King of Beasts

Lu Ran now understood why killing monsters to level up was merely a reward mechanism in the novice trial secret realm; if that system remained, he could become a grinding emperor, slaying 10,000 demon cats in the forest of the demon cat in a single day.

Even if he didn’t mind the tedium, the consciousness of Infinite City responsible for creating projections would probably get annoyed—after all, there were too many beastmasters to serve.

Swoosh!

“Meow!”

Swoosh!

“Mrowl—”

General Ha slaughtered the demon cats mercilessly, becoming more and more adept, almost one cat per sword strike. This was mainly because the demon cats that appeared later were at most level 7, not very strong.

“Take this, Storm Slash!”

During the fight, Lu Ran also tried out the supernatural ability of the Wind Cutter Sword, which drew on his physical strength to activate the power of wind hidden within the blade.

When the power of wind swirled around the Wind Cutter Sword, his blade became nearly as effective as General Ha’s, cutting through iron as if it were mud.

With a single horizontal slash from Lu Ran, large trees were effortlessly severed, the wind blades incredibly sharp.

However, like General Ha releasing sword qi, being drained by the Wind Cutter Sword in such a way left Lu Ran feeling a little faint.

A weapon might be good, but it can’t be overused when you’re still an apprentice greenhorn who hasn’t yet developed the physicality of a fierce beast.

It’s better to use it as an ordinary weapon… The power of wind should not be activated recklessly unless absolutely necessary.

“Phew… Been inside for over four hours now.”

Picking some fruits from a fallen tree, Lu Ran glanced at the time. In these four hours, he and General Ha had slain more monsters than during the entire 24 hours of the novice trial.

Thanks to the space backpack, he had gathered quite a collection of materials!

Hemostatic mushrooms x21, wood scale fruits x14, antidote herbs x3, demon cat’s fingernails x16, snake gallbladder x1, rabbit meat x4.

Despite the abundance of resources, their total value wasn’t high.

Lu Ran had seen at the resource store that the most expensive item was the snake gallbladder, worth only 5 crystal coins each.

All these items together still didn’t amount to half the cost of the entry ticket.

How did those beastmasters who entered the secret realm to farm materials make their money back?

Was it because he was doing it wrong?

Or perhaps, as expected, the forest of the demon cat wasn’t the best grinding dungeon!

Now, the only way Lu Ran could think of to earn back the ticket price was probably to complete the challenge mission and defeat a Boss.

“Aowoo!!!”

However, the idea of earning back the ticket money wasn’t too strong for Lu Ran, as this time he was only here to recharge the divine deer pendant, not to farm for money.

But General Ha, this invincible pooch, seemed to be a bit carried away, having already accumulated quite a bit of hatred from the leader of the demon cats.

Hmm… Although he hadn’t seen the leader of the demon cats yet, this guy already despised it to the bone.

“Aowu~~~”

General Ha looked at the demon cat’s fingernails on the ground, howled to the sky, and it was time to settle the score with the leader of the demon cats!

If one day the leader of the demon cats falls at the hands of General Ha, it might be because the underlings of the demon cat clan were too stingy to drop good loot.

“Settle what? Continue gathering resources. Recharging and fighting the Boss is a matter for later,” Lu Ran said as he used his sword to clear the bushes. This was what the sword was mostly used for at the moment—clearing the path!

Even though General Ha was floating high, Lu Ran dared not.

Because as far as he knew, even the leaders of the simple-level novice secret realms were very powerful.

Firstly, they were definitely level 10.

Secondly, they had awakened attributes and could use attribute energy at will.

At the very least, they had mastered one skill proficiently.

And in most cases, they were accompanied by several to a dozen followers, which is why individual beastmasters found it very difficult to solo them.

Under such circumstances, even if General Ha had a weapon enhancement, he could only release four sword qi at most, which would be like using his head to fight the Boss.

“Woof!” General Ha sighed.

His beastmaster was just too cautious…

“Aow!” Just as General Ha was about to lament, suddenly, his expression changed in surprise.

Almost instinctively, he quickly condensed sword qi and flung it in one direction!!!

The white sword qi roared out, startling Lu Ran, but soon, he understood what was happening.

General Ha had spotted an enemy.

And this enemy had excellent hiding abilities, having gotten very close to them without them noticing at all!

Were it not for General Ha’s keen perception of the air flow and a good sense of smell, the enemy’s ambush might have gone undetected!

