King of Beasts

Maple Park.

Lu Ran was directly teleported here by Manager Ying.

After recalling Sudden Death King and General Ha, he called Fang Lan.

On the other end, Fang Lan spoke up: “I saw your message. Everything went smoothly on my end too!”

After returning, Lu Ran had left a message for Fang Lan.

He told her that everything went smoothly and to contact him in real life if needed.

“Glad to hear that,” Lu Ran scratched his head. “Should I come find you?”

“Sure,” Fang Lan thought for a moment. “Come over quickly, I’ll call my parents too. We’ve been gone for a month, they must be really worried. It’s been a while since we went out to eat together.”

“Alright,” Lu Ran nodded. “But let’s not eat out, I’ll cook.”

“Huh?” Fang Lan was taken aback. “As far as I remember, you usually eat takeout or dine out. The most you’ve ever cooked is dog food…”

“Can you even cook?”

Lu Ran chuckled. “My breakthrough task in the secret realm required me to pass the superior chef assessment from the Gourmet Hunter Association of the Beast Taming Empire. To succeed, I had to hone my cooking skills… Just wait and see.”

Fang Lan was surprised. “A chef? Did you enter a secondary profession secret realm?”

“You…” For a moment, Fang Lan didn’t know whether to say Lu Ran was unlucky or lucky.

Secondary profession secret realms are generally easier and safer, but Lu Ran is a combat type!

Lu Ran said, “I had no choice, but at least I broke through. What was your breakthrough task?”

“To make challengers kill each other. The more you kill, the higher your score,” Fang Lan said softly.

Their tasks were completely different.

Lu Ran: “???”

“Of course, no one dies. The eliminated challengers are sealed in Infinite City, probably taken for treatment. Once the secret realm closes, they’ll be teleported out together.”

“That’s a relief, you scared me,” Lu Ran patted his chest. Fang Lan’s breakthrough task was too intense.

“So, did you get a good score?”

“Not bad, S-level,” Fang Lan said calmly, waiting for Lu Ran’s surprise.

An S-level score in a breakthrough secret realm is harder to achieve than an S-level score in a novice trial secret realm. She had finally made it.

“That’s indeed not bad.” However, the next second, Fang Lan received only a casual “not bad” from Lu Ran.

“What’s your score?” Fang Lan was annoyed; couldn’t he just give a compliment?

“Not bad, SSS,” Lu Ran replied calmly.

Fang Lan: “???”

“SSS?!” Fang Lan was stunned.

“Wait, didn’t you enter a secondary profession secret realm? How did you get SSS?!”

If Lu Ran had entered a combat breakthrough secret realm, she could understand an SSS score. But that wasn’t the case.

“No choice, I might actually be a true all-around genius…” Lu Ran said, troubled. “I’ll be there soon. We can talk more then.”

“I鈥”” On the other end, Fang Lan felt a pang in her stomach. How infuriating!

Soon, Lu Ran arrived at Fang Lan’s place.

At that moment, the Toxin Healer Spider, Xiaolan, was sleeping in a basket. Lu Ran glanced at it and found that it had already reached level 15.

It seemed that Fang Lan had gained quite a bit from her breakthrough secret realm as well.

“Sit!!” After Lu Ran arrived, Fang Lan quickly pushed him onto the sofa. The two began to share their experiences in the breakthrough secret realms.

Upon learning that sword intent and Culinary Intent had commonalities, she and Manager Ying both found Lu Ran’s luck exasperating!

“Unbelievable.”

Fang Lan was starting to suspect that Infinite City was giving Lu Ran special treatment.

After all, the fact that Infinite City had autonomous consciousness had already spread like wildfire.

Of course, no one from any country had yet managed to communicate with Infinite City’s consciousness.

“You’re quite lucky here too! Finding a poison-focused faction isn’t easy.”

“You actually became a Holy Maiden…” Lu Ran was also speechless upon hearing Fang Lan’s experience.

In the breakthrough secret realm, Fang Lan had leveraged her knowledge gap to first join a poison faction, the Gu God Sect, and then solved an incurable poison within the sect.

As a result, showcasing her poison talent, she was directly groomed as their heir, perfectly playing to her strengths.

Indeed, names aren’t given in vain. While she didn’t become the Five Poisons Cult Holy Maiden, becoming the Gu God Sect Holy Maiden was pretty much the same.

