229 Chapter 139: Monarch-Level Beast Egg_1
"The award ceremony…"
"Where is the award ceremony?"
In Sky City, Lu Ran checked the news and, finding no mention of any foul play on his part, left satisfied.
At this point, Lu Ran didn't care how he had come to be first. Since all his opponents had forfeited, he might as well be the winner.
It suited him just fine as he didn't want to fight either.
However, after the speech by the three headmasters concluded and the competition ended, no one mentioned anything about the prizes, which left Lu Ran quite frustrated.
Lu Ran could only urge his bodyguard since it was the only one who had interacted with the principal.
"Stop urging."
"You won't miss out on your reward."
"However, due to certain issues, the original award ceremony conducted by Shi Zhen was canceled."
Manager Ying came over and, seeing Lu Ran's impatient demeanor, explained.
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"This has turned into a woman's issue now? Was there no sign of this before?" Lu Ran asked, surprised.
"No!"
"It's all because of that sister, Lin Nian." Manager Ying's lips twitched, having just discussed the curse with you; your memory is vivid!
At that moment, it wore a mysterious expression, clearly having received some insider information.
"Got it, how is Lin Yin doing after she fainted?" Lu Ran asked.
Since she withdrew from the competition, the situation must be quite serious.
Could it be her superpower was so strong that it caused physical issues?
Indeed, telekinetic superpowers are dangerous!
His own Telepathic Superpower was milder by comparison, at most causing nightmares, which one would get used to over time.
"Seeing as you are also a superpower expert, and you might face a similar situation in the future, I'll just tell you straight," Manager Ying said,
"She is suspected to have been chosen by a powerful mental creature and connected to a dreamscape."
Saying this, Manager Ying shared the Beast Training version of "I, Emperor Qin Shihuang, asking for money!" with Lu Ran.
"A dreaming scam?!" Lu Ran, often receiving scam calls and messages, immediately concluded after hearing Lin Yin's experience that this must surely be a dreaming scam typical of the Era of Spiritual Resurrection!
"Who knows." Manager Ying rolled their eyes, "Anyway, I don't know any legendary foxes, the reincarnation of legendary creatures... Bold of it to claim so, but if it even claimed to be an Overlord life form, it would be more believable."
"Legendary creatures... how could their class be so low!"
"Besides, it's a bit of a lion's mouth to open—epic-level mental resources, let alone in Xia Country, it would be a feat to find one anywhere in the world."
"So what you mean is, regardless of whether it's a scam or not, Xia Country just doesn't have the money, is that right?" Lu Ran translated.
Indeed, the best way to avoid scams is to be penniless. Next, they just needed to ensure that the superpower sister doesn't get tricked.
"Uh, roughly that's the situation. However, the First Generations are taking the approach of 'better to believe than to disbelieve' and seem to actually be discussing how to acquire an epic-level mental resource."
"Hmm???"
"Of course, they don't actually want to awaken the other party or anything, unless they can verify its identity and confirm it as a friendly party."
"Anyway, just let her sister worry about this issue," Manager Ying shook their head.
"Speaking of which, Manager Ying, have we found any clues about the sleeping ancient creature we are looking for?" Lu Ran asked.
Other superpower experts, whether facing good or bad beasts, have ancient creatures coming to them.
Why is there no movement on their team's end...
"That won't be so fast... but we're already on it," Manager Ying curled their lip, "Right now, even if we found one, you don't have a Contract Slot, and besides, there's a King Species egg waiting for you to bond with."
"That egg, many of the First Generations are eyeing it greedily, asking the Chairman for it, and the old man hasn't given it to them, it's your lucky catch."
"I'll leave a message for Qingyi, and have her bring it to you later; she's currently with the Chairman and Shi Zhen."
"Okay." Lu Ran felt relieved.
At this moment, other than Lu Ran, there was another person pondering the prizes.
Fang Lan!
In this newcomer competition, one could say she performed exceptionally well, ranking 15th among the new students.
