King of Beasts

“Let me introduce you, the Five Poisons Cult Holy Maiden. Judging by your reactions, you both seem to know her.”

Lu Ran smiled.

The Pig Raiser and Lu Bing felt a shiver down their spines.

They could never have guessed that their team included the Five Poisons Cult Holy Maiden.

Anyone who had fought Fang Lan would inevitably have a lingering fear.

It’s like being bitten by a poisonous scorpion or snake; the trauma stays with you.

Even now, despite becoming stronger, the Pig Raiser still felt a bit intimidated.

Lu Bing was even more frightened. As a hunter who loved to get into the fray herself, she had not only had her pet beast poisoned by Fang Lan but had also been taken down by her… As a talented female hunter from LuJia Village, it was her first time encountering such a terrifying city girl.

City life is tough! Nowhere is easy to navigate.

At this moment, she had already changed into a new outfit for the secret realm challenge.

It was a purple outfit resembling Miao ethnic clothing, custom-made in Infinite City, with excellent defense and poison resistance.

Her every move now exuded the aura of a Miao woman, perfectly in sync with her ID.

“Hello…”

The Pig Raiser and Lu Bing nodded with bitter smiles.

They had thought Lu Ran was the only big shot in the team, never expecting there to be two!

“This is the Pig Raiser, contracted with a wild boar, rock type.”

“And this is Road Ahead Icy, contracted with a wolf dog, if I remember correctly, it’s ice type, right?” Lu Ran asked.

“Yes.” Wearing a hunter’s outfit, Lu Bing replied, “It’s my first time teaming up with you all, please take care of me.”

“Same here, just let me know if you have any instructions,” said the Pig Raiser.

“No need to be nervous,” Lu Ran said:

“Let’s get to know each other while we proceed. Let’s summon our pet beasts first.”

With that, he took the lead in summoning General Ha.

The other three also summoned their respective pet beasts.

Lu Ran activated the Eye of Data to take a look.

General Ha was level 10, the wolf spider level 9, the wild boar level 10, and the wolf dog level 9.

The team’s levels were fairly close, with no one significantly lagging behind.

At this moment, the four pet beasts each followed their beastmasters, observing one another.

The wild boar and wolf dog both shuddered at the sight of the Daxia wolf spider; the wild boar actually shuddered twice when it also saw General Ha…

“Snort.” The wild boar looked bitter.

Taking charge, Lu Ran began to instruct, “Teaming up for the challenge will cause the fierce beasts in the secret realm to appear more concentrated and frequent, slightly increasing the difficulty. Shall I handle everything, or would you like to try your hand at some challenges?”

Lu Ran primarily directed this question at Fang Lan. After all, it had been a long time since she had entered a secret realm, and she might be very enthusiastic. During this initial team-up phase, he didn’t aim for maximum efficiency but rather for everyone to get acquainted.

“Then… how about I give it a try first? If I can’t handle it, you can step in,” Fang Lan said eagerly.

“I’ll take care of gathering resources and other tedious tasks,” the Pig Raiser offered. It wasn’t every day he joined a big shot’s team, so he wanted to contribute somehow.

“I’m fine with anything,” Lu Bing chimed in, ready to follow the captain’s instructions entirely.

Just as Lu Ran had mentioned, the increased number of participants caused beasts to appear quickly. All four beastmasters sensed an approaching presence.

General Ha, the wild boar Dahuang, and the wolf dog all twitched their noses slightly. As for the wolf spider Xiaolan, it felt the danger approaching through extremely subtle vibrations in the ground.

“Growl!!”

Soon, three flame lynxes with red fur appeared simultaneously, each one reaching level 10 and having awakened fire-type abilities. They stared menacingly at the group.

“Growl—” The three flame lynxes, cloaked in flowing flames, with paws ablaze, leaped toward them. Having recently survived a natural disaster and seen most of their pack wiped out, their nerves seemed especially on edge.

Lu Ran instructed, “Each of you take one, and dispatch them quickly.”

Hearing this, Fang Lan’s Daxia wolf spider was the first to act. It spat out several webs, quickly entangling the dried-up trees on the opposite side, using the webs to effortlessly jump away from its original position. While airborne, it continued to spit webs intermittently, this time shaping them into arrows made of purple silk.

One after another, poison-arrow webs shot out, each one aimed at a specific flame lynx like lethal projectiles. The targeted flame lynx sensed the danger and immediately turned, spewing out a torrent of fire from its mouth. The searing flames swept across and effortlessly incinerated all the poison-arrow webs into a sea of fire.

However, the Daxia wolf spider had been continuously adjusting its position via its webs. From a vantage point the flame lynx couldn’t observe, it fired a single, most deadly strand of web. The swiftly propelled web shot out like a bullet, instantly piercing the most vulnerable part of the flame lynx—its eye!

Bang!

The eyeball exploded.

