King of Beasts

This crow…

Gu Qingyi, Shi Zhen, and the others were somewhat resigned to this talking crow, not knowing how Lu Ran had managed to raise it.

“Lead the way.”

The next moment, Lin Nian spoke with a light smile, seemingly fond of the crow.

It was a pity it already had an owner, otherwise, she would have liked to keep such a crow herself.

If it had two bodies, maybe it could even perform double acts for her.

“Alright.” The three international friends still felt it was a bit bizarre.

…

Lu Ran, of course, would not entertain these guests at home but took them to one of his territories on Emerald Mountain.

In the Green Sea, any sparsely populated wilderness area had already been occupied by Lu Ran’s generals.

To better operate in these areas, Lu Ran even used the power of supernatural beings to construct a residence for himself.

Led by the dark crow, Gu Qingyi and the others reached the top of Emerald Mountain, where they encountered Lu Ran dealing with spirits.

One after another, giant fire ant beast corpses were piled up, and behind these corpses was a heap of spirits, dense with spirits burning with gray flames, creating an exceptionally eerie atmosphere.

…

Upon seeing this, King Caesar of the International Alliance twitched.

Necromancy undercover agent Noren swallowed hard, exclaiming internally that he had never seen such a scene even in The Other Shore.

And Dr. Paer, trying to maintain her composure, said, “Professor Lu Ran, hello.”

“I am Dr. Paer Cassis from the Life Science Department of the International Alliance Research Institute. I have also conducted extensive research in the Life Soul domain.”

“This visit on behalf of the International Alliance is to gain a deeper understanding of what you’ve mentioned about the Evolution Secret Realm.”

“This is Noren, a former undercover agent the International Alliance had placed within The Other Shore. Not long after he gained control over death revival, he started consuming the spirits of ferocious beasts, which gradually eroded his rationality, nearly driving him mad. Fortunately, he was rescued in time. Now, relying on tranquilizers and abstaining from consuming pet beasts, he can more or less function normally.”

Lu Ran extinguished the soul fire at his fingertips and looked at Noren, who had dark circles under his eyes. “So, your method of verification is to confirm by observing the feeding response of Mr. Noren’s necromantic pet beast, right?”

“That’s correct, it’s the first and simplest method of confirmation,” Dr. Paer stated.

“Okay,” Lu Ran replied, turning his attention to the pale, dark-circled young man. “Go ahead, eat as much as you like.”

He gestured towards the processed souls of the fire ant beasts surrounding them.

“Still eating souls…” the necromantic undercover agent looked towards Dr. Paer, seeking her opinion. He knew that both his and his pet beast’s mental states were already on the brink. Consuming even a bit more soul would certainly drive them into a frenzy, losing all reason and attacking indiscriminately.

“Trust Professor Lu,” Dr. Paer advised, unsure if Lu Ran was just bluffing, but at the moment, they had no other options.

“Alright.” If the necromantic pet beast didn’t eat soon, it wouldn’t just be about losing its mind-it would also disperse due to a lack of energy. Gritting his teeth, the necromantic undercover agent summoned his pet beast.

It was a black necromantic gorilla. Although a spirit, it still appeared emaciated, its skin clinging to its bones…

Its eyes, almost devoid of emotion and gleaming a sickly green, seemed to retain only instinct. Sensing the fluctuations of food, its gaze unconsciously quivered.

“Go, eat those,” the necromantic undercover agent directed towards the pile of fire ant beast souls. The next moment, the necromantic gorilla let out a loud cry and rapidly crawled over, grabbing the souls and stuffing them into its mouth.

As it consumed a large amount of souls, the previously numb necromantic gorilla’s lifeless face slowly began to show signs of vitality.

“How does it feel!” Seeing this, Dr. Paer quickly asked the necromantic undercover agent.

At this moment, Noren was visibly shocked as he watched his pet beast voraciously feed. His mind, which should have been in disarray from the soul consumption typical for necromantic pets, was instead remarkably clear.

In the past, when necromantic pets devoured souls to a certain extent, even the consciousness of a beastmaster would become muddled, leading to hallucinations.

But now, he could be sure he was completely lucid. Despite both he and his pet beast being at their limit, they felt no discomfort as the pet beast continued to feed! Instead, he could distinctly feel the pleasure emanating from the necromantic pet beast’s heart-a pleasure from feeding without side effects, a long-lost joy of feeling alive.

The necromantic gorilla roared with excitement as it ate.

