King of Beasts

“Looks like only the two of us can advance to the next round,” Bai Ling said, looking at Lu Ran.

She had anticipated this situation. Infinite City was certainly not going to let all six of them pass smoothly. A breakthrough rate of one-sixth or one-third was already considered decent.

“Yeah,” Lu Ran nodded. “Do you still want to watch?”

“I’m planning to leave first.” Lu Ran wasn’t very interested in the upcoming fire skills assessment. Back at Frost Moon Pavilion, he had already seen many chefs showcase their talents.

“Forget it.” She Pi and the others also shook their heads. Since there was still time, they decided to stroll around the antique street. Who knows, maybe they could use the eye of data to find some epic equipment or even legendary equipment…

At that time, they could rise from humble Fourth Generation to stand shoulder to shoulder with the First Generation big shots. How wonderful would that be?

The knife skills assessment would continue for a while longer, but since they had all finished their evaluations, they were too lazy to wait and started packing up to leave.

Not many of the assessors, whether they passed or not, stayed behind. As Lu Ran and the others were leaving, the Fat Examiner and the Female Examiner watched Lu Ran’s departing figure…

“Let’s see what kind of cuisine he can make tomorrow!”

The second assessment would take place outdoors. In this segment, assessors without strength would find it hard to move an inch. To pass the assessment, they could only find some ordinary ingredients in relatively safe areas and then use their superb culinary skills to cook special-grade cuisine.

Those who were strong, however, had another option. They could venture deeper into the wild to find some rare ingredients. Even if their culinary skills were a bit lacking, the quality of the ingredients alone could help them create special-grade cuisine.

For Deer As Horse and the others, this breakthrough task was a complete failure, so they naturally didn’t care about the next day’s assessment. The four of them began planning their next steps, thinking about how to make the most of their trip.

“She Pi, Deer As Horse, I heard there’s a place called ‘Drunken Flower Pavilion’ in the city. The performances there are quite good. Now that we’re free, should we go explore some ancient culture?”

Back at the inn, an explorer came to invite them. As a born explorer, it would be a pity not to investigate such a notorious place.

“What about them…” She Pi was tempted.

“White Tiger and the innkeeper are both women; they wouldn’t like that kind of place. Passerby A is obviously underage and a future pillar of our country, so let’s not invite him. Let him focus on preparing for tomorrow’s assessment. We’ll just go by ourselves.”

“Sounds great,” Deer As Horse agreed. Exploring some ancient culture did seem quite necessary.

With that, the three of them linked arms and left, leaving Lu Ran alone in the inn room to review the assessment map.

The next day.

The seventy-two assessors who passed the preliminary round gathered early at the designated location, the entrance to a forest outside Canglan City.

This area had been transformed by the Hunter Association, featuring over a hundred open-air stoves, turning it into a special venue.

This time, every assessor’s pet beast had already been released. Without the assistance of their pet beasts, entering the wild forest would certainly be a suicidal act.

“To those of you who have made it here, congratulations, you’re already halfway through the assessment,” the Female Examiner said with a grin. “Although it’s an old topic, please do not attempt to cheat in this segment.”

“Do not try to pass off ingredients brought from elsewhere as those you hunted yourself. If I catch you, your restaurant or family will suffer the consequences. The repercussions are severe.”

“Cheating in the Hunter Association’s assessment will also land you in the fire prison, where you can experience the pleasure of being roasted like a whole pig!” she added bluntly.

In the early years of the assessments, there had indeed been cheaters. However, once the examiners caught them, they first dismantled the cheater’s restaurant, then ruined the assessor’s culinary skills, breaking their hands and feet, rendering them useless. After many unfortunate souls tried and suffered the consequences, no one dared to cheat anymore.

Trying to cheat under the Hunter Association’s watchful eyes was likely more challenging than passing the superior chef assessment itself…

“Alright, for this assessment, you have a time limit of 12 hours. Within the allotted time, you must hunt the ingredients you need and use them to make a dish that satisfies the taste buds of us three examiners.”

“Now, the timer starts!”

With a rustle, as soon as the Female Examiner finished speaking, the 72 assessors all left their stoves and rushed towards the forest.

