King of Beasts

Outside Mingan, Feiming Province, in the camp of the remnants of the Beast Taming Legion.

The Princess of Light and her entourage had not yet confronted the imperial army, still awaiting the return of the Sunlight Knight.

If the Sunlight Knight could bring back some good intelligence, it would be more favorable for their negotiations with the imperial army.

However…

“Sunlight, what happened to you?”

With a cry of alarm, everyone saw the Sunlight Knight limping down from his pet beast, looking utterly shocked.

The Moonlight Knight rushed forward in concern, only to find the Sunlight Knight still wearing a terrified expression.

On his shoulder, the Space hamster’s fur was standing on end, clearly frightened as well.

After returning, the Sunlight Knight said, “I’m fine, just lightly injured.”

The Princess approached, her eyes full of disbelief. Even if she were injured, the Sunlight Knight getting hurt was hard to fathom. After all, he had contracted a Space pet beast and mastered the “Phasing” ability.

This ability allowed him and his pet beast to enter a spatial rift, becoming shadows to evade enemy attacks.

Unless it was an attack capable of distorting space, or another Space technique, how could Sunlight get injured?

Necromancy, while eerie, was not absurd enough to harm Space.

Everyone else looked at the Sunlight Knight in confusion. He had left confidently, but his return was troubling.

“It was grass. I was injured by a strange grass,” the Sunlight Knight gritted his teeth. “My body had already phased, but that grass could still hurt me.”

“I don’t know if it was the grass itself or if it contained a special artistic conception that allowed it to injure me. But it indeed had a certain degree of influence on space-attacking techniques.”

“Fortunately, the impact isn’t too severe. My leg is just slightly injured. Moonlight, treat me later.”

“Uh, uh,” the Moonlight Knight was stunned. “Grass???”

“Weren’t you heading to the necromancer cult’s territory? How could you be injured by grass?”

“I have no idea,” the Sunlight Knight was almost in tears. “Maybe it was some grass pet beast’s shaping + release-type skill.”

“In any case, it was ridiculously strong. I feel like, even if it wasn’t as powerful as the attacks from the boss in the Legendary Secret Realm, it was pretty close.”

Everyone fell silent, especially the Glory Knight and Moonlight Knight led by the Princess of Light, whose expressions changed subtly.

“Tell us everything that happened after you entered Mingan,” said the Glory Knight.

The Sunlight Knight nodded and began to recount everything he had seen, including the scene of “two necromancers barbecuing souls and cackling,” which caused the group to turn pale.

He also described how he “didn’t even see an enemy pet beast but was scared off by a piece of grass,” without missing a single detail.

This plunged everyone into deep thought once again.

At this point, the Sunlight Knight couldn’t care about his pride anymore. To complete the mission, he couldn’t withhold any intelligence.

“This mission is off. The enemy faction has experts; it’s not as straightforward as we imagined,” the Sunlight Knight said sadly.

“How strange, why would there be a powerful grass species creature in a necromancer’s stronghold,” the Beast Doctor wondered.

“It doesn’t make sense. Could it be that, like us, the two people you encountered were also challengers?” asked the black woman.

“Impossible. I’m familiar with all the powerful fourth-generation beastmasters from the Blue Star, and none of them are proficient in grass species,” said the Sunlight Knight. “Besides, even if a beastmaster from the outside chose the necromancy faction, who the hell would jump into character right away and start barbecuing souls?”

“Right, even necromancers from The Other Shore aren’t this extreme. They kill and swallow immediately. It seems the ultimate evil still lies where necromancy originated,” said the youth from Southeast Asia with fear.

Compared to their side’s kidney harvesting and soul devouring, this was more terrifying. Extracting the soul and then barbecuing it! If the soul had consciousness, how painful would that be?

“It should be about ‘balance,’” the Glory Knight pondered. “Obviously, we challengers have all chosen the imperial faction, which puts the necromancer faction at a significant disadvantage.”

“To balance the difficulty, it’s normal for the other side to have a strong NPC. It’s not impossible for them to have a grass pet beast, after all. The necromancer cult doesn’t entirely consist of necromantic pets; there are normal pet beasts within it.”

