King of Beasts

“Impressive.”

Lu Ran couldn’t help but express his surprise upon seeing Lin Yin’s female beast taming team successfully make a breakthrough in the Legendary Secret Realm.

It’s only been a few days; the queen ant egg probably hasn’t even hatched yet.

Even if it had hatched, it wouldn’t have matured beyond a few levels in such a short time.

This means that these three, without the aid of a sovereign species pet beast, managed to break through the Legendary Secret Realm.

That is indeed quite impressive.

“It sounds odd hearing you praise others,” Youxiong Anlin murmured from beside him.

Lu Ran: ?

“However, these three really did well; their team configuration was quite perfect,” Du Yuan said.

“The boss of Gourd Mountain is an upper sovereign species scorpion, skilled in mental, grass, and poison traits. Not only can it conjure illusions, but it can also control the ferocious plants of Gourd Mountain, and its territory is protected by a hallucinogenic poison fog…”

“If Youxiong and I had encountered this secret realm initially, it would have been difficult to get through.”

Youxiong Anlin didn’t deny it, saying, “Yeah, superhuman Lin Yin handled the illusions, Fang Lan with her poison skills took care of the poison fog, and Summer, wielding the sun spear intent, dealt with those ferocious plants… Lin Yin definitely considered the secret realm’s conditions when she was forming her team.”

“I just wonder what rewards they all received…”

“Stop wondering; we need to evolve and then challenge the level 2 Legendary Secret Realm, so they don’t catch up to us,” Du Yuan said.

When he and Youxiong Anlin were challenging the level 1 Legendary Secret Realm, they also teamed up as a trio. The third member was from the strategy team, a support-type combat beastmaster whose pet beast fusion trait and beast taming skills were all about assisting others, making him a sought-after member of the strategy team.

Since he wasn’t a combat beastmaster, he wasn’t active in the Freshman Tournament at the beast taming university.

However, when it came to challenging secret realms, every genius preferred having him on their team over another teammate with strong combat abilities.

Once, when they tackled a level 1 Legendary Secret Realm, Youxiong Anlin and Du Yuan teamed up, but for the level 2 realm, the pair planned to attempt a duo clear. As for a solo clear, they had no plans for it unless one of them evolved a pet beast into an overlord species.

“Good luck,” Lu Ran said. “I’m heading over now…”

“OKOK, I’ll take you there,” Youxiong Anlin sighed, feeling a pang of regret knowing that Lu Ran could clear this trial secret realm. The thought of Lu Ran taking good loot from the Youxiong Clan’s realm hurt, especially since he had personally given away this opportunity.

Such a tragedy.

…

Within one day of the real-world secret realm opening, it could accommodate many challengers. By the time Lu Ran arrived, almost all visitors had already entered the realm.

Led by Youxiong Anlin, Lu Ran directly entered the realm’s portal.

[Prompt: “Do you wish to challenge the ‘Special Trial Secret Realm: Armor Island’?”]

There was no other information, just a confirmation prompt.

Without hesitation, Lu Ran chose to enter.

In the next instant.

It felt like the stars had shifted and space had transformed, as he stepped into another dimension.

Opening his eyes, Lu Ran found himself on the outskirts of a bamboo forest on an island.

Before he could react, three creatures resembling rats emerged from within the bamboo. They were robust, larger than lions or tigers, with short fur and a metallic body texture, and their green pupils radiated cruelty.

[Name]: Diamond Rat

[Attribute]: Metal

[Species level]: Lower Commander

[Growth level]: Level 30

“Bamboo rats?”

“Next level,” Lu Ran spoke, and before the three diamond rats could attack, their pupils suddenly whitened, and they foamed at the mouth, collapsing under an invisible force of intimidation.

Simultaneously.

The massive form of the Sudden Death King appeared behind Lu Ran, with the Crow of Curses and Crow of Death, two dark crows, perched on each shoulder, preening their feathers.

General Ha yawned and appeared next to Lu Ran. The mere release of the Dragon Might by the Sudden Death King had knocked out the three diamond rats without any physical confrontation.

Facing the terrifying creature known as the middle overlord dragon clan, the three diamond rats virtually had no chance to resist.

[Congratulations on passing the first round of the trial. The ferocious beasts of the second round will soon appear…]

Without giving the challengers any extra time to rest, after Lu Ran and his team dealt with the diamond rats, four vine-wrapped, bamboo-armored apes emerged from the forest…

Buzz!!!

With a single glance, General Ha’s sharp sword intent directly shattered the spiritual will of the four ape beasts, causing their gaze to falter and their spirits to collapse, as they fell to the ground with a thud, dissipating into countless illusions.

For an ordinary level 2 beastmaster, facing one trial after another, such challenges are bound to lead to a tough fight eventually.

However, for Lu Ran, who currently has three overlords and one upper sovereign by his side, it’s almost like cheating in a dungeon, effortlessly reaching the tenth round.

The previous ninth round featured eight level 30 bamboo dragons from the upper sovereign species, Sub-dragon Species, even after the challengers had already been worn down by eight rounds of combat.

Even a single bamboo dragon from the upper sovereign species would be enough to give the challengers a headache, let alone eight!

