Astral Pet Store (WN)

"Make yourselves at home. Ask them if you have any questions."

Director Xue gave a simple instruction and went to a chamber before he closed the door.

Loulan Lin glanced at the nearby Su Ping and snorted. She waved her hand and summoned a gray beast which she then held in her arms. "Sweety, we'll be out for fun today. Don't you always want to come out? Do you like it?"

The little beast had soft spines all over its body, but they were curved, and not pointy in the slightest; touching them was rather enjoyable. The pet glanced at Su Ping vigilantly, as it had detected a strange yet dangerous aura coming from him.

"Just ignore him." Loulan Lin snorted and took the pet to the entertainment cabin nearby.

Su Ping also ignored her. He asked a Star Lord servant, "Is there a training room in the spaceship?"

The Star Lord gave him a weird look. The former was about to reply, when he thought of something and shook his head. "No."

"No?" Su Ping thought it was rather suspicious. His instincts told him that the man was lying.

"No!" the Star Lord shook his head and said firmly.

Su Ping stared at him for a while but gave up on the matter in the end. He went to the entertainment cabin and saw that Loulan Lin had thrown herself to a couch and was feeding her pet some snacks.

Su Ping immediately remembered his own pets. He summoned the Little Skeleton, which raised its head and looked at Su Ping in confusion.

He petted its smooth head. The skeleton was completely bald; its head felt as cool and comfortable as a pebble.

The Inferno Dragon and the Dark Dragon Hound were too large, and would likely affect the spaceship if summoned. Su Ping searched the cabin and found a few bags of meatloaf; he opened them and gave the Little Skeleton two pieces of smoked meat.

There was some oil and salt left on the surface of the meat, giving off the fragrance of seasonings; it looked rather delicious.

Obviously, the Little Skeleton had never had such snacks before. It observed the meat for a long time before it finally placed the meat in its mouth and chewed it unhurriedly. Little pieces of meat kept falling from its chin, making Loulan Lin feel lost for words.

"Do all skeletons eat like that?" Loulan Lin couldn't help but ask.

Not realizing a thing, Su Ping said, "Yes."

"…Can the pet really absorb the meat if it eats like that?"

"Why would it want to absorb such junk food? It's just having a taste of the food," said Su Ping casually.

Loulan Lin was again lost for words. She asked stubbornly, "But how can it taste the food when it doesn't even have a tongue?"

"Just because you can't doesn't mean it can't. Little Skeleton, is it delicious?"

The Little Skeleton looked at Su Ping, as if considering. Then, it nodded.

"…You're forcing your own pet." Loulan Lin felt sorry for the skeleton pet.

Su Ping picked up the Little Skeleton and ignored her; he made a grabbing motion and remotely picked up the meat bits. "It's garbage food, but it's still dragon meat. Don't waste it."

The Little Skeleton understood and nodded, then threw the remains back into its mouth. This time, black mist began to form in its mouth, which absorbed all the meat without dropping any.

"This is a famous pet snack, to think you'd call it garbage food." Loulan Lin felt that Su Ping led an even more luxurious life than her. She snorted and said, "Your pet could make a fortune as a food streamer. It can eat however much food is thrown at it!"

"Excellent idea."

Loulan Lin was only making a casual remark, but this inspired Su Ping. The Little Skeleton's inability to talk was mainly because it hadn't been in touch with many people. It wasn't a bad idea for it to have some fun while he cultivated.

After all, the Little Skeleton and the Dark Dragon Hound deserved a life of their own.

They had been either fighting in the cultivation sites or waiting in the contract space. Their life shouldn't be that boring.

They should go out on dates and have fun, to enjoy life.

Elder Yan is my master's pet; he can teach all of my master's disciples. He's very experienced, so he must have traveled a lot, instead of simply staying in the contract space all the time.

Director Xue's pet can fly the spaceship; she probably knows many other skills too. They're all very independent; they can live well in the human world despite their different bodies and bloodlines.

