The King of Beast Trainers

157  Chapter 106: The Assessment Approaches_1

Sometimes, in order to complete a task in the Breakthrough Secret Realm, besides one's own efforts, leveraging the situation is also very important.

Just like Lu Ran and his companions, who entered the Breakthrough Secret Realm—even if Infinite City didn't arrange the identity of Tavern Apprentices from the beginning, they would have had to find a place to apprentice and acquire skills on their own.

Applied to other tasks, similarly, the Breakthrough Secret Realm is just like a real world, where every life has its own thinking. Some good-looking Beast Trainers, by selling their attractiveness and clinging to the strong, could also accumulate their foundations rapidly.

What's valued is the high degree of freedom.

But on the other hand, isn't Lu Ran at this moment also selling his "talent potential" to entice people in the Secret Realm to invest?

"Alright, keep cutting~" Manager Tong had a good eye for talent, and the investment of over half a month would surely be wasted.

But after half a month, this world would also disappear, and it wouldn't really matter much…

"Okay." Lu Ran continued to focus on cutting fruit.

As time ticked by, the lively banquet was about to end. The many guests had enjoyed delicious food, watched battles, and had cooling fruits to enjoy before and after the meal, making for a very nourishing day.

The grand banquet for the breakthrough of the Ningchuan City Lord had ended, and the Frost Moon Tower group started to make their way back home.

After this little episode, there was only a week left until the Culinary Hunter Association's assessment for advanced Chefs.

Lu Ran and his companions didn't have much time left to improve their culinary arts; for passing the exam or for better rewards, they trained even harder.

That very evening, Lu Ran received a picture book from Manager Tong.

It was the training manual for the Propriety Knife Method.

The so-called Propriety Knife Method wasn't a technique per se but more like a method of using specific postures to develop the brain, train muscles, and improve the control over one's strength.

Looking at the peculiar movements in the picture book, Lu Ran fell into thought—why did it look so much like the radio calisthenics of elementary and middle school students…

...

"Huff~" "Huff huff~~"

In the following days, to help Lu Ran practice the Propriety Knife Method and to familiarize him with more ingredients, Frost Moon Tower didn't just send inexpensive fruits and vegetables.

All kinds of advanced meats, and even entire Ferocious Beasts that had just died not long ago, began to be delivered to Lu Ran for knife practice.

Manager Tong originally thought this process would waste a lot of ingredients, but perhaps because his ancestors were hunters who couldn't avoid doing slaughtering, Lu Ran had a particular talent for this kind of work and didn't cause too much waste, swiftly mastering the basics.

During those days, Lu Ran and Mr. Husky's training regimen added the practice of the Propriety Knife Method, and every morning after waking up, they had to do a few sets of radio calisthenics.

In the monotonous training content, there were a few small interludes, such as the son of the City Lord visiting in person one day. He somehow learned that Lu Ran would only study at Frost Moon Tower for half a month before leaving for the advanced Chef examination. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

He wanted to invite Lu Ran to join the Ningchuan City Lord's Mansion after the examination.

Now, having broken through to the fifth level and his Pet Beast surpassing level 50, he was a local powerhouse, and having an advanced Chef who understood Cooking Intent wasn't a problem for his household.

Faced with such an enthusiastic invitation, Lu Ran didn't want to disgrace the other party and had to skillfully handle the situation, neither accepting nor refusing.

"The Ningchuan City Lord is generous and magnanimous, but after passing the advanced Chef examination, I want to visit the sacred land of chefs, Dragon Valley, to experience the Dragon Might of the national guardian dragon and see if I have the talent to become a Dragon Chef,"

"That's also why I chose to consume the Clear Spirit Fruit to heighten my perceptiveness… If I can return smoothly, I will consider your invitation."

"So that's how it is!" the son of the Ningchuan City Lord realized.

The next day, the City Lord's Mansion sent three more Clear Spirit Fruits, hoping they would be of help to Lu Ran.

"..." Lu Ran accepted them silently. Indeed, there were many good people everywhere, but Lu Ran could only say that investing in this bowl of water indeed came with risks and needed caution…

Unless Infinite City threw in some complication and the system collapsed, once the time was up, he would definitely be teleported away, and the City Lord's Mansion's investment would have been like throwing a meat bun to a dog, never to return.

...

Seven days after the banquet had ended.

To head for the Culinary Hunter Association in Tsunami Province, Lu Ran and his companions were about to set off.

Manager Tong personally came out to see them off, and she couldn't make a solid judgment on their upcoming journey.

"Go on, go on~" the gracefully slender Manager Tong smiled, "I hope by then, I'll hear good news that all six of you have passed the examination."

"Manager Tong, thank you for your care over this half month," Lu Ran said before leaving.

