King of Beasts

A Black Dragon appeared off the coast of Shanghai, demanding resources from Xia Country. In just half a day, it became a hot topic worldwide.

The response from Xia Country was swift. The Twelve Branches meeting approved two preparations for war on the same day.

In terms of advanced resources, Manager Ying was allowed to select freely to awaken the main body.

For basic resources, they coordinated with Lu Ran to cultivate a supernatural Crow to enhance the Dark Crow Legion.

With the backing of Gu Qingyi and Lu Ran, Manager Ying, an intelligence dealer who had been dealing with the Xia Country Alliance for two years, seemed more reliable than the Panda Guardian or the Crane Guardian.

At the same time, the Alliance used news media to reassure the public.

Information about the Panda Guardian, Crane Guardian, Divine Deer, and others was released for the first time.

“With this lineup, what are we afraid of? Three Ancient Guardians-if that Black Dragon dares to come, it won’t get away with it,” some young people excitedly exclaimed, though regretting their own weakness, wishing they could personally fight the dragon.

“I think we should handle this through peaceful negotiation. Even if we win, the cost may be too high to bear,” many ordinary people hoped to settle matters peacefully, not wanting to provoke the Black Dragon.

Their worry was understandable. Since the resurgence of spiritual energy, nations have rarely achieved complete victory in battles against powerful ferocious beasts, often resulting in significant destruction of cities and severe casualties among ordinary people.

Because of this, although the Xia Country Alliance was preparing for battle, they hadn’t explicitly stated how they intended to handle the situation.

Lujia Village.

Unlike the anxiety elsewhere, the fourth-generation beastmasters in Lujia Village, led by Lu Bing, were pleasantly surprised.

They watched the news reports with amazement.

“The Divine Deer!!”

“The official news mentioned the Divine Deer, stating it’s a Guardian of Xia Country, always protecting us!”

“Not only that, the news also mentioned our Lujia Village!!!”

In the news, to highlight the strong foundation of Xia Country, reporters conveyed the following narrative:

In ancient times, the ancestors of Xia Country lived on this land in tribes, each protected by a formidable totem guardian.

Among them was the Lu Clan, known for their bravery in battle, blessed by the Divine Deer, and renowned throughout ancient times.

This clan, under the Divine Deer’s blessing, has carried on the legacy to this day.

The Strongest Fourth-Generation Beastmaster, the only Dragon Chef, and the pioneer of the overlord era, Lu Ran, the modern father of necromancy, comes from Lujia Village.

With such recognition from the official Beastmaster Alliance of Xia Country, the name of Lujia Village instantly spread throughout the nation.

If the Xia Country officials simply claimed the existence of a “Divine Deer,” ordinary people might not be convinced.

However, when linked with Lu Ran, the entire nation had no choice but to believe it.

“Wow, Lu Ran is actually from a clan protected by an Ancient Totem Guardian?”

“What else did you think? Did you assume someone as extraordinary as Lu Ran could just rise from humble beginnings?”

“I see… No wonder God Lu is so incredible. This adds another layer to his identity. I envy that I wasn’t born in Lujia Village.”

“Being from a Totem Tribe isn’t necessarily helpful. Even the Youxiong Clan’s Youxiong Anlin, who is also from a Totem Tribe, couldn’t defeat God Lu, could he?”

“Maybe the Panda Guardian isn’t as strong as the Divine Deer. Giant pandas are so adorable; how could they possibly have any combat power? They’re more like a Living Fossil mascot.”

“I’m Youxiong Anlin, is that polite?”

“I’m the Panda Guardian, is that polite?”

“…”

The internet buzzed with heated discussions. While the prowess of the Divine Deer might be unknown to netizens, Lu Ran’s strength was a well-known fact.

At this time, many people began to pray to the Three Guardians for protection.

Even if some prayers weren’t particularly sincere or grand, the sheer volume was overwhelming.

The people of Xia Country, holding onto the belief of trusting just a little, hoped that the Three Guardians could protect them if ferocious beasts really came to wreak havoc in Xia Country.

“Oh my gosh.”

In Lujia Village, even more extraordinary events were unfolding.

Lu Bing and others gathered at the Village Committee, feeling overwhelmed by the relentless ringing of phones.

In just a short time, calls flooded into Lujia Village from countless real estate companies and large enterprises offering donations to build projects, seemingly wanting to bask in the Divine Deer’s protection.

While outside was in flux, the mastermind behind all this had already returned to Lujia Village.

Lu Ran sat cross-legged on a cloud, observing the increasingly mature and nearly tangible form of the deer spirit, an embodiment of faith, with a look of surprise.

Well then.

If he could find the divine deer, he would gladly name that Black Dragon the best MVP. The faith of Lujia Village in the divine deer provided support, but who knew how long it would take for these deer spirits to grow? However, after the current events, an inexplicable surge of the Power of Faith crossed space and arrived here.

“Hmm??”

Since arriving in Lujia Village, Lu Ran hadn’t gone down to meet Lu Bing and the others. Instead, he focused on observing the changes in the deer spirit. An endless stream of the Power of Faith was continually strengthening the deer spirit, its form evolving every moment.

Until…

Lu Ran let out a small “oh,” suddenly noticing that one of the deer spirits had finally broken free from the confines of Lujia Village and ventured beyond its bounds.

This sight brightened his eyes with delight.

