Zhou Ran suddenly thought of a solution. What about the incubation pool?
Zhou Ran immediately opened the incubation pool page, but this time it wasn't free. A Level 1 incubation pool required 20 points to incubate once.
'Let's take a gamble. If a good beast comes out, we can sell it!' Zhou Ran gritted his teeth and paid 20 points.
Zhou Ran continued to mutter prayers to various deities, kneeling before the incubation pool with great devotion.
Some people at the entrance turned to look inside, thinking he was crazy, kneeling by the pool like an idiot...
"What are you looking at? Never seen a devout believer before?" Zhou Ran felt a bit embarrassed and ran over to pull down the roller shutter.
At that moment, the dim incubation pool flashed with golden light again, and there was a powerful fluctuation of star spirit energy at the centre of the pool.
'Wow, this is much louder than that Husky. It must be a good thing!' Zhou Ran grew even more excited.
A moment later, the golden light faded, and a small tiger ran out.
Its fur was blue and gold, and instead of a 'king' character on its forehead, there was a 'thunder' character, giving it an air of dominance.
Zhou Ran was startled for a moment, then immediately shouted.
"Is this a stroke of good fortune? This definitely isn't a low-grade exotic beast." Zhou Ran was thrilled and immediately threw a pet appraisal device at it.
Juvenile Thunder Tiger
Attribute: Thunder
Rank: Upper First Tier
Skills: Thunder Tiger Roar, Thunder Claw Strike
Potential: D
Score: 17
'Haha, a sixth-tier bloodline! I'm rich! Thank you, heavens...' Zhou Ran was extremely excited and immediately completed the beast contract with the Thunder Tiger.
In the dim star map in his mind, another star lit up.
'Today's fortune is definitely good. Why not try the plane fragments? Maybe I'll find a good place!' Zhou Ran muttered to himself, then opened the interdimensional rift page and began selecting one by one.
Finally, under the Thunderous Abyss super plane, he saw a 128th plane fragment. Zhou Ran took a deep breath and clicked on it.
'Do you wish to enter the 128th plane fragment of the Thunderous Abyss?' the system asked.
'Hmm, how long is the time limit?' Zhou Ran asked.
'The time limit for a plane fragment is up to three days.'
'Notice: The host can carry a maximum of three異兽,' the system prompted.
Three...
Zhou Ran glanced back at the Snow Woman Beast, intending to bring it along as well, but since he had already spent 10 points to cultivate it, he decided against it.
'Connecting to the plane...'
'Connection successful, opening the plane...'
As the system's voice rang out, Zhou Ran and the Thunder Tiger were once again sucked into a vertical eye.
'Successfully arrived at the 128th Plane Fragment'
'Time limit: 3 days'
'Obtained system protection: Absolute Defence.'
...
This was Zhou Ran's first time in this plane. Unlike Fenghai Mountain Forest, this plane was extremely oppressive, with the sky always grey and thunder rumbling from time to time.
Zhou Ran looked around, recalling the system's warning from last time.
Plane fragments were random; they could be empty or the lair of terrifying beasts. Zhou Ran was extremely anxious; if there was nothing, he would be doomed.
He then swiped his right hand, summoning the Dark Star Wolfhound as well, and began wandering around with the two beasts.
This fragment plane was too barren, with rocks and beast corpses everywhere. Zhou Ran began to grow concerned.
"Could it be that there's nothing here? Did I exhaust my luck by hatching the Thunder Tiger?" Zhou Ran muttered to himself.
But at that moment, the thunder in the sky grew increasingly deafening. The Dark Star Wolfhound and the Thunder Tiger's fur stood on end, sensing that something terrifying was about to appear.
Zhou Ran was also startled, for a chasm had appeared ahead, and a man emerged from it.
He had long white hair, his entire body abnormally pale with no trace of blood colour, looking like a corpse.
'Is there anyone else besides me?' Zhou Ran stared at him, examining him closely.
He took a step out of thin air and instantly appeared in front of Zhou Ran, looking at him up close.
