Beastmaster King

"Roar?"

What does he mean by "come take a beating"?

The moment Sudden Death King was summoned, its face darkened. It stared blankly at Lu Ran's appearance, almost failing to recognize him. It felt like Lu Ran had taken on a distinctly dog-like demeanor.

Did he fuse with Captain Doofus?

Lu Ran explained, "This is a transformation using an item! Don't fight back. Let me hit you a few times to test my abilities."

With that, he gripped the bone club, pushed off with his feet, and leaped forward like a wild beast. In an instant, he appeared before Sudden Death King like the wind. The next moment, the bone club slammed into its body.

The sound of shattered scales echoed as Sudden Death King's stomach caved in. Its eyes widened in shock before its entire body was sent flying, crushing countless flowers, plants, and trees planted by Six-Paths Flower before finally coming to a stop.

"Roar!"

Suddenly taking such a hit, Sudden Death King howled in pain.

Ah, my bones hurt so much! I'm gonna die!

Then, noticing the plants it had crushed, it cried out again.

"Roar!"

I crushed the plants Six-Paths Flower planted! I'm gonna die!

"It's fine, I'll explain to Six-Paths Flower!" Lu Ran called out.

Sudden Death King then watched as Lu Ran reshaped the bone club into a bone sword and condensed sword intent onto it.

***

After thoroughly beating up Sudden Death King, Lu Ran stood on the ground, staring thoughtfully at Sudden Death King, who was clutching the Broken Horn of the Divine Deer and looking as pitiful as a wronged wife.

"Too weak. Your defense is still too weak."

"Roar..."

Sudden Death hung its head.

I'm sorry for being born a dragon. Why am I always the one suffering?

"But it's fine. Even though you got wrecked by a Mythical secret realm drop today, I believe that after your second-stage evolution, you'll definitely be able to solo a Mythical secret realm." Lu Ran comforted Sudden Death King.

Sudden Death King raised its head, a simple, honest smile spreading across its face that was now missing a tooth.

It thought so too. After enduring so much hardship, there was no way it would still be weak after evolving.

***

Lu Ran was very satisfied with the new form granted by the Epic Bone Bracelet. This transformation item allowed him to wield quasi-Legendary combat power at his current level for about three minutes. During this time, his strength was such that, even among his entire team, only Six-Paths Flower could defeat him in a short time. Though the duration was brief, it didn't matter—short could still be impressive.

"There really are limits to being human."

After adapting to the dog demon form, Lu Ran attempted soul projection and soul clone techniques in this state. However, since the body wasn't his familiar human form, creating a soul clone proved significantly more difficult. Several attempts ended in failure. But this was entirely within Lu Ran's expectations, and he didn't grow impatient...

Time passed quietly. The entire Orange Sky Research Institute was shrouded in a mysterious, intangible Time Hell. Six-Paths Flower, suppressing all its aura, sat atop a roof under the moonlight, gazing at this illusory world with a sigh.

In real history, it had long since died. It was merely a historical projection from an ascension realm, carrying the memories of the real it. The thought of this left Six-Paths Flower feeling hollow. Beyond the Mythical secret realm, it yearned to leave its mark in other ways, such as completing the battles its deceased self had left unfinished.

Late-night melancholy aside, whenever #18 caused another commotion in the domain, Six-Paths Flower's anger would inevitably spike. It glanced over and saw that #18 had indeed blown up another machine, even turning Baby Cloud, who was nearby, into a blackened cloud.

"Plip, plip!"

I'm not playing with you anymore!

"Sorry, sorry! I won't do it again!"

#18 waved its hands apologetically at Baby Cloud.

Although it seemed possible to invent the Elemental Life Creation Device by leveraging Six-Paths Flower's limit-breaking genes, the technology involved rules, making its development exceptionally challenging.

#18 faced failure after failure. Even with the luck boost from the Lucky Flower, the project consumed vast amounts of funds. If not for Lu Ran's wealth, the research would have died first from a lack of funding due to the frequent selling of resources to purchase mechanical materials.

In the blink of an eye, 15 days had passed since Lu Ran entered this ascension realm, and the invention competition was drawing closer.

During this time, Lu Ran's team divided tasks efficiently, wasting not a single moment. Six-Paths Flower had suggested that Captain Doofus master multiple attribute powers to integrate into its wind, ensuring the Legendary resource wasn't wasted. Simply combining Ice and Space power couldn't fully showcase the resource's potential. Thus, Lu Ran had Captain Doofus practice while holding the Epic lightsaber.

