Astral Pet Store (WN)
chapter-347

Chapter 347 The Hound’s Bellow

On the stage.

Liu Qingfeng was a statuesque young man wearing a blue shirt. He frowned as he heard the noise. A glint of coldness and contempt rose in his eyes.

“He’s courting death!”

A person standing next to Liu Qingfeng grinned. “Qingfeng, I don’t think that kid is willing to admit that you beat him. Lucky you. It’ll be smooth sailing as you secure your place in the Top 10.”

The Top 10 winners could only be challenged a single time. Once they successfully defended their place, they would remain among the Top 10. Therefore, the challengers had to make the most of it. Of course, most challengers would have worries, unless they were extremely confident about themselves.

“Hmm.”

Liu Qingfeng snorted.

Beating the same guy twice in a row would deprive him of the sense of achievement. Of course, this time, he would teach Xu Kuang a good lesson so that he learned what humiliation truly meant!

“Challenge Liu Qingfeng?!”

Evidently, neither could the commentator expect that the name Xu Kuang mentioned would be Liu Qingfeng. But soon, the surprised commentator calmed himself down and announced the start of the first challenge in an excited voice!

Xu Kuang against Liu Qingfeng!

Cheers broke out in the venue.

Although it would be a fight with the same two people, the audience wasn’t lacking in passion. It was the first match of the day and the audience was still full of energy and vigor. The cheers echoed all across the venue.

The other nine challengers were astounded by Xu Kuang’s answer. Wearing weird expressions, they nine stared at Xu Kuang.

Of the ten people standing on the stage, Liu Qingfeng definitely was not the easiest target. After watching the previous match between Liu Qingfeng and Xu Kuang, everyone was of the conviction that Liu Qingfeng could make it to the Top 5 easily.

Xu Kuang must have lost his mind to challenge a tough guy instead of picking out a weaker one.

Not to mention that Liu Qingfeng had defeated him once before.

Or, was Xu Kuang able to progress by leaps and bounds within a day or two?

“Guys, it’s me!”

Xu Kuang waved to the other nine challengers and shouted with a smile.

The nine did not know what to say.

Don’t talk like you are one of us. Do not drag us down to your craziness.

The others left the stage, clearing the space for Liu Qingfeng and Xu Kuang.

At the moment, standing on the stage was Liu Qingfeng and a judge. The judge was also at the titled rank, but it wasn’t the one who had been hurt by the Moonfrost Dragon.

The wounded judge was in the spectator’s seats. His injured arm was wrapped up in a bandage and the new arm was growing out.

Regenerating broken limbs required advanced healing techniques and a high medical expenditure.

It was the first time that a judge had to be replaced in the Elite League.

“Good luck!”

Su Lingyue returned to the staging area. While she brushed against Xu Kuang, she wished him luck. She had become familiar with him due to his frequent visits. His opponent, Liu Qingfeng, was from the Liu Family, which was Su Ping store’s competitor. She had high hopes that Liu Qingfeng would lose. “Don’t worry. My teacher rented one of his battle pets to me. I’ll show this guy how it’s done!”

Xu Kuang smiled and his tone was arrogant. That was how he always was.

No guts, no glory!

He would not fake humility unless he were in front of the truly powerful.

“Really?” Su Lingyue was surprised to hear that Su Ping had rented one of his pets to Xu Kuang. It was the first time she had heard of the renting business.

“I won’t worry then.” Su Lingyue smiled. She had great faith in Su Lingyue’s battle pets.

Xu Kuang smiled and waved her goodbye before he stepped on the stage. The seal covering the stage was opened, giving out a dark blue hue. Xu Kuang jumped onto the stage.

The seal closed off immediately.

“I spared your life last time, but I don’t think you appreciated my goodwill! I’m surprised to see that you cannot wait to seek your doom!” Liu Qingfeng stared at Xu Kuang indifferently. To him, Xu Kuang was as good as dead.

Xu Kuang broke into laughter. “I lost to you because I couldn’t put an ability of mine into full play. Now, it is time for you to see the truth.”

“An ability?”

Liu Qingfeng raised his eyebrows but he didn’t take it seriously. Xu Kuang’s bluffing, he thought.

“Yes, my monentary ability!” Xu Kuang grinned. He stood just behind the red line and opened up two swirls from which two battle pets hopped out.

One was his battle pet, the Apparition Ghoul, a ninth-rank pet that he had given Su Ping to train.

The other one was the Dark Dragon Hound.

The appearance of the Apparition Ghoul stirred up a sensation. That Apparition Ghoul had demonstrated amazing abilities during Xu Kuang’s previous battle against Liu Qingfeng.

The Apparition Ghoul was a pet of the demon family, but of all the ninth-rank demon pets, it wasn’t particularly popular. Aside from its ugly features, an Apparition Ghoul’s abilities were mundane. Apparition Ghouls were able to fight at close quarters, exert spiritual control, and launch long range attacks. It might seem that the pet was versatile but the fact was that Apparition Ghouls weren’t proficient in any of the skills.

Some of the more outstanding eighth-rank battle pets with spiritual control skills were able to kill an Apparition Ghoul.

Honestly speaking, having a ninth-rank bloodline was the only selling point of the pet.

