Astral Pet Store (WN)

Chapter 489 Anyone Else?

“No more?” Su Ping’s cold voice echoed in the stadium.

He stood on the spacious stage, with all eyes on him, and him looking down on the audience from that height.

He looked at titled battle pet warriors disdainfully out of the corner of his eye.

The average titled battle pet warriors would look away when his look landed on them, afraid to make eye contact with Su Ping. Only a few remained calm, as if not minding Su Ping’s cry of arrogance. “Brother Leng, this friend of yours…” God of Earth and God of Blood were surprised that Su Ping had turned out to be such a wild young man. They would have treated him as a joke if he had no tangible abilities. But they had witnessed with their own eyes how incredible Su Ping was. He definitely had strength equal to the peak of the titled rank! Also, Su Ping might be a practitioner of physical arts!

God of Earth and God of Blood were itchy to have a try.

Su Ping was intimidating for sure, but they weren’t any weaker! Most importantly, they were unwilling to let go of their chances of getting the championship! Venerable the Blade realized what his friends were thinking. After a second of hesitation, he decided to let his friends see the truth. “Guys, I think you should wait. Mr. Su has not shown all he’s got yet. His pets… are even more terrifying!” “His pets?”

God of Earth and God of Blood raised their eyebrows. Of course, they knew Su Ping would have battle pets, being a battle pet warrior. It was common to see that the battle pets would be better than their masters!

But their battle pets weren’t any less strong. Of course, since Venerable the Blade had suggested them earnestly, they would wait for his sake. After all, they weren’t the only ones who wanted to get the championship. Someone else was bound to answer the challenge.

Su Ping had become impatient on the stage. “Don’t waste my time. I will become the champion if no one else is coming!”

The answer he got was silence. Things had spun out of control. The people in the audience were gazing at the titled battle pet warriors, wondering if any of them would go to the stage. The average titled battle pet warriors were eyeing their peers who were at the peak of the titled rank.

Venerable the Blade was one of those that people had high hopes for. Only those at the peak of the titled rank would be able to contend with Su Ping. Su Ping would take away the championship if that group didn’t answer the challenge! Time moved on.

The stadium was in absolute quiet for one minute!

No one one talked. The only thing audible was people’s breathing! After a minute, still, no one came up. Su Ping turned around to see the judge. He was about to say something when he heard a sneer. “I take it that everyone is waiting for someone else to explore the way and try this wild man. Such being the case, let me be that one!”

Instantly, a man landed on the stage with a gust of wind.

That was an old man wearing a dark red robe. He seemed to be in his eighties but was actually much older. Titled battle pet warriors were able to live two to three hundred years old as it was. Those who practiced some special skills were even able to prolong their lives up to five hundred years. However, the population of the second group was small and most titled battle pet warriors would die in battle before they reached the end of their lives! “It is Master Mo!” “The Flame of Ruin, Mo Qiusheng?” “I cannot believe it’s him. I once heard his title when I was a kid!”

Many titled battle pet warriors were surprised to see that old man, a warrior who had earned his fame a long time before. It would not be surprising if he had already reached the legendary rank. After all, he had become a titled battle pet warrior a long time before, at least a century had already passed!

There was nothing strange for a man to reach the legendary rank after staying at the titled rank for more than a hundred years!

Of course, at the same time, there was nothing strange for him to be stuck at the titled rank. A great number of titled battle pet warriors were like this.

“Master Mo!” Venerable the Blade and his two friends were taken aback. Master Mo was someone they feared, one whom they had not been able to fully understand. A certain group of people squinted their eyes when they saw Master Mo going up and entering the stage. “Punk, am I qualified to fight you yet?” While standing on the stage, Master Mo grinned hideously at Su Ping who seemed to be a young man. However, having lived long enough, Master Mo was aware that some special articles were able to help a person retain a youthful look. A person’s appearance was not always the truth.

“First of all, my name is not punk.” Su Ping looked into his eyes. “Second of all, come and try me and you will know the

answer!”

