Astral Pet Store (WN)
chapter-178

Chapter 178 All In

Soon, half a day had passed.

All the thirteen treasure locations marked on the map had been explored. The only place left to be explored was the core region which housed the major treasure.

In total, nine pieces of useful treasures were discovered from the thirteen locations. Each person had one item and there was an extra remaining. Nie Chengkong took the chance and gave this item to Su Ping.

Su Ping didn’t care much for this item. It was one that nobody wanted, and was not valuable. It was an armor but it could only fend off the strikes from average middle-rank beasts. For Su Ping, this armor was of no use. It was less effective than his Solar Bulwark.

That being said, he did accept it. This was of no use to him but he could sell it for millions. It just so happened that he lacked the money to upgrade the store.

The others had no problem with Su Ping taking an extra piece. During their whole excursion, Su Ping’s Dark Dragon Hound had demonstrated amazing abilities. They knew that this was Su Ping’s first time there and it was the first time the land had been explored. Otherwise, they would have thought that Su Ping had been there before.

Thanks to Su Ping’s information, they had managed to avoid many dangers. Every time they arrived at a location, Su Ping could find out the general situation of the place. Their exploration went on smoothly thanks to his help. Su Ping had clearly made the greatest contribution.

The biggest danger when they scoured the thirteen locations was when they met a beast at the intermediate position of the ninth rank. They had prepared a plan beforehand thanks to Su Ping’s heads up and they managed to kill that beast. However, Luo Guxue’s Flare Bird had been hurt while giving support and could no longer join in the fight.

The item they discovered in that location was not a precious one as they had originally thought. It was a broken item. They were unhappy since their efforts went down the drain.

“Up ahead is the core area.” Nie Chengkong was visibly thrilled. This was the moment he had been waiting for.

Everyone looked over. It was a massive cave, deep like a tunnel. They couldn’t see the end of this pitch-dark hollow.

A pungent smell came out from within, mixed with the stink of beasts’ feces. Surely some beast had taken up residence there.

“That’s our destination.”

Everyone’s eyes glowed. Taking the treasure from this place was the main goal of their trip.

Su Ping was also excited. Once the Astral Spirit Fruit was grabbed and everyone left, he could go on exploring other dragon scale lands. There were several places he wished to visit. He wondered if the treasures there had already been taken away.

“My hawk cannot sense what’s inside,” Zhou Jing said. He had his hawk fly up high to monitor the overall situation.

Su Ping was the center of attention. He had been the one probing for information at each previous location.

All eyes were on him. Su Ping didn’t withhold any information from them. He said, “The beast residing here is a beast at the upper position of the ninth rank, a kind of sub-dragon species, the Flame Flood Dragon. It is very destructive and skilled at spirit attacks.”

“The upper position of the ninth rank?!”

This information had stunned all of them. They looked at Su Ping with frightened faces.

Nie Chengkong was just as scared. “Are you sure?” He kept his eyes on Su Ping. The higher the rank, the bigger the gap was in strength. At the ninth rank, the difference between positions was like those between the eighth rank and the ninth rank. Each beast at the upper position of the ninth rank could easily defeat over a hundred beasts at the intermediate position of the ninth rank!

That was the truth!

To make it worse, the beast they would face was a sub-dragon. Of all the beasts of the upper position of the ninth rank, this beast would be considered superior!

Old Mo and Chen looked at Su Ping and then at Nie Chengkong. Given their previous experience, although the information Su Ping had spilled out was shocking, neither of them doubted him at this point. The only thing they were nervous about was Nie Chengkong’s decision.

Nie Chengkong’s goal for this trip was to obtain this major treasure.

Would he give up?

“Captain Nie…” Old Mo was having second thoughts. He wanted to advise Nie against it.

Old Mo’s Death Scythe was at the lower position of the ninth rank and had suffered from some minor injuries in the previous fights. Besides, the Death Scythe had yet to recover from the infection inflicted by the spiders’ poison and thus could not perform at its best. If they pooled everyone’s strength together and the beast was at the intermediate position of the ninth rank, there was a chance of winning for them. However, the beast was in the upper position. The gap between the beast and the Death Scythe was like the gap between the seventh and the ninth ranks!

Chen was thinking about giving up as well. His dragon had a bloodline at the upper position of the ninth rank. That being said, the dragon had yet to grow to its prime state and was currently at the intermediate position of the ninth rank. Besides, his Earthen Dragon’ was not powerful when it came to attacks; it was merely good at defense. If Su Ping and the others were defeated, having defensive properties would only delay a certain death. Chen was unwilling to take this risk.

Nie Chengkong lowered his head. He was vexed.

He didn’t have to look to know what Old Mo and Chen were thinking.

Old Mo and Chen were not alone in this. Nie Chengkong could feel that Guo Yuelin and Zhou Jing were uneasy. Perhaps, they wanted to leave more than Mo and Chen.

“Should we… try it?” Nie Chengkong clenched his fist and bit his teeth.

Old Mo and Chen’s minds were weighed down when they heard Nie Chengkong’s words. He had not given up.

