King of Beasts

“Back again.”

Jinling’s high-speed train station bustled with activity.

Dressed in a black hoodie and white shorts, wearing a sun hat, Lu Ran squeezed through the crowd.

“Good thing it didn’t cause any chaos!”

Lu Ran poked the sudden death king in his pocket. On this trip to Jinling, he had brought it along,

After its supernatural evolution, the sudden death king had greatly improved its adaptability.

Even in environments unsuitable for it, it no longer suffered any discomfort.

At this moment, looking at the familiar ancient capital of Jinling, Lu Ran felt nostalgic.

He had lived here for a while as a child and had many memories. After many years, he had finally returned.

Following the navigation, Lu Ran left the high-speed train station and got into a taxi he had called in advance, heading straight for the Rainbow Heaven Dojo.

Located in a secluded area far from the city center, Lu Ran rode for quite a while before arriving at the familiar dojo.

Observing the ancient and traditional dojo, which bore few signs of modernization, Lu Ran smiled.

He extended his hand, and a gift box appeared out of thin air. Naturally, he hadn’t come empty-handed.

Inside… were all excellent items.

Unable to think of a better gift to bring, Lu Ran had packaged some resources he bought from the secret realm as a present.

It wasn’t dog food.

He wasn’t disrespectful enough to offer dog food to the elderly; it was fine for his own consumption.

These were advanced nutritional products that Lu Ran intended for himself, including vitality tea, so the gesture was genuinely sincere!

After all, even he was greatly in need of crystal coins.

Besides the gift box, Lu Ran also took out the wind cutter sword and stylishly slung it behind his back.

Having done all this, he pushed open the doors of the dojo and entered.

The dojo’s main hall was very quiet, with only a young girl in a swordsmanship uniform playing on her phone.

Seeing this, Lu Ran sighed. Indeed, phones were more attractive than swordsmanship.

“Who are you?” The girl looked up as Lu Ran, carrying a sword, pushed open the door. Lu Ran had not informed his master of his visit in advance, planning to surprise him instead.

“Here to challenge.” Lu Ran spoke up.

The swordsmanship girl suddenly stood up: ???

What? Here to challenge?

Her expression turned fierce…

“I was just…” Lu Ran was about to say he was just joking, to not get too excited, when the girl decisively slapped a button next to her. Instantly, an alarm Lu Ran was familiar with sounded throughout the Rainbow Heaven Dojo.

Lu Ran’s vision darkened for a moment. You sure act fast.

This alarm was something Lu Ran had heard before. When he was a child learning at the dojo, if someone came to challenge, the person in charge would press it to notify the apprentices who were training inside.

As expected, following the girl’s action, the dojo became noisy, even filled with excited shouting.

“Who dares to challenge us?”

“I’ve been an apprentice for six months, and finally, someone has come to challenge.”

In a flash, a dozen youngsters of varying ages, all dressed in swordsmanship uniforms, rushed out from the dojo.

Each held a wooden sword and looked at Lu Ran standing in the center of the hall with formidable energy.

“Which school are you from? State your name,” someone in the crowd shouted.

“It’s a misunderstanding… actually, I’m here to visit Master Jiang Dou. Here, the gift box, the gift box. Is the old master around?” Lu Ran said with a smile, gesturing towards the gift box he carried.

Uh…

The crowd paused for a moment. However, seeing a group of young, energetic swordsmanship apprentices, Lu Ran felt a bit eager to engage, his expression shifting as he spoke, “However, a little spar wouldn’t hurt. Let’s see how the strength of Rainbow Heaven Dojo stands now.”

The martial spirit of Rainbow Heaven Dojo was thriving, very different from the modernized swordsmanship dojos. Its students often got injured, leading to numerous complaints… Only the bold dared to train here.

Saying this, Lu Ran walked to a corner of the hall, pulled a wooden sword from a storage barrel, and swung it casually. Then, he looked seriously at the group of dojo apprentices.

Boom!