Though it was just silk, the impact was astonishingly powerful.

In an instant, the agile flame lynx started to howl in pain. The flames that cloaked its body turned purple and began to retract uncontrollably, burning patches of its fur into rot and oozing purplish blood.

Lying in a pool of venomous blood, the lynx convulsed and wailed in agony.

The Daxia wolf spider’s poison was a simple energy poison capable of infecting other creatures’ energy. If the opponent’s energy strength wasn’t sufficient, the poison would invade. The more energy the infected creature used, the faster the poison spread, making it extremely difficult to expel. If the creature refrained from using its energy, it would become as helpless as a lamb awaiting slaughter.

“Damn,” Lu Ran didn’t say a word. Glancing at the wolf spider’s combat moves, both the Pig Raiser and Lu Bing felt their scalps tingle. The Five Poisons Cult Holy Maiden was just as terrifying as they remembered. Compared to Fang Lan’s poison-based, contact-kill battle style, the Pig Raiser’s and Lu Bing’s combat methods were much more conventional.

“Roar!!” The wild boar Dahuang, having consumed rare resources, had significantly enhanced its strength, defense, and speed. Seeing an enemy rush toward it, it had already locked onto a flame lynx. Its entire body covered in rock armor, it charged with its rock tusks toward the lynx.

In terms of speed, it even outpaced the flame lynx. When the flame lynx’s fiery claws struck the wild boar, they only shattered a piece of its rock armor without harming the boar itself. Caught off guard, the flame lynx was struck by a tremendous force, sending it crashing into a tree.

“Growl—” The flame lynx wailed in agony, two holes gushing blood. Its defense was clearly no match for the wild boar.

To clarify, the Pig Raiser’s wild boar was only of a middle supernatural species and yet could suppress a high supernatural-level flame lynx of the same level. No wonder it had made its way to the bottom rungs of the divine beast leaderboard a few times.

Unlike the composed battles of Fang Lan and the Pig Raiser, Lu Bing was having a bit of a hard time, unable to quickly determine the winner.

Her ice-type wolf dog was already extremely fierce, but it struggled against the flame lynx due to the attribute disadvantage. The wolf dog had to rely solely on combat skills to keep the enemy at bay, cautiously avoiding the lynx’s attacks. Just as Fang Lan and the Pig Raiser considered whether to help Lu Bing, suddenly…

“Swish!” A blue-glowing arrow shot out from afar. Distracted by the wolf dog, the flame lynx barely registered the incoming arrow before it struck its head, leaving a gaping hole.

Lu Bing stood nearby, smiling with a bow in her hand, panting slightly. “I’m a hunter; I fight alongside my pet beast.”

Though that shot had drained quite a bit of her energy, it effectively solved the problem.

“Impressive…” Fang Lan smiled. She remembered Lu Bing vividly as she was one of the first beastmasters who dared to directly attack her in the arena.

“Women are so scary,” the Pig Raiser thought to himself.

“Not bad, everyone.” Despite the different methods of dealing with the flame lynxes, Lu Ran felt reassured after seeing that all three of his teammates could at least protect themselves.

However, team challenges in the abyss secret realm were far from easy. Just as Fang Lan, the Pig Raiser, and Lu Bing began to relax, sounds of multiple creatures running towards them echoed from all directions.

“Awooooo~~~”

“Howl~~~”

The distinct howling of wolves made the Pig Raiser and Lu Bing’s faces change. “It’s a wolf pack,” they said.

These were not huskies or wolf dogs with mere wolf bloodlines but actual wild wolves.

In the blink of an eye, under their cautious gazes, eight or nine strong forest wolves with bristling, dry yellow fur and green eyes quickly surrounded the group from every direction, growling lowly.

[Name]: Forest Wolf

[Attribute]: Thunder

[Species Level]: Upper supernatural

[Growth Level]: Level 10

Crackle, crackle. Static electricity occasionally sparked off their fur, and with every step, the electric charge flickered, as they gradually closed in on the four beastmasters.

Just then, Fang Lan began to feel a bit nervous, saying, “This doesn’t seem like it’s meant to be cleared easily.”

Dealing with the three flame lynxes earlier hadn’t been much of an issue for her, but now, seeing the wolf pack, she wasn’t sure if Xiaolan’s large-scale release-type skill, Poison Fog, would work.

If even Fang Lan found it difficult, the Pig Raiser and Lu Bing were, understandably, even more anxious.

“What did you expect? If the abyss secret realm were so easy, the strategy team wouldn’t have lost so many people.”

“You all take a break. I’ll handle these wolves.”

With that, Lu Ran extended his hand and tossed out the Ice Sky Greatsword. The ever-watchful General Ha finally sprang into action, leaping into the air and catching the weapon in his mouth.

“Woof!” The moment he grabbed the sword, the wolf pack seemed to sense the threat and launched a coordinated attack.

