King of Beasts

Divine Tree Continent, Tree Realm City.

A city completely intertwined with nature.

Except for a few particularly large buildings, many shops and residences are almost all built on trees.

The roadside is also filled with spiritual plants continually exuding nature force, nurturing the breath of life in this super main city.

After the familiar Prompt Tone ended, Lu Ran opened his eyes and found himself outside a treehouse, standing in a long line.

[So this is the Divine Tree Continent.]

Due to cultural differences, the architectural style of this plant world was worlds apart from the Star-Moon Continent and Blue Star Continent that Lu Ran was familiar with.

Feeling disoriented, Lu Ran quickly suppressed any feelings of surprise or shock and gladly accepted the breakthrough secret realm arranged for him by Infinite City.

Lu Ran quickly recalled information about the plant world, Divine Tree Continent.

Unlike the Star-Moon Continent, where Beast Taming Power was explicitly researched and developed by the First emperor of the Beast Taming Empire, the origin of Beast Taming Power on the Divine Tree Continent is not clearly documented.

It only records that the occupation of Plantmaster was pioneered and improved by someone.

Furthermore, on the Divine Tree Continent, there is no concept of nations; cities are the main human settlements.

Top-level experts in the cities protect the weak, while ordinary people serve as cheap labor, acting as the city’s gardeners and creating a good cultivation environment for the strong…

Due to limited exploration of the Divine Tree Continent by the Blue Star, Lu Ran could only find scant information in his mind.

However, this did not affect Lu Ran’s plans for coming here.

In this breakthrough secret realm, Lu Ran had three main objectives.

First, perfectly complete the breakthrough task, receive an SSS rating, and obtain the best reward.

Second, find a spatial item that can hold living creatures and be carried.

Third, learn about advanced techniques like the combination domain, and teach domain power to both the sudden death king and the dark crow.

Lu Ran could pursue these three goals in any world.

The cultivation system of the Divine Tree Continent isn’t fundamentally different from that of the Star-Moon Continent.

This has led some to speculate that the Divine Tree Continent is merely the Star-Moon Continent in a different era.

In any case, now that Lu Ran was on the Divine Tree Continent, aside from his three main objectives, it seemed he had a new goal.

“Didn’t I promise Fang Lan that if I ever entered the plant world, I would find her the top-level ferocious plant?”

“Damn it.”

“When I said that, who would have thought I’d actually end up in such a niche plant world?”

Lu Ran was feeling overwhelmed. If he had known he would end up in the plant world, he wouldn’t have made that promise so easily.

It’s not that he didn’t want to find one for Fang Lan, but it might not be easy and would likely require a lot of effort.

“But on the other hand,” Lu Ran thought of the Sword Nourishing Pot, also known as the Spirit Transformation Pot, housing the sword grass.

This time, the sword grass was essentially coming back home.

Hadn’t he always been looking for a way to help the sword grass achieve sapience?

On the Blue Star, he’d researched for a long time without finding a solution. Maybe now, in contact with some advanced Plantmasters on the Divine Tree Continent, he could find the method for awakening.

However, there was one thing Lu Ran needed to keep in mind: the secret realm type this time wasn’t faction-based. If he died in this breakthrough secret realm, he would really die and wouldn’t be resurrected.

Moreover, among the challengers were other beastmasters from Infinite City in different worlds. He couldn’t be as reckless as he was in the level 1 breakthrough secret realm.

Whether facing other challengers or powerful beings within the secret realm, he needed to be exceedingly careful; failure was not an option.

After contemplating for a while, Lu Ran looked around.

Various sounds kept ringing in his ears.

“There are really a lot of people signing up this time. Where are you from, brother?”

“Hundred Flower City? Wow, that’s quite far from here. I’m from Wisteria City.”

…

“Did you hear? The prize for winning the championship this time is said to be provided by the City Lord himself.”

“That legendary Plantmaster? Really?”

…

“The registration site for the Plant Beast Championship,” Lu Ran muttered to himself. Judging by the scene, it was clear that participants weren’t only locals from Tree Realm City. Geniuses from several small towns around Tree Realm City had also started to gather.

So, what about his identity?

He took out a letter he had been holding and opened it for a look.

It was a letter of recommendation for the Plant Beast Championship.

Recommended by the Beast Taming Hall?

What the heck is this place?

“Wait a minute,” Lu Ran recalled the earlier prompt.

[Prompt 4: Beast Taming Hall, an organization from the Ancient era, whose members travel across the Divine Tree Continent seeking ways for beastmasters to survive in this new era.]

Ah, it turns out his identity is as a member of a mysterious faction.

Is there no more information?

Forget it; just handing in the letter should suffice.

After all, the identities arranged by Infinite City usually posed no problems unless a challenger acted foolishly…

While figuring out his identity, Lu Ran wasn’t idle with his eyes.

He saw quite a few people in peculiar outfits-some Plantmasters dressed like primitive people in grass clothes, others in revealing grass skirts with fiery figures, but most wore normal cloth clothing or fur armor.

However, these people weren’t his main focus. Though Lu Ran appeared to be looking down, thanks to Super Beast Mimicry, his eyes could now perceive, much like the Evil God’s Eye of the dark crow, providing him with a 360° field of view. This made it easy for him to keep an eye on the vast surroundings.

Lu Ran quickly realized through details such as clothing, conversation, and expressions that there were three other challengers in the line, just like him!

