King of Beasts

“Why is it so ugly?”

Lu Ran was surprised when he saw the Flame Sprite forming within him鈥”it took on the appearance of a stickman.

Even if this Flame Sprite wasn’t supposed to look like a mythical beast like the Vermilion Bird, it should at least resemble its host. What kind of abstract form is a stickman?

But, whatever… Feeling the supernatural power brought by the stickman Flame Sprite, Lu Ran couldn’t help but raise his hand.

In the next moment, flames suddenly enveloped his palm. Although the fire was right on his hand, Lu Ran didn’t feel much heat.

Due to the Flame Sprite, his fire resistance had significantly increased, making him more attuned to flames. It was hard for the fire he released to harm him.

“Now, I can both cool down and heat up,” Lu Ran muttered to himself.

Maybe he was the “icy cold guy” and the “super warm guy” that others talked about.

To better test the Flame Sprite, Lu Ran took out the wind cutter sword, intending to apply the flames to it. However, he found out he didn’t know how to use the energy external wrapping technique.

He was like a newly born fire pet beast, needing to learn techniques such as energy release and energy external wrapping from scratch.

Developing beast taming skills would also take time… Seeing this, Lu Ran had no choice but to summon General Ha. Not to learn super beast mimicry from it now, but to experiment with another approach.

“Woof!”

In the room, a white light flashed, and General Ha was summoned. After its latest breakthrough, it hadn’t changed much in size, but its fur had become more flowing and elongated, and it had grown more sensitive to wind force.

“Woof?” General Ha looked at Lu Ran with bright eyes. In the next moment, Lu Ran aimed his palm at it, and the stickman Flame Sprite flew out of his body and directly into General Ha.

“Woof!” General Ha was startled. As the stickman entered its body, its eyes began to cloud over.

As the saying goes, the lower the temperature, the higher the intelligence; conversely, the higher the temperature, the lower the intelligence. In General Ha’s cloudy eyes, a trace of fire flashed, and flames began to emanate from its long fur. Under Lu Ran’s command, it opened its mouth!

“Whoosh!”

Flames covered its teeth!

Flame Teeth!

“Woof!” General Ha grinned, sticking out its tongue, clearly intrigued by its new ability.

“Not bad. This way, you can handle all the cooking from now on,” Lu Ran said with delight. Because when the Flame Sprite was applied to General Ha, the flames it released consumed its own energy, not the beastmaster’s.

This beast taming skill was designed to enhance the pet beast with zero energy consumption from the beastmaster, unlike Fusion Skills which required both the beastmaster and pet beast to continuously expend energy to maintain the form.

“Woof??” General Ha’s expression froze upon hearing that this ability was intended for it to cook meals.

Take it back! Take it back!

Ignoring General Ha’s thoughts, Lu Ran handed it the Ice Sky Greatsword…

After some experimentation, Lu Ran discovered that Blizzard Sword Intent and the Flame Sprite were not compatible at all. At best, they could be used alternately to create a “fever sword intent.”

However, the Flame Sprite did synergize well with General Ha’s wind abilities. Even without trying it at the inn, Lu Ran knew that “fire gains strength from the wind,” a principle many beastmasters on Blue Star adhered to when choosing secondary attributes.

Combinations like fire + wind, thunder + water, and earth + rock were highly compatible.

Some people, trying to be clever, would choose combinations like fire + water or ice + fire, but these usually didn’t end well.

“Indeed, the Flame Sprite is probably in its most basic form right now. Yan Sizhen must have developed it countless times from this foundation,” Lu Ran thought. He had bought two biographies of Emperor Yan Sizhen from a street bookstore on his way back.

As he continued to read, he noticed some clues. Some biographies mentioned that Emperor Yan Sizhen could control flames of different colors, each with seemingly different effects.

This made Lu Ran think of how thunder pet beasts could mutate their thunder energy by absorbing traits from Golden Lightning or Red Lightning. Could beastmasters who controlled Flame Sprites also use a similar method to mutate the Flame Sprite, turning its ordinary flame energy into special flames?

This seemed like a potential path for developing the Flame Sprite.

“Thud! Thud!”

In the room, Lu Ran was peacefully reading while General Ha curiously played with the Flame Sprite.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. It turned out to be She Pi and others who had come to congratulate Lu Ran and Bai Ling for passing the Assessment.

Lu Ran accepted their congratulations, but it was clear that their paths would soon diverge completely. Even if they had the chance to meet again, it would likely be in Infinite City.

Two days later, Lu Ran received a notification from the Cang Lan Association. A Dragon Sculpture, a pet beast over level 30 that contained Dragon’s Bloodline, had arrived in Canglan City.

This pet beast was specifically raised by the tribe that protected Dragon Valley. Now that Lu Ran had passed the review and was about to head to Dragon Valley for a period of intensive training, the Dragon Sculpture would escort him the entire way.

In other words, Lu Ran would ride it there.

During these two days, Lu Ran wasn’t idle. After passing the Assessment, people visited him daily. Knowing that a culinary manship prodigy had emerged in Canglan Province, local bigwigs naturally came to make connections, bringing gifts as a token of goodwill.

Lu Ran understood their intentions. If this were the real world, he would feel uncomfortable accepting everything. His decent family background had instilled in him a habit of not liking to owe favors. But in this projection world, he had no qualms about accepting. Over these two days, he received so many gifts that his hands were sore.

“Diao-Ge, let’s go.”

