Chapter 56: Beast King

“Your savings card ending in 2767 received an income of 1,010,000 yuan on June 24 at 19:17. Current balance: 1,211,791 yuan. [Alliance Pet Beast Bank]”

For Lu Yu, the most marvelous sound in the world was the notification of an incoming transfer to his account.

He couldn’t wait to engage in some retaliatory spending.

Just as he was about to leave, Supervisor Wang called out to him:

“If you can advance to the Silver rank before next month, you should pay more attention to the Alliance’s tasks and events. You might encounter some unexpected surprises.”

As a middle-ranking leader in the intelligence center of the Dayuan City League, he also heard some rumors. It seems that the deputy president of the Pet Beast Association was going to publicly reveal a special secret realm, open to all Silver-ranked pet beast masters.

A special secret realm signifies endless opportunities and wealth!

Although Lu Yu is currently just in the mid-stage of the Red Copper rank, these geniuses can’t always be judged by common sense. It doesn’t hurt to do a favor and give a reminder.

If he guesses wrong, it’s no big deal, but if he’s right, the other party will remember his kindness.

It’s a win-win situation.

“Supervisor Wang is so quick to act!”

Xu Xiaotao looked on enviously. She also wanted to invest in Lu Yu but sadly realized something: she had just joined the job, was still clueless about the work, let alone insider news, and finally sulked.

Lu Yu pondered for a moment and responded, “Thanks.”

Then he turned and left.

The rest of the property owners also went back to their respective homes to share the good news with their families and prepare for making bone-strengthening ointments.

Within the group of three, Songyue watched Lu Yu’s retreating figure with a lost gaze.

From start to finish, Lu Yu didn’t interact much with them. Although friendly, he maintained a sense of distance.

The furthest distance between people is not hostility, but politeness!

This is still fine. Even the slow-witted Zhao Bin realized something was amiss, hesitated, and didn’t know if he should offer some comfort.

Chen Chi, unable to bear seeing his childhood friend in distress, also felt relieved inside.

Knowing that they belong to different worlds should lead to giving up, right?

However, what they didn’t know was that Songyue wasn’t upset because Lu Yu didn’t pay attention to them, but because she saw the fleeting tattoo on Lu Yu’s hand.

There was a time when she wanted to be a tattoo artist, which led to a stern lecture from her parents. Though she woke up to reality, she had learned some knowledge in the process, such as special tattoo patterns.

For example… a succubus mark!

To think that a man who looks so abstinent actually got a tattoo representing desire was quite the stark contrast.

She liked him even more now!

…………………..

On the other side, Lu Yu, who was unaware that the secret rite pattern from Lilith had damaged his reputation, was reflecting on something.

Retaliatory spending is not advisable!

After leaving the Emerald Community, he went straight to one of the famous three major commerce associations in Dayuan City—Dark Moon Commerce.

A large chain store that sells a vast array of extraordinary items and magic potions.

The glamorous entrance, with its pavilions, carved railings, and jade stonework, was impressive, and the merchandise inside was dazzling, overwhelming Lu Yu. After seeing the prices, he became disorganized!

Their main selling point is one word—expensive!

The lackey-level items are acceptable, costing about a hundred thousand in total. But from the elite tier onwards, prices start at a hundred thousand, or even several hundred thousand. The leading tier materials start at a million. (Materials refer to organs and body parts of pet beasts that contain extraordinary forces, with renewable ones being cheaper and non-renewable ones more expensive.)

His “fortune” could, at best, buy one of the most common leading tier materials.

This wasn’t retaliatory spending; it was his wallet seeking revenge on him!

Poverty is like the wind, brushing against his cheek, bringing with it a hint of mocking laughter.

“No matter how hard it gets, the kids can’t suffer. I am, after all, the Master of Secret Foods, capable of extracting the essence of all things. If need be, I’ll extract more materials to sell back later!”

Lu Yu reassured himself against his will, calmed his emotions, and started pondering another matter.

That is the system that Little Spider will follow in the future, which relates to the materials he needs to purchase today.

The system here doesn’t refer to skill proficiency nor advancement in power levels, but a comprehensive direction of improvement.

Like building a house, you must lay a good foundation, have the right blueprints, and use the right materials to construct a sturdy home.

In the world of beast mastery, aside from some auxiliary professions, there are two mainstream systems—one focuses on individual strength, known as the [War King].

Most pet beasts follow this path, including some who are embodied through a beast master’s gear. Through constant battle, they improve their strength, gathering mighty power for themselves.

The other path is the [Beast King], which, as the name suggests, relies on the power of groups.

Representative examples include insect types; for example, an insect queen sacrifices her own strength for astonishingly terrifying reproductive capabilities. She nurtures countless offspring that ravage everything in their path.

There are also collective network creatures, omnipresent spores, special plants, and so on…

Both of these paths lead to becoming a [King].

Each system has its advantages and disadvantages. The Beast King system is invincible when resources are plentiful, but it’s useless when resources are scarce, like managing just a couple of cats.

Moreover, to control a larger number of subordinate beasts, the Beast King must sacrifice certain aspects, such as weakening physical strength or enhancing reproductive capabilities, in exchange for a wider range of mental influence.

The War King system is weaker in the early stages but can make a comeback in the mid to late phases. However, it cannot contend with a massive horde of beasts until a certain level of strength is reached, relying on beheading tactics to dismantle the opposition.

Beyond this, Lu Yu found a third system, known as the [Master] system as told by Lilith, which can be considered a [Dominant] system.

It possesses the individual strength of a War King, along with the ability to create controlled beasts, almost a perfect system.

But the requirements are incredibly high. After all, a pet beast cannot be expected to possess a [Domain] from birth, and if it does acquire the power to open a secret realm, then the choice of system becomes irrelevant.

A dominant push ends everything!

Therefore, in Lu Yu’s view, there are two prerequisites to follow the [Dominant] system. One must have the potential of a sovereign; without sufficient strength, all else is meaningless.

The second is to have an alternative ability to a [Domain].

For example, the Void Mother Hive, hidden deep within the void, is much safer than a typical insect queen. It need not fear beheading strategies. Moreover, it can grow alongside Little Spider, increasing the number of controlled beasts as strength improves. When Little Spider becomes a War King, it will naturally ascend to a Beast King, combining the two to form a dominion.

The Threads of the Specter also have this potential, forcibly turning lives into one’s puppets, effectively another form of controlled beast.

Thus, Lu Yu’s current goal is to make up for Little Spider’s deficiencies and choose suitable attribute skills, opening up different attribute skill combinations.

They can be briefly divided into four types, depending on the need.

The first one to improve is physique, necessitating enhancement type skills. The second is the power of the silk threads, which can be strengthened to impart high damage with added special properties. The third is the collective mind web, aura type skills to bolster the controlled beasts with buffs. The fourth and last is to acquire spatial fragments to create spatial-type controlled beasts.

After clarifying his thoughts, Lu Yu felt an instant sense of clarity and said to the nearby guide—a tall, curvaceous woman wearing a cheongsam and stockings:

“Hello, I’d like to buy…”