King of Beasts

Several days later.

Lu Ran was still systematically nurturing his pet beasts in the Green Sea.

By now, the Jiao Dragon team had fully assembled in the Green Sea, each member selecting their future Loong-type partners.

Providing them with Loong-type cuisine daily didn’t really interfere much with Lu Ran’s own activities.

After all, Lu Ran was also looking to develop his beast taming skills.

The process of using the Flame Sprite for culinary purposes was also a way to train his beast taming skills and his culinary techniques.

Without them, Lu Ran might have just slacked off during this period.

Instead, nurturing the Jiao Dragon team and forming the Netherworld put Lu Ran himself on the grill, forcing him to engage in many more activities daily.

This enriched his life.

However.

Compared to nurturing the Jiao Dragon team, Lu Ran certainly focused more energy and attention on training his own pet beasts.

In the days following his return, each of Lu Ran’s pet beasts worked exceptionally hard.

Training secret realm.

“Ehh-wooo-“

In order to surpass the Sudden Death King after its first-stage evolution, General Ha trained tirelessly every day.

The Divine Deer pendant had almost become its exclusive training tool.

In a very short time, General Ha had sacrificed hundreds of teeth and suffered countless broken bones to fully master 30 times energy compression.

And now, it could, at the cost of severe injuries, utilize 40 times energy compression.

Energy level four!

Currently, even among the First Generation, few pet beasts could achieve this level of technique.

The Divine Deer pendant, combined with General Ha’s tenacity, had allowed it to achieve an extraordinary mastery of energy compression.

At this moment, even without evolving, using 40 times energy compression with sword qi, coupled with the Dragon Slayer Sword intent, it could make the Sudden Death King feel pain.

Seeing General Ha so determined not to be left behind by the Sudden Death King, Lu Ran came to understand that the Divine Deer pendant… might just be General Ha’s best resource!

If the species isn’t enough, make up for it with techniques!

Mad dog, this is truly a mad dog.

And the Sudden Death King, seeing General Ha catching up at a frenzied pace, was also scared.

So it too began to learn new abilities.

The Sudden Death King has now evolved into a dragon, making its previous trump card, “Artistic Conception of the Dragon,” obsolete.

It has become the Dragon King itself; there is no longer any need to mimic dragons through artistic conception, which would be like shifting its power into reverse.

It is now the powerful creature that others should be imitating.

The Jiao Dragon Team’s pet beast should now be the one mimicking and comprehending the power of the Sudden Death King to learn the Artistic Conception of the Dragon.

For the Sudden Death King, which now has a strong species foundation, the path of creature artistic conception is no longer suitable.

Unless it could visualize the Legendary Dragon.

But evidently, Lu Ran and his team do not have this capability…

Now, the Artistic Conception of the Dragon has been perfectly absorbed by the Sudden Death King, transformed into its own potential. However, aside from its strong species and overpowering Talent, it no longer has other advantages.

On General Ha’s side, with astounding Comprehension, mastery over various Sword Intents, a damage-free version of 30x Energy Compression, and other techniques like flow and release entering the Second Stage, he can be described as a super battle genius, unbeatable among his peers.

Meanwhile, the Sudden Death King, after discarding the Artistic Conception of the Dragon, has all its energy techniques stuck in the First Stage. It has primarily relied on its species advantage in combat.

At the same growth and species level, it is far from reaching the invincibility of someone like General Ha.

Although pet beasts have different Talent focuses, this situation is not ideal, so, under Lu Ran’s guidance, the Sudden Death King has started learning the “Meteorite Artistic Conception.”

Lu Ran isn’t directing without reason.

After evolving, the Sudden Death King developed a Loong-type attribute, but unlike the Eastern Loong, which mixes Water, Wind, and Thunder attributes, or the Western Giant Dragon, which mixes Thunder and Fire attributes, its Loong-type energy is a mix of Thunder and Rock attributes.

Besides the violent nature of Thunder, the Dragon Power also encompasses the thickness and hardness of rock, making its Dragon Energy more skewed towards Defense.

For Thunder attribute development, the Sudden Death King is already doing quite well.

To further enhance its abilities, it naturally needs to start focusing on the Rock attribute.

In fact, the Diamond Dragon’s mastery of the Mountainous Artistic Conception is quite impressive. Not only does it enable its body to stand as steadfast as the mountains themselves, but it also infuses its attacks with the overwhelming power of the mountains.

However, the Diamond Dragon was born in the mountains, and its alignment with the Mountainous Artistic Conception does not necessarily mean that the Sudden Death King will be similarly attuned.

After much consideration, Lu Ran realized that the Sudden Death King surprisingly resonates with the Meteorite Artistic Conception.

After all, it has received the Star Blessing and is particularly adept at utilizing “meteorite tactics.”

A meteorite, being a rock, belongs to the rock species.

Thus, it is highly appropriate for the Sudden Death King to learn the Meteorite Artistic Conception. Naturally, Lu Ran does not intend for it to learn the destructive power of meteorites, as that would not suit the Sudden Death King’s character.

