Chapter 120 - Dragon’s Valley
“Why does it look so ugly?”
Within his body, the Flame Spirit formed, and Lu Ran saw a stick figure-like image. He froze momentarily. Even if the Flame Spirit wasn’t going to resemble the sacred Vermillion Bird, couldn’t it at least replicate the host’s appearance?
A stick figure was just too abstract.
Oh well...
Feeling the extraordinary power brought by the stick-figure Flame Spirit, Lu Ran couldn’t help but lift his hand.
In the next moment, flames surged from his palm. Although the flames burned intensely, Lu Ran didn’t feel much heat. Thanks to the Flame Spirit, his fire resistance had greatly increased, making him more attuned to flames. The fire he released would struggle to harm him.
“Now, I can both cool and heat things,” Lu Ran muttered to himself.
I might really be that so-called ‘cold, aloof man’ and ‘super warm guy’ at the same time, he mused.
To further experiment with the Flame Spirit, Lu Ran drew out the Wind Slashing Sword, intending to infuse it with flames. However, he quickly discovered that he lacked the skill for external energy infusion.
At the moment, he was like a newly born Fire-attribute familiar, having to learn techniques like energy projection and external energy infusion from scratch.
Even beastmaster skills would need gradual development. Seeing this, Lu Ran had no choice but to summon Captain Doofus. Not to immediately use Super Beast Mimicry to learn from it but to test another approach.
“Woof!”
White light flashed in the room, and Captain Doofus appeared. After its ascension, its size hadn’t changed much, but its fur had become more elegant and flowy, and its sensitivity to the power of wind had improved.
“Wu?”
Captain Doofus stared at Lu Ran, eyes gleaming.
The next moment, Lu Ran pointed his palm at it, and the stick-figure Flame Spirit shot out from his body, flying straight into Captain Doofus.
“Woof!”
Captain Doofus yelped in shock.
When the Flame Spirit entered its body, its gaze turned hazy.
As the temperature drops, intelligence rises, so when the temperature rises, intelligence might decline.
A flicker of firelight passed through Captain Doofus’ cloudy eyes. Flames began to spread beneath its long fur. At Lu Ran’s command, it opened its mouth!
Whoosh!
Flames enveloped its teeth. Flaming Teeth!
“Woof!”
Captain Doofus grinned and stuck out its tongue, clearly intrigued by its new ability.
“Not bad. From now on, you can handle chopping and cooking yourself,” Lu Ran said with a smile.
What pleased him even more was that when Captain Doofus used flames enhanced by the Flame Spirit, the energy consumed was its own, and not the beastmaster’s.
This beastmaster skill focused on enhancing familiars without draining the beastmaster, unlike fusion skills, which required both to continuously expend energy to maintain their combined state.
“Wu!?”
Captain Doofus froze when it heard that this ability was for cooking meals.
Take it back! Quickly take it back!
Ignoring Captain Doofus’ thoughts, Lu Ran pulled out the Frosty Sky Greatsword for further testing.
After numerous experiments, Lu Ran concluded that Blizzard Sword Intent and the Flame Spirit were incompatible. The best they could do was alternate between hot and cold, creating a so-called “flu sword intent.”
However, the Flame Spirit seemed to complement Captain Doofus’ wind abilities quite well. Without testing it at the inn, Lu Ran already understood the principle of “fire borrows the force of wind.”
Many beastmasters on Blue Planet chose secondary attributes based on such synergies. For example, fire and wind, lightning and water, or earth and rock.
Of course, there were also geniuses who chose fire and water or ice and fire, but their outcomes were less impressive.
“It’s clear that this Flame Spirit is only in its most basic form,” Lu Ran noted.
“Emperor Flame Quake must have conducted countless developments on it already.”
After returning, he had bought two biographies of Emperor Flame Quake from a roadside book tower. As he read, he discovered records stating the Emperor could control flames of different colors, each with unique effects.
This reminded Lu Ran of how lightning-type familiars could mutate their lightning energy by absorbing golden or red lightning traits. Could beastmasters with Flame Spirits similarly mutate their ordinary flames into something special?
This seemed like a promising development path for the Flame Spirit.
Knock! Knock!
In the room, Lu Ran was peacefully reading while Captain Doofus curiously played with the Flame Spirit.
At that moment, there was a knock at the door. It turned out to be Snakeskin and the others, who had come to congratulate Lu Ran and Bai Ling upon learning that they had passed the assessment.
Lu Ran graciously accepted their congratulations. However, it was clear that from this point on, they would go their separate ways. Even if there were a chance to meet again, it would likely be in Limitless City.
Two days later, Lu Ran received a notification from the Cang Lan Province Association. A level 30 plus Falcon with dragon bloodline, raised by the tribe guarding Dragon’s Valley, had arrived in Cang Lan City.
This falcon was to escort Lu Ran to Dragon’s Valley, where he would train in seclusion for a while. In other words, Lu Ran would ride it there.
In these two days, Lu Ran hadn’t been resting. After passing the assessment, visitors flooded in daily. Local elites, knowing a culinary genius had emerged in Cang Lan Province, eagerly sought connections, bringing gifts to curry favor.
Lu Ran understood their intentions. If it were the real world, he might have hesitated to accept, given his comfortable family background and distaste for owing favors.
But in this projection world? Take it all! Over these two days, he had received so many gifts his hands went numb.
“Let’s go, Falcon Bro.”
Outside Cang Lan City, Lu Ran mounted a majestic red-feathered Dragonblood Falcon, ready to set off for Dragon’s Valley. With a sharp cry, the falcon stirred a fierce wind and soared into the sky.
