King of Beasts

Manager Ying had left.

From its perspective, Lu Ran had already grown into a mature fourth-generation beastmaster.

It believed that by giving Lu Ran the crucial intelligence, he would find a way to conquer the secret realm on his own.

No one else needed to worry.

Assisting Lu Ran in figuring out how to tackle the legendary secret realm was not Manager Ying’s style.

“I’m just a bodyguard, not a babysitter. A fourth-generation beastmaster needs to go through trials and learn to be self-reliant to become a strong individual.”

“Huh? Weren’t we supposed to be partners? How did I become a bodyguard?”

…

“From now on, soloing a level 1 legendary secret realm will be the top priority.”

How could he solo the Diamond Dragon?

First, the sudden death king needed to have strong enough defense to withstand multiple rounds of attacks, giving General Ha an opportunity to strike.

This required its Thunder Dragon armor to become even tougher.

This was relatively easy to achieve; he just needed to keep feeding it Dragon Cuisine to increase the artistic conception of the dragon’s level.

In addition, it needed to integrate energy compression and energy flow technique into the Thunder Dragon armor.

Hmm… That was about the extent of the sudden death king’s role.

Next.

General Ha needed to have strong enough attacks; the previous level of damage was simply insufficient!

Enhancing General Ha’s attack power could be approached in two main ways.

First, in terms of skills, Lu Ran felt that there wasn’t much room for short-term improvement in energy compression. A twenty-fold energy compression was already the limit, and that level had almost cost General Ha its life.

So, the next step was to enhance General Ha’s skill power through sword intent.

Just as Lu Ran had mentioned earlier, feeding it Dragon Cuisine to increase the level of the Dragon Slayer Sword intent was a good choice.

This process could involve having General Ha and the sudden death king spar with each other, one gaining Dragon Slayer experience and the other training its defense.

Next, the most effective way to boost General Ha’s combat power would be to upgrade the quality of its weapon.

To be honest, while the Ice Sky Greatsword was decent, it was only a rare weapon worth a few tens of thousands of crystal coins. Among rare quality equipment, it was quite ordinary and no longer befitting of General Ha’s status.

If he could obtain an exquisite-level sword, General Ha’s power would undoubtedly see a substantial leap.

However, the problem was that Master Lin had mentioned that there were currently no forgemasters in Xia Country with the experience needed to forge such a weapon.

Since there were no advanced beastmasters in Xia Country who used swords, naturally, no forgemaster would idly use exquisite-level ore to forge a sword. If the forging failed and the materials were wasted, it would be pure extravagance.

This was also why Lu Ran had personally come to learn forging.

Clearly, if Lu Ran waited until he mastered forging, it would be too late.

He couldn’t afford to wait.

So, he had to try to find someone to forge it.

At worst, he could request a simple sword with high quality. It didn’t need to be complex; as long as it met the quality standards, it would be better than the Ice Sky Greatsword.

Actually, besides this route, Lu Ran had another bold idea.

Was there a naturally occurring exquisite-level mineral that looked like a sword?

For example, a naturally sword-shaped mineral resource, like a Stone Sword…

Given the miraculous works of nature, it was entirely possible. There were naturally occurring stones resembling humans and animals, so finding a sword-shaped exquisite mineral wasn’t out of the question.

General Ha’s talent as the king of swords didn’t necessarily require it to wield a sword in the conventional sense. As long as it looked reasonably like a sword, and General Ha believed it could be a sword, even a cleaver or a tree branch could serve as a sword.

With its intelligence, it had perfectly reached the state of “with a sword in the heart, all things become swords.”

If such a natural resource existed, it would make things much easier.

Lu Ran could borrow it, avoiding the risk of forging or processing failures and preventing material damage. Similarly, a naturally exquisite sword would undoubtedly provide a greater boost to General Ha than the Ice Sky Greatsword. After using it, he could return it, saving both money and effort…

If antlers weren’t too short and didn’t resemble a sword, not even a dagger, Lu Ran would have considered having General Ha use an antler as a short sword in battle.

Exquisite-level ore didn’t need to worry about getting damaged in battle. Forging an exquisite-level weapon was extremely difficult, and at level 20 combat capability, no one could break through the mineral’s defenses.

The only concern for someone borrowing it might be a newbie dying in the secret realm with such an expensive resource, resulting in a total loss.

If the owner was worried, Lu Ran could always sign an IOU and buy it himself…

Thinking this through, Lu Ran felt that obtaining an exquisite-level natural sword was undoubtedly the most reliable and cost-effective approach.

As for how to get it, Lu Ran thought of Master Lin—he surely had connections.

He gave Master Lin a call.

With the school year approaching, Master Lin wasn’t running his Forge House and had been staying in Sky City.

When he received Lu Ran’s call, he was instantly surprised: “Professor Lu, what brings you to contact me?”

Master Lin had been quite emotional lately.

Damn, who would have thought that a quirky Fourth Generation beastmaster coming to forge a sword for his dog would now become Xia Country’s strongest Fourth Generation?

And the only Dragon Chef, no less!

That was far more prestigious than his title of Forgemaster.

“Master Lin, stop joking around. Just call me Passerby A.”

“Are you in Sky City? I’ll come find you.”

“Oh, sure, come on over. I actually have something to discuss with you as well.”

Soon, Lu Ran arrived at Master Lin’s villa in Sky City.

Master Lin was already sitting in the garden, sipping juice, waiting for Lu Ran.

Lu Ran sat down and got straight to the point:

“Master Lin, I wanted to ask if you know of any naturally occurring exquisite-level ore that looks like a sword.”

“Uh.” Master Lin was taken aback and fell into deep thought.

