King of Beasts

That day, Lu Ran did not continue to challenge the secret realms.

Although each venture into the secret realms yielded significant rewards, both his and General Ha’s energy were limited.

However, tomorrow, Lu Ran planned to strike while the iron was hot and explore the Mantis Jungle secret realm.

For the foreseeable future, he decided to alternate challenges between Blizzard Mountain and Mantis Jungle.

He would challenge at least one of these secret realms every day.

Until the resources obtained were enough to enhance General Ha beyond further improvement.

First, through the Blizzard Mountain secret realm, General Ha would transform the ordinary Force of Cold Wind into a more formidable force.

Then, as Dr. Gu had suggested, he would try to transform the fierce beast’s sword momentum into the Blizzard Sword Momentum.

Next, he would use the Blade Grass from the Mantis Jungle to continuously strengthen the cutting properties of General Ha’s wind energy.

Using the Wing of the Mantis, he would enhance General Ha’s sensitivity to the Force of Cold Wind.

With the metal Heart of the Bug, he aimed to enhance General Ha’s sharp teeth, hoping to bring them to a high quality so that the swords crafted would be even more powerful.

Once General Ha had fully utilized these resources, and its corresponding attributes could no longer be enhanced by these lower-level resources, Lu Ran estimated that challenging an abyssal difficulty secret realm with the Wind Meteor Sword wouldn’t be a problem.

“Eat up, eat a lot. You might not be able to tomorrow,” Lu Ran said to General Ha.

General Ha: ???

“Woof!” It, General Ha, was not easily frightened!

…

“Treat yourself to a good meal.”

After having its fill, General Ha went to sleep and rest in the black card.

Today, Lu Ran didn’t eat its food.

Although he felt like he owed a huge debt, no matter what, with 8000 crystal coins now in his account, he was truly a wealthy man.

Moreover, with the upcoming settlement of the divine beast leaderboard, another large sum of crystal coins would pour in. Lu Ran felt that while he could save on some details, he could not skimp on improving his own strength.

He decided to visit a restaurant in Infinite City to try some dishes made from unique ingredients found in the secret realms.

These dishes, which generally provided a good enhancement to a beastmaster’s attributes, were worth the expense.

And, Lu Ran planned to make a trip to the House of Forging to inquire whether the Wind Dog’s Fangs could be used as material for forging weapons.

House of Forging.

Before long, Lu Ran arrived at the location.

Seeing the door open during business hours, Lu Ran breathed a sigh of relief and entered directly.

At that moment, Master Lin had no customers and was engrossed in a risqué manga titled Love of the Beast-Eared Maid. Sensing someone enter, he smoothly stuffed the manga underneath the counter and looked up at the visitor.

“Damn.” However, upon seeing who it was, he immediately stood up, slamming his hand on the desk and staring wide-eyed at Lu Ran.

“It’s you!”

If there was anything Master Lin regretted recently, it was not adding that quirky beastmaster who had come to have a sword forged for his dog as a friend.

Had Lu Ran disappeared afterwards, not adding him wouldn’t have mattered.

But as Lu Ran later took a strong position at the top of the divine beast leaderboard, Master Lin immediately realized that the young man who had come to his shop to have a weapon forged was undeniably a monstrous newcomer.

With only seven supernatural divine beast leaderboards in Xia Country, and Lu Ran being first in Infinite City No.3, it at least indicated that his potential was among the top ten of all fourth-generation beastmasters in the country.

Such a super newcomer was definitely worth befriending early on.

“Master Lin, long time no see,” Lu Ran grinned.

“You… actually made it to the top of the divine beast leaderboard, and you really managed that combat style,” Master Lin said. “When I forged that weapon for you, I never imagined this.”

“Ha-ha, just luck, just luck,” Lu Ran laughed. “Master Lin, my visit today is mainly to consult about weapon forging.”

“What, you think the Wind Meteor Sword is too low-level, and you want to level it up?” Master Lin asked.

“At the beginner stage, an advanced weapon is quite sufficient. A higher-level weapon, unless it’s a top-tier among top-tier, usually has some power requirements that make it difficult to handle.”

“It’s not about changing weapons, but it’s similar. I’m asking in advance,” Lu Ran said. “I want to know if it’s possible to incorporate this material into the forging of a sword.”

Saying this, Lu Ran took out the Wind Dog’s Fangs.

He placed them on the table.

“I don’t need it to enhance the sword’s level or power; as long as it can be perfectly integrated without affecting the other functions and quality of the sword,” Lu Ran said.

“This…” Master Lin picked up one of the Wind Dog’s Fangs that Lu Ran had set down and observed it carefully. “Is this your pet beast’s tooth?”

“You want to incorporate this into a weapon to increase its compatibility and connection with the weapon?”

Lu Ran was taken aback.

“Uncle, you really know your stuff.”

Master Lin laughed heartily: “Across the whole of Xia Country, my forging skills are ranked in the top 10. How could I not know these little tricks of you newcomers?”

“There’s no problem,” he continued. “When you’re ready to forge a new weapon, just come to me. I guarantee you won’t find any faults.”

“It’s just a pity, the cultivation level of your pet beast’s fangs isn’t high. Otherwise, integrating them could potentially strengthen the sword… But then again, it uses a sword, so why cultivate its teeth? No matter how strong the teeth and claws are, they can’t compare to a weapon formed by combining various rare materials.”

Hearing this, Lu Ran said, “So, you mean that if I could provide higher-grade fangs, these could also be used as the main material for forging weapons?”

Master Lin nodded, “Of course. A good Forgemaster always crafts the most suitable weapon for the user based on the materials provided. I’m not like those rookies who only know how to mass-produce standardized weapons.”