“But in any case, this makes things even more troublesome.”

With an expert in the opposing faction capable of scaring off the Sunlight Knight with a mere piece of grass, plus the presence of missionaries, capturing Mingan would be much harder.

Everyone’s expressions were grim, not expecting the breakthrough secret realm to be this challenging.

“Indeed, we should find a way to get support from the imperial army and make a joint attack,” said the Princess of Light. “First, let’s observe and see the subsequent reactions from the enemy camp after your ‘intrusion.’”

The Sunlight Knight sulked, “Those evil necromancers…”

…

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Missionary Gory was personally teaching the newly joined beastmasters of the Death Holy Church necromancy.

Although he could delegate this task to his subordinates, he chose to do it himself.

A missionary’s job is to recruit members. If the new members have good potential, they would be taken back to the headquarters by a divine envoy for training. If their talent is average, they would stay and become his subordinates.

By personally teaching, regardless of whether these members are eventually taken away or stay, he could leave an excellent impression on them.

For someone like Lu Ran, whom Gory judged unsuitable for learning Basic Necromancy, he immediately used cultivation notes and a Soul-Calming Stone to win his favor. This way, when Lu Ran eventually achieves great success at the headquarters, Gory could also benefit.

For necromancers who stayed, his reputation as their leader would become even more critical in their eyes.

“Revive! My pet beast!” At this moment, under a young man’s shout, a dead pet beast beside him had its spirit separate from its body and begin to take shape.

Seeing his already deceased pet beast truly resurrected into a necromantic pet under the influence of necromancy, the young man was overwhelmed.

Just as he was about to thank Missionary Gory, suddenly, Hei Yu’s figure appeared. She quickly walked over to Gory’s side and quietly conveyed some intelligence to him.

Outside Mingan.

Upon hearing Hei Yu’s report, Gory’s expression changed dramatically. “What did you say?”

He immediately looked at the new members and said, “That’s all for today. You can go about your own activities.”

“I have some matters to attend to.”

With that, he and Hei Yu left the area.

“Someone infiltrated the City Lord’s Mansion to assassinate you?”

“To be precise, someone infiltrated the City Lord’s Mansion, and the sudden death king sensed their hostility, prompting its pet beast to attack and scare them off. However, the opponent’s pet beast was of the Space species and very elusive. We couldn’t capture them.”

“The sudden death king suspects it’s the imperial army, but I can confirm it is the imperial army because the intruder wore the imperial army’s insignia!” Hei Yu recalled. Initially, she hadn’t noticed, but upon reflection, she was certain.

Clearly, the Sunlight Knight came “well-prepared” to incite conflict between the necromancer faction and the imperial faction.

“Space species…” Gory’s expression changed again. Such a rare ability could easily fetch wealth and honor in any department of the empire. Why would it appear in a small place like Mingan?

The imperial army… impossible!

The imperial army wouldn’t send someone with Space species abilities to do the dirty work of eliminating the “necromancer cult.”

What merit do we necromancer cultists have to warrant that?

Could it be that a civilian beastmaster dislikes the Death Holy Church’s talented beastmasters?

That seems more likely. Under the empire’s propaganda, the Death Holy Church has a terrible reputation. Many second-generation beastmasters, under the banner of “punishing evil and promoting good,” voluntarily join the efforts to eradicate the necromancer cult.

If this imperial remnant army got lucky with the help of a civilian genius, it would make sense. Although the empire is crumbling, a dying camel is still bigger than a horse. Many civilian forces still stand with the empire.

However, what Gory found unbelievable was that Lu Ran could detect the intruder and easily repel them.

And it was a Space species user.

Even he would find it tricky to deal with a Space species opponent.

“Where is the sudden death king? Take me to see it,” Gory said.

“Alright.”

Soon, Missionary Gory met Lu Ran again. He saw Lu Ran looking nonchalant, and next to him was General Ha, holding a piece of sword grass in its mouth and looking very cocky. Gory’s mouth twitched.

