King of Beasts

“Let’s try controlling it first.”

“Although it has the potential of an overlord after awakening, it hasn’t awakened yet and is still in the seedling stage. We can give it a try.”

Lu Ran looked at General Ha and pondered.

“You really are generous,” Fang Lan remarked, a smile spreading across her face with excitement.

Her spider certainly knew how to choose, as it had selected the most precious spiritual plant seedling of Lu Ran’s right from the start.

“It’s nothing,” Lu Ran shrugged it off.

“However…”

“If the spiritual energy mother tree were transplanted to Green Sea City, all supernatural beings there could upgrade faster.”

“Now that you’ve taken it, shouldn’t you compensate by helping me cultivate a poison Crow legion?” Lu Ran said with a smile.

Transplanting the spiritual energy mother tree to Green Sea City would at most allow the wild supernatural beings to level up faster.

How could the status of those wild supernatural beings compare to that of a powerful poison Crow legion?

And certainly not to Fang Lan; her prospects would definitely take precedence.

“Of course, no problem!” Fang Lan readily agreed.

Beside them, Professor Ye watched as the two casually planned the arrangement of an exquisite spiritual plant, her eyelids twitching.

[The fate of Green Sea City is being rewritten by these two…]

She analyzed carefully. If the spiritual energy mother tree were directly transplanted to Green Sea City, the city could potentially become the best feng shui location in Xia Country in the future.

But now… she could only predict that Green Sea City would become the most perilous place in Xia Country.

Professor Ye couldn’t even begin to imagine the sight of the spiritual energy mother tree degenerating into the poison type.

“Tssss-” With permission from Lu Ran and further approval from Fang Lan, the Daxia wolf spider couldn’t wait any longer. It crawled over eagerly, greedily absorbing the breath released by the spiritual energy mother tree seedling.

Next, several of its legs emitted energy bodies resembling purple vines that wrapped around the spiritual energy mother tree seedling.

However, even a spiritual plant without sapience wasn’t easy to subdue. The forceful theft by the little spider caused the spiritual energy mother tree seedling to have a stress reaction.

With a hiss, a burst of even more violently erupting spiritual energy seemed to attempt to intoxicate the little spider with its high concentration.

This tactic was indeed effective; the violent surge of spiritual energy directly burst through the purple energy enveloping the seedling, challenging the little spider right from the start.

“Woof-“

Fortunately, General Ha wasn’t just boasting earlier. Seeing the spiritual energy mother tree seedling daring to resist, it stepped forward.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

With an air of authority and energy antlers atop its head, it addressed the plant.

“Woof! (Give me some respect.)”

Regardless of whether the seedling could understand, General Ha calmly spoke.

Resist what?

To it, this seedling was to the spider what sword grass was to itself.

Why not let it be used for a bit first?

Perhaps a little development could even accelerate the birth of Sapience.

“This, this… deer dog.” Although General Ha’s earlier attempt to help didn’t catch the attention of Fang Lan and Professor Ye-after all, unlike Lu Ran, they couldn’t understand dog language-they assumed General Ha was simply barking twice.

But now, as General Ha did a spot-on impression of the divine deer, the spiritual energy mother tree seedling wilted, allowing the little spider to subdue it. Professor Ye showed an expression of disbelief.

She couldn’t comprehend… what exactly happened?

“Uh…” Fang Lan was also dumbfounded, looking at General Ha, not understanding how it could transform like that and, post-transformation, cause the seedling to relinquish instinctually.

“Standard procedure,” Lu Ran cleared his throat and said, “Look, it seems like it’s subdued the seedling.”

At that moment, prompted by Lu Ran’s reminder, the two looked again towards the little spider and the seedling. To their astonishment, the little spider had already uprooted the spiritual energy mother tree seedling and somehow planted it onto its own back.

“Sss-“

In an instant, with a flash of light, a bluish-purple Daxia wolf spider with a purple sapling on its back emerged. After making a hissing sound, the tree on its back pulsated, emitting purple spiritual energy like blooming flowers.

Seemingly concerned about the toxic spiritual energy affecting the surroundings, the Daxia wolf spider swiftly absorbed the energy back into itself.

“Hiss-” Observing this, Fang Lan wore an expression of disbelief.

“What happened?” Professor Ye was surprised that the spiritual energy mother tree seedling was successfully transformed by this poison spider from the commander species. Seeing Fang Lan’s expression of astonishment, she immediately asked.

