King of Beasts

Chapter 29: Unrestricted Cheating

After laying it all out to her parents, Fang Lan left in a huff.

Seeing their daughter’s reaction, Fang Lan’s parents fell into silence. As she grew up, she was becoming increasingly difficult to manage, though she was never easy to handle even as a child.

“What should we do? Even though we said all that, it seems hard to control her now.”

“At this point, we can only prepare for the worst,” Fang Lan’s dad said gravely.

“Have another child? How can you think like that! I don’t agree!” Fang Lan’s mom exclaimed in anger.

Fang Lan’s dad was frustrated. What kind of solution was that?

“If I really can’t control her, then I’ll become a beastmaster myself, personally oversee her leveling up and protect her. Don’t underestimate me because of my age; I was once the king of bug fighting in Green Sea City. I have the talent.”

“Speaking of which, how does one get a black card? Do you think I still have a chance?” A man’s youthful spirit never dies.

…

At Infinite City No.3 in Xia Country, within Beastmaster Square, Lu Ran and Pig Raiser arrived at a food store. By this time, both had retracted their pet beasts, which is a standard rule in most small establishments.

It’s not a case of no ‘xx and dogs allowed,’ nor is it a concern that pet beasts can’t control themselves around food, but rather a worry that some pet beasts might clash in a confined space, leading to accidental injuries.

After all, the pet beasts contracted by beastmasters come in all shapes and sizes, some even harboring species enmity towards each other. Until a beastmaster’s control reaches a certain level, it’s not uncommon for two pet beasts to suddenly become entangled in a fight, which is why Infinite City has patrol beasts.

“Passerby A, this… how does this work?” Inside, both Lu Ran and Pig Raiser were surprised to see no actual goods, just a series of self-service ordering machines. Pig Raiser seemed to have never seen such a device before and looked utterly puzzled.

“Self-ordering, huh? That’s absurd.” Lu Ran hadn’t expected Infinite City’s amenities to be so up-to-date, what with self-service ordering machines and shared motorcycles. Who told him this was a relic of a super-ancient civilization? All these facilities are thoroughly modern!

Don’t tell him that even super-ancient civilizations used these gadgets!

At this point, Lu Ran could only assume that the style of the shop was a result of the owner’s personal decoration choices. Otherwise, it would mean that the consciousness of Infinite City could monitor the outside world like an AI, continuously learning modern knowledge and transforming itself.

“Just like this.” Lu Ran tapped on the machine in front of Pig Raiser, and the screen immediately displayed a series of categories such as wind-type ingredients area, rock-type ingredients area, general ingredients area, seasoning area, and so on.

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Upon a further tap, icons of various food resources appeared, each with an introduction detailing level, use, and price. After making a selection, all one had to do was swipe a card on the machine; crystal coins would be deducted, and the materials would appear in the backpack—extremely intelligent. However, Lu Ran wasn’t entirely sold on the idea since, with such smart technology, online shopping should be an option.

“So that’s how it is, so convenient!” Pig Raiser exclaimed. “But these ingredients are so expensive… a potato costs 2 crystal coins, and a cabbage also costs 2 crystal coins? Why not just rob people?”

Lu Ran went quiet for a moment before saying, “Infinite City doesn’t allow fighting, otherwise robbery would have started long ago…”

Pig Raiser: “…”

The crystal coin-priced potatoes and cabbages obviously weren’t ordinary; they just resembled those varieties. The resource level was ordinary, similar to the hemostatic mushrooms and wood scale fruits that Lu Ran had seen before, possessing certain special nutritional effects.

Most beast taming teams entering the secret realm to collect resources were after these kinds of resources. They would gather them in the secret realm and then sell them outside. As long as the selling price exceeded the cost of entering the secret realm in crystal coins, there was profit to be made.

“I’ll pick some too.” At this time, there was no one else in the store, probably all attracted to the divine beast leaderboard. Lu Ran approached a self-service machine and started selecting quickly.

First, he chose ingredients recommended by the basic beast taming handbook for a wind-type general recipe: coo-coo pigeon eggs, wild wind chicken meat, windfall fruit, and tornado greens.

Lu Ran bought a half-month’s supply, planning for two meals a day, with each meal costing about 20 crystal coins. That added up to 600 crystal coins just for half a month’s worth of meals!

It wasn’t that Lu Ran was scrimping on meals; it was that these supernatural nutritional meals were not easy to absorb. Two meals per day were sufficient.

Lu Ran spared no expense for General Ha, purchasing the top-tier nutrition meals recommended in the recipe book. Some ingredients were for enhancing physical strength, while others were for increasing energy intensity—nothing was overlooked.

“It seems if I keep feeding General Ha these top-tier nutrition meals every day, my crystal coins will run out in no time,” Lu Ran lamented, suddenly understanding why the beastmasters got so excited when the divine beast leaderboard was released. Raising a pet beast was incredibly expensive.

Maintaining just one pet beast was costly enough, but to raise several large, advanced pet beasts would be financially ruinous.