Noren, the undercover necromancer, took a step back, not just from shock but also because he could feel the high-quality, side-effect-free souls providing his pet beast with more abundant and superior nourishment. If all its food could be like this, he believed, the base attributes of his necromantic pet would become incredibly strong in the future.

“It’s real, it’s really real…” Noren looked at the boy in disbelief.

Originally, the International Alliance had called upon him, a man on the “verge of being lost,” to conduct this experiment, and he had been somewhat resistant, fearing the real possibility of failure.

But now, he was thrilled and grateful that he had come to witness this tremendous breakthrough.

“Is it really true?” Dr. Paer and King Caesar, observing this, focused their attention. Did this mean that what Lu Ran said was not false?

Although they had realized it, they were still somewhat surprised after personally verifying it.

“Professor Lu–” At this moment, as Dr. Paer saw Noren’s surprised expression, her own respect for Lu Ran underwent a significant transformation.

The International Alliance had many researchers who had studied necromancy through captured necromancers.

Yet, none had achieved results.

This young man from Xia Country had seemingly overcome the growth defects associated with necromancy.

Strategizing in secret realms was already a high-risk activity, with a high mortality rate among pet beasts. However, if the fallen pet beasts could be consistently transformed into necromantic growth, it would revolutionize the field of beast taming.

Now, the only question was…

“Professor Lu Ran, I wonder if the method to overcome the growth defects of necromancy can be made widely available,” Dr. Paer asked immediately.

Lu Ran smiled at her and said, “What do you think?”

“It probably can’t…”

“To master this handling method, one certainly needs a Talent. I can only say that only a few people are capable of mastering it.”

“However, that is actually not a problem, because I also possess the forging technique for ‘containers that preserve souls’.”

“Even if only a few people can handle souls, necromancers, once they purchase these containers, can always take out food to eat. And, unlike living beings, the necromancy species can sustain life activities for a long time after feeding once, so everything you mentioned is not a problem.”

Saying this, Lu Ran took out a basic version of the Soul Capturing Bottle and released a processed soul of the fire ant beast from it!

“This-” Seeing this, Dr. Paer was greatly surprised; she hadn’t expected Lu Ran’s research achievements to extend beyond souls.

This necromancer Holy Son, this heir of the legendary great cult, is truly genuine!!

He probably got his hands on all the good stuff from that cult!

Her breathing grew rapid. Indeed, as Lu Ran said, having containers that can preserve souls meant that, even if only a few people knew how to handle souls, it would be enough to keep the necromancy functioning normally!

“Professor Lu-“

Lu Ran said, “I know what you want to ask, whether I am willing to hand over this method to the international alliance or not?”

“But even if I do hand it over, what use would it be, when the stable source of the death revival skill cards is not controlled by the international alliance but by The Other Shore?”

“If you want me to teach this method to the beastmasters of the international alliance, no problem, but I have two conditions.”

“First, the international alliance must help me clear the international public opinion storm and verify what I say.”

“Second, not everyone can master this method, so who learns it should be decided by Xia Country.”

“These are two simple conditions. No problem, right?” Lu Ran said with a smile.

Indeed, these conditions were not too harsh, at least Dr. Paer didn’t think so, and as for the death revival skill cards, she wasn’t concerned. With the means of the international alliance, they would surely be able to obtain them from The Other Shore.

Of course, from Lu Ran’s perspective, these two conditions carried profound implications.

After the International Alliance helped verify the authenticity of Lu Ran’s claims, other countries also came to believe that Lu Ran truly possessed these capabilities.

Not only the nations, but even The Other Shore is likely to be convinced as well.

Lu Ran, along with Dr. Gu and others, analyzed that with this ability, it should be no problem to dissolve The Other Shore without deploying a single soldier.

It probably won’t be long before high-level members from The Other Shore contact Xia Country, hoping to surrender to them.

After all, compared to being attacked and dissolved by the International Alliance, taking a step ahead to surrender to Xia Country seems like a better deal.

Which countries will get to enjoy the benefits of necromancy will also be decided by Xia Country, which can bring substantial benefits to Xia Country and Lu Ran. After all, if you want to learn something, you have to pay a tutor fee.

When the time comes, it will be a matter of seeing who is under the table. Lu Ran’s idea is that even if the Eagle Federation wants to learn, there should be no problem-just let them first provide two pieces of epic resources…

Moreover, as for mind sword intent, Lu Ran isn’t really sure he can teach it to others, but that’s not important. As long as the method is provided, whether or not others can learn it is not his concern.

