Grass Demon Cat

Now Lu Ran understood why killing monsters to level up was a reward mechanic exclusive to the Newbie Trial Secret Realm. If that mechanic remained, he could turn into a hardcore grinder and kill ten thousand Demon Cats in the Demon Cat Forest every day.

Even if he never got tired of it, the Infinite City consciousness responsible for creating the projections probably would. After all, it had far too many Beast Tamers to serve.

Whoosh!

"Meow!"

Whoosh!

"Mrow-"

General Ha slaughtered the Demon Cats without mercy, growing more practiced with every kill. Almost every swing took one down, mostly because the Demon Cats appearing later were only level 7 at most and weren't particularly strong.

"Take this! Storm Slash!"

Along the way, Lu Ran also tried the Wind-Slaying Sword's extraordinary ability: the sword drew on his stamina to activate the wind power hidden within its blade.

Once wind power swirled around the Wind-Slaying Sword, it immediately became much like General Ha's sword, capable of slicing through iron like butter.

Lu Ran swept his sword sideways, effortlessly severing a massive tree. The wind blade was incredibly sharp.

However, just like General Ha after releasing sword aura, Lu Ran felt a little drained after the Wind-Slaying Sword drew on his stamina.

It was a fine weapon, but he was still just a novice apprentice. He had yet to develop a beastlike physique and couldn't afford to overuse it.

He would stick to using it as an ordinary weapon... and avoid activating its wind power unless necessary.

"Whew... we've been in here for over four hours."

After picking some fruit from the fallen tree, Lu Ran checked the time. In those four hours, he and General Ha had killed more monsters than they had in twenty-four hours in the Newbie Trial Secret Realm.

With the spatial backpack, they had also gathered plenty of materials!

Blood-staunching mushrooms ×21, woodscale fruits ×14, detoxifying grass ×3, Demon Cat claws ×16, snake gallbladder ×1, rabbit meat ×4.

The haul looked substantial, but its total value wasn't high.

Lu Ran had checked the resource shop earlier. The most expensive item was the snake gallbladder, worth just five Crystal Coins apiece.

Even combined, all these items were worth nowhere near half the admission fee.

How did Beast Tamers who farmed materials in Secret Realms make their money back?

Was he going about it the wrong way?

Or was the Demon Cat Forest Secret Realm simply not the best dungeon for grinding out a living?

Right now, the only way Lu Ran could think of to earn back the admission fee was to complete the challenge mission and defeat the boss.

"Awoof!!!"

Still, Lu Ran wasn't particularly determined to recover the admission fee. He had come to recharge the Divine Deer Pendant, not to farm money.

General Ha, on the other hand, had gone undefeated the whole way and seemed to be getting cocky. The dog had already built up quite a grudge against the Demon Cat Leader.

Yes... despite not having seen the Demon Cat Leader yet, General Ha already hated the leader's guts.

"Awooo~~~"

Looking at the Demon Cat claws on the ground, General Ha threw back his head and howled. Demon Cat Leader, it's time to settle everything!

If the Demon Cat Leader died at General Ha's paws one day, it might well be because the Demon Cat Tribe's underlings were too stingy to drop anything good.

"Settle what, my ass. Keep gathering resources and recharging. Fighting the boss comes later." Lu Ran cut through the bushes with his sword. Clearing obstacles was what he had used it for most so far!

General Ha might be getting cocky, but Lu Ran didn't dare.

From what he knew, even the boss of an easy-mode Novice Secret Realm was extremely powerful.

First, its level was guaranteed to be 10.

Second, it would have awakened an attribute and could freely manipulate its attribute energy.

At the very least, it would have mastered one skill.

And in most cases, it would have anywhere from several to a dozen followers around it.

That was also why individual Beast Tamers found them so difficult to clear solo.

Under those circumstances, even with the boost from a weapon, General Ha could only release four bursts of sword aura at most. How the hell were they supposed to fight the boss?

"Woof!" General Ha sighed.

His Beast Tamer was just too cautious...

"Awoo!" Just as General Ha was about to lament this, his expression suddenly changed in alarm.

Almost instinctively, he rapidly condensed sword aura and hurled it in one direction!

The white sword aura blasted outward, startling Lu Ran. But he soon understood what had happened.

General Ha had spotted an enemy.

And this enemy was extremely good at concealing itself. It had already gotten dangerously close without either of them noticing!

If General Ha hadn't been good at sensing airflow and tracking scents, he might not have detected the ambush at all!

