Chapter 174 - Beastmaster Trainer (Part 1)

“Oh wait!”

Just as Manager Ying was about to leave, Lu Ran suddenly called out to it.

“I still have something here for you!” Lu Ran took out the Damage Transfer skill card.

“Does a curse count as damage? If it does, could you pass this on to Principal Shi Zhen for me? If it could help him, that’d be great.”

Lu Ran thought Principal Shi Zhen wasn’t a bad person overall! In the past, Principal Shi Zhen had given him two Treasure-grade resources, the King of Wind Fruit and the Ethereal Flower.

Although one was as an advance on his salary and the other was a reward for a completed mission, the principal had been quite generous. And now, Lu Ran was eyeing the Eye of the Evil God Trait that belonged to Principal Shi Zhen...

The Stone Dragon Egg might not hold much value to him anymore, but this Damage Transfer skill could. That said, he wasn’t sure if it could actually transfer curses.

If it couldn’t, it would be a bit of a trap. Worse yet, it might waste one of the principal’s skill slots. So, Lu Ran first sought Manager Ying’s opinion, asking if it knew about this skill.

“Damage Transfer?”

Manager Ying paused, glanced at Lu Ran, and said, “How many amazing things have you gotten your hands on...?”

But it quickly shook its head. “Unfortunately, he probably won’t have any use for this skill.”

“Ah? Curses don’t count as damage?”

“They might. But if the curse is too advanced, do you think a recently acquired Damage Transfer skill would be able to transfer it away? Skills need to be developed. That’s why many beastmasters, despite having multiple skill slots, only specialize in one or two beastmaster skills.

“The reason is simple. Nobody wants to be a jack of all trades, but master of none! And the reason I said he won’t need this skill is because... he already has it!”

Lu Ran was stunned. Despite all his calculations, he hadn’t accounted for this possibility.

Shit, just how much effort had this guy put into undoing the curse?

“Since leaving the ascension realm, he’s been trying every possible way to break the curse. His new contract slots and skill slots are all completely occupied by attempts to lift it.

“Damage Transfer is the latest skill he learned. Yours isn’t even the first one discovered on the Blue Planet. Although rare, some beastmasters abroad have also obtained it from ascension realms.

“After receiving the intel, he spent a fortune to purchase it from overseas. Back then, without a stable way to acquire this skill, he paid quite the price. But after learning it, it turned out that it couldn’t transfer the curse at all. So, all that effort ended up being a waste of time and energy.”

“Seriously?”

Lu Ran had thought giving away the Damage Transfer skill would secure the Eye of the Evil God trait, but he hadn’t expected the principal to already have it.

“Forget it. Leave it with me. As for the reward for the favor, I’ll take it from the Stone Dragon Egg. I’ll get that trait for you. Of course, you might need to offer something in return, depending on how my negotiation with him goes.”

With that, Manager Ying stepped away, no longer entertaining further conversation with Lu Ran. Watching it leave, Lu Ran stood in place, lost in thought.

After a while, he shook his head.

Forget it. It doesn’t matter anymore.

Lu Ran then began packing his things.

The Professor’s Villa was nice, but he didn’t plan to stay there for the foreseeable future. As he packed, he absentmindedly turned on the TV.

“The beastmaster who destroyed an era...” Just as the voice emerged, Lu Ran switched it off.

Damn, these people sure know how to ride the hype.

“Speaking of which, I haven’t shared the good news with Fang Lan yet. Why hasn’t she congratulated me either...?”

While tidying up, Lu Ran picked up his phone and dialed Fang Lan’s number.

“Ugh...”

On the other end, Fang Lan’s groggy voice came through.

“Are you asleep?” Lu Ran asked.

“Yeah.”

“You should check the news,” Lu Ran said, speechless.

“What’s up? Just say it,” Fang Lan replied impatiently, annoyed by his teasing.

“Fine. I’ve cleared the Legendary Secret Realm,” Lu Ran said, sighing at how unenthused she was.

The whole world was shocked by his solo clear of the Legendary Secret Realm, yet this person was still napping.

“Huh? Huh? HUH!? You cleared it!?”

Fang Lan’s tone shifted dramatically.

“Did my poison help?”

“It did.” Lu Ran laughed.

“Otherwise, we’d have taken a few more rounds of beatings to succeed.”

“Then that’s good.” Fang Lan sounded pleased.