Bai Ling, accompanied by White Tiger, glanced at Lu Ran before quickly turning and entering the forest.

With such a fierce pet beast as her partner, her chances of hunting rare ingredients were quite high.

Lu Ran had originally intended to enter the forest immediately, but just as he was about to leave, a voice echoed in his mind.

“Please wait.” The voice sounded like it belonged to the Fat Examiner, so Lu Ran, along with General Ha, didn’t venture in right away. Instead, he waited until most of the people had left and then slowly turned back to look at the three superior examiners who were watching him with great interest.

“Is there something you need?” Lu Ran asked.

The White-Haired Examiner chuckled, “It’s just that I noticed your pet beast’s level isn’t very high. In this forest, there are certain dangers.”

“For your safety, I’d like to remind you not to venture too deep. With your culinary skills, you can pass the assessment easily by choosing any ingredient.”

Damn.

Lu Ran hadn’t expected these examiners to be so considerate, going out of their way to warn him about safety.

“Got it, thanks,” Lu Ran nodded. He then headed into the forest, with General Ha sticking its tongue out at the three examiners as they went.

The three examiners exchanged glances.

“This Sudden Death King has impressive culinary skills, but I didn’t expect his pet beast to be at such a low level, likely around level 10. Even the outskirts of this forest often have creatures with hunting levels of 10 to 20.”

“Frost Moon Pavilion surely provided him with a map of the assessment area, so there’s no need to worry,” the Female Examiner said.

“That’s not entirely true. Geniuses usually strive for perfection and have their own pride. If something happens to other participants, so be it, but it would be a great loss if a rare talent who has mastered Culinary Intent has an accident during the assessment,” the White-Haired Elder laughed. Then, to the surprise of the other two, he summoned a giant clam.

A large clam appeared on the table, and within its pristine pearl, the images of Lu Ran and General Ha entering the forest were reflected.

“Grandmaster Gao, what is this?” the Fat Examiner exclaimed.

“It’s a domain clam. As long as it has been to a place before, it can monitor everything within its range and reflect it onto this pearl.”

“Before taking up the role of examiner in Canglan Province, I made a point to explore this forest around Canglan.”

“Sure enough, it’s that divine beast that can spy on widows bathing!” he exclaimed, only to be kicked several meters away by the Female Examiner.

“Looks like this time, the supervision will be a lot easier. Grandmaster Gao, where did you find the domain clam?” the Female Examiner asked enviously.

“That’s a secret,” the elder smiled, then turned his attention seriously to the pearl, which now resembled a television screen.

…

“Woof!” After entering the forest with General Ha, Lu Ran pondered for a moment.

“This way!”

Following the map in his memory, Lu Ran planned to find a lake and, as advised by Shopkeeper Long, catch a fish.

To perfectly showcase his Culinary Intent and maximize the potential of the ingredients, Lu Ran, who only had knife skills and no foundation in fire skills, thought sashimi would be the safest bet.

However, fishing was also a skill. If possible, Lu Ran hoped to hunt for rare quality fish meat.

The breakthrough task only required him to create special-grade cuisine and pass the superior assessment, but the task was scored. Naturally, the better he performed, the higher his score would be.

Lu Ran’s guess was right; he aimed for perfection.

Although he didn’t expect to find exquisite-level ingredients in this place, he hoped to at least get some rare ingredients.

Dragon Fish Lake!

This was already considered a relatively deep area of Canglan Forest. It was said that the lake contained Dragon Fish on the verge of evolving into flood dragons. Even the most ordinary Dragon Fish Meat had an advanced quality, and if it was from a more evolved Dragon Fish, the meat quality would surely reach rare levels.

However, the journey was destined to be anything but peaceful.

“This guy, why doesn’t he listen to advice?” Through the Pearl Television, the three examiners saw Lu Ran heading straight into the depths of the forest, ignoring the ordinary ingredients around him. They frowned.

At this rate, this young genius who had mastered Culinary Intent was bound to encounter danger…

Just as the three had feared, Lu Ran stumbled upon a Tusked Boar’s habitat. Four Tusked Boars, gnawing on brambles, flashed their red, fierce eyes at the intruder.