Indeed, before General Ha attacked, the enemy had already launched an assault on them.

Up in a tree, a Demon Cat of modest size with greenish fur stared viciously at General Ha and Lu Ran through yellow-green eyes.

It swiped a paw, sending five claw strikes glowing green toward them.

It was clearly an Energy Release skill as well.

Fortunately, General Ha reacted in time, immediately sending out sword aura that collided with the attack and blocked it.

Boom!

However, the collision between the two Energy Release skills still caused quite a disturbance, whipping up a small gale that nearly knocked Lu Ran over.

"Shit, the Demon Cat Leader! What's it doing here?"

Lu Ran immediately located the enemy through the smoke, his heart jolting.

[Species]: Demon Cat

[Attribute]: Grass

[Species rank]: Intermediate Extraordinary

[Growth level]: Level 10

After seeing its information, Lu Ran shouted without a moment's hesitation:

"Exit Secret Realm!"

"General Ha, do your best to hold it off for ten seconds!"

That single exchange between General Ha and their opponent was enough for Lu Ran to know they really couldn't handle this creature yet.

First, the grass-attribute Demon Cat Leader seemed capable of blending into nature in a forest environment. If it hadn't attacked of its own accord, producing such intense energy fluctuations, General Ha still wouldn't have noticed it.

Second, although General Ha's sword aura and its Flying Leaf Claw appeared equally powerful and had canceled each other out,

General Ha could only launch four attacks of that caliber at most, while this level-10 Demon Cat Leader could probably use its skills many more times.

There was another problem...

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

After the Demon Cat Leader attacked, Lu Ran heard movement from every direction. It sounded like at least a dozen Demon Cats were rushing over!

Damn it, they hadn't even intended to seek out the Demon Cat Leader, yet it had come looking for them instead.

Well, that made sense. They had slaughtered so many of its underlings... he and General Ha probably qualified as Extremely Evil Invasive Species now.

"Awooo~~~" General Ha no longer dared act cocky either. His gaze turned serious, and with the Windfall Sword clenched in his jaws, he sent another burst of sword aura at the Demon Cat Leader.

Whoosh!

The white wind blade flew forward, tearing through the air.

This time, however, the Demon Cat Leader chose not to clash with it. Instead, it leaped onto another tree at incredible speed, dodging the strike.

The sword aura missed, leaving the original tree a blasted wreck without affecting the Demon Cat Leader at all.

The Demon Cat Leader didn't continue attacking, seemingly wanting to conserve its stamina, but General Ha kept up his assault.

The next moment, tracking the Demon Cat Leader's movements, he strained to release a third burst of sword aura and hurled it at his opponent.

Mockery flashed in the Grass Demon Cat's eyes. It nimbly leaped aside again, and the sword aura missed once more. Its combat proficiency was nothing those low-level Demon Cats could match.

"Mrow!!!" After dodging this time, it let out a piercing cry. Amid a flurry of rustling, a dozen-odd Demon Cats assembled in the blink of an eye and surrounded them. Lu Ran's and General Ha's hearts nearly stopped.

Although none of these dozen-odd Demon Cats had awakened an attribute, every one of them was an elite at level 9 or 10.

"I told you-" Those were Lu Ran's last words.

"Awoo~~ (I'll be back!)"

White light flashed. Ten seconds had passed. Just as the Demon Cat Leader ordered an attack and the dozen-odd Demon Cats pounced in unison, Lu Ran and General Ha were teleported away.

The Exclusive Room.

Lu Ran and General Ha dropped onto the floor.

"That was close." Lu Ran shuddered at the memory.

Fortunately, those dozen-odd Demon Cats hadn't appeared alongside the Demon Cat Leader. Otherwise, he and General Ha would have been in serious trouble.

Then again, only the Demon Cat Leader had such strong concealment abilities. If they had all come together, General Ha would definitely have spotted them earlier.

"So, still want to fight them?" Lu Ran glanced at General Ha.

"Woof!" General Ha sheepishly set down the sword in his mouth and gave him an innocent look.

He indicated that he would follow Lu Ran's arrangements: train first, then settle everything later.

A Snowfield Dog could wait ten years for revenge.

"What a waste, what a waste. We only got a little over four hours of charging." Lu Ran winced.

Still, this was so hard. Was even an easy-mode Novice Secret Realm this difficult? No wonder Little White Dragon had said solo clears were tough.

