin grinned as he watched Captain Doofus, feeling proud that another species appreciated his craftsmanship.
Captain Doofus grinned too, finding the greatsword form far cooler than the original one. It loved it! The best part was that the sword was made from its own teeth, giving it a sense of familiarity.
“I think it’s great too.” Lu Ran smiled, nodding in satisfaction.
Master Lin truly lived up to his reputation. Lu Ran was now more eager than ever to learn blacksmithing himself, hoping one day to forge a sword for Captain Doofus with his own hands.
“Oh, by the way, there’s one minor downside to the greatsword form. The boost in power means its durability might decrease faster. You’ll need to maintain it regularly. But no worries, just add more teeth when necessary. You seem to have plenty of spares.”
“True, fixing it with teeth is convenient.”
Lu Ran nodded, finding it to be no real drawback.
Captain Doofus was dumbfounded.