With that look, a fierce aura burst forth from Lu Ran, as if he transformed into a beast eyeing its prey. This terrifying presence, almost tangible, struck every apprentice who met his gaze, causing their faces to turn pale, their bodies weakening without understanding why.

Several of them, just from making eye contact with Lu Ran, felt their legs give way, almost collapsing, as if recalling the time they were chased by stray dogs while wearing split pants.

“Does anyone want to have a try?”

Faced with Lu Ran’s challenge, for a moment, no one could fully articulate a response, their faces all showing fear.

“Sword momentum… who are you?” At that time, a middle-aged man happened to walk out from the inside. Seeing the situation in the hall, his expression changed, especially when he felt the beast-like aura emanating from Lu Ran, he was extremely surprised.

However…

“Senior Brother He?” Lu Ran, holding a wooden sword, suddenly brightened up as he looked towards the middle-aged man who had just appeared, finally recognizing someone!

He didn’t know any of these apprentices, but he was very familiar with this middle-aged man who had just come out.

An old employee of the dojo.

“Lu Ran?” At this time, the man known as Senior Brother He, seeing Lu Ran’s grown-up appearance, also guessed and spoke in disbelief.

“Is that you, Lu Ran?”

“It’s me.”

“Holy shit, it’s you.” Senior Brother He was greatly shocked, while the swordsmanship apprentices around him looked bewildered. What was going on? And… they were all sweating as they looked at Lu Ran. This guy… why did they feel like they were looking at a monster when they made eye contact with him? It was frightening.

“I came to see Master Jiang Dou. Is he here?” Lu Ran asked.

“He is here. How did you get here? I’ll take you to him!” At this moment, Senior Brother He was not calm. He took a deep breath, looked around at the apprentices, and said, “This is Lu Ran. He studied here at Rainbow Heaven Dojo when he was a child. He’s your senior brother. It seems to be a misunderstanding. Alright, you guys go back to training.”

With that, he led Lu Ran towards the inside of the dojo.

“Little Ran, it really is you. What’s going on? That earlier, could it be sword momentum… but how is that possible?”

As Senior Brother He led Lu Ran inside, he asked in astonishment. As far as he knew, even in the entire Rainbow Heaven Dojo, only Master Jiang Dou had grasped sword momentum.

Lu Ran was just a teenager, how could he possibly have grasped such an advanced level of mastery that usually took decades of dedication to swordsmanship to understand.

“Pure luck, we’ll talk about it later,” Lu Ran chuckled.

At that moment, deep within the Rainbow Heaven Dojo, a bald elder with white eyebrows was sitting on the floor meditating. Even the earlier alarm had not disturbed him, showcasing the demeanor of a true master.

It wasn’t until the sound of knocking echoed that the elder jolted awake, muttering, “Fell asleep again…”

“Who is it? Come in…”

After he spoke, he looked toward the door and saw Senior Brother He leading Lu Ran into the room.

“Master Jiang Dou, look who’s here, haha, it’s Lu Ran,” Senior Brother He said with a smile, knowing that Master Jiang Dou was very fond of Lu Ran. He was sure that Master Jiang Dou would be delighted to see him, especially since Lu Ran had developed significantly in swordsmanship.

“Lu Ran?!” The elder was startled and stood up to look at the familiar face of Lu Ran.

“Master Jiang Dou,” Lu Ran said sheepishly, “I had planned to visit during your 60th birthday a few days ago, but I was delayed by some matters, and I’m very sorry.”

“But! I’ve brought you a very rare gift, and I bet you’ll never guess what it is!”

Whoa! The sudden death king in his pocket flipped over—it wasn’t dog food, was it? It saw that these gifts and General Ha’s dog food were all taken out of a card…

“Hehe, no worries,” Master Jiang Dou laughed. “Just having your thoughtfulness is enough for me. But how…”

His gaze then shifted to the Wind Cutter Sword on Lu Ran’s back, sensing the unusual aura emanating from the sword.

“Have you taken up the sword again?”

