King of Beasts

Infinite City No.7, beastmaster square.

First on the Commander Divine Beast Leaderboard: Gale Sword Dog.

Reason for ranking: Evolved and mutated from the snowfield dog species, with exceptional comprehension, and fused with the traits of “weapon mastery” and “nature control.” It managed to inflict some damage on the Diamond Dragon using special sword qi in the level 1 secret realm, Dragon King’s Nest, successfully breaking its defense.

Tenth on the Commander Divine Beast Leaderboard: Scaled Dragon Lizard.

Reason for ranking: Evolved and mutated from a small lizard, fused with the traits of “Red Lightning” and “Overlord Body.” It survived a direct hit from the Diamond Dragon in the level 1 secret realm, Dragon King’s Nest.

“Damn.”

At this moment, beastmaster square in Infinite City No.7 was bustling with activity.

Many new students from the beast taming university were eating and shopping here. With the recent update to the Commander Divine Beast Leaderboard, the beastmasters were all in shock.

The appearance of a legendary secret realm quickly became known to everyone. Just moments ago, people were discussing whether anyone would challenge the legendary secret realm. As it turned out, someone did.

However, combining the challenge of a legendary secret realm with making it onto the Commander Divine Beast Leaderboard should have been a highly domineering feat. But when people saw the reasons for Lu Ran’s two pet beasts making the list, they couldn’t help but feel a bit pitiful…

One pet beast made the list simply for surviving a hit from the Diamond Dragon.

The other made the list just for successfully breaking the Diamond Dragon’s defense.

These were the most humble reasons for making the list they had ever seen.

If even Lu Ran’s challenge ended up like this, wouldn’t anyone else challenging it be facing certain death?

“Just how difficult is the legendary secret realm? Lu Ran’s two pet beasts are so powerful, and that sword-holding dog could even easily defeat Qin Ming’s new pet, the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Yet, the most impressive thing it did was just break the Diamond Dragon’s defense???”

“Is that the key point? Isn’t the key point that the sword-holding dog pushed Dean Qin’s new pet to second place? That cracks me up. I wonder how big Dean Qin’s psychological shadow is right now.”

“Seriously though, if I were Dean Qin, I’d be a bit embarrassed…”

After all, Dean Qin isn’t an ordinary second generation.

Ordinary second-generation and third-generation beastmasters might not feel as much pressure being surpassed, but Dean Qin is different. He has too many accolades: strongest below the First Generation in Xia Country, strongest second-generation, dean of the combat department at the beast taming university, and the fourteenth Phantasmal in Xia Country!

Being surpassed by a Fourth Generation like this might leave him a bit dissatisfied, right?

“Guys, stop it. Let me defend Dean Qin for a moment. He’s not primarily a water-type beastmaster. This space-type orca might just be a utility pet or mount he raised to handle ocean environments!

Plus, even though Passerby A big shot is a Fourth Generation, the nature control trait that his pet beast fused with is a top-level trait that only has a small chance of dropping from a Level 5 abyss secret realm. So, in terms of resources for raising pet beasts, there’s no qualitative gap between them…”

This person had a point. The potential of beastmasters improves with each generation. After all, some well-connected Fourth Generations can directly obtain high-level trait crystals from secret realms through their organizations or factions, giving them a wider range of choices.

When they raise pet beasts, it’s similar to how the first three generations raised new pets. They can all obtain advanced resources beyond the current level of their pet beasts.

Why did the First Generations often go astray? Because they had too few resources to choose from.

In ten years, this snowball effect will be even more terrifying. By then, the Nth generation of beastmasters might directly obtain beast taming skills and trait crystals that only drop from Level 8 or Level 9 secret realms from the previous generations. Their combat power at the same stage will only be stronger than the current Fourth Generation.

Many combat department freshmen were explaining on behalf of Dean Qin, also fearing that the dean might feel awkward.

Of course, the hottest topic in Infinite City No.7, in all Infinite Cities, and even outside, remained: If Lu Ran finds it difficult to pass, who is this legendary secret realm prepared for?

Meanwhile, Lu Ran, once again at the center of national discussion, was in his private room, questioning life with his two pet beasts.