“Nothing, just the toxic spiritual energy earlier was much more potent than the venom of my two pet beasts,” Fang Lan explained. “You might not have sensed it, but the toxicity of that spiritual energy was truly terrifying.”

“If it weren’t for its innate talent as the controller to be immune to toxins, I bet it would have poisoned itself. I reckon if it spreads out, it could knock out a sovereign from the Dragon Clan that’s over ten levels higher without any issue.”

“Woof woof woof!” Just as Fang Lan finished speaking, General Ha leaned over, its intelligent eyes gleaming with a “Let me try?” kind of thought.

Beside her, Lu Ran ground his teeth and promptly recalled General Ha back into the contract card.

Try, my foot.

“Enhancing strength is all that matters,” Lu Ran nodded, satisfied with the little spider’s success in subduing the seedling. “But the purple spiritual energy is a bit too obvious, maybe work on that.”

“I get it! It’s just that it’s not too skilled with controlling it yet,” Fang Lan’s lips curled up again. “You’re suggesting disguising the toxic spiritual energy as ordinary high-concentration, colorless, and odorless energy, right?”

“In battle, when enemies are exhausted, they might instinctively and greedily absorb what they think is high-concentration energy, and then…”

“Exactly,” Lu Ran grinned.

“Let it get familiar with it quickly, and then head over to the peak arena to wreak havoc; leveling up will be fast.”

“OK, OK.” Fang Lan was eager and then cleared her throat, “But first, let’s check out the forest situation. Professor Ye is still waiting.”

“Alright…” Lu Ran flashed a sunny smile, “Professor Ye, feel free to pick any ferocious plant you like here. There’s nothing else in abundance but plenty of ferocious plants.”

“Consider it as your reward for helping us.”

“You’re too kind,” Professor Ye chuckled as she adjusted her glasses. “I’m already very satisfied with the chance to help. If my old friends knew I had the opportunity to interact with so many ferocious plants, they’d be incredibly envious.”

…

Next, Lu Ran collaborated with Professor Ye to transplant ferocious plants. Under normal circumstances, these plants wouldn’t survive in the Green Sea.

However, given Lu Ran’s status as the Heir of the Tree King and a legendary disciple, he received many gifts during a breakthrough secret realm, including premium soils and fertilizers.

Before transplanting, Lu Ran also obtained a cultivation handbook from his City Lord master. With these resources, cultivating an area resembling the Death Forest in Green Sea was a breeze.

Transplanting the ferocious plants took around three days.

During these three days, Lu Ran wasn’t idle. He traded some unused possessions for a large batch of minerals and used the scales of the sudden death king as the main material to forge three pieces of Soul-Forging Equipment.

[Name]: Dragon King Shield

[Level]: Exquisite

[Introduction]: A peerless shield forged from dragon king scales, capable of reflecting enemy damage within its endurance range and possessing self-repair capabilities.

…

[Name]: Stone Tablet of the Dragon

[Level]: Exquisite

[Introduction]: A peerless stone tablet forged from dragon king scales, it enhances the user’s Loong-type power and possesses self-repair capabilities.

…

[Name]: Wind Thunder Sword

[Level]: Exquisite

[Introduction]: A peerless divine sword forged from dragon king scales and the sharp teeth of a sword dog, it grants the user the power of wind and thunder, with self-protection capabilities.

Crafting these three exquisite pieces nearly depleted Lu Ran’s savings and weakened his soul power to the extreme, even causing a few strands of gray hair.

This frightened Lu Ran enough to vow not to use his soul power in the short term.

Lu Ran plans to see if the Dragon King Shield can be nurtured to develop an artifact spirit, which could become a retainer for the sudden death king.

The Stone Tablet of the Dragon is also intended for the black turtle. If it develops an artifact spirit, it could pair with the black turtle as a partner. If not, it will simply serve as ordinary equipment for it.

Lastly, the Wind Thunder Sword is a gift Lu Ran intends for Jiang Dou’s Old Gentleman, hoping the power of General Ha and the sudden death king will protect him.

Unfortunately, Lu Ran lacks the energy; otherwise, he’d forge a guardian spirit for father Fang and mother Fang as well. Considering their vigor and presence at the forefront of research at the Beast Taming University, their safety isn’t a major concern, so Lu Ran put that task on hold for now.

“I wonder how Fang Lan is doing…” Lu Ran thought as he finished his seclusion period within the ruins. Looking around the barren space, he nodded in satisfaction.

