King of Beasts

Star-Moon Continent, Imperial City.

As the capital of the Beast Taming Empire, the Imperial City is full of strong individuals, arguably the place where the combat power of the human species is most concentrated on Star-Moon Continent.

Although the Beast Taming Empire is currently besieged by the four ferocious beast empires, leaving countless provinces in misery, within the Imperial City, the atmosphere remains lively and optimistic.

Lu Ran walked along the bustling streets, with various street cries reaching his ears, creating a complex feeling in his heart.

“It’s the year 996 of the Beast Taming Era, and the sect leader master hasn’t been born yet.”

“The only identity I can leverage is that of the Yan Sizhen emperor’s lineage.”

This time, the identity arranged for Lu Ran by Infinite City was that of a talented individual from the populace, responding to the empire’s call for a “national recruitment drive” to venture and make a name for oneself in the Imperial City.

To combat the four ferocious beast empires, the empire not only launched a national recruitment drive but also promised to grant rank and nobility directly to powerful beastmasters.

Thus, recently, many formidable hidden figures from the populace have indeed been flocking to the empire’s capital, seeking development opportunities.

Lu Ran estimated that other challengers probably held similar identities.

However, the task required the challengers to capture and contract with top-tier pet beasts, not to secure an official position by their own power. Therefore, theoretically speaking, distributing the challengers across the country shouldn’t really affect the task.

Yet, Infinite City still gathered the challengers in the Imperial City, making its intentions clear.

The Star-Moon Continent is vast, and finding a top-tier pet beast isn’t easy. Forget about 30 days, even 3 years might not be enough for a few level 3 beastmasters to effortlessly find a top-tier pet beast.

Therefore, what the challengers needed most was “intelligence.”

Intelligence on the location and acquisition channels of top-tier pet beasts.

Whether it’s from the legendary families of the Imperial City or the military, there are routes for obtaining this intelligence.

Not only is the Imperial City the political center of the Beast Taming Empire, but it’s also the intelligence hub of the entire empire.

Thus, as Lu Ran sees it, this should be considered a preliminary task.

He quickly figured out what he should do next. As he just thought, the plan was to quickly align with a powerful faction… and use their intelligence channels to find premium pet beasts.

“My intelligence channel is clear then, I should see if I can reach the royal family through the lineage of the Flame Sprite…”

“However, the current royal family doesn’t seem to be from Yan Sizhen’s line…”

The emperor system of the Beast Taming Empire is somewhat akin to an abdication system.

This tradition has been passed down since the early days of the empire.

When the Beast Taming Empire was first established, the First Emperor stated that the purpose of the empire’s existence wasn’t for any tribe or clan to permanently become the rulers of humanity.

It was to select exceptionally talented beastmasters who could lead more people to live better on this continent.

Thus, the God of Hunting did not pass the throne to his offspring but to Yan Sizhen, who pioneered the culinary and forging manship.

The God of Hunting believed Yan Sizhen was far superior to his own offspring, which proved to be true, as under Yan Sizhen’s leadership, the Beast Taming Empire flourished even more.

To follow the will of the First Emperor, Yan Sizhen, after much consideration, did not pass the throne to his own offspring for the Third Generation emperor but to another formidable figure who could take the empire further.

For the first thousand years of the empire, this way of passing on the throne remained stable.

A significant reason for this was the pet beasts left by the earlier emperors, which served as protective divine beasts for the nation, ensuring that even new emperors would not dare act recklessly under their supervision.

It must be said this idea was good.

However, over time, this system started to falter; even stable systems have their lifespan.

Later, there were emperors who insisted on removing succession obstacles for their offspring, and others who were suddenly overthrown after committing absurd actions, leading the empire into increasing chaos, eventually falling into internal strife like Lu Ran’s level 1 breakthrough secret realm.

However, in the Beast Taming Era year 996, based on his textbook memory, Lu Ran recalled that such situations had not yet occurred.

At this time, even if the emperor abdicated in favor of another, their families, protected by the national divine beasts, still became super clans not inferior to the royalty.

These were called the imperial clans.

The current emperor’s family is referred to as the royalty, while the family of the former emperor is called the imperial clan. These two family factions far surpass legendary families and are the true high-level members at the core of the empire.

So, the family Lu Ran needed to seek was clear: the imperial clan descended from Yan Sizhen’s lineage.

Lu Ran had brushed up on his history knowledge as well.

In this era, although the Flame Sprite of Yan Sizhen’s lineage had not yet become something of the past, it had already declined and was no longer the core legacy of the Yan Clan.

Nowadays, the Yan Clan commands the empire’s Dragon Legion, maintaining a high status within the empire thanks to the foundation laid by Yan Sizhen’s Dragon Pet.

Therefore, Lu Ran believed that when someone like him, a beastmaster possessing the perfect Flame Sprite, appeared before the Yan Clan, they would undoubtedly be overjoyed and eager to bring him into their fold.

The reason is simple.

The Flame Sprite is no longer the core legacy of the Yan Clan not because they dislike it, but because practicing beast taming skills requires talent.

It’s not like on the blue star where a beastmaster just slaps a card on their forehead to learn a skill.

The Flame Sprite is a unique skill developed by Emperor Yan Sizhen based on his own talents, so naturally, his descendants who have qualifications and a bloodline close to his would find it easier to cultivate Flame Sprite.

