Astral Pet Store

“Let’s go together.”

Xu Kuang stood by the car, ready to jump in and get a free ride. “Don’t you have a sports car?” Su Ping glanced at the orange sports car parked behind them, the one that Xu Kuang drove to get there.

“The more, the merrier.” Xu Kuang grinned.

Su Ping was somewhat at a loss. He didn’t try to talk Xu Kuang out of it, though. After all, the back seat was empty.

Su Lingyue got into the front passenger seat. When she heard Xu Kuang’s words, she couldn’t help but dart him a look of sympathy.

Xu Kuang found that look strange. And yet, since Su Ping didn’t turn him down, Xu Kuang jumped into the backseat happily. He wouldn’t miss out on such a good opportunity to improve his relationship with Su Ping.

“Sir, what kind of result do you think I should get?” Xu Kuang grinned and his words were wild.

Su Ping darted a glance at Xu Kuang from the rearview mirror and grabbed tight on to the steering wheel. “You? You get what you can get, unlike me. I get what I want to get. Don’t be so arrogant!”

It took Xu Kuang a while to fully understand Su Ping’s words. “Sir, you’re good!” Xu Kuang exclaimed.

“Sit tight.”

“Huh??”

Su Lingyue had already fastened her seatbelt quietly and grabbed the handle by the window.

Bzzz!

Since Xu Kuang was leaning forward, he was violently pulled back to his seat by the inertia; that was the position he remained in for the rest of the trip.

Looking at the view flying past them outside the window, Xu Kuang suddenly understood why Su Lingyue had given him such a strange look…

“Sir…”

His cry of misery penetrated the car and echoed on the street.

Since this was the day of the finals, the street was empty and nothing could stop the car.

It was nine in the morning by the time they arrived at the venue. The match would begin at 10. They still had an hour.

Su Ping got out of the car, safe and sound. Su Lingyue was sweating a little bit. On the other hand, Xu Kuang was clutching his knees, panting, as if he had just finished an intense workout.

Su Ping led the way and headed to the corridor.

Su Lingyue and Xu Kuang followed him. “Look, isn’t that Su Lingyue?”

Several participants had reached the Top 100 in the corridor. Their journey at the Elite League had already reached an end. That being said, they still had the privilege to enter the venue from the designated corridor.

Those participants stopped on the spot and made way for Su Lingyue and Xu Kuang, although there was enough for the two to walk past, to begin with.

Xu Kuang had caught his breath by then. He raised his chin with pride.

Su Lingyue, on the other hand, was experiencing complicated emotions. She suddenly remembered a random comment made by Su Ping once.

When you were the weak one, as you walked on a ten meter wide road and just one pedestrian around, he would still stand in your way.

But when you were powerful, and you walked on a meter wide road with ten pedestrians, they would still find a way to make room for you!

At this moment, to the others, she had become powerful.

The corridor was spacious, but the others would still stop and make room for her.

They would make a way for her even if there were no road!

Su Lingyue looked at the person walking in front of her and smiled.

“Yes, it is Su Lingyue and Xu Kuang!”

“They’re here together. Do they know each other?”

“Odd. Who is the dude walking in front of them? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before.”

“Well, look at his age. I think he is younger than us. Is he a participant?”

They stepped out of the corridor. The venue had already been crowded by the time Su Ping, Su Lingyue, and Xu Kuang arrived. It had always been like this.

On the stage, some popular singers were already trying to warm up the atmosphere, making it like a full-blown concert. People were cheering, although not as loudly as they would during matches. Still, it was a lively scene.

The three of them stood there for a while. Soon, many people noticed Su Lingyue and Xu Kuang and they were welcomed with pleasantly surprised exclamations.

Since more and more people were noticing them, Su Ping didn’t waste any more time. He showed Su Lingyue and Xu Kuang to the staging area down the staircase.

The spacious staging area had been changed into the VIP seatings and it was fully occupied. The Top 5’s staging area had moved to the second row by the stage. Five seats had been set up for them and they were no longer those made of plastic, like the ones used by the general audience, but tailor-made sofas.

The front row was for the titled battle pet warriors from the major families and the government.

As the three of them found their way to the staging area, they were accompanied by cheers. More and more people were turning to see them. For a moment, few people were paying attention to the singer.

Amid everyone’s attention, Su Lingyue and Xu Kuang went to their seats.

Two of the finalists were already there.

One was Qin Shaotian.

The other was Ye Longtian.

The two of them turned around when they heard the cheers.

Qin Shaotian raised his eyebrows when he saw Su Ping. He had learned from Qin Shuhai that he was a powerful young man, and that he would have won a place in the Top 5, had he participated. Unfortunately, Su Ping was no longer qualified to take part in it; his rank was too high.

“Well?”

Ye Longtian kept his gaze trained on Su Lingyue and Xu Kuang for a moment. He suddenly noticed the young man walking in front of them. “Who is that guy?” he asked curiously. Qin Shaotian threw him a look from the corner of his eye. “Someone you cannot beat.”

“Really?”

Ye Longtian didn’t feel comfortable. This person seemed to be a few years younger. How was it possible that he couldn’t beat that guy?

“Hmm, stop trying to be so mysterious.” Ye Longtian didn’t care for Qin Shaotian’s words.

Qin Shaotian kept silent after that.

At the moment, titled battle pet warriors from two major families had taken their seats. This time, it wasn’t only the family elders who had shown up, but also the family heads. After all, this was the finals, the last day!

The family heads who had arrived were from the Ye Family and the Zhou Family.

