Lights flashed within an abandoned power plant in the suburbs of Green Sea City.
The miserable cries of a monster echoed alongside the crackling of electricity, resembling the sounds of inhumane experiments being performed on a living subject.
"Only by enduring the harshest trials can you become a dragon standing above all reptiles."[1]
The only comfort Lu Ran could offer Sudden Death King was that it at least had a safe place to train. A cruel beastmaster might have taken it directly into the middle of a thunderstorm and tied it to a lightning rod! If that happened, then life and death would be up to fate. [2]
Inside the power plant, Sudden Death King stood on a modified electric panel with several wires attached to its body. It truly looked like a creature undergoing some kind of experiment.
Sudden Death King’s entire body tensed, its claws clenched, and its eyes turned bloodshot.
It was caught between agony and bliss. The electricity seemed to enhance its defense—though only slightly, the accumulated effect over time could result in significant improvement.
Despite its mind and body being numb, Sudden Death King grew frustrated, feeling the shocks were not intense enough. It pressed the switch to increase the power.
Since we’re here then we might as well go all in. C’mon, go harder! I will become impenetrable! No one will ever hurt me again!
Sudden Death King was situated, but Lu Ran still needed to arrange Captain Doofus’ training.
Today went by so quickly, it's already nighttime.
Lu Ran scrolled through the day’s headlines.
[Understand the world in 60 seconds.
Today’s hottest topic is undoubtedly the preliminary assessment of the freshman competition at Xia Empire Beastmaster University.]
He also saw posts discussing Fang Lan and his antics at the Golden Hill location. Beating up an examiner was bound to be a hot topic. Many were curious about the true identity of Candidate 0001.
However, the discussion around Lu Ran didn't last long, as the topic soon shifted. It turned out that Wu Le wasn’t the only unlucky examiner. Many examiners had been beaten during the assessments.
Monstrous new beastmasters were cropping up all over the place. None of them had ever been on the Heavenly Familiar Ranking, as they mostly had ridiculously powerful Superior-Champion ranked familiars. It was clear that many second-generation beastmasters had emerged.
Someone at the Imperial City location claimed a candidate had the special ability of telekinesis and steamrolled the examiner using a Mind attribute familiar.
Reports from Mystic City said the Dog Emperor of Limitless City #3’s Heavenly Familiar Rankings had appeared. His two-headed hellhound was extremely powerful, capable of casting an illusion over the examiner's familiar with just a glance.
There was also a beastmaster at Ravine City who was said to be a spear wielder mastering intent formation. Her spear techniques were rumored to be as fierce as a raging flame, as devastating as a meteor. She injured the examiner's familiar with a single hit, frightening the examiner.
No one knew these monsters existed before now. The common belief was that the Heavenly Familiar Rankings only included the strongest fourth-generation beastmasters.
But now, it was clear that the truly powerful fourth-generation members had already outgrown the Transcend Familiar Rankings and were challenging third-generation beastmasters on the Champion Familiar Rankings.
If these weren’t elite second-generation beastmasters, they were definitely extreme talents along with their familiars.
And this was only the first day of the preliminaries!
The majority of netizens fell silent, realizing that even if they topped the current Transcendent Familiar Rankings, it wouldn’t guarantee them a spot in the top ten of the freshman competition.
"It looks like the King species’ egg and Ethereal Flower won’t be easy to grab." Lu Ran shrugged.
There was still time to prepare and improve before facing these powerful enemies, so he wasn’t fazed in the slightest.
The next day went as follows:
7-8 AM: Wake-up Routine
Lu Ran, Captain Doofus, and Sudden Death King: 30 minutes of energy acceleration practice for a warm-up, followed by 30 minutes for breakfast.
8 AM - 12 PM: Morning Training
Sudden Death King: Four hours of being electrocuted at the power plant.
Captain Doofus: Practice Storm Slash and Sword Control.
Lu Ran: Roast ingredients using Flame Dragon Culinary Intent to improve his control over the intent and Flame Spirit.
Captain Doofus: Responsible for preparing its own lunch using Blizzard Sword Intent.
2-6 PM: Repeat Morning Training
Sudden Death King: Continue with the electrocuted training at the power plant.
Captain Doofus: Practice Storm Slash and Sword Control.
Lu Ran: Continue roasting ingredients and refining his Flame Dragon Culinary Intent.
Captain Doofus: Cooks for itself.
After 8 PM: Evening Training
Sudden Death King: Works on drawing enlightenment from the dragon cuisine to refine Dragon Intent and practices forming Thunder Dragon Armor.
Lu Ran and Captain Doofus: Rest until Sudden Death King is exhausted.
After following such a schedule, the trio huddled together and slept until the next morning. The training program Lu Ran had prepared seemed inhumane and undeniably intense. If an average familiar had to endure it, they would have rebelled long ago.
It would’ve thought, “What an asshole beastmaster. I don’t want to be a familiar anymore!”
Even though a beastmaster and their familiar might share a basic level of communication, it would still be unrealistic to expect the beastmaster to command a familiar to undergo such an intense training regimen.
Overloading a familiar with training would not only fail to strengthen it but could also lead to mutiny. This is a major reason why many novice beastmasters struggle to cultivate their familiars quickly.
Beastmasters with money and resources could at least use food as a motivational tool to push their familiars through training. Others, with a deep bond and understanding with their familiars, could slowly nurture the familiar's desire to become stronger on its own.
For most ordinary beastmasters, getting their familiar to obey was an arduous task, almost as difficult as ascending to the heavens. More importantly, many beastmasters lacked self-discipline.
Lu Ran was fortunate. He established a strong connection with both of his familiars through telepathy early on, making communication effortless—one of the major obstacles Apprentice beastmasters face.
They were in tune the moment they contracted with each other. It also helped that the training he arranged aligned with what his familiars truly wanted. Sudden Death King, for example, was willing to endure the pain of the electric shocks to improve its defense. Being electrocuted was a better alternative than being killed by an enemy.
Learning Dragon Intent also contributed to strengthening its energy armor. At present, Sudden Death King’s physical defense far surpassed its energy armor, which was weak compared to its tough scales.
However, once it fully comprehended the intent and achieved intent formation, the various aspects of its energy armor would improve. This was something Sudden Death King eagerly looked forward to.
Captain Doofus, still struggling with Energy Compression, had fewer issues due to the Divine Deer Pendant. Its thought process, however, was rather simple.
I am bursting with energy! => Doofus wants to smash! => Doofus smash! => Successful smash = happy. No smash = grudge => Did I forget something?
Lu Ran didn’t know where this aggression came from. Perhaps it was inherited from its parents, or maybe Dr. Yunhan had influenced it through one of his experiments or studies on combat familiars. It was also possible that Lu Ran himself was responsible.
When Lu Ran first adopted it, the familiar was ferocious and disobedient. He could only subdue it through physical discipline. Stubborn and prone to fighting, it clashed with Lu Ran twice a day, possibly developing a bad habit from these encounters.
1. Another play on a Chinese proverb, 吃得苦中苦，方为人上人, meaning only by enduring the worst hardships, can a person stand above the masses. ☜
2. The original here was also a proverb, 生死有命，富贵在天, meaning life and death are dictated by fate and wealth and prosperity are be determined by the heavens. In other words, #YOLO. ☜