Lu Ran looked out the window at the divine beast leaderboard standing tall in the center of the square, realizing he needed to start earning crystal coins in the secret realm soon.

“Keep buying.”

After purchasing the basic food, Lu Ran didn’t rush to leave but instead accessed the advanced resource zone. Basic food was essential, as every living creature needed to eat, and the difference in this aspect between pet beasts was not very significant. To become stronger more quickly, one had to use some more expensive, special resources.

Name: Spirit Rice

Level: Advanced

Introduction: Long-term consumption can enhance control over energy.

Price: 1 crystal coin per grain

So cheap… but one grain???

That’s a rip-off, way too expensive, not needed. General Ha already has excellent control over energy.

That wasn’t the kind of resource Lu Ran was looking for.

He continued to flip through the pages.

Finally, he saw a description that caught his eye.

“There it is, that’s exactly what I need! I knew there had to be a resource like this.”

Name: Flowfruit

Level: Advanced

Introduction: Upon consumption, the energy within a lower-level creature will slightly expand and start flowing rapidly at an unsustainable speed, significantly boosting the creature’s combat abilities for a short time. However, once the effect ends, the creature’s body will suffer immense damage due to the high-speed energy flow.

Price: 50 crystal coins per piece

Without hesitation, Lu Ran bought five pieces.

Even if it was expensive.

In Lu Ran’s view, this Flowfruit was tailor-made for them. The effects could be considered quite a double-edged sword, as it allowed a pet beast to enter an enhanced state of energy flow, thus boosting its combat abilities.

In the secret realm, if one faces a desperate situation, choosing to consume a Flowfruit and triggering a burst of energy could potentially turn the tide and help one overcome the crisis. However, the flip side is that if the situation isn’t reversed, the aftermath could plunge one into an even more perilous state.

For veteran beastmasters, their pet beasts are typically adept at energy flow, rendering this item not particularly useful. But for pet beasts that have not yet mastered energy flow or are not proficient at it, the enhancement provided by Flowfruit can be enormous, boosting combat capabilities by several levels. However, it’s usually the newcomers who suffer without efficient healing methods after using it, as it’s akin to looking for trouble.

Lu Ran bought a few to have on hand for emergencies in the secret realm, where they could be used to explode with power in the face of danger. As for the resulting injuries? That’s where the divine deer pendant comes in. Others might be cautious and worried about side effects, but Lu Ran was not concerned.

An epic item like the divine deer pendant could surely heal the backlash caused by an advanced resource.

Moreover, consuming a Flowfruit casually in daily training could allow General Ha to experience the state of frenzied energy flow in advance. With General Ha’s intelligence, it wouldn’t take long to draw inferences from one case and thereby gain some experience.

This was Lu Ran’s way of maximizing the advantages of the divine deer pendant in daily training, essentially a legal way to accelerate training without the risk of a ban.

“Have you finished buying?” Lu Ran asked after making his purchases, only to find that Pig Raiser was still hesitating.

“Ah… I still need to think it over. If you’re done, you can go ahead without me,” Pig Raiser said with a troubled look.

Lu Ran shrugged. Indeed, being short on money makes every decision difficult.

Lu Ran was considering waiting for him, but just then, a friendship request caught his attention.

Five Poisons Cult Holy Maiden requests to add you as a friend.

“Hmm…” Lu Ran fell silent for a moment. It was Fang Lan.

Accept.

After accepting Fang Lan’s friend request, she immediately bombarded him with messages.

Fang Lan: Doggie! You’ve trapped me! My parents won’t let me challenge the secret realm now, what should I do!

Lu Ran: If I were your dad, I wouldn’t let you challenge it either. It’s too dangerous.

Fang Lan: ???

Lu Ran: Did you know about the updates to Infinite City’s facilities? They’ve just launched a divine beast leaderboard, right in the beastmaster square.

Lu Ran’s attempt to change the subject was unsuccessful, and Fang Lan retorted:

Don’t try to switch topics on me. I was already notified about the divine beast leaderboard by a push notification on my phone before I logged in. That’s actually the reason I came here.

Lu Ran: Good to know. It’s true that challenging the secret realm can be dangerous, but why not spend some time in the arena? You can earn a spot on the leaderboard through the battle highlights in the arena, reap the benefits of training, collect crystal coins as rewards, and most importantly, it’s much safer. Surely your parents wouldn’t object to that.

Fang Lan: Huh? ???

Fang Lan paused, struck by the realization. That’s actually a pretty good option. Once she becomes the champion of the arena and demonstrates her absolute strength, her parents should have no reason to restrict her from challenging the secret realm.

That’s so like Lu Ran, Fang Lan thought excitedly. She said: Not a bad idea. Starting today, I’ll be staying at the arena. To celebrate, I’ve decided to dye my hair purple. Do you think purple hair looks good?

Eh… Lu Ran felt queasy. Are you trying to make sure everyone knows you’re into poisons?

Here’s hoping the newcomers to the arena don’t drop like flies!