Beastmaster King

The World War offered Blue Planet only 10 slots for participants. To compete for these slots, one first had to pass the Road to Kingship.

The Road to Kingship had four stages, with the first being a level 50 Superior Overlord, immediately weeding out any weaklings trying to join the fray. It was said that even the current Ten Great Beastmaster Kings had struggled immensely to clear the Road to Kingship.

"You're too extreme!"

"I think I understand why the God of the Abyss chose you. Your way of thinking really does seem like something only someone who has fallen into the abyss could have."

Along the way, under the verbal assault from Lu Ran and Gu Qingyi, Shi Zhen finally relented. "I'm just kidding..."

"Alright, we're at the arena. Let's get to the challenge."

By now, the three had arrived outside the arena gates. Their presence had also attracted quite a bit of attention along the way. However, most were mere onlookers. Despite their curiosity about why Lu Ran and the others were heading to the arena, they didn't dare approach them.

Lu Ran shrugged and said, "Alright, good luck to both of you. Don't fail halfway. I'll go first."

With that, he activated the arena pillar in front of him.

[Welcome to the Beastmaster Arena.]

[Please select the mode you wish to participate in.]

[1: Peak Arena.]

[2: King Challenge.]

"How could we?" Gu Qingyi smiled.

Before her familiars evolved, it might have been a challenge, but now she was certain to clear it.

"Lu Ran is rather crazy, but I have a challenge for you, Shi Zhen. Do you want to see who clears the Road to Kingship faster?"

While Lu Ran was making his selection, Gu Qingyi seemed eager to test the gap between her strength and that of an Abyss messenger.

"Bring it on." Shi Zhen was equally intrigued.

Before becoming an Abyss messenger, Shi Zhen had been weaker than Gu Qingyi. Now, he wanted to see if the buffs from the God of the Abyss could help him surpass the dragon master.

As the two made their bet, Lu Ran had already teleported in. Just as they were about to follow suit and activate their own arena pillars, a system announcement froze them in place.

[Congratulations to Pedestrian A for clearing the Road to Kingship and entering the King's Domain.]

[Congratulations...]

In just ten seconds, Lu Ran reappeared outside.

Shi Zhen and Gu Qingyi stared at him in disbelief, while Lu Ran blinked and asked, "You two haven't gone in yet? Are you guys nervous?"

Shi Zhen and Gu Qingyi were baffled.

Damn, this freak!

However, they weren't completely shocked. Gu Qingyi knew Lu Ran had contracted a Low-Legendary being, and while Shi Zhen didn't know about Six-Path Flower, he was aware of Lu Ran's level 60 quasi-Legendary Dark Crow.

The Road to Kingship's bosses were a level 50 Superior Overlord, a level 52 Superior Overlord, a level 54 Superior Overlord, and a level 56 Superior Overlord. While they were formidable, they posed no real threat to Lu Ran.

However, clearing several bosses in a matter of seconds was just ridiculous. The sheer speed of Lu Ran's victory left Shi Zhen and Gu Qingyi twitching at the corners of their mouths.

You really didn't waste a single second, did you?

Of course, the most stunned were the actual people of Xia who had followed the trio to the arena. When they saw Lu Ran and the others arrive, they had guessed their purpose was to challenge the Road to Kingship.

However, what left these onlookers dumbfounded was that barely ten seconds after Lu Ran teleported in, Limitless City broadcasted his successful clearance of the Road to Kingship.

"What's going on? Is it a bug?"

"Someone tell me what just happened..."

"I thought the Road to Kingship couldn't be saved? You have to clear all four stages in one go."

"Even if the next boss spawns immediately after killing the previous one, isn't ten seconds way too fast?"

"What's the big deal? This is just how Lu Ran rolls.Hahaha..."

The global announcement of Pedestrian A clearing the Road to Kingship and entering the King's Domain caused the Ten Great Kings, who had just exited the second Evolution secret realm, to look up with mixed expressions.

"So he really did challenge it..."

"All Ten Kings are currently level 6 beastmasters. Is Lu Ran planning to challenge them while still at level 5?"

"Even if he's absurdly strong, the Ten Kings are the pinnacle of their respective fields on Blue Planet. They're monsters in their own right. Trying to challenge them while underleveled seems a bit too arrogant, no?"

