King of Beasts

The next day.

Under the guidance of Manager Ying, Lu Ran and his companions secretly left the country.

Since Lu Ran was not in a hurry, the man and the cat took their time, leisurely.

High in the sky.

Lu Ran and Manager Ying sat together on a large cluster of clouds, transported by a “Somersault Cloud.”

“Manager Ying, I don’t think this is right.”

“I asked you to escort me.”

“But why has it turned into exploiting the cloud baby?”

Manager Ying pointed to the shimmering light outside the cloud and said, “I’ve added a barrier around it, haven’t I? This way, no one can discover us. You can’t expect me to teleport you all the way there, can you?”

Truth be told, it was indeed more comfortable than riding General Ha, the sudden death king, or even teleporting.

Soft and fluffy.

“It’s fine, training should start from an early age!” Manager Ying declared righteously, definitely not because she held a grudge from the last time the weather elf insulted her.

“Fair enough.”

Feeling more comfortable, Lu Ran accepted this reasoning without guilt.

The dizziness brought on by constant teleporting was something he couldn’t quite handle either.

“Pitter-patter…” As for the weather elf, it was currently staring with its water-blue, dewdrop eyes, pouting and flying reluctantly.

It didn’t quite understand why it had suddenly become a means of transportation.

“What about that secret realm card, have you figured out how to use it yet?”

“If you have no ideas, how about giving it to me?”

Above the clouds, Manager Ying, lying within the cluster of clouds, started to covet Lu Ran’s resources again and turned to ask.

“Don’t even think about it.” Lu Ran flatly refused.

“I plan to get a few more secret realm cards later and open several small secret realms in Green Sea City.”

“For now, those supernatural beings aren’t very strong and can integrate normally into Green Sea City.”

“But when their levels increase and a mere yawn can cause environmental changes, they won’t be suitable to live near human cities anymore.”

“By then, I will have relocated them all into small secret realms.”

“Tsk… I also need to remind you, it’s manageable now since those supernatural beings are not high-level and lack intelligence. But once they reach a higher level and become more cunning, you should be careful not to find yourself nurturing a tiger that turns on you,” Manager Ying scoffed.

Lu Ran smiled slightly and said, “When that time comes, I will definitely find a way to restrain the key supernatural beings I’ve been nurturing, so don’t worry.”

Manager Ying’s worries were not without reason. Though Lu Ran could now bind them by force and benefit, what would happen in the future if they encountered stronger forces or more tempting offers?

Just like the black turtle, it was simply taken away by the Fishman Empire, and Lu Ran was powerless to stop it.

As the power of other ferocious beasts grows, the supernatural beings in Green Sea City will eventually face the prospect of having their ranks poached.

Lu Ran couldn’t guarantee that every supernatural being would be as loyal as the dark crow or as lazy as the black turtle.

In the future, Lu Ran’s nurturing efforts might just end up benefiting others.

For now, the Crow tribe in Green Sea City was what Lu Ran felt most secure about.

Once the dark crow integrates the trait of commanding its species, it will be able to form a contract with the Crow tribe. Then, as long as the dark crow exists, these ordinary crows will not betray.

However, with other species, even the bug king that Lu Ran had personally nurtured didn’t give him much peace of mind, feeling it could be lured away by more attractive offers. The bug king was one thing, not to mention creatures like the fire snake and ice bird, which Lu Ran initially subdued by brute force.

To address this, Lu Ran planned to see if he could mitigate some risks by using the “retainer” beast taming skill when the time came.

By turning a strong general beast of Green Sea City into a retainer for one of his pet beasts.

This way, he wouldn’t have to worry about them being poached.

However, as he hadn’t yet learned the retainer beast taming skill, Lu Ran wasn’t sure how many retainers each pet beast could have.

But according to the logic of beast taming skills, even if he could only assign one retainer to a pet beast initially, the number should naturally increase as he developed the skill further.

If worse comes to worst, he could just use enhancement cards to boost a bunch of lucid fruits for his own consumption, ultimately maximizing the development of the retainer skill.

Considering this, Lu Ran asked, “Manager Ying, can the personal space you created hold living things?”

Manager Ying said, “No, that’s not possible!”

“It’s a pity. It seems that once the secret realm space is opened, its location is fixed and cannot be carried around. Otherwise, I could carry the secret realm space with me and move with an army of pet beasts.”

Lu Ran felt regretful.

“Is there really no way? Is there a type of space equipment that can carry living things and be carried around?”

It would be like an alternative Beast Taming Space!

Manager Ying’s mouth twitched, your craving is really huge.

No wonder you could raise a pet beast like the dark crow.

“Your Soul Capturing Bottle…”

“The Soul Capturing Bottle won’t work. It can only capture souls of physically deceased beings, and those souls are already on the verge of dissipating, lacking autonomous consciousness, no different from dead objects.”

“Then there’s no way. That level of equipment would at least have to be epic level.”

Lu Ran pondered, “It would be great if I had an epic enhancement card. I could take a rare space equipment, enhance it to exquisite, and then to epic…”

Manager Ying said, “If you really want one, you might find a way in the breakthrough secret realm.”

“Hmm?”

Manager Ying looked at Lu Ran and continued, “I’ve heard about it.”

“It’s said that some level 8 beastmasters on the Star-Moon Continent have the ability to transform their Beast Taming Spaces into independent secret realms. These independent realms can exist in the form of an item, capable of carrying living beings and being carried around.”

“It’s considered an epic-level space equipment.”

“However, such space items are too rare, even on the Star-Moon Continent, and Blue Star beastmasters don’t have much information about them.”

