King of Beasts

It turns out he had weaknesses too!

Upon seeing Lu Ran request its help, the Panda Guardian’s frustration immediately evaporated.

It chuckled and said, “But you don’t have a bear clan pet beast.”

“Without a bear clan pet beast, learning the armored bear’s intent is a bit challenging!”

“Is that quasi-legendary creature called an armored bear?” Lu Ran asked.

The name was straightforward, possessing the beauty of a supernatural species.

“Exactly,” the Panda Guardian crossed its arms and said, “Armored bear… nobody knows how it evolved. I guess it might be the descendant of some legendary bear.”

“Generally, for a creature to evolve into an upper overlord species is already the limit of its life.”

“To reach the status of a quasi-legendary species through evolution without a miraculous opportunity is extremely difficult.”

“That’s the offspring of a legendary creature.”

“Most offspring of legendary creatures are born as quasi-legendary species.”

“Ah, being born well is a skill too, skipping countless years of detours.”

The Youxiong Clan Guardian seemed to know quite a lot.

As it spoke, it said:

“Why don’t you marry into the Youxiong Clan?”

“Aren’t you an orphan?”

“I’ll go pick a panda for you to contract.”

Lu Ran: ??

Lu Ran looked at it disdainfully.

“That’s really not necessary.”

“Although I don’t have a bear clan, who says that only bear species can learn to shape the artistic conception of an armored bear.”

“You want other species to learn?” the Panda Guardian was shocked.

“Impossible, they could never learn it.”

“Haven’t you evolved a dragon from humans? You choose lizards, carps, snakes-creatures with faint Loong-type bloodlines-as the foundational species.”

“Why don’t you find a dog and evolve it towards the Loong-type!”

“Choosing the right foundational species is crucial for learning artistic conceptions.”

Lu Ran: “You know what, you’re right. I actually had that idea at first, to evolve a dog towards becoming a dragon.”

If it weren’t for contracting with the Sudden Death King and planning to develop it towards dragon, Lu Ran might have really pushed General Ha towards the Yazi template.

Panda Guardian: ???

“Moreover, other creatures can also learn the artistic conception of the dragon. I’ll find you a video. There’s a monkey pet beast that performs the dragon punch quite impressively,” Lu Ran said, pulling out his phone to search for a video for the Panda Guardian.

It’s challenging for different species to cross-learn energy shaping concepts, but it’s not unheard of!

“No need.”

Realizing he couldn’t persuade Lu Ran, the Panda Guardian fell silent and chose not to continue the persuasion.

Since Lu Ran was so stubborn, he shouldn’t blame it if he fails to learn.

With that, it pulled out a palm-sized black shard.

Lu Ran immediately perked up and looked over.

[Name]: Heart Armor

[Level]: Epic

[Introduction]: A fragment of the heart armor from the quasi-legendary species, the Armored Bear, it is a top-level material for crafting armor, containing incredible power.

Lu Ran: ?

“Is this the epic item that can be used as a key to the secret realm?” Lu Ran asked, puzzled.

“What’s wrong?” the Panda Guardian inquired, looking at Lu Ran.

Lu Ran remained silent.

His first reaction: Epic, just like this?

It felt like comparing the Divine Deer Antler, one was underground, the other in the heavens.

His second reaction: It wasn’t that the Heart Armor was subpar, but that the Divine Deer Antler was just too extraordinary.

The Heart Armor was only part of a quasi-legendary creature, while the Divine Deer Antler was part of a legendary creature.

Both were epic, but clearly, they were not of comparable quality.

Still, epic was epic, and it was already impressive that it could unleash such power in Youxiong Anlin’s beast.

“It’s nothing, just my first time seeing an epic resource, a bit surprised,” Lu Ran said.

“So… how exactly did Youxiong Anlin’s pet beast learn the Armored Bear’s conception through this Heart Armor?”

“Quite simple!”

The Panda Guardian, utterly serene and without any secrets, instructed, “Watch this!”

Saying so, it pressed the armor shard against its chest.

