King of Beasts

After sorting out the situation with Yang Xishuai, Lu Ran began to lead Fang Lan into some serious work.

It took almost a whole morning and part of an afternoon for Lu Ran to familiarize Fang Lan with the poison ecosystem of Green Sea City.

Fang Lan was exhilarated throughout.

By the time dusk approached and the day’s work was finally done, a dark crow perched on a tree in the forest, looking toward Lu Ran, Fang Lan, and the Sudden Death King.

“Sire, I’m here!”

“Ah, so this is the talking crow you mentioned!” Fang Lan exclaimed in surprise upon seeing it.

Generally, crows don’t speak; they can only mimic human speech like parrots. The one in Green Sea City, seemingly due to some peculiar evolution, had developed the ability to speak, much to Lu Ran’s resignation.

“Yes.”

“Dark Crow, I might be leaving Green Sea for a few days. During this time, listen to her and continue to maintain order in Green Sea.”

Lu Ran was about to challenge the abyss secret realm to gather a new trait for General Ha. Before his departure, he gave some instructions.

“Caw caw!”

Lu Ran sighed and added, “Also, take care of this guy for me. Make sure you train him well!”

With that, Lu Ran nudged the Sudden Death King toward the dark crow.

He intended to let the Sudden Death King undergo some natural training, hoping it would emerge stronger.

“Thunder Dragon…” The dark crow squinted upon seeing the Sudden Death King, thinking that the Thunder Dragon, who had always followed the king, was finally stepping up.

“Wow ka…” The Sudden Death King remained silent, knowing that this day would come sooner or later.

It hoped to survive and see Lu Ran and General Ha again…

“Go with peace of mind. If anything happens here, I’ll notify you online,” Fang Lan assured.

Lu Ran intended to challenge the Abandoned Testing Ground secret realm, which required traveling to Infinite City No. 5. The back-and-forth was indeed quite troublesome.

“Alright, I hope I can get the trait soon,” Lu Ran said, scratching his head.

…

With Green Sea City gradually stabilizing, and everything arranged properly, Lu Ran felt confident enough to return to Infinite City.

He had more than a week’s worth of progress to catch up on in his quest in the secret realms.

Currently, there were not many pet beasts with fused traits or awakened second attributes on the divine beast leaderboard in various regions.

Among these two enhancement methods, awakening new attributes was actually more common.

This was because attribute resources were relatively easy to obtain and provided stable improvements.

Although the former method, fusing traits, could significantly boost a beast’s combat prowess and aid its evolution, obtaining trait crystals was exceedingly difficult. Moreover, these crystals needed to match well with the pet beast, which wasn’t something every beastmaster could manage.

Therefore, most beastmasters preferred a steady path rather than taking a gamble.

Before heading to Infinite City No. 5 to challenge the Abandoned Testing Ground, Lu Ran first visited the Forge House in Infinite City No. 3, seeking out Master Lin.

“Ah, it’s you, kid,” Master Lin said, putting down his little yellow book and extinguishing his cigarette.

“Long time no see. Ever since you took that public Boss from the Star Cluster guild, you’ve been off the radar.”

“Well, Blue Star’s spiritual energy has been reviving lately,” Lu Ran said, taking a seat.

“Haha, true enough. Now that Blue Star is brimming with resources, challenging the secret realms in Infinite City isn’t the only way to level up!” Master Lin nodded, “So, this past week must have been fruitful for you?”

Lu Ran smiled slightly, “Indeed, it has been quite fruitful. However, to advance further, I still need to tackle abyssal difficulty secret realms… and breakthrough secret realms.”

Master Lin’s eyes narrowed, “So, you’re finally going?”

“Yes. I came over to see if you could forge a more powerful weapon for me before I challenge the Abyss Secret Realm.”

“Surely…”

“No need for ‘surely.’ Rest assured, I’ll make a rare-level sword for you! It’ll be powerful!”

“Problem is, I don’t have money,” Lu Ran said, with an innocent expression.

Master Lin: ???

“If you have no money, why even bring it up!!!” Master Lin exclaimed in exasperation.

Lu Ran said, “I want to upgrade the Wind Meteor Sword by incorporating some materials to make it a rare-level weapon, but I don’t have the suitable rare materials. Do you have any, Master Lin?”