Discussions erupted everywhere, but what people were most curious about was whether Lu Ran really intended to represent Blue Planet as a level 5 beastmaster, and who he would challenge. Among the Ten Kings, there were clear levels of strength.

Currently, the general consensus was that the weakest of the ten was the kid from Japan who kept shouting about friendship and bonds before inexplicably winning his matches. If Lu Ran wanted an easy target, this one seemed the most suitable.

"Let's go!"

On the other side, Shi Zhen and Gu Qingyi didn't want to waste more time talking to Lu Ran and promptly challenged the Road to Kingship. Meanwhile, Lu Ran shook his head and glanced around.

At this moment, a young man finally mustered the courage to push through the crowd and shout at Lu Ran. "Lu... Lu God! Are you going to challenge one of the Beastmaster Kings next?"

"Hmm?" Lu Ran turned to the crowd, his eyes landing on the boy whose gaze was filled with admiration.

He smiled. "Probably."

"Who?" The boy pressed.

Lu Ran stroked his chin. "Let me think... Probably the president of the Ahsan Psychic Association, the guy who calls himself the strongest psychic on Blue Planet. His Limitless City ID is something like... Brahma? His real name is Almi. Yeah, him."

The crowd was stunned. Jaws dropped everywhere.

Holy shit.

No one had expected Lu Ran to name this particular opponent. Among the Ten Kings, Almi was far from the weakest. In fact, in the eyes of the Ahsans, he was the strongest beastmaster in the world.

The reason was simple. Just as Xia had once faced a rampaging level 70 Superior-Overlord Black Dragon King, India had also experienced an invasion by an ancient Overlord. It was a level 70 Superior-Overlord Golden Elephant King, towering like a mountain.

At the time, the people of India had been plunged into despair. But then, Almi stepped forward. He didn't summon any familiars. Instead, he used a strange ocular technique, and the massive elephant was instantly hypnotized, obeying Almi's command to leave the human cities. This incident had become a point of pride for Ahsan beastmasters.

While Xia needed to seek help from the ancient Overlord Nine-Tailed Cat and the Amazonian God to deal with the black dragon, Almi's feat had shown the world the potential of humans. It demonstrated just how terrifyingly powerful a top-tier beastmaster could be. A single glance, and a level 70 ancient Overlord was hypnotized and controlled.

In fact, this wasn't the only ancient Overlord Almi had subdued. The Ahsan people knew this well. If not for Limitless City's rules prohibiting the use of non-contracted familiars in King Battles, Ahsans believed their psychic president would undoubtedly be the strongest. In a real-world battle without restrictions, Almi was unmatched. And this was just his past record.

A few days ago, a quasi-Legendary ancient Divine Bull had awakened in India. Although no one knew what transpired between Almi and the bull, the end result was the bull agreeing to become India's guardian beast.

This further fueled speculation among the Ahsan populace that Almi must have intimidated the Divine Bull with his power. Only equal strength, coupled with promises, could convince such a powerful being to become a national guardian.

"Yeah, him." Lu Ran grinned.

It wasn't that he had any grudge against Almi. Rather, Lu Ran had his eyes on India's Divine Bull. He had a plan. To strengthen the Beastmaster Empire and upgrade the imperial seal, he intended to recruit every quasi-Legendary being that had awakened on Blue Planet. These beings had to live somewhere, so why not under his banner?

Even if the Divine Deer refused to become a guardian beast, gathering seven or eight quasi-Legendary as generals would still give the imperial seal a shot at reaching the Legendary grade. However, before poaching, he needed to greet the strongest beastmaster of the respective country. It would make negotiations smoother.

***

The Ahsan Psychic Association was an organization even more powerful than the Ahsan Beastmaster Association.

A young man dressed in white, with a long purple scarf draped around his neck, tightened his grip on his bracelet after seeing the news.

"Breaking news! Lu Ran, Pedestrian A, declares he will challenge the Ahsan Psychic Association President for a World War slot! The psychic president is in danger!"

The news had spread like wildfire within minutes, from Xia to the rest of the world.

Almi, who was notified by his subordinates, felt his eyelids twitch uncontrollably.

