King of Beasts

Infinite City, a luxurious restaurant.

Lu Ran, Fang Lan, Pig Raiser, and Lu Bing are having a celebration banquet.

At this moment, all the resources from the recent endeavor have been transferred to Lu Ran. He could certainly afford the meal.

“The Flame and Thunder Ruins are no longer necessary to farm,” Lu Ran said.

“The only thing I needed was the ‘Red Lightning Trait’.”

“Are you planning to contract a thunder species for your second pet beast?” Lu Bing asked curiously.

After all, if he wasn’t contracting a thunder species, there was no need to farm the Red Lightning trait.

As for awakening Erha’s thunder trait… that’s pretty unrealistic. Simultaneously awakening the thunder trait and merging traits requires at least level 30.

Moreover, Lu Bing didn’t believe General Ha’s next choice would be as straightforward as merging the first trait with weapon mastery.

Fang Lan had mentioned that the Sudden Death King had been performing well, gaining a lot of confidence through continuous battles.

“What secret realm are we challenging next?” Pig Raiser asked eagerly.

He felt the future was full of hope!

After all, Lu Ran had promised that once his own needs were met and his debts were repaid, he would help them farm skill cards and trait crystals.

Among the four of them, only Lu Ran possessed beast taming skills and pet beasts fused with trait crystals; the other three only had basic stats and nothing else.

If they could have the same setup as Lu Ran, their strength would be even greater.

“General Ha has already fused his level 10 trait crystal, and the Sudden Death King will fuse the Red Lightning trait at level 10. I remember you already have a beast taming skill. Once you break through to level 1 as a beastmaster, you can learn another skill…” Fang Lan analyzed.

“So, next, we either prepare a second trait crystal for General Ha and the Sudden Death King, or we prepare a second beast taming skill for you, right?” she continued.

“That’s right, but I haven’t actually decided what I want yet,” Lu Ran said, picking up a piece of braised pork and putting it in his mouth, still contemplating.

If they could prepare all these during the novice secret realm stage, it would be ideal.

However, the powerful crystals and skills available in the novice secret realm are limited.

Many powerful traits and rare beast taming skills are found in higher-level secret realms.

For example, novice-level secret realms typically only yield “attribute enhancement” beast taming skills.

These skills consume the beastmaster’s stamina to enhance a pet beast’s specific attribute energy.

Although beast taming skills are fundamentally neutral in terms of strength—they depend entirely on how the beastmaster develops them—such skills are undoubtedly at the bottom of the skill chain and are quite cheap on the market.

In contrast, beast taming skills that drop from advanced secret realms are either extremely expensive or simply unavailable for purchase. After all, obtaining them requires facing powerful bosses of sovereign or even overlord species.

Lu Ran is not particularly fond of attribute enhancements.

To be honest, he prefers super beast mimicry or the fusion talent of his senior brother, the Eagle Hero—skills that are flashy and have unique effects.

However, novice secret realms rarely drop such skill cards.

They might appear, with a very low probability, in public secret realms, but this is an extraordinary stroke of luck.

Lu Ran’s senior brother, the Eagle Hero, obtained the “trait borrowing beast taming skill” by teaming up with friends to explore a public secret realm. Starting with two special beast taming skills, he could indeed be considered a chosen one.

So, Lu Ran wants to wait a while. Instead of settling for wind enhancement or thunder enhancement, there might be better options in level 1 secret realms.

“What are your plans for the future? I’d like to hear your thoughts first. Once I’m done with my affairs, I can take you all to challenge the next secret realm,” Lu Ran asked.

While munching on food, Fang Lan mumbled, “I plan to major in poison enhancement. That way, my first beast taming skill can be poison enhancement and it’ll be useful for a long time.”

“Then, after Xiaolan reaches level 10, I want a ‘Toxin Healer trait’.”

“Toxin Healer trait? What’s that?” Lu Bing looked up, intrigued by the Five Poisons Cult Holy Maiden who, despite initial assumptions, turned out to be quite amiable.

As a teammate, she wasn’t so scary after all.

Fang Lan explained with a bright smile, “It’s a trait that can convert one’s own venom into something with ‘healing’ and ‘detoxifying’ properties. You can think of it as a trait that fights poison with poison.”

“I often work with poison, and the most dangerous aspect is that we might accidentally poison ourselves. With the ‘Toxin Healer trait,’ the chances of harming ourselves would be significantly reduced,” Fang Lan explained.

“Indeed,” Lu Ran nodded. “Is the ‘Toxin Healer trait’ obtainable in the novice secret realm?”