One of the lightsaber's effects was granting the user temporary Light attributes and top-tier light elemental control. Since Lu Ran intended to cultivate the Epic lightsaber into Captain Doofus' next kin, it made sense for Captain Doofus to train in light as well.

Lu Ran's initial plan was for Captain Doofus to integrate Wind, Ice, Space, and Light into one attribute. Captain Doofus was very satisfied with Lu Ran's vision. The thought of its heroic appearance motivated it to train diligently.

Sudden Death King's task was simpler—it just had to serve as #18's power source. Its Dragon King's Shield talent allowed it to recover energy by taking hits, making energy cycling relatively quick. Due to the high quality of its red lightning, Sudden Death King spent these days purely as a punching bag power generator.

As for Dark Crow, it continued assisting Lu Ran in practicing with his soul clones. With everyone's hard work and coordination, #18 finally made a breakthrough. The Elemental Life Creation Device had achieved significant progress.

As for Baby Cloud's temporary mechanical armored evolution tool, it had been completed long ago without much effort from #18.

***

Inside the research institute, a loud noise erupted. A mechanical scale-like device stood on the ground, one end continuously absorbing wind elemental energy from the surroundings and sinking lower as it did.

#18 sat on top of Baby Cloud, staring intently at the scale. As the other end began glowing and rising, it held its breath, tense with anticipation.

Finally, as a palm-sized, wind-constructed elemental lifeform fully materialized, #18's nervous expression shattered.

"Ha, ha... HAHAHAHAHA!Master, I succeeded! Master, I succeeded!HAHAHAHAHA,the Elemental Life Creation Device actually worked!HAHAHAHA...Don't hold me back, don't hold me back!"

#18 convulsed wildly in mid-air, while Baby Cloud watched with concern, unsure of its mental state. It cautiously formed a small hand to restrain it, fearing it might hurt itself.

Is it really that exciting to create a little baby?

Six-Paths Flower had created plenty of plant babies in the Amazon Rainforest without going this crazy.

#18 wiped its tears. "I... I succeeded. You don't understand, you have no idea. Let me give you an example. Imagine you just hatched from an egg, one day old, and your master said to you, 'Baby Cloud, find a way to kill the Divine Deer in 18 days.' How would you feel?

"But, but, I actually killed the Divine Deer in 18 days! Well, no, it's just an example. But what I accomplished is just as difficult! Never mind, you still don't get it. Master understands my value best right now! I'm so strong! I'm too strong! Even Legendary mechanical lifeforms are nothing compared to me!

Pushing Baby Cloud aside, #18 noticed Lu Ran entering. His gaze immediately locked onto the wind sprite floating above the mechanical scale, and his mind reeled.

[Species: Wind Sprite]

[Attribute: Wind]

[Species Rank: Low Transcendent]

[Level: 1]

Although it was just a simple, level 1 Low-Transcendent wind sprite, the Eye of Detection told Lu Ran that this was undeniably an elemental lifeform!

Lu Ran's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "It worked? It actually worked?"

Although he had fantasized about success constantly, now that #18 had truly achieved it, Lu Ran felt like he'd stumbled upon a Legendary resource in a daydream.

"It worked! But the cost is enormous. The energy source for this device requires... requires... extracts from Six-Paths Flower's sap. Only those extracts, with their limit-breaking properties, can bypass world restrictions to create elemental lifeforms. So while it's successful, the device's practicality is still limited. Only you, master, can use it. To make it more widely applicable, we'd need to find a substitute energy source."

Lu Ran couldn't help but laugh. "It doesn't matter. For a machine of this level, it's no surprise that the energy source is rare. Our goal wasn't to create a universally practical Elemental Life Creation Device—just one that would dominate the invention competition. We'll be leaving soon anyway.

"After the competition, I can even claim that I'll donate the technology to the nation for free in half a month, in exchange for a rapid rise in status. Alternatively, I can say we've already found a substitute energy source research direction and request funding from the Republic. Then, when it's time to return, we'll just disappear. Either way, the substitute energy source is optional here."

"Master, you're evil."

As Lu Ran and #18 conversed, the first tiny wind sprite slowly opened its eyes, taking in the world for the first time.

"We have a few more days left. #18, try creating other elemental lifeforms—those of the Water, Fire, Ice, Lightning, Light, Dark, and other attributes as well. Soon... it'll be time to shock this mechanical era with our invention."

Lu Ran could already imagine the headlines after the competition—We Invited You to Compete in a University Invention Competition, Not to Usher in a New Elemental Era!