Beastmaster King-Chapter 276 - Death Forest

“Overlord? You’ve got to be kidding me! An Overlord?”

Whether it was on Stellar Moon Continent or Divine Tree Continent, an Overlord was beyond the reach of ordinary beastmasters. Typically, only Legendary beastmasters had Overlord familiars as a standard.

For non-Legendary-rank beastmasters, only those with good potential or those born into top families had a chance to contract an Overlord at a lower level.

At this moment, Shi Ze’s eyes widened.

This guy isn’t faking it. He is definitely from Beastmaster Lodge. And more importantly, the head of the lodge might very well be Lu Ran’s parent or master. This wasn’t just some ordinary member of the Beastmaster Lodge; this was the Beastmaster Lodge’s heir out on a training journey!

Everyone’s perception of Lu Ran shifted dramatically. Shi Ze could feel his familiar trembling. And suddenly, he understood why Lu Ran had the confidence to challenge across levels. A level 30 Overlord could easily match a level 40 King. Fighting ten levels higher was entirely reasonable.

The blue-white-furred giant dog before him had an aura of absolute dominance. Shi Ze was at a loss for words. But in the next moment, the entire Shi Clan group lost their composure.

Looking at Captain Doofus, with his ice-like fangs and razor-sharp claws, they didn’t even need to ask to know that this familiar possessed terrifying power. And yet, in this situation, Lu Ran casually pulled out a Longleaf Swordgrass and tossed it into the air.

The majestic giant dog displayed an intelligent glint in its eyes upon seeing the Swordgrass. It leaped up to catch it in its mouth before taking a battle stance. Its aura rose even further.

The group was dumbfounded.

Have we lost our minds? Even at its peak, Longleaf Swordgrass is merely a Superior King! And yet, you’re letting this Overlord use the swordgrass in battle? And why did the dog’s aura increase after catching the swordgrass?

No one could understand the situation. Everyone had initially assumed that Lu Ran’s familiar was at most a King-rank species, making the use of the swordgrass reasonable.

But an Overlord using swordgrass? How did that even work?

“Let’s go!”

Captain Doofus stood ready after it was fully equipped. Lu Ran turned to Shi Ze, whose face twitched uncontrollably.

He wasn’t even sure whether he should let the Moon Devourer Dog attack. Even if he thought with his ass, he knew it would be a losing battle.

“Lu Ran, you attack first.”

As he spoke, Shi Ze’s Moon Devourer Dog solemnly summoned a Moon Shield before itself. Clearly, this wasn’t a sparring match anymore. This was a test of strength.

“Alright. Captain Doofus, sword control!”

Upon hearing the command, Captain Doofus looked at the Moon Devourer Dog with disdain.

You’re a dog, yet you act just like that stupid lizard, only knowing how to defend? What a shame!

With a howl, Captain Doofus unleashed the swordgrass, sending it flying with a gust of wind. In a split second, the Moon Shield in front of it shattered instantly. The swordgrass was now mere inches from its forehead. The flying sword was too fast. Even as a Light-attribute familiar, it couldn’t react.

No, that wasn’t it. The moment the swordgrass attacked, every instinct in its body screamed danger. It was completely locked in by the sword momentum. It couldn’t move.

Even though the swordgrass didn’t touch the Moon Devourer Dog, a thin line of blood appeared on its forehead.

“Awoo...”

Its eyes rolled back and it collapsed voluntarily, surrendering.

“What the fuck? Sword control? You’re clearly Wind and Ice dual-attribute! Why are you using swordgrass for sword control?”

Shi Ze’s group stood there with their mouths slightly open, unable to find words. For an Overlord of this caliber, even a single blade of grass—let alone swordgrass—became a terrifying weapon. At this point, Shi Ze could only sigh. Whatever Lu Ran wanted to experiment with, he’d just let him be.

This wasn’t just top 32 or top 16 material. Top 8? Top 4? Even making it to the finals wasn’t impossible at all. Level 2? Forget that nonsense!

“Well fought.” Lu Ran chuckled.

“There’s no point fighting at all! If it were any other Overlord, maybe we could have put up a fight. But the bloodline suppression between the same species was just too overwhelming.” Shi Ze’s face twitched again. “Lu Ran, you really fooled me with that one. If I had known, I wouldn’t have suggested a match at all.”

“I told you that my familiar is strong.” Lu Ran laughed. “So, with this strength, do I qualify for the tournament?”

“Qualify? Of course!”

Even though their prodigy had been crushed, Shi Ze’s second and third granduncles were practically trembling with excitement.

A genius who contracted an Overlord... The Shi Clan must have hit the jackpot this year!

They would forget how Lu Ran trained his familiars—that was none of their concern. Their only job now was to keep Lu Ran happy.

“Lu Ran, don’t worry! We’ll mobilize the entire Shi Clan to help you find a way to awaken your Longleaf Swordgrass’ intelligence! We’ve got connections with a plantmaster family. I’ll go visit them right away to see if they have any solutions!” Shi Clan’s second elder beamed.