He was so certain not only because these three stood out from the rest but also due to another reason-they too were holding letters of recommendation…

“These three…”

The three individuals were all of East Asian descent, two males and one female. As Lu Ran observed, he noticed that their mannerisms and attire were very similar to those of students.

Moreover, one of the males and the female, based on their eyes, appeared filled with a mix of apprehension, nervousness, and disbelief.

What were they so astonished about?

Could they be shocked that they’ve been matched with beastmasters from another world?

“Are these three really beastmasters from another world? If so, then there’s no need to overthink it. The people I’ve been matched with might not necessarily be strong; while other worlds might have powerful individuals, it doesn’t mean I’ll meet them right away…”

“Even so, I can’t afford to be careless.” Lu Ran paid special attention to the only one among the three with a calm demeanor, a youth who seemed much more composed than the other two.

However, this guy seemed younger than Lu Ran, probably only around fifteen or sixteen years old.

It was hard to take someone that age seriously.

When Lu Ran was observing him, the youth, who had a somewhat handsome face and an aggressive look in his eyes, slowly raised his head as if sensing someone was watching him.

Seeing this, Lu Ran averted his gaze and handed his letter of recommendation to the woman at the treehouse window.

It was his turn.

The next moment, upon seeing the content and symbol on the letter, the registration clerk visibly showed a surprised expression.

“Lu Ran, age 18, representing the Beast Taming Hall.”

“Alright, registration is complete. The preliminary round will begin in seven days. Please arrive at the specified location on time.”

“Okay.” With his registration complete, Lu Ran left, planning to find a place to stay. Although he didn’t have the currency of this world, he had resources. Selling some would easily cover his accommodation.

Meanwhile.

The other three challengers also completed their registration at other windows.

Recognizing each other as fellow compatriots, they quickly made introductions.

“You’re Liu Man from the neighboring campus?”

“And you’re Jiang Ming, the guy with the dragon?”

The two exchanged glances, slightly surprised, clearly familiar with each other’s identities.

Soon, however, they noticed the other young man and approached him in astonishment.

“Yu Rui, is that you?”

The youth, who appeared even younger than Lu Ran, frowned upon seeing the two. “What’s up?”

“It really is you!” The two seemed to have found their cornerstone. “We’re students from Star-Moon University.”

“Did you hear the Prompt Tone just now? We’ve been matched with beastmasters from another world!”

“Another world has an Infinite City too! How amazing is that!”

“I heard it,” the young man named Yu Rui nodded. “What’s so strange about that?”

“Didn’t they just update the world battle themed event a few days ago? There were a lot of analyses about it,” Liu Man remarked. “But meeting others from another world directly in the breakthrough secret realm is still quite surprising. What kind of beings will they be? Will they look like us? Or be monsters with human bodies and beast heads?”

“Are we enemies, or what?”

Despite being older than Yu Rui, the man and woman who claimed to be from Star-Moon University seemed very concerned about Yu Rui’s opinions.

Yu Rui looked in the direction where Lu Ran had left and said, “I’ve already noticed the other party. If there’s any difference, it shouldn’t be much. Also, they should have noticed us too.”

“I haven’t sensed any hostility so far…”

“Anyway, this isn’t the place to talk. Let’s find a quieter spot,” Yu Rui said while biting his lower lip, recalling Lu Ran’s breath earlier, feeling somewhat unsettled.

Liu Man and Jiang Ming nodded, and soon the trio found an inn and rented a private room.

“Rui-Ge.”

“Should we make contact with that other world beastmaster?” Jiang Ming asked. “Should we catch them and interrogate them for intelligence about their side?”

Yu Rui looked at him and said, “I advise against that. I have a feeling that the other party isn’t simple.”

“Even though you two are elites from Star-Moon University, you might not be a match for him.”

Jiang Ming laughed. “That’s why we have you…”

The two people looked at the young man in front of them with strange expressions. Their differing attitudes toward him were because this boy’s father was a legendary Plantmaster, and at such a young age, he had already cultivated a pet plant of the overlord species.

Even as top students of Star-Moon University, they appeared quite mediocre in comparison to this top-level second-generation beastmaster.

In Jiang Ming’s eyes, no matter how strong Lu Ran might be, he was just a level 2 beastmaster. Could he really be more formidable than Yu Rui standing before them?

“Let’s drop it.”

“Before the other side shows any hostility, let’s just watch and wait. Our primary goal is to complete the breakthrough task,” Yu Rui said. “When the Plant Beast Championship starts, we’ll get a better sense of the other party’s strength. Only then can we decide our next move.”

“That makes sense,” Jiang Ming nodded. “We’ll follow Rui-Ge’s lead then.”

“But what exactly is Infinite City? Not only did it send us to the past, it even connects with another world.”

“Who knows,” Liu Man said. “But the appearance of Infinite City has definitely breathed new life into our long-stagnant beast taming civilization, so I guess that’s a good thing.”

“Rui-Ge, do you know what Infinite City is about?” Liu Man looked hopefully at the much younger boy, clearly indicating that their world, like Blue Star, had no understanding of Infinite City’s origins either.

“Don’t call me that, just call me Yu Rui,” the young man said thoughtfully. “I don’t know either.”

“But my dad speculates that Infinite City might have something to do with the Four Great Creator Divine Dragons and the disaster recorded in history.”