Many Beast Trainers from the Third Infinite City were shocked at how fierce the Five Poison Sect's Saintess had become.
Lu Ran could only lament that a city being used as a backup poison store, open to one person, plus becoming a sect's saintess, indeed provided a huge resource advantage.
Fang Lan now clearly had the trend of becoming the strongest Poisonous Attribute Beast Trainer of the fourth generation.
Her rewards included a Lower Dominator Species Pet Beast Cub, a choice between a Trait Crystal or a Beast Training Technique, and 100,000 crystal coins.
Facing these rewards, Fang Lan directly sent a message to Lu Ran: [What crystal or skill do you want? What about the pet beast?]
Before the competition, Lu Ran gave Fang Lan the Fitness Beast Training Skill. Fang Lan had said that if she achieved good results, the rewards would be used to buy skill cards for Lu Ran.
Now that Fang Lan didn't bring it up, Lu Ran had forgotten about it. After hesitating a moment, Lu Ran simply replied:
"You keep it for yourself, I don't have any particular needs... It's more important for you to quickly catch up in strength. High-level Abyssal Secret Realms will soon have Overlord BOSSes, and I definitely won't be able to clear them on my own. I'm counting on your poison to play a supporting role."
Lu Ran wasn't being modest.
In later stages, like those tackled by the First Generation in the Abyssal Secret Realm, there were always Overlord bosses, making it especially difficult to clear.
The First Generation had even more resources than Lu Ran; for example, Doctor Gu, who already had a top-grade Dragon-Attribute Beast, but even they couldn't bridge the gap of the Overlord Race without undergoing a second stage of evolution, much less face an Overlord alone with a team of beasts; one can imagine how difficult the high-level Abyssal Secret Realms were.
Lu Ran was currently very strong, largely because of investments from heavyweights. The "Domineering Body Type Crystal" and "Nature Manipulation Trait Crystal" that Doctor Gu had given him were top-tier crystals that could drop from an "Overlord BOSS," which could only be obtained by raiding with a team led by a First Generation.
Enjoying these top-tier crystals ahead of time was a rare privilege that few fourth-generation Beast Trainers had, but as time went on… Lu Ran's head start would shrink, and others would eventually have access to powerful trait crystals.
By then, without a significant advantage, Lu Ran would likely need even more external help to conquer high-level secret realms—just like Mr. Husky's first attempt at the Abandoned Experiment Field. Even with the Divine Deer Pendant, it was very difficult, and in the end, it was only through the venom provided by Fang Lan that he managed to clear it smoothly.
Lu Ran wasn't particularly in need of the things Fang Lan currently had; after all, he was now the world's sole Dragon Chef. He might lack top-tier resources, but there were already many methods to obtain regular resources. So, it was better to let Fang Lan develop quickly. Having a known poison expert was quite comforting.
"Really?" Fang Lan called and said, "Then I won't be shy."
"Watch me become a professor in toxicology within a year and concoct a poison that can take down an Overlord."
"Nonsense." Lu Ran scoffed, disregarding her bragging. The two were old acquaintances and wouldn't beat around the bush over such matters. Soon, Lu Ran's attention was drawn away by a message from Manager Ying, indicating that Doctor Gu was coming over to deliver resources personally.
"Here."
Doctor Gu, summoned by Manager Ying, was holding a huge egg.
It seemed that he had come over as soon as he got the message.
At that time, Gu Qingyi hadn't imagined that Lu Ran would actually end up taking the grand prize.
"Here you go..."
Lu Ran received the Beast Egg.
"Thanks, Doctor Gu, for personally delivering this…"
"No problem, I used Teleport, so it was quite quick."
"…" So, space attribute utility beasts too, huh!
"This is from Shi Zhen too—he said, 'Well done, aim to research Dragon Species even before the Divine Eagle Federation does.'"
As she spoke, Gu Qingyi also took out the Void Flower.
Lu Ran's eyes lit up; it seemed like he would soon have access to a space attribute utility beast.
