Chapter 160: Before the Breakthrough

At this moment, all eyes are on the Evolution Secret Realm.As the latest updated secret realm, beastmasters of all generations are curious about its benefits.

After all, the entry fee of 100,000 crystal coins isn’t cheap.

Especially for fourth-generation beastmasters, it’s a significant amount.

Many fourth-generation beastmasters plan to wait and see.

They want to observe others’ evolution results first.

If the enhancements are substantial, they will save up every crystal coin to evolve here, even if it means skimping and saving.

Of course, not every fourth-generation beastmaster chose to wait.

Like Lu Ran, the Golden Generation who had already passed the level 1 Legendary Secret Realm, they face a difficult decision.

In Europe, Misty City.

Dressed in a combat uniform, the Princess of Light listens to her mentor’s analysis.

“The first batch of entrants into the Evolution Secret Realm will undoubtedly be numerous.”

“First Generation, second generation, and Third Generation beastmasters, who are currently nurturing new pet beasts, won’t miss this opportunity.”

“But only the ten pet beasts with the highest evolution potential will receive the Starry Blessing.”

“If it were just domestic competition, or only fourth-generation competition, your pet beast would have a high chance of receiving the Starry Blessing.”

“But this time, the entrants include beastmasters from all generations, making the competition undeniably fierce.”

“Although you’ve received rewards from the Legendary Secret Realm, the First Generation and second generations have experienced many breakthrough secret realms, which also contain many unique and precious rewards. The accumulation of their foundations cannot be offset by one Legendary Secret Realm.”

“You need to decide whether to quickly enter the breakthrough secret realm and strive to enter the Evolution Secret Realm with the first batch of entrants, or to wait and see, waiting for the second opening of the Evolution Secret Realm.”

“Although we don’t know when the Evolution Secret Realm will open for the second time, it shouldn’t be too long, probably not more than three months.”

The princess, with her beautiful face and golden hair, thought for a moment and said, “Mentor, there’s no need to think any further. I want to seize this opportunity.”

“The competition for the first opening is fierce, but the second one might not be any less intense. By then, the fourth-generation beastmasters should have had the chance to access the Evolution Secret Realm, and if the rewards are truly substantial, the First Generation, second generation, and Third Generation beastmasters who weren’t planning on nurturing new pet beasts might also decide to start.”

“At that time, the competition for the second opening might be even more intense than the first.”

“There is no room for hesitation. If you don’t seize every opportunity, you’ll always be indecisive and never at the forefront.”

“Lu Ran from Daxia, the young man who solo cleared the Legendary Secret Realm, if he chooses to hesitate and wait this time while I choose to forge ahead and be among the first pioneers, wouldn’t I surpass his progress and move ahead of him?” the princess said.

“Exactly.” The princess’s mentor smiled with satisfaction. It’s no wonder she’s a member of royalty and has been receiving beast taming education for three years; with such determination, it’s hard not to become strong.

Such decisions are being made by many elite fourth-generation beastmasters.

Of course, not all countries are focusing solely on the fourth generation.

In Eagle.

At the Dinosaur Life Research Institute.

Dr. Hayden, the head of the research project, is holding a meeting with many researchers.

“Recently, the Tyrannosaurus Rex team was defeated by the Dragon Chef, Lu Ran, from Xia Country, making us a laughingstock internationally!”

“However, I’m pleased that everyone has turned this humiliation into motivation and made significant progress in a short amount of time.”

“This Evolution Secret Realm has appeared at the perfect time. We must seize this opportunity for our second dinosaur-to-dragon experiment!”

“If we succeed, it will be the best rebuttal to those media critics!”

The dinosaur project has already undergone one evolution experiment, where dinosaur pet beasts were handed over to a group of third-generation beastmasters for nurturing. They quickly raised them to level 30 and then attempted evolution.

The result was a complete failure in dragon transformation; none evolved into Loong-type dragons.

The fourth-generation Tyrannosaurus Rex team is the second batch of experimenters in the dinosaur project. Dr. Hayden and his team plan to increase the success rate of dinosaur pet beasts transforming into Dragon Pets by customizing beast taming skills for them.

However, due to the level restrictions of the fourth generation, this experiment hasn’t reached its final step: the initial evolution.

But now, with the emergence of the Evolution Secret Realm, Dr. Hayden and his team feel they can temporarily shift their focus away from the Tyrannosaurus Rex team.