It should be noted that the upper sovereign species is currently the highest species level on Blue Star, where no overlords are present.

Yet, with such a configuration of trial beasts, a single curse from the dark crow caused the eight bamboo dragons to lose their minds and kill each other.

[The final round of trial beasts will soon appear…]

“This is boring, that’s it.”

One could say that since Lu Ran entered the secret realm, it took just a few minutes for batches of trial beasts to be slain one after another.

This made Lu Ran feel utterly bored, lacking any sense of challenge.

“Roar-

At last, a creature resembling a panda but covered in rock-like fur and standing nearly ten meters tall appeared.

[Name]: Bristle Rock Armored Beast

[Attribute]: Rock

[Species Level]: Lower Overlord

[Growth Level]: Level 30

But as soon as it appeared, the Sudden Death King approached, pounding its chest to signal the opponent to come and hit, to hit hard.

The Bristle Rock Armored Beast displayed a bewildered expression, and in the blink of an eye, the Sudden Death King’s massive tail swept across, striking the Bristle Rock Armored Beast’s face and flipping it over.

“Roar!!!”

This blow left the Bristle Rock Armored Beast slightly dazed. It quickly got up in anger and grappled with the Sudden Death King. However, what started as the sound of the initial hit soon turned into a mix of thunderous roars and the pained screams of the armored beast echoing throughout the secret realm…

“No difficulty.”

After a moment, Lu Ran, Dark Crow, General Ha, and the returning Sudden Death King simultaneously brushed the dust off themselves.

At the same time, the Prompt Tone sounded in Lu Ran’s ear.

[Congratulations on completing the secret realm challenge.]

[Rating: SSS-level!]

[Congratulations, you have obtained a rare resource, Diamond Grass x1]

[Congratulations, you have obtained a rare resource, Blue Water x1]

[Congratulations, you have obtained a rare resource, Armor Bamboo x1]

[Congratulations, you have obtained…]

[Congratulations, you have obtained a beast taming skill: Armoring.]

[Congratulations, you have obtained a Trait Crystal: Super Sleep.]

[Congratulations, you have obtained a Secret Realm Card x1.]

Truthfully, Lu Ran was quite excited about the rewards from the real-world secret realm, even though it posed no difficulty for him at this point. The final boss, after all, was a Lower Overlord, comparable to a Level 2 Legendary Secret Realm.

The rewards from a solo clear of a Level 2 Legendary Secret Realm were, needless to say, worth at least eight to ten exquisite resources.

However, when Lu Ran perfectly cleared the real-world secret realm, he was stunned!

This secret realm had unexpectedly awarded him nearly ten different types of rare resources!

All were of rare quality, and not a single one was of exquisite-level.

“Ah?”

“Is it broken, or is this secret realm just that stingy?”

Seeing the pile of resources, Lu Ran was almost tempted to curse, but his mood stabilized somewhat upon seeing the details of the Secret Realm Card.

[Name]: Secret Realm Card

[Introduction]: A special item, dropped at an extremely low probability under the highest rating in the real-world secret realm, it can help the user create a small real-world secret realm space rich in natural energy.

A Secret Realm Card!

Such an item existed too.

The moment Lu Ran saw the secret realm card, he knew he might have gotten lucky again.

Upon reflection, it made sense. Since a real-world secret realm could be challenged multiple times, even if the difficulty was high, the rewards couldn’t be too generous.

But if it were just a bunch of rare resources, that would be too cheap.

Seeing the secret realm card, Lu Ran realized the strategic importance of the real-world secret realm.

The secret realm card was a unique drop from the real-world secret realm.

He must be the first beastmaster in modern times to receive this reward, right?

“So, with this, I can completely establish an independent alternate space in Green Sea City, using it as my secret base and battle beast barracks?” Lu Ran stroked his chin.

“It could definitely allow some of the talented battle beasts from Green Sea to grow stronger inside…”

…

Outside.

After sending Lu Ran into the secret realm, Youxiong Anlin and Du Yuan chatted for a bit and were about to enter the realm themselves.

It wasn’t for the rewards; they purely wanted to serve the guardian.

However, before they could enter, Lu Ran appeared outside, leaving them both puzzled.

“Huh?”

Seeing Lu Ran come out just minutes after he entered, Youxiong Anlin was stunned.

“You guys haven’t gone in yet? I’ve already cleared it and come out,” Lu Ran said upon seeing them still outside.

Both were bewildered.

“Cleared it?” Du Yuan looked baffled.

It had only been a few minutes.

“Yes, this secret realm was not as difficult as I expected. It’s comparable to a Legendary Secret Realm, but the rewards are much less, although it seems we can challenge it repeatedly,” Lu Ran said with a smile.

However, his smile made Youxiong Anlin and Du Yuan feel incredibly frustrated.

“Damn, be humane,” Youxiong Anlin said. “Come on, tell us what the later stages are like. I only made it to the fifth level last time.”

“Roar!!!”

Before Lu Ran could respond, the Panda Guardian, who had been hidden somewhere, immediately arrived at the scene.

“Lord Guardian, listen to this guy. He cleared the trial secret realm in minutes. Is he even human?” Youxiong Anlin complained.