Astral Pet Store (WN)
chapter-148

Chapter 148 Image of the Skeleton King

“What is happening?” Fei Yanbo was a bit puzzled. Why did he sense some fear mixed with the violence in the mind of the Abyss Snake?

Where did this fear… come from?

Was it because of this skeleton?

This skeleton was uncommon. Even so, it was still just a skeleton!

Fei Yanbo was less scared of the Little Skeleton. It wasn’t because he was a human being, but because the Little Skeleton had picked the Abyss Snake as the target.

This was a battle. Naturally, the strong one had to be dealt with first and then the weaker ones.

The bone blade in the Little Skeleton’s hand trembled. The blade seemed to be making mournful sounds.

All of its killing intent, violence and rage were pouring into the bone blade.

While Fei Yanbo was in a trance, the Little Skeleton suddenly took action.

It suddenly disappeared on the spot and within the split of a second, the Little Skeleton had re-emerged in midair right in front of the Abyss Snake’s head!

The Little Skeleton was only the size of this Abyss Snake’s pupil.

Those dark eyes reflected the image of the Little Skeleton who was well within reach. The Abyss Snake’s pupils shrank to the size of a needle eye immediately.

Hiss!!

The Abyss Snake was overwhelmed by a profound fear of death. It lost its mind. The evil aura underneath its scales surged out. The Abyss Snake opened its mouth and at that moment, it spat a thick burst of venom which was toxic enough to corrode even armored concrete within a rather short time!

However, right when the Abyss Snake spat the venom, the Little Skeleton changed its position in the air like a ghost!

The Little Skeleton dodged the venom and then leaped in the air to move away from the Abyss Snake’s huge mouth. Then it made its way to behind the Abyss Snake’s head. Before anyone noticed, the short bone blade the Little Skeleton was holding began to be surrounded by a dark aura; it grew to the size of a sword four to five meters long!

Poof. Black blood was spilled all over, gushing out from the Abyss Snake’s mouth.

The excruciating pain made the Abyss Snake tumble around. There was a cut by the Abyss Snake’s mouth extending for over a dozen meters, all the way to its neck!

It was said that Abyss Snakes dwelled in the abyss of hellish places and they grew up in harsh environments. That was why their scales were almost as tough as dragon scales!

Not even armor-piercing or rocket bullets could tear open those scales, not to mention ordinary swords and knives!

However, at this moment, those scales had been cut open as if they were pieces of paper. This wound was more than 10 meters long and deep enough to reveal flesh and bones. A large amount of black blood was oozing out and the smell was pungent.

On the ground, Fei Yanbo was rooted to the spot.

His mind was blank.

The Little Skeleton’s rapid speed had surprised him already. He was scared stiff by the time the Little Skeleton appeared in front of the Abyss Snake in the air. Right then, the miserable cries and that huge cut made him wonder if he was dreaming or hallucinating.

How could a ninth-rank, cruel Abyss Snake be hurt by a skeleton?!!

Fei Yanbo was not the only one stunned. Dong Mingsong, Luo Guxue, and all the others were also speechless. They were aware of how uncommon this Little Skeleton was, but they never expected to witness this level of power!

At the moment, considering its speed, strength, and that evil aura, the Little Skeleton was not weaker than a ninth rank pet. The former might outdo the latter, as a matter of fact! People would believe that the skeleton was a demon pet if not for its appearance!

Sitting next to Dong Mingsong were Zhou Yunchan, Luo Fengtian, and his fellow students. The word shocked was not enough to describe their feelings. They stared at the stage with wide-open eyes due to strong disbelief.

They had thought they were sure to win and would make a great comeback when they saw that the opponent was a skeleton. And yet, this sudden shift was beyond their wildest imagination. Not only had the skeleton initiated the attack, it had also hurt the Abyss Snake in an instant.

The audience became silent.

This change of events caught them off guard. They just stared blankly at this queer scene and their minds were unable to comprehend it.

On the stage, neither the Little Skeleton nor the Abyss Snake stopped to think. After the Little Skeleton finished with this move, it did not land on the ground. Instead, the Little Skeleton made a turn in the air again with the dark energy surrounding it. The raging evil aura danced around the Little Skeleton and gradually, the image of a skeleton that was dozens of meters tall came into being behind the Little Skeleton.

From this illusionary image came out the sense of a presence that was overwhelming and more powerful than beast kings! This image seemed to be from another space and time because only a glimpse of this intimidating presence could be felt. This presence brought pressure as if a beast king had arrived!