However, in the sword king form, General Ha wasn’t concerned with a mere wolf pack; with a disdainful expression, he unleashed nine swift gale sword qi attacks. So fast were the gale sword qi strikes that within mere seconds, they sliced through the wolves’ heads with a “swish, swish, swish.”

The nine headless forest wolves continued their assault motion while their severed heads were already airborne, eyes filled with bewilderment.

“Thud.” General Ha landed gracefully, exuding an air of calmness amidst the astonished gazes of the wolf spider, rock boar, and wolf dog.

Seeing this, the Pig Raiser and Lu Bing gulped audibly.

“Strong!” The Pig Raiser trembled, realizing he was worlds apart from Passerby A.

“After a few more trips to the abyss secret realm, you all can achieve this too,” Lu Ran smiled. “If we have good enough luck, once my requirements are met, we can explore secret realms tailored to your ‘beast taming skill’ and ‘trait crystal’ needs. If we manage to find the right drops, they’re yours.”

“Really?” Lu Bing couldn’t believe her ears. This wasn’t just generosity; it was practically paternal! Lu Ran was so kind that she found herself thinking he should become the chief of LuJia Village and lead everyone to prosperity.

The Pig Raiser, equally incredulous, felt a wave of emotion. Why, he wondered, is Passerby A being so good to me?

“You all becoming stronger will greatly increase our efficiency. From here on out, we can’t always rely on General Ha to handle groups of beasts. Its stamina is limited and needs to be reserved for dealing with the leaders. The leaders of commander species are the real challenges; even General Ha needs to go all out to take them down,” Lu Ran advised.

The Pig Raiser and Lu Bing became serious. Indeed, the leader bosses were the most terrifying!!!

None of them dared to be complacent and continued to follow Lu Ran carefully.

After clearing a few more waves of wild beasts…

The secret realm leader finally appeared!

A giant bear wrapped in red lightning smashed through obstacles, coming into their view.

Immediately…

General Ha executed a tenfold storm slash.

The berserk bear’s body was split in half, collapsing to the ground. This thing was far weaker than the Demon Bull.

Fang Lan, the Pig Raiser, and Lu Bing: ???

This is what Lu Ran meant by difficult to deal with?

They hadn’t even had time to react, and the boss was already down!

However, Lu Ran didn’t care what they thought. He just kept urging, “Check what was dropped!”

The reason he had General Ha try to one-shot the bear was to secure a SSS-level rating.

At this point, Lu Ran was numb to it—he himself only got a pile of trash, though at least there was an upgrade card as a safety net, making it not a complete loss.

[Congratulations on completing the secret realm challenge.]

[Rating: SSS-level!]

[Congratulations, you have obtained 1000 crystal coins.]

[Congratulations, you have obtained advanced resources: Mutated Bear Bone.]

[Congratulations, you have obtained advanced resources: Mutated Bear Gall.]

[Congratulations, you have obtained special resources: Upgrade Card.]

So, who exactly was lucky this time around?

At this point, the others reported their spoils, as discussed initially. Aside from the crystal coins, all other resources were to be handed over to Lu Ran for allocation.

Lu Bing quickly said, “Advanced resources: Mutated Bear Paw, Thunder-struck Wood, and an Upgrade Card.”

Great, the Lu family members seem to be of average luck.

Fang Lan smiled and reported, “I got lucky this time: Thunder-type beast taming skill, Mutated Bear Paw, and Mutated Bear Bone!”

She felt truly fortunate. A beast taming skill—she had heard that it was incredibly rare to get one!

Lu Ran’s expression brightened considerably, even showing a hint of excitement. A beast taming skill, even the most basic attribute enhancement, carried significant value—worth at least 10,000 crystal coins. Just that one item was a major windfall.

It wasn’t until the Pig Raiser spoke up that Lu Ran was truly stunned.

“Red Lightning trait crystal… Thunder-struck Wood… Mutated Bear Gall! I got a trait crystal!” the Pig Raiser exclaimed, his excitement and enthusiasm evident.

No one expected the Pig Raiser to have such incredible luck.

“Amazing!” At this moment, what else could Lu Ran say? Now he knew who the lucky one was. Damn it, it was clear that challenging the secret realm with four people was the right approach. Even if he alone didn’t get anything good, not everyone in the team would be so unlucky! The Sudden Death King was going to benefit hugely from this!

“Was it really that easy to get an SSS rating?” Fang Lan, Lu Bing, and the Pig Raiser all looked thrilled. No one had expected such bountiful rewards from a single abyss secret realm run.

“Alright, we’re done for now. I’m treating you all to a celebration banquet!” Lu Ran felt particularly generous at this moment, sensing that clearing his debts was within reach.

Perhaps, before entering the breakthrough secret realm, he could even amass a substantial fortune to fully strengthen himself and General Ha!

Advanced dog food…

Maybe it was time to level up to rare dog food? He wondered how it would taste…