Indeed, before General Ha attacked, the enemy had already launched an assault on Lu Ran and him.

Perched upon a tree was a demon cat. Although not particularly large, its greenish fur and vicious yellow-green eyes fixed a menacing gaze on General Ha and Lu Ran.

With a swipe of its paw, it unleashed five streaks of green-glowing claws towards them.

This was also a release-type skill.

Fortunately, General Ha’s reaction was swift; he immediately released sword qi to collide with the incoming attack, successfully blocking it.

Boom!

However, the collision of the two release-type skills still caused a significant reaction, whipping up a small gale that nearly knocked Lu Ran off his feet.

“Damn, the demon cat leader, why has it come?”

Lu Ran peered through the smoke and quickly identified the enemy, his heart skipping a beat.

Species: Demon Cat

Attribute: Grass-Type

Species Level: Middle Supernatural

Growth Level: Level 10

Upon seeing the information about this foe, Lu Ran didn’t hesitate and immediately shouted:

“Exit the secret realm!”

“General Ha, hold it off for 10 seconds!”

Just from one exchange between General Ha and the opponent, Lu Ran knew this creature was beyond their current capability to handle.

Firstly, as a grass-type demon cat leader, it seemed to blend seamlessly with the forest environment. Had it not been for its proactive attack, which generated strong energy fluctuations, General Ha would have remained unaware of its presence.

Secondly, although General Ha’s sword qi seemed to match the power of the opponent’s Flying Leaf Claw, neutralizing it, General Ha could only launch such an attack up to four times, while this demon cat leader at level 10 could likely use its skills many more times.

And there was another point…

Swish, swish, swish…

After the demon cat leader’s attack, Lu Ran heard movement from all directions, indicating that at least a dozen more demon cats were closing in!

Damn it, they hadn’t even contemplated seeking out the demon cat leader, yet it had come to them on its own accord.

That made sense, though; having slaughtered so many of its underlings… he and General Ha were probably considered extremely hostile invaders now.

“Awoo~~~” At this moment, General Ha did not dare to be careless; his gaze became stern, and with the Wind Meteor Sword clenched in his mouth, he released another sword qi towards the grass sprite cat leader.

Whoosh!

A white blade of wind flew forth, tearing through the air.

But this time, the grass sprite cat leader chose not to confront the attack, but instead leapt at high speed to another tree, evading the strike.

The sword qi missed, blasting the original tree into a shambles, yet it had no effect on the grass sprite cat leader.

The grass sprite cat leader did not continue its assault, seemingly preferring to conserve its energy. However, General Ha’s attacks were relentless.

In the next moment, following the trajectory of the grass sprite cat leader, he exerted himself to release a third sword qi, flinging it towards the adversary.

The grass sprite cat’s eyes revealed a mocking expression as it leapt again, dodging with extreme agility; the sword qi missed once more. Its combat prowess was clearly not on the same level as the lower-ranked sprite cats.

“Meow awoo!!!” After completing this dodge, it let out a sharp cry, and in the blink of an eye, a dozen or so sprite cats had assembled, surrounding Lu Ran and General Ha, causing their hearts to skip a beat.

A dozen sprite cats, although none had awakening attributes, were all elite sprite cats ranging from levels 9 to 10.

“This is what I was saying———” This was the last sound Lu Ran made.

“Woof~~ (I will definitely come back!)”

A flash of white light, and as ten seconds passed, at the very moment the grass sprite cat leader ordered the attack and the dozen or so sprite cats pounced in unison, Lu Ran and General Ha were teleported away.

Exclusive room.

Lu Ran and General Ha plopped down onto the ground.

“That was close,” Lu Ran said, still frightened.

Fortunately, these dozen or so sprite cats had not appeared alongside the grass sprite cat leader, or else he and General Ha would have been in grave danger.

But then again, only the grass sprite cat leader had the ability to conceal itself effectively. If they had all come together, General Ha would have undoubtedly detected them earlier.

“What now, still want to take them on?” Lu Ran glanced at General Ha.

“Woof!” General Ha sheepishly put down the sword he had been holding in his mouth, showing clear eyes.

He indicated that he would listen to Lu Ran’s arrangement; to undergo intensive training first and to settle scores later.

For a snowfield dog, revenge can wait even ten years.

“That’s a loss, only charged for just over four hours,” Lu Ran said with a wince.