Damn, this Diamond Dragon is way too strong.

Lu Ran held his head, still tingling from the Dragon Might and roar he had just experienced.

You have to understand, at that time, the sudden death king was in its peak state, with full Domineering Energy, fully activated Thunder Dragon armor, and top-level attack and defense. Even so, the Thunder Dragon armor was shattered in an instant.

Its scales were also smashed to pieces, causing it to be severely injured.

Although it managed to survive thanks to Absolute Defense and Heart of the Overlord, even able to stand up and unleash another burst of power, it was obvious that the outcome wouldn’t change much.

As for general ha, the situation was even more absurd. After absorbing the Wind King’s Fruit and the nature control trait, its mastery over wind was astonishing. Combined with its powerful physique, comparable to a sovereign species, it could withstand 20 times energy compression without serious injury.

But to test the Diamond Dragon’s defense, general ha not only used energy compression beyond its limits, experiencing the pain of breaking teeth again, but also painstakingly combined Blizzard Sword Intent and Dragon Slayer Sword Intent to increase the Diamond Dragon’s defensive difficulty.

Yet, even with all that, it only managed to shatter a few scales and draw a bit of blood? Even the sudden death king would laugh at such a minor wound.

Although it was just a brief clash, Lu Ran was certain they gave it their all.

The only thing they didn’t use was the Flame Sprite, but general ha was not suited for the Flame Sprite, and using it wouldn’t boost its combat effectiveness. While the sudden death king could use the Thunder Flame Dragon system after fusing with the Flame Sprite, this only enhanced its attack power. Even then, its attack power wouldn’t surpass that of general ha. In summary, the Flame Sprite would just be a nice addition, not a game-changer.

This Diamond Dragon is a formidable enemy, leaving Lu Ran with little hope of victory.

“Dragon Slayer Sword Intent seems to have no effect on a true dragon.” Lu Ran looked at general ha.

Artistic conceptions are also divided into levels. At this stage, general ha’s Dragon Slayer Sword Intent only seems effective against sub-dragons. It can’t cut through a true Loong-type dragon at all.

Thinking about it, it makes sense. No matter how extraordinary general ha’s comprehension is, it only consumed a small piece of Exquisite Cuisine of the Dragon. If that alone could defeat a true Loong-type dragon, it would be unrealistic.

To slay a True Dragon, it needs to use this sword intent on different dragons to improve the skill level.

“Woof!” General ha covered its mouth, lowered its head, and indicated that it would remember this grudge.

Originally, general ha thought that with Dragon Slayer Sword Intent, it could handle the Diamond Dragon with ease, but this time, it learned another lesson.

The Dragon Slayer Sword Dog had successfully evolved into a sword dog that could only inflict minor damage.

“Compared to the defense of a true dragon, your Thunder Dragon armor feels like it’s made of paper, sudden death king. Is this the difference between the genuine article and a knockoff?”

“Roar…” Although its injuries had been healed by the divine deer pendant, the sudden death king still felt a lingering pain. Hearing Lu Ran’s words, it was stunned for a moment and then, like general ha, lowered its head… It would remember this grudge as well.

How envious it was of the Diamond Dragon’s defense…

“I originally wanted to conquer the legend secret realm, but now it seems…” Lu Ran shook his head.

“I wonder if bringing three teammates would work…” Lu Ran quickly thought of teaming up. For instance, if general ha could barely break through the Diamond Dragon’s defense, could they perhaps exploit the opportunity to apply poison while Fang Lan provided support?

But the problem is, the Loong-type species have the highest poison resistance, second only to poison species themselves… Ordinary poison would hardly be effective.

Moreover, there was too little information about this boss. Apart from its strong attack and defense, they didn’t know if it had self-healing or self-purification abilities. Strategizing without full knowledge of the enemy’s capabilities was a major mistake.

“There’s another way: getting general ha an exquisite-level sword might temporarily raise its species level to middle or even upper sovereign. That might give us a chance.”

Forget it, it’s better not to overthink it. First, honestly grind the abyss secret realm to improve the sudden death king’s strength.

After all, the sudden death king is still too fragile.