Fortunately, Lu Ran had experience riding Captain Doofus with his Gale Wings. Otherwise, adapting to flying familiars wouldn’t have been so easy.
“Cang Lan Province, goodbye,” he murmured, lying on the falcon’s back, yawning as he gazed at the blue sky and white clouds.
As his first ascension realm, this place would always hold a special place in his memory.
***
Stellar Moon Continent, Beastmaster Empire, Flame Dragon Sanctuary.
To commemorate Emperor Flame Quake’s accomplishments and to provide a haven for his still-living war familiars, the empire designated a territory solely for these Guardian Sacred Beasts.
The Flame Dragon Sanctuary was the domain of the Emperor’s most iconic war familiar: A Flame Dragon King. This powerful being resided deep within a mountain valley, giving the place its name, Dragon’s Valley.
The Saintor Tribe, once tasked with caring for Emperor Flame Quake’s army of familiars, had maintained their role and continued serving the Flame Dragon King. Though the Dragon King hadn’t appeared in years, the tribe steadfastly guarded the sanctuary.
Today, the Flame Dragon Sanctuary stood as one of the most prominent territories, vastly more powerful than smaller provinces like Cang Lan Province. On this day, numerous Dragonblood Falcons soared back to the sanctuary from all directions.
With the conclusion of the gourmet assessments across hundreds of provinces, many chose to train at Dragon’s Valley, including Lu Ran.
The Dragonblood Falcon landed gracefully at the foot of a mountain, dropping Lu Ran off. A red-clad man, wearing traditional Saintor attire, stepped forward. He whistled to recall the falcon, then turned to Lu Ran.
“From Cang Lan Province, right? You have one month to train in the outskirts of Dragon’s Valley. After that, I will arrange for your departure, whether it’s back to Cang Lan or onward to Imperial Beast City, as long as it’s within the empire.”
“If you head forward from here, you’ll reach the outermost edge of Dragon’s Valley. As you get closer to the valley, the Dragon’s Aura will grow increasingly stronger.
“There are no dangerous beasts in this area, so you don’t need to worry about safety. Beyond this point, there’s a town. If you need to purchase anything, you can take care of it there.”
“Thank you.”
The man departed as abruptly as he came, leaving Lu Ran standing bewildered.
Such cold reception...
Shrugging it off, Lu Ran focused on the month ahead.
Not that I’ll need an entire month. Half of that would already feel too long. Better make the most of my time.
Lu Ran’s spatial equipment was well-stocked with supplies for food, clothing, shelter, and travel. There was no need to visit the town mentioned earlier for resupply.
After thinking for a moment, Lu Ran directly summoned Captain Doofus, pointed ahead, and prepared to approach Dragon’s Valley to experience the Dragon’s Aura firsthand.
“Captain Doofus, once we get there, don’t go wetting yourself,” Lu Ran warned.
It’s common for household dogs to wet themselves when facing a tiger, let alone when faced with the aura of a fantastical creature like a dragon.
“Woof!”
Captain Doofus shot Lu Ran a disdainful look, clearly offended.
Who do you think you’re looking down on?
It was actually more worried that Lu Ran might be the one who wet himself!
I refuse to bring shame to dogs everywhere.
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Neither Lu Ran nor Captain Doofus believed they would falter under the Dragon’s Aura. With an unspoken competition between them, they advanced together.
The Flame Dragon King’s power was overwhelming. As a high-tier Overlord Species, with a level exceeding 80, its aura was so powerful that it could be felt even from the farthest edges of Dragon’s Valley.
As they made their way along the mountain path, Lu Ran and Captain Doofus finally reached the valley’s outermost perimeter, still dozens of kilometers away from its center. Even at this distance, the scorching pressure of the aura made further progress almost impossible.
“Hah—!”
Lu Ran was drenched in sweat, his heart pounding rapidly.
“Woof!!!”
Captain Doofus wore a grim expression, its desire to continue forward clashing with its instincts. As a beast, it could sense the overwhelming terror of the aura more acutely than Lu Ran.
Its limbs felt as if they were bound, unbearably heavy, making every step a struggle.
“We’ll stop here for now.”
Realizing they had already entered the range of the Dragon’s Aura, Lu Ran took out his tent, deciding to spend the first day acclimating to it.
This aura feels remarkably similar to the Beast Sword Momentum I’ve practiced. Perhaps I can evolve it by transforming the beast into a dragon.
“For the first two days, we’ll focus on adjusting to the Dragon’s Aura,” Lu Ran said to Captain Doofus.
“Woof!!!”
Captain Doofus nodded vigorously, its expression serious. Gone was its earlier nonchalance. Its entire body trembled as it gazed into the distance.
If the vampire they had encountered before gave it a pressure level of 10, then this Flame Dragon King’s aura was a staggering 100,000.
Captain Doofus couldn’t comprehend how such a powerful life form could exist. Yet, its gaze burned with determination. Clamping the Frosty Sky Greatsword in its jaws, it resolved to follow Lu Ran’s instructions—adapting to and eventually resisting the Dragon’s Aura step by step.
Buzz!
The Blizzard Sword Momentum erupted from Captain Doofus, clashing with the intense heat of the Dragon’s Aura. Red and blue currents of pressure swirled around it, causing the surrounding air to hum and vibrate violently.
Faced with a dragon, Captain Doofus resolved, I must master a move worthy of its name. Dragon Slayer.
Meanwhile, Lu Ran fully activated his Flame Spirit, using it to bolster his fire resistance against the oppressive heat of the aura.
At the same time, he added, “First, we’ll master the Dragon Culinary Intent. Once we raise Sudden Death King to the level of a dragon, you’ll have plenty of chances to practice your Dragon Slayer.”