King of Beasts

Chapter 176: Return ②!

When Lu Ran began visiting various places.

The Cult Leader of Necromancy had also left the Star-Moon Continent and arrived at a secluded island in the sea region.

He arrived at a grave and stood there for a long time before finally speaking, “Elder brother.”

A faint black mist enveloped the tombstone, forming a ghostly shadow.

“Speak.”

“I want to activate the permission soul key for the Land of Divine Selection, and I need to borrow your soul power.”

“Isn’t it not time yet?” the ghostly shadow replied.

“This time, I want a key that can temporarily unlock the permissions.”

“Hmm?”

“Disciple? You took in a disciple?” The ghostly shadow looked at his younger brother in surprise.

“Yes.” The Cult Leader of Necromancy chuckled softly and said, “He is a genius with remarkable necromancy Talent who has resolved the defect of necromancy devouring souls for growth.”

“That indeed is a genius. Can this person be trusted? Is his background clean? Have you investigated him thoroughly?”

The ghostly shadow asked consecutively.

“Why consider so much for such a genius? As long as he can carry forward the necromancy lineage, my fate and the fate of the Holy Church do not matter.”

The ghostly shadow remained silent for a moment and said, “You…”

He sighed repeatedly, feeling a bit helpless about his younger brother.

“People are not always what they seem. If you want to take in a disciple, I still hope you can choose someone who is like a son to you. You’ve never married, and your journey till now has been hard enough.”

“I just want to accomplish the things you could not,” the Cult Leader of Necromancy said slowly.

“Besides, although I haven’t investigated deeply, this new disciple of mine seems like a good person.”

A dozen days later.

The mentally exhausted Cult Leader of Necromancy, holding a permission soul key he had crafted with his elder brother, began his return to the death space.

The death space, this space secret realm, is actually a space secret realm left behind by a legendary deceased being.

As a legendary secret realm, it naturally contains many hidden benefits.

But every time one seeks these benefits, a great price must be paid.

Each time a necromancer with decent talent appeared in the Holy Church, the church would send them to the Land of Divine Selection to receive the blessing of the deity.

This blessing could enhance the entrants’ soul power and alleviate the drawbacks of devouring souls.

Of course, this was merely an ordinary enhancement.

In addition to the ordinary enhancement, the Land of Divine Selection had an even more formidable ability.

It could bless a human soul so that even if a beastmaster died, their soul could survive in the world in a soul form.

A form of alternative immortality.

Lu Ran became the Holy Son of Necromancy, and the Cult Leader of Necromancy was well aware that Lu Ran would certainly encounter many dangers in the future. For Lu Ran’s safety, he hoped that even if Lu Ran faced unforeseen events, he could survive in soul form.

“Finally, I’m back.”

As soon as the Cult Leader of Necromancy returned, he went straight to Lu Ran’s residence to see if his obedient disciple had been diligently training over the past ten days.

However.

Just as the Cult Leader of Necromancy peered into the void towards Lu Ran, he was instantly dumbfounded!

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At a glance, he could tell that there were no signs that Lu Ran had been practicing the “Soul Meditation Method” he had taught him!

Not even a bit!

Instead.

In the courtyard, Lu Ran had set up a massive barbecue grill, roasting a “Dragon Soul.”

The remnant soul of a pure-blooded dragon!

A dog and a dragon lizard were eagerly waiting to be fed.

“Sudden Death King!”

The Cult Leader of Necromancy uttered slowly as he descended to the ground. The Sudden Death King, which had been sniffing the aroma, was startled. But upon realizing he wasn’t being called, it relaxed.

“Uh, Master?” Still roasting the dragon soul, Lu Ran paused as he saw his master return.

He felt a bit anxious.

Truth be told, since the Cult Leader of Necromancy had left over ten days ago, he had not shown up at all.

Lu Ran had received so many gifts that he had gone a bit overboard, even extorting some from the other young geniuses.

Seeing his master’s return now, Lu Ran felt a bit guilty.

“Why does it look like you haven’t practiced the Soul Meditation Method I taught you at all?”

“Well…” Lu Ran said, “When I first arrived at the Holy Church, I thought it was more important to understand the church before focusing on training. So, I asked the Nether Flame divine envoy to lead me in visiting the various elders, divine envoys, and disciples of the church.”

“So, are these things all gifts from them?” the Cult Leader of Necromancy asked, looking at the Dragon Soul and the pile of rare cooking utensils and food ingredients beside it.

“Yes, the elders were overly enthusiastic in their gifts,” Lu Ran sighed, “and since these things are perfect for research, I accepted them.”