The Abyss Snake that was tumbling around became stiff all of a sudden. The Abyss Snake was a cold-blooded animal and right then, it felt all of its blood freeze in an instant. It could no longer move; its eyes were fixed on this illusionary image, filled with fear.

The Little Skeleton approached the Abyss Snake within a second. The former raised its blade and slashed at the Abyss Snake’s head.

The Abyss Snake looked at the Little Skeleton, scared, but it was immobilized and only its tail was shaking.

The hardest scale on its forehead was cracked easily by the bone blade. A crack showed up on its forehead with blood gushing out. The raging and overwhelming pressure forced the Abyss Snake to lower its head until it fell on the ground.

The huge skeleton image behind the Little Skeleton quickly disappeared. The raging evil aura around the Little Skeleton died down a bit and its momentum was dropping.

Su Ping looked as the image disappeared in surprise. The skeleton image was not targeted at him but he had a clear sense of it since he was in the middle of the fight. Could that be the legendary skeleton king?

That power demonstrated appeared to be from a beast king!

If the image were more tangible, even beast kings would be awed!

This was an effect that a deterrence skill could not achieve!

“It seems that my little guy has benefited a lot from consuming the Skeleton King bloodline,” Su Ping said to himself. He was happy about this because the Little Skeleton was his first pet and it was at the intermediate position of the sixth rank with below-average aptitude, when in fact, the Little Skeleton had demonstrated combat abilities approaching the upper position of the ninth rank!

When the Little Skeleton killed the Magical Corpse Beast during their first exploration, it had shown power close to the ninth rank!

Recently, Su Ping didn’t spend much time training the Little Skeleton other than asking it to consume the Skeleton King bloodline. This level of progress was beyond his expectation.

The Little Skeleton’s bloodline had changed; it was no longer a common skeleton but one that had a mixture of the Skeleton King’s bloodline. Otherwise, the Little Skeleton’s aptitude rating would remain at above-average.

After all, to find a common skeleton that could exhibit power of the ninth rank’s upper position when the skeleton itself was at the sixth rank’s intermediate position, chances were one in a billion. Such a skeleton could be regarded as first-rate!

But the rating of the Little Skeleton was to compare it against all the skeletons with Skeleton King bloodline since the beginning of chaos till now. Therefore, the Little Skeleton only had a below-average rating considering its performance and combat abilities.

The Abyss Snake had lost its battle will. Su Ping understood that the outcome was clear. He told the Little Skeleton to return.

The Little Skeleton was about to continue and kill this Abyss Snake but it stopped after receiving Su Ping’s message. The Little Skeleton turned around and flashed back to Su Ping.

The Little Skeleton learned how to flash to a place by itself when it was consuming the Skeleton King bloodline.

It was similar to Thunder Flash.

To put it more accurately, the Little Skeleton copied the Thunder Flash.

Back at the Chaotic Realm of the Undead, the Little Skeleton fought with the Lightning Rat side by side and they were both trained by Su Ping. The Lightning Rat employed the Thunder Flash many times and that left a deep impression on the Little Skeleton.

While the Little Skeleton was consuming the Skeleton King bloodline, it began to test and experiment. Using its own methods, the Little Skeleton grasped the gist of the “Flash” in Thunder Flash and thus was able to move around at will.

The only difference was that the Lightning Rat used thunder power in “Thunder Flash” while Little Skeleton used its dark and undead power to realize this effect.

The Little Skeleton returned and looked up at Su Ping, as if asking for something.

Su Ping understood that. He smiled, patted the Little Skeleton on its head, and then placed the bead back in its mouth.

The undead energy in the Little Skeleton’s mouth surged and sent the bead into its skull at once. The bead began to spin around as it was consumed. The Little Skeleton’s mouth was pulled to the sides as if smiling. Su Ping sensed how delighted the Little Skeleton was.

Su Ping threw a look at that Abyss Snake which was rated to have a poor aptitude. This Abyss Snake would be regarded as a common one, not excellent nor bad.

And yet, the Abyss Snake had been scared by the image of the Skeleton King the Little Skeleton generated. That would leave a mark on the Abyss Snake’s mind. If that emotional scar could not heal, then the Abyss Snake’s aptitude would become worse, its abilities would decline and its violent nature would be no more.

As a pet of the demon family, without enough violence, the Abyss Snake was half disabled. Su Ping didn’t feel sorry for the Abyss Snake. It had chosen the wrong master.

Su Ping opened up the pet space so that the Little Skeleton could go back inside and continue to consume the bead.

It was time for him to leave. He darted a glance at the protective screen around the stage and said to Fei Yanbo who was still in a daze, “Stop staring. Take your snake back so they can deactivate the protective screen.”