King of Beasts

Lu Ran, along with General Ha, repeatedly vanished and reappeared outside the teleportation point of the Secret Realm.

After several experiments, Lu Ran confirmed that entering Infinite City with General Ha and the Sword Spirit together should be doable without much issue.

In other words, General Ha could enter the Evolution Secret Realm, and the Sword Spirit could follow along.

This discovery gave Lu Ran a bold idea.

Since General Ha is quite formidable when the Sword Spirit possesses him, what would happen if the Sword Spirit possessed General Ha during his evolution?

After all, General Ha would have to carry the sword anyway.

In that case, carrying the Sword Spirit seemed to make no difference.

Moreover, it seemed that the Holy Church had also researched possession evolution with necromancy.

However, their research focused on the possession of inanimate objects.

Having a necromancer possess an ordinary creature and evolve together was feasible, but considering that this method hadn’t made waves on either the Star-Moon Continent or Blue Star, it was likely just playful experimentation with no significant results.

Logically, it would be difficult to achieve any notable results. Could one really expect to “fuse and evolve”?

If discovering a new evolution path were that easy, the professors in evolutionary studies wouldn’t all be so bald.

However, due to the special nature of General Ha and the Sword Spirit, Lu Ran still considered this idea. Firstly, General Ha had the Talent of the King of Swords. Secondly, the Sword Spirit was born from General Ha’s teeth.

Even Infinite City acknowledged their connection to some extent, prompting Lu Ran to suddenly want to try.

He wanted to see if having the Sword Spirit possess General Ha during his evolution could provide any enhancements.

What if it worked?

“General Ha, Corpse Dog.”

“Woof?” “Woof?”

Lu Ran called out and received two responses.

General Ha tilted his head. Lu Ran had called both him and the Sword Spirit, making him feel that Lu Ran was saying “General Ha is a dog.”

Although, indeed, he is a dog.

“This sword’s cry…” Lu Ran was about to say something but had a sudden stomach ache. The sword’s cry was “woof.” Hmm, today hearing the sword’s woofing is like listening to celestial music, temporarily clarifying the ears.

Still too abstract.

“Alright, let’s stop for now. Let’s head back to the Green Sea.”

“There’s only six days left until the Evolution Secret Realm opens. Let’s use this time to level up the corpse dog to at least level 20,” Lu Ran said.

Maybe because the Winter Sword Spirit’s material was too precious, and it had cut down many enemies, it was born at level 10.

Since Lu Ran wanted to try evolving General Ha while carrying the Sword Spirit, it would be best for the Winter Sword Spirit to be at a higher level.

“Woof!” General Ha agreed. It was tired of cutting down necromancers all the time.

“Alright.” Lu Ran took out his phone and made a call.

After a while, a white cloud flew over from the sky. Manager Ying was lying on it, yawning, holding a tablet, and looked at Lu Ran, saying, “Finally going back to the…”

“Huh???”

Taking care of the weather elf on the other shore island was tiresome for Manager Ying. Mainly because the weather elf was excessively energetic. If it was in the Green Sea, it wouldn’t be a big issue.

That place was Lu Ran’s territory, and there were no powerful creatures nearby, letting the weather elf play freely.

But the situation in South America was different. Whether in the ocean or the tropical rainforests, there were unknown dangers that humans hadn’t fully explored.

Manager Ying was really afraid that if it didn’t keep a close eye, a passing ferocious beast could swallow the weather elf like a marshmallow.

At that point, even selling its clone wouldn’t be enough to explain to Lu Ran.

“What the meow is this?” However, coming back to the Green Sea wasn’t the focus; the blue Sword Spirit floating beside General Ha caught Manager Ying’s attention more.

It looked utterly baffled.

A necromancer’s spirit?

A sword-shaped spirit?

Judging by the intense sword intent it emitted, it had to be a sovereign species!

“Did the Cult of Necromancy truly leave behind treasure?” Manager Ying speculated.

“Did you really inherit it?” It found the whole thing increasingly absurd.

“What nonsense.” Lu Ran said, “This is the Sword Spirit nurtured by Winter’s Fang.”

“The sword I forged on Emerald Mountain.”

“The one made from two exquisite materials.”

Manager Ying: ???

“Are you kidding me!?”

It was utterly stunned. Although it understood what an artifact spirit was, seeing Lu Ran cultivate one still felt somewhat scientifically implausible.

Two exquisite minerals exchanged for a sovereign species necromancy spirit-what a profitable trade!

“Let me take a closer look…” It continued to scrutinize the corpse dog.

The next moment.

“Woof.” The corpse dog barked, causing Manager Ying’s heart to skip a beat.

“Why does the sword’s cry sound like a dog?”

“It might be because the forging materials included General Ha’s teeth, plus it was nurtured by General Ha,” Lu Ran guessed.

“Ah?” Now, Manager Ying, who had been a bit curious about the sword spirit, suddenly looked disinterested.

It felt like this sword spirit had taken a wrong turn somewhere.

However, its main concern quickly returned to the weather elf.

With a forlorn expression, it turned to the elf, which instantly adopted a teary-eyed look and said, “I knew this guy would find a new pet before becoming a level 3 beastmaster… Look at that, a sovereign species sword spirit, perfectly matched with that husky. Cloud Baby, looks like this guy is going to abandon you. Who knows what he’ll contract for his fourth creature.”

“Pitter-patter-” The weather elf, despite not fully understanding, instantly teared up upon hearing Manager Ying say Lu Ran was going to abandon it.

It glanced jealously at the corpse dog next to General Ha.

Without hesitation, it transformed into a sword made entirely of clouds, showing that it could do it too.