Fang Lan, now overseeing a city filled with toxins, definitely needed a more efficient way to detoxify.

“Yes! It drops in the abyssal difficulty secret realm ‘Misty Wetlands.’ I’ve done my research,” Fang Lan said hopefully, looking at Lu Ran. Without his help, it might take her one or two more months to get it on her own.

“That secret realm… just hearing about it makes me think it could be difficult for General Ha to clear. Isn’t it the type of place filled with poison gas, swampy terrain, and numerous poisonous creatures?” Lu Ran’s eyebrow twitched.

He wasn’t sure if General Ha could handle such a secret realm. This wasn’t just a matter of combat power.

Each area of expertise has its own focus.

General Ha is best suited for battling fierce beasts and is not adept at dealing with complex environments. Entering a highly toxic area with his level of intelligence would be a risky venture. Poison is a tricky thing, and even high species levels can easily falter, just like the Demon Bull Commander!

“Don’t worry! I’ll prepare all the anti-poison gear and antidotes. I’ve already collected a lot of guides on this secret realm,” Fang Lan reassured Lu Ran, signaling him to feel at ease.

It was clear she had planned to venture into the Misty Wetlands for a long time and had been preparing meticulously.

“Alright,” Lu Ran agreed. With Fang Lan’s reassurances, he felt more confident about entering the secret realm.

When it came to Lu Bing and Pig Raiser, their needs were much simpler.

Given the limited options for skill cards in novice secret realms,

Lu Bing planned to choose an “ice enhancement skill” to complement her wolf dog’s attributes, while Pig Raiser’s choice would be a “rock enhancement skill.”

These skills are obtainable in novice secret realms.

“Speaking of trait crystals, I’ve been thinking… I believe the ‘perpetual frost trait’ is quite good,” Lu Bing said. “The ‘perpetual frost trait’ can make my pet beast’s ice constructions more durable and less vulnerable to fire. Once my pet beast releases ice, it will almost permanently exist, retaining its energy longer. It’s somewhat similar to ‘Red Lightning’ that converts ice energy into a special type of ice.”

“I’m more interested in the ‘rock devouring trait’,” Pig Raiser chimed in. “With this trait, my pet’s diet wouldn’t be limited to meat and vegetables; it could also eat rocks. By consuming rocks, it could steadily enhance various attributes. It would be very convenient!”

“Besides, if I come across any rock resources in the future, instead of selling them, I could use them as food. The best part is, our country has countless rocky mountains. Although the quality might not be the best, the sheer quantity is there. I feel it’s possible for my pet beast to grow by consuming the mountains!”

“Right, now that spiritual energy is reviving, it’s possible that well-known mountains will emerge. Even if stones transform into supernatural resources, it’s unlikely that supernatural mutated beasts would care about them. At that point, we could just collect rocks in the mountains as food…”

Pig Raiser appeared to be a resourceful planner.

His words made Lu Bing chuckle, “Eating rocks, sure. It seems that many secret realms are filled with unwanted rocks. If eating them can satisfy hunger and restore energy, it would save a lot of money.”

Fang Lan sighed, “I remember there’s also a ‘poison devouring trait’, which can enhance one’s poison attributes by consuming toxic substances. Too bad it doesn’t drop in novice secret realms.”

Seeing that everyone had their own ideas, Lu Ran fell into contemplation.

“Why? Are you still undecided?” Fang Lan asked.

“Yes, I am.”

“I remember your first beast taming skill was one that enhanced your own physicality, right?” Fang Lan suggested. “For the second one, you might want to consider something that enhances your pet beast.”

“Currently, the official recommendations for beast taming skills suggest a balanced approach. This is the accumulated experience of the first three generations of beastmasters.”

“Skills that enhance pet beasts consume a lot of the beastmaster’s stamina. The beastmaster is already a weak point, and expending too much energy makes exploring and battling even more difficult.”

Enhancing a beastmaster’s strength through skills has its advantages, but it can also lead to overconfidence and unnecessary risks. Even if the goal is solely to improve survival, avoiding direct combat, there’s still a downside. If the beastmaster becomes too reliant on self-enhancement, their pet beast might fail to dominate wild creatures during battles, forcing the beastmaster to intervene.

On balance, the best approach is to evenly split between two types of beast taming skills: those that enhance the beastmaster and those that enhance the pet beast.

The former provides the beastmaster with some physical resilience and self-defense capabilities. The latter enhances the pet beast’s combat strength, ensuring the beastmaster doesn’t become too vulnerable.

