Astral Pet Store

Chapter 729: Manipulated Battle

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

It was a world full of rocks.

No weeds, nor any other kind of plants; just bare rocks.

A few newcomers suddenly appeared in an open space, quickly expanding the moment they arrived. Three of them turned into giant beasts a hundred meters tall in the blink of an eye.

Su Ping and the Little Skeleton remained the same.

Su Ping sensed the dense rock elements in the air as he looked at the Floating Rock World in front of his eyes; rock class pets could cultivate much more effectively in this place. The elements were even denser than in the district he had just moved into, although he hadn’t figured out whether the district was a of a tier-1 or a tier-3 economy.

Both the Inferno Dragon and the Dark Dragon Hound looked around in their original form.

The cute little tiger also revealed its intimidating and magnificent form. It gave a once over at the site, then growled at Su Ping as if asking where they were.

The temporary contract made the pet not dislike Su Ping, but it wasn’t completely obedient, either.

Su Ping ignored it and looked at the Dark Dragon Hound. “I picked this place for you. You should train here since you like defense skills so much. Try to learn the Rock T-Rex bloodline skill; it is great for defense.”

He had supposedly made the trip to take care of Mia’s pet, but he didn’t have to choose the most suitable cultivation site for it since it was just normal training. In fact, he was only going to train the tiger; the pets he really intended to train were the Dark Dragon Hound and the Little Skeleton.

“Woof?”

The Dark Dragon Hound was stunned for a moment but then became excited. Having Su Ping’s permission, it was finally able to study as many defense skills as it wanted!

“Let’s go!” Su Ping said.

That was a middle-rank cultivation site with a lot of Beast Kings, Star State beasts, and even Star Lords. Su Ping would not dare to be careless.

To start the training, Su Ping simply merged with the Little Skeleton and blatantly unleashed a ferocious aura. A lot of beasts were soon attracted to the aura.

Su Ping instantly became solemn upon sensing that a lot of powerful enemies were approaching.

A Rock T-Rex was soon in Su Ping’s sight. It was a more than three hundred meters long creature with rocky scales and dark crystals on its spine. The Rock T-Rexes that had developed crystal scales were the strongest of their kind. That one in particular carried the aura of the Star State!

“Let’s go!” Su Ping roared and asked the Dark Dragon Hound, the Inferno Dragon and the tiger to fight the enemy together!

The Dark Dragon Hound and the Inferno Dragon were already prepared. They roared and dashed out without any thoughts of resistance.

The tiger: “???”

Are you messing with me?

The tiger shivered as it saw the Rock T-Rex getting closer and closer, then looked at Su Ping with disbelief and anger. You want me to attack it? Do you not see the strength gap between us?

“Let’s go!”

Su Ping looked at it coldly. He wouldn’t show mercy to the tiger anymore once they entered the cultivation site.

Roar!

The tiger roared and was about to betray and swallow its master!

It would rather fight Su Ping than the terrifying Star State T-Rex. It might have found Su Ping likable due to the contract, but its budding loyalty and friendliness towards Su Ping had hit rock bottom after being ordered to go on a suicide mission.

I’m going to eat you first!

Would you think I’m a cat if I don’t show you my temper?

Su Ping suddenly flashed close and stomped on its head brutally.

After a bam, the tiger was pressed to the ground, completely unable to react!

Its ears were ringing; the poor soul was quite overwhelmed.

It became furious once it recovered, deciding to attack Su Ping with all the skills it was capable of.

Su Ping closed his fingers as a sword and slashed at the tiger, triggering a trace of the Void Sword which tore apart all the skills and halted in front of the tiger’s forehead!

The tiger’s eyes were as open as they could go, fright written all over its face.

How is it possible?

It had detected that Su Ping was at the Ocean State. His level was even lower than its own!

However, the power he had unleashed was terrifying. It suddenly felt that Su Ping was just as monstrous as the approaching Rock T-Rex!

“Now!”

Su Ping released his astral power and spun the space around him. The tiger, too intimidated to move in front of Su Ping, instantly vanished and reappeared before the Rock T-Rex in the next second.

Space teleportation!