Old Mo heaved a sigh inwardly. When he accepted Nie Chengkong’s offer, he had agreed to help Nie Chengkong obtain the main treasure. They were at the final step now. To leave at this point would offend Nie Chengkong. Besides, Mo would lose his credibility in this community and no one would look for him in the future.

Chen was sighing as well. He even regretted taking this offer.

Nie Chengkong raised his head and glanced at them. He noticed Mo and Chen’s troubled expressions. Nie Chengkong curled his lips. He said nothing and turned to Su Ping, only to find that the youngest and most talented Su Ping was also the calmest of all. He saw no signs of retreating in his expression.

Nie Chengkong’s eyes glowed. He asked Su Ping, “Brother Su, are you willing to go with me?”

Su Ping was surprised by this question. “Isn’t this what we had agreed upon in the beginning?”

Nie Chengkong felt a spread of warmth in his heart and a lump came to his throat. He took a deep breath and said, “Thank you!”

No one expected that Su Ping would be willing to face the dangers with Nie Chengkong, because even if they could get the treasure, it would be Nie Chengkong’s, not Su Ping’s.

Old Mo and Chen found it hard to understand. Even other teammates like Zhou Jing were puzzled. They didn’t know if Su Ping was too innocent or too honest. Either way, they could tell that Su Ping was someone they could befriend.

“Since Su has said so, then let’s go and find out.” Chen knew that his words could not change the decision by then, so he could only voice his agreement.

Old Mo threw Chen a look, regarding the latter a sly person. “Let’s have a try, then. But we do need a detailed plan. Besides that, summon the rest of your pets if you have any others. This is the final battle!” Old Mo said.

Nie Chengkong was relieved since they had agreed to go on. He opened up his contract space at once and a violent surge of air swarmed out. A ninth-rank Bloodthirst Snake came out!

This pet was at the intermediate position of the ninth rank and was close to breaking through to the next step. The snake was over a hundred meters long and thick like a railroad track. The snake was covered with crimson scales. This was a pet that was incredibly violent and hard to tame.

Nie Chengkong had done his best to control this pet at the intermediate position of the ninth rank when he was at the eighth rank.

Usually, battle pet warriors could use pets two ranks higher but that rule didn’t apply to ninth rank pets. Every position in the ninth rank would make a world of difference.

Old Mo and Chen were stunned by this Bloodthirst Snake. They didn’t know that apart from the Fallen Priest which was at the lower position of the ninth rank, Nie Chengkong had another pet at the intermediate position of the ninth rank. Two pets at the ninth rank. Nie Chengkong had a great backing!

Zhou Jing and the other teammates darted a look at the Bloodthirst Snake in fear. They were not as stunned, though. Since they were used to fighting together, they knew something about Nie Chengkong’s pets.

Old Mo didn’t hesitate to open up his contract space as well. From inside hopped out a Blood Flood Dragon, a pet at the peak of the eighth rank, and also of the sub-dragon kind.

This was a mixed blood pet with traces of a beast king bloodline. However, the pet had only inherited the beast king’s body shape, not the huge size or strength. On the other hand, the Blood Flood Dragon was cruel, brutal, and it had strong abilities. Some average beasts at the lower position of the ninth rank were unwilling to provoke this Blood Flood Dragon.

Chen also summoned his second pet, a Flaming Lion, which was at the lower position of the ninth rank. The Flaming Lion was proficient in combat and could work well with the Earthen Dragon. Combined, the two pets were not worse than Nie Chengkong’s pet.

Zhou Jing didn’t know that Mo and Chen had such powerful pets. Instantly, Zhou Jing’s confidence was boosted.

After the three of them summoned their pets, they shifted their attention to Su Ping.

They believed that Su Ping’s major pet had to be quite formidable since the Dark Dragon Hound was his secondary pet.

Su Ping didn’t hesitate. Everyone was convinced that to battle against a beast at the upper position of the ninth rank, Su Ping would have to do his best.

When the contract space was opened, a scary aura oozed out from the inside. All the summoned pets became unsettled.

The temperature rose rapidly as the Inferno Dragon crawled out. It had grown to be more than 10 meters long. Although the Inferno Dragon was shorter than the hundred-meter Flame Flood Dragon and the Blood Flood Dragon, the overwhelming sense of the Inferno Dragon was stronger than that of the two flood dragons. “Inferno… Dragon?”

Luo Guxue was the only one prepared to see this pet. The others stared at the Inferno Dragon with their eyes wide open.

The Inferno Dragon was the best of all dragons. To have a dragon with a ninth rank bloodline was costly enough, not to mention to have the best there was, the Inferno Dragon!

The Earthen Dragon next to Chen was standing straight with its head raised. The moment the Inferno Dragon came out, the Earthen Dragon began to tremble and it retracted its wings. The pressure of a superior dragon instilled fear in the Earthen Dragon.

Since the Earthen Dragon had reached the intermediate position of the ninth rank, it could withstand this presence. But if the Earthen Dragon were of a lower rank, it would have prostrated itself in front of the Inferno Dragon.