Astral Pet Store

They realized that Su Ping was not joking. He was going to sell those beast kings! Beast kings… Even legendary battle pet warriors would find it hard to capture beast kings, but Su Ping was actually putting beast kings on sale! Where did Su Ping get so many beast kings? Did he catch them in the wild?

“Mr… Mr. Su, how much for the beast kings?” The Ye family head gulped. The others finally realized the issue of money as well.

Beast kings were invaluable! They would have to pay a heavy price if they were to ask a legendary battle pet warrior from the Tower to help them catch one, possibly at the cost of all their family assets! “No more than two hundred million,” Su Ping answered. He was aware of how valuable beast kings were, while also having adapted to the “friendly” prices that the system would set. He would have felt sorry for the pitiful prices but not this day; selling the beast kings so that the family heads could better protect the city was the most important thing. Also, those low prices were old news to him. He was getting back what he had spent, since each incubation needed merely one million energy points, i.e., one hundred million astral coins.

He could make some money with those beast kings, but he would lose money on the other two beasts at the peak of the ninth rank. All in all, the income and the losses would offset each other.

The family heads looked at each other in speechless astonishment. Su Ping was not selling; he was actually giving away the beast kings! “Mr. Su…” Qin Duhuang wanted to thank him but he stopped on second thought. Oral expression of gratitude was no longer enough. He gazed at the young man, emotionally touched. “Mr. Su, if there is anything you need from the Qin Family in the future, just say so. I, Qin Duhuang, will follow your instructions!” The other family heads were surprised with the way Qin Duhuang had phrased his reply.

Qin Duhuang was a senior titled battle pet warrior that had earned his reputation in the Subcontinent District; he was known as the Raging Spirit! He had once been an outstanding titled battle pet warrior, just as intimidating as Venerable the Blade.

Why would he speak to Su Ping with such respect? Was it just because of gratitude?

Mu Beihai had known Qin Duhuang for the longest time. He could tell that something more meaningful was conveyed in that reply. That old man was too proud to act humble just because of a beast king.

“Mr. Qin, you flatter me,” Su Ping said.

Qin Duhuang made no further comment. Whether Su Ping accepted his offer was another matter; he would stick to his promise either way. He looked at the beast kings and eventually decided to get the huge scorpion that was right in front of him. “Mr. Su, can I have this one?” “No problem.” “Thanks.”

Qin Duhuang nodded. The Storm Scorpion’s price was one hundred and sixty-three million astral coins, which was a reasonable price considering its combat strength. Su Ping told Qin Duhuang to establish the contract with his new pet after he paid. The other family heads were a bit jealous to see Qin Duhuang stepping closer to the beast king in order to start the contract process. That was a beast king, for crying out loud! Titled battle pet warriors with beast kings and those without them were entirely different!

The Ye family head and Zhou Tianlin who had been standing behind Qin Duhuang were quite thrilled.

They were both at the peak of the titled rank, but just barely. They weren’t powerful when compared with all the titled battle pet warriors. There were many who could intimidate them once they were outside the Longjiang Base City. However, they could even be compared to people like Venerable the Blade after getting a beast king!

They could even be better! Liu Tianzong and Mu Beihai were trying their hardest not to let their jealousy show. They were being consumed with envy; they were regretting having ever chosen to evacuate. If they hadn’t, just maybe, Su Ping would have still let them choose based on the first-come, first-served rule! They could have had a chance to get a beast king. But they had been deprived of that chance because of their decision.

They were so sorry that their hearts were trembling.

Qin Duhuang finished the contract process soon after; it went quite smoothly. He was at the peak of the titled rank; mastering a beast king at the Ocean State was not a difficult job for him. On the other hand, a beast king at the Void State would have crushed his spirit! “Back to me!”

The huge Storm Scorpion was sucked into a swirl, then Qin Duhuang gave another command and the beast king pet came out again. Unable to hold back his excitement, Qin Duhuang flew to the Storm Scorpion’s head; he stood at a height against the wind. While in a daze, he seemed to have recovered the passion and drive of his youth!

