King of Beasts

Sometimes, when trying to complete a task in the breakthrough secret realm, effort alone isn’t enough; leveraging opportunities is also crucial.

Take, for example, the breakthrough secret realm that Lu Ran and his companions entered. Even if Infinite City hadn’t initially assigned them the roles of restaurant apprentices, they would still have had to find a place to learn culinary skills.

This principle applies to other tasks as well. The breakthrough secret realm is like a real world, where every being has its own thoughts. Some attractive beastmasters might quickly accumulate resources by selling their charm and attaching themselves to powerful figures.

It’s all about having a high degree of freedom.

But then again, isn’t Lu Ran also “selling” his talent and potential to attract investments from the people in the secret realm?

“Alright, keep chopping,” Shopkeeper Long said. His keen eye told him that his investment over the past half month wouldn’t be in vain.

But in half a month, this world would disappear anyway, so it wouldn’t really matter…

“Okay,” Lu Ran continued to focus on chopping fruits.

Time passed by bit by bit. The lively banquet was about to end. The guests enjoyed the delicious food, watched the battles, and had refreshing fruits both before and after the meal. They had a very satisfying day.

As the grand banquet celebrating the City Lord of Ning Chuan City’s breakthrough ended, the group from Frost Moon Pavilion began their journey back.

After this little episode, only a week remained before the superior chef assessment held by the Gourmet Hunter Association.

Lu Ran and his companions had very little time left to improve their culinary skills. To pass the assessment and earn better rewards, they pushed themselves even harder.

That night, Lu Ran received a comic book from Shopkeeper Long.

It was a training manual for the fine edge blade technique.

The so-called fine edge blade technique is not a set of moves but rather a training method that uses specific postures to develop the brain, train muscles, and enhance the brain’s control over force.

Lu Ran looked at the strange movements in the comic book and fell into deep thought. Why did it look so much like the morning exercises done by middle school students…

…

“Huff~” “Huff huff~~”

In the following days, to help Lu Ran train in the fine edge blade technique and to familiarize him with more ingredients, the Frost Moon Pavilion started sending more than just cheap fruits and vegetables.

Various advanced meats, including some rare types and even whole fierce beasts that had recently died, began to be delivered to Lu Ran for practicing his blade technique.

Shopkeeper Long initially thought this process would waste a lot of ingredients. However, perhaps because his ancestors were hunters and often dealt with slaughtering, Lu Ran showed exceptional talent in this area. He didn’t waste much and quickly got the hang of it.

In these past few days, Lu Ran and General Ha added practicing the fine edge blade technique to their training routine. Every morning, they would start with a few sets of morning exercises.

Amidst the dull training, there were a few interesting moments. For instance, one day, the son of the City Lord personally visited. He had somehow learned that Lu Ran would only be training at the Frost Moon Pavilion for half a month before leaving to participate in the superior chef assessment.

He wanted to invite Lu Ran to join the City Lord’s Mansion of Ning Chuan City after the assessment.

Now that the City Lord of Ning Chuan City had broken through to Level 5, with his pet beast reaching over level 50, he was considered quite powerful. Having a superior chef who mastered Culinary Intent in the house wouldn’t be a problem.

Faced with such an enthusiastic invitation, Lu Ran didn’t want to offend him. He tactfully responded without accepting or rejecting the offer.

“The City Lord of Ning Chuan City is generous and kind. However, after passing the superior chef assessment, I wish to visit Dragon Valley, the sacred land of chefs, to experience the Dragon Might of the Guardian Holy Dragon and see if I have the talent to become a Dragon Chef.”

“This is also why I chose to enhance my perception with the lucid fruit… If I can return successfully, I will consider your invitation.”

“Ah, I see, I see!” The son of the City Lord understood.

The next day, the City Lord’s Mansion sent three more lucid fruits, hoping to aid Lu Ran.

“…,” Lu Ran silently accepted them. Indeed, there are good people everywhere. However, he could only caution that investing in him carried risks and required caution.

Unless Infinite City encountered some glitch and the system malfunctioned, he would be teleported away when the time came. The City Lord’s Mansion’s investment would be a lost cause.

…

The banquet ended, and seven days later.

To head to the Gourmet Hunter Association in Canglan Province, Lu Ran and his companions were about to set off.

Shopkeeper Long personally came out to see them off. She couldn’t predict what the future held for the six of them.

“Go on, go on~,” the graceful Shopkeeper Long said with a smile. “I hope to hear the good news that all six of you have passed the assessment~”

“Shopkeeper Long, thank you for taking care of us these past two weeks,” Lu Ran said before leaving.

“Just doing business. You paid the tuition, so Frost Moon Pavilion naturally had to fulfill its responsibility.”

Among the six, aside from Lu Ran, the other five were feeling uneasy, not entirely confident in their chances.

They each said their farewells to Shopkeeper Long, knowing they might not return.

“Let’s go.” The six of them, riding rented Qianliju horses, exchanged glances and began their journey toward Canglan City, the provincial center.

On the road, without others around, they started chatting again.

She Pi said, “I say, the assessment will be over in two days. We’ll have more than ten days of free exploration time afterward. Any plans?”

“Regardless of whether we pass the assessment, we need to make good use of those ten days.”

Ibers said, “I won’t do anything too dangerous. Why is this donkey so uncomfortable to ride?”

“Nice rhyme, but it’s not a donkey; it’s a horse,” the wilderness explorer joked. “The first time riding a horse always feels a bit uncomfortable. Just endure it. You can’t ride your own cat, can you?”

“Ah~,” Ibers sighed, “Driving a treasure horse is way more comfortable.”

