Chapter 40: The Fallen Genius

Sand Eagle?Initially, Lu Ran was feeling sorry for his Senior Brother’s plight.

However, when he saw the words “Sand Eagle,” his eyebrows raised, and he couldn’t hold back a smile.

Does such an animal really exist?

If he remembered correctly, his vague impression was that Senior Brother Jiang Man indeed had an eagle.

But that was just an ordinary golden eagle!

According to legends, Senior Brother Jiang Man had been fond of the TV series “Eagle Hero” since he was young and had always aspired to keep an eagle.

However, raising such a fierce bird isn’t easy for ordinary people.

Fortunately, Senior Brother Jiang Man was no ordinary person. With a talent in swordsmanship comparable to Lu Ran’s, and having brought honor to his country in international competitions, he managed to obtain a raptor breeding license through some connections.

“Sand Eagle must be the name Senior Brother Jiang Man gave to his golden eagle,” Lu Ran guessed in his mind.

He continued to read the scribbled diary, capturing key pieces of information and filtering out the useless ones.

In the novice trial secret realm, Sand Eagle and I achieved an S-level rating, which seems quite impressive.

The biggest gain was the beast taming skill “Fusion”.

This skill allows me and Sand Eagle to merge into one entity, turning me into a birdman, haha.

After becoming a birdman, we were both very strong! My swordsmanship also improved significantly.

I was invited to join the official team.

Today was also extremely lucky; teaming up with teammates to explore the secret realm, we exploded another beast taming skill.

The beast taming skill is called “Trait Borrowing”!

Its effect is that it allows a beastmaster to temporarily borrow a trait possessed by their contracted pet beast.

What exactly is a trait? Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ɴovᴇlꜰirᴇ.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Oh, it turns out that each pet beast reaches level 10, it can integrate a trait, and “Trait Crystals” only have a chance to explode in secret realms of abyssal difficulty with a certain rating.

I must carefully choose the first trait for Sand Eagle.

Received intelligence that an international beast taming team entered the “Abandoned Testing Ground” secret realm and exploded a “Weapon Mastery Trait” for auction.

It’s said that the “Weapon Mastery Trait” allows a pet beast that has integrated this trait to master any weapon, making the weapon seem like part of their body.

That’s great! If I let Sand Eagle integrate this trait and then borrow it, my swordsmanship can definitely reach a higher level! Becoming one with the sword, that’s a legendary realm.

Lu Ran looked at the beast taming diary in shock, then glanced up at Master Jiang Dou.

“What is it? Did you find any valuable information?” asked Master Jiang Dou.

“I haven’t finished yet, but my path is indeed very similar to that of Senior Brother Jiang Man,” Lu Ran couldn’t help but say.

He had also considered finding a trait that would allow General Ha to better utilize weapons.

Weapon Mastery?

Such a trait exists? That’s great.

He quietly noted down the name of the Abandoned Testing Ground secret realm.

Then, Lu Ran continued to read carefully.

Unfortunately, Infinite City No.3 in Xia Country does not have the “Abandoned Testing Ground” secret realm, but fortunately, Infinite City No.5 does, so there’s no need to go to another country’s Infinite City.

“Abandoned Testing Ground” secret realm, an abyssal difficulty novice secret realm, is very challenging. This realm contains only one monster, a modified minotaur fully armed with a huge axe and dark attribute. Its species level is Middle Commander, its growth level is level 10, and it inherently possesses the “Weapon Mastery Trait.” Its strength is formidable, making it virtually impossible to conquer alone.

Should I give up? Awakening a second attribute for Sand Eagle, rather than choosing to integrate a trait, might be simpler, but I really want this trait.

After much effort and finding a group of reliable teammates, we finally conquered the Demon Bull Commander. Unfortunately, the rating wasn’t high, but thankfully they said they would help me continue to raid the realm until we cooperate more smoothly and definitely meet the standards for exploding the “Weapon Mastery Trait.”

Great, after two months of effort, we finally exploded a “Trait Crystal.”

Sand Eagle’s species level is Upper Supernatural. Even after integrating the “Trait Crystal,” it remains Upper Supernatural, which shows that a single “Trait Crystal” is not enough to elevate its species level.

Having passed the breakthrough secret realm, I have become a Level 1 beastmaster and can now learn “Trait Borrowing.”

So powerful. After mastering two beast taming skills, my strength has significantly increased, and my sword momentum has surpassed Master’s by a lot. However, I still can’t grasp the level of sword intent.

Does the realm of sword intent really exist?

I understand now, sword intent truly exists! Today, I met an incredibly skilled beastmaster named Gu Qingyi. She’s beautiful and the first time I’ve seen such a formidable female beastmaster. Her pet beast’s energy shaping skills are superb. Others’ shaping skills are merely form without essence, but hers seem to embody a spiritual will.

The advanced technique for energy overlay is energy external wrapping, and could the advanced technique for energy shaping be the mood of the form? Form-intent technique?