“These four Tusked Boars have a hunting level of around level 15,” the white-haired elder remarked.

Facing four of them at once!

This was bad!

But the next moment, they saw Lu Ran ignore them and continue moving forward. As he walked, a sword appeared in his hand.

Instead of using the sword himself, he tossed the icy blue blade into the air.

In an instant, the canine beast that had been following Lu Ran all along, General Ha, grabbed the Ice Sky Greatsword in its mouth and landed lightly. Then, like a gale, it charged towards the four Tusked Boars rushing at them!

Boom!!!

A whirlwind swept through, and sword qi raged.

Countless leaves danced in the wind as the four wild boars were lifted into the air by the violent gusts. The three examiners then witnessed a scene that would stay with them for life.

The skin of the four wild boars displayed the same marks that had appeared on the Rock Cattle yesterday. Soon after, their bodies were dismembered mid-air, turning into countless pieces of exquisite beast meat that rained down.

“What! What!” The Fat Examiner’s eyes widened as he looked at General Ha, who had just elegantly sheathed the sword.

Before the falling beast meat could hit the ground, Lu Ran calmly collected it into his spatial backpack as he walked by.

“Wow…” The three examiners, who had spent the previous day conducting assessments, hadn’t had time to learn about Lu Ran’s feats. Seeing General Ha dismember four wild boars in an instant left their minds buzzing.

They couldn’t help but feel that this dog’s dismembering technique was even more violent and quicker than the impressive skills Lu Ran had shown the day before.

What was going on? How could this be?

They were stunned.

And why could a dog at around level 10 instantly dispatch four Tusked Boars with a hunting level of around level 15?

“Is that canine beast a commander species?” the Female Examiner asked.

“No, it should only be a supernatural species,” the white-haired elder replied. “But that sword must be extraordinary, reaching rare quality. I’ve never seen forging techniques like that before; I wonder which master crafted it.”

The three examiners fell silent, continuing to watch. They now understood why Lu Ran had the confidence to venture deep into the forest.

“It doesn’t seem like he intends to use the Tusked Boar meat for cooking…”

Lu Ran and General Ha moved quickly. If they encountered any fierce beast that didn’t know its place, General Ha would immediately dismember it on the spot, and then Lu Ran would collect it as an ingredient.

Before long, Lu Ran and General Ha arrived at Dragon Fish Lake.

At this moment, the three examiners finally understood Lu Ran’s intentions.

“Pig meat doesn’t really complement Ice and Snow Culinary Intent. He wants to make sashimi,” the Fat Examiner said, drooling a bit as he spoke. His anticipation grew, and his mouth watered at the thought of how delicious sashimi could be when enhanced by ice and snow culinary intent.

“But that canine beast is a wind-type pet beast, right? It shouldn’t be good in water. Dragon Fish are fierce like sharks and live at the bottom of the lake. Hunting them is quite difficult,” the Female Examiner remarked with doubt.

How does he plan to catch fish?

Fishing with a rod? Could this Sudden Death King also be skilled in fishing techniques? It’s a required skill for a gourmet hunter…

However, she fell silent again as she saw what happened next.

Because it wasn’t fishing…

It was spearing fish!

“Sword Control Technique!” At Lu Ran’s command, General Ha showcased the wind sword control technique it had honed over a month.

The Ice Sky Greatsword left General Ha’s mouth, soaring upward like a shooting star, then plunged into the lake under the control of the gale.

Moments later, water splashed, and the flying sword emerged, carrying a large block of ice. Inside the ice, a half-meter-long Dragon Fish was frozen.

At this point, the Dragon Fish’s eyes gleamed with a strange light, a mix of confusion and bewilderment.

“Woof! Woof!” General Ha barked discontentedly from the side. Using its newly learned energy release control skill to spear fish felt absurd and unbecoming of its majestic demeanor.

Using sword intent for cooking and sword control technique for spearing fish鈥”such a cool skill for such a mundane task. General Ha understood why the Old Gentleman Jiang Dou harbored a grudge against Lu Ran.