King of Beasts

In the blink of an eye, the next day arrived.

Shi Ze came to visit Lu Ran early in the morning. “Lu-Ge, the trial permissions for the Death Forest have been approved.”

“When should we head out?”

Lu Ran was leisurely sitting at the stone table in the courtyard, enjoying breakfast delivered by the household staff.

“Shi-Ge, care to join me for some breakfast?”

Although this breakfast didn’t contain any Culinary Intent, the ingredients were all local specialties, giving Lu Ran a unique sense of enjoyment.

“Ah, no need. I’ve already eaten,” Shi Ze politely declined.

“In that case, I’ll finish quickly, and we can go afterwards?” Lu Ran asked.

“Sure,” Shi Ze agreed without hesitation.

Lu Ran started to swiftly finish his breakfast, equally eager about heading to the Death Forest.

After eating, they made some quick preparations and set out immediately.

…

On the way, Shi Ze said, “In the next few days, members of the major families could also be applying for trials in the Death Forest, scouting ahead.”

“It’s possible that other contestants might use the paths provided by the major families in Tree Realm City to come here in advance to observe the environment.”

“So, we might encounter others in the Death Forest, and you must be extremely cautious.”

“Sometimes, the most dangerous threat isn’t the ferocious plants, but the humans. Ferocious plants without Sapience won’t deliberately scheme against you; they act purely on instinct, predictable patterns. Once you understand their habits, navigating the Death Forest isn’t too difficult.”

“However, during the preliminary round, beastmasters are allowed to interfere with and eliminate each other within the forest. So there’s a high chance that some Plantmasters will ‘kill with a borrowed knife,’ using these terrifying ferocious plants to set traps in advance against other contestants.”

“That’s the hardest part of the preliminary round.”

“No worries.” Lu Ran leaned back in the carriage with a slight smile.

“Eliminating other contestants during the preliminary round is a great rule.”

“Imagine if someone could eliminate all the contestants in the Death Forest during the preliminary round. Wouldn’t that mean they could win the championship directly without further competition?”

“Huh?”

Shi Ze was taken aback, “What?”

“How could that be possible with so many contestants…”

“True.” Lu Ran shook his head, honestly admitting that the idea came from thinking it might yield a higher rating.

Also, it would save time.

From what he understood, after the preliminary round, contestants would rest for three days before starting the main tournament.

The main tournament would then last several days.

Stretching it out like this, the 30 days allotted for the breakthrough secret realm could quickly be consumed.

But if he could end the tournament during the preliminary round with absolute power and take first place, he could use the remaining time as he pleased, without following the tournament’s schedule. 𝔯àŊо𝔟Ě𝙨

Still, Lu Ran wasn’t sure if this approach would work.

If he could send out the dark crow and use the divine deer pendant, he felt there would be no pressure.

After all, the combination provided unparalleled long-range scouting and sniping curses, almost like having cheat codes activated.

However, unsure if the Power of the Evil God was well-accepted in this era, he decided to play it safe and only send General Ha and the sudden death king, avoiding unnecessary risk.

Two middle-level 30 overlords are equivalent to two middle-level 40 sovereigns.

Last year’s champion’s ace was an upper-level 41 sovereign, theoretically stronger than General Ha and the sudden death king, but that was just in theory.

After all, General Ha could use the sword domain, far surpassing the average level 30 overlord.

When the domain was activated, all ferocious plants would be like sword grass to it.

Wouldn’t it then control all these ferocious plants?

Its combat power would skyrocket!

This is what’s called beast controlling plant!

Who’s the real Plantmaster now? It’s still uncertain.

“Cough, cough, Lu-Ge, you do have bold thoughts.”

Shi Ze felt that Boss Lu was getting a bit carried away. Indeed, the overlord canine beast was impressive and could crush him, but last year he only made it to the top 32 in the championship.

The higher the rankings, the higher the levels.

Moreover, in this current beast taming era, the strongest contestants were mostly Plantmasters.

In an environment like the Death Forest, the power boost for Plantmasters was enormous.

“Haha, just thinking out loud.”

“We’re here!!!”

It didn’t take long for the two to reach the outskirts of Tree Realm City and arrive at the entrance to the Death Forest.

At this moment, the entrance was heavily guarded by the City Lord’s troops. Apart from Lu Ran and Shi Ze, just as Shi Ze had mentioned, there were also other people who had arrived early, trying to scout the area.