Outside Canglan City, Lu Ran spoke atop a magnificent red-feathered Dragon Sculpture. It was time to depart for Dragon Valley. With a piercing cry, the Dragon Sculpture stirred up a whirlwind and soared into the sky. Fortunately, Lu Ran had experience riding General Ha in its wind-wing form. Otherwise, adapting to flying on a pet beast wouldn’t have been easy.

“Goodbye, Canglan Province,” Lu Ran said, yawning as he lay on the Dragon Sculpture’s back, watching the blue sky and white clouds.

As his first breakthrough secret realm, he would remember this place.

…

Star-Moon Continent, Beast Taming Empire, Flame Dragon Sacred Domain.

To commemorate the great achievements of Emperor Yan Sizhen and to house his surviving combat pets, a region of the empire was specially designated as the territory of these Guardian Sacred Beasts.

The Flame Dragon Sacred Domain was the territory of Yan Sizhen’s iconic combat pet, the Flame Dragon King.

This Flame Dragon King resided and slumbered for years in a valley within the domain, a place also known as Dragon Valley.

The Shengtuo Clan was once a tribe dedicated to caring for Yan Sizhen’s Pet Beast Legion. Even today, they continue in their old roles, serving the Flame Dragon King. Although the Flame Dragon King has not appeared for a long time, they remain steadfast in the Flame Dragon Sacred Domain.

Nowadays, the Flame Dragon Sacred Domain is considered one of the more prominent domains, boasting a strength far surpassing that of smaller provinces like Canglan Province. On this particular day, numerous Dragon Sculptures were returning to the Flame Dragon Sacred Domain from all directions.

The superior hunter Assessments from hundreds of provinces had concluded, and Lu Ran was not the only one who chose to come to Dragon Valley for further training.

As the Dragon Sculpture landed, Lu Ran was brought to the foot of a mountain. At this moment, a man dressed in traditional ethnic attire emerged. He whistled to call back the Dragon Sculpture and then looked at Lu Ran.

“You’re from Canglan Province, right? For the next month, you’ll be training your culinary skills on the outskirts of Dragon Valley. After a month, I’ll arrange for your departure. Whether you return to Canglan Province or go to the imperial city, you can choose anywhere within the empire.”

“Walk forward from here, and you’ll reach the outermost area of Dragon Valley. As you get closer to Dragon Valley, the Dragon Might will intensify. There are no ferocious beasts here, so safety won’t be an issue. Behind you lies a town where you can purchase anything you might need.”

“Thank you,” Lu Ran replied. The man finished speaking and left with the Dragon Sculpture, leaving Lu Ran bewildered.

So cold… Oh well, it doesn’t matter. The most important thing is, one month, one month! I can’t stay here for even half a month; I need to hurry.

Lu Ran’s space Equipment was well-stocked with necessities, so he didn’t need to visit the town for supplies. After a moment’s thought, he summoned General Ha, pointed ahead, and planned to approach Dragon Valley right away to personally experience the Dragon Might.

“General Ha, once we get there, don’t get scared and wet yourself.”

Lu Ran warned General Ha.

It’s common for domestic dogs to be terrified by tigers, let alone the breath of a dragon, a mythical creature.

“Woof!” General Ha cast a disdainful glance at Lu Ran, as if to say, “Who are you looking down on?”

It was more worried that Lu Ran might wet himself from fright!

As a pet beast, General Ha couldn’t afford to lose face like that.

Both refused to believe they could be scared by mere Dragon Might, pushing each other forward in competition.

Due to the immense power of the Flame Dragon King, an upper overlord species with a growth level over 80, its overwhelming Dragon Might could be felt even far from Dragon Valley.

Walking along the mountain path, Lu Ran and General Ha had just reached the outermost edge of Dragon Valley, still dozens of kilometers from the center. Even here, the scorching breath made it difficult for them to proceed.

“Whew—” Lu Ran was drenched in sweat, his heart racing.

“Woof!!” General Ha’s expression was also serious. It tried to continue forward but, being a fierce beast, could feel the terrifying breath even more acutely than Lu Ran. Its limbs felt as if they were bound, becoming exceptionally heavy and hard to move.

“Let’s stop here for now,” Lu Ran suggested, seeing that they had already encountered Dragon Might. He took out a tent, planning to spend the first day adapting to the environment.

This dragon breath felt remarkably similar to the sword momentum of fierce beasts. Perhaps, on the basis of fierce beast sword momentum, he could transform this “fierce beast” into a “dragon.”

“For the first couple of days, let’s focus on adapting to the Dragon Might,” Lu Ran told General Ha.

“Woof!!” General Ha nodded vigorously, its expression serious, losing the initial composure as its whole body trembled, looking distantly ahead.

If the pressure from the vampire was a 10, then the breath of the Flame Dragon King was a 100,000.

General Ha couldn’t fathom how such a powerful being could exist. Its eyes were filled with determination. Holding the Ice Sky Greatsword in its mouth, it advanced step by step, aiming to adapt to and even counter the Dragon Might.

“Buzz!”

Blizzard Sword Intent burst from General Ha, creating a red and blue pressure airflow with the intense Flame Dragon Might, making the surrounding air hum.

It had made up its mind. Facing such a formidable creature, it would master a technique known as “Dragon Slayer.”

Lu Ran, meanwhile, was fully activating the Flame Sprite to gain fire resistance, enduring the Flame Dragon Might.

He didn’t forget to add, “First, let’s master the dragon culinary intent. Once we raise the Sudden Death King into a dragon, you’ll have plenty of chances to practice Dragon Slayer.”