Lu Ran now understood why killing monsters to level up was only a reward mechanism in the Trial Secret Realm for beginners, because if this system remained, he could transform into a hardcore player and slay 10,000 Demon Cats in the Demon Cat Forest in a single day.
Even if he didn't mind the monotony, the Infinite City consciousness responsible for creating projections would probably get annoyed, considering the sheer number of Beast Trainers it had to serve.
Whoosh!
"Meow!"
Whoosh!
"Meooooow———"
Mr. Husky slaughtered the Demon Cats without mercy, becoming more and more adept, dispatching them almost with a single sword stroke, mainly because the Demon Cats that appeared later were at most Level 7 and not very strong.
"Take this, Storm Slash!"
In the meantime, Lu Ran also tried out the extraordinary ability of the Wind Cutting Sword, which drew on his physical strength to activate the Power of Wind hidden within the blade.
When the Power of Wind swirled around the Wind Cutting Sword, his blade immediately became almost as potent as Mr. Husky's, cutting through iron like mud.
Lu Ran swept his sword across, and a giant tree was easily severed, the wind blade sharp beyond compare.
However, just like Mr. Husky releasing Sword Qi, being drained by the Wind Cutting Sword like that left Lu Ran feeling a bit weak.
The weapon was great, but he couldn't overuse it since he was still just an intern novice lacking the physique of a ferocious beast.
It was best to use it as a normal weapon... The Power of Wind should not be recklessly activated unless necessary.
"Whew... It's been over four hours since we came in."
Picking some fruit from a fallen tree, Lu Ran glanced at the time. In those four hours, he and Mr. Husky had slain more monsters than in the 24 hours of the Novice Secret Realm.
Thanks to the Spatial Bag, he had collected a good number of materials!
Hemostatic Mushroom x21, Wooden Scale Fruit x14, Detoxifying Grass x3, Demon Cat's Nail x16, Snake Gallbladder x1, Rabbit Meat x4.
While the resources seemed plentiful, their total value was not very high.
Lu Ran had seen at the resource store earlier that the snake gallbladder was the most expensive item, worth only five crystal coins each.
All these items put together were still not worth half the price of the entrance ticket.
How did the Beast Trainers who went into the Secret Realm to collect materials make their money back?
Could it be that he was doing something wrong?
Or perhaps the Demon Cat Forest Secret Realm simply wasn't the best dungeon for farming!
At the moment, the only way Lu Ran could think of to earn back the ticket price was to complete the challenge mission by defeating the BOSS.
"Awooo!"
However, the thought of making back the ticket money was not too strong in Lu Ran's mind, as this time he had come to recharge the Divine Deer Pendant, not to make money.
But Doggo had been invincible all along and seemed a bit carried away, accumulating quite a bit of hatred from the Demon Cat Leader.
Well... Although he had not yet seen the Demon Cat Leader, he already hated it to the bone.
"Awwooo~~~"
As Mr. Husky gazed at the Demon Cat's Nails on the ground and howled to the sky, it was time to settle scores with the Demon Cat Leader!
If one day the Demon Cat Leader fell to Mr. Husky's paws, the reason might be that the underlings of the Demon Cat clan were too stingy, never dropping good loot.
"Settle scores, my ass, continue gathering resources. Charging up and fighting BOSS is a matter for later," Lu Ran said as he cleared the undergrowth with his sword, which had become the primary use for it—clearing the way!
While Mr. Husky might feel overconfident, Lu Ran dared not.
According to what he knew, even a simple Beginner Secret Realm's BOSS was very powerful.
Firstly, it was definitely Level 10.
Secondly, it had awakened an Attribute and could use Attribute Power effortlessly.
At the very least, it had mastered a skill proficiently.
And most times, it would be accompanied by a few to over a dozen followers, varying in number.
This was also the reason why individual Beast Trainers found it very difficult to solo the BOSS.
Under these circumstances, even if Mr. Husky had a weapon boost, he could only release four streams of Sword Qi at most before resorting to headbutting the BOSS.
"Woof!" Mr. Husky sighed.
His own Beast Trainer was just too cautious...
"Awoo!" Just as Mr. Husky was about to lament, he suddenly looked startled.
Almost instinctively, he quickly gathered Sword Qi and flung it in one direction!!!
The white Sword Qi roared out, startling Lu Ran, but soon he realized what was going on.
Mr. Husky had detected an enemy.
And this enemy had excellent stealth capabilities, having come very close to them without them noticing!
If not for Mr. Husky's keen sense of air currents and a good nose, the enemy's sneak attack might have gone undetected!
Indeed, the enemy had launched an attack on Lu Ran and Mr. Husky before Mr. Husky had struck.
From a tree, a green-furred Demon Cat that was not particularly large, but with fierce yellow-green eyes, watched Mr. Husky and Lu Ran intently.
It swiped with a paw, releasing five streaks of green light toward them.
It was clearly an Emission Attribute skill.
Fortunately, Mr. Husky reacted in time, immediately releasing his Sword Qi to collide with it, thwarting the attack.
Boom!
Still, the collision of two Emission Attribute skills caused a significant reaction, whipping up a small Wild Wind that almost blew Lu Ran away.
"Damn it, the Demon Cat Leader, how did it get here."
Seeing through the dust, Lu Ran also quickly identified the enemy and was taken aback.
[Species]: Demon Cat
[Attribute]: Grass
[Species Level]: Medium Extraordinary
[Growth Level]: Level 10
Seeing the information about the creature, Lu Ran didn't hesitate and immediately shouted:
"Exit the Secret Realm!"
"Mr. Husky, hold it off for ten seconds!"
Just one exchange with the creature told Lu Ran that it was definitely more than they could handle right now.
Firstly, the Grass Attribute Demon Cat Leader could almost merge with nature in the forest environment; if it hadn't launched an attack with energy fluctuations that were too intense, Mr. Husky would still not have noticed it.