Chapter 82: King of Swords

Infinite City No.3, Passerby A Lu Hai’s private room.Lu Ran chatted with Master Lin while heading back to his room.

During the conversation, Master Lin mentioned that debts weren’t urgent, sharing the same sentiment as Dr. Gu.

Lu Ran understood. The other party probably didn’t care about the 50,000 crystal coins, but the Dragon Blood Crystal was still held as collateral!

Lu Ran: “Debts must be repaid. Owe and return; it’s never difficult to borrow again.”

Half a year ago, Lu Ran lent three coins to his classmate for ice cream, and the guy still hadn’t returned them. Lu Ran found this utterly detestable.

Not sending a swarm of mosquitoes to “assassinate” him was already a sign of Lu Ran’s kindness.

Master Lin responded: “Alright, good habit. Keep it up.”

“Okay.” Lu Ran thought it wouldn’t take long.

Given General Ha’s current strength, the novice secret realms should be a breeze…

Of course, realms that required specific attributes for the pet beasts weren’t included.

For instance, realms requiring pet beasts to swim… Although General Ha could do some dog paddling, it wasn’t enough for bringing Lu Ran along effortlessly.

In short, choosing the right secret realms, and casually obtaining a few beast taming skills or trait crystals, and he’d strike it rich.

Closing the chat with Master Lin, Lu Ran glanced at his name. Honestly, he had wanted to comment on it for a long time.

He thought naming himself Passerby A was strange enough, but Master Lin’s ID in Infinite City was just ‘Master Lin.’ Truly a unique individual.

After saying ‘Master Lin’ enough times, Lu Ran almost went crazy, unsure if he was calling the other person’s name or honoring him as “Master Lin.”

Whatever… the guy was indeed a Forging Master.

In the private room, Lu Ran stared blankly at the wall, pondering for a moment.

He didn’t choose to return to reality.

Time was tight. For the next half month, unless something urgent came up, Lu Ran planned to stay in the abyssal difficulty realms.

Working to pay off debts!

With this thought, he immediately walked to the pillar platform and began browsing through the realm information.

[Name]: Flame and Thunder Ruins

[Level]: Novice Level

[Difficulty]: Abyssal

[Challenge Crystal Coins]: 1000

“The clearance reward includes ‘Red Lightning’ trait!”

After locking onto a realm, Lu Ran directly teleported in.

Lu Ran didn’t go through any detailed strategies. The snippets of information he picked up during his chat with Dr. Gu were enough. After all, General Ha’s strength was extraordinary now.

The Flame and Thunder Ruins secret realm was a forest wasteland ignited by thunderous natural disasters. Most of the wildlife and resources had been destroyed by the raging flames. However, some creatures had mutated and awakened fire and thunder attributes due to the calamity.

These creatures wouldn’t last long in the Flame and Thunder Ruins, as the ecosystem had been utterly wrecked, leaving little to no food.

In the ordinary world, a beastmaster entering the Flame and Thunder Ruins would struggle to encounter any creatures. But in this secret realm, Infinite City had captured a moment in time when these mutated creatures were still present in the forest, making it common for challengers to encounter them.

[Challenge Mission: Defeat the leader of the Flame and Thunder Ruins.]

“Woof!” Upon entering, Lu Ran immediately summoned General Ha. It was the third time they’d entered a secret realm that day, earning a look of surprise from General Ha.

Boss Lu sure is diligent.

General Ha didn’t mind. Having just evolved, it was eager to unleash its power.

“Woof woof!”

General Ha stood upright, tail wagging, scanning for enemies.

“Hold on, don’t be hasty. Let me first test the King of Swords talent,” Lu Ran said to General Ha, glancing around at the charred, dying trees and the ground crackling with red electric currents.

Previously on Tranquil Island, Dr. Gu had only conducted a cursory examination of General Ha’s abilities without deep research.

As General Ha’s beastmaster, Lu Ran knew he had to understand how the King of Swords talent worked in different scenarios.

Saying this, he drew the Ice Sky Greatsword and tossed it to General Ha.

Biting down on the sword, General Ha instantly felt all its attributes surge, and an immense power filled its body.

At this moment, General Ha hadn’t yet unlocked the Ice Sky Greatsword.

Lu Ran checked the contract card.

[Species Level]: Upper Supernatural (Middle Commander)

Even in its unsealed Greatsword Form, it’s already at the Middle Commander level?

“Woof!”

Without Lu Ran asking, General Ha communicated its feelings.

Biting the Ice Sky Greatsword in its normal form didn’t enhance its species attributes as much as biting the greatsword form!

The canine felt a massive difference in power.

“Although both are Middle Commander, there’s still a difference!” Lu Ran nodded, confirming that the quality of the sword and its form indeed affected the species attributes.

“Put down the Ice Sky Greatsword. Try this one instead.”