They plan to recruit a new batch of third-generation beastmasters around the Evolution Secret Realm and have them contract new dinosaur pet beasts.

Then, using the latest research results combined with the power of the Evolution Secret Realm, they will attempt the dragon transformation again!

If successful, they would be the biggest beneficiaries of this Evolution Secret Realm!

“If that Dragon Chef Lu Ran is also researching Loong-type evolution, his experimental subjects surely won’t miss this Evolution Secret Realm either. This time, we must surpass Xia Country,” Dr. Hayden said.

“I don’t believe that his individual research progress can compare to our entire elite team.”

To enter the breakthrough secret realm without any burdens, Lu Ran began delegating tasks.

He entrusted the pet beast egg to Manager Ying.

For the development of LuJia Village, he could transfer crystal coins to Manager Ying and co-invest with it.

The only burden, the dark crow…

Lu Ran naturally planned to throw it back into the Green Sea.

However, after thinking carefully, he felt like he was forgetting something.

After a moment of recollection, he remembered that there was a female chef back home.

Lu Ran quickly called Summer.

“Hey, Summer?”

“Have you seen the latest news about the Evolution Secret Realm?”

Summer nodded, “I saw it. Do you want to be among the first batch to enter?”

“Yes.”

“Then go for it.”

“Why do you sound so relieved… If I enter the breakthrough secret realm, I won’t be able to guide you in learning spear intent for at least a month,” Lu Ran said, his mouth twitching.

Now that Lu Ran has finally decided to make some progress, Summer actually felt relieved. “It’s okay, maintaining the Inch-perfect blade technique and the release of artistic conception will be enough for me to practice for a long time.”

“I’ll try to master both techniques before you come out of the breakthrough secret realm.”

“Thank you for thinking of me during this time…”

Lu Ran said, “No, I just wanted to ask you to help me train the Dark Crow General while I’m away. Your Dark Cuisine is quite beneficial for it. I’ll leave you enough rare ingredients, which will also save you money on buying ingredients for your culinary practice. It’ll save you a lot.”

Summer was dumbfounded: ???

Are you kidding me!

She felt like she wasn’t here to learn Culinary but to work as Lu Ran’s breeder.

“Just having one dark pet beast to taste your dishes won’t help you improve,” Lu Ran said with a smile.

This is part of the training!

Next to him, Manager Ying remained silent; Lu Ran had indeed arranged everything perfectly. He entrusted the egg and the village to it, and the uncontracted Dark Crow to another genius for care.

This skill of “convincing others to work for him” was truly honed to perfection by Lu Ran.



After hanging up the phone with Summer, Lu Ran turned to Manager Ying and said, “Come on, Manager Ying, let’s go to Infinite City. I’ll prepay you 1 million crystal coins. Take care of LuJia Village for me.”

“Let’s go.” Manager Ying pursed its lips.

At this moment, Lu Ran could only say that having money was good.

Giving out 1 million crystal coins now seemed painful, but once the settlement of the Sovereign Divine Beast Leaderboard was done, with General Ha and the sudden death king both on the leaderboard, another pile of crystal coins would come in.

Right now, Lu Ran was just hoping that the Dark Crow would live up to expectations.

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Wait a minute, if the sudden death king and General Ha evolve, do they have a chance to make it onto the Sovereign Divine Beast Leaderboard???

Wouldn’t that mean… more and more crystal coins?

If the sudden death king successfully fuses with the Dragon King’s trait and evolves, Lu Ran felt its species level wouldn’t be low; it might even be an upper sovereign species.

With this potential, it could definitely compete on the sovereign leaderboard.

As for General Ha, Lu Ran was now debating whether to let it evolve alongside the sudden death king.

Summer chuckled. During the days Lu Ran was supposed to be teaching her, he was either reading novels or snacking on kebabs and drinking cola, making her feel guilty.

If they were to evolve together, he had to ensure that General Ha’s evolution potential could reach the top 10 and receive the Starry Blessing, otherwise, it wouldn’t be worth it.

However, the evolution trait prepared for General Ha was the Ultimate Perception Trait. The enhancement this trait provided during evolution was certainly not as significant as that of the Dragon King Trait.

“Then again, General Ha already has the potential of a middle sovereign. Evolving once more should at least give it the potential of an upper sovereign, right?”

“How many pet beasts can reach upper sovereign potential in just one evolution?”