It was a method that only Fate State beings were capable of, but Su Ping had performed it.

Hiss!!

The tiger shrieked in fear upon seeing such a large foe up close; its fur was rising like the spines of a hedgehog. It was just about to prostrate and beg for mercy.

It couldn’t even summon its courage to confront a Star State enemy. The gap was too huge!

“Pet skill: Killing Intent!”

Su Ping stood at a distance and suddenly directed the power with his finger.

The first pet skill he had acquired from the system was shot, swiftly entering the tiger’s body. Instantly, the tiger shivered and sensed that an extreme ferocity was rising from its heart. Its formerly twitching and cowering eyes were suddenly bloodshot.

The skill was supposed to trigger a pet’s own fighting skills and incite it to battle fiercely.

However, Su Ping modified the skill once he became a legendary warrior and learned more about rules; the effect would then not only trigger a pet’s own fighting spirit, but also transfer some of his own killing intent to the pet.

As for the amount to be transferred, it was under his control.

He had just transferred half of his killing intent, when the tiger was already unleashing a ferocious and uncontrollable aura. It suddenly raised its head and roared at the T-Rex, which was two major levels above itself!

The roar was so sudden and loud that even the massive foe was slightly shocked; it then became furious when it noticed that it’s enemy was just a Void State tiger.

It wasn’t a friendly creature to begin with. How could it allow its food to roar back?

There was a loud boom; the soil rolled and space shook due to the power of laws. The tiger instantly began to bleed; the constricting spatial force was already too much for it to bear.

The tiger tried its hardest to resist. Nevertheless, its bones crackled, and it was squeezed until it turned into blood mist in the end!

Revive!

Su Ping commanded in the distance.

The dead tiger was instantly brought back to life. The Killing Intent skill effect had already worn off, and the pet didn’t know what had just happened.

Once it saw the Rock T-Rex, the tiger trembled and again crouched on the ground in fear.

“Killing Intent!”

Su Ping snapped his fingers and released the skill again.

This time, he made an adjustment and only transferred one tenth of his killing intent, so that the tiger would be prompted to fight.

Soon after, the trembling tiger roared, overflowing with a thirst for blood again. It charged at the massive Rock T-Rex.

The latter was rather shocked. Resurrection? It couldn’t believe that a Void State beast knew such a sophisticated skill, which involved the ultimate laws of time and life!

It was again enraged when the tiger tried to pounce it again, so it quickly retaliated.

On the other hand, the Inferno Dragon and the Dark Dragon Hound didn’t just watch the drama; they also took action. When considering combat ability, the Dark Dragon Hound was only in the middle phase of the Void State. The only reason it could endure the Lord of the Deep Caves’ attack for one second was that it had been devoted to defense tactics.

Su Ping watched the Dark Dragon Hound cast skills on the Inferno Dragon, but the defense layers were shredded like paper by the Star State attacks.

The Dark Dragon Hound became even crazier and released even more skills. Some of the skills were even combined to make a more solid defense.

Su Ping was silent. The Dark Dragon Hound didn’t slack at all, unlike it usually did in the previous training sessions; it was just as diligent as in the time it fought against the Lord of the Deep Caves.

Had it been too traumatized by that battle?

Su Ping took a deep breath after seeing how hard it was fighting, becoming even more determined to protect them.

Most of the other beasts retreated when the Rock T-Rex released its aura. Some even turned around and fled.

The Rock T-Rex was the dominator in the area, and its race ruled over that world!

Su Ping simply stood and issued commands to the pets.

On the other hand, the tiger became increasingly bolder after it continuously died. Su Ping had to instill his own killing intent at first to bolster its courage, but later on he only needed to stimulate the pet’s own killing intent so it would fight relentlessly.

The tiger underwent obvious changes after all brushes with death. It perceived three skills in a row, and one of them was the advanced version of its old skill, which was as powerful as a Fate State attack.

It was eventually able to last three to five seconds in a fight with the Rock T-Rex, instead of being killed instantly!