“By the way, I have a get-rich-quick idea. Every major city has antique markets, you know? It’s like treasure hunting in a pile of junk. Usually, you’d end up with a loss, but we challengers have the newbie benefit, the eye of data. We might just find some real treasures!” the wilderness explorer said.

“I’ve thought about that too,” Deer As Horse said, intrigued. This was a strategy often recommended by veteran beast taming forum members to newcomers.

“Passerby A, what are your plans?” Bai Ling asked Lu Ran, curious about his arrangements.

At this moment, galloping on their fast horses, Lu Ran was still watching the scenery along the main road. He thought for a moment and said, “I heard that each province’s Gourmet Hunter Association has a quota to recommend the best assessors of the period to several sanctuaries for honing culinary skills. I’ll definitely aim for that spot.”

Dragon Valley… I wonder if there’s a chance!

The others: ?

“Damn, you’re already assuming you’ll be the top candidate,” Deer As Horse said, feeling a bit frustrated. They were still worried about just passing the assessment.

Having Culinary Intent sure is convenient, huh?

“Alright then…” Bai Ling, expecting such a response, was at a loss for words. She added, “Whether I pass or not, I’ll find another place to learn cooking.”

Since this breakthrough secret realm was meant for challengers to improve their culinary skills, Bai Ling thought Lu Ran’s choice was correct. Mastering good culinary skills wouldn’t be a loss and would make it easier to nurture her pet beast in the future.

Moreover, the low danger level was appealing. For an apprentice beastmaster, even though the breakthrough secret realm had high development potential, there were very few places they could actually explore.

…

That day, they arrived in Canglan City and checked into an inn. As for registering for the assessment, Frost Moon Pavilion had already taken care of it with recommendation letters several days ago.

All they needed to do was go to the assessment venue for the first round of preliminaries the next morning.

At that time, the assessors’ fates would be determined through culinary skill competitions.

With time to spare, Lu Ran didn’t stay at the inn all evening after arriving in Canglan City. Instead, he went out to find a place to spend some of the money he had earned recently and bought another lucid fruit.

Now, he had collected seven fruits.

As for the remaining money, Lu Ran planned to use it for travel expenses and didn’t spend any more.

“I wonder how Fang Lan is doing…” At this moment, Fang Lan must have been in the breakthrough secret realm for some time now, and Lu Ran began to worry about her.

Could she also have encountered a bizarre secret realm like his?

If Fang Lan also encountered a chef’s secret realm, Lu Ran was really worried about the safety of her diners…

…

In the breakthrough secret realm where Fang Lan was.

Like Lu Ran, she was also in the Star-Moon Continent, in the Beast Taming Empire.

However, it was a completely different time period from Lu Ran’s.

At this time, since the first emperor, the God of Hunting, and the second generation emperor, the Culinary Patriarch and Soldier Patriarch, had not reappeared, the empire’s control over various regions had gradually weakened.

Various civilian beast taming forces emerged one after another, and sects and gangs were everywhere.

At this moment, Fang Lan was in one of these gangs, having to keep an eye on the small map provided by Infinite City every day.

[Breakthrough Task: Kill other challengers. The top three in kills will get a breakthrough opportunity. 19/20.]

[Prompt ①: Death in this task does not result in true death; challengers will return to normal after 30 days.]

[Prompt ②: Temporarily obtain the coordinates of all challengers.]

[Prompt ③: …]

“What the heck, what the heck,” Fang Lan muttered, feeling a headache. Although, possibly due to the newbie protection mechanism, challengers wouldn’t truly die from killing each other in this breakthrough secret realm, throwing a newbie like her into such a brutal environment right away—was this for real?

She wondered about Lu Ran’s situation… Could it be just as harsh?

Currently, Fang Lan was one of 19 people who had entered this breakthrough secret realm. One person had already been eliminated. The common strategy among these challengers was to quickly join a force. This was partly for protection and partly to use the resources of these forces to enhance their own strength.

Each challenger was trying to quickly elevate their status within their chosen force… This way, they might not even have to act personally to eliminate other competitors.

Reluctantly, after careful consideration, Fang Lan chose to join the Gu God Sect, a beast taming gang specializing in poison.

And it turned out that her modern knowledge of toxicology, summarized from various eras, made her fit in seamlessly. The Sect Leader, the Poison Granny, valued her highly… She even assigned her a personal bodyguard.

“Saintess, recently there have been more and more gangs in the Qingyu region inquiring about you. Our Gu God Sect has never been well-regarded in Qingyu. The news of you becoming the new Saintess might have leaked. I fear that the enemies of the Gu God Sect might harm you. It’s best not to go out these days,” reported a veiled woman.

“I…” Fang Lan knew that those who wanted to harm her were likely not locals but other challengers. She pouted and said, “No, I want to go out… Just bring more people and more Gu insects tomorrow. I want to see who dares to target me and see if I can lure out a few unlucky ones!” Gu God Sect

Footnote: 

1. Gu God Sect(蛊神教):

   In Chinese folklore, the concept of “Gu” involves the creation and use of venomous creatures, known as Gu God Sect, believed to have supernatural powers. The Gu God Sect is a fictional or folkloric representation of a group that practices these dark arts, often depicted in literature and stories as malevolent and mysterious.

2. Gu insects(蛊虫):

   The term “Gu insects” refers to a mythical or folkloric creature in Chinese culture, often associated with black magic or witchcraft. In traditional stories, a Gu insects is created by sealing several venomous creatures in a container and letting them fight; the survivor is considered to be imbued with potent and malevolent powers. This creature is then used to inflict harm, control others, or bring misfortune.