King of Beasts

Chapter 104: The Knife-Wielding Dog

A Chef requests to battle!

The crowd didn’t find this unusual at all.

After all, in the Beast Taming Empire, a powerful Chef was inevitably also a powerful beastmaster.

The occupation of a gourmet hunter could be described as a combination of Chef and beastmaster.

“Frost Moon Pavilion…” Countless eyes fell on Lu Ran.

No matter how you looked at it, Lu Ran still seemed too young, hardly like a Chef who had mastered Culinary Intent.

“Alright!” However, after a brief moment of surprise, the City Lord of Ning Chuan City broke into a broad smile.

He had already been thinking of recruiting Lu Ran, planning to meet him after the banquet. Now that Lu Ran had stepped forward to join the arena activities himself, this was a better opportunity to get to know him.

Under numerous gazes, Lu Ran walked up to the arena.

Bai Ling and the others were quite speechless. At this moment, She Pi cleverly suggested, “Why don’t the five of us take turns challenging him and intentionally lose? That way, we can directly take the three resources…”

“Are you trying to exploit a bug? Do you think others are fools?” Bai Ling said honestly, “Besides, except for me, do the four of you even need to intentionally lose?”

Ibers, the explorer, and Deer As Horse: …

That’s true, but could you be a bit less blunt?

The atmosphere among the group was very good, completely devoid of the violent atmosphere typical of other breakthrough secret realms.

“What’s going on here?” At this time, Shopkeeper Long also walked over. Deer As Horse and the others could only innocently say, “He’s been blinded by the resources…”

“I’ll go!”

At this moment, a blond young man leapt onto the arena. He smiled slightly and said, “You are so young and have already mastered Culinary Intent. Truly impressive.”

“I, Xiachi Qing of the Xiachi Family, would like to have a beast taming duel with you. However, I have a small request, and I wonder if you could agree to it.”

“If I win, could you please cut three more fruit platters for our table afterward?”

As soon as he finished speaking, many people cursed him for being “insidious.” How could he propose such a shameless bet?

The Xiachi Family, can’t you have a bit more dignity!

“Okay,” Lu Ran nodded helplessly.

“Haha,” Xiachi Qing laughed as he began to summon his pet beast, with two summoning circles appearing in front of him.

Lu Ran, without hesitation, summoned his pet beast. With the light flashing from three summoning circles, their respective battle beasts appeared in the arena!

“Roar!!!” “Roar!!!”

Xiachi Qing summoned two enormous feline pet beasts. Their fur was like sharp stones, and their long tails resembled rock whips. As they stepped out of the summoning circles, they looked imposing and majestic.

On Lu Ran’s side, of course, it was still General Ha. As a cold wind blew, General Ha stuck out its tongue and grinned at the two fierce beasts.

General Ha’s expression seemed to say, “Finally, no more cutting fruit. Fighting is so much better.”

[Name]: Earth Rock Beast

[Attributes]: Earth, Rock

[Species Level]: Upper Supernatural

[Growth Level]: Level 15

Seeing Xiachi Qing summon two pet beasts, Bai Ling and the others were visibly stunned. Up until now, the beastmasters had only summoned one pet beast each. Although a Level 1 beastmaster could contract with two pet beasts, Lu Ran was still an apprentice… This put him at a disadvantage!

“The previous challengers came from small families and didn’t have the resources or energy to raise two pet beasts. Xiachi Qing, however, comes from the renowned tiger-rearing Xiachi Family in Canglan Province. He has a solid foundation, unlike the others,” Bai Ling explained.

“If he only has one pet beast, he’ll be at a significant disadvantage,” Shopkeeper Long remarked, referring to Lu Ran.

“He probably only has one…” She Pi and the others agreed. “He hasn’t even passed through the breakthrough secret realm yet, so where would he get a second contract?”

Bai Ling pondered this and realized how difficult it was to acquire those rare resources. This side quest wasn’t designed for ordinary people. Without a commander species pet beast, a challenger wouldn’t dare to compete!

One-on-one might be fine, but how could he handle a two-on-one?