On the other hand, Su Ping found that the Dark Dragon Hound was also making progress. Apart from defense skills, it used a restraining skill for the first time in an attempt to trap the attacking Rock T-Rex; unfortunately the skill wasn’t too powerful and the target broke free with ease.

However, if the target were a Fate State Beast King, it might have been restricted for a second or two.

A second or two might be too little, but it would be enough for the Inferno Dragon to kill it!

The Rock T-Rex became angrier as the battle dragged on; it simply could not kill the three little bugs. It eventually decided it wasn’t worth it and wanted to leave.

Isn’t it better to leave if I can’t kill you?

Su Ping quickly slashed and forced the fleeing beast out of the secondary space where it had flashed into.

The Rock T-Rex was shocked and frightened by Su Ping’s sword aura; it roared at him in response.

Su Ping didn’t say anything; he simply stood in its way with sword in hand.

His implication was obvious. You want to run? Not a chance.

The Rock T-Rex instantly snarled and charged at Su Ping.

Su Ping moved as quickly as lightning; he was even faster than those that used flash movements in the secondary space. The Rock T-Rex—being a rock class beast that was focused on sturdiness—was too slow to catch him. Instead, it was cut by Su Ping now and then and could only grimace in pain.

Su Ping had to admit that the guy was at least three times sturdier than the Lord of the Deep Caves.

He had slain the latter with one attack, but the same attack could only make the Rock T-Rex scream.

The beast was finally wounded when Su Ping joined the battle. It was shocked and scared, feeling the threat of death while it faced Su Ping, knowing that it might die in that battle.

It ignored Su Ping and tried to run away.

Since it couldn’t use flash movements, it would simply sprint.

Su Ping slashed continuously and tried to stop it. However, the Rock T-Rex was determined to get away. He had to either kill it or let it escape.

Never mind. I’ll just look for another target.

Su Ping heaved a sigh and let it go, especially when he noticed how wounded the tiger was.

After all, it was already tiring due to the prolonged battle.

He called the Dark Dragon Hound and the other pets over, then wandered around with them, looking for new sparring partners.

The tiger had already met the requirement for normal training, although they had only been there for three hours; that was equal to fifteen minutes in the outside world. He could wait a while longer until two more hours passed outside.

...

Time zipped by.

Creak!

The pet room’s door was opened; Su Ping combed his hair by the door and confirmed that he looked normal. Then, he finally walked out.

The ferocious tiger was right behind him; it had shrunk back, turning into its cute little version again.

The Little Skeleton, the Dark Dragon Hound and the Inferno Dragon were settled down in the nursing pens.

Once he looked at the watch in the shop, Su Ping confirmed that three hours had indeed passed, just like he estimated.

It was obviously the first time for the tiger to be trained like that. The service was quite effective, taking less time than Su Ping had expected.

Su Ping then sensed the auras of Joanna, Mia and the others, becoming relieved when he found that nothing had happened while he was away.

He went to the virtual combat arena and found Mia, Tang Ruyan, Joanna and Layne, all wearing interactive helmets. They seemed to be fighting at the moment.

Tang Ruyan looked relaxed; she was smiling with her eyes closed.

Mia, on the other hand, was frowning; there were beads of sweat on her forehead.

Su Ping was quite startled. Had Tang Ruyan made such progress in the last three hours that she was already able to crush Mia?

He suspiciously pressed the notification button on Tang Ruyan’s device.

Tang Ruyan left the virtual world and took off the helmet; she was delighted to see Su Ping. “You’re back. How long did it take?”

She took out her phone, only to be surprised. “Three hours? You finished already?”

Su Ping nodded. He was surprised to see that Mia hadn’t left the simulation yet. He asked, “Why isn’t it over yet?”

Tang Ruyan noticed it too and smiled. “Hehe. She wasn’t practicing with me, but with her!” She nodded at Joanna.

Su Ping was stunned.

What?

She was practicing with Joanna?

Su Ping was at a loss for words. No wonder Mia looked as miserable as if she were constipated.

She was fighting Joanna, a Goddess of War from the Demigod Burial!

Joanna’s level was higher than Mia’s in the first place. Even if a handicap was used to make their levels be the same... Su Ping wasn’t confident of beating Joanna, either.

