King of Beasts

Before long, Hei Yu delivered Lu Ran to a private courtyard within the City Lord’s Mansion.

After dropping Lu Ran off, the necromancer Hei Yu hurriedly left.

She informed Lu Ran that if he needed anything, he could find her next door.

“What’s with this person?”

“Is it social anxiety?”

Lu Ran saw that she seemed very wary of him, leaving him speechless.

Damn, it’s already good enough that I’m here in the necromancer faction and not afraid of you guys, but now you’re afraid of me!

Lu Ran shook his head, baffled by the situation.

Actually, there was another reason Lu Ran dared to come to the necromancer faction.

In general, in these faction-based secret realms, once a faction is chosen, as long as the challenger doesn’t act recklessly, they are usually bound to the faction for the duration of the mission.

There’s no risk of being killed by one’s own faction.

Infinite City arranges identities, just like when Lu Ran and others were given the role of restaurant apprentices before.

Besides, in these faction-based missions, the strength of the challengers can significantly influence the outcome of the faction conflict.

In other words, the strength of the challengers is crucial to their faction, acting as high-end power.

Otherwise, the trial would be meaningless. The outcome of faction conflicts is generally determined by the challengers who enter, not by NPCs.

Therefore, neither the imperial army nor the Death Holy Church occupying Mingan would be too powerful. There would be no figures that the challengers could not confront.

If Lu Ran had been worried before, his conversation with the missionary Gory had completely reassured him.

Because Gory’s position wasn’t high—just a missionary who couldn’t contact higher-ups and could only wait passively to be contacted, he couldn’t be a top-tier expert.

Moreover, the fact that Gory mentioned he could only be contacted “a month later” also indicated that high-end forces wouldn’t appear near Mingan in the short term.

Lu Ran judged that the group who chose the empire faction should be facing the same situation. The imperial troops with them might just be a small unit without any top-tier experts.

As an official force, their situation might be slightly better than his side, but it should still be limited.

“Unless a level 3 beastmaster appears in the opposing faction, the breakthrough task shouldn’t be a problem,” Lu Ran analyzed, standing in the courtyard.

All the challengers were level 1 beastmasters, so the highest level beastmasters from the Star-Moon Continent that could appear in the faction conflict would likely be level 2. If a level 3 beastmaster showed up, the challengers wouldn’t stand a chance.

“However, to be safe, I need to enhance my strength as much as possible before the other side makes a move.”

Lu Ran looked at the necromancy notebook in his hand, sat on a wooden chair in the courtyard, and began to read.

After skimming through it, Lu Ran had a “just as I thought” expression.

The Basic Necromancy technique described in the notebook was identical to the death revival skill card he possessed.

Both methods involved transforming a contracted pet beast that had died into a necromantic life form.

Besides this, the notebook contained additional information, such as records of necromantic skills!

It also documented Gory’s insights on cultivating necromantic skills, sharing his experiences in developing these abilities.

After reading it, Lu Ran confirmed that it was useless to him.

What the missionary said made sense. Even if he learned it, he couldn’t just kill General Ha and the sudden death king to transform them into necromantic beings.

Moreover, Lu Ran believed that having both the soul and body intact was the most perfect state.

Therefore, if he wanted to contract a necromantic pet, he planned to go with Manager Ying to find pet beasts whose bodies were no longer sufficient to sustain life and had to be transformed into necromantic beings.

He wouldn’t directly transform normal living beings into necromantic ones.

However, through his conversation with Gory, Lu Ran learned for the first time that there were necromancy techniques capable of preserving the body while cultivating the soul.

That was quite advanced.

But thinking about it, it made sense.

Mental strength and soul power are integral parts of life itself.

Most advanced creatures, even without mental abilities, can exert pressure using mental strength.

So, with the right techniques, there’s no reason soul power couldn’t be wielded.

However, compared to mental strength, controlling soul power while retaining a physical body might be more challenging.

I really want to get my hands on that advanced necromancy technique…

Lu Ran pondered.

If he could indeed acquire it, he would like the dark crow to cultivate soul power.