Then, an energy flow of the metal series enveloped its body, shaping a suit of golden armor, and secured the Heart Armor shard within the energy-shaped armor.

“I am an armored bear, I am an armored bear, I am an armored bear…” the Panda Guardian murmured, eyes closed, repeating incessantly.

“As long as your heart is firm enough, continuous self-hypnosis, or even getting help from other creatures to hypnotize you, can make you believe more and more that you are an armored bear. The more you believe, the more you can experience the power of the heart armor, and the easier it becomes to emulate an armored bear!”

Lu Ran: ?

He felt his intelligence was insulted, tricked.

Yet, he couldn’t find any fault at the moment.

Because General Ha’s approach to developing the Dragon Slayer Sword intent was similar.

I think you’re a dragon, I use the Dragon Slayer Sword intent on you, and it deals extra damage.

Plainly, it’s about using self-suggestion to unleash potential and gain greater strength.

Similarly, thinking of oneself as an armored bear enables one to transform into an armored bear, using its power to fight, achieving the artistic conception of the creature.

That made sense.

“Damn.” Lu Ran felt like he had wasted his time asking.

Both the Panda Guardian and Youxiong Anlin’s pet beast must have learned this trick through the power of “I think.”

“Alright, I’ve taught you the method.”

“But, this thing, I can’t give it to you.” The Panda Guardian secured the epic heart armor.

“If you want to learn that trick, you need to bring enough resources to rent it, and learn by my side!” The Panda Guardian felt it was gradually getting a handle on Lu Ran.

It was indeed clever.

However, Lu Ran just slightly pursed his lips across.

Resources in exchange?

The Panda Guardian was showing its true colors.

Lu Ran wasn’t falling for it.

The Panda Guardian hadn’t quite grasped that Lu Ran had no interest in the species of armored bears at all.

He asked about the method merely to see if it could be applied to the divine deer pendant.

As for now.

All Lu Ran could say was, I’ve learned it.

It’s not like he could let General Ha, the Sudden Death King, and the Dark Crow sprout antlers and also suggest to themselves that they’re little deer.

This learning method was still too abstract.

As for the Weather Elf, being an elemental lifeform, it had infinite transformative abilities and could easily shape itself into various forms.

It’s just too bad that its attributes and abilities didn’t quite match those of the divine deer.

No, that’s not how it should be used.

There’s no need to pursue creature shaping, nor to mimic transforming into a divine deer.

One must learn to adapt!

Just a hint of understanding in how the divine deer antler utilizes the nature force and the life force can be immensely beneficial.

Besides…

Lu Ran wondered, could it be possible for General Ha to condense an energy sword, and then insert the divine deer pendant into it as the core?

By covering the divine deer pendant with a sword-shaped energy shell, and having General Ha hypnotize itself that the divine deer antler is a sword, the divine deer antler is a sword…

And then, could General Ha gain the enhancement of an epic level divine sword?

Of course, this is under the assumption that General Ha can actually hypnotize itself successfully, deceiving its own Talent.

“What are you daydreaming about???”

The Panda Guardian, thinking Lu Ran was pondering what resources to use to rent the key to the secret realm, said, “Don’t worry, see what resources you can explode out of the secret realm tomorrow…”

Lu Ran looked at it, clever planning, but I won’t be fooled.

“I’m going to see how Youxiong Anlin is doing.”

Lu Ran waved his hand, bidding farewell to the Panda Guardian, alright, big guy, you have no value now.

The ‘I think power’, huh? For the relatively wise General Ha, indeed, it’s a profound cultivation strategy.

Adopted!

Panda Guardian: ???

That’s it, you’re leaving?

The Panda Guardian watched as Lu Ran turned and left, unable to grasp the intentions of this Strongest Fourth Generation, are you renting or not!

…

Lu Ran wasn’t really going to check on Youxiong Anlin; during the battle, although he told General Ha not to hold back, it was only under the premise of defeating the opponent.

Within the team, when it comes to power control, General Ha, perfectly mastering 30-fold energy compression, is unmatched; Youxiong Anlin was not seriously injured, and with the resources of the Living Fossil guild, he would recover quickly.