"Didn't Lu Ran have a grudge with the Eagle Federation? Why not challenge Oub? Why me? Whatever the reason, if this guy thinks he can use me as a stepping stone, he'll have to pay a price. As absurd as he is, I'll make sure he understands that not everything will go his way. My hidden trump card isn't fully ready yet... I didn't plan to reveal it so soon."

Today was destined to be an eventful day. First, Xia's Gu Qingyi took first place in the Evolution secret realm, evolving a Superior-Overlord familiar. Then, Lu Ran cleared the Road to Kingship and declared war on the Ahsan Psychic Association President, sending Limitless City into a frenzy.

However, just when people thought things couldn't get more chaotic, another wave of shocking news arrived.

[Congratulations to Xia Witch for clearing the Road to Kingship and entering the King's Domain.]

[Congratulations to Gu Qingyi for clearing the Road to Kingship and entering the King's Domain.]

Shortly after Lu Ran's clearance, two more system announcements sent tremors through Blue Planet.

Since Gu Qingyi had a Superior Overlord, her clearing the Road to Kingship wasn't surprising. But who was Xia Witch...? Judging by the ID, this person was undoubtedly from Xia. Today, three Xia beastmasters had earned the right to challenge for the World War slots.

For a moment, it felt like the world order was shifting. The identity of Xia Witch wasn't a mystery for long. Xia's official Beastmaster Association media soon published an article. It was an inspirational piece.

"The Growth Journey of Shi Zhen, One of Xia's Twelve Zodiacs and Principal of Beastmaster University, After Being Cursed!"

The article detailed how Shi Zhen, a first-generation powerhouse, had been afflicted by an Evil God's curse during a level 5 ascension realm, causing his gender to warp and his strength to decline.

Forced to retreat to the education sector, he had struggled with despair and helplessness before ultimately overcoming the curse through sheer willpower, emerging stronger than ever.

It was a truly uplifting story. The article included photos of Shi Zhen in his original handsome male form and his stunningly beautiful witch form.

Upon its release, aside from a handful of first-generation beastmasters who knew the truth, the rest of the world was shocked, especially the faculty and students of Beastmaster University, who had no idea their principal had such a history.

"Holy shit, Principal Shi Zhen's witch form is gorgeous. His makeup is even more detailed than Dr. Gu's."

"As expected, when men go all out, women can't compete."

"So it was Principal Shi Zhen... He changed his name. To go through something like this and still face the world head-on, completely disregarding public opinion..."

Shi Zhen was moved, as most people supported and praised him after reading the article. Only a few, mostly foreign IPs, mocked him for being neither male nor female. After reading two such comments and grinding his teeth in anger, he messaged Lu Ran.

Shi Zhen: Lu Ran, can I borrow #18 for two days? I want to trace their IPs and wipe out their entire clans.

Lu Ran: No can do. But I'll ask it to make you a digital beast you can use however you want. Just don't go public with that witch potion of yours.

Lu Ran shook his head after reading the message.

These poor fools. Even angering me isn't as bad as angering an Abyss messenger.

According to the Divine Deer, the three kin of death aligned more with the evil faction of humanity. They maintained balance on the continent through death and destruction. They were so terrifying that even Legendaries would weep.

Shi Zhen, now a messenger of the God of the Abyss, clearly wouldn't become some benevolent figure. Lu Ran could only offer silent prayers for those unfortunate trolls. While not their entire clans, they themselves were definitely done for. They would, at the very least, be cursed into gender-swapping...

Soon, Shi Zhen and Gu Qingyi confirmed their respective targets. Shi Zhen would challenge the beastmaster from Japan. Gu Qingyi would challenge Brazil's Kado, whose familiars had the strongest bloodline. She wanted to see whether her dragon surpassed the bloodline of a quasi-Legendary descendant.

The world truly erupted in excitement. Xia already held the most seats in the World War. If these three successfully claimed their targets' seats, they'd hold half of the ten spots. And the Beastmaster Kings had no right to refuse the challenges.

Soon, the battles were scheduled. Lu Ran vs. Almi in three days. Shi Zhen vs. Zhen Dai in four days. Gu Qingyi vs. Kado in five days.