If the sudden death king had stronger defense and could withstand a few more rounds of attacks, then, combined with the divine deer pendant’s infinite healing and general ha’s relentless offense, they might be able to wear the opponent down.

After all, it wouldn’t be fair to expect general ha to both tank and attack. Although it could block attacks through its own offensive moves, doing so would undoubtedly weaken the destructive power of its skills, making it even less effective against the Diamond Dragon.

Lu Ran decided to train the sudden death king further before trying again. Right now, in the sword-and-shield combination of him and general ha, the shield clearly had a gap.

When Lu Ran left the infinite city, a cat paw almost slapped him in the face.

“You little rascal, you sure have guts. You dared to solo the newly appeared secret realm. I can’t take my eyes off you for a moment,” Manager Ying said as it pressed its paw against Lu Ran’s face. “How was it? Almost died in there, didn’t you?”

“Poof.” Lu Ran stepped back and looked at Manager Ying, saying, “You’re just in time. Quickly spread the word and warn the other Fourth Generation not to solo the legend secret realm. It’s not meant for humans.”

“Only you would do such a thing.”

“…Even teaming up wouldn’t work. I feel like even if four of me teamed up, it would be hard to clear this secret realm,” Lu Ran asserted.

“Got it.” Manager Ying curled its lips. “It’s normal that you couldn’t defeat it. The data on this Diamond Dragon has already been uncovered. The beastmaster who will contract it in the future, Yi Du, was the most top-level legend beastmaster on the Star-Moon Continent at that time. This Diamond Dragon had the potential to reach legend level and significantly contributed to Yi Du’s achievements. Although the one you challenged is just a juvenile, its talent and potential are evident; it won’t be weak.”

“Oh…”

“Come on… You should be the first beastmaster to enter the Dragon King’s Nest, fight, and come out alive. Ahem, I’ve shared so much intelligence with you before; now it’s your turn to contribute.”

“Regardless of the value, tell me everything you know about the Diamond Dragon.”

Lu Ran was silent: “…”

He knew Manager Ying came over for intelligence.

Next, Lu Ran described the Diamond Dragon’s attack patterns to Manager Ying. There wasn’t anything particularly special, just its astonishing defense and attack, along with its mastery of a special artistic conception similar to a mountainous one.

Of course, this was just what Lu Ran experienced. Whether the Diamond Dragon had other hidden abilities, he couldn’t know for sure.

“It’s likely in the second stage of energy shaping, the second phase of energy compression, and the second stage of energy release, combined with its upper sovereign species level. No wonder you couldn’t beat it,” Manager Ying said, clicking its tongue after listening.

“To defeat it, there are only two ways: one is to have a species level equivalent to it, and the other is to have an energy technique level far superior to it. But obviously, for a level 1 beastmaster, neither is realistic.”

Lu Ran shrugged at these words. Yeah, he thought so too.

What he found most frustrating was the zero challenge fee. Such a high difficulty with such a low challenge threshold鈥”wasn’t that just enticing people to get themselves killed?

…

In the following days, realizing the gap in his abilities, Lu Ran stopped challenging legend secret realms and instead focused on hard and abyssal difficulty level 1 secret realms.

In these secret realms, the bosses didn’t even belong to sovereign species, making things considerably easier for Lu Ran. Over three days, he managed to collect seven rare resources that could awaken secondary attributes, including a Mental Gem, as well as resources for awakening rock, wind, water, fire, earth, and thunder attributes.

The primary benefit from these challenges wasn’t the resources themselves but the training he received. Of course, the one getting the most training wasn’t general ha; with its current combat power, these lower difficulty secret realms offered no significant challenge. The ones benefiting were the sudden death king and Lu Ran himself.

After three days of intense battles and specialized training, the sudden death king finally mastered Energy Flow: Thunder Flash and Energy Compression: Enhanced Thunder Dragon Armor.

With the mastery of energy compression and energy flow, the sudden death king’s defense significantly improved. Meanwhile, Lu Ran became increasingly proficient in the four major energy techniques. As his energy control improved, tasks like culinary and forging became easier as well.

“It’s time to return to Green Sea.” After several days of challenging secret realms, Lu Ran looked at the seven awakening resources in his backpack and decided to go back and distribute them among the seven general beasts of Green Sea.

