King of Beasts

Chapter 172: Breakthrough!

“Promotion!”

The breakthrough task was finally completed. Seeing the reward, Lu Ran felt a sense of clarity―it was the perfect moment to break through.

“Give me a breakthrough!!!”

Although realm breakthrough didn’t really require Lu Ran’s effort, he still shouted out as if it were all due to his own hard work.

Meanwhile.

As Lu Ran broke through, the bottlenecks for General Ha and Sudden Death King in the yard were also simultaneously unlocked.

Both of them suddenly looked up, with powerful energy waves surging from their bodies.

Their levels rapidly rose, one level after another.

…

In such a City of Death, it seemed even the heavens were unwilling to let a few rays of sunshine through.

Hei Yu sat in the courtyard next door, completely focused on practicing necromancy.

“Hmm?”

Just then, suddenly, two astonishing sword intents mixed with Dragon Might tore through the air and raged towards the sky.

The powerful breath made the necro-fox in her arms curl up slightly, as if a young beast in the mountains had heard the roar of a tiger…

“A breakthrough?”

Feeling the strong aura, Hei Yu showed a surprised expression. Had Lu Ran and his pet beasts broken through?

…

Crack.

After the realm breakthrough, Lu Ran moved his muscles and bones, which instantly emitted a series of cracking sounds.

He looked into the distance, able to clearly see even a tiny insect far away.

Level 2!

[Species]: Human

[Beast Taming Level]: Level 2

[Beast Taming Skills]: Super Beast Mimicry, Flame Sprite

[Special Abilities]: Telepathy, Blizzard Sword Intent, Flame Dragon Sword Intent, Mind Sword Intent

Such a powerful Level 2 setup was definitely peculiar among all beastmasters.

Lu Ran smiled. This feeling of getting stronger was quite addictive. He quickly looked towards General Ha and Sudden Death King.

At this moment, after their energy outburst, both General Ha and Sudden Death King gradually returned to calm.

General Ha!

[Growth Level]: Level 27

Sudden Death King!

[Growth Level]: Level 29

Both had just broken through, and the foundation they had accumulated during the bottleneck stage at Level 20 completely erupted.

Sudden Death King’s rapid growth could be attributed to the warehouse full of Loong-based ingredients at Beast Taming University, providing it with the best matched food daily. It would be difficult for it to grow slowly.

Although General Ha’s diet was slightly inferior to Sudden Death King’s, it wasn’t much worse either.

Additionally, Lu Ran used 100 upgrade cards obtained from the Legendary Secret Realm to enhance General Ha’s contract card. Being in a contract card state also boosted its growth speed.

Lu Ran was quite satisfied with their breakthroughs and level increases. The increase in level had strengthened all their attributes. If they had to face a 1VS100 battle again, he felt it would be much easier.

At this point, there were still half a month remaining in the Breakthrough Secret Realm. Lu Ran felt that Sudden Death King reaching level 30 during this time shouldn’t be a problem.

“Awoo!~~”

Both pet beasts were delighted to feel the powerful new strength they had obtained.

General Ha looked at Sudden Death King, as if wanting to test how much stronger it had become.

“Roar!!” Sudden Death King shook its head repeatedly, displaying a wise expression, indicating that General Ha should look at Lu Ran.

Why not… ask about the task rewards first!

“Yes, they’re quite good.”

Lu Ran said, “There’s a skeleton of a pig-shaped ferocious beast called millennial soul bone, which can be used to make soup, forge weapons, or for possession.”

“It’s considered a soul-related ingredient and forging material, exquisite-level, a rare item.”

“I think we could use it to forge a weapon combining General Ha’s teeth in the future…”

“Woof woof!!!” Before Lu Ran could finish, General Ha barked excitedly, strongly suggesting using it to make soup.

“You’re right. Using it to make soup could directly enhance the soul strength of you, Sudden Death King, and Dark Crow, facilitating a stage evolution.”

General Ha nodded repeatedly, yes, yes.

“Even if we used it for forging, an exquisite-level weapon would be a temporary one. Also, the pig bone doesn’t seem quite suitable for you and would eventually be replaced. It’s better to use your teeth. Although it might start as a rare quality, slightly weaker, it has growth potential. The materials can be replaced over time. Most importantly, it’s easier to forge. Currently, I can’t handle exquisite-level forging materials, but I can manage exquisite-level bone soup.”

“A pot of soup could last quite a while…”

General Ha: ???

“Roar!” Sudden Death King grinned naively.

