King of Beasts

“This…”

After choosing to learn the retainer skill as his fourth beast taming skill, Lu Ran fell into a long contemplation.

As expected!

It wasn’t as good as he had imagined.

Lu Ran had daydreamed that once he mastered the retainer skill, he could assign three to five retainers to each of his pet beasts, like General Ha, the Sudden Death King, and the dark crow.

However, after mastering the skill, Lu Ran realized in silence that he could only assign one retainer per pet beast at the current stage.

To assign more retainers to more pet beasts, he would need to develop it further himself or wait until his beast taming level increased.

“Fortunately, I had anticipated this outcome. It’s acceptable. Yes, actually, such a result is normal. If it were as I had imagined, it would be too overpowered.”

“No, even the current effect is very overpowered.”

A retainer life can receive one type of enhancement from the main pet: a power boost, a talent boost, or a bloodline boost. When the retainer life and main pet fight side by side, the retainer life can utilize a “fusion skill” by attaching to the main pet!!

No wonder legends of divine beasts often involve them nurturing retainers.

Imagine, if General Ha contracted the sword spirit and sword grass as retainers and they received General Ha’s talent boost, how terrifying would that be?

General Ha’s talent, naturally, is in swordsmanship.

Ultimately, this would manifest as…

The sword domain!

Perhaps, by becoming retainers and receiving such a boost, they could effortlessly use the sword domain too.

And it doesn’t end there.

When retainers and the main pet fight side by side, retainers can attach to the main pet to enhance “fusion skills”!!

In other words, during battle, retainers can provide a skill buff to the main pet, making its skills stronger.

Fusion between different pet beasts’ skills is generally quite difficult.

However, if there’s a retainer contract between two pet beasts, it might not be so challenging after all.

If the sword spirit and sword grass mastering the sword domain isn’t extreme enough…

What if their sword domain could fuse with General Ha’s sword domain?

Suddenly, Lu Ran remembered what Manager Ying had previously mentioned about the “combination domain”!!

On the Star-Moon Continent, several formidable legendary beastmasters possess pet beasts with domains. In some cases, the domains of different pet beasts can even merge, forming a combination domain.

“Wait a second.”

“If in a year, I manage to develop the retainer skill so that one pet beast can contract two retainers.”

“Then, if the sword spirit and sword grass both become General Ha’s retainers, the sword spirit has a domain, the sword grass has a domain, and then they merge with General Ha’s sword domain, forming a triune combined sword domain. In a 3v3 scenario, wouldn’t their power be extraordinarily overwhelming, easily defeating everyone?”

Lu Ran took a deep breath, suddenly realizing how to leverage the retainer skill.

General Ha’s strength lies in its swordsmanship talent, so it should be paired with sword-related retainers.

The Sudden Death King’s strength is its powerful Dragon’s Bloodline species, so in the future, it should be paired with dragon-related retainers.

As for the dark crow… developing the retainer skill seems challenging for it, so at level 40, it should directly receive a fusion with the trait of group dominance, without assigning it any retainers since it already has many clones.

“Another question arises.”

“Shouldn’t the sword spirit and sword grass also be contracted?”

If he wants to achieve a triune combined sword domain using the retainer skill to dominate the top ten First Generation contestants, the sword spirit and sword grass must both be contracted.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to appear in tournaments.

Lu Ran didn’t mind contracting them, but the issue remains-with only a limited number of contract slots, many pet beasts are waiting in line.

Weather Elf, Sword Grass, Sword Spirit… and now there’s the Lucky Clover Trait, which might even require a plant pet beast. This is hardly sufficient.

Standing in place with a headache, Lu Ran felt increasingly envious of the beastmasters from the Star Moon Federation, as they rely on their own Beast Taming Space.

Although the number of contracts in a Beast Taming Space is equal to the number of contract cards.

However, Lu Ran knew that on the Star-Moon Continent, a very powerful beast taming skill exists: Beast Taming Space Enhancement.

It directly allows one to have double the contract slots compared to a beastmaster of the same level.

Double the Beast Taming Space, combined with the retainer skill, would make Lu Ran feel he could decisively defeat any equal-level opponents.

Unfortunately, for now, it remains just a thought.

“Alright, let’s do this. When I get back, I’ll contract the Cloud Baby. After all, the triune combined sword domain and the concept of two retainers is just my theory for now, and it’s uncertain whether it will work.”