Master Mo broke into laughter. “Good, good for you! Senior Yan, activate the seal. I’m going to have fun today!”

Even Senior Yan was a bit afraid of Master Mo. However, there was nothing else he could do at this point. He shouted to the working staff, “Activate the seal!”

Soon, the device was put into operation. The seal was of the best kind and was even able to fend off a strike made by a beast king at the Ocean State! There were only three sealing devices of this kind in the entire Subcontinent District!

The seal would also require a tremendous amount of energy. As such, the seal could only be applied to a limited space, such as the stadium. The seal couldn’t be placed over the city because the energy demand would be extravagant! Buzzing! Energy poured into the transparent seal that enveloped the stage! The seal could provide comprehensive protection to the arena and the audience sitting close to the stage. Using stones and rock to build the stage would mean that the structure would be unable to handle the competition between titled battle pet warriors. “Good!” Master Mo shouted. The grin vanished from his face and nine swirls appeared behind him!

Titled battle pet warriors were able to summon nine pets!

Roar!!

Roar!!!

The ferocious, sharp, and tyrannical roars rushed out of the nine swirls. In the blink of an eye, nine huge, mountain-like figures appeared on the stage, occupying one-third of the area. The large stadium even seemed small in comparison! There were dragons, demon pets, and pets of various element families! There was a large diversity of pets. Master Mo basically had pets of all the popular kinds. Those pets, be it the dragon or demon pet, had the properties of fire. Among the dragon kind, there were some with the fire properties and others with water properties. Generally speaking, demon pets were of a dark kind, but there were special ones that could have a mixture of fire properties as well. Master Mo’s demon pet was a mutated one!

“Punk, summon your pets!”

Master Mo seemed to be tiny while standing in front of the nine gigantic pets. But his overwhelming strength was evident; the wrinkles on his face were smoothed out and he seemed to be dozens of years younger. “Okay.” Su Ping darted a glance at the nine pets. Five of them had bloodlines at the peak of the ninth rank!

There were five that seemed to have grown to their prime states as well!

The other four were not at the peak, but at the upper position of the ninth rank! Counting Master Mo, Su Ping was faced with six creatures that were at the peak of the titled rank and four at the upper state of the ninth rank!

If Master Mo were to synchronize their strengths, they would find a formidable opponent. Borrowing his pet’s strength, Master Mo was unable to unleash the power on par to that of a beast king! A newborn beast king would even lose to this Master Mo! “Come on out!” Two swirls appeared behind Su Ping’s back. Flames burst out from one of the swirls and darkness oozed out from the other one.

Roar!!

A dragon cry that shook the audience was suddenly heard from the swirl where the flames were surging out! The dragon shouted more violently than before. It must have felt its master’s strong will to fight.

Phew!

A huge, hideous dark red dragon head slowly protruded from the inside. It was the Inferno Dragon! The large Inferno Dragon stepped out from the swirl. Its feet stomped the ground, shaking the entire stage. The Inferno Dragon was merely a dozen meters tall. The Dragon was in front of Master Mo’s nine battle pets. Each of the five that were at the peak of the ninth rank was much bigger than the Inferno Dragon!

The largest of Master Mo’s battle pets was more than a hundred meters tall!

Even though the Inferno Dragon was a “dwarf,” no one was able to shift their eyes away from the impressive Inferno Dragon, whose momentum was even more imposing than Master Mo’s battle pets!

