Beastmaster King

Divine Island.

As the secret realm neared its end, Lu Ran decided to study the Flame of Life. It turned out that just a single strand of the Flame of Life already surpassed the healing effects of the Broken Horn of the Divine Deer.

Lu Ran was thinking of ways to borrow the complete Flame of Life for a while. After much deliberation, the only solution seemed to be putting his familiars through some hardship.

Inside the research lab, Captain Doofus and Sudden Death King exchanged solemn glances.

"You know, the Broken Horn of the Divine Deer is becoming outdated. Although it can still heal you now, each healing session requires a long recharge and recovery time. This Flame of Life has appeared at just the right moment. Not only is its healing power incredibly potent, but like the Broken Horn of the Divine Deer, it can absorb energy from nature to replenish itself continuously. With it, mastering hundredfold energy compression will be within reach."

"Roar..."

Boss Lu, just say it outright!

"Woof..."

Boss Lu, just say it outright!

Both familiars could tell Lu Ran was hinting at something.

"The Flame of Life is a sustainable resource. Over the past few days, I've been actively building good relationships with the seniors in the research institute. If we have a legitimate reason, borrowing the complete Flame of Life for a day shouldn't be a problem. And that legitimate reason for using the Flame of Life will, of course, be injury.

"The story can be something like, 'A newcomer at the Divine Research Institute failed during the mechanical transformation of their familiar, causing fatal backlash damage to the familiar. To heal the familiar quickly and avoid affecting its potential, they need to use the Flame of Life,' or something like that."

Captain Doofus and Sudden Death King froze and took a synchronized step back.

Why not let Dark Crow handle such a good thing? It would definitely be willing to sacrifice itself.

"Dark Crow carries the power of the Evil God, which makes things complicated."

Captain Doofus flashed a wise gaze and pushed Sudden Death King forward with its paw.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

Then let Sudden Death King do it. Its thick skin and resilience mean it can survive near-fatal injuries, and it can even become invulnerable for a short period of time, making the process safer.

Sudden Death King was about to protest when it saw Captain Doofus' benevolent stare.

"Roar?"

Me?

Lu Ran's gaze turned profound as he looked at it. "Indeed. Sudden Death King, consider this a rehearsal. When you fuse with the Legendary blood later, you'll inevitably endure immense strain."

A day later, outside Lu Ran's division at the Divine Research Institute, a massive explosion suddenly erupted.

The commotion drew the attention of nearly all the mechanics in the institute. Such experimental accidents were rare at the Divine Research Institute, given that most researchers here were highly experienced. However, sensing the direction of the explosion, the researchers fell silent.

Soon, several researchers arrived at Lu Ran's research site via mechanical transport, only to find a dragon that was nearing death lying pitifully on the ground, surrounded by wrecked mechanical parts.

Lu Ran, covered in soot, sat on the ground some distance away, clutching #18 with a look of lingering fear.

Dr. Cheng Kong, who had rushed over, was startled. "Pedestrian A! What happened? Is this dragon... your familiar?"

Lu Ran struggled to his feet, maintaining his shaken expression, and then hurried to Sudden Death King's side. "Yes... It's my familiar. At National Mechanical University, #18 didn't just research temporary mechanical evolution devices for elemental sprites, but it also worked on temporary mechanical evolution tools for my other familiars. Today, it took time to refine one, and we wanted to test it. But the modification failed."

"You..." Dr. Cheng Kong was speechless.

Looking at Sudden Death King's dire state, she could tell the injuries were life-threatening.

"Dr. Liao." Cheng Kong turned to a white-haired elderly woman, who had specialized in medical mechanical lifeforms before joining the Divine Research Institute.

The elderly woman frowned. "I've already completed the scan. Its injuries are extremely severe, and it's teetering between life and death. Its species rank is very high, making a full mechanical recovery difficult and risky—one that would require significant time.

