King of Beasts

Since learning from Manager Ying that the Fishman Empire wouldn’t be coveting the Green Sea anytime soon, Lu Ran refocused his thoughts on the Evolution Secret Realm.

“Are you planning to teleport directly via Infinite City, or are you considering an actual trip abroad to Antarctica?”

Manager Ying adjusted her fur, asking with slight irritation.

“Is there a difference?”

Lu Ran replied, “Whichever is more convenient.”

“Of course, Infinite City teleportation is more convenient. However, after the spiritual energy rebirth, there are many places in Antarctica very suitable for ice-type pet beasts.”

“The natural energy is more abundant and it’s better than most ice-type secret realms.”

“Moreover, a First Generation beastmaster from Xia Country who has nurtured a new pet beast will lead a group of ice-type beastmasters on an expense-paid trip to Antarctica. I think it might be a good experience for you and your Erha.”

“Even though it’s not ice-type, it can still be considered half an ice-type due to its Blizzard Sword Intent.”

“It will probably be very happy there.” Despite Manager Ying’s disdain for dogs, she always provided intelligence related to Lu Ran promptly.

“Is that so?” Lu Ran looked towards General Ha, who was still tirelessly practicing the sword domain in the distance.

After a week and dozens of lucid fruits, General Ha had comprehended the “second stage of energy flow,” but it was still far from mastering the sword domain.

Taking it to Antarctica for some relaxation didn’t sound like such a bad idea.

A simulated blizzard environment couldn’t compare to the natural energy-rich areas of Antarctica, filled with ice and wind energy.

After some thought, Lu Ran said, “Alright, I’ll look into what special places there are in Antarctica.”

“I’m just worried about being assassinated…”

“Are you coming?” he asked his personal bodyguard.

“Me?” Manager Ying shook her head and replied, “No! Anyway, with Xia Country’s First Generation leading, let him protect you.”

“He’s stronger than me.”

“Just go already.”

“Actually, I do want to take the weather elf with me. If I go by myself, entering Infinite City, no one will be there to look after it.”

Manager Ying fumed, really being treated like a nanny.

A pet beast born just a week ago, going on a trip? Just let it sleep at home!

Lu Ran didn’t give Manager Ying a chance to refuse and continued immediately, “Which First Generation is it?”

“What new pet? Is it powerful?”

“Not bad,” Manager Ying replied with a curled lip.

“It’s Zhu Kaixin, with the Infinite City ID Pig Deity. He recently nurtured an ice pig king. Apparently, because of it, he has obtained an ice-type, time-type trait.”

“If successfully nurtured, his combat power should rank among the top First-Generation beastmasters in Xia Country.”

Him, huh.” Although Lu Ran had never met him, he knew of him. Zhu Kaixin, also known as the Boar of the Twelfth Branch, was an idol among the Xia Country Beast Taming Alliance’s twelve branches.

His background was also in pig raising. Rising from an ordinary pig raiser, he became a prominent figure among the First-Generation beastmasters-no small feat.

He was quite an eccentric character.

Raising pigs to an art form, every pet beast he contracted was a pig.

Pigs of various attributes.

A truly dedicated individual.

Some even suspected that he had mastered some beast taming skill for “Pig Species Enhancement.”

…

The next two days passed peacefully.

When the time arrived, Lu Ran and Manager Ying began packing their bags, preparing to head to the Sky City airport.

By the time they reached the airport waiting room, it was already filled with many beastmasters.

First to Fourth Generations were present.

Some were purely there for tourism, while others were also planning to enter the Evolution Secret Realm and do some sightseeing along the way.

“Isn’t that Lu Ran?”

“Hey, Manager Ying is here too?”

Both Lu Ran and Manager Ying were well-known figures in the beast taming domain of Xia Country. The former was the Strongest Fourth Generation, while the latter was Xia Country’s most famous intelligence dealer.

As Lu Ran and Manager Ying walked into the waiting room, looking for something to eat, a chubby young man who had been chatting nearby suddenly interrupted his conversation and walked over, squinting.

“Hey, Manager Ying, you’re here.”

“This must be the big shot Passerby A. Nice to meet you, I’m Pig Deity.” The chubby young man smiled and greeted them.

“Not at all, I’m just a newbie; you’re the real big shot,” Lu Ran replied politely.

“No, no, no, I’m just a few years ahead in beast taming; I don’t qualify as a big shot. You’re the real big shot, standing out among millions of fourth-generation beastmasters,” Zhu Kaixin humbly remarked.

Although he might rank in the top 100 among first-generation beastmasters, the number of first-generation beastmasters is inherently small. His accomplishments, on a global scale, are relatively modest.