Stepping out from the other swirl was the Dark Dragon Hound that had inherited the dragon king’s bloodline. The Dark Dragon Hound made no sound as it came out. It stood behind Su Ping quietly but the laziness in its eyes had gradually shifted to coldness. The two battle pets stood in front and behind Su Ping respectively. The audience became quiet. No one could understand why Su Ping had merely summoned two battle pets. God of Earth and God of Blood were stunned speechless as well. They looked over at Venerable the Blade with question marks written all over their faces. Were those the pets you claimed that were stronger than Su Ping himself?! That Inferno Dragon… Well, granted, the Inferno Dragon was a rare and good kind. However, Su Ping’s Inferno Dragon was evidently still a child! Judging by the size, the Inferno Dragon either had barely reached adulthood or was malnourished! Was Su Ping not afraid that a seventh-rank dragon would drag him down? More importantly, they could not comprehend why Su Ping’s battle pets had not grown up fully when he had become so strong? Theoretically speaking, one should have invested a huge amount of effort and resources to train a dragon as amazing as the Inferno Dragon, and it should have reached its peak! The battle pets of titled battle pet warriors, for the most part, were at the peak! Of course, titled battle pet warriors also had battle pets that were still growing up, the new battle pets. But titled battle pet warriors would not let those younger battle pets go out in a situation like that one! As for the other battle pet… To be honest, God of Earth and God of Blood failed to recognize it. Master Mo pulled a long face. He had actually admired Su Ping’s arrogance and boldness greatly when he was sitting near the stage. However, it wouldn’t be that pleasant while being the target of that arrogance. He was repelled by Su Ping. “Are you planning on fighting me with those two infants?” he asked, coldly. “Of course not,” Su Ping answered. Master Mo raised his eyebrows and put on a look that said “smart move” on his face. Still, what Su Ping said next clouded his face completely. “One is more than enough to deal with you,” Su Ping added. Conceited! So conceited!!

Master Mo felt he was about to explode from anger. He had never been on the receiving end of such contempt since he became a titled battle pet warrior a hundred years before! “I shouldn’t have called you a punk, but a dead man!” Master Mo said coldly. Without further ado, he mentally passed his orders to his nine pets. Feeling their master’s anger, his nine pets showed their teeth and made threatening gestures.

Master Mo then cast many augmentation spells on his pets. The nine of them lined up in a specific array. The two dragons at the peak of the ninth rank stood at the front and they charged toward Su Ping, threatening him with their roars! “Inferno Dragon, show them what a dragon should be like!”

Su Ping eyed the two dragons with disdain.

His order was relayed to the Inferno Dragon with his mind.

The killing intent contained in the order made the Inferno Dragon’s eyes turn red!

Roar!!!

That dragon’s roar was one that no one had ever heard before. It seemed that such a roar had originated from the distant past, traveling across eras, and finally landing on the stage! That dragon’s roar was not one that could be made by a ninth-rank dragon or a beast king dragon, but a dragon of the Star Rank! That was a dragon’s roar that could shake the universe!

That was a dragon’s roar that could turn the stadium upside down. The seal was shaking violently. The resonance generated by the super aural impact made the energy of the enchantment somewhat turbulent.

The two dragons that were charging toward Su Ping felt how their shouts were buried by the Inferno Dragon’s roar.

The two dragons were over thirty meters tall but their roar was not as powerful as the Inferno Dragon that was much smaller! Deterrence!

Master Mo’s nine battle pets were all frozen to the spot by the incredible roar. Even the energy link between them came to a short pause and was cut off!

Among the audience, the average battle pet warriors felt their ears bleed and were suffering symptoms akin to those caused from concussions!

Flames rose from the ground!

The Inferno Dragon bathed in the rich, dark, hellish flames. The magnificent Inferno Dragon threw itself forward, toward the two dragons that had been forced into stillness by its roar!

Elementary agility skill, on!

Boom!!

Due to the fast speed, a huge noise burst out in the air. The Inferno Dragon was like a burning meteorite that nothing could stop. In an instant, the Inferno Dragon had reached the ninth-rank dragon that was clearly the leader of Master Mo’s nine battle pets. The Inferno Dragon raised its huge paws; a virtual image of the paws appeared as they smashed down. The opponent dragon’s mind became clear; that dazed state lasted for merely an instant. As it looked at the Inferno Dragon that was right under its nose, the dragon was no longer as daring as before. In a fit of fear, the dragon mobilized its energy; its dragon scales stood up, adding another dragon armor on top of its scales.

