Chapter 61 - Blizzard Sword Momentum
Soon after, Lu Ran and Captain Doofus teleported out of the Mantis Jungle secret realm.
Lu Ran checked his communications and saw he hadn’t been bombarded with messages. This meant that there hadn’t been any changes to the Heavenly Familiar Rankings, which made sense because Captain Doofus hadn’t improved significantly since it cut apart that blizzard.
Even if the power of Storm Slash had improved a little, the credit belonged to the Cascading Wind Sword rather than Captain Doofus itself. Lu Ran checked his storage next.
[Crystal Coin Balance: 12,345]
[Equipment: Divine Deer Pendant (Epic), Cascading Wind Sword (Advanced), Wind Slashing Sword (Advanced)]
[Items: Blade Grass x2 (Advanced), Mantis Blade x6 (Advanced), Mantis Wing x7 (Advanced), Heart of the Insect x1 (Advanced), Wood Scale Fruit x16 (Common), Detoxification Grass x8 (Common), Dog Food x60 (Advanced)...]
Most of the items in his storage were gathered from the Mantis Jungle. He had already sold all the materials obtained from the Demon Cat Forest and Blizzard Mountain.
Easily sellable items, such as the Demon Cat Heart (Grass), Demon Cat Claws (Grass), Demon Cat Catnip, and Ice Crystal Ore, were sold directly to the Alliance’s stores. The value of these advanced resources ranged from a hundred crystal coins to several thousand.
For example, Meteorite Iron Ore was worth several thousand crystal coins, while the drops from the Grass Demon Cat were practically garbage, totaling only a few hundred coins.
As for common items like Demon Cat Claws, no one even wanted them. Fighting back tears, Lu Ran took them to the recycling station in Limitless City to sell them for scrap value. Even if it wasn’t much, every little bit counted—after all, even bugs had meat on them. At least the scrap sale covered part of his teleportation fees. Otherwise, there was no reason to keep them.
Now that he had acquired another batch of resources, Lu Ran decided that, apart from the Blade Grass, Mantis Wings, and Heart of the Insects—useful for Captain Doofus—everything else could likely be sold for a decent profit.
Although Mantis Blades could be used as a weapon material, Lu Ran wasn’t too interested in that resource. It was not comparable to Meteorite Iron Ores. Even if he upgraded his weapon in the future, he would definitely use rarer materials. Even the quality of Captain Doofus’ teeth might surpass that of the Mantis Blades.
Lu Ran took out a Mantis Wing from his storage. Captain Doofus leaned over, and they stared at each other.
"So I’m supposed to crush this thing and rub it on you?"
This resource was for external use, which was even more troublesome. Lu Ran felt that it would make a mess, but luckily, he had already taught Captain Doofus how to wash and blow dry itself.
"Woof!"
Captain Doofus clearly didn't mind and asked when it could eat the Heart of the Insect.
"Slow down. There’s no rush, so take a break first. We'll challenge Blizzard Mountain again later."
"Woof!"
Captain Doofus was depressed.
You're not in a rush, but I am! There’s a new delicacy that I’ve never tasted before!
Later that day, the duo went to challenge Blizzard Mountain again. This time, Lu Ran didn't let Captain Doofus fight the blizzard, so their efficiency was significantly higher, scoring them an SS.
The loot included 450 crystal coins, three Cold Wind Seeds, but no Ice Crystal Ores. Lu Ran was a bit dejected because Ice Crystal Ores were easy to sell. Although it wasn’t on par with Meteorite Iron Ores, a universal material for all elemental weapons, it was a core material for ice-element equipment.
However, the three Frost Seeds weren’t a bad haul. At least they were useful to Captain Doofus. After clearing the secret realm, Lu Ran asked Captain Doofus to cut the blizzard again. He also tried to do it with the Wind Slashing Sword.
As a result, after several hours of effort, they failed to comprehend the blizzard sword momentum and instead ended up with a pile of dog teeth. Captain Doofus trailed behind Lu Ran in tears, determined to have a big meal once they returned. Energy Compression skills were ridiculously difficult to train.
***
Lu Ran and Captain Doofus finally returned to Rainbow Dojo after a long absence.
Upon his return, Lu Ran fell into deep thought while the dog dove into a pile of Cold Wind Seeds and Mantis Wings.
“Croak.”