“That makes sense… but if I have to choose, I’d still prefer a beast taming skill that grants me a unique ability,” Lu Ran pondered aloud.

For example, a beast taming skill that allows borrowing strength from his pet beast or one that grants him fire abilities.

If he’s going to major in Forgemaster as his secondary occupation, fire abilities are indispensable.

Either he must be able to wield fire himself, or his pet beast must possess fire abilities. However, relying solely on his pet beast isn’t enough; he needs a way to utilize its fire for forging purposes. This would enable him to progress far in the Forgemaster profession, potentially crafting exquisite or even epic level weapons for General Ha.

With this perspective, senior brother Eagle Hero’s “fusion” or “trait borrowing” would be ideal skills to acquire. Unfortunately, they are currently unattainable.

Lu Ran sighed, resolving to wait until after tackling the breakthrough secret realm. As for the second trait for General Ha and Sudden Death King, he didn’t have any particularly good ideas within the scope of novice secret realms, and he didn’t want to settle for less.

“Never mind, let’s focus on farming crystal coins for now,” Lu Ran decided.

Everyone nodded in agreement and continued to indulge in their meal. Regardless of how things turned out, life was increasingly hopeful.

Three days later…

Having discovered an efficient money-making method, Lu Ran significantly increased his crystal coins earnings.

After abandoning the novice secret realm “Flame and Thunder Ruins,” Lu Ran immediately chose to challenge the abyssal difficulty secret realm “Lava Lake.”

The reason for this choice wasn’t to meet anyone’s needs—it’s just that this particular secret realm was rumored to be the most valuable in terms of resources among novice secret realms.

This realm is filled with fire species creatures, primarily dropping ‘fire resources,’ ‘fire enhancement skills,’ and ‘magma trait crystals.’ It’s important to note that fire materials are extremely expensive, even more so than thunder, light, or dark materials, due to their necessity in some secondary occupations.

Fire enhancement skills are valuable for similar reasons. As for magma trait crystals, they can imbue fire with magma properties, which are renowned for their destructive power and aren’t cheap. This is the power of volcanoes!

In just three days of challenging this secret realm, Lu Ran acquired numerous advanced materials, some of which were rare resources. However, to his frustration, only two fire enhancement skills dropped, and he didn’t get a single magma trait crystal.

“Maybe it’s because your luck is terrible,” Lu Ran jokingly accused Lu Yi, who had joined their team, bringing his thunder species mastiff.

Fang Lan was busy preparing for her own challenge in the “Misty Wetlands secret realm,” so Lu Ran temporarily brought over the captain from LuJia Village’s team, Lu Yi.

Lu Yi was ecstatic to come along, having envied Lu Bing’s experiences for a long time. He was quite capable, his mastiff especially formidable in combat, particularly with its thunder abilities, ranking him in the top three beastmasters in LuJia Village.

Yet, Lu Ran couldn’t shake the feeling that having three people with the last name Lu in a team might be affecting their luck.

Lu Bing and Pig Raiser also looked skeptically at Lu Yi. When Fang Lan was with them, their luck was fantastic. During one trip to the Flame and Thunder Ruins, they had gotten skill cards, trait crystals, and upgrade cards…

Even a fire enhancement skill had dropped when Fang Lan was around.

“Don’t kick me out yet, give me another chance… Can I at least go wash my face first?” Lu Yi, on the verge of tears, pleaded.

He didn’t feel particularly unlucky himself.

After another round of the secret realm, the group exited. The joke just now was in good fun; they knew it was unrealistic to expect rare materials every time. Given their current haul, things were actually going pretty well.

Upon returning to his private room, Lu Ran felt quite pleased. He now had three beast taming skill cards in hand. Including the sale of numerous materials he exchanged for crystal coins, his total assets undoubtedly surpassed 50,000 crystal coins.

In fact, he could have reached this amount earlier, but he had to spend quite a bit on rare dog food for General Ha and entrust Fang Lan with procuring rewards for the seven general beasts in Green Sea City. Due to these expenses, Lu Ran hadn’t immediately paid off his debts as soon as he hit the 50,000 mark, fearing he might run short of funds.

“Speaking of which, isn’t it time for the divine beast leaderboard to settle? If there’s a considerable reward in crystal coins, I can probably pay off my debts,” Lu Ran mused.

Realizing the divine beast leaderboard was about to conclude, he noted that it had already been a month since the last settlement. Time sure flies.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, he heard a voice in his head.

[Divine Beast Leaderboard, Supernatural Divine Beast Leaderboard is now being settled…]