“The breakthrough task shouldn’t be difficult with my current strength. I’ll strive to complete it as soon as possible… With the top-level Loong-type trait like the Dragon King Trait, the sudden death king’s evolution potential is maximized. During this breakthrough secret realm, I’ll see if there’s a chance to strengthen General Ha…” Lu Ran thought.

After making all the arrangements, Lu Ran began to execute his plan step by step. First, he asked Lu Yan to continue as the deputy village chief.

Then, he introduced Manager Ying to him for the handover.

Next, he stored a large amount of dark resources and the dark crow with Summer in Green Sea City.

As for Lu Ran himself, after finishing all this, he informed the relevant people about his intention to challenge the breakthrough secret realm and started preparing supplies.

After completing everything, Lu Ran prayed to the divine deer antler, hoping for a reliable breakthrough secret realm this time.

“Even if it’s unreliable, it’s okay.”

“Whether it’s a culinary test or a forging test, bring it on. I’m not afraid of secondary profession secret realms anymore.”

“As for battles, I’m not afraid either, as long as I don’t encounter bizarre eras. Please, no witches!”

Having completed all preparations, Lu Ran wasted no time and headed to Infinite City to initiate the breakthrough secret realm.

After all, there were only 44 days left until the Evolution Secret Realm opened. The sooner he broke through, the better, and he didn’t know how long the queue for the breakthrough secret realm would be.

The first-generation beastmasters sometimes had to queue for a day, or even a week.

“Let’s go,” Lu Ran muttered to himself, then initiated the challenge.

[Name: Breakthrough Secret Realm]

[Secret Realm Level: Level 1]

[Difficulty: Unknown]

[Challenge Crystal Coins: 0]

[Introduction: You will enter an unknown world and undergo breakthrough trials.]

[Do you wish to enter the Breakthrough Secret Realm?]

Yes.

[Matching a suitable Breakthrough Secret Realm for you…]

[Secret realm matching in progress…]

[Please wait…]

[Estimated wait time: 1s…]

“Huh?” Lu Ran was taken aback. So quick?

The number of people waiting to break through in Xia Country shouldn’t be that high. Could it be matching him with the “Golden Generation” abroad?

[Matching successful.]

[Secret Realm Type: Multiplayer]

[Teleport countdown: 10…9…]

Ten seconds later, in Lu Ran’s private room, a flash of white light appeared, and his figure slowly vanished.

Buzzzz!

Lu Ran’s vision suddenly went dark. However, unlike his first time entering a Breakthrough Secret Realm, this time, he didn’t immediately arrive in a new world. Instead, in the darkness, more information emerged!

This time, Infinite City provided an introduction to the Breakthrough Secret Realm.

[Teleporting…]

[Target Location: Star-Moon Continent, Beast Taming Empire, Mingan.]

[Era Introduction: At the end of the Beast Taming Empire, the once-glorious human nation is now on the brink of collapse.

After several large-scale wars, many regions of the empire have become lands of death, plagued by disease and pestilence.

In this chaotic era, the power to manipulate the dead has emerged, bringing necromancers to the forefront of history. They toy with the souls of the living and the dead, becoming a major threat to the Beast Taming Empire.

To eliminate this unstable factor, the empire has called upon motivated individuals from the public to cooperate with the Beast Taming Legion with the goal of eradicating the necromancers hidden across the land.

Mingan.

Once a bustling commercial city, now a land of death ravaged by war, it hides numerous beastmasters who have accepted the power of the dead, making it a veritable city of death.]

“This…” At that moment, beastmasters from various countries were bewildered.

They never expected to encounter a breakthrough secret realm related to the necromancer occupation.

However, what left them even more stunned was that Infinite City’s message wasn’t finished yet.

[The breakthrough task type this time is: Faction Confrontation.]

[Please choose your faction identity now.]

[Faction ①: Civilian beastmaster participating in the Mingan campaign.]

[Faction ②: Civilian beastmaster seduced and corrupted by necromantic power.]



[The breakthrough task will refresh after all challengers have chosen their factions.]

Everyone: ???

“Is there even a choice? Who would join the necromancers?”

“My pet beast is of the light type, countering the necromancers. Maybe, this breakthrough secret realm will give me a high rating.” In the darkness, the Princess of Light felt optimistic. The three Knights of Light who entered the breakthrough secret realm with her and were luckily matched together felt the same way, their spirits lifted.