By this time, the seven general beasts should be around level 20. Besides the Mental attribute resource meant for the dark crow, he needed to carefully consider which of the remaining six resources would best suit each of the other general beasts.

That same day, Lu Ran took a flight back to Green Sea.

It must be said that after some time, Green Sea was now filled with the dark crow’s spies.

Even before Lu Ran reached home, the dark crow had already received reports from its underlings that Lu Ran had returned.

“Big king!!”

“You’re so strong, big king!!”

“Strongest Fourth Generation”

At the entrance of Lu Ran’s home, the dark crow had already perched on the door, welcoming Lu Ran while muttering things it must have picked up from somewhere.

“Keep it down. If someone hears you, they’ll think I taught you to say that,” Lu Ran said, smiling wryly. After all, no one would normally expect a crow to praise itself like that.

Most people would assume it was Lu Ran instructing it to say those things, which would be quite embarrassing.

“Caw.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve distributed resources to you all,” Lu Ran said. During the period when he was challenging breakthrough secret realms, he had asked the Association to help distribute resources to the seven general beasts. As the King of Green Sea, he felt a bit negligent.

A great big king isn’t one who neglects to reward their generals. While he couldn’t speak for the other general beasts, the dark crow and the queen bee were definitely deserving and diligent.

The dark crow patrolled Green Sea, acting as Lu Ran’s representative to resolve any issues that arose, while the queen bee consistently provided honey. Both were exemplary.

“Here,” Lu Ran said, tossing a marble-like Mental Gem to the dark crow, who had indeed reached level 20.

“Big king, you’re wise!!!” Although unsure of what Lu Ran had thrown, the dark crow instinctively caught it with its beak, showing a delighted expression.

“Just swallow it. It’ll dissolve in your body and help you awaken the mental attribute, granting you the ability to control mental power.”

“Caw!!” The dark crow swallowed it in one gulp and then fell into contemplation.

Lu Ran didn’t rush into the house but quietly observed it.

One second, two seconds, three seconds…

Suddenly, the dark crow’s body shuddered, and red mental waves began to slowly radiate from its surface.

[Species Level]: Lower Commander

Seeing this, Lu Ran yawned… This guy really had talent!

“Alright, you go ahead and explore it on your own. I’m exhausted and need to catch up on some sleep.”

“Also, let the other six know to meet at Emerald Mountain tomorrow morning. I’ve brought gifts for everyone.” With a wave, Lu Ran entered his house.

Meanwhile, the dark crow was still savoring the abilities granted by the Mental Gem.

A few more minutes passed.

Its eyes widened as it felt a fusion of its dark power and mental power, seemingly creating an extraordinary force.

“Big king鈥””

It was about to report to Lu Ran but thought better of it and decided to experiment first.

The dark crow spread its wings and flew around until it spotted a stray cat that had just caught a mouse and was about to enjoy its meal.

“Eat slowly, don’t choke,” the dark crow said. A faint dark red wave appeared around its beak, forming special characters that blended into the air. In the next moment, the stray cat, which was eating the mouse, suddenly choked, clutching its throat desperately. After a long struggle, it finally recovered, terrified, and ran away without finishing its meal.

The dark crow was stunned. It then perched on a tree and spotted a young man walking while playing on his phone. The dark crow said, “Watch where you’re going, don’t bump into anything!”

Immediately, the young man exclaimed “Ouch!” as he collided with a tree, rubbing his face in pain.

“Who’s talking?! Which jinxing crow?!” he yelled, looking around but seeing no one, his expression like he’d seen a ghost. He ran off with his phone.

“Damn,” the dark crow thought, still in shock. It realized that its language system had undergone some bizarre changes after awakening its mental attribute. Its words seemed to have gained mental awareness and magical power!

“Word curse”?

“Big king!! Big king!! Wake up, I have good news!!” the dark crow shouted excitedly as it flew towards Lu Ran. It felt invincible, believing it could help Lu Ran achieve greatness with just its words!

But as soon as it finished speaking, it covered its mouth, worried that its careless words might cause something bad to happen while Lu Ran was sleeping…

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