Beastmaster King

Aside from letting Sudden Death King feast on Nine-Colored Meteorite Fragments, Lu Ran also brought out the Epic-grade resource, ape wine, looted from a level 5 Legendary secret realm, and let Sudden Death King drink it. This top-tier physical enhancement resource had one side effect. It could induce a drunken state, leading to loss of rationality.

Lu Ran wasn't worried about Sudden Death King losing control. Even if it did, he could always transform into a dog demon or summon Captain Doofus or Dark Crow to restrain it. Moreover, the drunken state wasn't purely negative.

In this condition, there was a small chance of comprehending the Drunken Battle Mode, where alcohol fused with the drinker's blood to unleash the body's full potential.

For the next two days, Sudden Death King devoured meteorite fragments one by one, washing them down with gulps of wine. It was thoroughly enjoying itself.

Lu Ran sat on a rock, Captain Doofus lounged nearby, and Mystic Turtle was deep in thought. All three were watching Sudden Death King's performance.

After consuming a bunch of the wine, Sudden Death King's eyes finally glazed over. As it staggered to its feet, it pointed at Lu Ran.

"Roar..."

Lu, you bastard... Didn't you say you wanted to become some kind of king?

Its muscles bulged grotesquely.

"ROAR!"

There's only room for one king here. ME, SUDDEN DEATH KING!

Captain Doofus and Mystic Turtle were taken aback.

"Woof!"

Captain Doofus stood up.

This feels familiar! A good beating will fix it.

Captain Doofus itched to test its new Bone Dog form, but Dark Crow suddenly materialized.

"My king, shall I use my Spiritual Speech to ensure it successfully comprehends the Drunken Battle Mode?"

Lu Ran thought about it for a little bit before responding. "Will it really be successful? You're sure nothing weird will happen?"

Dark Crow confidently replied, "Absolutely! As long as I only use Spiritual Speech and not the Prophecy Realization talent, there won't be any issues. The weirdness mainly stems from some chemical reaction between Time and Curse powers..."

Lu Ran rubbed his chin, observing the soon-to-be-rampaging Sudden Death King.

"Forget it. Let's just beat it up."

***

Two days later, deep in the Amazon Rainforest.

Bai Lu and her seven familiars were acclimating to the rainforest environment, preparing for their upcoming duel with Lu Ran. For plant lifeforms, the surrounding environment was crucial. It was much like how the Broken Horn of the Divine Deer converted natural flora energy into life-healing power.

"You have quite the entourage."

When Lu Ran returned to the rainforest, he found Bai Lu standing amidst seven terrifying familiars, communing with nature. Her familiars, snapping out of their trance, cast varying gazes at Lu Ran.

"You're finally back. So, are you ready?" Bai Lu asked.

"Yup." Lu Ran smiled while standing on top of Sudden Death King's head.

Sudden Death King narrowed its eyes at Bai Lu's Divine Wood Snake.

Old rivals meet, and sparks fly.

[Species Rank: Intermediate Overlord]

[Level: 60]

Simultaneously, Bai Lu assessed Sudden Death King's condition. Although it had gained over ten levels since arriving on Stellar Moon, nothing else seemed to have changed.

Bai Lu couldn't help but smirk.

"For fairness, you can pick any of my familiars as your opponent." She then gestured toward her seven battle companions. "My Seven-Colored Deer, Divine Wood Snake, Emerald Illusion Butterfly, Green Dragon King, Life Mother Tree, Green Domain Vine, or my Three-Life Flower. Take your pick."

Lu Ran scoffed. All seven were level 70 Superior Overlords. Even if their combat power varied, the gap wouldn't be huge.

The last time we met, the Seven-Colored Deer and Divine Wood Snake were only level 66. Her leveling speed is insane... It's no wonder she's preparing to break through to Legendary.

Lu Ran pointed at the towering Divine Wood Snake, as ancient as a millennia-old tree. "Do I even need to choose? Let's go with the old rival. I'll give Sudden Death King a chance at revenge."

Although the Divine Wood Snake seemed the most combat-oriented among her familiars, Lu Ran had his reasons for choosing it.

The Divine Wood Snake's gaze flickered.Interesting. Without Six-Path Flower, you can't defeat me!

Bai Lu clapped. "Fine. Then it's decided. You all, step back."

At her command, her other familiars retreated, leaving the arena to the Divine Wood Snake.

Meanwhile, Sudden Death King strode forward confidently, locking eyes with its opponent.

"Let's begin!"