“If you could become the disciple of a legendary beastmaster in the next secret realm, you might be able to learn more.”

“Of course, obtaining such equipment is certainly harder than inheriting from the legendary great cult! Your necromancy master is only a level 7 beastmaster, right?”

“Really?” Lu Ran was not initially concerned about the difficulty when he heard the intelligence provided by Manager Ying.

If there really was such a super space that could be carried around, he would have to obtain one no matter what.

Especially once he learns the retainer skill and the dark crow fuses with the species-dominating trait, he’s in desperate need of such portable space!

Having this, from a short-term perspective, could even enhance his strength faster than learning how to open a Beast Taming Space.

“It must be true, consider this intelligence a free gift.”

“Alright, once General Ha has completed its evolution, I’ll head to the Breakthrough Secret Realm to see if I can snag one.”

Manager Ying: ???

“I was just saying it casually, and you took it seriously.” Manager Ying looked at Lu Ran speechlessly.

What’s the difference between that and saying you’re going to the Secret Realm to snag an Epic Item?

Such things, even the necromantic cults might not possess them.

If Lu Ran wanted to find one, he’d probably have to raid the palace in the Imperial City.

Even if it existed, such an item would mostly be in the hands of legendary figures officially recognized by the Beast Taming Empire.

Lu Ran smiled slightly: “You have to have dreams, right? After finishing the Breakthrough Task, there’s nothing else to do, might as well set another goal to pass the time.”

A pretender as a Beastmaster, diligently carrying out Breakthrough Tasks.

A true Beastmaster, after completing the Breakthrough Task, the world exploration begins!

…

The Other Shore Island.

After arriving, Lu Ran and Lin Nian met up.

Upon seeing Lin Nian, Lu Ran didn’t first talk about the necromantic secret, but instead asked, “Is there a vampire creature called the Red Count on this island?”

“I remember,” Lin Nian crossed her arms, “When we first arrived at The Other Shore Island, it helped us out. After the deed, Gu Qingyi disabled it and imprisoned it.”

“Yes, now all members from The Other Shore are detained, as initially stated. We need to investigate their pasts before making any further arrangements.”

“Though they’re locked up, those necromancers seem quite content after eating the soul food you provided in the prison; not one of them is hurrying us to release them,” Lin Nian said with an intrigued expression, not expecting such a development.

Some of the necromancers even stated that as long as they’re fed and housed, staying there for a couple of years wouldn’t be too bad.

Lu Ran: ?

These guys must have been starving for a long while to find imprisonment joyful.

Indeed, for many who had no choice but to become necromancers, feeding their pet beasts and living in constant pain has been the norm. This situation might actually be a rare relaxation for them.

This might be a good time for them to recalibrate their state of being.

It’s called imprisonment, but it’s more like being in a hospital.

“I need to meet that vampire count,” Lu Ran said.

“To enter the secret realm, we require high-quality blood, right? This one will do.”

Beside him, Manager Ying’s mouth twitched into a smirk, someone was about to suffer. Given General Ha’s penchant for holding grudges, it knew that Lu Ran was likely the same.

“Okay,” Lin Nian said emotionlessly, not particularly concerned about Lu Ran’s mental state.

The Other Shore Prison.

This was a prison constructed by The Other Shore itself, with special cells whose walls were embedded with minerals that isolated space powers. Being imprisoned here made teleporting to Infinite City nearly impossible.

Led by Lin Nian, Lu Ran and Manager Ying arrived outside a specific prison cell. Inside, a ragged vampire was chained up with magic-suppressing locks, leaning against the wall, his eyes slightly closed.

As the space vibrated and fluctuated, he slowly opened his eyes, and upon seeing Lu Ran, he immediately smiled, shaking the chains:

“Hahahaha-“

“You finally came.”

“Now you can let me go.”

The Red Count was extremely dissatisfied with Xia Country’s actions!!

He was one of the earliest members of The Other Shore to provide resources and intelligence to Xia Country. Detaining other high-level members for interrogation was one thing, but imprisoning him was outrageous!!!

“…” Just as the Red Count was about to greet Lu Ran again, he saw Lu Ran summon the Dark Crow.

The Dark Crow looked on indifferently.

With no emotion, it stared at the bat in front of it.

Heard you hurt the Big King before???

Unforgivable!

“Turn it into a pig, then we’ll draw its blood for the secret realm, start with one kilogram.”

The vampire count: ???

The next moment, the prison echoed with a pig-like scream.

Lin Nian watched the entire scene, frowning deeply. How deep was this grudge?

…

After resolving the issue with the temporary key to the secret realm, under Lin Nian’s guidance, Lu Ran allowed the dark crow to release its spiritual power to envelop the blood crystal, thus opening the necromancer’s secret realm.

Much like entering the trial secret realm of the Youxiong Clan, Lu Ran was teleported directly inside the secret realm.

However, upon entering, he was immediately stunned in place.

Just as the Level 5 necromancer had described, the reality of the necromancer’s trial realm was indeed an ancient battlefield.

The surrounding disarray indicated that a fierce battle had once occurred here, but… as Lu Ran looked toward the familiar mountain ranges in the distance, he was completely taken aback.

Because the environment of this secret realm was identical to the headquarters of the Cult of Necromancy, for a moment, Lu Ran almost thought he had returned to the breakthrough realm within the Holy Church.

Lu Ran’s gaze flickered, his tone heavy:

“What exactly happened to the Holy Church in the normal historical timeline? Why has it turned into a battlefield? Wasn’t the headquarters of the Holy Church established by the retainers of the death dragon… Could it have been breached by the imperial army?”

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