As Lu Ran and Shi Ze got off the carriage, Lu Ran unexpectedly looked in one direction.

“What’s this?”

From another direction, someone else felt Lu Ran’s gaze and quickly looked over.

That person was none other than Yu Rui, one of the three beastmasters from the other world whom Lu Ran had noticed yesterday. Yu Rui appeared to be only fifteen or sixteen years old.

At this time, he was with two others, led by a woman in a floral dress, also waiting outside the forest.

“What’s going on?” As Yu Rui noticed Lu Ran’s gaze, Jiang Ming and Liu Man also glanced over and their expressions changed quickly.

Others, possibly influenced by infinite city, might not be sensitive to their attire. But as fellow challengers, Jiang Ming and Liu Man immediately realized that Lu Ran’s clothing was modern!

Could this person be the other-worldly beastmaster Yu Rui had mentioned?

“Hey there.” Seeing their tense expressions, Lu Ran smiled and waved at them, not hiding his identity at all. This action, however, made the two even more on guard.

“Lu-Ge, people you know?” Shi Ze asked from the side.

“Had a brief encounter during registration yesterday,” Lu Ran replied.

“Oh, they seem to be with people from the Yang family and were brought here as well. Looks like they have quite the background, just like you…” Shi Ze remarked, quite surprised.

“That’s normal,” Lu Ran nonchalantly withdrew his gaze.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

The woman in the floral dress also spoke up in surprise, “Are they acquaintances of yours? Beastmasters?”

Yu Rui shook his head, withdrawing his gaze, and said, “No, but he should be a very dangerous individual. In the tournament… we need to be cautious of him.”

Indeed, dangerous!

Jiang Ming and Liu Man were taken aback, never expecting Lu Ran to openly wave at them as if he had no fear of being identified as someone from another world.

Such a person was either clueless or extremely dangerous.

Although they had crossed paths, none of the four had any intention of conversing further. After making some brief preparations, they went into the Death Forest, each choosing different directions to proceed.

Inside the Death Forest.

The deeper you go into this place, the more dangerous the transplanted ferocious plants become.

Under the guidance of Shi Ze, Lu Ran encountered many ordinary ferocious plants along the way. If they awakened, they might only reach the level of supernatural or commander species, which Lu Ran naturally wasn’t too concerned about.

He hoped to find something for Fang Lan at least on the same level as sword grass.

“Shi-Ge, take me to see that Dragon Blood Willow,” Lu Ran said. He didn’t know much about poisons but was quite knowledgeable about dragons, so his first target was the Dragon Blood Willow.

If this thing could awaken, it seemed like a good retainer for the sudden death king. After all, it could grow quickly just on the blood shed by the sudden death king. Plus, it would be relatively easy to cultivate.

Unfortunately, their compatibilities didn’t quite match, making it difficult to combine forces effectively in battle.

“Lu-Ge, you’re really fearless.”

“Why don’t you summon a canine beast to protect yourself?”

“Relying solely on me for scouting puts a lot of pressure on me.”

At that moment, Shi Ze was scouting the way ahead with the Moon Swallowing Dog, while Lu Ran followed behind as if casually window-shopping.

This made Shi Ze’s eye twitch. Did Lu Ran truly not worry about sudden dangers?

“You wouldn’t understand,” Lu Ran responded. “Summoning it could actually be more dangerous than not.”

Given General Ha’s impetuous nature, Lu Ran figured that if he summoned it to scout, they might encounter even more dangers along the way.

This fellow not only had a penchant for mischief but also a sharp tongue. During the novice trial secret realm, it even tried to eat poisonous mushrooms.

Despite several months passing, it had barely improved.

In fact, after merging with the Ultimate Perception Trait, General Ha’s Comprehension may have increased, but its intelligence likely decreased.

Previously, General Ha understood that the divine deer antler wasn’t a sword. But now, everything seemed like a sword to it.

It was as if it sacrificed intelligence in exchange for greater Comprehension and combat power.

Lu Ran wasn’t too worried about encountering danger because his combat ability, when fully unleashed, wasn’t much weaker than that of ferocious beasts. Thanks to the physical qualities he gained through super beast mimicry and the boost from the Flame Sprite, he could practically be considered a fire-attribute ferocious beast himself.

He was a natural counter to those plants.

“What do you mean by that?” Shi Ze was puzzled. How could summoning be more dangerous than not summoning?