With the dilution of the bloodline, it’s inevitable that the Flame Sprite could not continue to be inherited strongly.

At this point, if someone like Lu Ran with “atavistic bloodline” mastery of the perfect Flame Sprite appeared, and the Yan Clan wanted to enhance the family’s glory, treating Lu Ran as a “stud” for breeding would be the fastest and simplest method.

This way, the next generation of the Yan Clan would birth many infants capable of mastering the perfect Flame Sprite.

Therefore, Lu Ran would certainly be highly regarded if he went there.

With some luck, leveraging the strong influence of the imperial clan could easily lead to contracting a new overlord pet as a dowry.

As for wanting even better pet beasts, other methods might need to be considered.

In summary, choosing a good intelligence channel is certainly faster than foolishly searching the wilderness for powerful pet beasts on one’s own.

“Next, I just need to head to the Yan Clan’s family residence,” Lu Ran thought, his goal clear.

Unfortunately for Lu Ran, after walking for half a day, he hadn’t come across any other challengers. It seemed they were quite spread out. He wasn’t sure how many challengers there were or what their skill levels might be.

With only two promotion spots available, Lu Ran needed to ensure that any contracted pet beast was at least at the level of an upper overlord. That was the only way to avoid mishaps.

Even contracting a lower overlord was risky, as failure to advance would mean wasting an entire month-something he couldn’t afford.

…

Yan Family.

As one of the five great imperial clans in the Beast Taming Empire, the Emperor Yan Family held a crucial position within the empire.

After searching for quite some time, Lu Ran finally arrived at the Yan Family estate. The estate was made entirely of fiery red bricks, magnificent and grand, larger than a town. Each of the cardinal directions had more than a dozen large gates, and Lu Ran was uncertain which one he should enter through to pay a visit, so he decided to choose one at random.

At the entrance, two youths dressed in crimson flame-patterned robes stood guard with spears in hand. Before Lu Ran could approach, one of the young guards frowned and stepped forward, scrutinizing Lu Ran as he asked, “Who are you?”

“Hello,” Lu Ran responded warmly upon seeing the guard. “I’m here to visit some relatives.”

The young guard was puzzled.

“Relatives?” the guard instantly assumed Lu Ran was a relative of some steward or servant within the mansion and instructed, “Move along… go find your relatives at another…”

He was just about to direct Lu Ran to another gate to register when the main door of the courtyard opened. Two elegantly dressed women walked out arm in arm, chatting and laughing.

Noticing the unusual scene at the gate, one of the women, a refined lady with her hair tied up, paused and looked at the guard who was speaking with Lu Ran. “Is something the matter?” she inquired.

“Third Miss, this person is here looking for relatives and came to the wrong gate, so I was giving him directions,” the young guard explained.

The lady with the red hair tie nodded slightly, her curiosity piqued as she regarded Lu Ran, who appeared to be around her age. “Who are you looking for among your relatives, and what position does this person hold in the Mansion of Emperor Yan?” she queried.

Third Miss?

Lu Ran glanced at the ponytailed girl and the other elegantly dressed woman beside her. He felt as though he hadn’t chosen the wrong entrance-he had directly encountered someone significant, which was far more efficient than finding the right place and registering slowly.

“I’m not sure,” Lu Ran said. “When my master passed away, he told me to come to the Mansion of Emperor Yan in the imperial city. He said everyone here is my relative.”

“What do you mean by this?” The ponytailed girl frowned, but Lu Ran continued, “My master told me that I am a descendant of Emperor Yan Sizhen who lived among the common people. He said that by demonstrating this, I could prove my identity.”

As he spoke, Lu Ran extended his hand, and in the next instant, a small dragon entirely composed of flames appeared, vivid and lifelike. It looked like a miniature fire-breathing giant dragon, spewing flames towards the sky from his palm.

Though the Fire Dragon was small, its Dragon Might was almost tangible, warping the surrounding space.

Upon seeing the Fire Dragon, the expression of the ponytailed girl changed. The woman in white elegant attire next to her exclaimed in surprise, “Flame Sprite? And it’s a Flame Sprite that has successfully absorbed a strange flame and transformed it into a special flame???”

“How is this possible?” the ponytailed girl asked incredulously, staring at the miniature fire dragon. “It’s been so long; how can someone still master a Flame Sprite of this level?”

She quickly raised her eyes, which were as clear as red gems, and looked at Lu Ran. “What did you just say? You said your master claimed you are a descendant of Emperor Yan Sizhen living among the populace?”

“Yeah…I think,” Lu Ran replied, looking uncertain. “He said if I had nowhere else to go, I could come here.”

The ponytailed girl was taken aback by the astonishing news. She was relieved she had asked another question. Meanwhile, the two guards beside her stood with their mouths agape, struggling to process what they had heard.

“Gong-Jie

1

…” The ponytailed girl looked at the woman in white, who smiled slightly and said, “You attend to your family matters; I’ll head back first.”

“Alright,” the ponytailed girl nodded, her eyes clear and bright. She felt as if she had accomplished something significant this time.

Footnote:

1. Jie(姐):

   In Chinese, the term “Jie” (姐) is a respectful and affectionate way to address an older female friend, colleague, or sister.