King of Beasts

The grass sprite cat is an excellent opponent.

Choosing it as the target for special training is perfect for General Ha, as personal grudges spur motivation.

Before ending the communication with Fang Lan, Lu Ran mentioned that he might spend some time in Infinite City to specially train General Ha and wouldn’t return to Green Sea City. After all, teleporting back and forth costs crystal coins. The underlying message was… to once again ask Fang Lan to deal with the pressure from his godparents.

Having conveyed this, Lu Ran lay down on his bed in his private room, planning to rest for a while. He rubbed his temples and started to think seriously about General Ha’s enhancement training.

First, there are five major methods of energy application: overlay, release, flow, compression, shaping…

General Ha has already mastered the first two, even achieving a more advanced technique in overlay, external wrapping.

Next, practicing energy overlay could just follow the routine daily training.

It can be combined with physical and reaction training.

Observing General Ha’s recent battles, Lu Ran noticed that when wind-type energy overlay was applied to him, his speed increased dramatically, earning him the nickname “Wind Speed Hound,” though “Frenzied Speed Hound” might also apply due to the sheer velocity. In this state, General Ha could charge straight with no issue, but even slight terrain obstacles would limit his speed.

Therefore, one part of the overlay training would be to improve General Ha’s agility in complex terrains while he’s in a wind-speed state.

As for release techniques.

General Ha has just grasped sword qi, and Lu Ran has also spotted the drawbacks of this move.

One, it’s too draining. There’s no way around this, as release-type skills naturally decay once they leave the body. Without sufficient initial power, the force quickly dissipates.

This can only be solved by improving the skill level or growth level.

Two, the attack pattern is too rigid, a straight line.

Sword qi is like a crescent-shaped white wind blade, about a meter in length, surrounded by some turbulent airflows, capable of a bit of AoE damage, but not much. Although it’s not slow, the time required for release and flight makes it relatively easy to dodge.

For slower-moving animals like elephants, sword qi could likely hit its mark, but with agile creatures such as cats, landing a hit from a distance is challenging. Against birds of prey, the likelihood of hitting them with sword qi would probably be even less.

To address this issue, Lu Ran thought of two methods.

One method, akin to advancing energy release techniques, just as there are advanced techniques for energy overlay, there are also higher stages for energy release—the second stage involves the manipulation of energy once it has left the body.

This means if General Ha’s energy release reached the next level, he could control the trajectory of the sword qi even after it’s released, allowing it to turn up, down, left, or right, thus increasing its hit rate!

Much like a sort of sword-controlling technique!

But that… frankly speaking, is a bit difficult. The Basic Beast Taming Handbook only briefly mentions it and doesn’t provide a detailed introduction, clearly not considering it a “basic” skill.

Another approach Lu Ran considered was for General Ha to learn the energy flow technique. Once General Ha grasped this skill, the process of charging and condensing sword qi would approach instantaneity. Besides, it would allow him to release two or three sword qi in rapid succession, almost without any interval.

In doing so, the firepower suppression would effectively reduce the enemy’s chances of evasion, though it would consume more energy.

“So, the short-term training goal will revolve around ‘agility training’ and ‘energy flow technique’.”

“Once General Ha masters energy flow, we’ll train the precision of his sword qi. Prepare some stones; I’ll throw them and have him attack moving targets.”

“As for shaping and compression, those are lower priorities for now. We’ll address them once General Ha is familiar with the current combat methods…”

As Lu Ran mused, he drifted off to sleep, and as for General Ha… he had fallen asleep even earlier, having expended a considerable amount of energy.

However, General Ha woke up earlier than Lu Ran.

Lu Ran was awakened by the licking.

“Arf woo!!!”

When Lu Ran opened his eyes, he saw General Ha wagging his tail beside him, tongue lolling out, and his bright blue eyes full of life.

“Woof!”

Training! Training! Even his tuft of hair seemed animated.

“You sure are eager,” Lu Ran said with a headache.

Could he not wake up naturally? Damn it.

“I have a fast-track method you might want to try,” Boss Lu said kindly to General Ha.

“It will let you directly experience the state of high-speed energy flow. Entering this state might cause some considerable strain, but we’ve got the charged divine deer pendant… After that, you’ll deeply comprehend this state, and with your learning capability, you might just master it on the spot.”

“Arf?” General Ha’s eyes lit up upon hearing there was a shortcut.

It nodded frantically, willing to give it a try.

What’s a little injury to it? Its body memory told it that injury was the least of its worries.

After all, it could be healed.

Boss Lu is great, knowing that snowfield dogs don’t like to wait ten years for revenge—they prefer the fast track.

“Alright, let’s give it a try then,” Lu Ran said with a smile. He had read through the introduction of flowfruit and the feedback from buyers in detail. Normally, if consumed, a low-level pet beast treated with ordinary herbs would need to lie down for at least half a month to a month.

It could be said that the side effects of this forbidden fruit were quite severe.

Hoping that combined with the divine deer pendant, this self-harming training method would bring them some surprises.

“Let’s head to the training secret realm.”

…

Activate training secret realm?

Opening training secret realm: 1 crystal coin/day

Yes.

After a silent exchange, a white light enveloped Lu Ran and General Ha.

When they came to their senses and looked around, they found themselves in a place with a beautiful environment.

“This 1 crystal coin was well spent.”

Lu Ran felt the breeze, looked up at the rare blue sky, and basked in the warm sunlight, taking a deep breath.

Around them, there were green grass, stony ground, and even lakes, the scenery was exceptionally beautiful.

Compared to the training ground, he felt this place was more like a perfect spot for a relaxing noon-time nap.

Next time, he could bring some props, barbecue here, drink some soda, and enjoy a pleasant afternoon.

“Woof!”