"Moreover, tests show its constitution is somewhat special. It's a type that's highly resistant to healing, as if it's endured so much damage that it's developed resistance to healing energy. Conventional healing methods may struggle to treat it. In fact, letting it heal naturally might be more effective. What exactly happened to this dragon?"

Sudden Death King rolled its eyes.

I'd like to know too.

"Understood. Dr. Liao, please take care of things here for now."

After speaking, Dr. Cheng Kong immediately left. Soon, Dr. Liao and several other researchers who had received gifts from Lu Ran approached. Dr. Liao summoned a medical mechanical familiar to treat Sudden Death King, but as she had analyzed, even her Overlord-rank healing mechanical familiar worked at a sluggish pace, with the healing speed barely keeping up with Sudden Death King's deterioration.

Dr. Liao reassured Lu Ran. "Don't panic. Dr. Cheng Kong has likely gone to apply for the Flame of Life on your behalf. In this situation, only the complete Flame of Life can heal it."

"You child!" The surrounding researchers began lecturing Lu Ran.

Despite his early fame, Lu Ran was still a young man under 20—a newcomer with limited mechanical expertise. And now, just days after arriving, he'd already caused a mechanical accident.

"I'm sorry." Lu Ran lowered his head in apology.

Before long, Dr. Cheng Kong used her authority to temporarily secure the complete Flame of Life, which was inside a glass bottle, for Lu Ran. It was an orange flame emitting an incredible aura.

[Name: Flame of Life]

[Level: Legendary]

[Description: A flame imbued with divine life energy, capable of healing injuries and resurrecting recently deceased beings. The energy consumed for healing can be naturally replenished, but the divine life energy used for resurrection cannot be regenerated and can only revive beings below Legendary rank.]

"Go." After obtaining the Legendary Flame of Life, Dr. Cheng Kong opened the bottle. The flame instantly transformed into the phantom of a Divine Phoenix that was seemingly able to understand her words, and landed on Sudden Death King.

At that moment, Sudden Death King's injuries began healing rapidly, but soon, the pace slowed again. It seemed that without a full day of envelopment, complete recovery would be impossible.

Seeing this, Dr. Cheng Kong frowned in confusion. "Kid, what kind of mechanical modification did you use on it? Even the Flame of Life is struggling to heal it."

"#18!" Lu Ran looked at #18.

#18 stammered. "M-me? I used some modifications involving natural elements and astral energy, aiming for a quasi-Legendary evolution. Sorry, sorry. Here's the design blueprint."

#18 produced the specially customized Starburst Dragon King Evolution Method for Sudden Death King.

Dr. Cheng Kong took it and, though she couldn't fully grasp it at first glance, her lips twitched at its complexity.

"From now on, stop experimenting with these things. Focus on researching the Elemental Life Creation Device, okay?"

"Understood."

"The Flame of Life will remain here for its treatment. I'll take this blueprint to study."

The crowd around Lu Ran continued their admonishments. Thankfully, the Flame of Life was available. Otherwise, Lu Ran would've paid dearly for his inexperience.

Little did these mechanics know, Sudden Death King's injuries were entirely orchestrated by Lu Ran and his team. Even now, though Sudden Death King's eyes were closed, its mind was clearer than ever. It was even sighing inwardly.

Are injuries of this level really worth the fuss? Life is tough... Besides, this flame feels quite nice. It's so warm, even more soothing than the Divine Deer's healing.

If not for Six-Path Flower's power mixed into the injuries, Sudden Death King felt it could've been healed instantly, even from the brink of death.

Lu Ran had to listen to the seniors' lectures for what felt like an eternity. After all, Lu Ran wasn't one they wanted to see repeat such mistakes.

Suddenly, a deafening alarm blared across the entire island, startling even the researchers who hadn't been disturbed by the Sudden Death King incident.

"Warning! A Legendary lifeform is approaching Divine Island!"