“It was alright, but it’s a pity that the Sect Leader Granny is only a level 4 beastmaster, not as strong as the second-generation beastmasters on Blue Star,” Fang Lan sighed. “But the Sect Leader was very kind, providing me with various resources. I almost didn’t want to come back.”

“By the way, the breakthrough secret realm felt so real. How do you think Infinite City manages to do it?”

“Who knows.” Lu Ran noticed that Fang Lan had the same feeling, and couldn’t help but marvel.

Could such a feat be accomplished by a level 100 legend species creature? Lu Ran was skeptical.

Casually creating a world projection and even restoring the Flame Dragon King, an upper overlord species at level 86鈥”these capabilities were simply terrifying.

Moreover, this breakthrough secret realm was just one of the many secret realms Infinite City maintained and created during that period.

What kind of unbelievable power would it take to achieve this?

Lu Ran wondered if, after finding The Stone of the Other Shore related to the death dragon as his mother had hinted, he could uncover some secrets about Infinite City as she had speculated…

“All in all, from this perspective, I had it easier than you!” Fang Lan said with a bright smile. “At least I wasn’t in constant pain while cutting fruit.”

In the Gu God Sect, she was treated as the next Sect Leader, with a steady stream of resources.

If the Gu God Sect were stronger, even stronger than the Star Cluster Guild, Fang Lan would probably challenge Lu Ran to a duel right now.

“Alright, alright.” Lu Ran rolled his eyes, deciding to let Fang Lan have her moment of pride.

Otherwise, if he mentioned that major families across the province were eagerly sending resources to invest in him, and that an overlord giant dragon at level 86 was giving him special treatment, Fang Lan might just feel like giving up.

Comparing oneself to others can indeed be disheartening.

“Ah~ In any case, the breakthrough secret realm was really interesting,” Fang Lan said. “It’s a pity the entry requirements are so strict. The next time we can enter is when our pet beasts reach level 20…”

“Indeed.” Lu Ran chuckled, thinking it was a coincidence. His sudden death king was already level 20, but he definitely wouldn’t be entering another breakthrough secret realm anytime soon.

Besides the potential wait time to match with others, entering consecutive breakthrough secret realms would be too exhausting. He planned to first cultivate General Ha and the sudden death king to their current stage’s peak.

Next, General Ha’s improvement focus would be on leveling up and waiting for the fusion trait.

As for the Sudden Death King, its improvement direction involved learning more skills. Relying solely on Thunder Armor and Thunder Shield was not enough. When facing opponents with rich combat experience, it couldn’t even counterattack, just like when it fought General Ha and was toyed with the entire time. It definitely needed some ranged attack skills.

“Call your godfather and godmother over. I’ll cook later. No need to prepare ingredients; I still have some in my backpack,” Lu Ran said.

“OK, I’ll make the call,” Fang Lan responded.

Since cooking with Culinary Intent was effortless, Lu Ran wasn’t in a hurry to prepare in advance. He lay idly on the sofa and turned on the TV, enjoying a rare moment of relaxation.

At that moment, the TV was broadcasting news about the Beast Taming University.

“After a week of enrollment, the number of beastmasters applying to Beast Taming University has exceeded 100,000.”

“Among them, the combat department has the highest number of applicants, accounting for 60%…”

Beast Taming University offers various departments, including combat, cultivating, medical, history, forging, and research.

Each department is further divided into different specializations.

For example, the cultivating department is divided into nutrition, culinary, cultivation, and breeding. Each student must first choose a major department and then select a specific specialization within it.

Lu Ran and Fang Lan, who were busy challenging the breakthrough secret realm during this period, had early on asked Zhao Chen to contact Xiaobailong and help them pre-register.

Fang Lan chose the toxicology specialization under the medical department.

Lu Ran, on the other hand, chose the weapon forging specialization under the forging department.

Of course, these were just preliminary choices. If a student proved exceptionally talented and quickly mastered their chosen field, they could easily take elective courses in other specializations.

The school naturally wouldn’t restrict students from pursuing diverse development.

For instance, after finishing his forging studies, Lu Ran might still take electives in the cultivating department.

Don’t be fooled by how delicious Lu Ran’s dishes are now; it’s all thanks to the advantage of Culinary Intent.

Typically, he would handle extremely simple ingredients, add a bit of seasoning, and then infuse Culinary Intent鈥”that was the entirety of Lu Ran’s cooking process.