I feel this is the key to understanding sword intent and elevating my sword momentum to sword intent!

Lu Ran saw a familiar name…

Oh no… I feel that fusing this trait with Sand Eagle was a mistake.

The latest official research findings are out; trait fusion needs to be cautious, and only traits suitable for the pet beast are the best.

Only by continually absorbing compatible traits and awakening suitable attributes can a pet beast hope to evolve. Incorrect trait combinations and wrong attribute choices can lead to failed evolutions! The success rate of evolution is not 100%!

Sand Eagle, being an eagle, is fundamentally unsuited for weapon mastery; after all, it’s impossible to truly teach it to wield a sword.

All this time, I’ve been using Sand Eagle as a support, helping me become stronger while neglecting its cultivation.

Rather than just having a powerful pet beast, I hope to become stronger myself. However, if the pet beast is not strong, our combined strength will also be affected. No, there must be another way.

Abyss level 1 secret realm, Orc Tribe! This secret realm can actually drop the “anthropomorphic trait”!

After fusing the “anthropomorphic trait” with a pet beast, it can evolve towards a humanoid form! If Sand Eagle evolves into a humanoid, it will definitely adapt better to the “weapon mastery trait,” and our fusion compatibility will also be higher!

Abroad, someone has successfully evolved a “werewolf”. Unfortunately, this time, none of the seven Infinite Cities in Xia Country have the orc tribe secret realm, and the teleportation circles between countries are not activated. If I want to visit the orc tribe secret realm, I have to travel to another country first.

I’ve decided, for Sand Eagle’s future, I’ll head to the West in a couple of days!

This is where the diary abruptly ends.

Lu Ran looked again at Master Jiang Dou.

“Did Senior Brother die in a foreign secret realm?” Lu Ran asked. Reading this, he felt even more sorry for his Senior Brother. Although, as he mentioned, he took the wrong path, everything could still be remedied if he had obtained the anthropomorphic trait crystal to evolve Sand Eagle into a humanoid.

“Your Senior Brother went with two friends. In the end, all of them perished in that orc tribe secret realm…” Master Jiang Dou couldn’t help but tear up and said, “The officials told me that their identity cards have been canceled, which is a sign of death.”

“Master…” Lu Ran looked at the old man, unsure how to comfort him.

“Ah, Master…” Senior Brother He had been quietly waiting by the side without speaking. Seeing Master Jiang Dou in tears, his eyes also reddened.

Lu Ran wasn’t very familiar with Senior Brother Jiang Man, as he rarely appeared in the dojo. However, Master Jiang Dou and Senior Brother He must have had a deep bond with him.

Judging by the style of the diary, Senior Brother Jiang Man was also a humorous and interesting master of swordsmanship.

At the same time, he was definitely a genius, having achieved an S rating and even pursued sword intent, a level beyond sword momentum. It’s just a pity that such a talent fell at the level 1 beastmaster stage.

“Lu Ran, you keep this diary,” sighed Master Jiang Dou. “I know your temperament; I definitely can’t persuade you, but remember, don’t do uncertain things like your Senior Brother Jiang Man did before you’re fully prepared.”

“Now is the era of national beast taming, and I’m glad to see you picking up the sword again. Perhaps this is also a new opportunity for swordsmanship to regain its vitality. But I hope that one day I won’t hear news about you encountering mishaps like we did with Jiang Man.”

“Don’t worry, Master,” said Lu Ran.

“You just said, your path is indeed very similar to Jiang Man’s… Could it be that you also obtained a fusion beast taming skill, and it’s through this method that you grasped sword momentum? No, his sword momentum and yours are different,” the old man pondered.

“No, I possess another type of beast taming skill, which I learned by imitating the movements of fierce beasts. When I said we were similar, I meant that I too had thought about finding the ‘weapon mastery trait’ for my contracted pet beast…”

The old man’s eyes widened, an unmistakable sign of alarm. “Aren’t you heading down a path of no return?!”

“That’s not the case,” Lu Ran seriously explained. “Eagles indeed are not suited for learning swordsmanship. Senior Brother Jiang never considered this initially, and especially after the fusion of traits, that eagle had no experience with swordsmanship at all, making it completely incompatible with that trait.”

“But I’m different. I started teaching my pet beast swordsmanship before it underwent supernatural evolution, and now it has even begun to grasp the basics of sword momentum, a higher realm of swordsmanship. If it truly understands this, wouldn’t it be even more talented than humans? I feel that we are not the same. My pet beast should be able to handle the ‘weapon mastery trait.’ I’ve never neglected its training.”

Jiang Dou and Senior Brother He: ??

“Is your contracted beast a monkey?” Jiang Dou asked. “In martial arts TV shows, indeed, there are settings where deep mountain monkeys master martial arts weapons… After all, they’re primates, the most human-like.”

Why a monkey again… Lu Ran muttered internally.

“No, it’s actually an Erha.”

Jiang Dou: ?

You rebellious student!! This kid, still so infuriating.