Chapter 135 - Sudden Death King: Lightning God!

It was clear that Lu Ran held significant influence in the eyes of the swordsmanship apprentices at the Rainbow Dojo. Faced with their praise, Lu Ran was both amused and exasperated.

Beside him, Fang Lan smiled faintly, feeling that the dojo's culture might go astray because of their peculiar senior apprentice, Lu Ran. Perhaps it already had.

“

Haih...

” Jiang Dou also sighed.

“I mean... whether it's the so-called sword-wielding dog or sword-wielding cat...” Lu Ran, while looking at the dashing and elegant Junior Ning, the ponytailed Junior Jin, and the round-faced Junior Fan, earnestly explained.

“You can interact with your familiars for entertainment in your daily life, but don't put serious effort into it or stray off the right path.”

Afterward, at Master Jiang Dou's request, Lu Ran planned a developmental path for the three of them, dissuading them from impractical ideas like sword-wielding dog or sword-wielding cat. Wouldn't saving up for fusion skills to become a beastmaster swordsman be more worthwhile?

The swordsmanship talent of beastmasters, combined with version 2.0 of Super Beast Mimicry, and the innate intelligence of a prodigious familiar. Only with all these elements in place could such feats be achieved.

Without any one of these, even Captain Doofus would struggle to grasp Sword Momentum. Had all the conditions not been met by chance, Lu Ran would have undoubtedly opted for the fusion style as his primary direction. Even now, he hadn't entirely ruled out fusion as a backup training path.

“

Ohh~!

”

Facing the teachings of Senior Lu Ran, the three juniors agreed to comply. Whether they truly meant it was another matter.

“Let’s go.”

Soon, evening approached. Lu Ran and Fang Lan stepped out of the dojo, flagged down a taxi, and headed out for dinner. They had arranged to meet Pig Farmer and the others, who had arrived early in Golden Hill, at a Huaiyang cuisine restaurant. It was their first offline meeting with online friends.

“Why does your master look so unwell?” Fang Lan asked as they settled into the car.

Earlier, Fang Lan had gone to the training field to find Lu Ran, only to witness him sparring with Master Jiang Dou and Captain Doofus nearby. Master Jiang Dou's expression back then was even grimmer than the dog's.

“

Haha

, no big deal. He's just feeling newly motivated.” Lu Ran laughed.

Master Jiang Dou was clearly shaken. Seeing Captain Doofus comprehend Sword Intent, he vowed to grasp it himself. Lu Ran could only encourage him.

Good luck.

......

It seemed unlikely that Master Jiang Dou would ever obtain a Contract Card. Lu Ran could only think about finding a suitable familiar in Green Sea City for the master in the future.

Even if it couldn’t be contracted, spending time with a familiar with unique abilities might help him take that crucial step forward. Familiar abilities were incredibly varied, with endless possibilities for development.

Take, for instance, undead familiars, which didn’t require a contract to grant extraordinary power by possessing a human. Maybe other familiars also had similar capabilities!

“

Hehe,

you must have aggravated the old man,” Fang Lan speculated, already guessing that Lu Ran had let Captain Doofus display Sword Intent in front of the esteemed swordmaster.

Truly a psychological blow!

Not long after, the two arrived at the restaurant. Inside the private room, Lu Ran and Fang Lan were the last to show up. The atmosphere was no different from their usual gatherings in Limitless City, as everyone was already familiar. Soon, the seven of them began chatting as if it were just another day.

“What are your assessment numbers?” asked Pig Farmer.

The numbers would determine tomorrow’s evaluation order and were visible in the Beastmaster University official app for new contestants.

“

Erm...

0001,” said Lu Ran, smiling.

“I’m 0002,” added Fang Lan, equally amused.

“Hooray for the front row!”

Everyone was stunned.

“What??? That front???” exclaimed Lu Dingding, visibly shocked.

“We had someone help us register early on. Maybe that’s why. Are your numbers much behind?” Lu Ran inquired.

“Not really. We registered pretty early too,” said Lu Bing.

“We asked Pig Farmer to help us get in through connections. Apparently, he knows someone on the inside.”

“Oh, I contacted Sister Hua to help us with the connections,” added Pig Farmer.

Lu Ran was speechless. It seemed that as they went in circles, everyone’s registration had ultimately been handled by Surfing White Dragon, who worked at Beastmaster University.

“Well, let’s all give it our best!” Lu Bing encouraged.

“The university hasn’t disclosed how many will qualify for the main competition, so tomorrow’s assessment requires full effort. It’d be embarrassing if we didn’t even pass the preliminaries.”

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

“It does feel risky,” Lu Yi admitted.

“With 100,000 examinees, the number making it to the main competition can’t be large. The rewards are only for the top 100. Maybe only a few hundred will qualify.”

“That’s too brutal,” said Lu Dingding.

“Is tomorrow just a giant stage for the assessors to beat up the examinees? I wonder how many will be eliminated... Out of a few hundred, maybe only one will pass the preliminary evaluation...”

“The country’s resources are limited. They can’t heavily invest in that many fourth-generation beastmasters. One hundred qualifiers seems about right.

“There might still be rewards for those further down the rankings, like academic credits after enrollment, crystal coins, or even cash. It can’t be nothing,” speculated Lu Bing.

The group, especially Pig Farmer’s faction, was clearly worried about the freshman competition. After all, their familiars were only at level 10, and they hadn’t yet ventured into ascension realms, unlike the more confident Lu Ran and Fang Lan.

“By the way, I heard a rumor,” said Pig Farmer.

“If true, then the number who pass the preliminaries might not be so small. Apparently, the main competition will be divided into two stages.