Su Ping thought it would be good to have his pets develop other life skills seemingly left out by the system. However, he had an expert for that regard in his store: Joanna.

She knew all sorts of noble skills, such as gardening, and making tea or wine.

"You need to enjoy your lives when you're not cultivating. I'll help you develop hobbies!" Su Ping announced in his mind.

His words could be delivered directly into his pets' heads; they could hear it even while inside the contract space.

"Woof?" replied a confused voice in the summoning area.

Once the Little Skeleton finished the portion of meatloaf, Su Ping sent it to rest in its own cabin.

The Little Skeleton checked the environment and found no threat. Then, it fell apart, turning into a bone mound and stopped moving.

The beast in Loulan Lin's arms was so scared that its spines were rising. It stared at the Little Skeleton with vigilance, creaking at times as if saying, "I've seen through your disguise!"

The Little Skeleton tilted its head, while its eye sockets were empty. It completely ignored the beast.

Loulan Lin felt that the Little Skeleton's aura was stable, yet it looked rather weird. She asked in confusion, "Your pet…"

"It's resting." Su Ping felt somewhat helpless after seeing the Little Skeleton fall to pieces, thinking that the latter would wander about, but it turned out that it preferred staying put and resting.

Loulan Lin didn't say anything else. She went on that trip with Su Ping because her family wanted to know her response.

However, she bȧrėly knew Su Ping, so she didn't want to give a response that easily. So, the trip was an opportunity for her to find out more about him. She thought she would have a chance to visit the Celestial Court, but Su Ping wasn't going there this time. She felt slightly regretful.

"Huh? There are virtual combat machines here. Let's have a couple of games, shall we?" Loulan Lin was delighted to find two machines in the corner.

Su Ping was stunned for a moment. He then nodded and said, "Okay."

He didn't have anything else to do anyway; it wasn't a bad choice to practice his own secret techniques with someone.

The two of them entered the virtual combat machines. Loulan Lin said to Su Ping with great interest, "Since you're as strong as the top ten fighters of the Divine Lord Rank, it wouldn't be unfair if we adjust the settings to the Star State, right?"

"Okay."

Su Ping didn't really care.

It was possible to set either party's level in the virtual combat environment, so that the two parties would fight on equal terms.

"Do you need to record your pets?" asked Loulan Lin.

"No, thanks. Feel free to record yours," said Su Ping.

"Have you no respect for me?" Loulan Lin was slightly angry. She would act petty only a few times, but she would never give up in battle!

She didn't record her pets, either. Instead, she quickly put on her helmet.

"Let's begin!"

She entered the virtual battlefield with a great fighting spirit.

Su Ping closed his eyes too. His consciousness sank, as if he would have entered a glittering channel. Cheers suddenly burst out around him. He found himself in the middle of a vast battlefield, surrounded by a massive simulated audience.

"Bring it on!"

Loulan Lin appeared in front of him in tight clothes, completely unlike the usual graceful princess image she had. She was like a Valkyrie about to charge on a battlefield.

Su Ping lowered his head and looked at himself. He merely wore casual clothes, without any battle gear. There were different sets of armor and weapons he could choose; the fancier equipment listed had to be purchased.

Su Ping picked a random sword and simply slashed at Loulan Lin.

"You!"

She didn't expect Su Ping to attack her without even trying to greet her; she quickly dodged, becoming solemn and cold. She never admitted defeat on the battlefield. She then focused her attention and took a deep breath, considering their practice as a real-life battle. She kept telling herself that failure would mean death!

"Die!"

Loulan Lin moved quickly like a phantom, surrounded by the laws of wind that boosted her motions.

Su Ping reflexively tried to knock her away with the power of his small world. However, he couldn't sense any of his small worlds. Meanwhile, a notification popped up in his head, which said that he was unable to exert capabilities beyond the Star State.

So, this is how the virtual combat works… Su Ping understood. He dashed and then dodged Loulan Lin's sword with ease. "I can only make use of the power of laws. Try this then."