With that, Lu Ran pulled out his Wind Cutter Sword and tossed it to General Ha.

General Ha sighed but obeyed, dropping the Ice Sky Greatsword and biting down on the Wind Cutter Sword.

Lu Ran checked again.

[Species Level]: Upper Supernatural (Lower Commander)

This time, Lu Ran noticed that even with a high-quality Wind Cutter Sword, General Ha’s species level was boosted to the Commander level.

This talent really is powerful.

After all, a high-quality Wind Cutter Sword only costs a few hundred crystal coins.

Imagine a pet beast jumping an entire species level with just a few hundred crystal coins’ worth of a weapon. Isn’t that impressive?

“Let’s try this one next.”

Lu Ran picked up the Ice Sky Greatsword and found a partially burned tree. With a few quick swipes, he crafted a very crude wooden sword.

General Ha looked at the wooden sword, deep in thought.

“Woof woof woof!!”

“Just try it,” Lu Ran insisted.

Hearing this, General Ha reluctantly picked up the wooden sword.

[Species Level]: Upper Supernatural (Lower Commander)

“Damn, even a rotten wooden sword that’s not a supernatural weapon can boost the species level?”

Lu Ran was astonished.

“It appears that, based on the Upper Supernatural species baseline, as long as General Ha bites any sword, regardless of the type, it can boost the species by at least one level.”

“Seems like I won’t have to worry too much about weapon restrictions in the Freshman Tournament at Beast Taming University.”

Lower Commander species should suffice.

Lu Ran smiled.

“Woof!!” General Ha continued to relay its feelings.

The boost from biting the Wind Cutter Sword was noticeably greater than from this shabby wooden sword.

Both being Lower Commander, there’s still a gap.

“I get it. One is the lower limit for Lower Commander species, while the other is closer to the upper limit.”

“By the way, can the Sword of Wind that you create using your own energy also boost your species level?”

Lu Ran looked at General Ha, curiosity piqued.

Hearing this, General Ha eagerly dropped the wooden sword and began to gather energy to form the Sword of Wind.

Soon, a white Wind Sword made of wind energy was held in General Ha’s mouth.

[Species Level]: Upper Supernatural (Lower Commander)

Lu Ran’s smile widened. Look at that, it works just the same!

This way, there’s no fear of weapon restrictions.

There’s always more solutions than obstacles!

Even if the tournament bans ordinary weapons and equipment, General Ha can still activate the King of Swords talent on its own.

“General Ha, enhance the quality of the Wind Sword,” Lu Ran instructed. Although he didn’t clarify, General Ha understood his intention.

Compress the wind force… Maybe even imbue the Wind Sword with sword intent!

“Woof!” General Ha was quite smart!

“Awoooo!!!” General Ha’s eyes sharpened, and wind energy rapidly surged around it. Using the basic skill Gale to accelerate the compression of the Wind Sword with an energy flow technique.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

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A large amount of energy swiftly flowed into the Wind Sword, doubling, tripling…

Thanks to the elevated species level, General Ha’s teeth were much stronger than before. Even with the violent wind force resonating around its mouth, it remained unfazed.

Eightfold, ninefold, tenfold…

Finally, General Ha compressed the energy to its current limit. It held a Storm Sword in its mouth, equivalent to the compression of ten Wind Swords combined!

The sky-blue Storm Sword buzzed loudly, constantly tearing at the air, as if it could effortlessly slice through the toughest metal at any moment.

[Species Level]: Upper Supernatural (Lower Commander)

At this moment, General Ha felt that the enhancement from the tenfold Wind Sword had increased further, surpassing the boost from the ordinary Wind Sword and the Wind Cutter Sword…

But unfortunately, the enhanced attributes still didn’t cause a qualitative change in its species level to reach Middle Commander.

“Woof woof!”

General Ha made an initial assessment: the boost from the tenfold Wind Sword was greater than the Wind Cutter Sword, greater than the ordinary Wind Sword, and greater than the broken Wooden Sword.

“Blizzard Sword Intent,” Lu Ran commanded.

Now, Blizzard Sword Intent had become one of General Ha’s skills.

[Skill]: Gale, Sword Qi, Roar of the Wind, Wind Sword, Wind Wing, Storm Slash, Blizzard Sword Intent (The will of the sword infused with blizzard power, which can be channeled into sword-type weapons and techniques to enhance their power. It can also be converted into an aura to destroy the opponent’s mental will!)

This was equivalent to an advanced energy shaping technique and was now General Ha’s strongest ace in the hole.

“Woof!” General Ha’s eyes flashed with a cold gleam as it infused Blizzard Sword Intent into the Storm Sword. The sky-blue Storm Sword quickly emitted an extreme chill, with swirling snow around it!

With the sword intent enhancement, it became the Blizzard Sword!

[Species Level]: Upper Supernatural (Middle Commander)

“Now we’re solid!!!”

