King of Beasts

“While it was exhausting, at least I gained something.”

“Did the Sword Grass Family tell you the awakening method?” Lu Ran was stunned.

Actually, he didn’t hold much hope.

After all, the Sword Grass Family is also a household with a legendary Plantmaster.

Although the City Lord’s master’s visit would surely be treated with great honor, the Sword Grass awakening method, even if it existed, was likely the core heritage of the family, something they wouldn’t easily reveal.

“No, they merely validated some of my ideas,” City Lord Ye explained. “But they promised that if I take you there, they would be willing to help your Sword Grass awaken its Sapience and evolve into a supernatural life form.”

Lu Ran: ???

This family sure is clever.

“If you want to help your Sword Grass awaken its Sapience, we can make a trip to Myriad Leaf City when we have the time.”

“And only they know what those specific creatures are.”

“Thank you, Master,” Lu Ran replied.

However, he was destined not to go.

Because he couldn’t ensure that if the Sword Grass awakened in the breakthrough secret realm, he would still be able to take it out.

Any life form within the breakthrough secret realm cannot be contracted or taken out, unless it’s a reward from the realm, like Lu Ran’s plant seeds or the former guild leader’s element egg.

And Lu Ran’s Sword Grass was a plant he directly dug out from the secret realm, so essentially, it still belonged to the realm.

If it awakened within the secret realm, Lu Ran was afraid he might not be able to take it out, and that would be a huge loss.

Just in case.

If the Sword Grass were a plant native to the blue star, it wouldn’t be as risky.

Because there are always beastmasters with too much time on their hands who have experimented with this, allowing their two pet beasts to mate and quickly give birth within the breakthrough secret realm.

And then the young beast, after the 30-day period ended, would be sent out of the infinite city along with the challenger.

The beastmaster who conducted this experiment was undoubtedly condemned on the blue star, but his actions have indeed emboldened more and more beastmasters. 𝔯ã�

Some even wanted to mate their pet beasts with the high species in the secret realm, but unfortunately, whether humans or pet beasts, mating with the projections in the secret realm cannot result in pregnancy…

Actually, at this point, Lu Ran had roughly figured it out.

Combining the confirmation from the Sword Grass Family and Yu Rui’s words, Lu Ran speculated that for the Sword Grass to awaken, it probably needs to slay a certain number of “metal ferocious beasts”!!!

Sword Grass is known for its sharpness.

If there are any metal ferocious beasts whose blood is a resource for “enhancing sharpness,” then there is a high probability that this would be related to the Sword Grass awakening.

This ferocious beast species may not be fixed; any metal ferocious beasts might work, but there would likely be some requirements regarding the number or quality of the ferocious beasts slain by the Sword Grass.

For instance, it might need to absorb the blood of a metal ferocious overlord species to awaken.

With this hypothesis, Lu Ran felt quite satisfied. He planned to experiment slowly with metal ferocious beasts once he returned to the blue star.

What a pity that the sudden death king isn’t a metal species. If it were, things would be much simpler.

“But Master, there’s no rush to awaken the Sword Grass right now. Once it awakens into a life form, it will be inconvenient for me to carry it.”

“At that point, it won’t be able to enter the space equipment anymore.”

“That’s true,” City Lord Ye nodded. “That is indeed a problem, but fortunately, the Sword Grass isn’t very big. Carrying it around isn’t much of an issue after getting used to it.”

“One Sword Grass is okay, but as I get more plant pets, it might become problematic,” Lu Ran said with a bitter smile. “Master, I plan to challenge the Tree King Ruins.”

“If I can conquer the Tree King Ruins and obtain a space treasure that can store living creatures, I won’t have to worry about carrying living beings anymore!”

“I’ll find someone to help awaken the Sword Grass after I clear the ruins!”

City Lord Ye: ?

“Are you serious?” She looked at Lu Ran in bewilderment. “The Tree King Ruins have been there for so many years, and no one has been able to clear them. You…”

She couldn’t understand Lu Ran’s behavior.

Just to make it more convenient to carry a sovereign species plant pet…

So, he’s aiming to obtain an epic level space treasure… Is this how a normal person thinks?

Although Lu Ran was strong, she still wasn’t optimistic about his chances.

“Master, are you hungry?”

Lu Ran suddenly asked City Lord Ye.

“Why?”

“Let me prepare a grand meal to welcome you back. Actually, I have some skill in culinary manship!”

City Lord Ye was surprised, “You can cook?”

…

That evening, Lu Ran took over the kitchen at the City Lord’s Mansion, claiming the chef’s duties for the night.

Using his Culinary Intent, Lu Ran prepared several of his specialty dishes. In addition to City Lord Ye, Martial Aunt Tian and Senior Sister Gu, who had accompanied him from the Sword Grass Family, were also invited.

After tasting Lu Ran’s dishes, the three of them were astonished. They hadn’t expected someone as strong as Lu Ran to also be a master chef.

“Delicious.”

Originally, Gu Yu was feeling a bit down for being eliminated by Lu Ran, but after eating his food, her mood improved immediately.

Good food can heal the mind.

At the dinner table, Martial Aunt Tian commented enviously, “Junior Sister, what kind of luck do you have to take such a good disciple?”

Lu Ran’s previously showcased talent did not make Martial Aunt Tian jealous of City Lord Ye, but his culinary skills certainly did.