He was standing on a beast king! He had been longing for this for a long time! He had thought he would only be able to realize his dream when he became a legendary battle pet warrior. What a sudden surprise.

Whoosh!

Qin Duhuang jumped off from the head of the Storm Scorpion, high-spirited and vigorous. He cupped his fists and said, “Mr. Su, thank you!”

Su Ping nodded. “Does it act tame toward you?”

“It has a little bit of a temper but I can deal with that,” Qin Duhuang replied.

He was able to feel how violent the Storm Scorpion was, thanks to the bond established by the contract. But that violence was not directed at him. They would be on friendly terms thanks to the contract, as long as he wouldn’t abuse the pet. Their relationship would only get better as they spent more time together. Mu Beihai and Liu Tianzong were even more envious. Both clenched their fists so hard that their fingers almost broke!

Regret! Zhou Tianlin could barely wait any longer. “Mr. Su, can I pick now?” he asked. “Sure.”

Su Ping nodded. Overjoyed, Zhou Tianlin made a decision right away. He picked the Flame Lion that was from an ancient era; a beast king with a mixed bloodline of demons and the fire family. This pet could use skills of both kinds, but mostly those related to fire.

The price was one hundred and forty-three million astral coins, equal to 1.43 million energy points. Su Ping nodded to him after Zhou Tianlin paid. He rushed to the Flame Lion at once to sign the contract.

Liu Tianlin and Mu Beihai couldn’t even fake serenity after Zhou Tianlin had picked out his beast king. The last beast king would belong to the Ye family head. He felt a bit disappointed because he also liked the Storm Scorpion that Qin Duhuang had picked; that beast king was obviously the most powerful of all. But since Qin Duhuang had already picked it, the Ye family head had to settle for the last beast king. After he cast a glance at Liu Tianzong and Mu Beihai, even that little trace of unhappiness was replaced by a feeling of superiority. Mu Beihai and Liu Tianzong said nothing. They would have been in a much better mood if they could have bought battle pets at the peak of the ninth rank before that day. However, they weren’t the least glad at the moment; comparison was odious. But they didn’t reveal their anger and thanked Su Ping as everyone else did.

Su Ping didn’t care what Liu Tianzong and Mu Beihai were thinking. He only had so many beast kings and someone was bound to be left out. He couldn’t have given everyone a beast king.

“I will trust you with the protection of our base city. Time to go.” All the battle pets had been sold by then. The family heads thanked Su Ping again and left at once. The priority was still dealing with the upcoming beast strike. Nothing else would matter if they couldn’t make it through. Su Ping went back to the store and checked the number of energy points after they left. He had nearly five million energy points at the moment! Those three beast kings combined had gotten him nearly four million energy points, while the two battle pets at the peak of the ninth rank had earned him over nine hundred thousand energy points! Su Ping remembered something. He could use the four million energy points and try the pool again! If he could get another beast king, he could sell it and use the energy points earned to incubate again! Theoretically speaking, if luck was on his side, he would be able to repeat that process and he could always have beast kings! Of course, that was when he was lucky enough. Anyway, he had already used seven million energy points. What was four million more? He tried again! Su Ping went to the room. He began the process without thinking twice.

The first pet came out; it was one at the peak of the ninth rank.

He tried again. The second was born. It was an infant; a beast king that could grow up to the Void State! That beast king could at least be sold for two to three million energy points when it grew up! Unfortunately, he couldn’t sell it at the moment. He had to put it away for the time being. He tried again. The third one was a beast king! It was a would-be pet with a combat strength of 11.2!

That beast king was from the Archean Age. That being said, the beast king was not all that powerful. It could deal with some ninth-rank beasts but it wouldn’t be as good as other beast kings.

It was a Green Blade Bug, merely four to five meters tall, like a giant dragonfly.

“This is the first time I’ve ever seen a beast king so small. This dude must have been one of the weakest bugs in that ancient time,” Su Ping said to himself.

Coming up next was his fourth try.

To his disappointment, the fourth one was an infant with a bloodline of the ninth rank.

