King of Beasts

City Lord Ye was speechless.

In her youth, the young prodigies were all remarkably talented and graceful.

Their every move could elicit screams from thousands of young girls.

In her opinion, Lu Ran’s strength far surpassed those individuals.

But the problem was, why did she feel that the boy in front of her was a bit slick-tongued and very frivolous.

For a moment, City Lord Ye didn’t understand. Perhaps she had not traveled the continent much lately and couldn’t keep up with the current trends.

“Forget it.”

“Don’t do that next time.”

“The tallest trees in the forest are the first to get blown down

. Even if you come from an extraordinary background, you need to learn how to act modestly. That way, you can better protect yourself.”

“Whether it’s the force behind you, your parents, or me, your master, none of us can protect you all the time.”

“I understand,” Lu Ran nodded heavily.

But he couldn’t help it.

The rating mechanism was just like that.

He would still dare next time.

Fortune favors the bold.

“Before I teach you, I want to know, what exactly do you want?” City Lord Ye asked.

Lu Ran pondered for a moment, then looked at City Lord Ye with utmost seriousness and said, “I want to combine beast taming and Plant Taming.”

“I don’t want to give up beast taming, but I’m also very interested in Plant Taming.”

“So I want to research whether I can let a pet beast have absolute control over a plant life without contracting a plant pet, and draw strength from it to enhance itself.”

“Master, have you heard of retainers?”

City Lord Ye replied, “Of course, it is said that the Divine Tree has four retainers guarding the four corners of the continent, helping the Divine Tree fend off threats from overseas. Are you saying you want to…”

“Exactly!!” Lu Ran said, “It is said that legend creatures at the Main God Level and above all have several Divine Retainers. There is a special bond, a mutual influence, and enhancement between the Divine Lord and the Divine Retainers.”

“Therefore, I was thinking, if animal life could cultivate plant life into retainers. After all, no one ever said that retainers must be of the same species, right?”

“Of course, that’s the ultimate dream. Right now, it’s not even clear how to help a pet beast cultivate a retainer. I still don’t know how to awaken the sapience in the sword grass,” Lu Ran sighed.

“You certainly have grand ideals,” City Lord Ye smiled slightly and said, “Don’t aim too high too fast. It’s okay to take it step by step. What you propose doesn’t sound entirely impossible, after all.”

“As for your sword grass…”

“To help it awaken, you might need to visit Myriad Leaf City and consult the Plant Taming Family there. They might know the awakening method for sword grass.”

“The Ji Family?” Lu Ran asked.

“You know them?” City Lord Ye looked at Lu Ran and said, “That’s good then. In that case, I’ll make a trip to the Ji Family on your behalf. Consider it a welcoming gift for you as my disciple.”

Lu Ran: “!!!”

“Thank you, master!!” Lu Ran gratefully bowed.

Ye Ying glanced at Lu Ran and said, “By the way, the Flower Demon Emperor Plantmaster you encountered in the preliminary round is a disciple of my senior sister. In terms of relationships, you are considered fellow disciples. You should go visit her later.”

“And that Plantmaster named Yu Rui is not from a simple background either. It’s good you didn’t go too hard on him, or it would have been difficult to handle afterward. When you have time, try to befriend him. It won’t hurt.”

“Uh…”

That’s true. Lu Ran was somewhat genial to these three beastmasters from another world, aiming to pry some intelligence from them after gaining some background.

“You’re currently staying with the Shi Family, right?” City Lord Ye asked.

“Yes.”

“Next, move to the City Lord’s Mansion. As I said, go see your Senior Sister Gu and Yu Rui first. I’ll prepare your living quarters for you.”

“Hmm, I’ll go see Yu Rui first. Your Senior Sister Gu is receiving treatment from my senior sister at the City Lord’s Mansion. You can visit her once she’s somewhat recovered.”

“Okay. By the way, master, when will the formal apprenticeship ceremony be, like hosting a banquet where you invite all the families, all your fellow disciples, and the strong ones from the surrounding cities?” Lu Ran asked.

He cared about the formalities.

“We can skip the formal apprenticeship ceremony.”

“Huh?”

“Ah, what?” City Lord Ye glared at Lu Ran. She was mainly concerned that when the forces behind Lu Ran eventually arrived, it would be difficult to manage if things were too elaborate. Simplicity was better.

Lu Ran felt a jolt in his heart.

Where was he going to collect gifts now?

Forget it, the important matters take priority. Small gifts are not needed; he was no longer as poor as before.

…

Leaving the City Lord’s Mansion in high spirits, Lu Ran began to look forward to his new life as the Young City Lord.

Following his master’s suggestion, Lu Ran headed to the Medical Center in Tree Realm City to visit those he had previously fought.

Unlike the Star-Moon Continent, the Divine Tree Continent was rich in healing abilities.

Here, there were not only ferocious plants but also various pet beasts proficient in healing and support.

Unfortunately, on the blue star, exploration of the plant world, elemental world, and mechanical world was minimal, making healing methods scarce.

Speaking of healing methods, Lu Ran distractedly reviewed his rewards as he walked.

A beast taming skill, Vibrant Vitality-a special-type skill that allows the beastmaster to convert plant natural power from the environment into Life Healing Power!

When Lu Ran first saw this skill, his mind was filled with thoughts.

Isn’t this the ability of the divine deer antler?

The breakthrough secret realm actually rewarded him with a skill similar to the divine deer antler’s ability, and yet they said there was no pattern?

Lu Ran felt conflicted about this skill. A healing-type beastmaster would be extremely valuable on the blue star. Without the divine deer antler, he would have learned it without hesitation, becoming a healer.