Sudden Death King happened to wake up right then but saw that Lu Ran and Captain Doofus were busy with their own things. It decided to sit alone in the corner, feeling left out.
No one cares about me! I want to die!
Sudden Death King was depressed.
"What's the issue?"
Lu Ran had been sword training in Blizzard Mountain for over 12 hours. Given Captain Doofus’ nature, Lu Ran didn’t expect it to comprehend blizzard sword momentum so fast. Lu Ran had used Super Beast Mimicry when it first split the blizzard to understand what happened, but it was still too difficult to comprehend sword momentum derived from natural phenomena.
"The most important thing was to properly integrate the power of the blizzard into our sword technique and achieve the unity of man and nature! Heaven and earth were created, as was I. I am one with all things."
Lu Ran continued to contemplate.
Lu Ran had comprehended the beast sword momentum before Captain Doofus, largely due to his greater experience in swordsmanship. Another crucial factor was his ability to simulate Captain Doofus’ aura using Super Beast Mimicry.
Whether intentionally or not, he had incorporated Captain Doofus’ aura into his sword technique, which ultimately gave rise to the beast sword momentum. This momentum was essentially a fusion of Captain Doofus’ beast aura, Lu Ran himself, and the sword—integrating the wielder, the aura, and the weapon into one.
Applying the same principle, if he wanted to comprehend the blizzard sword momentum, he would need to integrate the characteristics of a blizzard into himself, picturing himself as the embodiment of a blizzard.
After that, he just needed to integrate that with his sword techniques to exhibit the power of a blizzard.
Lu Ran assumed that this was beyond Captain Doofus’ capabilities. During the blizzard, it felt excited instead of cold. How could it understand the horror of a blizzard?
On the contrary, Lu Ran ended up battered and bruised after the two trips, with his brain nearly frozen from the bone-chilling cold. The unbearable frost left him struggling to endure. If Captain Doofus hadn’t carried him across the finish line, Lu Ran wouldn’t have made it on his own. He was likely the reason they failed to achieve an SSS score.
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"I have to imagine the sensation of getting a brain freeze and cold wind cutting into me like a knife. It’s a bit abstract, but luckily we have Super Beast Mimicry, and I remember the sensation."
Lu Ran tried to visualize a snowstorm in his mind while using Super Beast Mimicry. In that snowstorm, he pictured Captain Doofus carrying him and felt the violent cold wind against his skin. He even visualized himself as the snowstorm and faced Captain Doofus’ Storm Slash.
The north wind howled, and no matter how strong the sword qi was, it still couldn't stop the unrelenting storm. Soon the qi was frozen and swallowed by the snowstorm. The great power of nature was not something that a single individual could stand against.
"My dear disciple, I heard you're back. Little Lu, are you there? I'm coming in."
Outside the door, Jiang Dou had a sword in hand and a puzzled expression on his face.
Huh? Didn't a disciple say that Lu Ran's dog ran off with a backpack?
Lu Ran had been busy doing his own things for the last two days and had not asked the old man for any swordsmanship advice, which was making him anxious.
He wouldn’t have run off to play with guns again, right?
Now that Lu Ran had finally returned from Limitless City, Jiang Dou decided to take the initiative to approach him.
"Why is it so cold? There’s no one here, so why is the air conditioner on?"
Master Jiang Dou distinctly felt a chill emanating from outside the room. Puzzled and slightly concerned about what might be happening inside, he decided to push the door open.
The moment he stepped in, his eyes widened in surprise. Lu Ran was sitting cross-legged on the carpet, eyes closed, with a sword resting in his lap. Despite Jiang Dou’s numerous calls, Lu Ran didn’t respond.
What shocked him most was that the icy air filling the room wasn’t coming from the air conditioner, which was clearly turned off. Instead, the freezing chill was seeping directly from the sword in Lu Ran’s hands!
"Is that a transcendent weapon?"
Master Jiang Dou quickly assumed that it was an Ice-attribute transcendent weapon, but he immediately noticed that something was off.
That’s not right. This isn’t a typical kind of cold. It felt more like a combination of physical exhaustion, mental strain, ADHD, and poor blood and qi circulation—all at once. It was a chill that seemed to be coming from within Lu Ran’s body, as if his internal energy was out of balance, rather than from an external source.
Master Jiang Dou shivered and was almost frightened to death.