He exited the ruins, intending to ask Fang Lan how well she had adapted to her new abilities, only to find a message from her sent just minutes ago.

[We’ve pretty much mastered the new abilities! We’re heading to the peak arena to test them out!]

Lu Ran shook his head.

Well, then.

He couldn’t help but wonder who the lucky opponent matched with Fang Lan would be. One thing was for sure: it would likely be an international beastmaster, as the peak arena hardly ever paired beastmasters from the same region.

…

At this moment, in the peak arena.

Since this new mode was introduced, traditional arenas had lost their appeal. Beastmasters from various countries flocked to this one. Although the loss from a defeat was significant, the rewards from a victory were great, and many beastmasters were enthralled by the tension and excitement of this competitive mode.

After mastering her new abilities, Fang Lan eagerly matched herself with an opponent. However, when she saw who her opponent was on the boundless grassland battlefield, she was momentarily stunned.

The person wore a white knight’s outfit, with striking golden hair and a noble demeanor.

“You are the Princess of Light.” Fang Lan was surprised to find herself matched with the princess from Yinglun, a prodigy who had cleared the Legendary Secret Realm even earlier than Lu Ran.

“Five Poisons Cult Holy Maiden?” The Princess of Light, seeing Fang Lan’s Asian features and purple hair, quickly deduced her identity. Without saying much, she immediately summoned her new pet, a Holy Light Lion King.

In response, Fang Lan smiled and summoned her poison spider, saying, “You’re still at level 2? Isn’t your entire Golden Generation already at level 3 beastmasters?”

“Let me guess, is it because you got eliminated by Lu Ran during a breakthrough secret realm, delaying your progress?”

Princess of Light: ???

Upon hearing Fang Lan’s comments, a look of irritation appeared on the Princess of Light’s graceful face. What was with this woman, bringing up such a sensitive subject so casually?

With a furious gaze at Fang Lan, she declared, “Your words carry consequences. Being from Xia Country, you must know Lu Ran… All of you are quite infuriating.”

“Sorry about that,” Fang Lan said slyly. She twirled her purple hair and licked her lips, remarking, “Looks like you’ll be stuck at level 2 a little longer… I’m just like Lu Ran, never knowing how to be gentle.”

In the next instant, the Princess of Light’s expression shifted dramatically. Beside her, the Holy Light Lion King also appeared uneasy. A flash of purple crossed their eyes… and then, the Princess of Light knelt down, violently coughing up a mouthful of purple blood, her gaze filled with disbelief.

Thud.

The sovereign species Holy Light Lion King, beside her, let out a pained wail before collapsing, convulsing uncontrollably.

[Combat Conclusion.]

[Victorious Side: Five Poisons Cult Holy Maiden.]

[Defeated Side: Princess of Light.]

In Infinite City No. 3 of Xia Country, Fang Lan exited the peak arena with ease and excitement. At the same time, in the beastmaster square, a system announcement sparked an uproar.

Because… the Commander Divine Beast Leaderboard had been updated.

Normally, an update to the divine beast leaderboard might not be noteworthy, but this time, the content was truly significant.

Fang Lan’s pet beast had climbed directly to the top of the Commander Divine Beast Leaderboard.

The reason for its ascent? In the peak arena, it had poisoned and knocked out the Princess of Light’s sovereign species combat pet, the Holy Light Lion King, in an instant.

This update caused Infinite City No. 3 to erupt in excitement.

The Five Poisons Cult Holy Maiden, Fang Lan, was already a legendary figure in the city’s arena. After clearing the Legendary Secret Realm, she, along with Lin Yin and Summer, became a star in Xia Country.

People knew Fang Lan was strong, but they hadn’t realized just how powerful she was-to the point of immediately defeating the Yinglun’s Princess of Light in the arena?

The Princess of Light was among the earliest of the Golden Generation to clear the Legendary Secret Realm, boasting an impressively strong background.

“Heh.” At the beastmaster square, Pluto looked at his own falling rank with a calm expression.

Recently, he was defeated by the Jiao Dragon team. Soon after, the team members dispersed to other infinite cities for better rewards, allowing Pluto to naturally regain his leaderboard position… although his ranking improvements had been minimal since.

“It doesn’t matter, I’m used to it. Compared to me, the Princess of Light got it worse. I remember Fang Lan is Lu Ran’s older sister, right? Getting held back in level progression by both siblings, the Princess of Light has it bad. Really, this is nothing, really, hahaha…”