Beside him, General Ha also shook its body and looked around. Arriving in such a spacious environment with nice scenery seemed to lift its spirits.

General Ha looked towards Lu Ran.

Lu Ran looked back at it and took out the flowfruit.

The flowfruit, entirely pink in color, looked like cherry blossom petals turned into fruit, stunningly attractive. However, behind its vibrant appearance lay a torrent of ferocious energy.

In the wild, this type of fruit is lethal to animals that consume it. While it can temporarily enhance their strength, wild creatures lack proper healing methods. After the burst of power, the severely injured animals would lie helplessly for a long time, inevitably leading to their demise.

Only pet beasts under the care of a beastmaster could dare to try using this fruit as a key method for explosive power enhancement.

“Here.” Lu Ran tossed the flowfruit.

“Argh!” General Ha caught it in one bite and was about to swallow.

“Stop! Chew it slowly,” Lu Ran snapped, sounding like a mother scolding her children.

It seemed that not only did General Ha not hold grudges overnight, but it had also forgotten the near-choking incident from the last time it hastily ate a wind-type fruit. And now, it was once again too eager to swallow.

Even if the fruit was enticing, couldn’t it be eaten one bite at a time? Lu Ran certainly did not want others to know that his divine beast choked to death.

“Awu,” General Ha looked aggrieved.

Still, it followed Lu Ran’s command and chewed the fruit slowly before swallowing.

Then…

Lu Ran had already prepared the divine deer pendant, ready for what was to come.

One second, two seconds, three seconds…

General Ha stood still, waiting for the transformation to take place in its body.

About five seconds later, the expression on General Ha’s face changed dramatically.

Its blue eyes gradually lit up with red glimmers.

It might have been an illusion, but even its muscles seemed to have grown in size.

“Hm?” Seeing the change in General Ha’s eyes, Lu Ran was startled, almost thinking it was about to enter the berserk state of frenzy it had before, where it recognized no one.

But fortunately…

“Awu———” With a roar from General Ha, a vast surge of energy burst forth from within.

Boom!

The force of the sky, transitioning from white to blue, erupted like flames from General Ha’s body, extending over a meter above!

Then, the violent energy contracted and wrapped entirely around General Ha’s body. Lu Ran watched in amazement.

Because the energy overlay that was now covering General Ha was significantly different from the energy overlay it had mastered before!

If before General Ha simply had a faint halo wrapped around its body…

Now, General Ha looked like it was cloaked in a coat of energy that was in a constant state of rapid flow!

As if in a galaxy where energy ceaselessly streamed over General Ha, its fur rose and fell rhythmically, as if buffeted by a perpetual hurricane.

How cool!

“Errrwooo!!!” But at this moment, Lu Ran could tell that General Ha was struggling. It tensed its body, trying to suppress the wild power inside.

“Does it hurt?” Lu Ran asked.

“Woo!” General Ha indicated that it wasn’t in pain—this power was exhilarating! The overload had triggered a frequency of energy operation within its body, leading to a perfect enhancement of offense, defense, and speed. The only issue… where to release it? It was about to lose control.

It looked towards Lu Ran—it couldn’t expect Lu Ran to be its sparring partner again, could it?

“Uh… Are you trying to kill me?” Lu Ran glanced around.

“This Training Secret Realm, since we’re paying to rent it, should repair itself, right? Go ahead and tear it up.”

Hearing Lu Ran’s words, General Ha’s eyes lit up, as if its nature had been unleashed, and it roared to the sky.

Moments later.

All that could be said was that a cheap Training Secret Realm is just that—cheap. It didn’t take long before the place was in shambles, resembling a battlefield.

And at this moment, General Ha still wasn’t satisfied. Even with no enemy in this state, it was seeing red—no enemies? Then the Training Secret Realm itself was the enemy!

A speed that could shatter the stone ground with a sprint, a strength that could rend stones with a swipe of its claws, a continuous output that could flip the grass with a single breath!!!

At this time, General Ha had completely gone mad.

Witnessing this terrifying strength in General Ha, Lu Ran felt that with this state, if he paired it with the Wind Meteor Sword, it could probably clash with that Grass Sprite Cat—although, admittedly, it was under the influence of the flowfruit…

“Roar!!!” General Ha grew more and more excited, but soon, Lu Ran sensed something wrong.

When he first saw General Ha’s red eyes, the thing he feared the most was happening—midway through its rampage, General Ha seemed to lose its reason, its pupils filled only with the desire to fight and kill. Seeing this, Lu Ran’s heart chilled.

Was it the backlash from the flowfruit that had triggered the switch for General Ha’s Mad Dog State?

“General Ha!!!” Seeing the situation, to prevent General Ha’s rampage, Lu Ran bellowed loudly, and with telepathy fully unleashed, his call echoed like a resonating loudspeaker, reverberating within General Ha’s heart.

“Wuu??” As Lu Ran shouted, clarity returned to General Ha’s eyes, which showed a hint of confusion. At the same time, the coat of rapidly flowing energy dissipated from its body.

What followed was a terrifying pain that enveloped its entire body, including the internal organs and even the marrow of its bones!!!

“Roar!!!!” Clarity in General Ha’s eyes was replaced by terror, and it howled to the sky in agony. What kind of devilish training was this!

A wave of weakness overcame it, causing it to wobble and collapse onto the ground, looking pitifully towards Boss Lu…

Lu… Ran…

“I told you, it has a strong aftereffect…” Lu Ran immediately used the Divine Deer Pendant he had prepared to heal General Ha, but just then, something unexpected occurred.

General Ha’s Contract Card,

underwent another change.

Species: Snowfield Dog

Attribute: Wind-type

Species Level: Middle Supernatural

Growth Level: Level 5

Skill: Sword Qi

General Ha leveled up! Could flowfruit also be used as experience candy?