But truly remarkable chefs, like Yan Sizhen, could use a dozen different ingredients in combination, perfectly bringing out their nutritional value and flavor. This expertise falls under nutrition studies, an area Lu Ran clearly had not ventured into.

The same principle applies to forging. To create high-quality weapons, one can’t rely solely on the special nature of flames. The reactions between different supernatural minerals, the methods of smelting them, and their compatibility with various species鈥”all need to be learned from scratch.

Lu Ran had realized that to cultivate General Ha and the Sudden Death King effectively, he would likely have to go through a more grueling learning process than his senior year of high school. He had been lucky to skip from sophomore year directly to university, but now it seemed he had to catch up on everything he had missed.

However, as he had anticipated, the combat department remained the most popular despite these flashy specializations.

Lu Ran guessed that the daily routine in the combat department would mostly involve intense training. Whether it was improving the physical fitness of beastmasters and their pet beasts or using various methods to help pet beasts develop skills, daily training would be essential.

Of course, enrolling in the combat department didn’t mean you could skip other subjects. Basic courses like the history of the Beast Taming Empire and foundational nutrition studies were likely mandatory for everyone, although the depth and focus of study would vary.

“They’re on their way,” Fang Lan said, coming out of the room after making the call. She glanced at the TV and asked, “By the way, the Freshman Tournament starts in two days, right?”

“Yes, but it’s just the preliminaries,” Lu Ran nodded. “We’ll have to go to Jinling for a preliminary round.”

The school had anticipated a large number of participants for the tournament, so they planned to use the preliminaries to screen out many of the less capable contestants.

During the preliminaries, the school would set up exam centers in various provinces. Using an interview and assessment format, they would filter out those eligible for the main competition.

Lu Ran had heard that the general procedure involved having a third-generation beastmaster, who would soon be employed at Beast Taming University, act as the examiner at each exam center. Their pet beasts would test the strength of the contestants’ pet beasts.

Third-generation beastmasters’ pet beasts were all over level 30, and they had more than one. Testing the strength of fourth-generation beastmasters’ pet beasts would naturally be no challenge for them, even if they had to assess dozens or hundreds of contestants in a row.

Therefore, the preliminary rounds would progress very quickly.

The examiners would give each candidate a comprehensive score. Based on these estimated scores, a group of candidates would be selected to advance directly to the main competition.

In the main competition, the number of participants would be significantly reduced. Those who advanced would be eligible to receive the resource packages prepared by the school.

These participants, considered the “elite newcomers” by the school, would receive special training based on their final rankings in the main competition.

To this, Lu Ran found it quite troublesome. Couldn’t they just directly send the divine beast leaderboard contestants to the main competition? Why bother going to Jinling for a preliminary assessment… Sigh…

Before long, Father Fang and Mother Fang hurried over, having put their work aside.

Once they arrived, they almost wanted to strip Fang Lan down to check if she had any injuries.

Initially, they had agreed with Dr. Gu’s suggestion to let Fang Lan focus on her studies at Beast Taming University, building a solid foundation before exploring secret realms.

However, due to Fang Lan’s exceptional performance in the arena and Lu Ran’s even more extraordinary achievements—clearing the abyss secret realm as easily as drinking water—they eventually felt reassured to let Lu Ran lead Fang Lan in challenging the secret realms.

“We’re just glad you two are safe,” Father Fang and Mother Fang sighed in relief. They knew that Lu Ran and Fang Lan were now star figures among fourth-generation beastmasters, but as parents, they couldn’t help but worry about their children. Their support didn’t diminish their concern.

After all, news reports often featured stories about prodigies encountering major setbacks, constantly reminding newcomers to stay cautious.

“See! I told you it was fine!” Fang Lan tidied her hair and clothes, feeling helpless.

“If it weren’t for Lu Ran helping you improve your abilities, you would have been in trouble long ago!”

After learning about Lu Ran and Fang Lan’s experiences in the breakthrough secret realm, Fang Lan’s mother Su Ya was puzzled. She said, “In the dramas I usually watch, the heroine just cooks, arranges flowers, and does embroidery, serving as a beautiful ornament while the hero goes out to fight and enhance his strength…”

“But in our case, Xiao Ran went to the cooking secret realm, while Lanlan entered such a harsh secret realm…”

“Something seems off here.”

