Evolving the koi spirit wasn’t something particularly urgent for Lu Ran.
But if he had spare time, reaching level sixty before the national war was a goal he could try for once things calmed down.
“Let’s leave it at that for now. We’ll head back to the Imperial Capital first, then use the teleportation array to go to the Celestial Descent Domain,” Liu Xinxin said after a moment of thought.
The otherworldly stars Lu Ran wanted were located in the Chaotic Domain, an undeveloped region outside the Celestial Descent Domain.
The Celestial Descent Domain was actually the name of a former main city.
It was one of the rare first-tier main cities, comparable in scale to the Imperial Capital and every bit its equal—enormous!
Everyone returned to the Imperial Capital.
As they passed by the headquarters of the Heavenly Dao Alliance, Yu Qingcang prepared to head back—he wouldn’t be going with Lu Ran and the others anymore.
With the national war approaching, as the chairman of the Heavenly Dao Alliance, Yu Qingcang had far more things to do and arrange than the three chairmen Lei Tai, Liu Xinxin, and Ye Hongyi.
Naturally, he couldn’t tag along with Lu Ran either.
Of course, these were all routine arrangements. The configuration of class holders participating in the national war actually didn’t matter much anymore.
Because with Lu Ran around, among Longxia’s participating class holders in the national war, aside from Lu Ran, the rest were basically just there to watch the excitement—tagalongs who could be there or not.
But right at the entrance of the Heavenly Dao Alliance headquarters, a group of people blocked Yu Qingcang and his party.
The one leading them was a middle-aged woman, very polite, with other young people following beside her—all class holders.
Moreover, some of them were new class holders, while others were veteran class holders.
But judging by the emblems on their chests and the pride on their faces that they could barely conceal, they were clearly very pleased with their identities.
“Shen Man? What’s someone from the Heavenly Prefecture Society doing at the Heavenly Dao Alliance?” Yu Qingcang asked, though he already knew the answer.
Even a fool could guess—the Heavenly Prefecture Society coming at this critical juncture was clearly to recruit Lu Ran as a member.
Yu Qingcang had told Lu Ran before.
After the Hundred Cities League ended, he would recommend Lu Ran to join the Heavenly Prefecture Society.
Before that, Lu Ran needed to prove he truly had the qualifications to join.
Except now, the Heavenly Prefecture Society had come to them proactively.
So they still needed to put on some airs.
“Yu Qingcang, the Heavenly Dao Alliance had such a top-quality prospective member and didn’t even report it to the Heavenly Prefecture Society—that’s a bit unkind of you,” Shen Man said with a chuckle.
But it was clear she and Yu Qingcang knew each other, and quite well at that.
“Ah, that’s where you’re wrong. Lu Ran isn’t just a prospective member of the Heavenly Dao Alliance—he’s also a prospective member of Mirror Flower Water Moon, the Red Dress Tower, and the War Banner National Guard. I alone can’t make that call,” Yu Qingcang said with a wave of his hand.
Although Shen Man had investigated long ago.
Hearing Yu Qingcang say this again still felt a bit unbelievable.
She turned to look at Lu Ran, and at Ye Hongyi and the others standing beside him.
Lu Ran was arguably the first talent in all these years of Longxia to be simultaneously recruited as a prospective member by all four major guilds.
And yet he was just a necromancer.
Except—
By now, no one cared anymore what class Lu Ran was.
After a few seconds of silence, Shen Man spoke:
“Actually, the Heavenly Prefecture Society took notice of Lu Ran during the Hundred Cities League.”
“I never expected that the legendary mysterious necromancer would turn out to be a new class holder who’d only awakened his class a little over twenty days ago.”
“His performance in the Hundred Cities League was truly spectacular—instant kills all the way, and in the end he even decisively defeated that Earth Immortal.”
“The Heavenly Prefecture Society actually wanted to come talk to Lu Ran right after the Hundred Cities League.”
“Unfortunately, there wasn’t time—the monster siege began.”
…
What happened afterward was obvious.
The Heavenly Prefecture Society might have already been convinced of Lu Ran’s qualifications based on his performance in the Hundred Cities League.
But it was the subsequent monster siege that truly won them over completely!
An unprecedented level-six monster siege—one capable of slaughtering the entire city and wiping Longxia’s Imperial Capital off the map!
And Lu Ran had blocked it, crushed it, and resolved it all by himself!
An undead army of hundreds of thousands, a bone storm covering dozens of kilometers around the entire Imperial Capital, and beside him a Dark Elf Queen who could casually one-shot a level-six siege BOSS!
Put it all together, and he was practically a god!
A person like this—forget joining the Heavenly Prefecture Society; Shen Man would willingly step down as chairwoman and hand the position to him!
“Lu Ran, would you come sit with us at the Heavenly Prefecture Society? The Heavenly Prefecture Society’s sincerity will definitely not disappoint you,” Shen Man said earnestly.
Yu Qingcang and the others didn’t interject—they just looked at Lu Ran, letting him make his own decision.
But Lu Ran was a bit hesitant.
To Lu Ran, what others saw as a hallowed institution—the Heavenly Prefecture Society—didn’t really seem all that meaningful.
Lu Ran didn’t like being constrained. If joining the Heavenly Prefecture Society meant he’d have to do things, that would be too much trouble—he had absolutely no interest in joining!
Just then.
Liu Xinxin suddenly leaned in close to Lu Ran, seemingly seeing right through his thoughts.
She said to him: “The existence of the Heavenly Prefecture Society is hard for ordinary people to understand. There is a necessity for you to join the Heavenly Prefecture Society—you’ll understand when the time comes. Of course, if you really don’t want to, we respect your wishes. In this world, no one can force you to do something you don’t want to do.”
It was precisely those words from Liu Xinxin that made Lu Ran agree right away.
He’d go sit with them first.
See how things stood.
Whether he joined or not didn’t really matter.
It wasn’t that Liu Xinxin had actually persuaded Lu Ran—it was her words “no one can force you to do something you don’t want to do” that brought Lu Ran back to his senses.
That’s right.
With his current strength and abilities, there really was no one in this world who could force Lu Ran to do anything he didn’t want to do.
Even if he joined the Heavenly Prefecture Society, Lu Ran wouldn’t be constrained in any way.
Worst case, he could quit anytime!
And even if he didn’t quit, what could the Heavenly Prefecture Society do about it?
Shen Man gave Liu Xinxin a grateful look, then stepped aside and said, “After you, then.”
“Go on.” Liu Xinxin gave Lu Ran an affirming look. “You’ve grown up. There are many things you need to start deciding for yourself now. Just follow your heart—no need to worry about anything else.”
It was rare for Liu Xinxin and the others not to go with Lu Ran.
Nanami also stayed behind, waiting at the Heavenly Dao Alliance headquarters.
The koi spirit was also left with Nanami by Lu Ran, to be looked after for the time being.
But Siluo stayed by Lu Ran’s side.
With Siluo around, things were much more convenient—especially when dealing with all kinds of BOSSes.
Lu Ran’s Blood Spear could one-shot one, but after that he’d need to charge up again.
To continue killing high-level BOSSes, the undead army could do it too, but it would take more time.
With Siluo there, she could directly one-shot them to help—the efficiency was incredible!
Of course.
This had nothing to do with whether it was dangerous or not. For the current Lu Ran, danger no longer existed in this world.