As a meteorite enters the atmosphere, it heats up and may shatter, potentially disintegrating before it even reaches the ground.

Only a few meteorites manage to remain intact and reach the surface.

Lu Ran wants the Sudden Death King to envision itself as a celestial body that, despite undergoing high-pressure conditions, maintains its integrity.

From this perspective, he aims to enhance the Sudden Death King’s defense.

This could tentatively be considered a form of the Natural Disaster Artistic Conception within the broader Natural Artistic Conception.

The training process is simple: continuous airdrops using meteorite tactics to create pressure, imagining oneself as a meteorite.

While it’s uncertain whether this method will enable the Sudden Death King to master the Meteorite Artistic Conception, there is no doubt that the process will fortify its defense, making the effort worthwhile regardless of the outcome.

This approach sounds significantly more potent than the Blizzard Artistic Conception or the Vegetation Artistic Conception.

Of course, compared to the whimsical idea of the Meteorite Artistic Conception, Lu Ran also places great importance on the future positioning of the Sudden Death King.

After the first-stage evolution, General Ha is being developed towards the Space species.

Following its first-stage evolution, the Dark Crow is being developed towards a legion-oriented direction, leveraging the power of the legion to strengthen its own abilities.

What about the Sudden Death King?

Should it continue to enhance its defense?

Lu Ran does not wish to pursue this path.

Its defense is already strong enough, and continuous enhancement would eventually yield diminishing returns, which is not desirable.

Lu Ran’s next task was not to enhance its attack power or speed, but rather, he wanted to improve its defensive versatility.

Lu Ran had a skill book called Damage Transfer, which could shift the damage received by a beastmaster to their pet beast.

Although he had no plans to learn this skill, Lu Ran was inspired by it.

He wanted the Sudden Death King to explore “support capabilities” next.

For instance, by combining energy shaping and release, the Sudden Death King could create shields for General Ha, the Dark Crow, and other beastmasters, enveloping other beings in protective barriers.

Having the Sudden Death King at the forefront to absorb damage during every battle was effective, but its defensive coverage was still too narrow.

If it could extend its shielding ability to other teammates, and if these shields inherited the Sudden Death King’s own defensive strength to some extent, then its advantage of having robust defense would truly provide perfect support for the entire team.

Moreover, the ability to create “defense barriers” and “energy shields” could significantly expand the tactical value of the Sudden Death King’s defenses.

However, the current issue was that, while the Sudden Death King’s Dragon Energy was also strong in defense, its energy and the physical and spiritual defenses were separate.

Thus, Lu Ran was looking for a trait crystal that could integrate all of the Sudden Death King’s defensive capabilities.

Then, by combining energy release with energy shaping to support teammates, the Sudden Death King would truly become the ultimate shield bearer.

No longer needing to physically withstand hits and absorb damage, the Sudden Death King would likely be quite pleased.

“Three more days…”

Lu Ran walked over to General Ha to ask if it wanted to evolve in three days.

“Whoo…”

Carrying sword grass in its mouth, General Ha paused, looked at Lu Ran, and inquired if Lu Ran had forged his new weapon yet.

“Not yet, I still haven’t mastered Soul Fire.” Lu Ran admitted awkwardly.

Although Bai Qi had sent many fire-based ferocious beasts, the study of Soul Fire was still ongoing…

“Arf!”

With a tinge of regret, General Ha walked away, indicating it needed to obtain the new weapon and master the Sword Domain before evolving.

It wanted to establish an unbeatable foundation, one that would not be inferior to the Sudden Death King, and from there, ascend to become an Overlord.

This was the path of a Sword Saint.

Tail wagging, General Ha walked away.

Lu Ran: ???

Lu Ran slapped his face, resigning himself to the fact that evolution was not happening yet. However, he was skeptical about General Ha learning the domain before fusing with the Ultimate Perception Trait.

According to the records on Blue Star, the earliest a pet beast had ever mastered the domain was after reaching level 40.

Moreover, that pet beast was of the Space species, which naturally had an advantage in mastering domains.

But General Ha was only at level 30 and hadn’t even undergone the first-stage evolution.

Nevertheless, since General Ha had this idea, Lu Ran naturally supported it, very happy to see his pet beast engaging in effective internal competition as a beastmaster.

“Before forging the Necromancy Sword, how about we get some Space ore and try forging a Space Sword for General Ha?”

“Maybe it could speed up its entry into mastering the domain.”

After General Ha’s setback, Lu Ran turned to the Dark Crow.

At that moment, the Dark Crow was studying sacrifice.

How to enhance the curse effect through sacrificial materials.

Essentially, the Soul Scarecrow was a curse tool that used the sacrifice of enemy blood to increase the range of soul attacks.

Having used the Soul Scarecrow repeatedly, the Dark Crow had gained some insights but still felt something was missing.

“Dark Crow, an Evolution Secret Realm is opening in three days, do you want to evolve?”

“Big King!!”