Damn, what's going on? Did Lu Ran turn into a zombie that devours people’s yang energy?
The noise finally woke Lu Ran. As their eyes met, Jiang Dou noticed a blue landscape reflected in Lu Ran's pupils. It felt as if he were being pulled into a blizzard within those eyes, intensifying the chill in his bones.
The cold wind sliced through him like a sword, making him shiver once more. His thoughts froze for a moment as he saw an even more terrifying blizzard brewing on the horizon. He quickly steadied his mind and snapped back to reality, left staring at Lu Ran in disbelief.
"Huh? Master? When did you come in?"
Lu Ran was still confused about how Master Jiang Dou got here. However, when he saw Master Jiang Dou's shocked expression, he realized that something was wrong.
"Master, are you okay? Why are you so pale?”
"Damn it, kid! Have you comprehended a new sword momentum?” Master Jiang Dou yelled.
Just now, that should have been Ice-attribute sword momentum, no?
He once felt something similar from an old rival in the Snow Nation, but Lu Ran's momentum was clearly more terrifying!
"Yes. I am trying to comprehend a new sword momentum, but it's still in the early stages," Lu Ran replied.
"How long have you been trying?" Jiang Dou asked impatiently.
"All together... half a day?"
Lu Ran included the time it took him to clear Blizzard Mountain twice.
"Fuck!" Master Jiang Dou couldn't help but curse out at Lu Ran’s response. "You little runt, do you know what you are saying?"
Half a day. How is everyone else supposed to make a living? Although, when Lu Ran was a child, I could already tell his talent was something that could be found only once every ten years. Even though he was also blessed by transcendence, this is still too terrifying. I underestimated this kid.
"I was outside just now and felt a chill through the windows and doors."
"What?" Lu Ran was stunned.
He looked down at the Wind Slashing Sword in his hand and replied, "I could have accidentally activated its wind power, but there was a chill? Are you getting sick, Master? You are getting older, and you didn't take care of yourself when you were young."
Normal wind power, at most, felt like a cool breeze and couldn’t be considered cold.
"Take a look around!"
Lu Ran quickly looked around but couldn't find Sudden Death King. After a careful search, he found that it had crawled into the quilt and was shivering.
It's so cold, I'm going to freeze to death!
Lu Ran was silent.
Could it be that I accidentally released the blizzard sword momentum during my meditation just now?
"It seems that I had the right method, trying to achieve unity between man and nature!"
Lu Ran was starting to get excited.
After being upstaged by the dog for so long, it seemed that he had a leg up on the dog in sword momentum. He could play the role of the master again.
***
"Hey, hey, hey." Master Jiang Dou was shocked by the monstrous Lu Ran.
“What have you been doing these two days?"
"Please spar with me, Master! I want to attempt the blizzard sword momentum again. Please give me some pointers," Lu Ran quickly asked.
He almost forgot that he had access to such a powerful swordmaster.
Hopefully, with Master’s guidance, I’ll be able to grasp the blizzard sword momentum more quickly.
Master Jiang Dou sighed as he felt that he couldn't keep pace with the younger generation. Even after all this time, Lu Ran could still surprise him.
Is it too late to become a beastmaster at my age?
***
When Captain Doofus returned that evening, it stared at Lu Ran in astonishment. It had eaten three more cold wind seeds and used up all the Mantis Wings, but now it could clearly feel an icy chill radiating from Lu Ran!
It was stunned—how had Lu Ran turned into a walking air conditioner in such a short time?
Ahhh, that feels great! Captain Lu, stay near me at all times! it thought, eagerly approaching him.
"Woof, woof!"
Captain Doofus barked at Sudden Death King, who was lounging on a hot water bottle, demanding an explanation.
"Croak." (This is the snow sword momentum of death!)
Sudden Death King croaked solemnly.
Captain Doofus was even more confused.
"It's blizzard sword momentum!" Lu Ran finally said, opening his eyes.
"Dog, do you want to learn? I'll teach you," Lu Ran added smugly.
Blizzard sword momentum was incredibly powerful—far more profound than beast sword momentum. The best part? The two sword momentums didn’t conflict and could even be used together!
"Down! Get off of me!" Lu Ran shouted as Captain Doofus tried to climb onto him. "Have some respect for the blizzard sword momentum! If you want to cool down, just turn on the air conditioner!"