I am so unlucky this time. The Green Blade Bug is the only one that can be of any use, Su Ping exclaimed inwardly.

The other pets weren’t bad, per se. Rather, the infants had a higher value; they could be made stronger with training. However, that was not the proper time to educate the infants. I have to sell the Green Blade Bug to someone.

Su Ping thought of the mayor. However, the mayor wouldn’t throw himself into the midst of battle. Then Su Ping remembered Venerable the Blade.

He called him at once.

“Fate Challenger,” Venerable the Blade said. Su Ping found that name uncomfortable. He replied, “You can just call me Mr. Su like before. I have a pet for sale. Do you want it?” “Pet?” Venerable the Blade asked, “What kind of pet? I think all my spots are taken. If I want it, I would have to cancel the contract with one first.”

“Never mind.” Su Ping had to give up on Venerable the Blade.

When cancelling a contract, the person would go through a period of vulnerability, only being able to summon enough strength for verbal arguments and nothing else. The time was too critical to put Venerable the Blade through that period.

“Huh?”

Venerable the Blade was surprised by such a decisive refusal.

He didn’t even know what kind of pet it was. He could cancel one contract if the pet was rare enough!

Su Ping hung up without explaining.

He remembered he had another choice, Wu Guansheng! The one at the peak of the titled rank who had been forced by him to teach Su Lingyue about healing skills.

He was Su Lingyue’s teacher! He had previously called Wu Guansheng and asked him for help in dealing with the beast strike. Wu Guansheng had indeed shown up. Wu Guansheng had gone to his home for meals many times, so Su Ping thought of him favorably; he immediately dialed his number.

“Old Wu?”

“Fate Challenger?” While confused with the meaning of that call, Wu Guansheng still answered with respect.

He had heard about Su Ping’s deed at the Supremacy League. While he had not been there in person, he was well-informed enough to find out.

“Do you have any empty spots to have more pets?”

“Yes, I have two vacancies,” Wu Guansheng answered. He was very strict with his choice of pets. Therefore, he had merely made contracts with seven pets. He wasn’t a fan of fights, either; he didn’t have a need to build up his combat strength. After all, his focus was on healing skills. Su Ping was happy to hear that. “Good. I have a beast king. Do you want it?” “Beast… king?” Wu Guansheng could not believe it. “Did you just say, beast king?” “Yes, a beast king. But a weak one,” Su Ping added.

Wu Guansheng gulped. Weak? Were any beast kings weak? All beast kings were intimidating creatures!

“Yes, yes!” Wu Guansheng shouted. He was picky but never when it came to beast kings! He didn’t care if the beast king was weak or not. As long as it was at that rank, it would help him deal with those wild beasts at the ninth rank. “Good. Come to my store,” Su Ping said. “Right away!” A few minutes later, the barrel-bellied Wu Guansheng arrived at Su Ping’s store. He began to look around as soon as he went inside and asked Su Ping, “Fate Challenger, do you really have beast kings for sale?”

Wu Guansheng wondered if Su Ping was playing with him as he made his way over. But he didn’t suppose Su Ping would be in such a mood at such a critical time.

Su Ping summoned the Green Blade Bug without explaining. The Green Blade Bug was small enough to show up inside the store. One would hardly think that a battle pet that small was a beast king!

“That…”

Wu Guansheng was startled upon seeing the Green Blade Bug. That primitive and cruel feeling from that ominous bug assaulted his senses.

He could hardly describe his feelings but he was mainly shivering with fear.

A beast king! This is a beast king! While the beast king was smaller than usual, he was sure of it.

“Do you… honestly mean to sell me this beast king?” Wu Guansheng asked again. Su Ping nodded. “Give me one hundred million, sign the contract and take it away.” “…” Wu Guansheng was dumbstruck. Just one hundred million? Su Ping made it sound as if he were just selling something he could randomly grab somewhere. But this was a beast king! “Are you sure?”