[The divine beast leaderboard is updated today, go check out what rewards the overlord pets have! Maybe it’s a billion crystal coins!]

Lu Ran scratched his cheek after receiving a message from Manager Ying, thinking to himself, “I haven’t even paid attention to this yet, and you’re already on top of it.”

It’s true, nothing escapes her when it comes to intelligence.

Indeed, the rewards for the Overlord Divine Beast Leaderboard are definitely worth looking forward to.

Currently, there are only three known Overlord Pet Beasts, and the rewards they can get must be substantial, right?

The Supernatural, Commander, and Sovereign leaderboards all offer substantial crystal coin rewards.

Lu Ran has topped both the Supernatural and Commander leaderboards.

As for the Sovereign Leaderboard, because the Sudden Death King and the Dark Crow evolved and jumped a major level, he perfectly missed it.

However, for Lu Ran at the moment, crystal coins aren’t so scarce anymore.

Now, he uses crystal coins mainly to buy daily food for his pet beasts and to train the generals in Lujia Village and the Green Sea.

For some major forces, crystal coins are used for this purpose: to cultivate newcomers.

For some top experts, what they urgently need are various exquisite resources.

Although exquisite resources have a price, few are willing to exchange them for crystal coins.

Usually, they opt for bartering, trading for the resources they need and then using crystal coins to make up the difference.

Lu Ran’s situation is similar; relying solely on various secret realms and leaderboard rewards in crystal coins, he can barely buy or afford exquisite resources, only relying on investments from First Generation big shots and trading resources exploded from Legendary Secret Realms.

Thus, the utility of crystal coins has significantly diminished for him.

With the reminder from the cat, Lu Ran’s mind became active.

Even if the Overlord Divine Beast Leaderboard still only offers crystal coins, the amount must be incredibly substantial, right?

To properly raise an Overlord Pet Beast, relying solely on rare resources won’t suffice; exquisite resources are a must. Thus, if Public Infinite City awards crystal coins, the amount must surely be enough to easily purchase exquisite resources!

Lu Ran returned to Public Infinite City.

Now, the Sudden Death King firmly holds the top spot on an Overlord Divine Beast Leaderboard in a certain Public Infinite City.

His record is instantly killing a queen ant.

And the Dark Crow also firmly holds the top spot on an Overlord Leaderboard in a certain Public Infinite City.

His record is leveling up and turning various pet beasts and beastmasters into pigs.

Lu Ran doesn’t understand why Public Infinite City counts this as a record, but since it looks very mocking and interesting, he has not made the Dark Crow change leaderboards to this day.

“Let’s take a break and wait.”

After forging Winter’s Fang, Lu Ran had yet to truly rest. After briefly closing his eyes for some rest in his private room… Lu Ran finally heard the Prompt Tone.

[The Divine Beast Leaderboard is now settling…]

…

[Settling the Commander Divine Beast Leaderboard…]

[Congratulations…]

[Awards are now being distributed: crystal coins, one million.]

This was General Ha’s first place on the Commander Divine Beast Leaderboard.

Not very useful.

…

[The Overlord Divine Beast Leaderboard is settling…]

[Congratulations…]

[Awards are now being distributed: enhancement card (first tier).]

…

[Awards are now being distributed: enhancement card (first tier).]

…

Lu Ran: ?

Lu Ran was taken aback. It wasn’t crystal coins this time?

Enhancement card, what is this!!

Meanwhile.

In Infinite City within the Snowfield Federation.

The strongest third-generation beastmaster of the Snowfield Federation, who had just evolved the Permafrost Elephant Lord, the King of Ice, was also eagerly waiting for the Overlord Divine Beast Leaderboard to settle.

“Enhancement card?” He showed a puzzled expression.

Then, he looked at the card that appeared in his backpack.

[Name]: Enhancement Card (First Tier)

[Level]: Exquisite

[Introduction]: A one-time item that can enhance any ordinary, advanced, or rare quality resource material or equipment to exquisite level. Enhancement cards are graded in ten tiers, with the first tier offering the best enhancement effect…