Speaking of which, they had never practiced. Since they finally had a virtual arena, maybe he could practice with Joanna someday... Su Ping coughed when he thought about it, especially when he saw that Mia was getting paler by the second. He pressed the notification button on Joanna’s device.

Soon after, Mia opened her eyes abruptly and then remained unmoving in her seat, as if worn out.

Joanna, too, opened her eyes and looked at Su Ping calmly. “It’s only been three hours. Have you already finished the training?”

Su Ping was surprised, since he noticed that she didn’t check the time. “How do you know it’s been three hours?”

“I did my own calculation,” said Joanna while pointing at her head.

Su Ping was speechless. Had she been paying attention to the flow of time while fighting Mia?

Mia was woken up by Joanna’s response, acting shocked like a cat whose tail had just been stepped upon. She stood up abruptly and looked Joanna in the eye. “You were keeping track of the time? You weren’t even trying your best during the battle?”

Joanna looked at her in surprise. Her eyes seemed to be saying, ‘did I even need to try my best?’

Naturally, Su Ping understood Joanna’s unspoken words. He sweated and coughed, before he said to Joanna telepathically, “She’s a customer anyway, try not to be mean. You’re a War Goddess, you know!”

Joanna looked back at Su Ping and replied telepathically, “I wasn’t being mean to her. I didn’t expect her to be so weak, so I accidentally killed her twice. Then I controlled my strength and fought her for three hours evenly matched. I could have kept the fight going like that for five or maybe eight hours more if you hadn’t come back, but I don’t think her spiritual power would be enough to last that long...”

Su Ping: “...”

This battle went on for three hours?

Su Ping didn’t know what to say and could only look at Joanna’s calm expression. The woman had clearly manipulated the battle! It was quite insulting...

Fortunately, Mia probably didn’t know much about that, or she might have ended up feeling depressed.

“Let’s have another match since you didn’t try your best!” said Mia, gnashing her teeth while she also looked at the silent Joanna.

She found it hard to believe that she had been defeated by an employee from a random shop.

At first, she was defeated by Joanna twice in a row, and then Joanna told her it had something to do with errors of her device. She bought it, because she had been defeated too quickly and not having a chance to realize what had happened!

However, she was almost stupefied because of the long battle which ensued, and what Joanna had just said.

She fought against a minor clerk for three hours without being able to win, and the clerk went easy on her!

Once Su Ping arrived, Joanna took advantage of her weakness and quickly ended the match. It obviously suggested that she had never tried her best!

The more she thought about it, the more regretful she became.

She wasn’t lacking in talent, and she was better than most people in her rank. She respected very few people, other than the prodigies in her family and at school. Joanna going easy on her and defeating her was a hard pill to swallow.

Tang Ruyan couldn’t have been happier to see the frustration and even tears on Mia’s face. Finally, that woman had tasted exactly what she had felt earlier.

However, she also noticed something after observing their three-hour fight.

Joanna went easy on her opponent. The two kills at the beginning weren’t due to equipment errors, but because of her real expertise!

Joanna was definitely beyond that woman’s level!

Tang Ruyan was quite disappointed at the thought of that. Joanna was Su Ping’s employee, while she had only managed to land a temporary position. She used to think that Joanna was just a legendary warrior; she found that Joanna was also much more skilled at fighting than she was.

“Well...” Seeing that Mia was determined to fight again, Su Ping quickly said, “Let’s talk about practice later. Your pet has already been trained. Would you like to check it first?”

The mention of her pet brought Mia back to reality; she finally remembered that she had been waiting for Su Ping to finish his training.

However, didn’t he say that it would take at least half a day? Why was it done in only three hours?

She couldn’t help but look at Su Ping and then quickly fix her eyes on the cute little tiger.

She suddenly found that there was something odd about her pet.

The previously blurred contract in her head became clear again, but the sense of strangeness didn’t disappear. She found that Little White seemed to have been replaced for another with an obviously different aura.

Its eyes used to be soft and cute in the past, especially when it nuzzled against her; they had become sharp and thoughtful, indicating that they belonged to a bada**.

...