King of Beasts

In the blink of an eye, two days passed.

True to his word, Lu Ran began intensive training in the Necromancy Secret Realm on the Other Shore Island.

The day before, there was another stir on the internet.

Because the third Evolution Secret Realm was about to open.

Given the significant impact of the previous two Evolution Secret Realms, the anticipation for the third one was just as high.

Including but not limited to, the global beast tamers’ speculations about Lu Ran’s next evolution.

Many beast tamers were curious whether Lu Ran would once again show up with his pet beast and dominate the scene.

Crushing all competition and becoming the absolute focus.

However, this time, Lu Ran disappointed the beast tamers worldwide.

Until the end of the third Evolution Secret Realm, Lu Ran did not appear there.

Nevertheless, despite Lu Ran’s absence, the opening of the third Evolution Secret Realm still held epoch-making significance.

This time, the Evolution Secret Realm brought forth five lower overlord species.

Originally rare overlord species were no longer absolutely rare after the conclusion of this Secret Realm.

There was a reason for this. When the first Evolution Secret Realm appeared, most beast tamers had empty contract slots but no suitable new pets to contract.

Those who caught the first wave of evolution benefits were the beast tamers who were already nurturing new pets.

Although many beast tamers quickly began searching for high-potential new pets and seeking nurturing and evolution resources after seeing the benefits, this process also required time.

To find the most fitting resources, more time had to be spent searching.

The third Evolution Secret Realm seemed to have arrived at a critical point, allowing a number of capable first-generation beastmasters to successfully evolve new overlord species pets.

Besides the first-generation beastmasters who evolved overlord species pets becoming the focus of world attention, the members of the Golden Generation also began to emerge in the second and third Evolution Secret Realms.

For example, Youxiong Anlin and Du Yuan from Xia Country both evolved powerful upper sovereign species pets, nearing overlord existence in the third Evolution Secret Realm.

Therefore, even without Lu Ran, who naturally attracts media attention, the media had a field day.

[Arrival of the Overlord Era!]

[It is predicted that after the fourth evolution wave, the overlord species pet beasts on the Blue Star will exceed double digits!]

During the celebration, various forums did not forget to discuss why Lu Ran did not appear in this Secret Realm.

Foreign beastmasters unanimously believed that although Lu Ran’s Gale Sword Dog was strong, it did not have the innate advantages of Loong-type or necromancy-type beasts, leading to a certain bottleneck in its cultivation.

He was able to cultivate a Loong-type successfully because he obtained the exclusive beast taming skill of Flame Sprite from the first Dragon Chef, Yan Sizhen, in the breakthrough secret realm, thereby becoming a Dragon Chef himself.

He was able to cultivate necromancy-type successfully because he accidentally entered a necromancy cult and utilized more comprehensive necromancy knowledge to develop a harmless necromancy cultivation method.

These experiences undoubtedly demonstrated Lu Ran’s extraordinary talent and potential. However, they did not change the fact that his Gale Sword Dog was originally just a middle supernatural species of Erha, and it had fused only the commonly available talents of weapon mastery and nature control.

The gap between it and his other pets was too large.

Although the Beast Taming Empire had researched the weapon mastery talent, it was quickly abandoned. If Lu Ran had entered that era’s breakthrough secret realm and participated in related research, people believed that with his talent, he might have found a new path.

But the reality was that Lu Ran did not have those conditions, which was why many believed he was facing a bottleneck.

Of course, some people dismissed this notion, such as Youxiong Anlin. Even though his Light and Dark Panda had evolved to the upper sovereign level, he still found it hard to gauge the limits of Lu Ran’s Gale Sword Dog when recalling their battles.

Not having evolved a first-stage overlord species, Youxiong Anlin felt the formidable presence of Lu Ran once again.

As a public figure, Lu Ran had long prepared himself to be frequently discussed and did not mind it. He continued to focus intently on training with General Ha in the Necromancy Secret Realm.

During the trial, Lu Ran made an astonishing discovery.

General Ha had attached the soul slashing sword intent to Winter’s Fang, and when it had slain a sufficient number of souls, it seemed to have a nurturing effect.

This discovery greatly excited Lu Ran, motivating him and General Ha to fight even harder.

Time passed slowly.

While Lu Ran was engrossed in his intense training, news about Infinite City kept flooding in.

Two days after the third first-stage Evolution Secret Realm closed, Antarctica’s Infinite City updated with a new Evolution Secret Realm.

[Name]: Evolution Secret Realm (Second-Stage)

[Entry Level]: Level 5 and above

[Introduction]: On a special star, there is an area extremely suitable for the evolution of supernatural beings. The Evolution Secret Realm periodically surges with a high concentration of evolutionary energy. If a supernatural being undergoes a second-stage evolution during this time, it can awaken stronger potential.

During the evolution energy surge, the pet beast with the highest post-evolution potential will receive the Starry Blessing, gaining additional power.

[Entry Fee]: 1 million crystal coins

[Countdown to Evolution Energy Surge]: 18 days

If the media previously proclaimed the “arrival of the overlord era” a bit exaggerated, this was understandable. Apart from the exceptional case of Lu Ran, those who managed to evolve to overlord species in a first-stage evolution shared a common trait.

Their pet beasts’ innate base species, even without fusion traits or fusion attribute awakening materials, had at least reached the upper commander level, and most were at the lower sovereign level, like the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Permafrost Elephant.

Only with a high enough base species could one hope to evolve into an overlord during the first stage.

Even Youxiong Anlin’s Light and Dark Panda, with its innate lower commander species level, couldn’t reach the overlord stage during the first evolution.