Observing the change, Lu Ran was taken aback.

The sword forged through the combination of tenfold Wind Sword and Blizzard Sword Intent directly elevated General Ha’s species level to Middle Commander, comparable to the Ice Sky Greatsword!

“Well done!”

Don’t underestimate the level difference; the distinction between Middle Supernatural and Upper Supernatural is quite evident. Most pet beasts at the Middle Supernatural level, before evolving, are typically dogs or cats, whereas at the Upper Supernatural level, they are tigers, lions, and elephants.

They’re not in the same league.

The gap between Lower Commander and Middle Commander is similar, if not significantly larger.

“Woof!” General Ha looked at Lu Ran, feeling that the Ice Sky Greatsword was still superior.

“So it seems the Ice Sky Greatsword and Blizzard Sword both boost your species level to Middle Commander,” Lu Ran mused.

“Any other sword, no matter how trashy, still guarantees a boost to the Lower Commander species level…”

Lu Ran had a clear understanding now. While the quality of the Ice Sky Greatsword was good, it probably wasn’t the pinnacle among rare weapons. An exquisite rare sword might elevate General Ha’s species level to Upper Commander.

If they got their hands on an “Exquisite World Sword,” temporarily reaching the “Lower Sovereign Species” level wouldn’t be out of the question for General Ha.

After a series of experiments, Lu Ran felt more confident.

While shaped swords could indeed activate the King of Swords talent, forged swords were still preferable.

After all, shaped swords consumed energy to create and required divided attention for control.

The boost they provided to General Ha was limited to the species enhancement brought by the King of Swords talent.

But forged swords are different.

Not only can they activate the King of Swords talent, but forged swords also come with inherent energy enhancement effects and various unique abilities, effectively providing a double boost.

The former is all about convenience and saving money, whereas the latter is about power and spending money.

Lu Ran increasingly felt that General Ha had a promising future. Playing with this species talent was quite an investment.

“Awoooo—Awoooo—” As Lu Ran and General Ha continued experimenting, they completely forgot they were here to challenge a secret realm.

Until some prey delivered itself to them.

Beside a charred tree, a dark red figure appeared.

Lu Ran was still chatting with General Ha and ignored the newcomer.

[Name]: Lynx

[Attribute]: Fire

[Species Level]: Upper Supernatural

[Growth Level]: Level 10

The figure howled twice, seeing no reaction from Lu Ran and General Ha. It opened its mouth from a distance and spewed a scorching pillar of fire towards them!

A basic fire-type release skill, Flame Breath!

The blazing flames were about to engulf General Ha, but General Ha stood still, not even intending to retaliate.

As a master, it could already judge which skills were threatening and which were not.

For ordinary skills like this, General Ha, who currently possessed Middle Commander attributes and qualities, considered even flinching a disrespect to its species level.

Boom!!!

The flame breath landed on General Ha, whose entire body was enveloped in flowing wind. The flame pillar split in two, following the contours of General Ha’s form. Clearly, the flame breath couldn’t even break General Ha’s Gale Wind Coat, and instead, the coat bounced the flames away.

Moreover, even if this skill could break through the Gale Wind Coat, at most it would singe General Ha’s fur. Burning its body now would be extremely difficult.

“Woof!” General Ha bathed in the flames, its eyes reflecting a red hue. It turned proudly to look at the terrified feline.

Boom!

General Ha stomped the ground, sprinting along with the opponent’s flame breath. In an instant, it perfectly split the pillar of fire in mid-air. As the flames dissipated, the level 10 lynx’s body at the end of the flames had been cleaved in two!

“Woof!” General Ha, with the sword in its mouth, elegantly sheathed it from afar.

Using Sword Qi against an opponent of this level would be a waste of energy. Simply dashing over with the sword in its mouth was enough to split the enemy in half.

The result was the same, but the energy consumption was less than one-fifth of that required to release Sword Qi. The choice was obvious.

Only when facing enemies that posed a significant threat to itself would General Ha use long-range skills to ensure its own safety.

After defeating the lynx, a large Fire Fur pelt dropped to the ground. Lu Ran stepped forward and picked it up, saying, “Material for making fire-resistant clothing…not worth much.”

“By the way, while earning money from these kills is important, you should also take the opportunity to train yourself.”

“Woof?”

“For instance, practicing advanced energy release techniques, like controlling energy away from your body.”

“Remember how we talked about practicing the Gale Sword Control Technique?”

“Woof!”

Hearing this, General Ha’s eyes lit up, and it eagerly retrieved the wooden sword.

Wrapping its tail around it, General Ha tossed the sword into the air, then blew a gust of wind from its mouth, attempting to control the sword with the wind…

Two seconds later.

The sword twirled in the air, performing a sword flourish, then crashed into a tree. It was a pathetic attempt with no technical finesse.

The Gale Sword Control Technique… still had a long way to go.