The King of Beast Trainers

"Actually, for ordinary people like us, joining an official organization is the best way out,"

"Among the Beast Trainers who have survived the past three years, the vast majority are now employed by the government. Their Beast Training Levels are very high, and they have access to intelligence, experience, and resources that are difficult for newcomers like us to come by. By joining an official organization, one can enjoy some of these benefits with the backing of the collective."

"There must be some duties too, right?" Lu Ran didn't believe in free lunches.

"It's not too bad. For example, if there's a Beast Trainer causing trouble, the official Beast Trainers are responsible for maintaining the nation's stability and security..."

"I remember there are rarely mandatory tasks, and you can also choose a clerical position, like me recruiting newcomers. That's my choice, too, and even then I get a decent salary," the Little White Dragon said with a chuckle.

"So, are you tempted?"

Forget it, Lu Ran refused politely: "I need to think about it."

"Ah, no worries, you can take your time to find out more."

"Any other questions?" The Little White Dragon did not press the matter too much, granting Lu Ran a great deal of autonomy, which made Lu Ran feel quite good.

But deep down, the Little White Dragon shook his head repeatedly.

He could tell at a glance that Lu Ran was a student.

He hadn't been through the harsh realities of society.

Otherwise, he would understand how rare such a secure job was.

"I do... but there are so many, I don't know where to start. Can you tell me some things I should know right now?" Lu Ran asked.

"Sure," the Little White Dragon said: "As you can see, after passing the beginner's trial, if you enter Infinite City, you will be teleported to the residential area. The house you're teleported to will be your home here, accessible only by you. Outsiders cannot force their way in."

"As you leave the residential area, Infinite City has many facilities and covers a large area. You can explore on your own. But as far as I know, there's not just one Infinite City; there are many. For instance, Xia Country's Infinite City and Infinite Cities abroad are separate. Even within our own country, there are as many as seven Infinite Cities, divided according to administrative districts."

"If you wish to travel to other Infinite Cities, you can only use the Teleportation Arrays within the city. Activating those requires crystal coins. Each Infinite City's facilities are largely the same, with the exception of some unique Secret Realms. There's usually no need to go out of your way to travel to another."

"Inside Infinite City, you can meet other Beast Trainers, as well as shops run by them. In these shops, you can sell or trade the resources you obtain from Secret Realms, or you can buy some of the necessary resources for training your Pet Beast with crystal coins. I recommend that you choose shops with official backing for buying and selling resources to avoid being cheated."

"Also, fighting is prohibited within Infinite City. If you violate this rule, you will be sanctioned by the patrolling beasts of the city. If you want to resolve disputes, you can go to the arenas."

"Right, next is the matter of Secret Realms."

"The Novice Secret Realm that you just passed through is one of the simplest Secret Realms there is because it has almost no Pet Beasts above level 5. Other Secret Realms are not so easy."

"If a Beast Trainer wants to improve their strength, unless they are incredibly wealthy and powerful in real life and can buy various resources brought out of Secret Realms by other Beast Trainers, training in Secret Realms is the fastest way to enhance oneself."

"Oh, one more thing—what I mean is that you can't 'level up by defeating monsters' in Secret Realms."

"You must have noticed it in the Novice Secret Realm, defeating monsters allows you to improve your Pet Beast's level and experience, but that's a special reward mechanism just for the beginner's trial. In future Secret Realms, such benefits are rare."

"What?" Lu Ran was startled. You can't level up by defeating monsters? Wouldn't advancing levels become very tough later on?

"That's the way it is," the Little White Dragon said with a smile: "However, in contrast, the Secret Realms we can access, although still projections, hold resources that can be brought out. Making good use of these resources is also a way to strengthen your Pet Beast, and it may not necessarily be slower than leveling up by fighting."

"So the Beast Trainers who enter the Secret Realm, aside from the very few who aim to clear it, a large portion goes just to gather resources. Whether they clear it or not doesn't matter; they exit once they obtain resources. Of course, the rarer the resource, the harder it is to acquire. It's either guarded by powerful Evil Beasts or drops from monsters..."