Thus, relying solely on the first-stage Evolution Secret Realm to usher in the overlord era remained challenging. High-species pet beast cubs were extremely rare, and aside from the Eagle Federation, other countries could only obtain them through rewards from breakthrough secret realms or Legendary Secret Realms.

However, with the appearance of the second-stage Evolution Secret Realm, everything was different. Although the primary pet beasts of the first-generation beastmasters may not have had high base species, after long-term cultivation, most had undoubtedly reached the upper sovereign species level.

If a low-base species couldn’t achieve overlord status in the first-stage evolution, who is to say it couldn’t in the second-stage?

With the activation of the second-stage Evolution Secret Realm, undoubtedly, a significant number of the main pet beasts of first-generation beastmasters would cross into the overlord species.

At that time, the true overlord era would have truly arrived.

“Has that kid Lu Ran started crying?”

In Shanghai, Xia Country, Gu Qingyi smiled slightly as she glanced at the intelligence report on the second-stage Evolution Secret Realm.

Because during a time when overlords were extremely rare, Lu Ran, with his Level 30 overlord, could easily overpower opponents of higher levels.

When Lu Ran’s pet beast reaches Level 40, it wouldn’t be surprising if it could defeat First-Generation pet beasts of Level 50 or higher.

This is what’s known as the overlord advantage.

However, if the First Generation can also evolve their pet beasts into overlords through second-stage evolution, Lu Ran’s advantage would be nullified. The gap between the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Generations would widen further.

But Gu Qingyi also knew that this gap would be temporary. For instance, considering Lu Ran’s pet beast evolved to overlord species in the first-stage evolution, what if it undergoes a second-stage evolution?

Each one could become an upper overlord?

Of course, this would take time.

Therefore, if the First Generation wants to avoid being overtaken by the well-established Fourth Generation and being surpassed in levels, they should leverage their current advantages in strength and resources to cultivate sufficiently powerful new pets.

With the emergence of the second-stage Evolution Secret Realm, the world’s top-level experts are gradually becoming the focus of countless Fourth-Generation beastmasters.

Take, for instance, Xia Country’s beast taming leader, the former guild leader in his 80s. His battle beast, resembling a Qilin

1

, once suppressed nations to the point they couldn’t breathe. Currently, it is listed at Level 60 on the divine beast leaderboard, though it appears it has yet to undergo evolution.

Just like the cyborg from the Eagle Federation, who faced setbacks in the mechanical pet beast world, resulting in his physical disability and retreating from the front lines. However, after the resurgence of spiritual energy, he made a comeback through mechanical transformation and returned to the forefront. Several of his pet beasts are still ranked highly on the divine beast leaderboard, surpassing the guild leader of the Eagle Federation’s Beast Taming Alliance. Among them is a pet beast that has reached level 60, yet it has also not chosen to evolve.

If his pet beasts were not still organic beings and not transformed into mechanical pet beasts, people might have suspected he had cracked the secret of the mechanical species. However, even so, his ability to transform himself into a cyborg is indeed terrifying. Considering that his generation failed all breakthrough tasks in the mechanical world and returned heavily injured, his resurgence is a testament to the technological prowess of the Eagle Federation.

Not just in Xia Country and the Eagle Federation, several major countries have pet beasts that have already reached level 60. However, these top-level First Generations have cleverly not rushed to evolve their pets. It seems they foresaw the appearance of the second-stage Evolution Secret Realm after the first-stage Evolution Secret Realm.

Undoubtedly, their gamble paid off.

“So annoying-“

Meanwhile, as the outside world buzzed about the imminent arrival of the overlord era, Lu Ran was busy training General Ha, this clumsy dog. Since the last time General Ha successfully used the sword domain, it hadn’t been able to replicate it.

Not even with 50 times energy compression.

When comparing the current state to the previous successful attempt, two main differences stood out:

1. The absence of a space attribute rare weapon.

2. Not being in a state of Comprehension Enhancement.

The former is particularly problematic. The value of a space attribute rare weapon can almost match that of subpar exquisite equipment. Having shattered one already, Lu Ran couldn’t possibly sacrifice another one for General Ha.

As for enhancement cards, there was only one left. Lu Ran’s plan was to wait until General Ha had mastered the sword domain and then use the enhancement card to refine its skills further.

However, from the current situation, without the support of a space attribute weapon and special states, it seemed very difficult for General Ha to re-use the sword domain.

“Woo woo woo-“

Not only was Lu Ran frustrated, but during the past week, even General Ha was getting anxious.

It carried Winter’s Fang, wandering among a group of necromancers, nearly losing its mind in battle.

Throughout the process, it continuously attempted to activate the domain.

Blood flew from its teeth, partly floating in the air and partly staining the sword, as it fought relentlessly.

On that day.

As Lu Ran was contemplating whether to use the last enhancement card to give General Ha another chance to experience the sword domain, something unexpected happened.

With the Crow of Death in possession, temporarily transforming into a four-legged version of the crow tengu, General Ha, who was battling the lower overlord necromancer with a sword in its mouth, experienced a sudden explosion of the sword.

It seemed the sword had enough of General Ha’s torment and decided to give up.

After all, fifty times energy compression is not just a high load on the body; it’s also incredibly taxing on weapons.

While General Ha could be healed, the durability of the sword, on the other hand, was not so easily restored.

Sitting on the Sudden Death King and having it forge his body with weak red lightning, Lu Ran was stunned and looked on in confusion.

“???”

“Damn, it’s bad enough you broke a rare weapon; don’t tell me you shattered the exquisite sword too!!!”

Footnote:

1. Qilin(麒麟):

   The Qilin is a mythical creature in Chinese folklore, often seen as a symbol of good fortune, prosperity, and peace.