King of Beasts

Lu Ran was amused by General Ha.

“You think being a dog is not enough for you, huh.”

“Woof.” General Ha turned his head gracefully, looking towards the sky.

“Damn.”

Lu Ran pondered, feeling that his authority had been challenged.

But it didn’t matter; General Ha was asking for it. There was no way it could surpass him.

“You keep an eye on those two, I need to take a rest.”

Lu Ran smirked and walked onto the ice surface created by General Ha, sitting down cross-legged. The chilly sensation invigorated him.

Sword Spirit, Middle Sovereign, necromancy, ice, and space attributes.

From the species perspective, they were evenly matched, but in terms of attributes, the Sword Spirit had the advantage. However, in terms of potential, the Weather Elf was actually greater.

After all, it was contracted by Lu Ran, so it could enjoy the fusion trait and first-stage evolution advantages, something the Sword Spirit contracted by General Ha couldn’t compare to.

Therefore, when General Ha brought up a competition, Lu Ran immediately thought it was crazy. If General Ha could win, Lu Ran would retire on the spot.

“But the Corpse Dog is supposed to learn sword intent and sword domain from General Ha, all are combat power moves.”

“The Cloud Baby, on the other hand, is more of a support… Hmm.” Lu Ran fell into thought, suddenly realizing that sly General Ha was comparing a combat pet to a support pet, huh?

But the problem wasn’t too big. Besides its support abilities, the Cloud Baby was also an area attack mage.

And a high-frequency damage elemental mage at that.

The Cloud Baby’s talent was strong, particularly outstanding in the energy flow technique. It reached the second stage of energy flow technique naturally with barely any training, possibly because it was an elemental lifeform.

This indicated that in the future, it would have the fastest skill release speed within Lu Ran’s team.

This talent, combined with various area attack weather skills, would undoubtedly make it a firepower cannon, capable of casting skill after skill, overwhelming opponents with firepower.

…

During his break, Lu Ran organized his backpack and took out a bottle of silvery blood.

[Name]: Rhinoceros Blood

[Rarity]: Rare [Introduction]: Blood of the Golden-Horned Rhinoceros, known for enhancing the sharpness of metals.

Hmm, this was offered as an awakening material by the Sword Grass Family. Honestly, this family is quite secretive, especially about the types of blood they provide. Ꞧ

Little did they know, the moment Lu Ran received the gift, he knew exactly which ferocious beast this blood had come from.

The Eye of Data doesn’t bother with fancy details.

After obtaining the awakening resources, Lu Ran did some research and found that the Golden-Horned Rhinoceros is a rare beast on the verge of extinction, with very few left.

Although the environment where Sword Grass grows overlaps with the habitat of the Golden-Horned Rhinoceros, it’s quite challenging for the non-sapient Sword Grass to just happen to cut down a Golden-Horned Rhinoceros.

The rare opportunity would be when a foolish Golden-Horned Rhinoceros mistakes the Sword Grass for food and loses its tongue in the process.

On the Divine Tree Continent, although the Golden-Horned Rhinoceros is nearly extinct, the Sword Grass Family seems to maintain a certain number, ensuring that their Sword Grass can successfully awaken its Sapience.

“Three enhancement cards, set one aside for this bottle of blood to use for awakening the Sword Grass.”

“But there’s no rush. It can be used to enhance suitable resources for General Ha and the Sudden Death King, pushing them to level 40.”

“It won’t be long before another 3 enhancement cards arrive.”

Lu Ran’s goal this time is to nurture General Ha and the Sudden Death King to level 40, and then re-enter the breakthrough secret realm.

As for Cloud Baby, Lu Ran also aims to raise its growth level; however, he isn’t in a hurry to fuse its third trait until the Evolution Secret Realm’s cooldown is over.

For now, simply fusing a second trait or awakening a new attribute is fine, but for full evolution, it’s best to wait until the Evolution Secret Realm opens.

“Later, I’ll exchange unused resources for crystal coins. The remaining coins can be used to nurture ordinary Crows and see how high the crow flock form can level up.”

“As for the leveling resources for General Ha and the others, enhancement cards will be used…”

“I just wonder when Fang Lan will come out to select a ferocious plant. She entered two days after me, so she shouldn’t have any mishaps in the secret realm, right?”

As Lu Ran was arranging resources, a faint aura of Dragon Might suddenly emanated from afar. Although this Dragon Might wasn’t as pure as the Sudden Death King’s, its intensity far surpassed the Sudden Death King’s menace.

A gleaming azure light shimmered on the ocean surface as Lu Ran stood up from the ice layer, looking towards the distance. Before long, a massive divine dragon burst forth from the sea amidst countless crystalline splashes and soared straight into the clouds. It then circled within the cloud layers, slowly extending its head.

Perched atop the enormous head of the divine dragon was a woman wearing a black tight-fitting wetsuit, which accentuated her alluring figure. With dripping wet hair, she removed her goggles, flicked away the water droplets from her hair, and spoke with a smile:

“It’s been over a month, Lu Ran.”

“Dr. Gu, you’re here fast.” Lu Ran looked up and said, “Oh, it finally reached level 60.”

Looking closely at the Vast Sea Azure Dragon, Lu Ran noticed its growth level was now at level 60.

“Roar!!!” The dragon head of the Vast Sea Azure Dragon displayed a fawning expression, lacking the majesty of a divine dragon, mainly because it recognized Lu Ran as an excellent Chef specializing in Dragon Cuisine.