"It's just business. You paid the tuition, and Frost Moon Tower naturally has to fulfill its responsibility."

Among the six, aside from Lu Ran, the other five felt uncertain as they didn't yet have full confidence in their success.

They said their goodbyes to Manager Tong one by one, aware that once they left, they might not come back.

"Let's go." The six people mounted the rented swift horses, exchanged glances, and began to head towards Tsunami City at the heart of the province.

On the road, without others around, they casually chatted.

Snake Skin said, "I'm thinking, the assessment will end in two days, and then we'll have just over ten days of free exploration time. Do you guys have any plans?"

"Whether I can pass the assessment or not, I've got to make good use of these ten days."

Ibis said, "I won't do anything too dangerous, this donkey is so uncomfortable to ride."

"That actually rhymed, but this isn't a donkey, it's a horse," the Mountain Explorer laughed. "It's normal to feel a bit uncomfortable the first time you ride a horse. Just make do and ride it, you can't expect to ride your cat, right?"

"Also, I want to recommend a get-rich-quick method to everyone. In major cities, there are these antique markets, you know? You're basically treasure hunting among a bunch of junk. Usually, you end up losing, but we trialists have the beginner's benefit of Data Eye, right? Maybe we'll strike it rich!" the Mountain Explorer suggested.

"I've thought about it too." Passerby A was enticed; after all, this was a strategy recommended by the old hands of the Beast Training forum for the newbies.

"Lu Ran, what are your thoughts?" Bai Ling asked Lu Ran, wanting to know his plans.

At that moment, galloping on his horse, Lu Ran was still enjoying the scenery along the official road. He pondered for a bit and said, "I heard that the Culinary Hunter Association in each province has recommendation spots, they select the most outstanding trialists of the period and send them to sacred places for training in the Culinary Arts. I'm definitely going to aim for one of those spots."

Dragon Valley... I wonder if there's a chance!

Everyone: ?

"Damn, you've already set your heart on being number one," Passerby A complained, his stomach aching. They were still worried about whether they could pass at all.

Having Cooking Intent is to be capricious, right?

"Alright then…" Bai Ling had expected such a response and was speechless. She then continued, "Regardless of whether I pass or not, I guess I'll find a place to learn cooking afterward."

Since the Breakthrough Secret Realm aimed to cultivate the trialists' culinary skills, Bai Ling felt Lu Ran's choice was spot on. In for a penny, in for a pound. After all, mastering Culinary Arts wouldn't be a loss and would make cultivating Pet Beasts more convenient in the future.

Moreover, it was less dangerous. For Trainee Beast Trainers, even if the possibilities within the Breakthrough Secret Realm were immensely vast, the areas they could explore were still very few.

...

That day, the group arrived in Tsunami City and checked into an inn. As for the registration for the assessment, Frost Moon Tower had already taken care of it through recommendation letters several days before.

The group only needed to head to the site of the preliminary round of the assessment early the next morning.

At that time, the outcome would be decided through a competition of culinary skills.

It was still early when Lu Ran arrived in Tsunami City. He did not stay in the inn the whole time but went off to buy another Clear Spirit Fruit with the money he had earned over the past few days.

This brought his total to seven fruits.

As for the remaining coins, Lu Ran decided to use them as travel expenses and did not spend them on anything else.

"I wonder how Fang Lan is doing now…" By now, Fang Lan must have been in the Breakthrough Secret Realm for some time, and Lu Ran began to worry about her situation.

Could she be experiencing a bizarre Secret Realm like his?

If Fang Lan also encountered a Chef Secret Realm, Lu Ran would be very concerned about her guests' safety...

…

In the Breakthrough Secret Realm where Fang Lan was,

She was also on the Star-Moon Continent, in the Beast Training Empire.

However, her timeline was entirely different from Lu Ran's.

During this period, as there had been no emergence of figures as formidable as The First Emperor, the Hunter God, or the Second Generation Ancestor of Cooking and Ancestor of Soldiers, the Empire's control over different regions gradually weakened.

Various civilian Beast Training forces emerged one after another, and sects and gangs sprouted everywhere.

At the moment, Fang Lan was in one such gang, keeping a close watch on the mini-maps issued by Infinite City daily.

[Breakthrough Task: Kill other trialists. The top three killers will be granted a breakthrough opportunity. 19/20.]

[Reminder ①: In this task, trialists will not die permanently, and will return to normal after 30 days.]

[Reminder ②: You temporarily gain the coordinates of all trialists.]

[Reminder ③:…]

"What's going on with this headache," Fang Lan groaned. Although the new members might be protected by a safeguard that ensured no real deaths would occur in this brutal Breakthrough Secret Realm, was it really serious to burden a novice with such a harsh trial?