With a sorrowful expression, the Dark Crow clutched the Soul Scarecrow and said, “Time, I need time…”

“I feel I can’t perfectly wield soul power yet; my soul can only leave the body for one day, which is far from enough.”

“If I evolve now, I’ll only reach the level of an upper sovereign.”

“I don’t want General Ha and Thunder Dragon General to get too far ahead of me, wuwuwu Big King.”

“Actually… a first-stage evolution doesn’t decide everything, you can still improve your species level afterward,” Lu Ran said.

“Wuwuwu Big King-” The Dark Crow flew over and clung to Lu Ran’s leg, saying, “Big King, I also want to become an Overlord; I really want to become part of the Overlord species.”

“I really want to improve.”

Lu Ran: “…”

Damn.

Ambition is good.

But one by one, they no longer value the title of upper sovereign species; is there something wrong with their mindset?

Could it be that this Evolution Secret Realm should be passed up?

Because of the precedent set by the Sudden Death King, both General Ha and the Dark Crow wanted to build a strong foundation before evolving to leap directly to Overlord status.

Lu Ran returned to the Green Sea with a frown, sitting on the sofa with only the carefree weather elf watching TV beside him.

“The third weather elf should not be contracted.”

“Your pet beasts are too ambitious; it’s still so small, it needs a joyful childhood,” Manager Ying chimed in as she joined him to watch TV, pouting.

“I’m sorry, I’ve already started training the weather elf…” Lu Ran said somberly, lifting his head.

Strength starts from childhood.

“Huh? Where? Isn’t it just watching TV?” Manager Ying asked, puzzled.

“Are you saying it shaped water droplets into eyes to gain the ability to see?”

He looked at the weather elf, which had shaped two water droplets on its cloud-like body, resembling large, water-blue eyes, reflecting the TV screen’s images.

“No.”

Lu Ran pointed at the TV screen.

In the program, a mature lady in the underworld, dressed in a black suit and smoking a cigarette, was standing with her foot on a defeated enemy’s head, declaring, “You lost, as per our agreement, submit to me.”

“Pitter-patter (so cool)–” the weather elf shouted excitedly.

Lu Ran said, “I plan to train Cloud Baby towards the core of the weather legion, letting her watch TV dramas about collecting underlings and fighting with them to foster related interests.”

“It’s convenient for her to spontaneously gather underlings and lead them into fights later.”

“Interest is the best mentor.”

“Who says leisure entertainment isn’t training pet beasts?”

Manager Ying: ?????

Manager Ying had just been wondering why the weather elf was watching such a TV show, only to realize that darn Lu Ran had chosen it.

So this is why you let an elemental spirit less than a month old watch underworld films???

Do you darn want to train her to be the core of the legion or an underworld lady???

“There was an important piece of intelligence…”

“But now, I don’t even want to tell you,” Manager Ying sighed as she entered, very annoyed.

“Ah?” Lu Ran was taken aback and said, “What important intelligence? Let’s hear it.”

“I haven’t received any good news in the past few days. Hurry up and cheer me up.”

“Did you find the right trait crystal?”

Manager Ying had already handed over two exquisite minerals to Lu Ran. However, the intelligence on trait crystals was still being gathered.

After all, most people who obtained powerful, unique trait crystals would think of using them themselves. Even if their old pets didn’t need them, it would be worthwhile to contract new pets in the future based on the abilities of the trait crystals. Those thinking of trading them were in the minority, so this type of intelligence was very hard to come by.

“Not exactly.”

“But I think you’ll be very interested,” Manager Ying looked at the ceiling.

Lu Ran urged, “Come on, spill it.”

“Do you remember Youxiong Anlin?”

Lu Ran pondered, “Remember him, the guy from Xia Country’s number one civilian guild, ‘Living Fossil’?”

“He and Du Yuan from the strategy team have also conquered the Legendary Secret Realm. Quite impressive guys.”

Manager Ying said, “The core members of the Living Fossil guild are actually not much different from your Lujia Village.”

“The Youxiong family also has a Totem Tribe background, inheriting traditions from the ancient times. Your village worships a divine deer, whereas they worship an Iron-Eating Beast.”

“However, your village has been less fortunate and hasn’t developed much.”

“Whereas they have developed quite well, becoming the largest guild in Xia Country.”

Lu Ran was surprised and said, “Are you suggesting that their worshiped Iron-Eating Beast, a giant panda, is still alive? That it entered hibernation in the ancient times and has now awakened???”

Manager Ying looked at Lu Ran and said, “Smart.”

Lu Ran was stunned, “Really or not?”

“Why would I lie to you?” Manager Ying shrugged and said, “It was discovered by Youxiong Anlin’s younger sister.”

Lu Ran said, “So is that Iron-Eating Beast about to die, or is it missing children?”

Manager Ying: ???

“You finally have a capable Totem Guardian in Xia Country, can’t you wish them well???”

Lu Ran: ?

“Isn’t that what you taught me?” Lu Ran looked innocent. Yes, he had always been such a kind and excellent student, but when had he become so profit-minded? It seemed to have started after meeting Manager Ying…