King of Beasts

Divine Tree Continent, Qingyu.

Unlike the scattered super cities and ordinary cities across the Divine Tree Continent, Qingyu is considered the most central and prosperous area of the continent, with a level 8 Plantmaster presiding over it.

Its status is roughly equivalent to the imperial capital of the Beast Taming Empire on the Star-Moon Continent.

The Tree King’s ruins are located within Qingyu.

After deciding to challenge the Tree King’s ruins, the legendary City Lord Ye Ying of Tree Realm City and the legendary City Lord Tian Qianmo of Abundance City, along with their disciples, planned to bring them to Qingyu to broaden their horizons and undergo training.

Above the blue sky and sea, a green flying vessel sped through the air.

Onboard, City Lord Ye, City Lord Tian, Lu Ran, and Gu Yu had already set off.

This flying vessel, in fact, was City Lord Tian’s plant pet, a designated transport pet, ideal for carrying people. Lu Ran felt it was even more comfortable and stable than an airplane.

After spending some time in the small cabin on the flying vessel, Lu Ran couldn’t sit still and went to visit his city lord master.

“Ran’er, what’s the matter?”

“Master, just call me Lu Ran,” Lu Ran said bitterly. “Being called Ran’er sounds strange.”

“What!” City Lord Ye was puzzled, not understanding what was strange about it.

“Are you rejecting me?” She sensed Lu Ran’s distance from the nickname.

“How could that be, master? It’s just that I’m simply not used to it. It’s quite different from our customs. Even if you called me ‘grandson,’ it would be more comfortable than this,” Lu Ran said helplessly, looking at the elderly woman before him.

Looking at her, he suddenly thought of his grandmother, the woman who always cooked beast milk for him and cared for him in every way.

Honestly, Lu Ran felt quite lucky. Both his sect leader master and city lord master treated their disciples well. Although he had just become a disciple, the former went to great lengths to help him shape his soul, while the latter, understanding Lu Ran’s needs, immediately set out to visit other legendary families to seek an awakening opportunity for him.

“Alright then, if you’re not comfortable with it, forget it. I only called you that because I heard my senior sister using it for her disciple.”

City Lord Ye waved her hand and said, “Is there something you need? You’ve just broken through to level 3. Instead of stabilizing your realm and developing your abilities, why do I always see you wandering around?”

Lu Ran murmured in his heart; he wanted to stabilize his realm, but he didn’t have a Beast Taming Space to train in. There was no need to stabilize anything.

In fact, in a few days, his dark crow would reach level 40, and he would be able to enter the next breakthrough secret realm for a perfect breakthrough.

“Master, I heard that you started as a beastmaster and later switched to Plant Taming.”

“There’s a rumor outside that you’ve always wanted to take on a beastmaster disciple to pass down your family’s legacy. Is that true?”

City Lord Ye was taken aback, then sighed and said, “It’s not just a rumor outside. Did your Martial Aunt Tian tell you as well?”

“Yeah…”

“Indeed, I had that thought in my early years. In my youth, due to some changes, I was the only one left in my family. I should have passed down my family’s legacy, but in the end, I chose Plant Taming.” ℞

“After becoming a legend, just as the rumors say, I had the idea of taking on a beastmaster disciple to pass down my family’s skills.”

“But I didn’t want to take on a disciple lightly, and I never found a suitable candidate, so this matter was delayed.”

“Until you appeared. Initially, when I saw your incredible potential as a beastmaster, I was indeed tempted. But after thinking it over carefully, I decided against it.”

“You come from the Beast Taming Hall, and you’ve likely encountered all kinds of divine beast taming skills. My family’s beast taming skills aren’t that impressive. Forcing you to learn and inherit them would be a waste of your energy and delay your proper training.”

“Let’s just forget about it.” City Lord Ye shook her head.

“Master, unless you plan to accept another disciple, please pass them down to me.” Lu Ran said, “Regardless of whether this skill is useful to me, as your disciple, I should do something.”

“Even if I’m not suited to learn it, perhaps one day, when I take on a disciple, I can pass it down for you.”

Lu Ran wasn’t actually interested in the beast taming skills of his city lord master’s family. Firstly, he couldn’t really learn them. Secondly, even if he could, the rare beast taming skills collected by the Xia Country Research Institute and the ones he had gathered from the Cult of Necromancy would likely be superior.

At this moment, Lu Ran spoke purely to make City Lord Ye happier. Although he understood that everything was a phantom, in the secret realm stage, these phantoms were indistinguishable from real people and even had their emotions.

By expressing his willingness to pass down the legacy, he could at least let City Lord Ye feel that accepting him as a disciple wasn’t in vain.

A well-intentioned lie to bring happiness was one of the few things this disciple could do.

“You, taking on a disciple?”

Hearing Lu Ran’s words, City Lord Ye chuckled. Lu Ran was barely of age, and thinking about taking on disciples seemed a bit premature.

