Astral Pet Store (WN)
chapter-315

Chapter 315 Su Lingyue: A Diamond in the Rough

The first round was a test on participants’ abilities in comprehensive settings. With the help of the equipment, the scope and strength of the Incubus Beast’s skill (Incubus] would be increased. The participants would be guided into the imaginary world and complete their trials there.

In the world of the incubus, any environment could be constructed and a building could rise from the ground with a single thought.

Also, if the participants died within the incubus’ world, they would still be alive in reality. Their death in that place would only inflict some trauma on the participants’ spirit and they could recover slowly. What was happening in the incubus’ world would be live-streamed on the screens located at many places in the venue.

The participants would be randomly divided into groups of one hundred to go through the trail and only ten of them from each group would be able to pass!

The commentator finished reading the rules and announced the beginning of the trail.

A machine picked out the names of the first group. They came out from the staging area one by one and walked to where the ninth-rank Incubus Beast was.

Compared to other ninth-rank beasts, the Incubus Beast was not a large one. However, its spiritual attack was powerful and could catch people off guard. As such, the Incubus Beast would make for a troublesome opponent.

All the participants standing in front of the beast could feel the pressure on their spirit.

Su Ping saw that Su Lingyue was in the first group and so was Ye Hao.

Qin Shuhai saw her as well but he offered no remark.

Fei Yanbo’s attention was on his students. Luo Fengtian was in the first group as well. Fei Yanbo had his heart in his mouth.

The participants, with the help of the working staff, put some special helmets on. With this, their consciousness would be guided into the world created by the beast.

First, they entered the staging area in the imaginary world.

There was a screen there. By the content displayed, the participants could see that they were at an ancient battleground.

One hundred people walked and looked around. Some thought that the trial had begun so they launched attacks at those around them. However, their strikes penetrated their targets and failed to exert any effect.

How embarrassing. The trial began moments after. The hundred people vanished from the ancient battleground and were sent into a vast forest where they could see sand, swamps and hills. That was one of the comprehensive environment settings.

The audience could see one hundred screens with the 10 in the middle larger than the others. Participants performing well in the trial would have their videos pulled up on the larger screens.

At the moment, the 10 screens showed no image other than a bird’s eye view of the forest for the audience to see the environment.

Su Ping soon found Su Lingyue on one of the screens by the edge.

She was standing by a flourishing plant. As soon as she arrived, she had summoned the Phantom Flame Beast and the Moonfrost Dragon.

The dragon had gained popularity. Many people shifted their attention to Su Lingyue’s screen as the dragon came out.

Su Ping nodded. He was relieved to see what Su Lingyue did first.

She would be better off with the protection of the Moonfrost Dragon. That was a test of the participant’s spirit, their consciousness. In such a place, the Moonfrost Dragon would be unable to demonstrate its abilities to the fullest. However, Su Lingyue could replicate what the Moonfrost Dragon could do in her consciousness and that was enough for her to pass the trail. To get through the trial, participants had two options. The first was to kill others.

For every person killed, the participants could win one point and those with the highest score would pass.

The second was to find the Dreamland Stones.

One Dreamland Stone was worth twenty points. But, Dreamland Stones came with a special setting. They would cast a beam of light from above the participants’ heads to reveal their location. Many people would hunt down those with the Dreamland Stones.

Gradually, three people appeared on the 10 larger screens in the middle. The three had higher points because they had started killing off opponents.

“I think that kid is from the Ye family.” Qin Shuhai stared at one of the three.

Su Ping looked over. On one of the screens was a young man standing up tall and straight with a freezing look on his face. He had three pets with him but none of them was his major combat pet.

The three pets were good at tracking, hiding, and scouting.

Above his head in the sky, a bird was flying around in stealth mode. That was a pet with a sixth-rank bloodline but it could already exhibit abilities of the seventh-rank.

Su Ping noticed that this wasn’t Ye Hao.

It turned out that the Ye family had other participants in addition to Ye Hao.

On the next screen was a person he was familiar with, Luo Fengtian, Fei Yanbo’s student.

Luo Fengtian had summoned his major pet, the Black Pit Dragon. Since he had revealed the dragon already, he no longer planned to hide

it.

Thanks to the Black Pit Dragon, Luo Fengtian had finished off two participants. He pressed forward. It seemed that he was going to kill as many as possible before the other participants began to cooperate.

Admittedly, this was the right decision.

Under the premise that he had to have absolute confidence in his abilities!

Su Ping shifted his attention back to Su Lingyue. To be honest, at the base city level, he didn’t think the final game was the most dangerous one; it was actually this trial round!

The Moonfrost Dragon was strong. But on the off chance that Su Lingyue would wander around aimlessly without killing anyone or obtaining the Dreamland Stones, then no amount of Moonfrost Dragon power would do her any good.

Even the strongest help would be unable to guarantee a win. That was a lesson learned in Su Ping’s previous life.

Without enough personal power, would a mere bit of help secure a win for you?

Of course not!

“Come on, find someone…” Su Ping mumbled and prayed that some “stroke of luck” would bring a large crowd of people to her.

Qin Shuhai could sense Su Ping’s nervousness.

Su Ping was nervous?

Qin Shuhai could not understand.

He claimed his sister would win the championship. Why would he become nervous at the trial stage?

Besides, she had the strange Moonfrost Dragon. That was one of the 10 rarest dragons and should have at least seventh-rank abilities. It was very likely that she could make it to the Top 100.

…

“Oh no, someone is coming after your sister,” Fei Yanbo shouted in fright.