If they hadn't been able to escape combat back there, the only better solution Lu Ran could think of was to have General Ha eat an Energy Surge Fruit and use the Divine Deer Pendant to attempt an explosive burst of power.

As for clearing it solo...

It looked like they would have to wait until General Ha reached a higher level and mastered Energy Flow before trying again.

That Demon Cat was nimble, making individual shots of sword aura difficult to land. But once General Ha mastered Energy Flow, he could fire sword aura in rapid succession, which should catch his opponent off guard.

Or...

Learning Wings of Wind and gaining aerial superiority was another way to win.

Unfortunately, General Ha hadn't learned either yet.

Lu Ran took out two woodscale fruits, bit into one himself, and tossed the other to General Ha.

At that moment, Lu Ran noticed he seemed to have quite a few missed messages. Who were they all from?

Lu Ran opened the Character Card's communications interface.

Pig Farmer: [Y-you made the rankings already... how did you do it?]

Little White Dragon: [Awesome, absolutely awesome. Congratulations.]

Five Poisons Cult Saintess: [?]

Five Poisons Cult Saintess: [Where are you? Don't tell me you're still in the Secret Realm!]

Communications actually worked inside Secret Realms too, but only between Beast Tamers who were on the same team and inside the same Secret Realm.

If Lu Ran was inside a Secret Realm and someone else was outside, they couldn't contact each other.

Likewise, if Lu Ran was in Infinite City and someone else was on Blue Star, they couldn't contact each other either.

"Huh?" Looking at everyone's messages, Lu Ran was a little baffled.

"Woof?" General Ha gave him a questioning look.

"We performed that badly, and we even relied on weapons, yet we still made the Divine Pet Rankings? You've got to be kidding. How lousy is everyone else?"

"Awoo!?" General Ha immediately stood up, his gloom over being toyed with by the Demon Cat vanishing. What? I made the rankings? What place?

"They didn't say. I'll ask."

Lu Ran replied to Fang Lan: [I'm in the Exclusive Room. Just got out of the Secret Realm. Um, did General Ha make the rankings? Why is everyone messaging me? That can't be right. We had a miserable time in there and nearly got killed.]

Fang Lan replied instantly: [I want to hit you! Stop humblebragging! But yes, he made it. General Ha is tenth. Only two of the ten spots belong to Intermediate Extraordinary species. Also, what the hell is this sword aura business? Compared to yours, all those other reasons for ranking-surviving a direct hit from a hard-mode boss, locking a boss down for ten seconds, and so on-pale in comparison.]

Lu Ran: [Only tenth...]

Originally, Lu Ran hadn't thought General Ha could make the rankings yet. But now that he had, didn't tenth mean dead last?

Had people already reached hard-mode Novice Secret Realms?

They were probably working in teams, and they must have been newcomers from a month ago. Otherwise, they couldn't possibly have progressed so quickly.

Fang Lan: [You still think that's too low? You two made the rankings at the lowest level!]

Lu Ran smiled: [Really? On second thought, we couldn't rank that high anyway. We relied on extraordinary weapons to fight above our level, so that counts as outside assistance. We probably lost plenty of points for it. If I remember correctly, the Divine Pet Rankings judge a pet beast's potential based on standout achievements in battle, right? General Ha probably made it because he grasped Energy Release in just two days. That's the key.]

Fang Lan: [So you really did use a sword-type weapon? That's what people at the Beast Taming Plaza are saying too. Pfft! They're all calling it an unorthodox gimmick, all flash and no substance.]

Lu Ran: [Don't worry about them. Did you forget the Beast Taming skill I told you about, Super Beast Mimicry? I don't want to imitate a husky, so I can only have General Ha imitate me... Remember, when I studied swordsmanship at the Dojo, the old master called me a super genius! Unfortunately, I got into shooting afterward, so I stopped after two and a half years of sword training.]

Fang Lan: [You don't want to imitate General Ha... why do I feel like you've done it better than anyone? Making a dog learn swordsmanship? That's downright devious.]

Lu Ran: [???]

He didn't want to talk to Fang Lan anymore. Wait, where was General Ha? Lu Ran hadn't heard anything from him for a while.

Turning his head, he saw General Ha lying dejectedly in the corner, drawing circles with a paw and muttering about being only tenth, dead last. Divine Pet Rankings, I'll remember this grudge...

Lu Ran broke into a sweat. What, do you want to tear down the Divine Pet Rankings someday?