“The top performers in the preliminary evaluation will become seed contestants and bypass the first stage entirely, advancing straight to the second stage.”

“Where’d you hear that?” asked Fang Lan, surprised.

“What kind of performance would that take?”

“I hope it’s true,” said Lu Ran, his curiosity piqued.

Skipping battles in favor of more productive tasks sounded ideal to Lu Ran. Even delving into secret realms would feel more worthwhile.

“I saw it on a forum, but the post was deleted quickly,” explained Pig Farmer.

“Anyway, just give it your all,” said Fang Lan.

The examiners... surely they’re immune to poison?

she wondered.

The conversation soon shifted from the freshman competition to the topic of ascension realms.

Upon learning about Fang Lan’s harsh ascension task, everyone sympathized. However, when they heard that Lu Ran’s challenge was to pass a chef’s assessment, they were baffled.

“Mine wasn’t hard. If you face the same task, as long as you can hunt Champion Species, know basic culinary skills, and understand cooking timing, you can pass by relying on quality ingredients.” Lu Ran laughed.

A certain White Tiger Sis had passed in this way. Everyone was speechless.

Damn, not hard?

They could defeat Champion Species as a team, but solo? They’d be dead on arrival!

“The food’s here. Let’s dig in already,” Fang Lan interrupted as the dishes arrived.

She was eager to get back and practice fusion skills and prepare for tomorrow’s early start.

...

Later that night, back at the dojo, Lu Ran was now separated from Fang Lan. He started to reflect on their dinner conversation.

Was the seed contestant rumor true?

Unable to resist, he called Manager Ying.

“What do you want?”

“Manager Ying, I heard that the preliminaries might select seed contestants who’ll skip some battles and advance directly. Is that true?”

“Well, how much are you willing to pay for the info?”

“From your response, it’s probably real. If it were fake news, you wouldn’t have charged me for a fee. Thanks! Goodnight.” Lu Ran hung up before she could respond.

Manager Ying was dumbfounded.

Stingy dog! You can’t even spare a dime?!

Clearly, Lu Ran didn’t want to waste time on unnecessary battles. Even brief fights required travel, wasting several days altogether. Being a seed contestant sounded ideal. Naturally Lu Ran would want that.

“Rather than directly granting beastmasters a fast track to the Heavenly Familiar Ranking, they’re promoting students who perform well in the preliminaries. S

o troublesome...

” Lu Ran muttered.

"Wait, could there be corruption? Could someone exploit this process to push their own people forward?" Lu Ran shook his head.

No, that’s impossible. How could I think so negatively?

Even if some city officials considered using this to deceive the Alliance’s resources, the issue was that all the examiners had been temporarily summoned from elsewhere.

Without genuine skill, wouldn’t any deception be exposed during the actual battles?

In the preliminaries, to perform excellently against the examiners...

Lu Ran felt troubled.

What counts as excellent? Maybe I’ll send Captain Doofus. If he gives his all, perhaps he could suppress the examiner’s familiar for a moment. That might count as excellent, right?

However, it had already been decided that Sudden Death King would participate. Tomorrow’s preliminary evaluation was a 1-on-1 format, so only one of them, either Captain Doofus or Sudden Death King, could enter.

If Sudden Death King were chosen, it would probably just take hits. Its offense wasn’t strong unless it sustained significant injuries. But the examiners weren’t likely to attack Sudden Death King too harshly. While it could pass the evaluation without issue, whether it could secure Lu Ran a spot as a seed contestant was uncertain.

“I’ve got it!”

Suddenly, inspiration struck Lu Ran.

...

The following morning, before dawn, Lu Ran took Captain Doofus and Sudden Death King into the Training Secret Realm. Both familiars were visibly confused.

Why are we up so early?

“Sudden Death King, today I’m teaching you a new strategy!!! You’ll use it during the evaluation later. I call it Lightning God! It’s a move of immense destructive power.”

Sudden Death King was dumbfounded. Looking down at itself, it felt an overwhelming sense of absurdity.

I can’t even master basic discharge, and now you want me to be a Lightning God?

“Your Heart of the Overlord talent allows you to absorb damage and accumulate “dominance,” empowering your next attack.

“Before the evaluation begins tomorrow, we’ll sneak into the restroom near the arena and access the Limitless City Training Secret Realm.

“There, Captain Doofus will beat you within an inch of your life, allowing you to absorb enough damage. Then, I’ll use the Broken Horn of the Divine Deer to fully heal your injuries.

“That way, you’ll enter the battle unscathed while stockpiling a ton of dominance. When the time comes, unleash all the accumulated damage onto the examiner’s familiar. You understand me, right?”

“

Woof, woof, woof, woof!

”

Upon hearing this, Captain Doofus was utterly shocked.

I might not be human, but you’re definitely a devil! I’ll hold a moment of silence for Sudden Death King.

Sudden Death King was equally stunned, its expression filled with disbelief.

Waaaaa, how could there be such a diabolical beastmaster?

Is this really how you’re supposed to combine Absolute Defense, Heart of the Overlord, and the Broken Horn of the Divine Deer? Using pre-charged ultimate attacks? This strategy... the examiner’s familiar probably wouldn’t even know how it died.

“Alright, let’s test this out and see how powerful it is... This strategy needs to be refined for future use. It feels like a finishing move that’s on par with tenfold Storm Slash.”

Such a strategy could prove invaluable in future competitions or secret realms that allowed prior preparation.

With Broken Horn of the Divine Deer in hand and Captain Doofus holding the Frosty Sky Greatsword prepared by Lu Ran, both were ready to help Sudden Death King perfect the new strategy.

Sudden Death King then let out a helpless roar.

“RAWR!!!”