“It must be something your Martial Aunt Tian told you. Don’t worry about it.”

“It’s just an ordinary beast taming skill. Whether it’s passed down or not doesn’t matter much.”

“However, it’s rare for you to have such thoughts.”

“Oh well, if you do meet someone suitable in the future, then help me pass it down,” City Lord Ye said with a smile. As she spoke, she took out a training manual and tossed it to Lu Ran.

The name of the beast taming skill: Seal Transformation.

Lu Ran took the manual and couldn’t discern much just from the name.

City Lord Ye explained, “Seal Transformation is a skill that allows you to seal your pet beast’s power, putting it into a ‘sealed state.’ In this state, the pet beast’s appearance will change significantly, making it look extremely weak.”

“No, not just in appearance-its actual condition will be weaker than before.”

“However, this sealed state is actually a way to accumulate power. Once the seal is released and it transforms back to its original state, it can unleash a much stronger force than usual.”

“In other words, it’s about trading a normally weaker state for a much stronger battle stance.”

Lu Ran was slightly taken aback and said, “Isn’t this skill really powerful?”

City Lord Ye shook her head, “Looking at the results, it does seem strong. However, during the sealed state, the pet beast is indeed much weaker. Many geniuses in my family, when faced with sudden dangers, were unable to even release the seal due to the pet’s weakness in its sealed state, and met with misfortune.”

“A true strong person wouldn’t bind themselves like this.”

“The process of releasing the seal takes time too, and in the face of a real crisis, that time could determine life or death.”

“This skill might be good for ‘playing the fool to catch the tiger,’ but play the fool long enough, and you might just become one. For most beastmasters, instead of developing this skill, it’s better to develop an enhancement-type beast taming skill, which can also greatly boost a pet beast’s battle power. Although it consumes the beastmaster’s stamina, it offers more flexibility in tactics. I didn’t delve deeply into this skill because I dislike this method.”

“Therefore, I don’t wish to force anyone to learn or pass it down. If you hadn’t brought it up, I wouldn’t have voluntarily taught you this skill.”

“Yet, it’s a skill our family has inherited for hundreds of years, so my feelings about it are complex,” City Lord Ye finished, and Lu Ran carefully put away the skill manual, smiling.

“Master, rest assured, I’ll study it when I return. Even if I can’t learn it myself, I’ll find a suitable disciple who can, and pass it down.”

“Don’t waste too much energy on it,” City Lord Ye advised again.

“Especially since this is a beast taming skill, applicable only to beast pets, it’s ineffective for plant pets. So don’t think about modifying it to work on plant pets. I’ve tried to improve it, and it’s quite difficult. The principles are different, and you can’t forcefully change the effect.”

“I got it!”

…

After some time spent flying, Lu Ran and his companions finally reached Qingyu.

In truth, on the Divine Tree Continent, a legendary strong person is akin to a strategic-level force, akin to a walking catastrophe. Typically, when a legend arrives in another legend’s territory, they announce themselves in advance.

The Tree King’s Ruins are such an important site. Although, according to the Tree King’s last wishes, anyone can challenge it, there is actually a force responsible for safeguarding and managing those who challenge it.

“The founder of the Plant Taming force overseeing Qingyu is said to be one of the Tree King’s suitors.”

“They took root here just to guard the Tree King’s Ruins and choose suitable heirs for the Tree King.”

“And here’s the outcome.”

“The suitor has already passed away, and his descendants have reached level 8, yet no one has managed to conquer the Tree King’s Ruins to this day.”

On the flying vessel, Legend Tian stood at the forefront, gossiping with Lu Ran and Gu Yu behind her.

“A celestial talent like the Tree King naturally had many suitors,” Gu Yu mused. “It’s such a pity that this legendary figure passed away before turning 30.”

“The main thing is that the exact cause of her death remains unknown,” City Lord Ye added. “Perhaps someone who receives her legacy might discover what really happened to her.”

She glanced at Lu Ran and said, “The Tree King, at her peak, was said to be capable of confronting legendary creatures. Don’t underestimate this.”

City Lord Ye knew Lu Ran’s abilities better than outsiders, knowing that General Ha possessed the shaping of legendary creatures. But mimicry is just mimicry, and the Tree King was known to stand against actual legendary life, making her not easy to defeat.

“Understood,” Lu Ran nodded.

As they spoke, they arrived at Tree King City. This city was specially established to commemorate the Tree King. Her legendary deeds have become lasting lore; during her time on the continent, she founded many cities for refugees and repeatedly eradicated ferocious beasts and plants plaguing the land. Her reputation remains high, and many cities still honor statues of the Tree King.

Thus, the location of her legendary ruins is far from unimpressive.

As they approached the city with a gigantic tree reaching into the clouds, a figure exuding powerful energy suddenly appeared before the flying vessel.

“Are the arrivals the City Lords of Tree Realm City and Abundance City?”