Astral Pet Store (WN)

Chapter 741: Departure

"I can spare you if you hand it over," said Su Ping indifferently.

The white-scaled serpent shivered, knowing that Su Ping was referring to its child.

It looked back at the beast on its back with troubled eyes.

Whoosh!

The Vast Sky Thunderous Dragon prince flew over from afar. It was shocked and infuriated to hear what Su Ping had said, but it didn't dare to roar at him. It could only resort to begging. "Human, take me if you must, but please spare my child. I'm willing to go instead. I'm at the peak of the Fate State, and I have some vague understanding of the power of laws; maybe I'll rise to the Star State soon. I'm definitely more valuable to you! Please take me instead!"

Su Ping glanced at it. Since the beast was close, he simply used the identification skill.

Combat ability, 49.9.

Level, peak of the Fate State.

Aptitude, low-high level.

Tsk. Not good enough.

Su Ping shook his head. The dragon would have had mid-level aptitude if it would have broken the bottleneck and gotten fifty points of combat ability, but that was unfortunately not the case.

"You're not as precious as your child," said Su Ping indifferently after withdrawing his gaze.

The dragons had no identification skills or advanced equipment, so they had no idea how talented the hybrid white-scaled Vast Sky Thunderous Dragon was. If raised well, it could likely grow to become the new king of the Vast Sky Thunderous Dragons!

"…"

The dragon prince was stunned.

It didn't know whether to feel happy or bitter after hearing that.

Its child was a hybrid with an impure bloodline. Such mixed breeds would have a low social standing and limited potential among their compatriots.

And yet, Su Ping ignored it, a genius among the dragons, and simply demanded its child.

Did he really appreciate its child?

It felt both glad and sorrowful, as it didn't need such appreciation!

"Hand it over." Su Ping preferred to make haste, as the dragon king might come back at any time. He said indifferently, "Like I said before, I'm only taking it away to train it, not to kill it. I'll send it back when it's strong enough, or no longer needed."

"You…"

The Vast Sky Thunderous Dragon prince was about to accuse him of lying, but then it hesitated. It realized that Su Ping could have killed all of them and then taken its child away. It would be for the best not to infuriate the human.

At the same time, it was slightly convinced of what Su Ping claimed.

Is this human serious?

While it considered, the white-scaled serpent looked at its child. There was no telling if it bought what Su Ping's said, but it turned around and said to Su Ping, "Human, please take care of my child. It is timid and prone to be scared of strangers. You may be wrong about its potential… Please don't kill it or sell it when you no longer need it. I offer myself in exchange if you're willing to let it return to this place…"

There was sorrow and tenderness in its voice. It sounded like a grieving mother.

Su Ping's eyes moved slightly when he heard the emotion in the beast's voice.

He had seen countless beasts in the cultivation sites. Some were ferocious, some kind hearted, while others feasted upon humans but were very gentle to their own kind.

Classifying good or evil was all too simple for those demon beasts.

Morals were awfully insignificant compared with the survival of a species that discussing it wasn't even worth it!

"I'm not mistaken about it; you are," said Su Ping while looking at the white-scaled serpent. "Your child is much stronger than you can imagine. It has the greatest talent I've seen so far. You'll eventually know that I'm right if you ever see it again."

The white-scaled serpent was slightly stunned after seeing how calm and confident Su Ping was. It had no idea why that human thought so highly of its child.

Is there really something special about my child?

But the child was just a crossbreed and didn't even have a pure dragon bloodline…

"Give it to me," Su Ping said, unwilling to waste any more time.

The white-scaled serpent looked at the dragon prince, which was slightly trembling. It was extremely painful to watch its child be taken away by a human.

However, the power that Su Ping had demonstrated was something it could not counter.

Not even its father was a match for Su Ping. If they ended up angering the human, not only the child, but its dear white-scaled serpent would also be killed!

"My baby, I'm sorry…" said a pained dragon prince to the drakeling.

The latter seemed panicked, unable to utter a word.

The white-scaled serpent also turned around and looked at its child with gentle eyes. "My baby, you must live on and be well…"

…

Once he said goodbye to them, Su Ping signed a contract with the white-scaled drakeling so that it could be stored.

At the same time, the system notified him of the mission's success!

The Pet Aptitude Book appeared in the system space, but Su Ping wasn't in a hurry to use it. He had to consider which pet the book should be used upon, and when to use it.

Su Ping noticed the drakeling kept looking back; he said with a smile while he sat on the Inferno Dragon's shoulder, "Grow stronger if you want to see your parents again."