Reflecting on the ordeal, Lu Ran couldn’t help but think how difficult it was. Even a novice secret realm of simple-level was this challenging. No wonder Xiaobailong had mentioned that soloing was tough.

Under those circumstances, if unable to disengage from combat, Lu Ran could only think of letting General Ha consume a flowfruit and combine it with the divine deer pendant in an attempt for a burst evolution. There seemed to be no better solution.

As for soloing the entire realm…

It looks like Lu Ran would have to wait until General Ha leveled up and mastered the energy flow technique to try again.

The demon cat was incredibly agile, making it hard to hit with sword qi. But mastering the energy flow technique would allow General Ha to release sword qi in rapid succession, likely catching the opponent off guard.

Alternatively…

Mastering the Wind’s Wings to gain air superiority could be another winning strategy.

Unfortunately, General Ha had yet to learn either.

Lu Ran took out two wood scale fruits, bit into one, and tossed the other to General Ha.

It was then that Lu Ran noticed an unusual number of missed communications. Who could they be from?

Lu Ran opened the communication interface on his character card.

Pig Raiser: Is this… Is this making the leaderboard? How did you do it?

Xiaobailong: Awesome, congrats!

Five Poisons Cult Holy Maiden: ?

Five Poisons Cult Holy Maiden: Where are you? You’re not still in the secret realm, are you?

In fact, communication could be used within secret realms, but only between beastmasters who were teamed up and in the same realm.

Lu Ran, being in the secret realm, and others in the outside world, could not contact each other.

Similarly, if Lu Ran were in Infinite City and others were on Blue Star, they wouldn’t be able to connect either.

“Huh?” Lu Ran was a bit confused by the barrage of messages.

“Woof?” General Ha looked on, puzzled.

“We didn’t do that well and even had to rely on weapons, and we still made the divine beast leaderboard? Are you kidding me? How bad are the others?”

“Whine?!” General Ha stood up immediately, the gloom of being toyed with by the demon cat dissipated. What, made the leaderboard? Which place?

“They didn’t say, let me ask.”

Lu Ran replied to Fang Lan: Am in the exclusive room, just came out of the secret realm. So, did General Ha make the leaderboard? I’m getting a lot of messages. No way, we had a rough time in there, nearly got taken out.

Fang Lan replied instantly: I want to hit you! Stop showing off to me! But yes, General Ha did make it onto the leaderboard, ranking tenth. Out of the ten spots, only two are middle supernatural species. And what’s this sword qi thing? Compared to you, those who barely survived a hit from the hard difficulty boss or controlled the boss for ten seconds seem pale in comparison.

Lu Ran: Only tenth, huh…

Originally, Lu Ran didn’t think General Ha could make it onto the leaderboard, but since it had, wasn’t tenth place just the bottom?

Are there already people beating the hard difficulty novice secret realm?

It must have been a team, and probably newcomers from a month ago; otherwise, it’s impossible to progress that fast.

Fang Lan: You’re still not satisfied? You guys made it onto the leaderboard at the lowest level.

Lu Ran chuckled: Really? Now that I think about it, we couldn’t have ranked much higher. We relied on supernatural weapons to fight above our level, which is essentially external help, so we should lose some points for that. I remember the divine beast leaderboard is based on the shining points of battle records to judge a pet beast’s potential, right? General Ha must have made it because it grasped the energy release technique in just two days, which is the key factor.

Fang Lan: So you guys did use a sword-type weapon, huh? People here at Beastmaster Square are saying the same, pfft! They’re calling you unorthodox and flashy.

Lu Ran: Don’t mind them. Did you forget the beast taming skill super beast mimicry I told you about? I didn’t want to learn from Erha, so I had General Ha learn from me… You forgot, when I was learning swordsmanship at the dojo, master called me a super genius! It’s just unfortunate that later I got into shooting, and after learning swordsmanship for two and a half years, I didn’t continue.

Fang Lan: Not wanting to learn from General Ha… Why do I feel like you’re acting more like it than anyone? Teaching a dog swordsmanship is just too much.

Lu Ran: ???

He didn’t want to deal with Fang Lan anymore. Right, where was General Ha? Lu Ran hadn’t noticed any movement from General Ha for a while.

He turned his head and saw General Ha looking dejected, lying in the corner, drawing circles with its paw, muttering about being only tenth and at the bottom of the divine beast leaderboard, remembering this grudge…

Lu Ran sweated. What, do you want to tear down the divine beast leaderboard one day?