With her deepening research, she found Poison-attribute abilities increasingly fascinating. There was a certain charm to it. As long as they could be poisoned, even Gods would fall to it.

“Now that you’re done, I think I’ll start considering my own Legendary path,” Fang Lan said nonchalantly.

If Lu Ran wouldn’t team up with her, she’d go alone. Her two familiars were already at level 20, and since her poison had proven effective against dragon bosses, Fang Lan was now eager to attempt Legendary Secret Realms herself.

“Huh?”

Lu Ran was surprised and wanted to say something, but recalling the rich rewards of the Legendary Secret Realm, he felt it would be a shame for Fang Lan to miss out.

Fang Lan said, “Actually, a while back, Youxiong Anlin, Du Yuan, and others had asked if I wanted to team up to tackle the Legendary Secret Realm.

“At the time, my familiars weren’t at level 20 yet, and based on your advice, I thought it might be too risky, so I declined. But now, I feel like it might be worth a try if I form a team.”

“Then pick Youxiong Anlin and Du Yuan,” Lu Ran said.

“Those two aren’t weak. If I had teamed up with them before, I might have cleared it a month ago.”

Youxiong Anlin’s Light-Dark-attribute Panda seemed to have been nurtured quite well. It was the only familiar in the freshman competition to master the second stage of Energy Acceleration, and even a technique Captain Doofus and Sudden Death King hadn’t mastered.

The second stage of Energy Acceleration not only significantly enhanced stamina recovery but also allowed familiars to partially bypass defenses, allowing energy damage to directly penetrate the enemy’s core.

Thus, the Diamond Dragon’s scales, which Captain Doofus could breach with brute force, could also be breached by Anlin’s familiar. Both Dragon-Slaying Sword Intent and the second stage of Energy Acceleration had inherent armor-piercing effects.

As for Du Yuan, he had a Space-attribute familiar capable of short-range teleportation and spatial concealment. It could act as a decoy, drawing the Diamond Dragon’s attention. While it couldn’t take hits, it could easily dodge attacks and redirect aggression.

These two that were the runner-up and third place in the freshman competition had quite a bit of talent. With their help, Lu Ran figured he would have cleared the realm much sooner.

Combined with Fang Lan’s poison, they might even stand a chance in a Legendary Secret Realm. If three wasn’t enough, adding a fourth teammate would have done the trick.

It was a shame that Lin Yin, with her special abilities, had gone off the radar. Having someone with special abilities as the team leader would make things even easier.

“If you can’t find the right teammates, don’t challenge it yet. Stay at level 1 for now.”

“What are you planning now?” Fang Lan asked.

“Don’t forget, I’m a professor! A cultivation professor!”

“Huh?” Fang Lan still didn’t get it.

Lu Ran explained, “I’m going to focus on dragon research next, which will require familiars and beastmasters to collaborate with me.

“I can totally recruit some students from the freshmen class, have them assist in my research, and use the university’s resources to help them cultivate their second familiars toward draconic evolution.

“If the Eagle Federation can train a Tyrannosaurus Rex Squad, I can surely form a Flood Dragon Squad at Beastmaster University. Besides that, I can personally fund the gathering of second traits, third traits, and beastmaster skills—just like Professor Gu did for me.

“In no time, a powerful fourth-generation Dragon Squad would emerge. When the time comes, you can lead them to tackle secret realms. The odds of success will be much higher.”

Fang Lan responded, “And this squad will hand over any Unique traits or skills they find in the Legendary Secret Realm to you, right? Your schemes are so obvious I can hear them all the way from the girls’ dormitory!”

“

Ahem.

”

Seeing that his motives were exposed, Lu Ran said, “It’s a win-win situation. This is mutually beneficial. I’m not taking advantage of anyone.”

Dragon King Traits and Stone Dragon Eggs—these kinds of resources would make even first-generation beastmasters envious. It was clear that the one-of-a-kind rewards of Legendary Secret Realms weren’t tied to level as they were all top-tier treasures. Unfortunately, Lu Ran could only clear the realm once.

But while he could only clear it once himself, he could use his skills as a cultivator and beastmaster trainer to empower others, enabling them to conquer Legendary Secret Realms and acquire the rewards.

He could then take a cut of the rewards as compensation. In essence, this allowed him to farm Legendary Secret Realms infinitely.

He’d be a beastmaster trainer!