Astral Pet Store

Their hair and their shirts fluttered in the wind.

They were frozen on the spot.

The young men struggled but managed to turn back around. Their hearts were trembling; they felt a pair of eyes that should belong to demons were staring at them.

Once they had a visual, they convinced themselves that they were just being silly. It was a dragon coming down from the sky.

Standing on the dragon’s shoulder was a man with arms crossed in front of his chest. He coldly looked down at everything from a height.

The young men were sure he was the source of that killing intent they felt.

“That is...”

The beaten-up boy outside the seal had been pushed away by the dragon. He crawled up and stared at the beast. To his surprise, it had a striking resemblance to the Inferno Dragon breed!

Still, it was different from the images of Inferno Dragons in the Illustrated Book.

The beaten-up boy soon noticed the person standing on one of the dragon’s shoulders. Not even sunlight would be enough to thaw the ice in that pair of eyes.

Him?

The battered student widened his eyes in disbelief.

He would have never expected to see Su Ping there.

“Huh?”

Su Ping had also noticed that beaten-up boy, a familiar person. He remembered immediately.

“Xu Kuang?”

The blood stains he had and his overall embarrassing state left Su Ping seething.

Xu Kuang was proof of what was going on in the Valiant Academy.

He remembered that had also enrolled in the Valiant Academy, hoping to further his studies. He was able to enter because of his performance at the Elite League.

How come he ended up like this?

Whoosh!

Su Ping lifted his hand. He used his astral powers to pull Xu Kuang from the ground and to see him up close.

Xu Kuang didn’t resist; he was suddenly unable to control the tears.

He could hardly describe the feeling of meeting old acquaintances in that unfamiliar place.

“You know him?”

Mo Fengping was surprised.

“What has happened to you?” Su Ping didn’t answer Mo Fengping’s question. He was more concerned about Xu Kuang.

The latter calmed down after his burst of emotion. He flushed in embarrassment and lowered his head. “I’m a loser. I wouldn’t be like this if I could be a little bit stronger.”

“Aren’t you studying here?” Su Ping gazed at Xu Kuang

Mo Fengping was startled. He took another look at Xu Kuang; something came to Mo Fengping’s mind that rendered him pale with fright.

“I, I am.” Xu Kuang felt even more ashamed. He felt too insulted to speak out. “Most students are from the major families of other base cities. They form groups, gangs. I didn’t join any so I was marginalized.” He twisted the truth a bit to recover a bit of face.

He had never been unwilling to join one. He had wanted to but no group wanted to take him in.

Those parties, or groups, had their own rules and requirements in the academy. He didn’t pass the tests and was considered too much of a loser that he couldn’t even qualify to be someone’s minion.

He had returned to being his ordinary self without the Dark Dragon Hound. He wouldn’t have performed so stunningly at the Elite League if he had relied completely on himself and his own battle pets.

Unsurprisingly, he became the worst of the students once he got there. All the dreams and hopes he had when he joined the academy had been crushed into pieces.

He worked hard, very hard, but it wasn’t enough to catch up with the others. It just so happened that the Valiant Academy students had to practice physical skills and secret skills, which needed an extensive amount of time. It couldn’t be done in an express program. Moreover, Xu Kuang lacked the resourceful background that the other students had; he was unable to buy a great deal of potions and skill books; personal effort would meant little in such a case.

That was the reality.

Even giving 120% of your strength would still lead you to fail.

Su Ping pulled a long face. He had gained a general idea of the Valiant Academy based on Xu Kuang’s description. “And my sister?” Su Ping asked.

Xu Kuang immediately understood why Su Ping was there. “Your sister is a different story. She has the Moonfrost Dragon that you gave her and the teachers love her. She’s not weak herself. Some clubs invited her soon after she arrived.”

“Are you aware that she’s missing?” Su Ping frowned. Xu Kuang didn’t sound as if he knew.

Indeed, Xu Kuang was stunned. “Missing? How? I thought she was cultivating on campus. How could she go missing?”

“She’s been missing for seven days. Haven’t you heard anything? Don’t you stay in touch?” Su Ping’s face was even more clouded.

Xu Kuang blushed. “My dear teacher, you can see my situation. Your sister is the teacher’s pet. I couldn’t have talked to her often; our standing is like that of a servant and a princess. Any spare time I can get I spend it on cultivation and dealing with those bullies. I wouldn’t even have the time to disturb your sister...”

“Teacher?”

Mo Fengping was surprised by the salutation. Su Ping is this student’s teacher?

But Su Ping didn’t seem to be that much older in comparison.

Su Ping wore grave expressions. He turned to Mo Fengping. “So, this is what the Valiant Academy is like, right? I thought students would simply take lessons, attend lectures, and cultivate. I didn’t know that the students would fight openly and secretly! Aren’t you worried about this?”.

Mo Fengping forced a bitter smile. “All those students come from powerful families. Not even the academy can stop this. That’s how it is.”