“I can write you an IOU. I promise to repay you once I come back from the Abyss Secret Realm; I’ll definitely bring back a heap of rare materials…”

Creatures of the commander species often had a chance of dropping rare materials. Therefore, conquering abyssal difficulty dungeons was highly rewarding.

“Geez.” Faced with Lu Ran’s request, Master Lin was left speechless, but in the end, he just shook his head with a smile and said, “Alright, let’s do it your way.”

People with potential and talent often get special privileges anywhere. For a forging master like Master Lin, a few rare materials weren’t hard to come by.

“Any specific requirements?” he asked.

“The weapon’s attack power has to be strong. It would be best if it had ice attributes, and also, incorporate this into it!”

Lu Ran took a bag of high-quality General Ha’s teeth from his space backpack and opened it.

“They are my pet beast’s teeth.”

“Whoa!” Master Lin was stunned. Lu Ran had mentioned using teeth in the weapon before, but seeing him take out over a hundred of Erha’s teeth left him dumbfounded.

“What did you do to your Erha?!” he asked in shock, standing up.

“While enhancing its tooth level, it inevitably went through a tooth replacement phase… I just happened to be more frugal than other beastmasters, knowing the value of saving them,” Lu Ran said without blinking.

Although it was outrageous to have over a hundred teeth, it wasn’t impossible. Not only could the Divine Deer Pendant achieve this, but inviting high-level healing beastmasters or using other healing resources could also make it happen. Lu Ran naturally took them out.

Master Lin was stunned for a moment… then nodded.

“Alright, seeing as there are over a hundred teeth, I’ll use all my lifelong skills to forge an awesome sword for it.”

“Thank you, Master Lin.”

“By the way, let me leave this with you as collateral.” Lu Ran took out the Dragon Blood Crystal he had previously obtained. “I don’t know its exact value, but it’s a rare resource nonetheless.”

“If I don’t make it back from the secret realm, this will cover your loss. If I return safely, I’ll redeem it.”

Although Lu Ran didn’t think he’d meet his end, he felt he needed to show his appreciation for Master Lin’s help.

“Alright,” Master Lin said, not wasting any time. He took the bag of teeth and continued, “Give me three hours. You can wander around nearby in the meantime. Oh, and give me the Wind Meteor Sword.”

“Got it.” Lu Ran handed over the Wind Meteor Sword and chose to stay put instead of wandering around. Once Master Lin left, he revisited the information and strategies related to the Abandoned Testing Ground secret realm.

The Abandoned Testing Ground, rated at abyssal difficulty, is a novice secret realm with a BOSS that is a middle commander species. This BOSS is a level 10 dark-type Demon Bull Commander.

The Abandoned Testing Ground was one of the many experiment sites of the Beast Taming Empire, primarily focusing on biological weapons. The Demon Bull Commander is one such experimental product. It has fused traits related to weapon mastery and wields a rare-level battle axe that enhances its dark powers, making its attacks exceedingly powerful.

The Demon Bull Commander is a ferocious beast with high attack power, moderate defense, and low speed.

This Demon Bull Commander possesses three essential energy manipulation skills: energy flow, energy release, and energy shaping. It has corresponding abilities for each of these techniques.

Not only can it use dark energy to form magic energy armor, but it can also release long-range shockwaves. Overall, its abilities are incredibly versatile.

The most terrifying aspect is that when the Demon Bull Commander hits its last bit of health, it enters a berserk energy flow state, similar to consuming a Flowfruit, to achieve a short burst of extreme power. Its energy flow technique surpasses the other two techniques by far.

Normally, pet beasts of supernatural species would need to team up in groups to stand a chance against it. Back then, when Lu Ran’s senior brother challenged the Demon Bull Commander, it took a team of four carefully synchronized beastmasters to finally bring it down. Moreover, the other three were all highly potential rookies of their initial generation.

Now, Lu Ran planned to challenge it solo, which undoubtedly added a significant level of difficulty. Fortunately, the opponent was just a single Demon Bull Commander, and General Ha might not be completely hopeless.

There was hope in the fact that Lu Ran had an extra energy compression technique compared to his opponent, and he also carried the Divine Deer Pendant.