“Yes,” Gu Qingyi replied regretfully, “Unfortunately, for now, it remains the only one to reach level 60. The necessary combat pets to team up with it are still a few levels behind.”

“There’s still a year left, plenty of time,” Lu Ran assured. “While resources are scarce over at the Star Moon Federation, here, with many beastmasters making it onto the overlord divine beast leaderboard, suitable exquisite resources will start to flow abundantly, making level advancement relatively easier.”

“Practicing swimming, huh?” Gu Qingyi assessed Lu Ran, who was in a swimsuit, and, noting his fairly robust build, smiled brightly. This prompted Lu Ran to quickly and bashfully cloak himself with the necromancy robe.

“Ahem, just give me one more day,” Lu Ran coughed lightly and said with a slight blush, “I’ll soon be fully adapted to underwater activities.”

“Honestly, I could manage on my own,” Gu Qingyi sighed, “Borrowing water-type pet beast abilities through super beast mimicry for underwater survival is fine, but it could turn hazardous if you get caught in conflict.”

“The spatial magnetic fields in most deep-sea areas are chaotic right now, making teleporting to Infinite City for escape quite a hassle.”

“It’s mainly about the old turtle I mentioned on the phone earlier,” Lu Ran sighed. “It was previously captured by the Fishman Empire, and now that they’re at war with the Dragon Palace, I’m worried about it.”

“I also want to take the opportunity to look for any trace of it.”

“The ocean is vast,” Gu Qingyi remarked. “Trying to find a single creature is like searching for a needle in a haystack.”

“We’ll search slowly. The dark crow is working hard right now,” Lu Ran said, glancing back towards the Green Sea. For an ordinary beastmaster, finding a single creature in the deep sea would be nearly impossible, but Lu Ran was different…

The dark crow could utilize the Evil God’s Eye to directly gaze deep into the ocean or even across it.

Although this process could strain its eyes, the divine deer antler could heal them, making it a good exercise.

Once they can pinpoint the black turtle’s location, with Lu Ran’s current strength, he should be able to bring it back. Furthermore, he should be able to ensure it won’t be captured again. Letting the old turtle wander all this time weighed on Lu Ran’s conscience.

“Alright, I’ll help you when the time comes,” Gu Qingyi said, seeing Lu Ran’s resolve. She continued, “Are you going to keep practicing? My precious pet beast came with an empty stomach just for this…”

“Let’s go back quickly,” Lu Ran responded hastily.

…

Soon, they returned home.

Lu Ran planned to first satiate Dr. Gu and then prepare cuisine for the pet beasts.

“Poof-“

However, once at Lu Ran’s home, when Dr. Gu couldn’t help but ask about Lu Ran’s experiences in the breakthrough secret realm, a certain cat’s chattiness left Dr. Gu momentarily dumbstruck on the sofa, nearly spitting out her fruit juice.

“A ruin space?!”

“That’s right-” Lu Ran called out from the kitchen amidst the sound of cooking. “This seriously boosts my safety. If I encounter danger, hiding in the ruin space isn’t a bad option.”

Another use of the ruin space is that the owner can enter it personally. Lu Ran had already tested it; even within the ruin space, he could teleport to Infinite City. With that, encountering danger would be quite difficult for him.

“This…” Gu Qingyi was momentarily dazed as Manager Ying patted her with a cat paw. “I understand how you feel. At least he didn’t bring back a divine beast cub or something.”

“Yeah…” Gu Qingyi nodded hesitantly. Well…might as well accept it.

While Lu Ran wasn’t the first to bring back an epic item from the breakthrough secret realm, in terms of equipment quality, the ruins space of the Tree King probably ranks at the very top.

Gu Qingyi sighed. Honestly, if Lu Ran had been part of the First Generation, with his ‘golden child’ status at Infinite City, he could probably give the Star Moon Federation a massive surprise.

Unfortunately, when Blue Star learned that the opponents in the world battle also included Legendary-level beings, it became clear that pinning hopes on the quick rise of the second, third, or fourth generations was unrealistic; even the First Generation itself faced enormous pressure.

After all, no one from the First Generation had yet reached level 6.

“Here comes the food…” Lu Ran had prepared a simple meal of ten dishes and a soup. As they sat down to eat, the two, along with the cat, started discussing Lu Ran’s level 3 Legendary Secret Realm.

“Still haven’t decided.”

Lu Ran said, “But I’ll most likely choose a light or dark Legendary Secret Realm.”

When choosing a Legendary Secret Realm, it’s preferable to go for rare attributes.

For light or dark, Lu Ran thought of enhancing the weather elf. If Manager Ying couldn’t find a suitable trait for it soon, they’d have to gamble on the secret realm.

Awakening the light attribute would further enhance the weather elf’s speed.

Awakening the dark attribute would allow the weather elf to develop a weather condition that could also aid the dark crow legion.

Honestly, from a Blue Star native’s perspective, Lu Ran wasn’t sure what powerful light or dark weather patterns might exist, but the weather elf isn’t from Blue Star; it’s a creature from the Elemental Age of the Star-Moon Continent.

There could be all sorts of strange weather attributes from the other world.

Given the “Shapeshift at Will” talent description, Lu Ran felt confident enough to attempt awakening all sorts of peculiar attributes for the weather elf.

“Light and Dark, huh…”

Gu Qingyi took a bite of food, about to say something, when suddenly, shouting from outside interrupted them.

“Big King, Big King!! I’ve found the black turtle general’s coordinates!!”

“But for some reason, it’s surrounded by dragons, possibly in the Dragon Palace. I got spotted and didn’t dare investigate further. Ah, my eyes!!”