“Do you only have one pet beast?” Xiachi Qing asked curiously, seeing that Lu Ran had only summoned a wolf-like pet beast.

“Woof!” General Ha calmly looked at the two fierce beasts, indicating that it alone was enough.

“Uh…” The crowd heard the bark and realized it wasn’t a wolf but a dog. Although the dog looked like a wolf, on closer inspection, it indeed had a more intelligent and less ferocious expression, more like a domesticated canine beast.

“Yes, I only have one pet beast. It’s fine; let’s have a fair fight,” Lu Ran responded.

Xiachi Qing didn’t hold back. Contracting multiple pet beasts was a beastmaster’s choice. Opting for quantity had its advantages, as did focusing all resources on nurturing one.

Beastmasters from prominent families wouldn’t underestimate an opponent just because they had fewer pet beasts. A single pet beast could still be exceptionally well-developed.

“Earth Wave! Flying Rock!”

The battle quickly commenced. Xiachi Qing simultaneously commanded his two pet beasts to attack. One Earth Rock Beast emitted a yellowish glow all over its body. The solid ground beneath its massive feet sent out intense shockwaves, making the arena shake as if an earthquake had struck.

The other Earth Rock Beast roared upward, its massive jaws gathering sharp flying rocks that it launched like stone projectiles at General Ha.

In an instant, the ground and mid-air were filled with obstacles, leaving General Ha with no room to maneuver. Compared to the previous beastmasters, Xiachi Qing’s two pet beasts demonstrated superior energy control.

However, this level of attack didn’t faze Lu Ran and General Ha. With a light tap on the ground, General Ha leaped into the air, ignoring the tremors. It then opened its mouth, compressing energy, and unleashed the Roar of the Wind!

Boom!!!

The hurricane generated by tenfold energy compression was far more than just a gust that could break branches. The incoming rocks halted mid-air and then reversed direction under the force of the tangible hurricane. The two Earth Rock Beasts, sensing the fierce storm, quickly stabilized themselves, using their earth attributes to anchor themselves to the ground.

“This is bad,” Xiachi Qing muttered, realizing that this canine beast was exceptionally well-nurtured. It even mastered the energy compression technique, a divine skill that transcended species and level. Despite its high load, this technique could often be decisive in battle.

“Earth Attribute, reinforce!”

Facing this situation, Xiachi Qing immediately began chanting. His eyes glowed yellow as he stretched out his hand, fingers shooting out yellow links connecting to the two Earth Rock Beasts. In an instant, the beasts’ breath surged, releasing even greater power.

Reinforcement and the hurricane arrived simultaneously, but even with the enhancement, the two Earth Rock Beasts were still unable to move under the force of the wind. They could only struggle to maintain their balance, allowing the previously launched flying rocks to hit them. Moving even a step could result in being blown out of the arena.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!!!

Hit by their own attacks, the Earth Rock Beasts cried out in pain. Before they could react, wind blades shaped like teeth, mixed within the hurricane, struck them as well. General Ha deftly shaped the tooth storm within the released hurricane, effortlessly controlling the energy.

“Owoooo!!!” Despite the beastmaster’s reinforcement, the two Earth Rock Beasts couldn’t withstand the pain and pressure, getting blown over and crashing heavily to the ground!

Instantly, Xiachi Qing stood in stunned silence.

In this kind of beast taming performance at a banquet, the rule was to stop before causing serious harm. Given the current situation, it was clear that Xiachi Family’s second-generation beastmaster had lost. If General Ha had intended to continue the attack, the fallen Earth Rock Beasts would have struggled to protect their beastmaster.

“Impressive.” The banquet hall erupted in excitement. Everyone felt that Lu Ran’s wind-attribute canine beast was exceptionally well-trained. The four major energy techniques—flow, compression, shaping, and release—were all expertly executed, perfectly combined to completely suppress the two Earth Rock Beasts!

“I lost,” Xiachi Qing admitted, feeling deeply ashamed. He now understood the gap between himself and this chef. His opponent was not only a culinary master but also a terrifyingly powerful beastmaster!

The fruit platter… was out of reach.