Su Ping snorted. “Han Yuxiang is here, right? Get him here.”

Mo Fengping couldn’t believe that Su Ping was calling his teacher by name. “My teacher should be here. I will call him and then show you to his office.”

“I mean that he has to come and see me here!” Su Ping glared at Mo Fengping.

Han Yuxiang had truly enraged him.

He only told him about his missing sister after a week had passed.

If Han Yuxiang had sent a titled battle pet warrior to tell him the news, it would have taken less than half a day for a titled warrior to travel from the Longyang Base City to the Longjiang Base City. News had taken too long to reach Su Ping!

If anything had happened to her... It would be too late for him to do anything!

Also, he was the one who had sent Su Lingyue there. What would he tell his parents?

He was the outsider, a turtledove taking over the nest of a magpie. Su Lingyue was their parent’s actual kid.

She could not die and she should not! “Let me ask him.” Mo Fengping was frightened by the raging flames in Su Ping’s eyes. He knew he couldn’t upset Su Ping further. Mo Fengping decided that he could tell everything to his teacher since he respected Su Ping.

Soon after, the call was put through. “Sir?”

“Fengping? How was your trip? Were you able to find Miss Su in the Longjiang Base City?”

“Well, sir... I met Miss Su’s brother, Mr. Su Ping. He is right here at the academy and he says he wants to come here...” Mo Fengping felt too embarrassed to continue.

The other side of the call fell into silence.

A few seconds later, Mo Fengping was able to hear Han Yuxiang’s voice again. “Tell Mr. Su that I am sorry. I’m on my way.”

With that said, Han Yuxiang hung up.

Mo Fengping could not believe that his teacher would be going over to see them.

Han Yuxiang!

The Vice Principal of the Valiant Academy!

Someone with ample fame at the peak of the titled rank!

A person like that was following Su Ping’s orders and had even said he was sorry?!

Mo Fengping felt his head was in a muddle.

He put down his phone. The young man standing next to him turned out to be a bigger mystery than he had expected.

All of the peak titled rank warriors were known; they would have already established their fame years prior. Still, he had never heard of anyone named Su Ping. Several people arrived and stood in front of the Inferno Dragon. They were the campus’ guards.

The guards recognized the Inferno Dragon at once. The pet’s size indicated that it was close to the peak of the ninth rank. The master of that dragon was most likely at the titled rank!

“Who are you?” one of the guards shouted the question to Su Ping.

Mo Fengping came back to his senses. “Hey, it’s me. He’s the Vice Principal’s guest.”

The guards naturally recognized Mo Fengping who was a teacher there. His words reassured them; they stepped to the sides.

They would have added a word of caution if Su Ping were Mo Fengping’s friend. After all, it wasn’t a good thing to have made such a ruckus in the entrance; the dignity of the academy should be always upheld.

But Su Ping was Han Yuxiang’s guest. That was a completely different scenario.

“Who is that?”

“I think he knows that loser. That loser is up there with him.”

“I thought that loser was from a minor family, with a father who only had some money. How come he knows the Vice Principal’s guest?’”

That group of young men was still here. Something about Xu Kuang standing on the Inferno Dragon’s shoulder was off.

Soon, a person rushed over.

Whoosh!

That person wore a black and white robe. He flew past the seal and stopped in the air, right in front of the Inferno Dragon.

The guards and the group of young people were equally astounded to see their Vice Principal arrive in person, and at such a quick speed.

“Mr. Su.”

Han Yuxiang had gray hair but rosy cheeks. He greeted Su Ping with a nervous demeanor.

He had heard all about Su Ping. He had killed a legendary battle pet warrior during the Supremacy League and was named Fate Challenger!

Soon after, he had forced the Otherworld Heavenly King to retreat in the Longjiang Base

City.

He had also received news that Su Ping had forced his way into the Tower, killed legendary battle pet warriors, having left safely!

Every single piece of the story was stunning enough, and the hero was the same person.

Han Yuxiang had already convinced himself that Su Ping was a dangerous man before all of that happened. Yuan Tianchen wanted to get back at Su Ping but ended up being beaten up, almost getting himself killed. Han Yuxiang thought that everything about Su Ping was surprising, but everything made sense at the same time.

The day Han Yuxiang stepped into the store and saw the young man... He had understood that the young man was a monster in hiding.

He also believed that Su Ping was somehow related to the destruction of the Situ and Wang families. He was more afraid of Su Ping than he was of Yuan Tianchen. “Sir...?”

It never occurred to Mo Fengping that his teacher would speak to Su Ping so nervously. Mo Fengping had developed a great sense after years in the academy. He could tell right away that his teacher was scared and stressed out.

But...

His impression had been that his teacher merely respected Su Ping. That was clearly not the case.

Han Yuxiang was... frightened! Mo Fengping could no longer remain calm.