From the red dots on the small map at the corner of the screen, Fei Yanbo could tell that many people were approaching Su Lingyue from the surrounding area. That was a crowd of at least a dozen people and they were going to besiege her.

Those people didn’t know Su Lingyue’s exact location and weren’t even aware of each other. But their encounter was destined.

Contrary to what Fei Yanbo thought, Su Ping was glad.

Good!

Su Ping felt he could breathe again.

Soon, Su Lingyue met the first opponent. When they ran into each other, both became dazed for a second.

Out of instinct, Su Lingyue wanted to run away, only to see her opponent run away first.

Huh?

Su Lingyue then realized that it was because of the Moonfrost Dragon.

That person had most likely been scared away by the dragon.

Su Lingyue stood there still for a moment. She had not become used to the fact that she had the powerful Moonfrost Dragon as a pet.

Seeing that Su Lingyue had let go of one point, Su Ping was hopping mad.

That was a sure win and she lost the chance?!

How silly could you be?

You are not going to fail the trial, are you…? Su Ping’s nervousness came back. He was even more stressed out than when he had to fight several beast kings alone. The trial was torture to his heart!

Back to Su Lingyue. She regretted her behavior and went forward.

Soon, she ran into another person. This time, with the lessons learned, she told the Moonfrost Dragon to attack when she saw that person riding towards them on a seventh-rank Cyan Wolf.

Roar!

The dragon’s roar overwhelmed the wolf and they had lost the courage to run.

The Moonfrost Dragon went ahead and tore them apart. One point gained.

Su Lingyue was glad about this win and she put on a bright smile. But Su Ping was fuming at his mouth.

Who told you to use the dragon’s roar?

You’ve alerted your enemies! The other surrounding red dots are running away in fright!

This is a hunt. A hunt, okay?

Su Ping was boiling with anger. But he knew that his anger would not help her at this moment. He blamed himself for not teaching her well. At the end of the day, she was still a student and lacked practical experience. She was familiar with all the theories but when it came to a true battle, she would forget all the theories she had learned due to the pressure.

Time moved on. Half an hour had passed.

During this time, Su Lingyue had collected five points. She still had not gained a place on the larger screen yet. Many small screens had dimmed down as the participants left after their deaths.

All of the 10 larger screens were playing live stream feeds. The participant with the lowest point on the larger screen had collected 28 points.

That was because of one Dreamland Stone and eight kills. Su Lingyue didn’t have enough points. However, at this time, Su Ping had recovered his calmness. He had been nervous for half an hour and as of this moment, he had decided he had to let it go. Him stressing out was of no use.

He could tell that the trial was a fair game.

The Dreamland Stones were the key. Every time a Dreamland Stone was dug out, it would begin to glow brightly and the glow would continue even when the participant hid it in the forest.

Once the Dreamland Stone was dug out, it would become a beacon for killing.

The fight would become more intense and those could stay till the end.

Su Lingyue was chasing after a beam of light. Unfortunately, she was unable to find a Dreamland Stone by herself. So, she had to snatch one from the others.

Su Ping could see that she had become anxious and worried, which both comforted him and made him sigh.

He wished she could be stronger.

At the same time, Su Ping knew that this wasn’t entirely her fault. He had not told her any strategies clearly. He should have told her that she could kill anyone in sight and not be so prudent. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been at such a disadvantage. Ten minutes later.

Su Lingyue found the person with the Dreamland Stone by following the beam of light.

That person was one of the Top 10 performers but with some heavy injuries.

To protect the Dreamland Stone, this person had killed over a dozen but the fight had left him in a terrible state as well.

This person pulled a long face when Su Lingyue walked over.

He said some provocative words and Su Lingyue took action. The Moonfrost Dragon roared and joined the fight. The battle ended in less than half a minute.

The person who had been hogging the large screen for half an hour couldn’t even survive for half a minute. He had suffered a dismal failure.

Su Lingyue then jumped up to the large screen.

“Enough brawns but not enough brains,” Qin Shuhai commented.

Su Ping knew that he was talking about the young man who previously had the Dreamland Stone.

The young man could kill over a dozen, which was proof of his strength. He should be able to pass the trial. However, he had been unable to resist the appeal of the Dreamland Stone. He had collected it too early, which was of no benefit for him.

“Your sister sure knows how to hide her strength. She is patient enough to wait until this moment,” Qin Shuahai said to Su Ping with a smile.

Su Ping was smiling as well.

But he was hiding a bitter smile within him.

Su Lingyue was not concealing her strength.

She was just stupid!

Considering the strength of the Moonfrost Dragon, Su Ping believed Su Lingyue could have fought against all the others at the same time. Only the ones who were performing well and able to pass the trial could have defeated her if they snuck up on her altogether.

But considering their pets alone, the Moonfrost Dragon could have defeated twice the amount of enemies.

“Now I don’t have to worry,” Su Ping said.

With the Dreamland Stone, Su Lingyue could no longer wander around. She had become the target.

She could scare someone away but there would be more coming for her. Sooner or later, she would collect more points.

Su Ping had to admit that he liked the setup.

Tik, tok.

The competition became white-hot.

Su Lingyue had been accumulating more and more points.

Everyone’s attention was directed at the girl.

For the first half of the trial, the girl had remained invisible and few people had noticed her because they were only paying attention to the larger screens. As her image climbed to the larger screen, more people began to see her.

Her performance turned out to be stunning. That dragon was amazing!

The girl turned out to be a diamond in the rough!