“Thank you so much.” Lu Ran clasped his fists.

“It’s the least we can do, bro! By the way, do you have any other requests?”

At this point, the two elders were calling Lu Ran ‘bro,’ completely disregarding generational status. Even Shi Ze felt embarrassed. But he couldn’t blame them. Lu Ran’s status was too high. They didn’t even know what resources would truly impress him. For the Shi Clan, the tournament results no longer mattered. What mattered was befriending the Beastmaster Lodge’s heir.

The snowball’s rolling now...

Lu Ran understood clearly. Captain Doofus being an Overlord had set off a chain reaction in their minds.

Good.

He wouldn’t hold back then.

“Actually... I’m quite interested in vicious plants lately. If possible, I’d like the Shi Clan to help me find some unique vicious plants. The stronger, the better. Preferably ones without awakened intelligence,” Lu Ran said seriously.

If a Longleaf Swordgrass awakening method was hard to find, he could at least get Fang Lan a suitable vicious plant before the tournament.

The group exchanged glances again, surprised at Lu Ran’s obsession with vicious plants. If Lu Ran were part of their family, they would have broken his legs by now.

A beastmaster genius with an Overlord-rank dog, yet you are studying vicious plants? Most beastmasters weren’t as skilled as plantmasters, but you have an Overlord!

Unfortunately, they couldn’t control him.

“This is easy!” Shi Ze’s eldest uncle pondered for a moment before saying, “We can buy them from the city lord! Lu Ran, what kind of vicious plant are you looking for?”

“Uh... preferably one that’s poisonous.” Lu Ran asked, “And what do you mean by buying from the city lord?”

Shi Ze’s uncle smiled. “Little brother, you must not be familiar with Tree World City. Do you know about the Plant-Beast Tournament’s structure? The first stage is the preliminary round. All participants must pass through the Death Forest to enter the main tournament. This forest is actually the city lord’s personal backyard.

“She has relocated thousands of vicious plants there. You could say every vicious plant in Tree World City’s surroundings has been transplanted into Death Forest. Even though these vicious plants haven’t awakened intelligence, their natural instincts alone make them deadly. Every year, this preliminary round eliminates countless contestants. Less than 100 make it to the main tournament.

“The city lord originally intended to eliminate these vicious plants to create safe trade routes for Tree World City. But then she had an idea—instead of destroying them, why not use them to train the younger generation? And that’s how Death Forest was born.

“So the city lord now has an unimaginable collection of vicious plants. If we visit her, we might be able to buy exactly what you need.”

“I see... Death Forest...” Lu Ran murmured.

“How about this?” Shi Clan’s second elder turned to Lu Ran. “Brother Lu, do you want to enter Death Forest early for some firsthand experience? That way, you’ll get familiar with the environment, making the preliminary round much easier. You can also pick out the vicious plants you want, and we’ll handle the negotiations with the city lord.

“The nine great clans of Tree World City have special access to Death Forest for training. That’s why our elimination rate in the preliminaries is much lower than outsiders. If you’re interested, Shi Ze can be your guide inside.”

Lu Ran was quite intrigued. “Sounds good. I’ll explore Death Forest before the tournament starts. Oh, by the way, are there any notorious vicious plants inside?”

“Of course! If we’re talking poisonous vicious plants, the most infamous is the Phantom Orchid. That thing disguises itself as an ordinary, delicious fruit, but it also has a hypnotic ability that compels people to eat it. But if you eat its fruit, even a King-rank familiar will drop dead instantly. The poison is terrifying.

“Then there’s the Dripping Guanyin. It hides its leaves among tall plants and occasionally drips a single drop of liquid. That liquid is horrifying. If it touches your skin, it’ll cause instantaneous necrosis. Similarly, even a King familiar won’t be able to resist its poison.

“Apart from those, there are also dangerous non-poisonous vicious plants. For example, the Dragonblood Willow. It’s said that a Dragonblood Willow needs dragon blood to grow. The city lord regularly feeds them dragon blood inside Death Forest. If its branches whip at you in the wind, it’s like a dragon’s tail strike. It can turn a living body into mud instantly!”

“And this is just their instinctive behavior before they even awaken intelligence.” Shi Ze shook his head. “It’s a good thing the city lord has control over them. Otherwise, if these vicious plants were left unchecked, and some of them awakened intelligence, the destruction would be unimaginable.”

“Is that so?” Lu Ran nodded thoughtfully.

That does sound dangerous. It’s no wonder why in this world, plants have turned into predators. Death Forest seems interesting. If only I could move the entire forest somewhere else. Even if they couldn’t awaken intelligence, transplanting them to Green Sea as guardians would be nice... If I can keep them alive.

No. I had to figure out a way to make the city lord my master. It’s time to cling onto this legendary grandma’s legs. I’ll learn a few things before leaving.