“Thank you for the match,” Lu Ran said with a smile. Even against an opponent of a supernatural species several levels higher, General Ha didn’t need to resort to using a sword in battle. After all, for the past half month, General Ha’s training grounds had been the “Abyss Secret Realm.” This level of enemy was merely an elite monster.

“Impressive.”

“So strong.”

The City Lord of Ning Chuan City, along with She Pi and others, couldn’t help but express their admiration.

Finally witnessing Lu Ran’s true strength, Bai Ling couldn’t help but frown. It was a bit beyond her expectations. According to the divine beast leaderboard, Lu Ran’s pet beast was a sword-holding dog, which had already fused with the weapon mastery trait. If it was this powerful without using a weapon, how strong would it be with one? She suddenly felt a bit uncertain about her own abilities.

“Interesting, let me give it a try.”

At this moment, Lu Ran’s prowess as a chef had attracted considerable attention. Many young talents, initially reluctant to step forward, were now eager to challenge him.

A young man in cloth armor laughed heartily, saying, “I wonder if there’s a fruit platter for me if I win.”

“As long as you can win, there will be,” Lu Ran replied, somewhat speechless. He hadn’t expected so many people to challenge him for a fruit platter rather than rare resources.

The appearance of this young man in cloth armor sparked another wave of heated discussion.

“He’s the son of General Sen from the Beast Taming Legion stationed in Canglan Province.” This young man seemed quite prominent. Even the son of the City Lord of Ning Chuan City, standing beside the City Lord himself, showed a slight change in expression.

After all, the opponent was also the offspring of a Level 5 beastmaster!

His reputation in Canglan Province was well-known.

“Come on!!” Sen Qisheng, standing below the arena, summoned his pet beast—a robust black horse engulfed in white flames. He mounted the horse and drew a long spear from his spatial equipment.

“Neigh!!!” The flame horse leaped onto the stage as the general’s son waved his spear, looking towards Lu Ran and General Ha.

[Name]: Fiery Gallop Steed

[Attribute]: Flame

[Species Level]: Lower Commander

[Growth Level]: Level 17

Seeing the attributes of this pet beast, She Pi and the others were once again taken aback. What the heck, each challenger was more formidable than the last.

A Level 17 commander species had appeared.

“Can he still handle this? General Sen’s horse taming technique is quite impressive. Sen Qisheng, as his heir, naturally isn’t far behind. Plus, his spear is master-forged, enhancing strength. Among the younger generation at this banquet, there shouldn’t be more than five who can surpass him,” Shopkeeper Long remarked, noticing that Bai Ling and the others seemed to know Lu Ran quite well. He smiled as he asked.

“He will win,” Bai Ling declared decisively. Although the opponent was strong, she hadn’t forgotten that Lu Ran and General Ha, this formidable duo, had taken down the middle commander species boss, the Demon Bull Commander, even before reaching level 10 and without any fusion traits.

No matter how impressive Sen Qisheng was, he was just a genius from a small province in the Beast Taming Empire’s hundreds of provinces. Lu Ran, on the other hand, was likely one of the top fourth-generation beastmasters on Blue Star.

They were not on the same level!

As Sen Qisheng took the stage, the audience, who had initially marveled at Lu Ran’s strength, now turned their admiration towards Sen Qisheng’s well-rounded setup. It was no wonder he was a top-level second-generation beastmaster from Canglan Province.

“You’re a chef, so you must be good with knives too, right? Why don’t you fight yourself?!” Sen Qisheng shouted. “If you’re a real man, you should be a cavalryman and fight with real weapons!”

“That makes sense.” Seeing his opponent use weapon equipment, Lu Ran pondered for a moment and then pulled out… a cleaver!

Everyone: ?

Seriously? You’re going to listen to him? And even if it’s a weapon, why a cleaver?

“Then we’ll use weapons too.”

“But I’m not good at fighting, so forget it. Let it handle it,” Lu Ran said, tossing the cleaver. General Ha caught it in its mouth, struck a pose, and looked back at Sen Qisheng, who was mounted on his fiery gallop steed, deep in thought.

“What the heck?” Sen Qisheng blurted out, veins popping in his forehead.