But Lu Ran was different. He was a true figure of prominence, garnering worldwide attention.

“No, no, it’s thanks to the guidance of the first-generation big shots. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be where I am today…”

“Come on, you two! Enough with the pleasantries already; cut it out,” Manager Ying interrupted helplessly.

The surrounding beastmasters also chuckled, wanting to get acquainted with Lu Ran. This was a characteristic of Xia Country.

“Hahaha.” Zhu Kaixin laughed, “Lu Ran, let’s sit together in the VIP cabin later so we can chat properly.”

“Come on, let me introduce you to a few other big shots…”

“Sure, sure.”

Lu Ran smiled wryly, regretting coming to the waiting room for food. So troublesome… all Manager Ying’s fault, saying the Chef here was good.

What followed was a continuous exchange of business cards.

Finally, when Lu Ran felt he couldn’t take any more, it was time to board. Zhu Kaixin whisked him into a two-person VIP cabin.

In the private space, Zhu Kaixin began to speak more confidentially, “Lu Ran, you’re planning to evolve your Dragon Lizard this time, right?”

“You solo-cleared the Loong-type Legendary Secret Realm; you should be confident in achieving dragon transformation, right?”

“Sort of,” Lu Ran replied modestly, “It depends on luck; can’t say for sure.”

“Don’t be modest. I’m looking forward to seeing your giant dragon crush those dinosaurs from the Eagle Federation,” Zhu Kaixin said. “This time, a lot of media is stationed in Antarctica, and some even plan to follow you into the secret realm just to get firsthand evolution information…”

Lu Ran grumbled, “These people… always stirring up trouble.”

“No choice,” Zhu Kaixin finally revealed his true intention, “By the way, Lu Ran, are you researching the power of curse with your sister? Your new pet beast should have mastered curse power, right?”

Lu Ran: “…”

What’s with the whole “sister” thing?

Referring to Principal Shi Zhen?

“Yes,” Lu Ran confirmed.

“Seriously, I think Shi Zhen’s got it all wrong. Rather than trying to change back, he could totally adapt to his new female body and rediscover his peak strength. Don’t you agree?”

Zhu Kaixin seemed quite regretful: “There are already so few women among the First Generation. Having a good buddy suddenly turn into a beautiful girl is a wonderful thing, yet he’s all determined to retire…”

“But I didn’t expect that your third pet beast wouldn’t be the egg brought back by the former guild leader…”

“Lu Ran, are you interested in Time-type pet beasts?”

“Um?” Lu Ran was startled for a moment, “Of course.”

Globally, beastmasters who have mastered the power of time are even rarer than those whose pet beasts have domain abilities.

Lu Ran dared to let General Ha learn the power of space but didn’t dare touch the power of time, mainly because the related resources were too scarce; the difficulty of nurturing was off the charts.

“To be honest, I’ve obtained a Time-type ice trait that can give ice-based powers the effect of freezing an entire area for a period.”

“I’m planning to use it to nurture a new pet beast. When my ice pig gives birth someday, I’ll give you one of its offspring!”

Lu Ran: ??? What would I do with your piglet?

Lu Ran initially thought Zhu Kaixin was going to give him that ice trait!

“What do you mean?” Lu Ran’s mouth twitched, sensing another motive behind Zhu Kaixin’s offer.

“Hehe,” Zhu Kaixin chuckled, “After I finish nurturing this ice pig, I’m planning to see if I can raise a Loong-type pig next. I’ll be counting on your help then.”

“No problem,” Lu Ran said, “Just provide the ingredients, and I’ll take care of cooking the Dragon Cuisine.”

“Good brother! In the future, if you run into any trouble, just come to me. I’ll handle it!” Zhu Kaixin patted his chest, which was even more exaggerated than the gender-swapped Principal Shi Zhen’s.

“By the way, where did you get that ice trait?” Lu Ran asked curiously.

“Oh, that,” Zhu Kaixin said, “I got it by defeating a boss in a public secret realm. Let me tell you all about it…”

“The strength of wild bosses in public secret realms isn’t necessarily higher than abyssal difficulty or legendary difficulty bosses, but the types of bosses are very random and not fixed. The rewards are also highly random, just like those in breakthrough secret realms. So, if you have some free time, don’t waste it in abyss secret realms. Instead, focus on hunting wild bosses in public secret realms,” Zhu Kaixin advised.

“If you can’t keep an eye on it yourself, ask others to help monitor for you. As soon as you get news, rush to slice the boss with your sword. The more you try, the higher the chance you’ll get a unique and rare trait.”

“Hey, do you know what trait I want the most?” Zhu Kaixin asked.

“What is it?”