It’s him!

Zhou Tianlin, the family head of the Zhou Family, turned around when he heard the uproar. The look scared him. He looked past the girl and the boy who had everyone’s attention and kept his eyes on the young man that no one was paying particular attention to. It’s that guy! He’s here!

Zhou Tianlin felt his blood was freezing. But he did gradually relax, knowing that Su Ping was not there because of him, based on his family’s follow-up investigation.

The guy was the store’s boss and it was only natural that he would make an appearance with the two who had used the services in his store.

That guy… Zhou Tianlin was full of complicated emotions.

Sitting next to him was Zhou Tianguang who was also experiencing a rush of troubling feelings. But he quickly calmed down; his thoughts could no longer be read on his wrinkled face. But his eyes were blinking. It was difficult to ascertain what he was thinking.

Sitting next to him was the family head and an elder from the Liu Family. They saw Su Lingyue and Xu Kuang walking down. The elder whispered something to the family head and the latter nodded. “Who is the guy in front of them?” the Liu family head suddenly asked.

The elder had just noticed the young man.

He only gave a casual look, but the elder sensed something strange. That young man appeared to be ordinary but he was producing an odd aura.

Out of instinct, the elder felt scared.

It was akin to the times when an animal ran into its natural enemy.

That feeling was foreign to him. It only made him uncomfortable.

With a frown, the elder of the Liu family said to the family head, “I think the young man is the boss of that store, some freak who renewed his youth.”

“He’s the one who turned the Zhou family upside down?” The family head turned around and looked at Zhou Tianlini and Zhou Tianguang. “Two old foxes,” the Liu family head said to himself as he saw how calm the two were. “Yes.” The elder of the Liu family remembered this as well. He wore a grave face. At that moment, the elder understood where his discomfort was coming from. It was because of this suffocating sense.

That young man was most likely at the peak of the titled rank!

An old monster in the clothes of a youngster!

“Go.”

Su Ping told Su Lingyue and Xu Kuang to find their seats by themselves. The only thing he could do was to accompany them up to that point. Su Lingyue had to finish the rest of the journey on her own.

“Okay.” Su Lingyue nodded. She bid farewell to Su Ping and went to her seat.

“Wait and see. I will try to win second place!” Xu Kuang grinned. “Don’t force yourself. Don’t get hurt,” Su Ping said.

Xu Kuang never expected that Su Ping would say such caring words to him, which meant more for Xu Kuang than winning a good place. A second of daze later, a more brilliant smile blossomed on Xu Kuang’s face. “Will do!”

“Good.”

Su Ping nodded and left.

Su Ping went to the family member’s area and found an empty seat for himself. It was the last day of the competition; he had to make sure that nothing untoward happened to Su Lingyue. He didn’t feel sleepy thanks to the loud cheering. He watched the singer with interest and enjoyed the exciting ambiance.

“Mister Su!”

He heard someone calling him.

It was Fei Yanbo, and with him came a middle-aged man and a beautiful lady. Following them were more than a dozen students, including Luo Fengtian and the girl with the ponytail.

“Mr. Fei.” Su Ping nodded and greeted him.

Running into Su Ping again was a pleasant surprise. He introduced Su Ping to his two companions at once. “Mr. Luo, Ms. Lin, this is Mr. Su, an advanced teacher at the Phoenix Peak Academy. Don’t be fooled by his young age. He is a titled battle pet warrior!”

Titled?

Both Mr. Luo and Ms. Lin were astounded. They couldn’t believe that the young man engrossed in the singing performance was a teacher, not to mention being a titled battle pet warrior.

If it weren’t for the fact that Fei Yanbo had been acting the same as usual, they would have suspected that he was having a mental breakdown.

“Titled?” Mr. Luo seemed to be in his forties. He eyed Fei Yanbo with doubt, his eyes clearly showing doubt, afraid that Fei Yanbo was saying some nonsense. Fei Yanbo understood what Mr. Luo was thinking. The thought of Su Ping’s unusual talent filled him with bitterness. It seemed that he would have to deal with people’s questionable looks every time he made the introduction. “It’s true,” Fei Yanbo said immediately with a low voice, but he gave an affirmative look in case his two colleagues would belittle Su Ping and offend him.

The two were speechless. However, since Fei Yanbo had insisted, they had to regard Su Ping as someone that might be a titled battle pet warrior.

“Mr. Su sure is young and promising.” Mr. Luo smiled.

Ms. Lin appeared to be quite detached. She nodded to Su Ping but remained silent.

As to the students following them, apart from Luo Fengtian and the other few who had engaged in a fight with Su Ping, the others were unable to believe Luo Fengtian’s words.

Titled? Seriously? He clearly was their age.

“Mr. Su, is this seat taken?” Fei Yanbo wanted to sit with Su Ping.

Su Ping could hear the student’s discussion. He said to Fei Yanbo, “The seat is free. Besides that, Mr. Fei, it would be better to not introduce me like this. I really am not a titled battle pet warrior.”

Fei Yanbo smiled. He would have had doubts but Fei Yanbo was convinced that Su Ping was at the titled rank after he witnessed how the young man killed the two young men from the Liu family.

Judging by the pattern of the spattered blood, he could tell that the two had been strangled to death by an energy hand.

He asked the working staff from the government and confirmed his suspicion.

Not a titled battle pet warrior? Don’t kid around!

“I know, Mr. Su, you’re not trying to show off. I know.” Fei Yanbo grinned a knowing grin.