The distance was extremely close; it felt like they were about to touch each other.
But Zhou Ran noticed that the man had no fluctuations at all, like a corpse, not even breathing.
Terrified, Zhou Ran immediately tried to step back, but found his body completely immobilised. The two beasts had already fainted.
"Ah! A ghost!" Zhou Ran screamed, but suddenly a powerful bolt of lightning struck down. If it weren't for the system activating its absolute defence, Zhou Ran would have been obliterated.
The man paused for a moment, then swung his right hand, enveloping Zhou Ran in a thundercloud.
Zhou Ran lost consciousness instantly...
'Am I dead? But I have absolute defence!' Zhou Ran suddenly woke up, looking around in confusion.
He found himself in a palace, shrouded in a terrifying aura—it must be a divine beast-level palace.
"What bad luck! This plane is indeed a nest." Zhou Ran despaired, having wasted 10 points in vain.
At that moment, the eerie man reappeared and once again unleashed a powerful bolt of lightning at Zhou Ran, but as expected, the absolute defence blocked it.
On the throne atop the palace sat a half-human, half-dragon beast, which suddenly opened its eyes.
The terrifying aura it emitted was far more terrifying than that of the man before him, seemingly far surpassing the level of a divine beast.
Subsequently, dozens of black lightning bolts struck Zhou Ran, but his absolute defence continued to protect him. However, everything around him was destroyed, leaving no trace of dust. As for the Dark Star Wolfhound and the Thunder Tiger, they had already been reduced to ashes.
If it weren't for the contract still existing in his mind, Zhou Ran would have thought he was doomed.
'Why did you bring me here? I'm invincible!' Zhou Ran saw that all the lightning bolts were ineffective, so he immediately gained confidence and used the Pet Appraisal Device.
"...
"Can't identify it? Isn't it supposed to be able to identify all the beasts in this world?" Zhou Ran looked puzzled but also curious. A beast that even the Beast Identification Device couldn't recognise must be incredibly powerful!
The eerie man flew into the air and whispered something into the ear of the Beast King.
Then, countless black lightning bolts attacked Zhou Ran again, but they were all blocked one by one.
"Hey, what are you doing? You can't break through this. Give up. If there's nothing else, I'm leaving!" Zhou Ran waved his hand, preparing to leave.
But the doors around him were tightly closed, and Zhou Ran couldn't open them at all.
He tried to revive the beast, but as soon as it appeared, it vanished immediately, which was extremely strange.
'Hm? Absolute Defence?' At that moment, the half-dragon on the throne emitted a deep, resonant voice.
This voice struck Zhou Ran's soul directly, and Absolute Defence could not immunise him. Zhou Ran writhed in agony on the ground, drenched in sweat.
This voice clearly had no offensive capabilities, but Zhou Ran felt immense pain, and his heart was racing so fast it felt like it might explode at any moment.
Ah!
With a loud bang, Zhou Ran's chest shattered, his eyes went blank, and he died in agony.
'Resurrect on the spot!'
Zhou Ran was resurrected, but he was still drenched in sweat. That sound was terrifying...
The half-dragon on the throne stood up and coldly said to Zhou Ran, 'Who are you?'
The same voice pierced Zhou Ran's soul, and this time it was even more intense. Zhou Ran exploded instantly, turning into a pool of blood.
"Resurrect on the spot!"
"Is this ever going to end? Do you know how painful this is?" Zhou Ran was terrified, but with the system's protection, he wasn't afraid.
"Answer me!" The half-dragon's tone grew harsher, clearly angry.
Boom!
Zhou Ran had barely heard it when he exploded again, and the absolute defence still didn't activate.
"???"
"System, protect me! It hurts, you know!" Zhou Ran revived again, constantly shouting at the system in his mind.
"Soul attacks cannot be protected against." The system responded indifferently.
Zhou Ran was furious. 'I have to go up there and punch it to vent my anger.'
But it was in vain.
Bang!
Resurrected on the spot!
Exploded again!
Resurrected again!
...