Beastmaster King

Sudden Death King's amazing defense gradually made the Divine Wood Snake's pupils shrink. It thought it was hallucinating and felt like a tiny creature trying to shatter a planet. It was completely weak. Whether Sudden Death King was taking damage or not was unclear, but the Divine Wood Snake's tendrils were now cracking.

After a round of probing, Bai Lu's expression turned grave.

What kind of defense is this...?

"Pierce through it!"

Bai Lu had had enough. Instantly, the Divine Wood Snake's counter recovery was activated, augmented by a stronger power boost. She'd used two beastmaster skills in succession to reverse the tide.

Empowered by Bai Lu's Grass-attribute amplification talent, the Divine Wood Snake's attacks underwent a qualitative leap. A phantom green arc linked Bai Lu and the snake-like lightning.

Although it was a basic Grass-attribute amplification, it elevated the Divine Wood Snake's offensive power by an entire tier. The divine wood extended, finally puncturing Sudden Death King's armor, and drawing a few drops of blood.

Bai Lu's lips twitched uncontrollably.

Are you kidding me? It took this much just to crack its armor and leave a tiny wound?

Both in species rank and level, her familiar held the advantage. Not to mention, Bai Lu had gone all out with her beastmaster skills while Lu Ran hadn't lifted a finger.

What the hell has this dragon been through?

Bai Lu desperately wanted to know.

"This is enough!"

Although the Divine Wood Snake failed to inflict serious damage, it finally breached Sudden Death King's defense. This gave Bai Lu hope. The Divine Wood Snake's tendrils, now embedded in Sudden Death King's body like IV tubes, began draining its blood and energy at a terrifying rate.

"The outcome is decided. Extreme defense alone can't win battles."

This turn of events made Bai Lu let out a breath of relief. The Divine Wood Snake's Ultimate Absorption talent boosted its life and energy drain tenfold. Its second talent, Paralysis Toxin, made it harder for enemies to resist.

Of course, the Divine Wood Snake was shocked. Sudden Death King's vitality was magnitudes greater than during their first battle.

"Prepare to hand over that Legendary resource," Bai Lu said.

Just as Bai Lu looked triumphant, Lu Ran mirrored her expression. "Senior Bai Lu, aren't you celebrating too soon? I already knew the Divine Wood Snake's strongest trait was absorption. Did you think I wouldn't prepare for it? Since you love absorbing so much, let's give you your fill."

Lu Ran snapped his fingers. His body and eyes were tinged gray as he activated Time Acceleration on Sudden Death King, speeding up its blood and energy flow to aid the Divine Wood Snake's absorption.

"You're not planning to overload the Divine Wood Snake, are you? That's impossible." Bai Lu laughed.

But the next moment, she froze.

"Pull out now!"

Through her bond, she suddenly sensed subtle changes in the Divine Wood Snake's body. Without Lu Ran's Time Acceleration, it might have had time to react. However, by now, huge quantities of Sudden Death King's blood had already been absorbed.

While this should have been beneficial and allowed the Divine Wood Snake to convert the blood into its own vitality and heal, the blood was poisoned. Not literally poison, but high amounts of alcohol.

"Drunken Dragon Mode," Lu Ran calmly declared as an intoxicated aura billowed from Sudden Death King.

Having absorbed so much alcoholic blood, the Divine Wood Snake's root system was compromised. It was left sluggish, and it struggled to control its body.

"ROAR!"

At this critical point, Sudden Death King finally spread its wings. Its muscles swelled as its body expanded, and its eyes glazed over. Its maw exhaled white alcoholic mist.

As it stared at the Divine Wood Snake, it burst into drunken laughter. It raised an arm that brimmed with terrifying consolidated dragon power.

However, perhaps its drunken state impaired its energy control because Sudden Death King failed to form any weapon, leaving only highly compressed energy ravaging its own body. Then, it began sobbing hysterically, lunging at the Divine Wood Snake, pinning it down and pummeling its head with bare fists.

Each strike cratered the ground and flattened the Divine Wood Snake's skull, splattering brown blood. The entire Amazon trembled with each impact. Sudden Death King's attribute-less punches rivaled Meteor Impact as its drunken physique was unleashed to terrifying extremes.

Bai Lu's other familiars gaped in disbelief. Their comrade was being overpowered by a lower-level opponent.

Ten minutes later, Bai Lu sat on the ground, panting and drained. For ten straight minutes, she had frantically used healing beastmaster skills to mend the Divine Wood Snake's wounds, praying it would sober up.

At one point, the Divine Wood Snake had shaken off the alcohol's paralysis, but the drunken Sudden Death King was too monstrous. Its breath had turned into an alcoholic mist with numbing properties, so its body was immune to pain.

The Divine Wood Snake was at Sudden Death King's mercy. It was completely pulverized. Bai Lu and her familiar had suffered a crushing defeat.

"What kind of joke...?" Bai Lu muttered.

She couldn't accept this outcome.

"Ahaha."

However, Lu Ran was delighted at Bai Lu and the Divine Wood Snake's sorry state.

No need for me to step in. I saved some effort.

"Looks like I win. Senior Bai Lu, according to our bet, you're now part of the Beastmaster Empire. We swore before the Divine Deer. No take-backs." Lu Ran smiled.

"What the fuck? What's the deal with that dragon of yours? If it were the God of Six Paths, I would understand, but why is your dragon so strong despite being only an Intermediate Overlord at level 60?" Bai Lu was baffled.

Lu Ran looked at the sky.

"I pumped it full with enhancement resources. By the way, Senior Bai Lu. I'm surprised you don't have a purification skill to cure conditional ailments. I thought you would instantly remove your familiar's paralysis."

Bai Lu's eyes twitched. One of her other familiars had that skill, so she had skipped learning it herself due to limited energy. But this was a 1v1, so...

"A bet's a bet." Bai Lu grabbed her hair in frustration.

Moments later, the rainforest echoed with a long, mournful wail.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!"

***

"It's grown."

Six-Path Flower had observed the entire battle. Satisfied with Sudden Death King's performance, it nodded before returning to construct its permanent domain.

The humanoid deer hesitated before approaching Bai Lu, who was weeping.

Sister Messenger seems heartbroken. Understandable... She came here to train and grow stronger, only to end up like this. Crying is justified.

Only Lu Ran was overjoyed. First, he was proud of Sudden Death King's growth. Second, he was thrilled to recruit a top-tier talent for the empire. He just hoped that the Divine Deer wouldn't scold him for making such a bet with Bai Lu.

***

Meanwhile, in the Time Hell, crammed with mechanical equipment, #18 and Baby Cloud couldn't care less about the messengers' battle.

"Ahahahaha!"

"Wuwuwuwu!"

Although lacking a drunken mode, #18's mental state eerily mirrored the Drunken Sudden Death King's. Its eyes were gleaming manically.

"Another partial success. But with only a few days left... I don't think I'll make it."

Baby Cloud glanced at #18, wanting to speak but hesitating.

Maybe... you could just stop researching? It's getting scary...

"Plip, plip!"

You're working too hard alone. Why not follow Manager Ying's example and make more clones to share the workload?

As Manager Ying's "daughter," Baby Cloud was inspired by its "mom" and offered thoughtful advice.