But unfortunately, he already had the divine deer antler. With its quality, Lu Ran felt he could rely on it until level 70 or 80, which made this otherwise rare skill quite redundant.

However, only this skill seemed redundant; the other rewards were still very good in Lu Ran’s opinion.

For example, the lucky clover trait-Lu Ran couldn’t help but exclaim at its power.

Although he didn’t think his luck was particularly bad, who could complain about more good luck?

If he were to contract a pet beast and infuse it with this trait, wouldn’t it mean that every time he tackled a public secret realm boss, unique rewards would drop?

In that case, this trait would become the most invaluable support trait for a beastmaster in Infinite City.

No matter what, Lu Ran was never going to sell or trade this trait. He intended to reserve it for a future support pet beast.

Unfortunately, sword grass was a weapon, an attack-type ferocious plant, and not suitable for becoming lucky clover.

Otherwise, once the sword grass awakened, simply infusing it would have been convenient.

But it was okay that sword grass wasn’t suitable. Lu Ran then turned his attention to the seed of a lower sovereign species plant; this should be equivalent to a pet beast egg.

Just in a different form.

Lu Ran felt a headache coming on-it was also a blind box seed, much like the weather elf egg earlier. No specific species information was given.

This left Lu Ran quite troubled; he had no idea if the creature that would hatch from this seed would be suitable for lucky clover.

“And then there’s this miracle seed, which feels like the least useful thing.”

“Making animals grow plant organs? What’s the point of that…”

He remembered seeing a news story on the blue star about a beastmaster who had cultivated a pet beast with grass growing on its head. It probably involved a resource similar to the miracle seed.

As for this resource, it didn’t seem suitable for General Ha, Dark Crow, or Sudden Death King since they were not grass, earth, or water creatures. Therefore, Lu Ran had no immediate plans for it-it was very likely he would sell, gift, or trade it.

Reviewing the rewards once more, Lu Ran felt quite pleased. The biggest gain was undoubtedly the lucky clover trait; the rest were secondary.

With a pleasant mood, Lu Ran finally arrived at the official Medical Center in Tree Realm City. This chain establishment was built upon several giant trees. Lu Ran wore a mask and a change of clothes upon arrival.

After all, as a recent competition winner who had beaten many opponents, Lu Ran was wary of potential trouble.

“Do you know where the Plantmaster with the contract with the war ancient tree is receiving treatment? Take me there,” Lu Ran called out to a passing medic, showing the token his master, the City Lord, had given him to identify himself.

“Yes, my lord!” Although the medic didn’t know Lu Ran’s identity, upon seeing the token, they immediately showed respect and saluted.

Before long, Lu Ran arrived at the outside of a healing tree room.

He gently knocked on the door, and a female voice immediately responded from within.

“Please come in…”

The next moment, Lu Ran opened the door and stepped inside. There were only three people in the room: Yu Rui, Liu Man, and Jiang Ming. Yu Rui was lying weakly on the tree bed, already conscious, indicating he had received treatment, though he still looked quite weak.

Liu Man and Jiang Ming, acting as “close relatives,” were attending to him.

Hearing the knock, the three initially thought it was the medic returning. But when Lu Ran entered, their expressions changed dramatically. Liu Man and Jiang Ming even jumped up in surprise.

“Don’t get excited.” Lu Ran smiled at them, waving his hand to calm them. “If I intended to harm you, you’d already be done for.”

“Even though we come from different worlds, we were still trained as beastmasters in the same place. We don’t have to be enemies; we can coexist peacefully.”

“Though we didn’t know each other before, this is a good opportunity to get acquainted, isn’t it?”

“Oh, by the way, sorry for eliminating you straight away for the rating. But you’re not holding a grudge over that, are you?”

Lu Ran’s words left the trio silent.

However, Lu Ran was right about one thing. If he had intended to harm them, their lives would have ended back in the Death Forest.

After Yu Rui regained consciousness and realized that his injuries were not fatal, he was incredibly surprised and recognized that Lu Ran had shown restraint.

“Y-yeah, exactly. Even though we come from different worlds, we were all trained by Infinite City. We can all be friends!” Jiang Ming, seemingly intimidated by Lu Ran’s power, laughed awkwardly.

“Mm…” Beside him, Liu Man took a deep breath. As long as Lu Ran remained friendly, being friends was fine. Peaceful coexistence was indeed preferable.

“My name is Lu Ran. You can just call me by my name,” Lu Ran said with a slight smile. “By the way, are we the first batch of challengers matched with each other?”

“It seems so…” Yu Rui slowly adjusted his position and said, “In any case, thank you for showing mercy.”

“It was necessary, given that we have no real grudge or enmity,” Lu Ran shrugged. “The main thing is, you all didn’t show any hostility toward me. Had you come after me right from the start, things might have been much worse than just a hospital stay.”

Hearing this, Jiang Ming felt a shiver run down his spine, becoming deeply uneasy. After all, he had initially suggested capturing Lu Ran to extract intelligence. Suddenly, he realized he had narrowly escaped a dire fate.

Cough cough cough. He started coughing violently, drawing Lu Ran’s attention.

“Nothing, nothing!” Jiang Ming almost knelt down in fright. “Lu-Ge, you’re incredibly strong. Are all beastmasters from your side as terrifying as you?”

“Not really,” Lu Ran replied casually. “Where I come from, I’m quite average. There are plenty who are stronger at the same level. Now, as a return favor, how about you answer some of my questions?”

The three of them: ???

Footnote:

1. The Tallest Trees in The Forest are The First to Get Blown Down(木秀于林风必摧之):

   This is a Chinese proverb meaning that those who stand out or excel in a group are often the first to face criticism, challenges, or envy. It suggests that being too prominent or noticeable can attract unwanted attention or trouble.