“Woof?” General Ha was baffled.

It started to drool.

“…” Lu Ran was speechless.

“Don’t listen to that cat,” Lu Ran said. “Whether we form a contract doesn’t affect our bond.”

“Now, transform into a flying car. It’s time to go home.”

“Pitter-patter!!” With Lu Ran’s reassurance, the weather elf cheerfully morphed into a white sports car.

“Hey, hey, hey.”

Manager Ying looked at Cloud Baby in bewilderment, feeling an urge to smack it. Did you even understand what Lu Ran was saying?

A normal comforting statement should have been, “Don’t worry, you’ll be the next one he contracts.”

But what Lu Ran said was, “Whether we form a contract doesn’t affect our bond”-the classic line of a scoundrel.

This indicated that Lu Ran wasn’t 100% sure if the fourth contract would be with the weather elf.

The weather elf had originally been the third choice, but because it was too small, the dark crow intercepted it midway. And now, after a full moon, was it going to be overtaken again by a newly born sword spirit?

Meanwhile, Lu Ran had already gotten into the car.

“Come on, Manager Ying,” he called out.

“What the…?” Manager Ying was perplexed. Originally, a sovereign species by birth should be a rare combat pet that even the First Generation would envy. Why was the competition so stiff around Lu Ran?

So, who was Lu Ran planning to contract as his fourth creature? The weather elf? The sword spirit?

Or did Lu Ran have other plans in mind?

Manager Ying wanted to get to the bottom of it, but then decided to let it go. As long as it wasn’t concerning itself, it swiftly jumped into the car.

…

Half a day later.

Lu Ran and his companions returned to the Green Sea. By the time they arrived, it was already late. Lu Ran took a quick shower and went straight to bed. General Ha didn’t return to its contract card either, instead, it stayed outside, guarding the newly born sword spirit as it slept.

During the journey, Lu Ran had already experimented. The artifact spirit also fed on souls, but rather than “eating,” “absorbing” was more accurate. As long as the sword spirit slashed a soul, it could directly absorb the soul power of the target, converting it into its required nourishment.

In other words, if Lu Ran wielded the sword spirit, a power imbued with mind sword intent, he could directly slash ferocious beasts or necromancy creatures to meet its feeding needs.

The next day.

Lu Ran got up early and, after having breakfast-a bowl of tofu pudding and a fried dough stick-he received a phone call.

“Dean Chu?” The caller surprised Lu Ran. It was Chu Yan, the dean of the Cultivating College at Beast Taming University. Recently, due to frequently hanging out with Principal Shi Zhen, Lu Ran had almost forgotten about him. What did he want?

“Hehe, Professor Lu,” Chu Yan’s tone was very polite. After all, Lu Ran was no longer just the Newcomer King of Xia Country and a Dragon Chef; he was much more than that now.

“The semester is almost over, and tomorrow is your first class. Many students have signed up for it. Do you have the time to teach, or should I just cancel the class?”

“A class?” Lu Ran was stunned upon hearing this.

The next moment, he stared at the ceiling in confusion. Ah… he had almost forgotten that he was still a mentor at Beast Taming University.

To avoid delaying Lu Ran’s growth progress, Beast Taming University had rescheduled his culinary class to the end of the semester, turning it into an elite course that only top freshmen could opt for.

This significantly reduced Lu Ran’s teaching hours. However, no matter how much they reduced it, he couldn’t completely avoid it.

“No problem,” Lu Ran quickly sighed and said, “I’ll be available. I’ll come to class as scheduled tomorrow.”

Although canceling the class wouldn’t have been a big deal, Principal Shi Zhen had already given Lu Ran his salary at the start of the semester: an exquisite resource.

Having accepted the salary, it would be unprofessional to “skip class.” Besides, judging by Chu Yan’s words, many students had opted for this course. Canceling it now would likely disappoint them.

It’s just a two-hour class; Lu Ran could use it to uncover some potential new talent. After all, someone had to inherit his dragon culinary intent and soul culinary intent eventually.

Right now, Lu Ran felt somewhat overwhelmed. Not only did he have to feed an entire group of necromancers, but he also had to train a team of Jiao Dragons and nurture his own pet beasts.

This left Lu Ran with no time to become Dr. Gu’s personal chef for two months. With the arrival of the second-stage evolution era, he also wanted to help Dr. Gu train her Dragon Pet.

Although Dr. Gu had never brought it up, Lu Ran had always kept it in mind.

“For now, let’s deal with these miscellaneous tasks,” Lu Ran thought to himself.

Lu Ran hung up the phone with Dean Chu Yan and then made a voice call to Lu Bing.

“Lu Bing, how is the progress of the Jiao Dragon team?”

“Very well. Everyone’s snake pets have reached level 20, but we’re almost out of the Loong-type cuisine you provided last time,” Lu Bing replied, adding eagerly, “Village Chief, are you going to supply new cuisine?”

Lu Ran smiled, “All at level 20? That’s great. Gather everyone; let’s meet at Infinite City No.7.”

As he spoke, Lu Ran took out a large bottle from his identity card. Inside the bottle was the blood of the dragon king, filled with electrical arcs and scorching hot.

[Name]: Blood of the Dragon King

[Level]: Exquisite

[Introduction]: Blood of the Shield-winged Dragon King. Bathing in it has the effect of improving bloodline and physique!

This was the blood shed by the Sudden Death King during its evolution and training, all of which had been collected by Lu Ran. Besides this bottle, there was plenty more.

Repurposing waste blood, this ordinary blood might not be of much use to the Sudden Death King itself, as its whole body was already overflowing with it. But for cultivating the Jiao Dragon team, it was perfect.