“Well…” Father Fang Yuhang was puzzled too. He pondered and said, “Maybe the trend now is to go against the norm. But since Xiao Ran’s culinary skills have improved in the breakthrough secret realm, we definitely need to taste his cooking.”

“But speaking of which, becoming a beastmaster is really difficult. You both are already level 1, and I still haven’t received my black card.” Father Fang was still troubled, as he had not yet become a beastmaster, making him feel like a fake veterinarian.

“Don’t worry, Dad. The research department at Beast Taming University now offers cultivation studies.”

“With so many talented people joining, there’s a chance that someone might figure out how to open a beast taming space without needing a black card!” Fang Lan comforted him.

Beastmasters from the Star-Moon Continent could open beast taming spaces on their own without a black card and cultivate their beast taming system.

Challengers who entered the Star-Moon Continent had brought back cultivation methods, but due to some individual differences, humans from the blue star could not cultivate in the same way as those from the Star-Moon Continent.

Nevertheless, from the perspective of various national governments, the cultivation system of the Star-Moon Continent was something that had to be continuously researched.

Relying solely on black cards made some people feel insecure. Even though supernatural power originally came from Infinite City, some still hoped to break free from this dependency, even if it meant a slower leveling-up process.

Previously, a group of elite researchers was responsible for studying this. Now, with the increasing number of beastmasters, Beast Taming University had also established related majors, aiming to gather more talents to specifically research various beast taming skills and methods for opening beast taming spaces.

“Let’s hope so!” Father Fang shook his head, not holding out much hope.

“Xiao Ran is the best. It doesn’t matter anymore whether I become a beastmaster or not,” Father Fang said, satisfied as he looked at Lu Ran.

After becoming the King of Green Sea, Lu Ran had selected two familiar supernatural creatures from Green Sea and given them to Father Fang and Mother Fang as bodyguards.

He gave Father Fang an electric mouse.

And for Mother Fang, he gave an earth-type big cat, a subordinate of one-eared.

So, although they didn’t appear to be beastmasters, they also had their own pet beasts.

“Alright, alright, he’s the best,” Fang Lan conceded, feeling that telepathy was truly cheating. Why couldn’t she awaken a superpower?

“Haha, I’ll go make dinner now,” Lu Ran said as he stood up. During his superior assessment, he had hunted a lot of ingredients, including a pile of Dragon Fish. He and General Ha had spent several hours fishing.

Today… he would prepare an entire fish feast for Fang Lan and her family!

Sashimi and grilled fish were on the menu!

“General Ha, come out and help with the sashimi and fruit platter!” Lu Ran called out, much to the shock of Fang Lan, Father Fang, and Mother Fang.

“Wait, wait a minute!” Fang Lan couldn’t help but climb off the sofa. “Why is General Ha helping, and what do you mean by it making sashimi?”

“I told you, sword intent equals culinary intent. So, it’s not strange that General Ha, who knows sword intent, can cook. It prepared the dishes for the superior assessment. Don’t worry, the examiners from the Gourmet Association all praised it. You won’t get a stomach ache!” Lu Ran reassured them about General Ha’s cooking skills.

Wind-type cooking was certainly more reliable than poison-type beastmaster cooking; it was pure natural energy.

“Uh…” Fang Lan and the others were dumbfounded, and their anticipation for the upcoming feast plummeted.

It wasn’t about the quality of the cooking; it was the oddity of eating food prepared by an Erha!

“Woof!”

General Ha emerged, sighed, and headed straight into the kitchen without looking back. In this world, it was hard enough being a dog that cooked, and now it was being despised… It would remember this grudge!

It decided to enhance the Blizzard Culinary Intent!

Half an hour later.

General Ha peeked out from behind the kitchen door, watching Fang Lan, Father Fang, and Mother Fang devour the food alongside a bunch of eager pet beasts. It smirked disdainfully.

It preferred the contemptuous looks from earlier! Look at them now, eating so heartily!

“This is amazing! So delicious!”

“Xiao Ran, it seems like you and General Ha could be professors in the culinary department!”

“Yes, that’s the plan, but let’s talk about it after I officially enroll,” Lu Ran said with a smile as he walked out of the kitchen. Attending school while earning a salary sounded great to him. As for the cultivating department… he would enroll as a teacher or professor and continue his studies!

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