If she had such a disciple, wouldn’t she be able to enjoy delicious food every day?

“Yu’er, you should learn a bit. As a girl, instead of always learning those impractical arts like music and dance, you should focus on cooking and sewing. They are much more useful!”

“I…” Gu Yu chose to continue eating, not wanting to talk.

“Who did you learn your cooking from?” she asked.

“From my Uncle Gou… Uncle Gou is my father’s sworn brother; his culinary skills are amazing.” Lu Ran was sweating, almost slipping up.

“In any case, Martial Aunt Tian, you’re too kind.” In fact, the chef at the City Lord’s Mansion wasn’t bad either. After all, he was hired by a legendary beastmaster. Even with the advantage of the Flame Sprite, Lu Ran wouldn’t say he outclassed the chef; it was purely that his novel dishes brought a fresh experience for first-time eaters.

“Not bad. By the way, did you tell your master about your plan with the Tree King Ruins?” Martial Aunt Tian suddenly asked, putting down her food.

“Tree King Ruins… I was wondering why he brought it up all of a sudden. It turns out it’s because of you,” City Lord Ye said helplessly.

“If you all plan on going, I’ll take Yu’er along as well.”

“Although I don’t expect her to clear it, sparring with the Tree King at her level would be a valuable experience.”

Gu Yu continued eating, not wanting to talk. She was feeling the pain of being compared to “other people’s disciples.”

Meanwhile, City Lord Ye looked at Lu Ran, who had a hopeful look in his eyes.

“Alright then, in a couple of days, let’s go together,” City Lord Ye shook her head. Before teaching Lu Ran the path of a Plantmaster, it would be good for him to witness firsthand the mightiest Plantmaster of the past century.

Immediately diving into teaching all sorts of things wasn’t her style. Broadening her disciple’s horizons first seemed like a method that suited her better.

“Thank you, Master!” Lu Ran smiled. “By the way, Master, didn’t you challenge the Tree King Ruins before? If it’s the third-level stage, what kind of strength can we expect from the Tree King?”

City Lord Ye replied, “At the third-level stage, the Tree King has two contracted pet beasts. One is a middle overlord species, the ‘Moon God Tree,’ which is both grass and time-type.”

“The other is a lower overlord species called the Harvest Dragon, a rare dragon-shaped plant pet.”

“Moon God Tree, Harvest Dragon…” Gu Yu slowly raised her head.

“They’re formidable plant pets,” City Lord Ye said. “The Harvest Dragon is quite special; as it ages, its species level automatically increases. During its infancy and growth stages, it’s a lower overlord, in its prime stage, it’s a middle overlord, and in its elder stage, it’s an upper overlord.”

“The older it gets, the stronger it becomes.”

“And the Moon God Tree can use its time-type skills to temporarily age the Harvest Dragon to its elder stage, giving it upper overlord strength. So you can essentially consider it as a plant-type dragon clan of upper overlord species.”

Lu Ran was stunned. Being able to temporarily change age states at just the third-level stage? It seemed far more powerful than the time-type capabilities of his cat. Although, premonition was also not bad…

Mainly, he remembered the cat mentioning that the former guild leader was truly extraordinary.

Given the former guild leader’s talent, if he were a few decades younger, around the typical age of 20 to 30 for most beastmasters, he might have been able to single-handedly challenge all the beastmasters of a large nation.

However, restrained by his age, although some still regard him as one of the strongest in the world, in truth, the former guild leader never goes all out. His advanced age limits his stamina, making it difficult to fully exert some beast taming skills.

Even in battles, he often lets his pet beasts fight on their own without using his beast taming skills for enhancement.

If the former guild leader could contract a Moon God Tree, temporarily rejuvenate, and restore his peak stamina, he might actually realize the scenarios imagined by the cat-remaining strong even in his old age.

“Similarly, as the Moon God Tree can temporarily increase the age of allies, it can also decrease the age of enemies.”

“Many challengers who fight against it end up being reverted to an infant state, significantly weakening their powers.”

“In addition, the Moon God Tree can place a ‘reversal mark’ on itself and other plant life. If they or their plant allies sustain serious or lethal injuries, they can use the reversal mark to rewind time and restore their injuries to their original state, even recovering their stamina to peak levels.”

“With such a set of overpowered skills, defeating them is nearly impossible.”

“Indeed, it’s overpowered…” Lu Ran murmured.

It can even use time reversal to heal injuries.

“Heh, now you know why I said, even with so many geniuses, it’s nearly impossible to clear?” Martial Aunt Tian said with a faint smile.

At any level, the Tree King remains an invincible presence; otherwise, she wouldn’t be considered the most talented and potential-rich woman in centuries.

[It’s fortunate.]

After hearing this, although Lu Ran sensed the difficulty, he also felt it wasn’t unbeatable. He thought it might require frequent use of the divine deer antler and would probably need General Crow to pitch in as well.

Honestly, under normal circumstances, General Crow might be the weakest of his three pet beasts.

However, with the help of the divine deer antler, which allows the dark crow to sacrifice dozens of eyeballs to cast a terminal curse, it’s likely that very few pet beasts can withstand it.

The Tree King has been dead for so long, and the modified ruins space probably doesn’t have such a sophisticated consciousness to despise necromancy or the Power of the Evil God, right?