“A luck-enhancing trait! A trait that boosts your luck! Although I’m not sure if it exists, it would be amazing to nurture an auspicious pig. Even if it doesn’t have much combat power, it would be incredibly valuable in a place like Infinite City with its trial mechanism. Over time, we’d be swimming in rare resources.”

“You’re quite the dreamer,” Lu Ran laughed. “Since Infinite City has consciousness, you’d be better off praying to it every day for good fortune rather than relying on luck-enhancing traits.”

The two chatted for quite a while. Despite the gap in strength between First Generation and Fourth Generation beastmasters, they were both young, and finding common ground in conversation wasn’t difficult. Plus, Lu Ran’s identity wasn’t that different from the First Generation.

Moreover, Zhu Kaixin was clearly a chatterbox who spoke freely and openly about everything. Lu Ran learned a lot of information from him that he hadn’t seen online or heard from other First and Second Generation beastmasters.

“This time in the Evolution Secret Realm, I think only the two of us from Xia Country have a real shot at competing for those ten spots,” Zhu Kaixin speculated.

“The new pet beasts of others don’t seem that impressive,” he shrugged.

“Thank the former guild leader! You Fourth Generation folks have had a good environment for growth. The Second and Third Generations only had it slightly better than the First Generation, nowhere near as comfortable as your lot,” Zhu Kaixin commented.

“Really?” Lu Ran asked, “Why do you say that?”

With a surprised expression, Zhu Kaixin suddenly grew excited, “You don’t know? No one told you? Come! Let me explain!”

Lu Ran leaned in, eager to listen. He loved hearing gossip.

“The first-generation beastmasters from Xia Country had a lot of impressive figures at the beginning. After all, we have a large population, but with more people come dirty dealings, you know?” Zhu Kaixin explained.

“For instance, back then, resources from various public secret realms were tightly controlled by powerful beastmasters. Infinite City didn’t intervene and even tacitly allowed this behavior of older generations exploiting the newer ones.”

“Although this issue still exists today, it’s much better. The Alliance has opened up many public secret realms, and there are now various channels to access resources in special public secret realms. But back then, nothing like that existed. Resources were heavily monopolized and concentrated at the top.”

Lu Ran wasn’t too surprised and asked, “So, what led to the change?”

With a grin, Zhu Kaixin continued, “It was our current former guild leader. He wanted to enter a public secret realm to get some resources, but he faced obstacles everywhere. In the end, this old man clashed with several organizations and was even targeted in real life.”

“The result? This old man ended up taking down over a dozen first-generation beastmasters all by himself. Quite impressive, right?”

“Who could have thought such a fierce individual was hiding among the first generation, completely unseen? His strength didn’t match his age at all. After that, his position as the strongest first-generation beastmaster in Xia Country was firmly established.”

“Shi Zhen, Gu Qingyi, Lin Nian, and our current batch of first-generation beastmasters were actually a bit antisocial and didn’t mix well with factions back then. They focused solely on strategizing for secret realms. But after that old man took down those first-generation beastmasters, the beast taming domain in Xia Country needed leaders. So we had to step up and take on various roles.”

“And that old man, due to his overwhelming strength, was more of a free-spirited type. But under multiple invitations, he was forced to assume the position of the guild leader.”

“Oh, speaking of that time, it was pretty boring. You never went to university, so you wouldn’t know the atmosphere among that batch of first-generation beastmasters. They were like a student council in a not-so-great university, abusing their little bits of power, with rampant bureaucratic behavior. They even got so arrogant that they disregarded human lives and thought too highly of themselves. In the end, they crossed paths with a real tough guy,” Zhu Kaixin said with a chuckle.

Lu Ran took a sharp breath, genuinely impressed. No wonder Manager Ying mentioned that the old man was the strongest in the country, even surpassing superhuman Lin Nian. His achievements had the flavor of an unyielding novel protagonist – just an older version.

So the reason he hadn’t experienced many difficulties himself was that someone had already dealt with that troublesome batch. Infinite City wouldn’t have randomly chosen an old man as a beastmaster; the former guild leader must have something unique about him.

Lu Ran continued to delve deeper into their conversation with Zhu Kaixin, feeling like he had become a true gossip enthusiast. Compared to Manager Ying, who was supposed to be an intelligence master, Zhu Kaixin truly lived up to the title!

Next, Zhu Kaixin shared insights into the international landscape, discussing how second-generation beastmasters in other countries were competing with first-generation beastmasters for resources and status.

However, due to the long journey, Lu Ran couldn’t chat endlessly. When he got tired of talking, he headed to another VIP cabin to rest.

Until…

“We’ve arrived. We’re in Antarctica.”