“Great! I’ll prepare the materials and come visit when it’s time,” Lu Ran declared.

The Heart of the Bug from the Mantis Secret Realm might enhance General Ha’s tooth grade, which was already part of the plan.

“Hey, don’t rush off. Did you ask me last time where to learn forging?”

“Yes…” Lu Ran looked at him.

“Didn’t I recommend you go to the Beast Taming University? If you’re really interested, you can come. Originally, the officials invited me to teach at the Beast Taming University, but I was too lazy to go. However, they offered too much later on, so I might also go there as a professor.”

“When you come, I can teach you forging personally.”

“Since your pet beast is accustomed to using weapons, nothing beats a weapon forged by its own beastmaster,” Master Lin chuckled.

“When the time comes, I’ll give you special treatment. Besides the basic lessons… I’ll teach you some tricks you can’t learn at school.”

“Really?” Lu Ran’s eyes lit up.

“Of course!”

Talents are privileged wherever they go. Seeing Lu Ran’s potential, Master Lin, a standout in the occupation of Forgemasters, began to take a liking to him. He felt proud as a Forgemaster whose weapons were wielded so effectively by his clients.

“I’ll consider applying to the forging department then,” Lu Ran said.

“That’s fine, but if you do decide to study forging, make sure your second pet beast is of the fire attribute.”

“Uh…” Lu Ran felt a bit embarrassed. The sudden death king was already of the thunder attribute; what to do.

It wasn’t possible to awaken a fire attribute in General Ha or the sudden death king…

Just as Lu Ran was about to delve deeper into the topic of fire attribute pet beasts,

Suddenly, footsteps were heard from outside.

A gloomy-faced young man in black walked into the House of Forging.

“Uncle Lin, Passerby A, the one at the top of the divine beast leaderboard, did he forge weapons here?”

“I heard it from people in the guild… do you have his information?”

The entrance of the young man in black interrupted the conversation between Master Lin and Lu Ran.

Lu Ran “hmmed” and looked at the young man, who was about the same age as himself.

Was this guy looking for him?

“Hmm?” The entrance of the young man in black made Master Lin pause.

Why had this kid come here, he wondered…

“Do you have a guest?” The young man in black saw Lu Ran and said, “Then Uncle Lin, you go ahead.”

“Are you looking for me?” Lu Ran asked him.

This question made the young man in black stiffen, incredulously looking at Lu Ran, and said, “You are Passerby A?”

“I am. And who might you be?” Lu Ran asked, though he already had a guess seeing the guild badge on the other’s chest… the Star Cluster Guild, perhaps?

“Damn, I finally found you!” Pluto, who had been holding back, finally let out a sigh of relief.

“I’m Pluto, the second on the divine beast leaderboard.”

Lu Ran was speechless, instantly knowing the other’s intentions.

“Ha ha ha ha.” At this point, Master Lin laughed and said, “I have collaborations with the major guilds, often supplying them with equipment and props for dungeon strategies. When I saw you topping the leaderboard, I boasted that the weapon you used was also forged by me, and it turns out someone really did come looking.”

“What’s the matter, kid, not happy about losing the top spot?” Master Lin looked at Pluto.

Pluto replied, “A bit, yes, but I’ll be back on top soon. However, the divine beast leaderboard ranking doesn’t really mean much. I still want to challenge you in the arena and see who is better.”

He turned to Lu Ran and said, “Interested? I won’t bully you. Let’s wait until your pet beast reaches level 10 and has integrated its trait, then we can fight.”

It was like laying down a challenge in advance.

Pluto was very serious, mainly because after being pushed to second place, he had been ridiculed by the seniors in his guild for a long time. Although he knew it was all in jest, it still bothered him.

He couldn’t understand how a dog could potentially have more potential than his Thunder Eagle.

“What if I don’t want to fight you? I’m not interested,” Lu Ran said flatly.

“What?” Pluto was stunned. “How could you not want to fight?”

“I plan to challenge two or three secret realms every day. I’m already tired enough. I don’t have the energy,” Lu Ran said, brushing him off.

Two or three secret realms a day?

Both Master Lin and Pluto were slightly taken aback. Do you have too much energy?

A light flashed in Pluto’s eyes, understanding why Lu Ran was so formidable. It seemed he too needed to challenge three secret realms a day…

“I won’t let you fight for nothing! There will be a wager. If you can beat me, you can name your terms.”

“If you lose, I don’t need anything from you,” Pluto said. “The materials you explode from the secret realms might not be as rare as what I can offer.”

“What?” Lu Ran was also taken aback, staring at the young man who was about his age.

Is this kid silly?

The foolish son of a wealthy landlord?

Why is he so eager to give away resources?

“Really?” Lu Ran asked.

“If I win, and I ask for a thunder awakening fruit, can you provide it?”

Pluto chuckled and said, “No problem.”

Lu Ran inwardly cursed, realizing he was dealing with a rich fool. But wait, was he missing out on something?

Why didn’t he hesitate at all…

“Competing in the arena isn’t out of the question!” At this moment, Lu Ran’s expression quickly changed, and he smiled, “When I have time, I’ll contact you. Should we add each other as friends first?”

Great, a sudden death king’s attribute awakening fruit for free? No wonder Fang Lan spends all his time happily in the arena. Isn’t this faster than making money in secret realms?

Thanks to the bounty of the star cluster! May the stars protect you!

If only the top rankers from the other six cities in Infinite City were all rich fools too, he’d top all six leaderboards in one go… harvesting a wave of resources. But that would probably make him public enemy number one, Lu Ran thought, shaking his head.