King of Beasts

“In any case, this is a great start.”

“Next, we just need to figure out how to turn the enemy’s physical body into a piglet.”

“By that time, we should have a clear idea of how the witch managed to transform Principal Shi Zhen.”

Lu Ran coughed lightly. He felt that to change the physical body, external aid was likely needed!

For example, for the sudden death king to undergo dragon transformation, it would need resources with Dragon’s Bloodline.

Similarly, for the dark crow to curse enemies into pigs, it might need to sacrifice some pig’s blood, pig trotters, pig heads, or pig intestines.

“I’m hungry. Just drinking soup isn’t enough.” Lu Ran sighed, “Only 13 days left, let’s push through!”

“Hey,” Manager Ying looked at Lu Ran mumbling about those 13 days and said, “By the way, I forgot to tell you, you don’t need to rush about the Evolution Secret Realm anymore.”

“Huh?” Lu Ran was taken aback, “Why not?”

Manager Ying smirked, “In this month while you were in the secret realm, infinite city updated with three new Evolution Secret Realms in three different places, opening in 22 days, 29 days, and 40 days… so no rush.”

Lu Ran: ???

“Damn.” Lu Ran couldn’t help but curse, “I’ve been pushing myself so hard to enter the Breakthrough Secret Realm to catch the Evolution Secret Realm in 13 days, and now you tell me suddenly there are several more???”

Manager Ying blinked and said, “Who knows how infinite city updates things.”

“This thing has no clear pattern.”

“But this is a good thing though. This way, each Evolution Secret Realm won’t be so crowded.”

“Everyone can evolve separately, develop peacefully, and have a higher chance of getting rewards.”

Lu Ran was speechless: “I really…”

He shook his head. Well, in that case, there’s indeed no rush anymore. He didn’t even need to hurry the evolution of his three pet beasts together.

After all, the intervals between these Evolution Secret Realms are just a few days.

There’s plenty of time to lay a good foundation for the dark crow.

“I originally planned to let the three pet beasts evolve together in the Evolution Secret Realm 13 days later,” Lu Ran said.

Manager Ying: “Hmm?”

“You sure are confident in their evolution potential.”

“Of course,” Lu Ran said. “I had planned to grab 3 out of the 10 evolution blessing slots simultaneously…”

“Woof!” Nearby, general ha and the sudden death king wore confident expressions.

Although the dark crow didn’t fully understand what was going on, it fixed its feathers with a deep, thoughtful look.

Manager Ying fell silent before saying, “If that’s the case, aren’t you afraid of becoming a global enemy? Those who don’t get the rewards will hate your guts for taking up three spots by yourself.”

Lu Ran shrugged, “It’s not that I want to, but since before there was only one Evolution Secret Realm, and now there are so many, and we don’t have to wait long, let’s evolve separately. Although I’m confident, it’s better to play it safe. If any of the three fail to make it into the top ten, I’ll have nowhere to cry.”

He looked at the sudden death king, general ha, and the dark crow.

“Tsk tsk,” Manager Ying said, “I don’t know whether to call you arrogant or humble.”

“Hehe.” Lu Ran chuckled, “By the way, Manager Ying, do you know the ‘domain’?”

“Why?” Manager Ying glanced at Lu Ran, feeling an ominous premonition.

“I want you to use it a few times. I want to take general ha to observe and learn.” Lu Ran murmured.

As for the sudden death king, with the combination of Dragon Soul, dragon king bloodline trait, artistic conception of the dragon, and the exquisite-level heart of the dragon, Lu Ran was not worried about its dragon transformation at all.

Not to mention becoming an upper sovereign. Lu Ran even dared to think boldly; could the sudden death king possibly become the first overlord species on blue star with this evolution?

If there was anyone in the team whose foundational evolution was the most solid, it was undoubtedly the sudden death king.

If a reliable evolution order were to be determined in the team, the sudden death king would unquestionably be the first to evolve because there would definitely be no issues with it.

