Beastmaster King-Chapter 155 - Dramatic Development

"Cooking, sword, and spear intents are actually connected!"

"I swear I’m changing my major. I applied as a history major without thinking. What am I going to do with that? I should switch to cooking. Even if I can't make it as a beastmaster, I can still go home and open a restaurant."

"Girl, if you meet someone from the cooking academy, you have to lock him down fast. They have great potential!"

"What’s that spear intent girl going to do with a cooking major? Grill kebabs on her spear? She wouldn’t even need to light a grill—she could cook a monster just by stabbing it."

No one expected Lu Ran to start recruiting in the middle of a competition. The audience’s jaws nearly hit the floor. Xia Ri, still trying to catch her breath and reeling from Captain Doofus Blizzard Sword Intent, couldn’t even respond to Lu Ran’s invitation.

"Ahem."

On stage, Dean Qin Ming couldn’t help but let out a dry cough.

His name is Lu Ran, right? I'll remember him. You're really brave to poach someone right in front of me.

Although the winner hadn’t been announced, Xia Ri finally snapped out of her daze, realizing the gap between them.

"I admit defeat."

Even after conceding, she still didn’t respond to Lu Ran's invitation. Instead, she picked up her spear and left the stage.

"Hey!"

Lu Ran couldn’t figure her out. He genuinely thought it would be a good idea for her to develop a secondary profession. With enough talent, it would definitely pay off in the long run.

“Less is more” applied to ordinary people, but for geniuses, more truly meant more. Mastering additional skills only added to their strength. To an average freshman majoring in cooking, Lu Ran could only teach basic knife skills and temperature control techniques.

However, a genius with the Fire attribute who had mastered spear intent could benefit greatly from Lu Ran’s Flame Dragon Intent. Given that Xia Ri comprehended spear intent just two months into becoming a beastmaster, she clearly had an affinity for it—something that would rank near the top on the Stellar Moon Continent.

It would be amazing if another Dragon Chef emerged. If that happened, Lu Ran would definitely recruit her and take her to Green Sea City to help him raise a dragon legion. After all, assigning some homework was only natural for a teacher.

In the waiting room, a tall young man who had watched the match scratched his chin, deep in thought.

"Can my panda learn how to cook? Bamboo shoots can be weapons and kitchen utensils, right? Maybe I could use one as a rolling pin and become a top pastry chef!

"This Lu Ran is so strong," Youxiong Anlin mused, wondering if he should switch his major to cooking.

The genius space major, Du Yuan, who stood nearby was also deep in thought.

Forget beating Lu Ran, I don’t even think I can beat his familiar.

Although the Space attribute was powerful, its applications were limited in the early stages. Low-level familiars couldn’t develop strong skills, and even if they did, they lacked the stamina to use them effectively. The true potential of the attribute only emerged in the middle and late stages.

"If you don’t think you can beat him, you should just surrender," Youxiong Anlin said to Du Yuan.

"There’s no shame in surrendering. I know when I’m beaten. Can you say the same?”

"Of course I can."

No one expected that two of the competition’s favorites would be planning to surrender in the waiting room. The power Lu Ran displayed made the other freshmen lose hope.

They feared the beating they’d take if they stepped on stage with him. Lu Ran hadn’t even revealed a single beastmaster skill yet—who knew how overpowered he’d be once he did?

"Where's Lin Yin?" They believed the only one still willing to fight Lu Ran was Lin Yin, who possessed a special ability and had never unleashed her full strength.

They searched the waiting room, but their expressions soon fell. By the window, they spotted a tall, fair-skinned woman with short black hair clutching her head in apparent pain.

It was Lin Yin, the girl with special abilities.

"Hey, you okay?" Youxiong Anlin and Du Yuan asked in unison, realizing something was wrong.

Noticing the commotion, other contestants gathered around. Soon, the waiting room was buzzing as the school doctor rushed over.

***

Lin Yin, a seeded player, suddenly fainting in the waiting room was a big deal. She wasn’t just any regular contestant—she had a secret identity and wasn’t someone the average Joe could afford to offend.

After leaving the stage, Lu Ran noticed the commotion and soon heard about Lin Yin collapsing. He couldn't help but wonder what had happened.

"How are you doing?" As Lu Ran was deep in thought, Manager Ying suddenly appeared to check in on him.

"Of course, I’m fine. Did something happen to that girl?" Lu Ran asked.

"Yeah, she suddenly collapsed. I was worried there might be an ambush on someone with special abilities, so I rushed to check on you." Manager Ying looked relieved to see Lu Ran unharmed.

"You don’t know what happened to her either?"

"How should I know? You people are weird. Don’t you often have strange nightmares?"

Lu Ran had previously told Manager Ying and Dr. Gu about his recurring nightmares of monsters invading the city, but they couldn’t come up with a plausible explanation. Special abilities were still an unexplored subject—some people even dreamed about turning into plants or animals, which sounded crazier than his own dreams.