Wu Guansheng sought confirmation so many times that Su Ping began to lose patience. Finally, Wu Guansheng paid him and quickly signed the contract while Su Ping witnessed the deed. Until then, Wu Guansheng was absolutely certain that he had gotten a beast king! And he had merely spent one hundred million! Wu Guansheng had gained a general idea of what the battle pet was like with the help of the contract. He would have to run some tests to find out more.

“Remember that protecting your own life is the most important thing,” Su Ping said to Wu Guansheng. Su Ping had asked Wu Guansheng for help but he would hate to see anyone who answered his call to end up dying during the battle. If they couldn’t defeat the enemy, Su Ping hoped they would save their own lives first. Wu Guansheng was quite moved by this. He answered solemnly, “Fate Challenger, do not worry. I will do my best now that I am here. I don’t care if this is the Longjiang Base City or any other place. I will help out whenever I

can!”

He had been willing to go there, not entirely because of Su Ping, but also because he didn’t want to see so many people needlessly be killed by the wild beasts.

Those were all living people!

All humans!

Who would they count on if fellow humans didn’t help each other? Wu Guansheng had also contacted his friends on his way over to the Longjiang Base City. However, some of them were freaked out the moment they heard “Otherworld Heavenly King.” They turned him down and cautioned him not to get involved.

He didn’t blame them; he could understand why they didn’t want to go there. After all, who wasn’t afraid of death?

“Fate Challenger, I’ll be seeing you around,” Wu Guansheng bid farewell.

Su Ping nodded.

Su Ping stood by the door after Wu Guansheng left. When he looked up, he could faintly see dark clouds approaching in the horizon. He was worried.

This time, even he was afraid. Not even he would be able to defeat the Otherworld Heavenly King if it was indeed at the Fate State. That might very well be the end of the Longjiang Base City! If the city is breached, the wild beasts will get here sooner or later. The store will be the last line of defense. It’s too bad that not too many people can fit in the store. But if the Otherworld Heavenly King gets here, this is where it’s going to be buried! Su Ping said to himself. He was thinking of the worst scenarios and he didn’t want them to happen. The Heavenly King would be killed there after destroying and stomping on everything; the base city would have been lost by then. The city could be rebuilt, but how many would have to die?

In the meantime.

Xie Jinshui had located the warriors that had arrived to support the Longjiang Base City.

Explorers appeared in groups or as individual titled battle pet warriors. Some families-who had built up relationships with the Longjiang Base City dwellers due to business reasons, had also sent over reinforcements.

Xie Jinshui could barely express how grateful he was with words.

With proper cooperation, those extra supporters could match the strength of one and a half main families from the Longjiang Base City!

There were over a dozen titled battle pet warriors present! Apart from Venerable the Blade and Wu Guansheng who had been invited by Su Ping, two other battle pet warriors at the peak of the titled rank had shown up voluntarily! They were all famous battle pet warriors! There were thousands of advanced battle pet warriors who had also arrived to offer support! Those who had made the trip to support the base city, while knowing about the appearance of beast kings, were all heroic men and women. They were seemingly weak when compared to the wild beasts, but no one shied away from the risk!

Xie Jinshui was full of complex feelings. He had distributed those people to defend the four sides, all in order to help out the local warriors and families to stop the wild beasts.

While the Warriors got into position, Xie Jinshui was also managing the ongoing emergency evacuation.

Two hours passed.

The entire Longjiang Base City was running quickly. Everyone was hurrying to their positions or making plans.

Few people could be spotted on the streets; most of the general public had left their offices. The office buildings that were usually densely populated were full of empty chairs and empty tables. Most of the common people were in shelters at the moment, hiding.

Some people couldn’t get anywhere; they stayed at home and prayed. Most of them were afraid, panicking. In the meantime, the ground was shaking hundreds of miles away from the Longjiang Base City. Some titled battle pet warriors who had been collecting information outside were keeping a safe distance with the wild beasts while they were sending the updated information back to the base city. At such a rate, in less than two hours, the wild beasts would arrive!

At Su Ping’s store.

Some government agents were setting up devices in his store. Those devices would aid him to learn the current about the situation around the city in real-time.

He could go and help whichever side needed help.