“Master Jiang Dou, you’ll be surprised, but just a moment ago… Lu Ran displayed sword momentum, and such was his presence that none of the apprentices outside could move!” Senior Brother He interjected at that moment.

“What?” Master Jiang Dou’s expression was one of disbelief, and he quickly turned to Lu Ran, “Show me!”

“Alright.” Lu Ran nodded, understanding the elder’s feelings and expectations. He then drew the Wind Cutter Sword, concentrated, and earnestly faced his master.

Boom!

Once again, the aura of a fierce beast emanated from Lu Ran’s sword momentum, transforming into an invisible gale that pressed forward. At this moment, Jiang Dou’s gaze sharpened, sensing the astonishing shift in Lu Ran’s aura. The once tender youth, upon grasping the sword, seemed to transform into a ferocious wild beast, his aura exceptionally violent.

It was as if Jiang Dou saw the ghostly image of a king wolf howling at him, sending out a daunting roar.

However, strangely, he didn’t show any other changes like those apprentices, nor did he appear particularly pleased. Instead, he seemed somewhat forlorn as he said, “Kid, you haven’t… become a beastmaster as well, have you?”

“Ah?” Holding the sword, Lu Ran was startled and said, “You guessed it, huh? But what do you mean by ‘also’? Could it be that you, master, have been chosen too? Wait, you’re not the original big shot or a hidden expert, are you?”

Suddenly, a light went on in Lu Ran’s mind. If that were the case, it would be perfect—he would have a powerful backing.

He didn’t trust others, but he did trust his old master.

“Unfortunately, I’m too old; I wasn’t chosen,” Master Jiang Dou said. “However, your Senior Brother Jiang Man was among the first batch to be chosen as a beastmaster. I made this guess because he, too, leveraged the supernatural power of a beastmaster to grasp sword momentum at a young age.”

“Senior Brother Jiang…” Lu Ran remembered there was such a person, seemingly Jiang Dou’s adopted son. Jiang Dou, due to injuries accumulated from early years of fighting, had no children of his own, only an adopted son…

“Where is Senior Brother Jiang?” Lu Ran asked, feeling that his visit was not in vain. It seemed he might find a strong support—while Master Jiang Dou wasn’t the original big shot, his son might be just as good.

Upon mentioning his adopted son, Master Jiang Dou sighed, and Senior Brother He also bowed his head.

“Your Senior Brother Jiang passed away long ago, killed in a secret realm. I didn’t expect that you too would become a beastmaster. Thinking about it, it makes sense, considering the family you come from…” Jiang Dou looked toward Lu Ran.

“This occupation is very dangerous. Although I haven’t experienced it personally, I’ve learned quite a bit from Jiang Man.”

“Now seeing you, I feel as if you might be following in his footsteps, and thus, even seeing you master sword momentum, I couldn’t bring myself to feel happy.”

Lu Ran was momentarily lost in thought, completely taken aback by the revelation. The only adopted son of Master Jiang Dou had died in a secret realm? His emotions became complex in an instant.

“Sigh, I’m getting old. Why bring up such matters? He is he, and you are you,” Jiang Dou shook his head and said, “Wait here for a moment.”

Turning around, it seemed he was going to fetch something.

After a while, Master Jiang Dou returned with a journal in hand.

He handed it to Lu Ran, saying, “This is the journal that your Senior Brother Jiang Man used to record his experiences after becoming a beastmaster. Take a look at it. I don’t know much about the occupation of a beastmaster, but perhaps this can help you and serve as a warning.”

Lu Ran silently took the journal.

He opened the first page.

“Lucky me, I was chosen to become a beastmaster. I’ve contracted the Sand Eagle

1

 I adore and named myself Eagle Hero.”

Footnote:

1. Sand Eagle(沙雕):

   The term “沙雕” (literally “sand sculpture”) is widely used because it is homophonous with the vulgar slang “傻屌” (stupid dick). Nowadays, it is mostly used to refer to humorous situations caused by someone’s stupidity, natural silliness, or deliberate foolishness. However, it can also be extended to all kinds of funny behavior.