King of Beasts

Necromancer…

Lu Ran finally understood.

A beastmaster known as a “necromancer” commands the souls of animals.

So, these are what people in Xia Country commonly refer to as “ghosts”?

“Damn.”

Lu Ran’s scalp tingled.

Suddenly, the occupation of a beastmaster seemed bizarre.

“Hahaha, I was shocked too when I first heard about it,” Zhao Chen laughed.

“Actually, it’s still like something out of a legend. I’ve heard a lot but never seen a necromancy pet beast with my own eyes.”

“If we can catch this one in Jinling, I must see it for myself!”

“Alright, here we are.” The two were chatting when they arrived at the foot of the mountain.

By that time, Zhao Chen had already taken three or four phone calls.

Zhao Chen turned to Lu Ran and asked, “Do you want to go back to your master’s dojo, or come with me to the Beast Taming Edifice?”

“Why not come back to the Beast Taming Edifice with me?”

“Although Xiao Wang is strong, his investigative skills are lacking. Relying on conventional investigative skills and technological means, it’s difficult to quickly locate a necromancer with a necromancy pet beast… We might need to find an external aid.”

“Without any surprises, the external aid is already on their way to Jinling.”

“You were the first to discover the scene, so later, you might need to describe the details.”

“Okay.” Lu Ran spoke up. If going there meant keeping a necromancer at large under check, he was not at ease.

What if he became a target later on… Jinling was so close to the Green Sea, and he would need to stay in Jinling for a while.

He must kill him! Capture him!

Interrogate…

Pry open his mouth!

Find out how the necromancy pet beast was handled…

Lu Ran scratched his cheek. Could he learn this?

If General Ha ever fell, he could switch his occupation to a necromancer, allowing General Ha to be reborn in another form!

An undead sword dog!

Although the occupation sounded sinister, Lu Ran himself was kind-hearted and would not do evil!

After all, weapons are not inherently good or bad; it all depends on who wields them.

Meanwhile, Zhao Chen, who had gone to make another phone call, had not yet realized that Lu Ran, while outwardly scared, was actually intrigued by necromancy.

His personality was much like a fusion of the Sudden Death King and General Ha, both fearful and playful.

“General Ha, come back to me. Sudden Death King, get into my pocket.” Lu Ran looked at his two pet beasts and coughed dryly, still worried about their future demise.

Speaking of which, if it became involved in necromancy… could it retain its consciousness from before death? This question suddenly occurred to Lu Ran.

…

Jinling Beast Taming Edifice.

A facility surrounding a tall building.

It wasn’t long before Lu Ran arrived here with Zhao Chen.

Upon arrival, Zhao Chen arranged for Lu Ran to wait in a reception room.

“Lu Ran, I need to connect some clues, so you wait here for a while. If you get bored, feel free to look around.”

“By the way, not far from entrance C of the building, there’s an attribute stone. Your lizard, after awakening with the awakening leaf, hasn’t had its attributes tested yet, right? You might take this opportunity to check it out!”

“Okay,” Lu Ran nodded.

After speaking, Zhao Chen hurried off, looking very busy.

“Xiaobailong’s former boss, I wonder if this is a promotion or a demotion.” Lu Ran pondered. He used to be in charge of recruitment but was stationed in Shanghai, and now it seemed he was responsible for more duties but had been transferred to Jinling.

The attribute stone mentioned by Zhao Chen interested Lu Ran because he couldn’t bring the Sudden Death King into Infinite City to test its attributes…

Lu Ran had been wondering if there were attribute stones outside Infinite City. Turns out, there really were.

Speaking of which, can attribute stones be put into a backpack? Surely no one would steal the attribute stone from Infinite City in the middle of the night to sell it…

“Let’s go, I’ll take you to test your attributes.” Lu Ran stood up.

“Wow ka.” The Sudden Death King poked its head out. To be honest, following Lu Ran out these past few days had emboldened it quite a bit. It seemed what it really lacked was practice!

Unfortunately, the innate nature of the Sudden Death King was hard to change.

Attributes?

“It’s the hidden potential inside your body, could be fire, could be lightning; we need to test it to specifically bring it out.”

Fire? Lightning? Coming out of its body? Sudden Death! The Sudden Death King rolled its eyes, terrified.

In its view, having flames or electricity appear on its body was extremely frightening, and without a doubt, it was bound to lead to disaster.

“You won’t die.”

Lu Ran twitched the corner of his mouth, too lazy to explain further, and simply reassured it with, “You won’t die,” then set off to find the attribute stone.

At the entrance C of the Beast Taming Edifice, Lu Ran had just stepped out when he spotted the area where the attribute stone was located.

The place was bustling with people, quite lively.

Next to the attribute stone, a mature lady in black silk was instructing newcomers on how to use the attribute stone.

Lu Ran rubbed his eyes and took a closer look, feeling a sense of familiarity.

“Shenghua???” Lu Ran was slightly stunned, then remembered—he was thinking of that Shenghua who guided Pig Raiser.

He remembered her name was Bixia Shenghua.

And there she was!

“When the attribute stone turns red and hot, showing burn marks, congratulations, your Golden Retriever is fire-type!”

At that moment, Shenghua was smiling as she spoke to a young man with a Golden Retriever: “That’s a great trait, fire-type. Fire-type beasts have some of the highest attack power among all attributes. Top nutritionists and Forgemasters also need fire-type pet beasts; it’s a sort of all-purpose attribute.”

“A fire-type canine… indeed the best choice for a firefighting dog.”