Curses are notoriously difficult to guard against, and mental attacks are already harder to defend against compared to physical or elemental attacks.

If soul curses were added into the mix, wouldn’t they be even more troublesome?

By then, General Crow would truly be a terror to everyone, living or dead.

It would be the epitome of eerie!

Lu Ran’s thoughts were in disarray, but… it seemed difficult to obtain advanced necromancy techniques through the Death Holy Church.

The missionary couldn’t contact the headquarters, and he could only stay for a month, so that route was essentially closed.

Even if he got it, being from outside the Star-Moon Continent meant he couldn’t directly cultivate it.

“If during the breakthrough task, I perform extraordinarily, not only eliminating all the opposing challengers but also single-handedly defeating the imperial army, is there a chance I might receive an SSS rating and obtain a super rare beast taming skill like the first breakthrough secret realm?”

“Since I chose the necromancy faction, could the reward be an advanced necromancy technique?”

Lu Ran speculated, but quickly shook his head. Besides the difficulty of single-handedly defeating an army, the rewards are also random, so it’s better not to have too high expectations.

It’s worth a try, but don’t get your hopes up too much.

Both these paths rely heavily on external factors.

“Forget it.”

“Advanced necromancy techniques are developed by people. I have Basic Necromancy; why can’t I delve deeper into soul power myself? Even if I don’t get a reward, I might still have a chance to develop similar abilities on my own.”

“General Ha! Sudden Death King!”

Lu Ran’s brows relaxed as he summoned General Ha and the sudden death king.

Since there was nothing particularly important to do in this breakthrough secret realm apart from the breakthrough task, Lu Ran decided to spend his free time studying soul power with General Ha and the sudden death king.

After summoning the two pet beasts, Lu Ran looked at the Soul-Calming Stone in his hand.

“Sudden death king! Don’t resist.” Lu Ran had previously tried it on General Ha, but there was no reaction. According to the missionary, General Ha’s soul talent and strength were exceptional, making it impossible for the mineral to expel its soul.

Additionally, soul talent was related to Comprehension, a notion Lu Ran was hearing for the first time.

General Ha’s Comprehension was indeed high. Lu Ran felt that if this theory were correct, then in the future, should he develop advanced necromancy techniques, he might further enhance General Ha’s soul and thereby improve its Comprehension.

As for the sudden death king…

“Roar???” The sudden death king looked confused. Before it knew it, Lu Ran had already struck it with the Soul-Calming Stone. In the next moment, the sudden death king’s soul was expelled.

“Wow ka wow ka…” However, to Lu Ran’s surprise, the sudden death king’s soul was not proportional to its body. Instead, it was a tiny red-eyed eagle lizard, only about half an arm’s length.

Damn.

It’s one thing to be expelled.

But why is its soul smaller than its body?

Lu Ran couldn’t quite understand the situation with the sudden death king’s soul.

Compared to previous test subjects, the sudden death king’s soul was nearly solidified, very clear, and seemingly high-quality.

But… within less than a minute of being expelled, the sudden death king looked like it was about to die. The lizard soul hurriedly returned to its body.

“Wow ka!!” The sudden death king sat on the ground, looking terrified and gasping for breath.

“Woof!!” Nearby, General Ha showed a mocking expression, ridiculing the sudden death king for being weak, with its soul expelled by a mere stone.

“Roar!!!” The sudden death king bared its teeth, looking aggrieved and sorrowfully at Lu Ran, feeling that it was unfair to be sneak-attacked.

However, despite its misery, the sudden death king noticed that Lu Ran was still laughing nearby!!

“Interesting.” After a moment of surprise, Lu Ran indeed smiled.

“It seems soul power still hides many secrets.” Holding the Soul-Calming Stone, Lu Ran smiled happily.

“Choosing the necromancy faction was the right decision.”

Lu Ran said, “Sudden death king, don’t be upset. Your soul strength isn’t weak; it just seems unsuitable for necromancy due to your Talent. But I never intended to train you and General Ha in necromancy anyway.”

