Astral Pet Store (WN)
chapter-144

Chapter 144 Inferno Dragon Onward

Meanwhile, Fei Yanbo found it difficult to accept the realization that just hit his mind.

A titled battle pet warrior? THIS little bastard??

As someone who had been stuck at the seventh rank for a decade, he knew more than anyone how difficult it was to breach the bottleneck and reach the eighth rank. Still, this teenlike man standing in front of him was a ninth-rank titled warrior?

More importantly, did he just challenge a young titled warrior being a seasoned adult?

Fei Yanbo’s cheeks twitched uncontrollably due to both embarrassment and panic.

Surrender?

Apologize?

He immediately chased those thoughts away as soon they crossed his mind. Since a student like Ye Hao could risk his life fighting for the glory of the Phoenix Peak Academy, he as a honored professor had no reason to back out.

Besides, this was supposed to be a spar between two teachers. In other words, they weren’t going after each other’s lives.

… Right?

Aside from Fei Yanbo, Luo Fengtian just felt his body going numb upon comprehending what was going on. Just then, he still thought that the Inferno Dragon was the only thing that set him and Su Ping apart, which was… manageable. But no. There were several decisive ranks setting them apart!

During Luo Fengtian’s years, everyone around him had been claiming what a top genius he was, and he had been trying to live up to his name. But all the glory came crashing down on him hard as soon as he recognized Su Ping’s true level.

*Gulp*

Shock, frustration, painful sadness. Overflowing emotions collided in his mind.

Su Ping checked the looks of those present and quickly understood what kind of impact he was causing. This wasn’t his intention, though he wasn’t going to explain himself, either. He meant to show up in front of everyone in simple means. It would be even better if people didn’t question him about various things to save him some time. “Let’s start, eh?” Su Ping offered.

Fei Yanbo recovered from his depressing thoughts and took a deep breath.

“You two, get out of here.” He signaled Luo Fengtian and Ye Hao to leave.

Ye Hao realized that the coming fight was not a joke and decided to remind Su Ping, “Be careful, man. Give up if you can’t take it.”

Fei Yanbo heard those words as his lips twitched again.

“I trust you, professor, as I always have,” Luo Fengtian said to his teacher and also stepped off.

Deep down, Luo Fengtian still believed that what Su Ping had shown was superficial; perhaps Su Ping had been solely focusing on improving his astral power. There was no way he could possess much combat experience at that age, which meant Fei Yanbo could still win by exploiting such an advantage.

Fei Yanbo was having a similar train of thought. He nodded to his student, then summoned his pet space to release an eighth-rank Purple Fox onto the arena, which made a grand entrance by unleashing a shrilling howl inside a colorful energy vortex.

This purple-furred creature had seven tails flailing behind its rear and was almost a dozen meters tall when standing on all fours. While obediently waiting beside Fei Yanbo, it growled at Su Ping’s direction threateningly.

Many spectators flinched on their seats when looking at the fox’s sharp teeth.

“An adult Purple Fox… It’s at the eighth rank.”

At such a high rank, the strength gap between a seventh-rank pet and an eighth-rank one was no longer assessed with numbers. The advantage of being a rank higher was absolute; even a dragon-type seventh-rank pet would have it hard when fighting against an eighth-rank common pet, not to mention that a Purple Fox was not a common species.

Su Ping glanced at his opponent and opened his pet space as well.

Roar!

The distinct and recognizable sound of a dragon silenced everyone. Even though most people couldn’t tell the difference between the cries of dragon-type Astral Pets, knowing that they were dealing with a dragon-type was enough for them to tremble.

Followed by a scorching surge of flames, the dragon’s head peeked out of the pet space first, before it fully stepped out in all its glory.

“It’s big! But didn’t they say that it was still a child a while ago??” one of the students yelled out.

Many students who had openly questioned Su Ping’s rumors before recoiled in fear. They thought they had seen enough amazing things when looking at that Thunder Basilisk and a Black Pit Dragon fighting. But this was different! This dragon could smash up the entire visiting team of the Berserking Blade Academy with one claw if it meant business!

Their initial shock and fear were quickly replaced by unstoppable excitement. Getting to see an Inferno Dragon up close was something worth boasting about to their friends. There was probably not a second one in the entire Longjiang City!

But…

“What are they doing??” The audience wondered since the scheduled matches had already ended. “Are they going to fight?” Dai Yan’s group cringed as they were reminded of the humiliating experience earlier once they saw the dragon appear.

At the same time, Ye Hao looked back from the edge of the stage and immediately saw the standoff between the two towering pets.

“He—what??!!!

As the owner of a Thunder Basilisk, Ye Hao knew what it meant to possess an Inferno Dragon. The Thunder Basilisk was basically defenseless against a Black Pit Dragon already. He didn’t want to imagine what would happen if he went up against Su Ping instead.

“So this is why he accepted Fei Yanbo’s challenge… That Inferno Dragon has just reached adulthood. But it’s already strong.”

That being said…

Ye Hao checked the eighth-rank Purple Fox; he wasn’t too sure about the result of the fight yet. The judge who was forced to work overtime was definitely having the worst day of his life. The previous final match had already strained him to the limit. He wasn’t expecting something worse to happen!

Despite having been appointed as a judge, he was only one of the “good teachers” selected in the academy. He was absolutely unwilling to oversee the battle between a more experienced teacher and a possible titled battle pet warrior.

Usually, it was the young generation who showed respect to him. But Su Ping’s level changed everything. It should be the opposite at the moment.

Are these two seriously planning to use this place to fight?? Go somewhere else already! The judge madly complained in his mind.

Of course, he couldn’t protest in the open, so he had to quickly go to Dong Mingsong and ask about what to do.

“What’s going on here, Vice Principal?? Are they planning to the students in the stadium will get hurt!”

The teachers who were still marveling at Su Ping’s display all looked his way, while Dong Mingsong showed a serious look.

“Maximize the energy level of the protective barrier. Activate the red protection.”

The barrier around the arena was meant to block off stray attacks so they didn’t accidentally hit anyone outside. The barrier would show different colors-green, yellow and red-depending on the applied configuration. The strongest protection used for battles between students was usually yellow, such as when the Black Pit Dragon and the Thunder Basilisk were up. As for red-level protection, it could nullify all eighth-rank attacks or below, or two ninth-rank hits. Only battles between professors would require such protection.

The Phoenix Peak Academy was an acclaimed establishment who had enjoyed great fame for over a century. Of course all the facilities were well-funded and well-equipped. Security was top priority.

Zhou Yunchan feigned a friendly smile and spoke up, “Hey, Dong, we can all see that this fight is… uncalled for. How about we cancel it? There’s no point in making things worse than necessary.”

Dong Mingsong smirked. “It’s okay. We can afford all the energy expenses and repairs. You don’t have to worry.”

Zhou Yunchan scowled.

Damn it. I should have known! Someone who has an Inferno Dragon can’t be a simple professor! I never thought that this kid was this good! Or else

There was no quitting now.

Zhou Yunchan glanced at the Inferno Dragon and suddenly felt relieved. Though valuable, that dragon was currently in no condition to fight a fully-grown Purple Fox.

“Thank the gods that kid doesn’t actually have a ninth-rank pet to go with his own level. Heh.”