“Contracting the Weather Elf is more straightforward. At least its blizzard weather and thunderstorm weather can synergize with General Ha and the Sudden Death King without any issues.”

“As for the Corpse Dog and the Sword Grass that might awaken sapience in the future, I’ll let them grow freely for now. I’ll reserve the contract slots and wait until they have fully developed the Combined Sword Domain. Contracting them later won’t be too late.”

“However, even with this plan, if I encounter any rare pet beasts in the future, the number of contract slots still feels insufficient,” Lu Ran pondered.

He thought about whether it was possible to reduce the number of pet beasts.

Do I really need to contract another plant pet beast to merge with the Lucky Clover?

If the Sword Grass can awaken sapience, can’t the Lucky Clover merge with it instead?

Although the Lucky Clover appears to be a supportive trait, is there any way it could be converted into an offensive trait?

“I remember that in a Level 5 secret realm, there’s a trait called the Critical Hit Trait.” Suddenly, Lu Ran recalled something.

“The Critical Hit Trait, when fused with a pet beast, grants a very small chance of delivering a skill with multiple times the damage.”

“Once it triggers a critical hit, the skill damage will be exceptionally high.”

“Although it relies on probability and its performance is highly unstable, it can be counterbalanced by ‘frequency’ to make up for the ‘probability.’ Hence, this trait has its audience.”

“Many strategy team beastmasters use pet beasts with this trait. By repeatedly running dungeons dozens or even hundreds of times, they gamble on a critical hit to clear the secret realms.”

“This trait works decently in PvE, but in PvP, it’s too hit-or-miss and not exactly reliable.”

“But what if the Critical Hit Trait were combined with the Lucky Clover Trait, which increases luck? What would happen if a single pet beast possessed both?” Lu Ran mused, envisioning the scene where the Sword Grass delivers a critical hit with every strike.

Moreover, the Lucky Clover Trait also brings luck to companions. Achieving something as complex as a combination domain likely requires a bit of luck as well. If the Sword Grass were to fuse with the Lucky Clover Trait, could it potentially accelerate the creation of the combination domain?

“Perhaps, that’s the way to go,” Lu Ran thought, scratching his chin as he visualized a future where the Sword Grass’s every strike lands a critical hit.

“This way, I won’t need to seek additional plant life for the Lucky Clover, saving a contract slot!”

“Moreover, another option could be to feed the Miracle Seed to the Dark Crow. If the Dark Crow grows a plant organ, wouldn’t it also count as part plant life? The Lucky Clover might fuse with it as well. The combination of curse and luck might create some interesting effects.”

“This can save another contract slot. Additionally, if the Dark Crow awakens a plant organ, it might research strange plant resources and learn new curses faster. However, this approach carries risks. The Dark Crow isn’t perfectly compatible with grass species. It might work as a short-term solution, but in the long run, it could affect its subsequent evolution.”

Trait pairing is an art, and Lu Ran shook his head, deciding to focus on studying the retainer skill first…

…

The next day.

At this point, City Lord Ye had already departed for the distant grasslands. Lu Ran spent an entire day studying the retainer skill and discovered that binding the Sudden Death King and General Ha could actually work.

He could directly make the Sudden Death King General Ha’s retainer…

Then, within the Infinite Sword Domain, General Ha could wield the Sudden Death King as a sword, cutting down everything in its path. However, the image was too abstract to see a bright future, so Lu Ran quickly dismissed this devilish idea as soon as it flashed in his mind.

For now, with his master gone and holding the city lord’s token, Lu Ran had practically become the overlord of Tree Realm City.

Even though his status wasn’t quite the same as the Holy Son of the Cult of Necromancy, it wasn’t too far off.

After a day of studying the changes following his breakthrough, Lu Ran headed once again to the Death Forest to find a suitable ferocious plant for Fang Lan.

His previous two trips were rushed, so he hadn’t had a chance to find the right plants. This time, no matter what, he was determined to find several suitable ones and bring them back for her to choose from.

In fact, the ones Shi Ze mentioned initially were all excellent choices. Each was a sovereign species ferocious plant, whether it was the Dripping Guanyin or the Dragon Blood Willow, both were extremely powerful.

However, if possible, Lu Ran still hoped to find a ferocious plant for Fang Lan that, upon awakening, could reach the level of an overlord species. This way, he wouldn’t have to worry about her situation in the future.