“Tell me, what gifts did you receive these past few days?” The Cult Leader of Necromancy had a faint smile as he looked at his disciple.

He felt that Lu Ran seemed to have a side of him that he had not yet discovered.

“Ahem,” Lu Ran said, embarrassed. “I’ve kept a record…”

With that, Lu Ran pulled out a small notebook and handed over the list of gifts he had received in the past days to his master.

The Cult Leader of Necromancy extended his hand, taking the list from a distance.

He then fell silent.

Elder Shanggong: Soul Forging Method and several necromancy forging materials.

The Soul Forging Method was Elder Shanggong’s ultimate skill. Equipment forged with this method could independently absorb the breath of souls from the land of death, with the potential to nurture a spirit.

Although it had never been fully successful, it was at least a new avenue to explore.

Elder Mingxin: The nearly exquisite weapon, Soul Scarecrow.

This was a terrifying scarecrow. As long as it absorbed even a tiny bit of the enemy’s blood, any damage inflicted upon the scarecrow would be multiplied several times onto the enemy’s soul.

Elder Zi: One Dragon Soul, X…

“What does this ‘X’ mean?” the Cult Leader of Necromancy asked.

He noticed that most of the resource names in the notebook had an ‘X’ marked beside them. More precisely, 90% of the resource names had an ‘X’ marked, while only gifts like weapons, equipment, special skills, and beast taming skills were unmarked.

“Oh… the ‘X’ means I’ve already used it,” Lu Ran replied silently. Spending idle time was pointless, so he used the resources to enhance his pet beasts as soon as he got them.

His master remained silent once more.

He then glanced at General Ha, the Sudden Death King next to the barbecue grill, and the complete set of cooking utensils scattered around. It became clear where Lu Ran had used all those resources.

At this moment, the growth level of the Sudden Death King had already reached level 30.

Moreover, its soul had grown to an unbelievable extent, resembling the soul of a dragon, very much like a Thunder Dragon Body.

General Ha’s soul had also become exceptionally powerful. His soul felt like an unsheathed divine sword. The Cult Leader of Necromancy surmised that if any pet beast of the same level dared to attack its soul, it would be like hitting a flesh-and-blood hand against a sword sharp enough to cut through iron.

Though it was clearly a dog, its soul was akin to a sword soul.

“Never mind,” the master shook his head. Enjoying receiving gifts wasn’t necessarily a bad trait.

But even accepting gifts from ordinary disciples-his Holy Son disciple really was something else!

“Take a good rest today. Tomorrow, come with me to a place.”

“What place?” Lu Ran asked curiously.

“The Land of Divine Selection. I intend to enhance your soul. This way, even if your body dies in the future, your soul will not perish and can still exist in this world!”

The Cult Leader of Necromancy looked at Lu Ran seriously and said, “As the Holy Son of Necromancy, this is the treatment you deserve.”

“What?!” Lu Ran was shocked.

He didn’t expect his master to bring him such a significant gift.

“Master! Can we go now?” Lu Ran suddenly thought of something and showed an “eager” expression.

“Hmm?” The Cult Leader of Necromancy didn’t understand why Lu Ran was in such a hurry.

However, seeing the “eagerness” on Lu Ran’s face, the master didn’t have the heart to deny his disciple’s first request. Although he was a bit tired, he smiled and said, “Alright.”

“Thank you, Master!!!” Lu Ran breathed a sigh of relief, his heart pounding wildly because today was his 30th day in the secret realm!

He had thought he wouldn’t see his master before leaving, but unexpectedly, his master returned on the last day.

The most important thing was, his master brought such a grand gift.

If they went to the Land of Divine Selection tomorrow, it would be too late for everything.

Even now, Lu Ran felt a bit anxious because he didn’t know how long the so-called enhancement would take. Time… was running out.

At this moment, Lu Ran felt increasingly fond of his master.

Over the past days, Lu Ran had deepened his understanding of his master significantly.

Because many of the church elders had life-and-death ties with the Cult Leader of Necromancy, Lu Ran gathered a lot of intelligence while interacting with them.

His master, the Cult Leader of Necromancy, started out as a second-generation beastmaster living a carefree life. Not because his parents were exceptional, but because his elder brother was!

The elder brother of the Cult Leader of Necromancy was once one of the top legendary figures on the continent.

However, one day, this legendary prodigy disappeared.

The Cult Leader of Necromancy stopped living a hedonistic lifestyle and instead delved into the study of necromancy. He sought out like-minded friends to research necromancy together.