As long as he could break through the Demon Bull Commander’s defense and use the poison that Fang Lan had gifted him, Lu Ran believed he stood a chance to wear it down slowly.

Lu Ran continuously imagined scenarios in his mind, envisioning every move General Ha could use against the Demon Bull Commander. Merely defeating the Demon Bull Commander wouldn’t suffice; to have a chance for a trait crystal to drop, he needed at least an S rating. Though the drop rate for trait crystals was slightly higher than that for beast taming skills, it wasn’t significantly better…

He couldn’t help but wonder how many times he’d have to fight to obtain a crystal…

Approximately three hours later, Master Lin finally stepped out of the Forge House.

In his hand was the Wind Meteor Sword. Apart from some blue patterns added to the silver base, there didn’t seem to be much change.

“Haha, summon your Erha and try the new weapon!” Master Lin’s tone was noticeably excited.

“Alright!” Lu Ran immediately summoned General Ha, while also casting his gaze upon the sword that had gained some additional patterns from its original design.

[Name]: Ice Sky Greatsword

[Level]: Rare

[Introduction]: Possesses excellent wind and ice energy conduction and enhancement effects, containing mysterious inner power.

Lu Ran looked at the rather modest-looking sword, puzzled by the introduction and especially curious as to why it was called a greatsword.

“Don’t be in such a hurry to doubt. Let him try it out, and you’ll see,” said Master Lin confidently.

With that, he tossed the Ice Sky Greatsword to General Ha.

“Woof!!” General Ha caught the Ice Sky Greatsword and immediately felt that it was a better fit than before.

The sword was now icy cold, like holding a popsicle — quite pleasant.

“General Ha, try to infuse energy into the sword. Remember to infuse, not cover or wrap,” Lu Ran instructed, passing on Master Lin’s directions right away.

Upon hearing this, General Ha’s eyes gleamed with intelligence, and he followed the instructions promptly.

In an instant, General Ha was taken aback.

As he infused energy into the Ice Sky Greatsword, the sword suddenly glowed with a brilliant white light, and a mysterious force surged within it.

In the blink of an eye, as the light unfolded, the shape of the Ice Sky Greatsword began to transform. It morphed from an ordinarily-proportioned oriental sword into a greatsword — a colossal, two-handed sword!

In terms of size, this greatsword seemed to almost match General Ha’s body size. The combination of the two was incredibly imposing.

The white blade emitted an icy blue glow. Despite its gigantic size, General Ha was amazed to find that he felt no weight at all while holding it, nor did he feel any inconvenience!

“Woof!” General Ha was amazed; he could sense a subtle connection with the Ice Sky Greatsword.

“How’s that? The Ice Sky Greatsword! It has two forms: the first is its normal form, which is how it looked initially,” Master Lin explained.

“The second form is the Greatsword Form, which can be activated by the one whose teeth were used to forge it. In the Greatsword Form, the sword’s power multiplies, exhibiting extreme bursts of power and destructiveness, allowing one to take on ten enemies at once! Of course, using this form demands high physical stamina, as the blade continuously absorbs the user’s energy to maintain the form.”

“Want a powerful weapon? There’s always a price to pay.”

“So, do you like it?!” Master Lin asked, looking at General Ha holding the greatsword, feeling a sense of validation seeing another species appreciate his work.

“Woof woof!” General Ha’s mouth curled into a smile. He liked the Greatsword Form more than the normal form; it looked much cooler!

The main thing was that one of the primary materials for the sword was his own teeth, making him feel a special connection to it.

“I think it’s fantastic too,” Lu Ran nodded slightly, smiling with satisfaction. No wonder Master Lin had such a great reputation; teaming up with him for forging was definitely the right move!

The occupation of Forgemaster is truly fascinating. Lu Ran found himself increasingly eager to learn forging and eventually craft a sword for General Ha himself.

“Oh, one more thing. The Greatsword Form has a minor drawback — if you want to call it that. Its increased destructiveness may cause its durability to drop faster, so it requires regular maintenance. But no worries, just replace it with new teeth periodically for repairs. You guys seem to lose teeth quite frequently, right? Shouldn’t be a problem.”

“True, using teeth for repairs is quite convenient,” Lu Ran nodded, not considering it a downside.

General Ha: ???

“Woof woof woof!”