“Although there are many sovereign species ferocious plants here, none seem capable of becoming overlords.”

“It seems that even for a legendary Plantmaster, obtaining an innately overlord species ferocious plant is not an easy task,” Lu Ran mused as he wandered through the Death Forest.

“It appears you are indeed very interested in plant life.”

“Who?”

Lu Ran, while wandering around, heard a voice. Looking around, he was slightly taken aback: “Martial Aunt Tian?”

The person appearing from one end of the forest was none other than City Lord Ye’s senior sister. She said, “I heard from your master that you came from the Beast Taming Hall and want to study the combination of beast pets and plant pets?”

“Yes,” Lu Ran replied. “I have a dream…”

“Alright, I don’t want to hear about your dream,” Martial Aunt Tian waved her hand and said, “My junior sister has never taken on a disciple before; you are the first. Unfortunately, you come from the Beast Taming Hall, so it’s impossible for you to switch to Plantmaster training and inherit her mantle.”

“I have a request; I wonder if you can accept it.”

“Please, Martial Aunt Tian, go ahead,” Lu Ran said.

“You should know, right? Your master comes from a beast taming family. She switched from beast taming to plant taming. Her family has passed down a special beast taming skill. She has always been concerned about abandoning her family’s legacy. If possible, I’d like you to inherit her family’s unique skill. It is called the Beast Taming Power, and it does not conflict with your path.”

“However, Beast Taming Hall should have many exceptional beast taming skills. If it doesn’t suit you, it might be a waste of your time, so you don’t need to pay too much attention to my words,” Martial Aunt Tian added.

“As for my master’s family’s beast taming skills… I’m really not familiar with them,” Lu Ran said. “I’ll discuss it with my master in the future.”

Martial Aunt Tian’s suggestion was indeed reasonable. A beastmaster who could cultivate the Beast Taming Space could learn an unlimited number of beast taming skills, as long as they had sufficient talent and energy.

Unfortunately, Lu Ran could only respond vaguely at this moment, as he was not a traditional beastmaster. The number of beast taming skills he could learn was limited. Currently, it was impossible for him to learn such skills not issued by Infinite City.

“Oh, by the way.”

“Martial Aunt Tian, I want to ask you about something I forgot to mention to Master.”

“Oh, go ahead,” Martial Aunt Tian looked at Lu Ran.

“Just as you said, I am a beastmaster and have established a Beast Taming Space, not a space for plant pets. This means I am destined not to be able to contract with plant pets and cannot become a Plantmaster unless I abandon my Beast Taming Space and switch my focus.”

“However, I still want to cultivate some plant pets. Carrying them might become a problem in the future.”

“I’ve heard that some level 8 beastmasters or Plantmasters turn their spaces into ‘space treasures’ upon their death. These space treasures can even store living things, and the growth boost for the internal life forms is comparable to that of a low-level beastmaster’s Beast Taming Space.”

“I want to know if there’s a place where I can obtain such a space treasure…”

Martial Aunt Tian: ???

“Ah,” Lu Ran saw Martial Aunt Tian’s utterly confused expression and awkwardly laughed, “I just thought I’d ask on a whim, haha, you can just listen casually, and I’ll take it casually too…”

It seemed that even for an ordinary legendary Plantmaster, such epic-level space treasures were incredibly precious.

“No, I was just amazed that you dare to bring up anything.”

“To even dare covet such treasures, ha-ha,” she chuckled with a hint of speechlessness. “You haven’t asked your family about it, have you?”

“No, I only recently came up with the idea.”

“If you were to ask the legends at the Beast Taming Hall, you wouldn’t need to ask me.”

“There actually is a place to obtain what you mentioned.”

Lu Ran: ?????!!

“But don’t get your hopes up too high. Many know about this place, but none have the ability to acquire it.”

“Have you heard of the Tree King? She was an epic legend who fell a long time ago. After her demise, she transformed her Plant Taming Space into legacy ruins, open for challengers. The site is located at the center of the Divine Tree Continent.”

“Anyone who succeeds in the challenge will not only inherit her legacy but also receive ownership of these legacy ruins, which is the space treasure you spoke of. These legacy ruins are not a secret; many legends know about them. However, even the most gifted individuals have failed to pass this challenge.”

“Among the challengers, there have been absolute geniuses contracted with ‘upper overlord species,’ individuals more remarkable than you in background, yet they have all failed…”