As for general ha, with sword soul, the Ultimate Perception Trait, and various sword intents, to be honest, the foundation didn’t seem as strong as that of the sudden death king.

After all, the sudden death king’s rewards were obtained from the Legendary Secret Realm.

But now that there’s plenty of time, Lu Ran suddenly thought about where further improvements might be made.

For example, since general ha has the Ultimate Perception trait that enhances Comprehension, Lu Ran wanted it to first observe and experience the power of the “domain,” which is something only the strong can master.

Who knows, when the time comes for evolution, it might gain even more.

After all, having good Comprehension is useless without the proper vision to match it.

As for the dark crow, even with exquisite pork bones soup and necromancy clones, its setup still felt a bit inferior compared to the sudden death king’s evolution configuration. Now that there was plenty of time, Lu Ran also planned to see if there were any areas that could be improved.

These were activities he initially intended to do within the original 13 days, during which time was undoubtedly tight. But now, with more time, Lu Ran had more options.

If possible, he naturally wanted each pet beast to undergo a perfect evolution.

“It’s only level 30, and you want it to learn the domain…” Manager Ying looked at general ha. Though this dog had impressive Comprehension, it still seemed unrealistic for it to gain anything substantial.

This was tantamount to letting a three-year-old child fly a plane!

“Woof!” General ha furrowed its brow. Are you doubting me?

“Why don’t you have Gu Qingyi teach it? My domain is quite unique and may not be suitable for teaching.” Manager Ying turned away, unwilling to deal with this silly dog.

“She’s obviously very busy,” Lu Ran asserted confidently.

“…” Manager Ying fell silent. The crux of the matter was that its domain was primarily for crowd control and escape, really not suitable for Lu Ran’s pet beasts.

Even if only explaining the theory, different types of skill domains don’t align.

“Manager Ying… pork bones soup…”

“Fine, fine.” Manager Ying knew those bowls of soup Lu Ran had given wouldn’t come for free.

“So that’s what it’s all about.”

Just as Manager Ying reluctantly prepared to agree…

“Meowow, meowow-” Manager Ying’s phone suddenly rang.

Manager Ying frowned and glanced at it.

“Just as we mentioned her, she calls. Her intelligence is sharp, indeed.”

“Ah, I’ve got it.” Manager Ying’s eyes suddenly lit up.

“I’ll find you another excellent mentor, someone far more suitable than me.”

Lu Ran leaned over, curious.

…

“Manager Ying?” A deliberately loud female voice came through on the other end.

“Shi Zhen, what’s up?”

“I just came across news about Lu Ran’s Third Pet, that pet beast with the curse power. It has already fused with the Evil God’s Eye trait, right?”

“How is it going? Has the curse power improved?”

Manager Ying responded, “Yes, it’s made significant progress. I feel like your curse might be lifted soon.”

“I’ve already thought of a method to lift the curse, but Lu Ran insists it’s risky and refuses to try it.”

“Really?!” Principal Shi Zhen’s excited voice echoed.

“No worries, what method? Can anything be worse than my current situation?”

“Here’s the thing-the method is not yet fully developed.”

“Lu Ran has been busy cultivating these pet beasts lately. I think you should come over and personally guide him. He’s still a rookie and unfamiliar with developing such abilities.”

“He initially wanted my guidance, but you know my situation. It’s more efficient for you beastmasters to teach other beastmasters.”

“Besides, you’re now the principal at the beast taming university. Even though you’re a leader, you can’t always stay hidden. It’s time to get involved in some teaching tasks, so you can feel more justified about your paycheck.”

“Huh?” Principal Shi Zhen was momentarily stunned but quickly considered Manager Ying’s suggestion as an opportunity to study the curse power further.

“OK, no problem at all. Where are you guys? I’ll head over as soon as I change back.”

“Green Sea, or if you prefer not to go out, we can meet at infinite city no.3. And there’s no need for any transformations; just come straight over,” Manager Ying said.

“…Alright,” Principal Shi Zhen replied.

“In two hours, infinite city no.3. I’ll meet with Lu Ran first.”

“Settled, then!”