“You’ve really stumped me with this one.”

“To my knowledge, there isn’t such a thing.”

Lu Ran was surprised and said, “There isn’t?”

“If you’re talking about exquisite-level plants that look like swords, I do know where to find those.”

“But as for ore, there really isn’t any.”

“Plants? What’s that about?” Although Lu Ran felt that plants might not be suitable, he still asked instinctively.

“Hmm, how should I put it…”

“Currently, the breakthrough secret realm connected to Infinite City links to four great worlds. You know that, right?” Master Lin looked at Lu Ran and continued, “The Star-Moon Continent, where pet beasts are primarily animal life forms.”

“Apart from that, there are three other worlds dominated by ‘elemental species,’ ‘plant species,’ and ‘mechanical species.’”

“Of these, we have the most contact with the Star-Moon Continent. We have very little contact with the other three worlds, and our interactions with the mechanical world have been minimal. In fact, many beastmasters who ventured there perished, and the experience was quite tragic.”

“Although our contact has been limited, there have been some interactions. In the plant world, plants evolve much faster than animals. Animals are merely food for plants, which is the opposite of how animals on Blue Star and the Star-Moon Continent use plants as resources.”

“In that plant world, there is a type of plant called long leaved sword grass, known for its sword-like appearance. Before it evolves consciousness, it is an exquisite-level plant. However, it isn’t the kind of exquisite plant resource that benefits pet beasts when consumed; it’s a ferocious plant.”

“In that world, most of the powerful plant life forms are ferocious plants.”

“Long leaved sword grass grows in grasslands. It is resistant to flame, extremely tough, and incredibly sharp. Ordinary forces cannot destroy it. If you accidentally brush against it, you could be gravely injured or even killed. Even dragon species avoid getting scratched by it.”

“You know, countries on Blue Star are currently researching how to create mechanical pet beasts, plant pet beasts, and elemental pet beasts…

And while entering the breakthrough secret realm, although high-level life forms cannot be brought out, ordinary plant resources can.”

“So, some beastmasters who explored the plant world have dug up plants with the potential to evolve consciousness and re-planted them outside, hoping that cultivation in the external environment would allow them to evolve into plant pet beasts.”

“Of course, no one has succeeded yet.”

“I digress. What I wanted to say is that I know someone who went to great lengths to dig up a long leaved sword grass and is currently cultivating it.”

“If this plant evolves consciousness and becomes a plant life pet beast, it would at least be of the upper sovereign species. How about that? Does it fit the characteristics of a sword-like plant?”

“Indeed.” Lu Ran nodded. The long leaved sword grass reminded him of the Blade Grass in the Mantis Forest secret realm. They seemed to be similar plant life forms.

This was good, but not the best.

“It would be great if someone brought back a lightsaber from the mechanical world. That sounds cooler.” Lu Ran remarked.

Master Lin: ???

“So, what exactly are you planning to do?”

“You’re not thinking of using sword-shaped ore or sword-shaped plants as weapons for your dog Erha, are you?”

“Yes.” Lu Ran laughed, “I’m thinking of tackling a legendary secret realm. If we forge a weapon, I fear it might waste materials. Why not try using a raw form first? If it doesn’t work, we can then get it forged and processed.”

“Who would have thought there’d be no sword-shaped ore, but there is a long leaved sword grass…”

“Damn.” Master Lin said, “You really think outside the box…”

“Anyway, Master Lin, who is the beastmaster cultivating the long leaved sword grass?”

Although Lu Ran wasn’t sure if it could be used as a weapon or if the owner would be willing to lend it, he was curious about plant life and decided to pay a visit.

The image of Erha carrying the long leaved sword grass… felt quite fitting. Although there was a risk of self-injury, they had the divine deer pendant, making the cost of trial and error low.

Lu Ran reflected on a past regret—he never awakened the grass element in his noob dog General Ha. It always felt like something was missing.

“It’s a second-generation beastmaster, also in Sky City, a professor in the cultivation department and a botanist… I’ll give you their contact information in a moment.” Master Lin stopped worrying about Lu Ran’s plans.

“Great. By the way, Master Lin, you mentioned you needed to talk to me. What’s it about?”

“Yes.” Master Lin said, “I was thinking, with your beast taming skill like Flame Sprite, you are far ahead of other forging department students in terms of forging technique. Attending classes with them might slow down your progress.”

“So I suggest you skip the classes, and I’ll teach you forging one-on-one. What do you think?”

“Absolutely.” Lu Ran immediately agreed.

“Great! Let’s go with that plan.” Master Lin laughed heartily. “By the way, I have a personal treasure—a comprehensive guide on inscription combinations. Take it and study it first.”

“The three main steps of forging…”

“The final step is to inscribe markings on the already formed forged item using an Inscription Stone. This guides the perfect fusion of multiple materials, creating a connection that suits the forged item.”

“The first two steps shouldn’t be a problem for someone with your abilities and the Flame Sprite. So you just need to focus more on the inscription process.”

…

After leaving Master Lin’s place, Lu Ran took out his phone and dialed the number Master Lin had given him.

A moment later, a raspy female voice answered.

“Who is this?”

“Professor Ye, this is Lu Ran.”

“Lu Ran? Hmm? Lu Ran, the Freshman Tournament champion?” The voice on the other end was clearly surprised. “The Dragon Chef, Professor Lu?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Professor Ye, do you have some time? I have a favor to ask.”

“Oh? What is it?” The voice was puzzled, wondering why Lu Ran would seek her out.

Meanwhile, holding the phone, Lu Ran had a serious expression.

Nothing much, just want to see if your precious experimental plant can be used as a real sword for my dog, Erha.

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