"There's also some good news. Unlike the Trial Secret Realm for beginners, you can form teams with Beast Trainers of the same level to enter later realms. This brings us to another benefit of joining the official group—you can systematically team up with Beast Trainers skilled in various areas, making it easier to gain experience in the Secret Realm."

Team formation, huh...

Lu Ran muttered to himself.

This was exactly why he didn't want to join. He mainly distrusted strangers and wanted to avoid teaming up with someone he didn't trust.

He believed there were many good people, but he didn't believe the world was full of them.

For now, he didn't want to reveal his Divine Deer Pendant.

The Little White Dragon continued to promote, "The official guide teams for the Secret Realms are currently the Beast Trainer teams with the most clears in the country. You can say they're full of strong players."

"However, these refer to the Common Secret Realms. The most important realm is the Breakthrough Secret Realm. When your Pet Beast reaches a level that's a multiple of 10, you'll be able to enter a corresponding Breakthrough Secret Realm. By clearing these realms, both the Beast Trainer and Pet Beast can level up, break through their limits, and you will receive a new Contract Card, gaining the opportunity to contract with a second Pet Beast... Currently, the Breakthrough Secret Realm is the only way to increase the number of your contracted pet beasts, and Contract Cards are one of the few resources that cannot be exchanged."

"So you see, this Secret Realm is the most important."

"Right... At the same time the Breakthrough Secret Realm appears, there are also Public Secret Realms, but these don't concern you much, no need to dig into that. Competing for ownership of Public Secret Realms is a matter for the large guilds."

"Alright, is there anything else you want to ask?"

"Yes," Lu Ran asked while absorbing the information, "These Secret Realms... are all projections, right? So what are the places they're projecting exactly, do other worlds truly exist, and is this all just a game or what?"

The Little White Dragon pondered for a moment, then said, "Hmm, your question is a bit beyond the scope, and I'm not sure myself. But as far as I know, the current Secret Realms seem to all be projections."

"As for whether those powerful Beast Trainers have come into contact with worlds that have True Living Beings, I don't know."

"However, I can tell you a pattern: ordinary Common Secret Realms don't give access to other civilizations. The Novice Secret Realm and Common Secret Realms we enter are basically projections of the wilderness areas of another world with no human presence. Only in the Breakthrough Secret Realms might one encounter humans from other worlds, possibly coming into contact with human projections! At the moment, the Breakthrough Secret Realm is an important way for us to understand Infinite City and the Beast Training system."

He shrugged, "At any rate, we know very little about Infinite City and can only play by its rules. It's too hard to understand everything. Let's just consider it a game by the gods or the revival of a lost, highly advanced extraordinary civilization. Unless something unexpected happens, a brand new Beast Training Era, will indeed descend upon Blue Star because of this game."

"To a greater or lesser extent, our well-known world will change because of it."

"Young man, your pressing task now is to seize the new era's dividends and quickly improve yourself. That's far better than just going to school or working for money. The mortgage on my million-dollar house was mostly solved just by selling some materials, can you imagine that..."

"Of course, that material was something I didn't need. If it's something beneficial to you, it's better to keep it for your own advancement. Oh, right, what's your Secret Realm rating?"

"Looking at you, seems like you had a tough time, didn't you?"

"E?" He looked at Lu Ran.

"Indeed, it hasn't been easy," Lu Ran said. "Also, I want to know how to determine the Attribute of my own Pet Beast."

"Ah, you're quite knowledgeable, asking all the key questions," the Little White Dragon said with a smile. "There are 'Attribute Stones' in many places in Infinite City. Just let your Pet Beast attack an Attribute Stone, and by observing the characteristics shown by the stone, you can determine your Pet Beast's Attribute."

"However, to awaken a Pet Beast's Attribute, you need an external stimulus, generally by using an 'Attribute Awakening Fruit'. This is the most common method, although Attribute Fruits are Advanced resources and not easy for newcomers to obtain."