Bang!! The virtual image of the Inferno Dragon’s paws landed on the dragon armor which fell into pieces the second it emerged. The dragon scales from which a cold glare was being reflected, were flying across space as well. The dragon’s chest caved in and it fell to the ground. After stomping on the fallen dragon, the Inferno Dragon charged toward the next one! Regardless of its large size, the Inferno Dragon appeared to be quite agile and flexible! “Stop it!” Master Mo finally came back to his senses. There was no longer that trace of anger in his eyes. It was beyond reason that an Inferno Dragon that had just reached adulthood could be so threatening. His heart was still racing from hearing that earth-shaking roar! Horrifying!

Energy synchronization!

Secret skills!

Master Mo rose to the occasion. He ordered the several secondary battle pets to pour their energy to the second dragon and also mobilize a part of their energy to the demon pet that was standing behind the second dragon.

The demon pet was in charge of the offense while the dragons were in charge of defense; there was a clear distinction of responsibilities.

“Eliminate him!”

After noticing what Master Mo had been doing, Su Ping didn’t hesitate. He relayed the Inferno Dragon the next commands, telling his pet to use some legendary skills.

Whoosh!

The Inferno Dragon generated more flames upon receiving the order. After generating something like a sea of fire, the Inferno Dragon dashed on. At the same time, its limbs suddenly grew a few folds. A beam of holy light was glowing on its paws as the Inferno Dragon smashed against the second dragon! That dragon had set up a barrier to shield itself and the other pets behind.

Bang!! The barrier broke. The Inferno Dragon raised its sharp claws and grabbed the dragon’s shoulder, knocking the dragon over. Due to the impact, the stage trembled yet again. The Inferno Dragon didn’t stop there. While stepping on the fire, the Inferno Dragon charged toward Master Mo who was standing inside a circle formed by his pets.

Startled, Master Mo told his battle pets to move closer at once.

The ground began to crack as stones grew out, ice was spread, and wind blew. Many vines reached out from the stone cracks, heading toward the Inferno Dragon.

All the pets of the element family were launching attacks at the Inferno Dragon. At the same time, the demon pet also resorted to action. The light around the Inferno Dragon was devoured by darkness. That space turned into a cube of darkness that no light was able to penetrate!

But the many strikes were allowed to enter.

Master Mo shared senses with his demon pet and used himself as the medium so that his other battle pets could accurately target the Inferno Dragon that was inside that cube of darkness! Many people turned pale from fright. It was a huge mess on the stage, with all sorts of rays of light. Not even a beast king could have survived that kind of bombardment!

Many people turned to the other side of the stage. To their surprise, the master of that threatening Inferno Dragon was standing there quietly without taking any precautions! It didn’t seem like he was going to summon another battle pet.

The other battle pet that was like a dragon, a wolf, and a dog at the same time, was crouching by his foot quietly, licking its paws, not showing any intention of entering the stage. …What?!

Roar!!!

While people were wondering, the dragon’s roar that had astounded everyone came out from the cube of darkness!

By the sound of it, the Inferno Dragon was still unharmed. Rather, it was even more furious than before!

Phew!

A stalwart and fierce dragon carrying purgatory flames all over its body suddenly rushed out from the cube of darkness, the fierce dragon eyes were fixed on Master Mo who was standing nearby.

There wasn’t a single scratch on the Inferno Dragon!!

Silence.

The people who witnessed this were unable to utter a sound! How could the Inferno Dragon remain unharmed after being blasted by so many pets of the element family?! Impossible!!

That was unheard of!

Master Mo, Venerable the Blade and his friends were just as dumbstruck as everyone else.

Roar!!

As it roared, the Inferno Dragon landed heavily right in front of Master Mo.

A shadow was cast over him.

Dust was still floating in the air.

Time had stopped at that moment.

Master Mo felt he was under the gaze of a creature from hell. The Inferno Dragon that was standing before him was not a dragon, but a fiend! He could not believe how violent the pet was!! He could not look into that pair of dragon eyes that spoke of nothing but cruelty! Su Ping said one word, “Kill!”

The Inferno Dragon raised its snout and cried to the skies. Flames rose even higher. The thick dragon claw that was surrounded by the golden light smashed down.