"Oh." Lu Ran shrugged helplessly.

"Wait, she’s supposed to go up next, but she’s unconscious. If she doesn’t wake up in time, won’t she have to withdraw?" Lu Ran suddenly realized.

"I don’t know, but that doesn’t affect you. With your strength, you’re practically the undisputed champ. She can’t beat you, so it doesn’t matter whether she withdraws or not," Manager Ying remarked.

"You’re more confident in me than I am," Lu Ran mused.

"Hehe, I have intel you don’t. Want to buy it? I'll bundle it with info on her sister."

"No thanks."

Since Lu Ran didn’t know much about Lin Yin’s sister, he wasn’t interested. After the competition, he returned to his dorm and decided to watch Fang Lan’s match live on his phone. Supporting her from the comfort of his bed sounded much better.

Just as he was relaxing and waiting for the next round to begin, a call came in, putting an awkward expression on his face.

"Lu Ran—I mean, Professor Lu—your next opponent, Du Yuan, surrendered, so you don’t have to show up for your match."

"Oh, okay."

Lu Ran never expected the space major genius to be so afraid of him.

Then another call came in.

"Professor Lu, your next opponent, Youxiong Anlin, surrendered too, so you don’t need to come for that match either."

"What?"

Lying in bed all day, Lu Ran suddenly had a sinking feeling.

"Professor Lu Ran..."

***

"Bitch, I want a refund!"

As the competition progressed, Lu Ran wasn’t the only one dumbfounded—the audience was in an uproar.

According to an official announcement from Beastmaster University, seeded player Lin Yin withdrew from the competition due to illness. Many fans were upset that they wouldn’t get to see the debut of the girl with the special ability.

When Lu Ran’s highly anticipated matches were canceled one after another due to his opponents surrendering, the audience outright rioted.

His first opponent, Yuan Ye, initially praised as a visionary for surrendering, was now facing backlash. People accused him of setting a bad precedent and even threatened to crucify him.

"I want my money back! Huh? The live stream is free? Never mind."

On major forums, many beastmasters expressed frustration that Lu Ran had essentially won the competition without a single fight—an outcome no one had predicted.

"Damn it, Lu Ran is too strong. He’s a fourth-generation beastmaster, but he’s like a monster."

"Yeah, he'd stomp that elite fourth-generation beastmaster team from the Eagle Federation. It’s only natural the other freshmen didn’t want to fight him."

"It looks like the spear intent girl was the bravest. Although she lost miserably, at least she dared to face him. Xiong Anlin? Du Yuan? Both of them chickened out!"

"Weren’t you paying attention? Lu Ran knew not to take it too far and stopped when he disarmed her. But when he fought guys like Zhou Mo and Gong Kaixin, their familiars were beaten within an inch of their lives, and they didn’t do so great for the rest of the competition."

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"So that’s how it is. I misjudged him."

Everyone was talking about how Lu Ran had won the freshman tournament in such a bizarre fashion. No one questioned whether he deserved the victory; they were just upset they didn’t get to watch a real showdown.

Lu Ran was universally recognized as the strongest fourth-generation beastmaster in the Xia Empire, and people unanimously agreed he deserved the title of “Rookie King.”

The freshmen didn’t want to be beaten up by Lu Ran, which only reinforced his position as number one. They knew they didn’t stand a chance against him.

It was clear that Lu Ran was on track to rival third- and even second-generation beastmasters soon. While the freshman tournament became a hot topic among second and third-generation beastmasters, he still hadn’t caught the attention of the first-generation elites.

***

At the Xia Empire Beastmaster Alliance headquarters, there were thirteen people gathered in a conference room.

The old man at the head of the table looked at a girl at the table and said, "Lin Nian, tell me about your sister's condition."

"Yes, president."

The girl stood up and faced the other level 5 beast masters.

"After my sister fainted in Sky City, I rushed to check on her as soon as possible. I controlled my consciousness to enter her mind and then followed the fluctuations to enter her dreams.

“Shockingly, I discovered that she was also having some strange dreams like many others with special abilities, and the dream was constantly repeating.

"After my sister awakened her ability, she didn't have any strange dreams at first. I thought she was special, so I didn't expect it to happen now."

"What is her dream?" Shi Zhen, the dean of Beastmaster University, asked.

Although Lin Yin was probably planning to apply for graduation after collecting the competition rewards, he still paid close attention to any issues that cropped up.

"She dreamed that a fox, that claims to be the reincarnation of a legendary creature, is hibernating in a different dimension. It needs an Epic Spirit-attribute resource to be placed at a designated location to rescue it. Once it’s been freed, it would grant her great wealth and power."

The room was silent.

Was this fox the reincarnation of a Nigerian prince?

"Could this fox be one of the many ancient creatures that Manager Ying is looking for?"

Gu Qingyi thought about this idea, but even if it was true, the cost was too high and the fox didn’t seem to be in imminent danger.

It wasn't worth it to just let it die and test out the Undead Resurrection skill either.