The King of Beast Trainers

162  Chapter 108 This Dog is Defying Heaven_1

"It looks like only the two of us can move on to the next round," Bai Ling said, looking at Lu Ran.

She had anticipated this situation; Infinite City would definitely not let all six people break through smoothly. A breakthrough rate of one-sixth or one-third was already quite good.

"Yeah," Lu Ran nodded and asked, "Do you still want to watch?"

"I plan to leave first." Lu Ran was not very interested in the upcoming firework skills assessment, as he had already seen many chefs show off their skills back at Frost Moon Tower.

"Forget it, forget it." Snake Skin and the others shook their heads too. With time to spare, it was better to take a stroll along Antique Street, where they might find some epic or legendary equipment using Data Eye...

Then, they could transform from the lowly fourth generation and stand shoulder to shoulder with the giants of the first generation, wouldn't that be wonderful? n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The assessment of cutting skills would continue for a while, and since everyone had finished their own assessments, they were naturally not inclined to wait any longer. They got ready to leave.

Among those who had passed or failed the previous assessments, not many remained. When Lu Ran and the others left, the chubby examiner and the female examiner looked towards Lu Ran's retreating figure...

"Let's see what kind of dish he can cook up tomorrow!"

...

The second assessment was to take place in the wilderness. Without real strength, examinees would struggle to make any progress, and to pass, they would have to find ordinary ingredients in relatively safe areas and then use their exquisite culinary skills to cook a top-grade dish.

The strong examinees had an additional option, diving deeper into the wilderness to search for rare ingredients. That way, even if their culinary skills were lacking, the quality of the ingredients could still help them create top-grade dishes.

Passerby A and his companions had completely failed their mission to make it through this time and naturally were no longer concerned about the next day's assessments. They all began to plan their next moves, thinking about how not to waste their trip.

"Snake Skin, and Brother Mule, I've heard that there's a 'Drunken Flower Restaurant' in the city known for its exquisite performances. Rarely are we so free; should we not explore the ancient culture?" the explorer proposed after returning to the inn, naturally inclined to explore such a perilous place.

"What about them..." Snake Skin was tempted.

"Sister White Tiger and the shop owner are both women; they wouldn't enjoy that kind of place. Passerby A looks underage, a future pillar of our country, so let's not call him. We should let him focus on preparing for tomorrow's assessment. The three of us brothers will go by ourselves."

"Brilliant, brilliant," Passerby A mused, thinking that it was indeed necessary to explore the ancient culture.

With that, the three men linked arms and left, leaving Lu Ran alone in the inn's room to review the map of the assessment site...

The next day.

The seventy-two contestants who had passed the preliminaries arrived early at the designated location, a forest entrance just outside the city of Canglan.

This place had also been modified by the Hunter's Association and now featured over a hundred open-air stoves, turning it into a special site.

This time, each contestant's Pet Beast had been let out. Without the help of a Pet Beast, entering the wilderness forest was certainly a suicidal act.

"First of all, congratulations on making it halfway through the assessment," the female examiner grinned, "Although it's a clichéd reminder, in this part of the test, please don't try to cheat."

"Don't try to pass off ingredients you brought from elsewhere as ones you've hunted in an attempt to deceive us. If I find out, the restaurant and family behind you will suffer the consequences too, and it will be very serious."

"Cheating in a Hunter's Association assessment will result in you being thrown into the Fire Prison, to experience the pleasure of being roasted like a whole pig!" she said bluntly.

There had indeed been cheaters in the early years of the assessments, but once the examiners caught them, they first dismantled the culprit's restaurant, and then they stripped the contestant of their culinary art, broke their limbs, and turned them into cripples. After numerous unfortunate souls experienced the consequences, no one dared to cheat again.

Trying to cheat under the Hunter's Association's watchful eye was probably more difficult than passing a special-grade chef assessment...

"Alright, you have 12 hours for this assessment. In that time, you need to hunt down the ingredients you require and use them to prepare a dish that satisfies the taste buds of us three examiners," she explained.

"Now, the time starts!"

Whoosh.

With the examiner's words, the 72 contestants hurriedly left the stove area and dashed into the forest.

Bai Ling, followed by White Tiger, glanced at Lu Ran before quickly entering the forest. With such a fierce Pet Beast as a partner, her chances of hunting rare ingredients were not low.

Lu Ran was also ready to enter immediately, but before he left, a voice echoed in his mind.

"Please hold on." The voice seemed to be the chubby examiner's, so Lu Ran didn't immediately go in with Mr. Husky, but waited until most had left before leisurely turning around to look at the three interested special-grade examiners.

"Is there something you need?" Lu Ran asked.

The white-haired examiner chuckled, "I noticed your Pet Beast's level isn't very high, and in this forest, there are indeed certain dangers."

"For your safety, I'd advise you not to wander too deep. With your culinary skills, you could easily pass the assessment with any ingredient you choose," the examiner advised.

Shit.

Lu Ran hadn't expected the three examiners to be quite nice, even specifically telling him to be careful for his safety.

"Understood, thank you," Lu Ran nodded and then, with a tongue-sticking Mr. Husky, entered the forest.

The three examiners exchanged glances.

"This King of Sudden Death has strong culinary skills, but I didn't expect his Pet Beast's level to be that low; it must be around level 10. In this forest, even on the outskirts, beings of hunting levels 10 to 20 often roam around."