During this time, Lu Ran continued to explore soul cuisine. He had even successfully forged a Soul-Calming Stone into a Soul-Reaping Blade. However, combining the Mind Sword Intent with the Soul-Reaping Blade still didn’t effectively split soul consciousness.

Lu Ran felt that his Mind Sword Intent wasn’t proficient enough, and the Soul-Reaping Blade wasn’t powerful enough.

Not only was the blade he forged subpar, but even the bone sword from the Cult of Necromancy wasn’t adequate. Lu Ran glanced at the soul bone and wondered if he could forge a small Cleaver from it. Could it work if he used ninety percent for soup-making and ten percent for forging?

Additionally, he planned to clone the Bone Sword Thousand Blades someday. He definitely wanted to incorporate General Ha’s teeth as material, but he hadn’t finalized the other materials yet. The pork bone seemed suitable, but perhaps it wasn’t the best choice.

Before leaving the Breakthrough Secret Realm, he planned to take the bone sword with him for further study. With sword grass available, there was no immediate rush to forge a soul bone sword.

He felt confident in selecting the forging department.

Without further hesitations, Lu Ran took out another skill crystal: Necromancy Clone.

This was a pleasant surprise.

He had always thought that the advanced necromancy technique, which involved dual cultivation of physical body and soul, was a beast taming skill. However, it turned out to be a nurturing method for pet beasts.

Now, among his Breakthrough Secret Realm rewards, he had indeed received this advanced necromancy technique!

Necromancy Clone!

To be honest, Lu Ran was quite conflicted when he received this trait crystal.

It seemed suitable for General Ha, Sudden Death King, or Dark Crow-or really any pet beast.

It was a versatile trait.

If given to General Ha, it could help it cultivate a necromancy body, perfecting its necromancy swordsmanship.

Moreover, the Necromancy Clone could potentially merge into a weapon, allowing its soul clone to become an artifact spirit.

If given to Sudden Death King, it could develop a necromancy dragon clone, capitalizing on the all-rounded strength of the Dragon Clan, especially their mighty Dragon Soul.

At that point, if it could cultivate both its physical body and soul, Sudden Death King would achieve dual Absolute Defense.

If given to Dark Crow, it could combine its soul power with curse power, creating a formidable soul curse that would become nearly impossible to defend against.

In terms of compatibility, the curse talent and soul power made the best combination.

Lu Ran fell into deep thought, analyzing the situation.

Soon, he made a decision.

He would go with his initial plan and give it to Dark Crow.

Although every pet beast could benefit from this trait, not all of them were the “most suitable.” Only Dark Crow was the “perfect fit.”

For example, General Ha had already fused with the Nature Control trait.

Soul power isn’t a form of nature force.

It couldn’t perfectly harmonize with General Ha’s existing abilities.

Compared to necromancy, natural attributes like wind, lightning, light, water, and space were more fitting for General Ha.

In contrast, the Ultimate Perception Trait he had prepared was truly versatile, regardless of what powers General Ha awakened before or after.

General Ha’s inherent soul talent was already strong. After all, necromancy clone was a man-made skill. Who’s to say that General Ha couldn’t develop similar abilities, like a sword soul, after fusing with the Ultimate Perception Trait?

If fused with necromancy clone now, it would lead General Ha’s evolution on a highly divergent path.

Ultimate Perception Trait was more appropriate.

Fusing both Ultimate Perception and necromancy clone at the same time was unnecessary.

Lu Ran had already determined General Ha’s path: the level 40 to level 60 stage would focus on Space.

An ethereal flower to awaken a new attribute, with the other two traits centered around space.

Compared to the necromancy route, the space route was clearly more powerful and suited to General Ha’s swordsmanship.

So, he excluded General Ha.

As for Sudden Death King, necromancy clone certainly couldn’t take the place of the Dragon King bloodline. Even if it were to fuse, it would be after its first evolution at level 40.

But upon careful consideration, does creating a necromantic dragon clone for Sudden Death King really make sense?

Lu Ran certainly wasn’t expecting Sudden Death King’s necromantic dragon clone to be an attacking force; that would go against its inherent talent and personality.

If it’s just for defense, how often would they encounter necromancy-type enemies? Not every attack requires a defense strategy. Sometimes overpowering with sheer strength is just as effective.

There’s no need to overcomplicate things.

On the other hand, Dark Crow desperately needed such a trait to solidify its development path.

The synergy of mental, dark, and soul elements would create the ultimate curse!

It could perfectly target a being’s physical body, mind, and soul, covering all aspects!

Moreover, it was the only pet beast without a suitable evolution trait at the moment.