Not only him, but the entire audience was also stunned at that moment.

Giving a dog a cleaver? A cleaver-wielding dog?

“Are you kidding me!” Sen Qisheng felt mocked and grew angry. With a shake of his legs, flames erupted from the fiery gallop steed, engulfing Sen Qisheng’s spear. Man and horse, wrapped in flames, charged forward like a war god emerging from fire.

“Can he really do it?!” Seeing this, even the natives of the Star-Moon Continent, including She Pi and others who knew Lu Ran’s true skills, were taken aback. Use a sword, not a cleaver! What is this nonsense!

However, Lu Ran and General Ha were not particular about such details. Using energy shaping, even with a freshly carved “wooden sword” or a tree branch, they could activate the king of swords talent. Naturally, this large cleaver could also be used. Whether sword or knife, as long as one has the heart of a swordsman, anything can be a sword.

Facing the fierce opponent who seemed to underestimate them, General Ha surrounded itself with a gale, leaping into the air. Its breath surged, its fur moving in the wind. The Blizzard Sword Intent fully infused into the cleaver. In an instant, General Ha seemed to transform into a different creature!

The blinding “sword light” made Sen Qisheng’s heart skip a beat, sensing a bad omen.

At the same time, everyone watching General Ha felt a chill.

It was as if a powerful will had dragged them into a blizzard.

This feeling… was very similar to when they were eating the fruit platter!

“Hah!” With no turning back, Sen Qisheng used his family’s horse taming technique, a beast taming skill, combined with the fiery gallop steed’s power, to strike down.

Bang!!!!

The audience held their breath as they saw the collision of gales and flames. Sen Qisheng’s spear clashed with the cleaver in General Ha’s mouth. Fire snakes danced wildly in the air, and the booming sound echoed all around.

In the instant of the clash, before anyone could discern who was stronger, Sen Qisheng and the fiery gallop steed felt a sudden chill. Sen Qisheng instantly realized that the opponent was not just a dog, but a mighty beast. His hand holding the spear trembled uncontrollably. Despite being enveloped in flames, he felt frozen stiff.

The energy compressed tenfold into the cleaver continuously exploded, providing an unending stream of force. Sen Qisheng couldn’t fathom the immense power of the opponent. With a “boom,” he lost all strength, and his spear was sent flying, landing on the ground.

“Woof!”

General Ha, using the recoil to retreat slightly, landed gracefully on the ground, looking at the opponent calmly.

Have you ever heard of the Knife-Wielding Dog?

“This is impossible.” Weaponless, Sen Qisheng shouted in disbelief. He couldn’t comprehend how, even with the power of his steed, his weapon was knocked away by a dog holding a cleaver!

He knew that their combined attack could have easily lifted an elephant!

“Thank you for letting me win,” Lu Ran said, implying that the match was over and that General Ha could have continued attacking without any resistance from the opponent.

At this moment, the entire venue fell silent.

Everyone stared in shock at the Knife-Wielding Dog.

A cavalryman’s weapon was sent flying by a dog holding a cleaver… This would surely be the top headline in Canglan Province tomorrow.

“That move just now!!!” Even in defeat, Sen Qisheng wanted to understand what had happened.

“It was Culinary Intent. My pet beast has mastered Culinary Intent as well,” Lu Ran explained. “Although your spear technique is powerful, your spear intent isn’t firm enough. It’s only natural that your weapon was deflected.”

As Lu Ran finished explaining, the crowd was stunned, and Sen Qisheng was in disbelief.

A dog mastering Culinary Intent? Did that mean the dog holding the cleaver was treating its opponent like ingredients to be prepared?

“What the hell… this is ridiculous,” Sen Qisheng muttered, his vision darkening. He couldn’t accept that a dog could use a kitchen knife and master Culinary Intent… This was the most humiliating defeat he had ever suffered!

“This dog might really have mastered Culinary Intent!” someone exclaimed.

“When I saw it attack just now, the feeling was very similar to when I was eating the fruit platter!”

“Incredible… Wait, hold on, you don’t think the fruit platter we ate earlier was prepared by it, do you?”