The call ended after a moment.

Manager Ying looked at the silent Lu Ran and said, “So, how about that? Having a big shot like the First Generation as your mentor-impressive, right? Back in his prime, his strength matched that of Gu Qingyi.”

“He not only knows the domain but also excels at it. Besides the domain, he can also provide resources to help you cultivate the dark crow.”

“Though he almost depleted his family fortune to lift the curse, a camel that’s lost weight is still bigger than a horse…”

Lu Ran was speechless. “You really know how to make things happen. I’m impressed.”

“Hmph, after all, I still have to take care of it. How could I have time to teach you?” Manager Ying glanced at the weather elf inside the house. “Now, Principal Shi Zhen can be considered the most available combat-oriented First Generation… very suitable!”

“Alright, alright, then let’s go with that…” Lu Ran pondered. Principal Shi Zhen, huh? Is this reliable?

…

Two hours later.

Lu Ran hadn’t expected that he’d return here so soon after leaving.

At beastmaster square, near a landmark sky-high pillar, Lu Ran, in disguise, looked around cautiously.

Not long after, a handsome, mature lady with black short hair and black-rimmed glasses approached from a distance. Although she was making every effort to disguise her gender and dressed in a masculine style, her delicate face and curvy figure still betrayed her true identity.

“Lu Ran.” Principal Shi Zhen approached and calmly adjusted his glasses. Honestly, he’d been the laughingstock of other First Generation members for quite some time, but a “junior” like Lu Ran probably wouldn’t dare to mock him.

“Hello, Principal…” Lu Ran raised an eyebrow, finding the person unexpectedly attractive.

Ridiculous! Why does she seem even more feminine than girls like Fang Lan and Xia Ri?

Looks like the dark crow’s curse expertise is still lacking. Take a look at this witch; she managed to turn a guy into such a pretty girl.

“Manager Ying must have told you about my situation,” Principal Shi Zhen stated seriously.

“Yes. Thank you for the trait crystal, Principal,” Lu Ran expressed his gratitude.

“It’s nothing.” Shi Zhen replied, “So, what’s the risky curse-lifting method Manager Ying mentioned but you’re unwilling to try?”

“Uh, well…” Lu Ran hesitated, but seeing Shi Zhen’s slightly expectant eyes, he slowly explained, “One of my pet beasts has mastered a ‘pig transformation curse.’ It can potentially turn any living being into a pig. Manager Ying’s plan is to use this curse to override the sex-change curse and then cancel the pig transformation curse to reset everything… But I’m worried that if it fails to override, the two curses might fuse. In that case…”

Shi Zhen: ???

A sow???

Shi Zhen’s eyes turned red. “Darn intelligence dealer!!”

“It’s infuriating,” Shi Zhen’s chest heaved. He knew that intelligence dealer was unreliable. If the method was reasonable, how could Lu Ran object?

“But Principal, this is already a pretty good start. At least we can now engage with more advanced curse power. I believe we will eventually lift the curse,” Lu Ran said.

“You’re right.” Lu Ran’s words resonated deeply with Shi Zhen.

“Enough talk,” Shi Zhen said. “Let’s find a public secret realm so I can take a look at this pig transformation curse.”

“Alright, and Principal Shi Zhen, could you also guide me on the ‘Domain Skill’? I originally wanted Manager Ying to demonstrate it, but she said you would teach me hands-on. Thank you again. You’re too kind,” Lu Ran added.

Shi Zhen: ???

“When did I ever say that!” He exclaimed in shock. Domain Skill, is that something you can teach?

Suddenly, Shi Zhen felt a sinking feeling, realizing that he had certainly been sold out by that cat. No wonder Manager Ying was so eager for him to come over.

Seeing the anticipation in Lu Ran’s eyes, Shi Zhen bit his lip and said, “Alright, it’s been a while since I stretched my muscles. Given the situation, I’ll show you, the so-called Strongest Fourth Generation genius, what a true expert’s domain looks like.”

“Let me introduce you to my – Stone Buddha Domain.”