Of course, Lu Ran had another reason for choosing this route… He took out the Soul Enhancement skill card.

It was quite surprising.

After obtaining the necromancy clone trait crystal, Lu Ran felt there was no need to contract with another necromantic pet.

Once Dark Crow had the necromancy clone, it could serve the role of a necromantic pet.

Thus, the Death Revival skill card would become unnecessary.

At this point, the appearance of the Soul Enhancement skill card was an eye-opener for Lu Ran.

Enhancement-type beast taming skills were very common but also incredibly practical.

They allowed a beastmaster to expend stamina to temporarily enhance one attribute of their pet beast.

Although this enhancement was temporary, it significantly helped with intensive training, resulting in a small but permanent improvement in the corresponding attribute of the pet beast.

Of course, the permanent improvement wasn’t as significant as the temporary boost.

Lu Ran wasn’t sure if The Other Shore had soul enhancement skills, but there were no guaranteed ways to obtain them from any secret realms, making this a super rare beast taming skill.

Unlike fire or water enhancement, soul enhancement, like mental enhancement, was universally applicable to all pet beasts and useful in a broad range of situations. Learning it couldn’t hurt-it had no limitations.

“I don’t need the necromancy clone to help General Ha and Sudden Death King cultivate soul power. By learning the Soul Enhancement skill, I can help them enhance their soul power directly.”

“Sudden Death King’s Dragon Soul might also be molded using this skill.”

“Then, if they had any insights, I could use super beast mimicry to learn the corresponding soul techniques.”

“Learning this skill should deepen my understanding of soul power. It might even help me combine it with mind sword intent to create truly perfect soul cuisine.”

“For the third beast taming skill, instead of the highly limited Death Revival, Soul Enhancement seems like a better choice.”

After a thorough analysis, Lu Ran quickly and efficiently planned out the rewards from this secret realm.

With that, he decided to use the Soul Enhancement skill card.

He placed the skill card on his forehead, and a wealth of information about using Soul Enhancement flooded his mind.

[Beast Taming Skills]: Super Beast Mimicry, Flame Sprite, Soul Enhancement

“Sudden Death King!”

At Lu Ran’s call, and with a sudden flying brick, Sudden Death King’s soul was forcibly knocked out!

“Wow wow!!!”

The little lizard’s soul rolled on the ground a few times, showing an innocent expression as it looked over at General Ha, who was laughing at it.

But before Sudden Death King could react, a Soul Enhancement spell landed on its soul!

In the next moment.

Sudden Death King’s eyes widened as its small lizard soul rapidly grew, step by step approaching the size of its main body, no… even surpassing it and becoming increasingly like the Thunder Dragon it aspired to be!

“Is this possible?!”

At that moment, looking at the necromantic dragon-like Sudden Death King, Lu Ran was equally surprised. He hadn’t expected that with just a simple enhancement, without in-depth development, Sudden Death King’s soul would start transforming into a dragon form!

Damn, Lu Ran didn’t expect that making Sudden Death King’s soul undergo dragon transformation would ultimately rely on the reward’s Soul Enhancement skill rather than soul cuisine.

However, this transformation seemed to be only temporary; once the skill wore off, its soul would revert back to normal.

To achieve a permanent dragon transformation, consistent cultivation was still necessary.

Developing soul cuisine remained a must.

Moreover, helping Sudden Death King undergo dragon transformation appeared to consume a tremendous amount of energy. After a brief moment, Lu Ran felt weak in the legs despite his remarkable physical condition.

“Soul Enhancement should be like space enhancement, one of those high-consumption enhancement skills. Even though both are enhancement skills, the amount of stamina consumed varies depending on the attribute.”

“Of course, high consumption also means significant improvement. During the soul enhancement stage, a pet beast’s Comprehension might also increase to some extent. It’s like a beastmaster’s version of a lucid fruit!”

“No, this is too exhausting.”

Feeling his stamina drain, Lu Ran was now a bit envious of those beastmasters who diligently used enhancement skills to train their pet beasts like clockwork while taking supplements.

Compared to this skill, reverse Super Beast Mimicry and Flame Sprite both consumed far less energy.

After a quick experiment, Lu Ran canceled the Soul Enhancement. In the next moment, under an excited expression, Sudden Death King reverted back to its little lizard form. Its big red eyes looked up at Lu Ran, going “Wow wow.”

It felt… the experience just now was quite enjoyable, offering a novel sense of soul elation!

It wondered if its beastmaster could sustain this longer to see where its limits lay!