Pig Farmer Offered a Treasure

In the end, Lu Ran told Pig Farmer to wait for him at the Arena.

The two of them had crossed paths often enough to count as fate, and after all this special training, General Ha really did need a whetstone to test himself against.

Rock opponents were renowned for their defenses, and neither he nor General Ha had fought one before.

Besides, Wild Boar had thick skin and tough flesh. They could treat this as a chance to gain experience fighting Rock creatures in advance.

This time, Lu Ran did not plan to let General Ha fight with the Windfall Sword...

He wanted to see whether General Ha could break through the opponent's defenses with his own strength. If he could not, or if the damage was too low, then Energy Compression would have to be the next training goal.

Pig Farmer: [Thanks, boss! See you at the Arena!]

Lu Ran left the Exclusive Room, but rather than heading straight to the Arena, he first went to the Beast Taming Plaza to buy food supplies.

He bought the same food as before, but did not buy any more Energy Surge Fruit.

Initially, he had wanted to use Energy Surge Fruit as a trump card when he and General Ha tackled Secret Realms. Who could have known that after eating five during regular training, General Ha would master that berserk state of Energy Flow all on his own...

What did they need the fruit for now?

Later on, he could look for similar resources with even stronger effects...

If anyone asked, it was because General Ha liked them.

Definitely not because they made training easier.

Once he finished buying ingredients, Lu Ran was ready to leave for the Arena. Yet somehow, he found himself walking to the center of the plaza to take a look at the Divine Pet Rankings.

After a week, the rankings had undergone a complete overhaul. On the Extraordinary Pet Ranking, for instance, the Black Bear that had been the first to make the list had now been pushed all the way down to tenth.

And sure enough, Fang Lan was sitting in sixth place!

[Ranked divine pet species: tarantula.]

[Attribute: Poison]

[Species rank: high extraordinary]

[Growth level: 5]

[Beast Tamer: Five Poisons Cult Saintess]

[Reason for ranking: evolved and mutated from an unusually colored Great Xia Tarantula. A mighty species that awakened potent venom. In an Arena battle, it poisoned a level 8 high extraordinary species Yangtze Alligator into collapse within three seconds, overcoming a three-level gap!]

"Impressive. Seriously impressive." Even Lu Ran could not help marveling at Fang Lan's record. Her achievement carried real weight.

Although General Ha had overcome a four-level gap, his opponent had only been an intermediate extraordinary Demon Cat, and he had used a weapon, too.

As for Fang Lan's opponent... Lu Ran thought for a moment about the Yangtze Alligator. Was that not the creature commonly called a "pig-woman dragon"?

Its modern scientific name was the Chinese alligator.

Well, with so many Beast Tamers around, all sorts of strange pets were turning up.

Lu Ran remembered seeing someone online dress a crocodile in a maid outfit. People really knew how to have fun.

It would be a waste of that talent if they did not become Beast Tamers...

Lu Ran kept looking and discovered that the pet evolved and mutated from a "macaque," currently in ninth place on the Extraordinary Pet Ranking, had the lowest species rank. Like General Ha, it was intermediate extraordinary. Its ranking assessment also cited incredible aptitude, saying it could fight above its level thanks to the Fire skills it had grasped.

"Monkeys are pretty smart animals. Could a pet's aptitude for learning be related to its intelligence before being contracted?"

Dogs were fairly intelligent by animal standards. Besides, General Ha had lived with Lu Ran for over a year, and Lu Ran had taught him plenty during that time. Perhaps that early period of learning and refinement had contributed to his ability to learn after evolving.

Still, what surprised Lu Ran most was actually the pet in third place. Even first place had not astonished him this much.

The top-ranked divine pet was a level 9 eagle, a Lightning raptor. Its attribute was renowned for destructive power, and combined with its ability to fly, it currently had plenty of outstanding combat feats.

Second place belonged to the Northeast Tiger from before, which had also risen from level 7 to level 9.

But third place was merely a turtle. Its reason for ranking was that, at level 8, it had withstood an attack from a level 10 low leader species creature and suffered only minor injuries.

"I think Fang Lan mentioned this turtle to me. In a game, wouldn't it be a frontline tank, built to soak up damage? Even taking a beating can get you ranked... pretty fair."

"With a whole set of weapons and equipment, General Ha should be strong enough to deal with the Grass Demon Cat now. I wonder where he'll rank after defeating the Demon Cat Leader?"

Lu Ran intended to give it a try once he got back.

Mostly because he had bought an entire month's worth of food this time, spending a lot of Crystal Coins...

He did not have many Crystal Coins left. It was time to clear Secret Realms and make money.

With the several houses his parents had left him, his eight-figure savings, and ongoing royalties from research patents, Lu Ran had thought he would never have to worry about money in his life...

But no, Infinite City had overturned the currency system and switched to Crystal Coins. He had to start earning all over again.

With the thought that it was time to make money, Lu Ran made his way to the Arena.

The Arena at the Infinite Pool looked like an ancient Roman colosseum.

Viewed from above, it was oval-shaped and built entirely of stone. Before he even got close, Lu Ran's keen nose picked up the scent of blood. Together with the Arena's ruined walls and crumbling architecture, it made the place look particularly sinister and frightening.

"Hahahaha! I won today and earned 200 Crystal Coins! Come on, let's eat out. It's been ages since I've had meat."