Buzzing!

Even the air was screaming, making a sound that felt like a huge machine squeaking. Master Mo was scared out of his wits. He vanished the moment the dragon’s claw was going to land on him. Bang!! The stage trembled!

It trembled so violently that the whole stadium shook alongside the stage and the walls cracked!

After the dust settled, Master Mo crawled up from a pile of stones in a corner next to the seal. A second before, he had told his pet of the stone family to take him away. Master Mo could no longer hide his fear as he stared at the cracked and broken stage. Intimidating!

Dreadful!

At that moment, he had clearly sensed that death was knocking at his door. Death was so close!!

The Inferno Dragon was slowly raising its head. As he came back to his senses, Master Mo shouted without hesitation, “I, I surrender!”

Crazy!

He was not willing to go down with that crazy man!

He would die, for real! He wanted to live. He had not reached the legendary rank yet. Once he did, he would be able to live for another few hundred years! The Inferno Dragon came to a stop. Everyone else was staring with mouths agape. The battle ended fast. Everything had happened within a minute or two. Master Mo, the Flame of Ruin, had actually acknowledged defeat!

He had summoned nine battle pets and yet suffered such a complete defeat when his opponent had summoned but one battle pet!!

That was beyond logic!

What was even more mind boggling was how the Inferno Dragon had remained unharmed after so many strikes! Not even a beast king could have done that!

Since Master Mo was smart enough to give up, Su Ping told the Inferno Dragon to return. Energy? Elemental skills?

The moment he saw that he had been certain that Master Mo’s efforts would be futile.

Where was the Inferno Dragon trained? In all kinds of extreme environments! It had been burnt by fire, frozen by ice, and struck by lightning!

The Inferno Dragon enjoyed itself in the harsh environments that the usual ninth-rank beasts could barely survive!

It was immune to basically all sorts of elemental attacks; of course, unless the strike was of unbelievable strength. Otherwise, the other elemental attacks would not harm it.

Above the stage, in the air, Senior Yan gulped as he stared at the huge mess below. His face turned red, pale and blue. He had become afraid of the man standing on the stage. He could not believe that he had thought about banishing this man moments before.

This man turned out to be demonic!

Master Mo was a powerful titled battle pet warrior already, and even then he had to yield! One battle pet against nine!

That Inferno Dragon is a freak!

He had never seen a battle pet with so much energy with such a small body!

Next to the stage.

God of Earth and God of Blood could not believe what they had just heard from Master Mo. They looked at each other and found the same astonishment in each other’s eyes.

Powerful!

That dragon was a mighty one! At first, when they saw how strong the dragon was, they had thought that Su Ping had summoned it as a joke. But it turned out that the dragon was close to a beast king in power! No, not close to. It was a beast king!

That was a sure thing!

They remembered what Venerable the Blade had told them. Fortunately, they didn’t hurry to the stage to fight against Su Ping. Otherwise, they would have been the ones on the losing end. They believed that they were a tad stronger than Master Mo; but the thing was… Su Ping was creepy! He won with one battle pet! That battle pet had to be Su Ping’s major pet. Even so, no one could say for sure if Su Ping had other battle pets with similar strength or

Sitting next to them was the equally astounded Venerable the Blade. He knew about Su Ping’s Inferno Dragon but he had never met the dragon before. He only knew that Su Ping’s skeleton was unusual. It turned out that the Inferno Dragon that had been exhibited on the street was no less threatening! None of Su Ping’s battle pets was normal!

I have quite the competition. Good for me. Indeed, with this man here, fighting for the championship is practically trying to rob food from a tiger, Venerable the Blade thought. Qin Shuhai had lost the ability to talk and even forgot that he had to find friends to go back and help defend the Longjiang Base City.

The Tang family. “That monster…” Tang Mingqing’s face was clouded.