He turned around and stood still, staring at Loulan Lin who was charging at him again.

Once she saw that her tentative attack was easily dodged, Loulan Lin unleashed all her strength in the new attack. Her body was filled with sword auras, which surfaced around her; some of them were even invisible. The sword auras were sent toward Su Ping as a storm as she fought.

But the next moment, Su Ping suddenly vanished right before her eyes.

There was a boom, and all the sword auras collapsed and disappeared. Then, the battlefield in front of Loulan Lin quickly fell apart and turned into data. She found herself back to the entertainment cabin.

"How did you…?"

Loulan Lin's pupils were like pinpoints. She had felt the pain of death; a sharp blade had cut off her neck just like it would happen in real life. It was quite scary.

She breathed heavily and gnashed her teeth as she looked at Su Ping who had taken off his helmet. "How did you do it?"

"With the law of time." Su Ping glanced at her. "It was supposed to be a test; I didn't expect that you wouldn't feel a thing. You haven't mastered the law of time?"

"The law of time…" Loulan Lin swallowed. It was one of the four supreme laws. How could it be mastered that easily? She finally understood why Su Ping was as strong as the top ten warriors of the Divine Lord Rank, even though he was only in the Star State. She might not be a match for him if he had mastered the law of time and his small world was powerful enough.

"Can we have another match without the law of time?" Loulan Lin gritted her teeth, but her face felt hot when she said that. She was a Star Lord fighting against Su Ping, who was a Star State warrior, yet she was asking him to not use his greatest trump card. She wouldn't feel honored even if she won.

"Okay." Su Ping didn't comment on it, merely accepting her request.

Loulan Lin felt dazed for a moment; she glanced at Su Ping, suddenly realizing he wasn't as petty as she had thought.

"Okay, let's try again." Loulan Lin took a deep breath and unconsciously became gentler.

Su Ping nodded.

The two of them entered the virtual battlefield again. To be honest, the previous battle had ended too fast; Su Ping hadn't fully enjoyed himself yet, and wanted to try more things.

She hasn't mastered the law of time. She probably hasn't grasped the laws of destruction, vitality and chaos either. So, I have to defeat her with other laws, Su Ping thought.

Soon, another battle burst out. Su Ping moved with the laws of fire and lightning during their continuous clashes. He attempted to perform the techniques he had created by fusing laws while dodging and fighting back.

Bang.

All of a sudden, a sword aura that contained a mix of features from seven laws sliced the virtual battlefield apart. Loulan Lin—who was at the end of the sword aura—shivered and fell, with an obvious crack on her body.

Loulan Lin looked at Su Ping and said excitedly, "What move was that? My law-based power failed to resist it. I had fully mastered that law!"

"Just a trick." Su Ping looked at her weirdly. "Did you really try your best? Why don't you set your realm to the Star Lord State?"

"You…"

Loulan Lin nearly choked with fury.

What's that supposed to mean? You think I'm too weak?

"No, let's have another match!" Loulan Lin gnashed her teeth. Even though she was weaker than Su Ping, she didn't think she would be instantly killed every time. None of her attacks could hit Su Ping, at all!

Very soon, they reappeared in the virtual battlefield.

Loulan Lin angrily turned off the audience special effect and closed the environment.

The virtual cheers were rather noisy in her opinion. Looking at Su Ping, who wore a white T-shirt instead of armor and grabbed an unremarkable sword, Loulan Lin felt uncannily angry.

"Die!"

Loulan Lin attacked again and performed the ultimate secret skills of the Loulan family. She harnessed many laws smoothly and filled the entire battlefield with them.

Dazzling secret techniques were launched too.

Su Ping was like a boat floating in the middle of a tsunami. And yet, he had been moving along with the waves; of the secret techniques landed a hit.

Half a minute later, a sword aura slashed forth.

Inside the cabin—Loulan Lin suddenly raised her hand with an awful expression.