“Sudden death king, how did you discover the Space enemy? Hei Yu mentioned she even heard the opponent’s scream, and you managed to injure them…”

“I originally thought you just had a high soul talent, but now I realize I underestimated you. Your current strength is just ridiculously high.”

“It’s nothing much; the opponent was just too weak. My strength, whether high or low, doesn’t affect my devotion to the Death Holy Church…” Lu Ran said piously. “Gory, rest assured, if the imperial army really attacks, I will fight alongside you.”

Gory and Hei Yu: ???

Gory came intending to reassure Lu Ran, telling him not to fear the imperial army, “don’t run away,” and “if we flee, we’ll flee together, don’t give up on joining the church.”

However, Lu Ran’s high level of awareness stunned Gao Li. Such commitment―let alone from a new member who had joined just a day ago―was unparalleled even among his long-time subordinates!

“Missionary Gory, you don’t plan on running away, do you?” Lu Ran asked, worried that Gory might want to flee after discovering the imperial army had a Space user.

If that were the case, he would have to “reluctantly ascend the throne” and take up the banner of resisting the empire.

“Well…” If the enemy were too strong, Gory would naturally consider fleeing with his subordinates.

But the Space user was just beaten by Lu Ran, so Gory couldn’t gauge their strength.

“If we don’t have to leave, I certainly don’t want to,” Gory said, looking at Lu Ran. “To be honest, apart from spreading the Death Holy Church in Mingan, I have other tasks.”

“Other tasks?” Lu Ran was taken aback but then relaxed. As expected, the necromancer faction wouldn’t easily abandon the city.

“Yes, tasks. I might as well tell you, it’s no secret anyway.”

“In the past two years, the Death Holy Church has been conducting research,” Gory said. “One major advantage of necromantic pet beasts is that they can possess beastmasters, essentially coming with a built-in Fusion Skill, allowing necromancers and their necromantic pets to fight as one.”

Lu Ran nodded.

“Possession is a significant trait of the necromancy attribute.”

“And the possession of necromantic pet beasts isn’t limited to beastmasters.”

“If the soul talent of necromantic pets is well-developed, they can even possess other objects and complete their evolution.”

“For example, within the church, some elders and divine envoys have successfully researched how to let necromantic pets possess dragon bones or beast bones, evolving into undead skeletal beasts.”

“This way, they retain powerful soul attack methods while regaining formidable physical bodies.”

“Their strength is on par with necromantic pet beasts that retain their flesh and can develop soul attributes.”

“And now, within the church, the research isn’t limited to possessing bones. Some high-ranking members are exploring how to let necromantic pets possess ‘weapons’ and ‘armor,’ becoming something akin to artifact spirits.”

“Of course, achieving this is undoubtedly more challenging.”

“Therefore, some Forgemasters in the church have devised a method: instead of forcing necromantic pets to possess weapons for evolution, they place special weapons in the land of death, allowing the weapons to naturally develop souls.”

“At this moment, I am carrying a special weapon forged within the church. I have already buried it in the area of Mingan with the strongest death breath.”

“So, the church’s mission for us is actually to occupy a city of death and cultivate artifact spirits. If we abandon the city easily, finding another suitable cultivation site would be extremely difficult, and my path to promotion would be hopeless.”

“Artifact spirits???” Upon hearing this, Lu Ran was stunned. The Death Holy Church’s Forgemasters were really pushing the boundaries, even researching weapons with souls! Thinking about it, it made sense… Lu Ran knew that in many myths and legends, some powerful artifacts indeed had artifact spirits. The forging method of combining souls and weapons might actually work!

“Don’t worry,” Lu Ran said. “You’ve treated me well. Even if I have to risk my life, I’ll help you fend off the enemies.”

“Ah, this…” Gory was shocked. Indeed, sincerity begets sincerity. His approach to developing followers was truly spot on!

“Gory, do you have any extra Soul-type ores? Besides being a Chef, I’m also a Forgemaster. The concept of artifact spirit weapons sounds intriguing, and I’d like to research it myself. I want to contribute to the church’s development.”

Gory and Hei Yu: ???

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