At that time, the first skill to develop... Lu Ran had decided, it must be Teleport.
"No problem."
"Speaking of this egg..."
"There are still over two months for hatching, and the cub of the King Species, even in its egg form, has extremely strong vitality; it will actively absorb energy from its surroundings, so you don't need to take special care of it. Just remember not to store it in a special space, and also…"
"Don't accidentally cook it as an ingredient."
"How could I?" Lu Ran was speechless; he wasn't extravagant enough to cook an egg of the King Species...
"In two months, I will enter the first level of the Breakthrough Secret Realm, and when I come out, I'll have an additional Contract Slot, right as it hatches," Lu Ran said. "How about that?"
"That would indeed work," Doctor Gu pondered. "During this period, you can concentrate on researching the Dragon Cuisine here. I will coordinate with the university to prepare sufficient Dragon Blood ingredients for you."
"Right." Lu Ran indeed had this plan. Regarding Mr. Husky, Lu Ran didn't have much to cultivate for now; apart from Energy Flow, the other three major energy skills had already reached the second stage. Not to mention reaching level 20, even considering the pet beasts of third-generation Beast Trainers, its fundamentals were already quite perfect, and it was unlikely to make great progress in a short time.
On the other hand, King of Sudden Death had huge potential for improvement.
Energy Flow, it didn't know; energy compression, it didn't know; energy release, it had just learned Discharge, which was about Energy Shaping. With Dragon Intent, it was somewhat prominent. The Racial Talent of King of Sudden Death was not inferior to Mr. Husky's, and the reason it struggled to defeat Mr. Husky was due to its rough application of energy.
Next, combining various top-grade Dragon Cuisines with Reverse Beast Mimicry should help supplement this shortcoming for King of Sudden Death, allowing it and Mr. Husky to become the real Strongest Shield and Strongest Sword, achieving a perfectly matched confrontation.
If it couldn't match Husky equally, how could King of Sudden Death truly transform into a dragon at level 30?
By then, Lu Ran reckoned that challenging the first level Breakthrough Secret Realm, regardless of the situation he might face, shouldn't pose much difficulty or pressure.
He only hoped not to encounter any bizarre breakthrough tasks.
…
Doctor Gu came in a hurry and left in a hurry; after being deep in the sea for so long, he had a pile of matters to attend to upon returning and couldn't revolve around Lu Ran the entire time.
After entrusting Manager Ying with the care of the Sovereign Pet Beast Egg, Lu Ran entered Infinite City.
Before the Dragon Attribute ingredients from the Beast Training University were prepared, Lu Ran decided to sweep through the first level secret realms first.
In the first level secret realm, there were still some valuable resources to be acquired, such as the "Spirit Gem" that could awaken Mental Attributes, exploding in the notoriously difficult first level secret realm, Land of Abyss.
These Awakening Attribute resources, unlike Trait Crystals, had no fusion restrictions; Lu Ran planned to obtain one and send it to Green Sea City for Dark Crow to awaken its second attribute.
If lucky, obtaining several similar resources, he could arrange the second attributes for all the Seven General Beasts. Compared to PVP, Lu Ran truly preferred PVE, as the resource acquisition was fast enough.
"Mainly to dominate the Divine Pet List."
"In the public secret realm, Mr. Husky, akin to a lower-ranking member of the King Species, only reached second place on the Public Infinite City's Divine Pet List. It might be because the leaderboard in the Public Infinite City, with its multiple country junctions, is too competitive. It's also possible that Mr. Husky didn't display all its capabilities against the Tyrant Dragon…"
"This time, let's see how they rank in the national Infinite City. Both it and King of Sudden Death might make it on the list… randomly selecting two unfortunate ones to bump off should do..."
From today onwards, competing for the list with third-generation Beast Trainers, Lu Ran felt that compared to the extraordinary list of the fourth generation, the third generation's Commander List was like stagnant water, lacking vitality. It still required some fresh energy to be injected to help them take things seriously.