If you encounter advertisements such as "Are you a real person?", simply ignore and close them. Do not scan any QR codes or send text messages!

"Damn it, I lost everything. I'm never gambling again!"

"In beast battles, being bad is the original sin."

"A Beast Tamer with a fox pet showed up in Zone Two today. Such delicate, handsome features. I mean the fox."

As soon as Lu Ran approached, he heard voices from every direction. The Arena was not exactly crowded, but there were still around a hundred people present.

"Over here!" Pig Farmer spotted Lu Ran the moment he arrived and waved to him from afar.

Before long, the two met up.

Pig Farmer said happily, "I'll book a private battle room. Let's have a good fight."

Infinite City's Arena was divided into main battle areas and private battle rooms.

The former could only be used by Beast Tamers participating in random matchmaking, or for certain large-scale competitions. In the main areas, spectators seated along the walls could watch the entire fight.

A private battle room, on the other hand, was essentially a private session for two people. They would enter the Arena's underground complex, where there were separate battle areas.

Fang Lan was currently active in the main areas, taking part in matchmaking battles every day. If the two opponents wagered on the result, the winner could earn Crystal Coins, making it another way to earn money. However, once a strong Beast Tamer demonstrated a certain level of ability, there generally would not be any fools willing to bet against her.

"Let's go, then. Though I should mention, I don't have much time," Lu Ran said.

"Ah..." Pig Farmer looked devastated. "Actually, I found out that the examiner handling my guild assessment also uses a Wind pet for the test... so I wanted to cram in some practice today."

"Um... could you spar with me a little longer? I'll pay ten Crystal Coins an hour, and cover all the healing and arena fees!" Pig Farmer gritted his teeth.

His pet was a little slow compared with Wind pets... he had to get used to fighting them as soon as possible.

Lu Ran felt a headache coming on. Just then, Pig Farmer suddenly remembered something and said, "Right, and I'll throw this in, too. You can have it."

"What is it? Don't tell me it's Postpartum Care for Sows. I don't want that."

"What? No!" Pig Farmer's face turned bright red.

If it isn't, then why the hell are you blushing... Lu Ran found his reaction odd.

As he spoke, Pig Farmer took a resource out of his spatial backpack.

It was a green leaf.

Lu Ran looked over.

[Name]: Awakening Leaf

[Grade]: Advanced

[Description]: Upon consumption, has a certain chance of allowing an ordinary creature to evolve into an extraordinary one.

"This dropped for me in a Secret Realm. It isn't worth much and it's hard to sell, so I'll give it to you as well."

Lu Ran: ?

Do you even know how to talk to people?

Shouldn't you be talking it up as "extremely valuable and super rare"?

Putting it that way makes General Ha and me sound cheap...

Forget it... we country folk are just honest like that... Lu Ran felt helpless.

"All right, I'll spar with you a little longer. Forget the Crystal Coins. I'm sure you're short on them right now, too. Just give me the leaf. If you pass the assessment, treat me to a big meal."

"Thank you!" Pig Farmer's eyes lit up. What a good guy!

As he spoke, he handed the Awakening Leaf to Lu Ran and said, "I asked around. Beast Tamers actually use Awakening Leaves to screen pets for aptitude. When picking their second or third pet in the real world, they feed an Awakening Leaf to the candidate first. If it can awaken into an extraordinary creature, that means its aptitude is good. If it can't, its aptitude is poor, and it isn't worth contracting."

"Beyond that, if its species rank is high after awakening, you definitely can't go wrong contracting it. If its species rank is mediocre, then the Beast Tamer has to decide based on their own expectations."

"This method guarantees you can pick the strongest second pet, but it takes a huge number of Awakening Leaves... back then, tons of Beast Tamers challenged the Secret Realm that dropped them."

"But later, apparently higher-level Secret Realms started offering a more reliable substitute. That left Awakening Leaves with no market, and nobody farmed them anymore. I'm not planning to raise a second pet for now. If you need one, boss, you can take this and try your luck..."

"Though the odds aren't great..." Pig Farmer did his best to explain everything, but when he remembered the odds at the end, he scratched his head sheepishly.

He was strapped for cash and could not offer anything better. As he had said, the market had already phased this item out.

"It's fine. I'm actually pretty interested in this." Lu Ran studied the Awakening Leaf. He had not even known such a resource existed.

"Which Secret Realm did you get it from?"

"Awakening Island, an easy Novice Secret Realm. Some other Trainee Members from the guild invited me to team up for it. This was my clear reward," Pig Farmer said.

Lu Ran committed the Secret Realm's name to memory. It did seem vaguely familiar.

He had put the whole matter of a second pet out of his mind. After all, he would not receive his second Contract Card until General Ha reached level 10 and cleared a Breakthrough Secret Realm.

But this awakening herb had caught Lu Ran's interest. Screening a second pet's aptitude...

It seemed he could do that ahead of time, too. After all, who would not want a more talented pet?

As the king of Green Sea City's wildlife, he knew far too many animals: the Insect King, crows that understood humans, the stray cat boss skilled at stealing and slacking off, the Old River Turtle that had lived for ages...

When the time came, he could farm some Awakening Leaves for them to eat and pick whichever had the best aptitude as his second pet. That sounded pretty good, too.

Except... creating extraordinary creatures on a large scale would practically amount to raising a private army, wouldn't it? Damn, that sounded criminal as hell. Would the cops haul him away?