The Tang family would never forget how Su Ping had blackmailed them. In public, they would speak to Su Ping kindly as if they had put that incident behind them. But they had been humiliated; it was something that they could simply forget. They simply hid their hatred on account of the legendary battle pet warrior in Su Ping’s store. After all, no matter how bold they were, they would never go against a legendary battle pet warrior. The best outcome for them would be to have two losing parties, but that was not a good thing for them, either. Many were coveting the Tang family’s holdings! The other Tang family elders were still fearful. They had not been able to picture what the young man was like before they saw with their own eyes. Facts revealed to them that the young man was even more intimidating than what Tang Mingqing had told them! Tang Ruyu’s eyebrows were tightly knitted together. She had been placing her hands over her legs since she arrived, but then, she kept on gripping her pants.

On the stage.

Su Ping patted the Inferno Dragon that had just walked to his side. He shouted the same old question, “Anyone else?” His voice lingered. Anyone else?

All eyes were on the titled battle pet warriors. A battle pet warrior at the peak of the titled rank had lost, rather embarrassingly. Anyone else?!

The several battle pet warriors at the peak of the titled rank looked quite awful at the moment.

They had managed to stay calm until then. But Master Mo’s defeat had put them all in a frustrating mood. Some of them were weaker than Master Mo and some of them stronger. However, even for the second group, that little extra strength would not do them any good when facing a monster like Su Ping! Su Ping used one battle pet to defeat Master Mo. The best the stronger ones could do was to force Su Ping to use his full force but they would still end up losing! No sound was heard in the stadium. No one answered the call! Several minutes had passed since Su Ping’s voice died down and yet, no one said a word! The battle pet warriors at the peak of the titled rank felt ashamed when they noticed the glances being cast on them! Don’t look at me. Why don’t you try! Some battle pet warriors at the peak of the titled rank felt too embarrassed to even sit still. Some found a way to maintain a smile, as if telling the onlookers, ‘Don’t look at me. I have nothing to do with the competition. I’m just here for the fun of it.’ Senior Yan didn’t know what to say. If no one came up, then Su Ping would become the champion. That had never happened at any Supreme League before! To have a champion determined on the first day of the official competition! Not to mention that the man had used such an uncommon way to defend the ring! Senior Yan suddenly remembered something. He stole a glance at a certain private room in the stadium. If Su Ping were to leave as the champion, then their plan would have failed. That big shot’s plan would be all for nothing! “If no one answers, then…”

Su Ping looked at the titled battle pet warriors. Most of them would avoid eye contact. Without further ado, Su Ping decided to ask for the prizes.

So that he could leave at once!

“Wait!”

Right then, he heard an old man’s voice. He said that word calmly but everyone in the stadium could hear it. It was proof that the man had complete mastery of his astral powers.

Surprised, all the people turned to look at that old man.

The old man was the previous family head of the Qin family that had returned to the public eye not long ago! That old family head had established a name for himself a long time before. The current family head of the Qin family was his great-great-grandson! He was the ancestor of the Qin family! He wanted to challenge Su Ping?! Why? One would get stronger after years of cultivation, but if he had not achieved any breakthroughs, he would still be stuck at the peak of the titled rank. “I was hoping that I could give time for others to demonstrate their abilities but now I see that I have to come up and solve the problem,” the old man said with a kind smile. He sounded so casual as if the previous match between Su Ping and Master Mo was all in the audience’s imagination. How confident the old man was! It was not possible that his head would have become muddled because of old age. The only explanation was that after living longer than people could imagine, the old man had mastered things no one could ever think of!

For a moment, many titled battle pet warriors felt hopeful.

The old man sounded a bit pretentious, saying something like ‘I would solve the problem’. But the fact was, he was merely unwilling to see that young man taking away the prizes. Of course, if he were able to indeed defeat Su Ping, that would be an effort to salvage some faces for the titled battle pet warriors present. The titled battle pet warriors would not look good if people heard that one man challenged them all and no one dared to answer to that challenge! Senior Yan’s eyes glowed. He told the staff members to open the seal at once.

Inside the seal, Master Mo was frowning. He had acknowledged defeat and then that man showed up so casually. It was true that the old man’s target was Su Ping, but Master Mo felt he had been belittled.