Eventually, he established the vast Death Holy Church.

Lu Ran speculated that his master’s elder brother probably perished while challenging the legendary realm.

His master’s research into necromancy might have been an alternate path to once again challenge the legendary realm…

“What a pity…” Lu Ran sighed inwardly, wondering if his master had ever succeeded.

…

The Land of Divine Selection was also within the death space.

Using the soul key, the Cult Leader of Necromancy unlocked this special soul world and entered it with Lu Ran.

He led Lu Ran to a massive gray soul pool and indicated for him to go in.

Although Lu Ran felt that the gray soul pool was somewhat strange, he didn’t want to miss this opportunity and chose to enter.

The moment he stepped into the pool, Lu Ran felt as if there were countless ants crawling on his soul-an unbearable itch combined with intense pain.

“Ugh-” Instantly, Lu Ran was drenched in sweat and his entire body started trembling uncontrollably.

“The process will be somewhat grueling.” The Cult Leader of Necromancy’s expression was also somewhat pale due to the effort of opening this special space. Looking at Lu Ran, he thought about how his disciple was still just a young teenager and might not have experienced much pain. He said, “You can talk to me, ask questions, and distract yourself a bit. It might ease the discomfort.”

“Alright…” Lu Ran gritted his teeth.

“Master… you…”

“Do you know about the Death Dragon? One of the Four Great Creator Divine Dragons of the Star-Moon Continent,” the Cult Leader of Necromancy began.

“The legends say it wields the power of death. Is our necromancy related to the Death Dragon?” Lu Ran inquired.

The Cult Leader of Necromancy didn’t find such Myth and Legend-related questions from Lu Ran surprising.

In fact, he would only find it odd if Lu Ran, who hadn’t practiced cultivation at all in the past half month, started asking about cultivation techniques.

“It is related.”

“The secret realm we are in right now was left behind by one of the Death Dragon’s legendary retainers after it passed away…”

“What?” Lu Ran lifted his head in astonishment.

“The Four Great Creator Divine Dragons are supreme. They created the world, created life, and even the human race was created by these Creator Dragons.”

“All living creatures on this continent, even the legendary divine beasts, owe their existence to them.”

“In essence, they are the sovereigns of this world.”

“For humans to rival those legendary divine beasts, which command the forces of nature, using only the normal power of humans and their pet beasts is incredibly difficult.”

“After all, the elemental attributes that pet beasts cultivate have already been perfected by those legendary divine beasts.”

“But the power of death is different! Aside from the Death Dragon and its retainers, no other divine beasts have mastered the power of death. That’s why I say necromancy might be the hope to change the dire straits of humanity.”

“By learning from the Death Dragon’s power, we can gain the strength to defeat those legendary divine beasts!”

“So, does that make you feel like the path you are cultivating in is extremely powerful?” the Cult Leader of Necromancy chuckled.

What his master said instantly made Lu Ran forget about the pain.

Indeed, it was powerful!

Life and death…

Just as Lu Ran was about to continue his questions, his expression changed.

The space around them began to blur…

Especially Lu Ran’s figure…

[The secret realm has ended, returning…]

[Return countdown… 10… 9…]

“Is it time already?” Lu Ran was momentarily stunned by the sight.

“What is this-” The changes around them also made the Cult Leader of Necromancy’s face change drastically.

His already pale face became even paler.

Sensing the interference of a higher-dimensional force affecting his existence, he suddenly had an unreal thought.

He looked at Lu Ran in shock, feeling as if everything around was becoming an illusion, with only Lu Ran growing more real, blurred yet tangible.

[Why… come to think of it, now I realize that the name “sudden death king” sounds so strange.] The Cult Leader of Necromancy murmured in his heart…

He wanted to say something but had already lost the ability to do so. His very existence began to fade away.

His heart started to wither, filled with confusion and bewilderment.

However, in the next moment, his once deadened heart sprang to life again.

“Thank you, master. If I ever get the chance, no matter where I am, I will carry forward necromancy and even help humans break through the limits of legends,” Lu Ran said just before being teleported away. “Once a master, always a master.”

Although the Cult Leader of Necromancy didn’t understand which higher power was reanimating him as a projection of history, hearing Lu Ran’s words brought a smile to his face.

Even though the experience was an illusion, it seemed he hadn’t lost all hope.

He nodded subconsciously.

But before his nod was complete, Lu Ran had already vanished.

The breakthrough secret realm collapsed along with Lu Ran’s departure.

At that moment, Lu Ran and the nine other challengers, who had been sealed within the infinite city, all returned!