“Cloud baby, follow,” Lu Ran instructed the weather elf beneath him. The cloud cautiously tailed the roaming deer spirit.

However, to Lu Ran’s annoyance, the deer spirit, now free from Lujia Village’s constraints, did not immediately lead him to traces of the divine deer as he had hoped. Instead, it walked a short distance and began grazing on grass.

With no choice but to accept this, Lu Ran redirected his attention to the ruins space.

Inside the Tree King’s ruins space.

The sudden death king was struggling miserably with defense.

General Ha held sword grass in his mouth with the sword spirit by his side, learning and mimicking General Ha’s attacks.

“Woof woof!!! (This is the Dragon Slayer Sword Intent!)”

With divine speed, General Ha darted past the Dragon King’s Shield with the sword grass in his mouth, leaving a deep sword mark. The fierce and tumultuous sword intent emanated from the mark, tearing apart the defenses of the sudden death king.

The sword spirit had inherited General Ha’s Blizzard Sword Intent and Soul Slashing Sword Intent and even awakened the Sky-Splitting Sword Intent of its own. However, it hadn’t yet inherited the plant sword intent and Dragon Slayer Sword Intent.

Upon hearing about a Black Dragon daring to provoke them, General Ha was eager to battle it.

At that moment, he was teaching the corpse dog the Dragon Slayer Sword Intent, so that when the sword spirit possessed it, they could perform a combined Dragon-Slaying Sword Technique!

“Roar!!!”

Under the Dragon King’s Shield, the sudden death king gritted its teeth.

That damn Black Dragon King.

The sudden death king would remember this grudge.

What was the point of acting up in Xia Country, causing this dog to go crazy as well?

In the end, it was the one suffering.

The sudden death king had rationally analyzed the situation with General Ha.

That Black Dragon was level 70, an upper overlord species, while General Ha was not even level 40, and the sword spirit was below level 30.

There was simply no way they could defeat the Black Dragon.

Yet, at such times, General Ha would always show a wise expression, pretending not to understand.

This led the sudden death king to suspect that General Ha merely wanted to use it as a test for the sword spirit, rather than actually wanting to challenge the Black Dragon King.

Ridiculous!

“Roar!!!” the sudden death king bellowed within the ruins space, expressing its desire for a necromantic retainer of its own.

Using its scales to forge a shield.

Something to shield it from the burdens it shouldn’t bear at its age.

“…”

Lu Ran scratched his cheek thoughtfully; it wasn’t that he couldn’t arrange it.

General Ha had the sword spirit and would have sword grass in the future.

The dark crow had an army of crow soldiers.

The sudden death king did seem rather pitiful, still all alone.

He couldn’t very well assign cloud baby to accompany it. Cloud baby, with its Shapeshift at Will talent, was destined to be everyone’s helper, not dedicated solely to assisting one pet beast.

Upon reflection, replicating the creation of the corpse dog by using the sudden death king’s dragon scales to forge a shield and awakening a shield spirit companion seemed the most fitting.

“Sudden death king, I understand your feelings,” Lu Ran communicated across the space, his voice resonating in the sky of the ruins:

“General Ha, corpse dog, hit a bit harder, knock off more scales.”

Within the ruins, both General Ha and the corpse dog looked up in shock.

The sudden death king also looked up in bewilderment, staring at “Heavenly Lu Ran.”

“Roar???”

…

After briefly considering the mental well-being of the sudden death king and its companions, Lu Ran turned his attention back to the deer spirit. This faith-infused deer spirit, after gorging on the Power of Faith, simply collapsed on the spot, looking drowsy.

Lu Ran felt a bit agitated, tempted to give it a kick to make it move.

Thankfully though, even if this particular deer spirit wasn’t very useful, as the Power of Faith strengthened, more and more deer spirits were breaking free from their geographic confines within Lujia Village and were beginning to venture out.

They seemed to be transforming from merely the deer spirits of Lujia Village into deer spirits of the entire nation.

“Two tigers~ two tigers~ running fast…” Lu Ran was observing when his phone rang. After answering, he said:

“Dr. Gu? Is something up?”

“What are you doing?”

“Monitoring the deer spirits. Only I can see them. I have to keep an eye on them, otherwise, if they vanish without a trace, it’d be troublesome.”

“Why, did something happen?”

Lu Ran asked in confusion. Based on their division of tasks, Dr. Gu was supposed to be stationed at the sea region to check for any unusual activity.

Of course, during this process, her vast sea azure dragon, merged with the dragon pearl, couldn’t be released to avoid being detected by the Black Dragon King.

“Yes,” Gu Qingyi said. “The Fishman Empire has sent its offspring to land in Xia Country, hoping to seek cooperation.”

“Huh?”

Lu Ran was surprised, but it made sense. The Fishman Empire’s dragon pearl fragment was stolen by the Black Dragon King, and they suffered a great defeat in the war. Right now, the Fishman Empire probably hates the Dragon Palace and the Black Dragon King even more than Xia Country does.

But they can’t beat them in battle.

In such a situation, the enemy of an enemy is a friend.

It seems the Fishman Empire realized the Black Dragon has now focused its sights on Xia Country and sent an envoy to seek an alliance.

“According to intelligence, there’s a fishman prince and a mermaid princess from the Fishman Empire. I remember you and Manager Ying mentioned that the old turtle in Green Sea City was captured by a fishman prince, right?”

“Could it be this one?”

Lu Ran: “!!!”