“However, I’ve made an intriguing new discovery.”

“Not training you in necromancy doesn’t mean we can’t strengthen your soul power.”

“Soul power appears to be linked with Comprehension. If General Ha is to fuse with the Ultimate Perception Trait, it’s evident that the stronger the soul power, the better the fusion effect will be, and the higher the evolution potential.”

“And as for you, sudden death king, most life forms have souls that resemble their physical bodies, but yours is different. Do you know what that makes me think of?”

Both the sudden death king and General Ha displayed puzzled expressions.

“Your training path has always been geared towards Loong-type development, aiming to change your species. Your physical body and mind, due to frequently consuming Dragon Cuisine, have undergone significant changes with Dragon Blood, and your mental intimidation has transformed into Dragon Might.”

“But throughout this process, we’ve never considered cultivating your soul.”

“A complete dragon should have not only a dragon body and mind but also a Dragon Soul, right?”

“Perhaps, during a stage of evolution, your soul might gradually transform into a dragon’s. But if we start shaping your soul towards a dragon form before evolution, wouldn’t the evolution result be more perfect?”

“Maybe the reason beastmasters on blue star have struggled to cultivate dragons is that they neglected the cultivation of the dragon’s soul and focused only on the bloodline and mind.”

“Of course, it also relates to blue star lacking stable methods for soul enhancement and cultivation. If we had a Dragon Soul trait crystal, we might be able to validate this theory. Unfortunately, we don’t.”

Upon hearing Lu Ran’s words, the sudden death king’s brain started working rapidly. At this moment, General Ha patted it.

“Woof!”

General Ha told the sudden death king not to overthink it and leave the brainwork to Boss Lu, the external brain. They just needed to wait for the research results.

“Roar!” The sudden death king nodded in agreement. That made sense.

At this moment, Lu Ran was indeed quite excited.

He felt he had discovered something extraordinary.

Soul power is related to Comprehension!

Through resources, creatures transformed into sub-dragons only undergo changes in their blood and mind, but their soul form changes very little! This might affect their transformation into true dragons.

Lu Ran felt fortunate to have discovered these two pieces of information so early.

Otherwise, even though General Ha and the sudden death king might become very strong after evolution, it would not be a perfect evolution.

If he could further enhance their souls before their next evolution, it should make the evolution more perfect.

“But the only known method to enhance the soul is by devouring souls. Souls of different creatures are just different types of necromancy resources…”

However, Lu Ran soon had a headache. He couldn’t let General Ha and the sudden death king go around eating souls, could he?

Necromantic pets devour souls because they are inherently necromantic creatures; they rely on this for growth and survival.

But on his side, his pet beasts haven’t even turned into necromantic creatures yet. If they start devouring souls, Lu Ran felt this would make them seem even more villainous than The Other Shore and the Death Holy Church.

Compared to him, necromancers would look like saints.

“People eat pork and chicken, which is already cruel enough. The natural world is like this. Eating souls isn’t essentially different from eating these. The only difficulty is the ‘toxicity’ of souls. If the ‘impurities’ can’t be removed, whether normal creatures or necromantic ones eat them, there will be certain side effects.”

“To enhance soul power through devouring souls, this difficulty must be overcome. The soul consciousness must be purified and exorcised.”

“So, my direction for enhancement in this breakthrough secret realm is very clear.”

“Try to see if I can remove the impurities from souls through Culinary techniques and make the souls into Cuisine.”

“If successful, there will be a method to enhance the souls of General Ha and the sudden death king. Additionally, it can aid Dr. Gu in establishing a stable necromantic organization. In that scenario, I will hold significant power within it.”

“I might even become a pioneering figure in the necromancy faction on blue star, formalizing the necromancy field.”

Initially, Lu Ran was just brainstorming, but now he was eager to find some souls to cook.

All of the above is still just a plan, and Lu Ran wasn’t sure if it would succeed. He felt the chances were slim, but he had to try.

Lu Ran planned to head to the outskirts of Mingan to find some wild chickens and rabbits, extract their souls, and try his Culinary techniques on them.