If the Heavenly King was there, he would be able to receive the information at once.

He waited in his store.

He wasn’t at the frontline and he wasn’t standing on the outer walls, but he was more worried than anyone.

He realized that while he had battled so many times and died more in the cultivation sites, he had never been that nervous before. If he died, he would not return to life this time! There would also be countless people dying! “Sir.” Zhong Lingtong wished to speak but stopped on second thought. Too many things had been going on that day. She had been dumbstruck when she saw Su Ping selling the beast kings. She also became concerned since Su Ping was wearing a worried frown.

Tang Ruyan was seated on the sofa, silent.

She was more mature than Zhong Lingtong and knew more about the event than Zhong Lingtong did. The Otherworld Heavenly King’s name had filled her with despair.

She could not fathom what Su Ping was thinking about right then.

Her mind told her that Su Ping had been silly after deciding to stay, but she didn’t say anything to him. The Longjiang Base City was Su Ping’s home. One didn’t need to find a reason not to leave home.

The silence in the store was broken by some noises.

Su Ping looked up. Familiar faces leaped into his sight. “You?” Su Ping was surprised.

He saw Su Yanying, Ye Hao, and other familiar students.

They were the earliest customers of the Pixie Pet Store.

“Mr. Su,” Su Yanying said. She took a look around. She noticed that there was a new attendant in the store; it had been some time since her last visit.

She smiled. “Mr. Su, long time no see.”

Su Ping asked, “Why are you here?” “We’re going to the battlefront. We happened to walk past your store, so we thought we should come in and say hello,” Ye Hao answered.

Su Ping was shocked by this. “Battlefront?

You?”

They were not longer students anymore; they had just graduated! “Mr. Su, do you have no confidence in us?” Su Yanying chuckled. “We also belong to the Longjiang Base City. It is our obligation to step up when our base city is in trouble. Mr. Su, don’t underestimate us. Of course, you can if you want to, but not the pets you trained for Us.”

She sounded so casual. Su Ping didn’t know what to say. He was confident about the pets he had trained, of course. Those were fresh graduates and some of them were still in school. But all their pets could be compared to advanced pets, especially Ye Hao and Su Yanying’s pets. Su Yanying’s Lightning Rat could be compared to an eighth-rank beast!

But the Lightning Rat was merely at the third rank!

However, that was not a random fight. It was war!

A war between humans and wild beasts! A war where beast kings were going to make an appearance. Not even titled battle pet warriors could claim that they would survive. Why would those young people volunteer? “We heard that Mr. Su is staying. We weren’t wrong about you,” Ye Hao said. He knew that, unlike them who had no choice in the matter, Su Ping could leave if he wanted to!

All titled battle pet warriors could easily leave the Longjiang Base City!

Staying was the difficult choice!

“Mr. Su, thank you for all you have done for us,” Su Yanying bowed. “Time is running out. I heard that the wild beasts will soon arrive. We need to leave.” Ye Hao waved goodbye to Su Ping. He suddenly noticed Zhong Lingtong who was sitting on the sofa. “Mr. Su, such a pretty girl. Is she your new helper?” Tang Ruyan pulled a long face while she sat next to Zhong Lingtong. Zhong Lingtong blinked in confusion. Su Ping cautioned them, “If you must go, remember not to act the hero. Your lives are the most important thing. Do you understand?”

They nodded and left.

Su Ping wanted to tell them something more, but eventually left those words unsaid.

On the east side of the Longjiang Base City’s outer wall.

The black flag of the Qin Family was flying on the outer wall, whistling in the wind!

The majestic word “Qin” was printed on the flag.

Many Qin Family members were gathered on the outer wall; some of them were titled battle pet warriors and some young advanced battle pet warriors. They were there with battle pet warriors from the government and the outside support that Xie Jinshui had sent over. “Father, they are coming.” The current man in charge of the Qin Family was Qin Feiyu, Qin Duhuang’s second son. He was the man managing the daily business of the Qin Family, the actual family head. Qin Duhuang would only step forward when it came to critical matters.