Fearless of ordinary fires, it can easily navigate through fires to save lives! Even if one doesn’t choose a specialized occupation, one can still secure an iron rice bowl.

Nowadays, beastmasters are rapidly entering various industries.

“Fire-type?!” The novice beastmaster with the Golden Retriever was thrilled, quickly thanking Shenghua.

Another person went up to test.

This individual brought a Red Fox, its origin unclear, but surprisingly, it awakened as earth-type.

Not rock-type, but earth-type.

This trait was somewhat rare—not because earth-type is particularly powerful, but because it’s interesting!

It’s similar to rock-type, but earth-type pet beasts have a trait that rock-type beasts lack—the ability to burrow underground!

Just as water-type pet beasts, even those not fish, can easily swim in deep water.

Similarly, earth-type pet beasts can easily burrow into the ground, making them even harder to catch than flying-type beasts.

This kind of attribute often appears in animals that dwell underground, like earthworms and moles.

“Could this trait be used for tomb raiding?”

People around were buzzing with discussions.

“Is anyone else here to test their awakening?” After another person completed their test, Shenghua continued with her remarks, seemingly able to praise any attribute that the newcomers awakened, leaving them feeling quite pleased.

“I’ll give it a try, Shenghua, long time no see.”

At that moment, Lu Ran stepped forward.

Shenghua looked at Lu Ran, momentarily startled, then smiled and said, “Is that you… Lu Ran… are you here to test your attribute?”

Shenghua maintained a high level of professionalism, refraining from mentioning Lu Ran’s ID in Infinite City, a common understanding among beastmasters.

“Right.”

Lu Ran nodded, but Shenghua was puzzled, thinking that Lu Ran had already completed his test.

Then she saw Lu Ran pulling a mini True Red-Eyed Black Dragon from his pocket…

Shenghua was surprised: “!!!”

Seeing the Sudden Death King, she seemed to understand something—this was Lu Ran’s second pet beast!

As for how to choose a second pet beast in advance, there were many methods. Remembering what Xiaobailong had mentioned about Lu Ran being connected to a high-ranking official in an alliance, she felt reassured.

“Is that a lizard?”

“It’s so small, can it really fight?”

“What species is that? It looks so cool.”

“I think it’s dead. It doesn’t move at all when held in his hand…”

The newly tested beastmasters around them continued their discussions, observing the Sudden Death King that Lu Ran had placed on the ground.

At this moment, Lu Ran had already thrown the Sudden Death King onto the ground.

“Just go over, grab that stone firmly.”

Sudden Death…

The Sudden Death King looked utterly despondent, its eyes filled with despair.

Its body emitted sparks and flames, which was quite frightening.

However, under Lu Ran’s repeated urging, it nervously crawled towards the attribute stone and raised its paw to swipe at it.

Then, it watched intently.

At this moment, everyone stopped discussing and quietly observed the changes in the attribute stone.

One second… Two seconds…

Sizzling sounds.

Whatever the Sudden Death King feared, it manifested.

Accompanied by the sounds, the attribute stone suddenly flashed with several streaks of electricity, leaving scorched marks where it touched.

“It’s thunder!” Shenghua exclaimed in surprise.

Thunder and fire attributes are relatively rare, as most animals fear flames and lightning. To have an affinity with such elemental attributes is quite a challenge.

However, there’s no doubt that such an attribute, once awakened, holds enormous suppressive power over other creatures!

“Eh? Your pet beast?!” Just as Shenghua was about to praise the thunder attribute, she saw the sudden death king roll its eyes and faint dead away in front of the attribute stone.

“Is it… dead???”

“Ah—dead? No way?” A young girl nearby covered her mouth in shock.

The crowd suddenly became noisy, all staring at the lifeless lizard, bewildered and unsure of what had happened.

“Cough, cough.” At this moment, Lu Ran, seeing that the sudden death king indeed possessed the thunder attribute, felt relieved. The numbing sensation that General Ha had felt did indeed have merit—was it static electricity? 100% static constitution, truly befitting of the thunder attribute.

“It’s not dead. This lizard is called the ‘red-eyed eagle lizard,’ a very special species that likes to play dead. It’s rare in our country,” Lu Ran explained as he walked forward, tossing the sudden death king back into his pocket.

“I see…” Hearing Lu Ran’s explanation, the bystanders believed him, as if the lizard were actually dead, Lu Ran wouldn’t be acting as if nothing was wrong; surely there would have been some backlash.

“Thanks, Shenghua. I’ll head back now; you’re busy,” Lu Ran said after testing the attribute, not planning to stay long, worried that Zhao Chen might not find him in the room later.

Knowing the sudden death king’s attribute was enough.

Thunder… known for its destructive power…

It was surprising that the sudden death king, known for its impressive defense, would awaken such an attribute. Even if it were rock-type or metal, Lu Ran wouldn’t have found it strange.

“Alright, see you next time,” Shenghua said with a smile. After saying goodbye to Shenghua, Lu Ran headed back to his room. During this time, he suddenly thought that the thunder attribute might not be so bad after all.

Every attribute has its characteristics, like the freezing of the ice attribute, the burning of the fire attribute, and the conductivity of thunder!

Thunder attacks are notably effective at penetrating an enemy’s defenses, more so than most other attributes. The reason lies in the strong conductivity of thunder energy, which allows it to electrify an entire body upon contact.

Given this, could it be possible for the sudden death king to mold thunder into armor, overlaying its entire body? If anyone were to touch it… they might be electrocuted on the spot?

Defense… is also a form of attack. This is one of the few attributes where harm can come simply from contact, without needing to initiate an attack!