Of course, without concrete experimental results, Lu Ran definitely wouldn’t let General Ha or the sudden death king try eating souls. He needed a test subject first!

“Right, I’ll find Ms. Hei Yu and use her pet beast as the test subject. She should have a necromantic pet beast, right?”

With this in mind, Lu Ran went to visit Ms. Hei Yu, a subordinate of Missionary Gory.

“What is it?” Ms. Hei Yu, who had been staying in a nearby house, was surprised to see Lu Ran seeking her out so soon. She thought he might have encountered some difficulty in learning necromancy.

“Ms. Hei Yu, what do you think about necromancy?”

“Or rather, why did you choose to become a necromancer?”

However, as soon as Lu Ran arrived, he asked a deeply philosophical question.

Ms. Hei Yu stood still for a moment, then shook her head and said, “Is that all?”

“Yes.”

“During the war, my pet beast died protecting me. I was on the brink of death myself, but in the end, Lord Gory saved me. He taught me necromancy and helped resurrect my pet beast. That’s how I became a necromancer.”

“Most necromancers just want to resurrect their pet beasts. It’s that simple.” She looked at Lu Ran and said, “Wanting to resurrect one’s pet beast and let it continue ‘living’ in a necromantic form seems perfectly normal to me.”

“Is that answer satisfactory to you?”

“Quite.” Lu Ran grinned and said, “I think the same way. Necromancy is just a normal attribute, no different from other attributes. Power is neither righteous nor evil; it all depends on how it’s used.”

“However, compared to normal cultivation systems, necromancy does have significant side effects.”

Ms. Hei Yu said, “That’s unavoidable. There’s always a trade-off. We can only do our best to ensure that the consumed souls don’t affect our minds.”

She looked at Lu Ran. Given that Gory had praised Lu Ran’s Talent, it was certain he would be trained at the headquarters. She pondered for a moment and said, “Perhaps…”

“Perhaps what we need is someone to resolve this dilemma!” Lu Ran spread his arms, his eyes shining as he started his speech:

“I believe that necromancy will be the key force in reforming this empire, the critical force in changing the field of beast taming. If someone can find a way to eliminate the drawbacks of necromancy, then this system can develop openly and without discrimination.”

“I want to be that person, but I don’t know much about necromancy. Ms. Hei Yu, can you help me?”

“Uh.” Ms. Hei Yu was stunned. This wasn’t what she was expecting at all. What’s with this sudden death king? But Lu Ran’s words indeed struck a chord with her. She hadn’t expected someone who hadn’t officially joined the Death Holy Church to have such a profound realization.

For a moment, Hei Yu’s mind was in turmoil, and her gaze toward Lu Ran changed.

Having been part of the deathly quiet Death Holy Church for so long, she had only ever deeply respected and admired Missionary Gory. Now, Lu Ran was the second person she found to be quite extraordinary.

“How can I help?” she asked.

“Just as I mentioned earlier… Actually, I’m also a Chef. I want to see if I can remove the impurities from souls by turning them into cuisine.” Lu Ran revealed a kind smile.

“I want your necromantic pet to be the taste tester… After all, my pet beasts aren’t necromantic, and having them try it might not provide a comprehensive feedback experience.”

Hei Yu: ???

After all that, it’s still about cooking souls! And you even considered letting normal pet beasts eat souls!!! Are you a devil!! Hei Yu’s vision darkened, and she instinctively took a step back.

“Are you serious about stepping back?” Lu Ran’s mouth twitched. “That really hurts me. Maybe no necromancer has done this before, or maybe someone tried and failed, but the development of a new field always requires someone to make continuous and repeated attempts. Abandon your prejudice, Ms. Hei Yu, I need your help!”

“Vindicating necromancy is our duty.”

“You’re the one who’s serious, aren’t you?” Hei Yu said, then fell silent. She felt it was a shame that Lu Ran wasn’t the Holy Son of the Death Holy Church. This guy was different from herself… He was practically a natural-born necromancer!

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