With a smile, Lu Ran looked at him and said, “Because it’s a bit of a troublemaker… but never mind, I’ll summon it anyway. As long as we keep an eye on it, it shouldn’t be a big deal.”

“Plus, I need to test a new ability.”

As he spoke, Lu Ran summoned General Ha, planning to have it activate the Infinite Sword Domain later to see if it could control those dangerous plants.

This was also a way to rehearse for the upcoming preliminary round.

“Woof~~~~” At the same time, the summoned General Ha scanned its surroundings with sharp eyes.

“What ability? What are you talking about?” Shi Ze asked curiously.

“Control dangerous plants,” Lu Ran replied.

“Seriously, Lu-Ge, I didn’t read much, but don’t try to fool me.” Shi Ze was skeptical.

Fighting while carrying a sword grass was one thing, but a wind and snow canine beast controlling dangerous plants?

That just didn’t sound plausible.

It did sound like fool’s play.

“General Ha, try to see if you can control those dangerous plants,” Lu Ran instructed, pointing ahead. The area was filled with a group of “bean shooters,” a type of ferocious plant with varied attributes. Some could shoot ice shells, others thunder shells. Though they weren’t particularly formidable, their sheer numbers and tendency to cluster made them a headache to deal with.

“Woof woof!!”

General Ha looked calm and was about to activate the Infinite Sword Domain to envelop the plants and turn them into plant swords, but suddenly, an understanding dawned on it.

Maybe using the Sword Domain to control these non-sapient plants was overkill and a waste of energy.

Overkill!

With a wise look in its eyes, General Ha had a sudden realization: even without the Sword Domain’s power, it could still control these plants.

The divine deer!

Just one antler from the divine deer could transform plant natural power into life energy; it was immensely powerful in controlling nature.

If it could mimic the divine deer, wouldn’t these plants obediently listen?

“Whoosh~” General Ha panted heavily, its eyes gleaming with intelligence, feeling exceptionally clever.

With this thought, it began energy shaping on top of its head, rapidly growing a pair of intricately intertwined antlers.

[I am a deer, I am a deer, I am a deer…]

Shi Ze and Lu Ran: ??

Shi Ze was stunned and asked, “Lu-Ge, what’s going on?”

“You’re asking me?” Lu Ran looked speechlessly at General Ha. He had instructed it to activate the Infinite Sword Domain, but instead, it was cosplaying as a divine deer.

Even so…

Just as Lu Ran was about to grumble internally-after all, even if the divine deer was a divine beast that wielded incredible life force over plants-General Ha didn’t look the part at all as a dog.

However, before Lu Ran could finish his thoughts, General Ha, now adorned with antlers, suddenly emitted a unique aura. This aura was indistinguishable from the divine deer antler, radiating a dazzling golden-green light. The glow surrounded General Ha, making its original canine form unrecognizable. From its silhouette alone, it looked like an authentic divine deer…

“Holy crap, a deer dog,” Shi Ze exclaimed in astonishment.

Lu Ran’s mind momentarily froze. Was this biological artistic conception shaping?

You’ve got to be kidding me.

How did it manage to grasp this?

Could it be because General Ha had constantly used the divine deer antler and fused with the Ultimate Perception Trait?

Darn, Lu Ran was still in a daze. He realized he had been wrong; the Ultimate Perception Trait was indeed more fitting for General Ha!

Simultaneously, as General Ha utilized biological artistic conception shaping, giving itself antlers and adopting a deer dog form, an extraordinary phenomenon occurred. Centered around General Ha, numerous ferocious plants began to sway. They seemed to sense a great power, and despite lacking Sapience, they made gestures of submission. Some even seemed eager to offer their own energy!

Beside them, Shi Ze and the Moon Swallowing Dog gaped, unable to make sense of what they were witnessing.

Elsewhere in the Death Forest, the majority of the ferocious plants also started to sway vigorously.

In addition, Yu Rui and his team, who were traversing the forest, suddenly became incredibly alert, their expressions shifting dramatically.

“What’s happening!!” Not only the ferocious plants, but even the lower overlord-war ancient tree-accompanying Yu Rui started trembling all over, as if sensing a terrifying pressure, unwillingly bowing in a certain direction.

These ferocious plants and lower species behaved like they had encountered a superior being, losing control over their actions in an instant.

The forest was in uproar.

At the same time, in the City Lord’s Mansion.

In a secluded training chamber, a white-haired elderly woman abruptly opened her eyes, looking towards the Death Forest in astonishment.

“What did those ferocious plants encounter?”