"Warning! A Legendary lifeform is approaching Divine Island!"

The repeated warnings sent panic rippling through the Divine Research Institute's staff.

An elderly man who was previously in the midst of lecturing Lu Ran paled. "A Legendary lifeform? How could a Legendary appear? None have been seen for centuries!"

"After the great war, they entered slumber, needing millennia to recover."

"Could it be that Divine Island has finally been discovered? This institute houses too many forbidden resources, and their original owners might've come to reclaim them." Dr. Liao's expression was grave.

These resources were essentially "stolen" by humanity.

A middle-aged researcher clenched his jaw. "Don't panic. So what if it's Legendary? Though we haven't yet succeeded in creating an artificial god, with the republic's foundation, even a Legendary would pay a heavy price for threatening us! Wait—could the Flame of Life have attracted the Legendary being?"

Dr. Cheng Kong also looked up. "Impossible. The Flame of Life has been used countless times since the republic's founding. Rather than the Flame of Life, perhaps the birth of elemental life drew the Legendary's attention. Legendary records state that the Elemental God was sealed by the Four Supreme Divine Dragons, preventing the birth of new elemental life. Could the reappearance of Elemental life have alerted the Dragon God's kin...?"

"I-It probably isn't that." Lu Ran interjected weakly.

The researchers fell silent, their expressions solemn, aware they might've frightened Lu Ran. However, as veterans of the Divine Research Institute, they knew just how forbidden their work was. For instance, humanity's difficulty in reaching the Mythical level was largely due to restrictions imposed by the Beast God faction, led by the Chaos Dragon God.

Their current research was nothing short of a provocation against the Beast Gods. Moreover, some of their methods bordered on blasphemy. For example, using a beast god's blood to clone them—no god would tolerate such audacity from humans. If not for the Legendary War leaving the divine beings weakened and dormant, the Stellar Moon Republic would never dare conduct such research.

In essence, the Republic was racing against the Legendary lifeforms. They were betting on whether the gods would recover first or humanity would succeed in creating artificial gods. Victory meant humanity could finally stand against the Legendary beings. Defeat meant the republic's inevitable fall. Even with their stockpile of forbidden machinery, their weapons could oppose a single Low Legendary at best.

However, Low Legendaries were the weakest among divine beings. Even after the war's casualties, many remained. And above them, Intermediate Legendaries, Superior Legendaries, and Primary Divine beings, which were currently beyond humanity's reach, also existed.

The battle between the Divine Tree and the Chaos Dragon God had shattered the Stellar Moon Continent, nearly destroying the world. It was a feat far beyond current mechanical capabilities.

Now, with the Divine Research Institute detecting an approaching Legendary, tension gripped every researcher. They feared the republic's gamble of staking the nation's fate and humanity's future on the artificial god project was on the verge of collapse. The researchers were confident that they could create a god given enough time. But time was precisely what they lacked.

Although Dr. Cheng Kong and the others braced for the worst, they clung to hope.

"Perhaps the situation isn't that dire."

Though scattered across Divine Island, every researcher, including Director Lin En, witnessed the Legendary being's arrival. A massive wooden hand tore through space, widening the rift as a wooden Asura squeezed through. Perched on its shoulder sat a regal and beautiful humanoid plant being, its golden eyes surveying the island.

The researchers scrambled to analyze the god, but all their instruments—energy detectors, attribute scanners, even spacetime monitors—failed completely. Only after the spatial tear closed did the devices belatedly react.

"Its power is too immense. We can't even gauge its level."

Realizing this, the mechanical lifeforms and researchers switched tactics, attempting to identify the visitor.

"Plant God. Searching... Closest match found. The Six-Path Reincarnation God was one of the primordial Plant Gods who, alongside the Divine Tree and Void Leaf, rebelled against the Beast Gods. Historical records state that the Six-Path Reincarnation God and Void Leaf perished in war. Match inconclusive..."