The contract allowed the new pet to understand his words.

The drakeling felt confused as it looked back at Su Ping. There was no telling whether it was because of the contract or something else, but it wasn't hostile to Su Ping.

It understood what its parents had said earlier.

They had been running not just from Su Ping, but also from its grandfather, as the latter was determined to kill both the mother and the child.

They might have been caught if Su Ping hadn't shown up. That was reason enough to not hate Su Ping. Besides, the human had shown extraordinary power and defeated its scary grandfather. It was then that the young beast understood the charm of power!

To grow stronger…

Su Ping's words echoed in its head. The confusion in its eyes was gradually replaced by firmness.

…

"That human signed a contract with Lin'er. He won't sell it."

"It's better for Lin'er to follow such a human expert than to be stuck with us…"

The white-scaled serpent and the dragon prince watched Su Ping and their child disappear in the distance. They looked at each other with tenderness and affection.

"My father was wounded. The sacrifice will probably be postponed. I can escort you to a safe place first," said the dragon.

The white-scaled serpent looked at it and hesitated. Then, it summoned its courage and said, "Can we go together?"

"No, I must stay." The dragon prince shook its head. "My father would be furious if I left. He would search for us everywhere. I'll do my best to calm him down!"

"But you—you may die!" The white-scaled serpent became anxious.

Seeing the serpent's distress, the dragon prince smiled and said, "No, I won't. I'm the strongest warrior in my clan. My father plans for me to inherit the crown. Besides, I'm about to rise to a higher level. My clan needs a new leader. I would at most receive some punishment."

The serpent said with guilt and pain in its eyes. "It's all my fault…"

"Nonsense. None of this would have happened if it weren't because of me. It's my fault that I couldn't provide a good environment for you…"

…

…

After flying for hundreds of kilometers, Su Ping placed the drakeling inside the contract space and then asked the Inferno Dragon to fly at full speed.

If the Vast Sky Thunderous Dragons are so valuable… should I catch some of them and sell them at home?

Su Ping was quite relaxed after the mission was accomplished; he was rather tempted as he looked at the clouds in the sky.

Dragons were Rhea's most famous pets. They could definitely be sold with ease.

"The shop has reached level 4. No pets with aptitude below mid level are allowed to be sold," said the system unhurriedly.

Su Ping was stunned. "Is there such a requirement?"

"Of course! This shop only sells the best products!" declared the system proudly.

Su Ping didn't know what to say. In such a case, very few Vast Sky Thunderous Dragons on that entire planet would fit the bill, unless he trained them after catching them to improve their aptitude.

"System, you're only adding to my troubles!" Su Ping was unhappy for having additional work to do.

"The higher the aptitude, the higher the price. The host should be determined to make the store the best in the universe!" said the system casually.

I would rather not… Su Ping rolled his eyes. However, he did agree that the higher the aptitude, the higher the price. He wouldn't suffer any losses because of it.

"Huh?"

Su Ping soon detected a Fate State Vast Sky Thunderous Dragon.

Whoosh!

He simply flashed towards the target.

…

At the same time, in the Thunderous Woods' periphery.

There were many hunters who had reached that location; all of them were hesitant, wondering if they should go further.

"What was that noise? Is there someone hunting in the woods?"

"Hunting? Are they trying to hunt a group of Vast Sky Thunderous Dragons? I think the whole forest was trembling a while ago!"

"Did a Fate State expert show up? If he has, isn't he afraid that the dragon king of the Thunderous Dragon Mountain would come down to deal with him?"

The noises caused by the battle in the woods left all the hunters on edge. It hadn't been easy for them to sneak into that place, and then a loud noise was heard when they were about to catch one or two dragons in secret. Some took to the skies and saw the energy outburst, which was a clear indicator of a great battle.

The Thunderous Woods were very close to the Thunderous Dragon Mountain, which was dominated by a Star State dragon king. Everybody was aware of them; they had no idea who had dared to cause such a fuss in the woods.

There were six members in the team, four male and two female. The old man, who was the leader of the team, was asking a fully-armed, silver haired woman, "Ms. Mia, should we continue?" asked someone who belonged to one of the exploration teams in the woods.

The silver haired woman was none other than Mia Laiyefa who had previously gone to Su Ping's shop.

"Did you hear the dragon roar? Even my rotten ghoul was trembling. It would normally be at ease, even when facing Fate State beasts…" said a young man with a pale face.

Next to him stood a seven-meter-tall beast that was dark and rotten with chains all over. The beast was shivering at the moment, even though several minutes had passed since the earthquake took place.

…