As Bai Lu and Lu Ran prepared to clash, a humanoid deer, drawn by the commotion, swiftly approached and perched on a giant tree overlooking the battlefield. To its surprise, it hadn't noticed another humanoid figure already standing there.

"Lord Six-Path Flower," the humanoid deer greeted respectfully.

Six-Path Flower nodded, glancing at the deer. "You know, deer and horses are quite similar. That idiot Dark Crow still hasn't found a quasi-Legendary horse-type creature. How about you take the role of a horse face to pair with the bull's head? Having only a bull's head is driving my OCD crazy."[1]

The humanoid deer blinked in confusion.

Are you calling a deer a horse?

"Never mind. You're of the Divine Deer's bloodline. That dumb bull isn't worthy of being your partner."

"Lord Lu Ran already said I'd be the Beastmaster Empire's guardian totem, the subsidiary symbol of the Divine Deer Sect."

What's this about a horse face?

The little deer edged away from Six-Path Flower, sensing it was even less reliable than Lu Ran.

"Fine."

Six-Path Flower didn't dwell on it. It refocused on the battlefield to see if Sudden Death King had improved enough to defeat its former rival.

The battle had begun. The Divine Wood Snake stuck to its old tactics, but they were still as formidable. The Divine Wood Snake seemed to be the type that consolidated attributes, specializing in a single path.

Its massive tail plunged into the ground, splitting the earth as spatial cracks erupted around Sudden Death King. From these fissures, whip-like wooden tendrils lashed out, each strike carrying high-magnitude energy compression that sent ripples through the void.

"ROAR!"

Facing such an assault, Sudden Death King didn't dodge, nor could it easily do so. Instead, it folded its wings, encasing itself in a high-density rock armor to weather the storm of attacks.

Dozens of tendrils hammered into Sudden Death King's semi-spherical form like a tempest. However, to Bai Lu's shock, the outcome was entirely different from their last battle.

Last time, a single strike had shattered Sudden Death King's scales, impaled its abdomen, and left it knocking on death's door. Now, despite the bigger level gap and unchanged species rank, Sudden Death King endured multiple rounds of attacks. It was completely unharmed.

Although each strike left faint cracks, they were superficial. They were far outpaced by Sudden Death King's regeneration. This impenetrable defense left the Divine Wood Snake unable to exploit its signature energy absorption.

Watching this, Lu Ran merely smiled. Bai Lu couldn't possibly imagine how fiercely Sudden Death King had trained after its defeat, especially during the Mechanical Secret Realm period.

To strengthen its physique after fusing the Star Stone Trait, it had gorged on meteorites while hurling itself from the sky as a meteor, using impact with the earth to temper its defenses. The Broken Horn of the Divine Deer had practically become its personal healing item.

Coincidentally, during that training period, the power consumption at the National Mechanical University and the Divine Research Institute had skyrocketed. Sudden Death King had subjected itself to artificial high-voltage electricity, honing its Lightning-Rock training without pause.

Yet despite all this effort, Sudden Death King still couldn't defeat anyone. Its teammates were simply too overpowered, driving it to despair.

However, hope had arrived. It was the Legendary-tier blood cuisine cooked with Legendary flames, a one-of-a-kind treasure in the Stellar Moon Federation.

The aroma was so great that had it not been prepared in a ruin space, it might have rivaled Emperor Yan's Flame Dragon's Soar, spreading across the world and awakening the Rock attributes of countless unawakened Transcendent creatures.

This cuisine hadn't just boosted Sudden Death King's level; it had tempered its Rock-attribute powers to unprecedented heights. It was an Epic enhancement.

Then there was the Epic-grade ape wine, infused with the Ape King's lifeblood. It was a universally acknowledged top-tier physical enhancement resource.

The Ape King's monstrous physique, which even Lu Ran's quasi-Legendary strength couldn't dent, was essentially a legendary blessing. Given that the wine contained the Ape King's essence, it could be considered a diluted version of such a blessing.

The Nine-Colored Meteorite Fragments were a Legendary resource that had triggered Blue Planet's spiritual awakening. Although it was fragmented and diminished, it remained among the finest meteorites. Combined with Sudden Death King's Star Stone Trait, no resource could have been more compatible.

Planet Intent, which was perfected, had also granted Sudden Death King unparalleled growth. Even without evolving, it had forged a defense that made high-level Superior Overlords pause. This was the pinnacle of defense.

1. 指鹿为马 is a chinese idiom which means calling a deer a horse. It's used here sarcastically, as the deer is asked to play a horse. ☜