Lu Ran has also discussed this with the elders of the Cult of Necromancy.

They believe that it would be difficult for others to learn mind sword intent, and after Lu Ran’s death, this method to resolve the drawbacks of necromancy might become lost.

Their suggestion was for Lu Ran to research a special artifact similar to the Spirit Transformation Pot!

As long as a conscious soul is placed inside, the artifact would automatically purify the soul and release a harmless soul.

With such an artifact, even without Lu Ran, any necromancer could grow harmlessly.

And forging such an artifact may only be possible for Lu Ran, who possesses both the Flame Sprite and mind sword intent.

If others cannot learn it, Lu Ran can fully utilize the resources of various countries to research this artifact, allowing the necromancy attribute to flourish!

…

Subsequently, representatives from the International Alliance and Xia Country engaged in in-depth negotiations.

…

The following day.

News certified by the International Alliance shocked the world.

[International Alliance Research Institute Certification! Lu Ran from Xia Country, a brilliantly talented top-level researcher!]

[Research rewriting the landscape of the beast taming domain! Harmless necromancy cultivation method!]

[The father of necromancy in the world-Lu Ran.]

[Effective today, the International Alliance Research Institute will collaborate with Xia Country to delve deeper into the necromancy field.]

At the same time.

The internet exploded instantly.

Everyone was surprised that the International Alliance had certified Lu Ran’s claims so quickly.

This indicated that Lu Ran indeed possessed a viable method of necromancy cultivation.

A beastmaster from Siam commented: [Certified!? Unbelievable! It’s actually true; Professor Lu is too strong. When can this be promoted on a large scale? I can’t wait to start cultivating spirits!]

A beastmaster from Eagle remarked: [It’s actually true… How did this guy, with just a Level 2 beastmaster status, rise to become the Holy Son of the legendary great cult of necromancy, I don’t get it!!!]

[What about the princesses from Yinglun, what do they think??]

[No news, maybe they’ve entered the breakthrough secret realm again.]

[Probably. I wonder what their expression will be when they come out and see Lu Ran recognized as the father of necromancy by the International Alliance.]

IP…

Once the certification from the International Alliance was released, countries worldwide were shaken and began contacting Xia Country to acquire the harmless necromancy cultivation method. As for the lack of death revival skill cards? That was hardly an issue. Necromancers, previously overlooked and treated merely as criminals, at this moment, saw a tenfold increase in the effort to apprehend them.

Once it became apparent that necromancy could bring long-term benefits, countries started paying more attention to the other shore.

However, countries soon noticed that, all of a sudden, the number of necromancers seemed to have decreased drastically, even ferocious beasts were no longer being hunted, as if they had all gone into hiding!

But soon, another world-shaking piece of news was released.

According to a leak from an undercover agent placed within the other shore, there was ongoing internal turmoil, with over half of the Level 5 necromancers hoping to invite Lu Ran to become the overlord of the other shore and take charge!

International tremors.

“Damn.”

“Unbelievable.”

“A transnational super criminal organization undergoing internal strife because of one research finding, with half switching sides?”

“You kidding? This is like sci-fi. Has he really become the daddy of necromantic forces?”

“Holy crap, what kind of monster is this Lu Ran, a single person, with one statement, dismantling a transnational criminal organization that’s a headache even for the International Alliance?”

“But surely Lu Ran won’t accept it though…”

The turmoil within such a vast organization as The Other Shore could not possibly be kept secret, especially given that it’s inconceivable for such groups not to have spies from various countries embedded within.

The internal strife within The Other Shore is indeed escalating, and somehow, a high-level member has managed to acquire Lu Ran’s contact information and made an international call to him.

Lu Ran was just about to delve into Soul Forging when the incoming call interrupted him.

“Is this Lu Ran, son of Lu Qiancheng and Lu Yunxiu?” came a raspy voice from the other end.

“Who are you? A high-level member of The Other Shore?” Lu Ran frowned.

“Who I am doesn’t matter. What’s important is, do you want a reliable way to access the Death Revival Skill?”

“As long as Xia Country can guarantee our safety… I can reveal to you the method to unlock a certain real-world secret realm.”

“That secret realm, the Death Revival Skill Book, is merely the most basic reward…”

“If you keep talking in that raspy voice, I’m going to hang up,” Lu Ran said.

“Don’t hang up. I want to defect to you, just give me shelter… A Level 5 necromancer, a super enforcer, just feed me and that’s enough! I can’t… hold on much longer!”