When an Apparition Ghoul reached the peak of the ninth-rank, true, the pet could overwhelm some pets of the eighth-rank. However, compared to all the pets of the ninth-rank, Apparition Ghouls were just average.

The other pet was the Dark Dragon Hound.

Again, of the demon family. However, the Dark Dragon Hound merely had a middle-rank bloodline. Many people took one look at the Dark Dragon Hound and lost interest immediately. Their focus was still on the Apparition Ghoul.

Was Xu Kuang challenging Liu Qingfeng again because this pet had progressed?

“You done?”

Xu Kuang had stopped his actions. Liu Qingfeng took a look at the two battle pets. He, too, turned his focus to the Apparition Ghoul.

Same as everyone, he believed that Xu Kuang was challenging him because he either had a new battle pet or the battle pet he used before had improved somehow.

As Liu Qingfeng was gazing at the Apparition Ghoul, he felt something wrong, something unsettling.

It was as if… something was targeting him.

That was a strange sensation. He was like a frog being gazed at by a viper.

Was he the prey?!

Liu Qingfeng frowned. He put his guard up. He didn’t consider Xu Kuang a threat but he would never underestimate his opponent. After all, Xu Kuang was a star student in the Ares Academy and should know better than to make this challenge for no reason at all.

It was illogical that Xu Kuang would want to challenge him merely because he was bitter about losing.

After all, if Xu Kuang lost again this time, he would have to kiss a place at the Top 10 goodbye! “Well?”

Inside the seal, the judge who was standing in the air suddenly frowned. Aside from how the rest acted, he only cast a glance at the Apparition Ghoul before his attention was caught by the Dark Dragon Hound.

He had an acute perception; he detected a well-hidden and extremely dangerous energy coming from the Dark Dragon Hound!

This battle pet… is strange! The judge thought. It wasn’t common for a Dark Dragon Hound with a sixth-rank bloodline to emit such a dangerous aura.

Xu Kuang was challenging Liu Qingfeng…

Could it be that the Dark Dragon Hound was the reason why Xu Kuang was confident to challenge Liu Qingfeng again?

The judge squinted. He had a feeling that the battle was going to be an interesting one.

“Since you have readied your pets, it’s my turn now.”

Liu Qingfeng took his eyes off from the battle pets standing in front of Xu Kuang. Liu Qingfeng raised his hand slowly and four swirls appeared around him. Roar! A rare dragon crawled out. This was Crystal-wing Dragon, ranked 15 among all dragons!

As the dragon emerged on the stage, people began to scream even louder.

Dragons would always be the most charming pets!

The dragon stomped on the ground and let out a roar, a simple cry. The dragon didn’t use any skills because the judge had not announced the start of the match yet.

That roar was just a declaration of war!

To show that it was fearless!

Following the dragon was a dark haze that had blocked out the light around Liu Qingfeng. That was a pet of the demon family that was generating a black fog in a twisted shape. The pet was Liu Qingfeng’s major pet, the Nether Ghost.

Nether Ghosts were proficient in spirit attacks and were natural enemies for battle pets skilled in close-quarter combat. The Nether Ghost was almost immune to all the physical attacks because its body could de-materialize.

The appearance of the Nether Ghost excited people more than ever.

Not even the Crystal-wing Dragon was able to compare with the Nether Ghost. The dark fog. around the Nether Ghost had absorbed all the light within a radius of a dozen meters around Liu Qingfeng, turning that area to a pitch dark setting. It was daytime outside the area; night seemed to have fallen on the stage.

Coming out after the Nether Ghost were two battle pets with ninth-rank bloodlines. Both of the battle pets were Liu Qingfeng’s secondary pets; they would be there to support or to heal.

Liu Qingfeng had a very clear plan about how to pair his pets. The major pet, the Nether Ghost, would control the spirit, the Crystal-wing Dragon was in charge of violent attacks and the two secondary pets would assist the other two so that the Crystal-wing Dragon could perform to full potential while the Nether Ghost maintained spiritual control.

A person would only need one sharp blade.

The other tools were available to serve the blade!

Since both sides were ready, the judge immediately announced the beginning of the match.

Xu Kuang wore a serious look. He was a proud young man but he would never make light of his opponents.

The Dark Dragon Hound’s performance did amaze him. Still, Xu Kuang knew very well that Liu Qingfeng couldn’t be underestimated. In regards to their previous fight, he had a feeling that he had not pushed Liu Qingfeng hard enough for the latter to use his full strength

yet!

He may have a fifth battle pet hiding somewhere… Anyway, I have to win! My teacher said that I would! Xu Kuang encouraged himself.

He focused his mind.

“Apparition Ghoul, Corpse Mountain!”

“Dark Dragon Hound, the floor is yours. Enjoy yourself!”

Xu Kuang sent out two orders. He was counting on the Dark Dragon Hound to win the match and the glory that came with it. He trusted the Dark Dragon Hound completely!

Charge!

Roar!

Roar!!

The battle broke out!

Both the Apparition Ghoul and the Dark Dragon Hound could feel how determined and resolute Xu Kuang was. The pets’ will to fight was ignited. They snarled a threat simultaneously.

The Deadly Roar from the Apparition Ghoul sounded hoarse, as if ghosts were calling. The skill was meant to deter opponents!

The other pet let out a dragon’s roar with the same deterrent effect! Everyone was stunned speechless when the dragon’s roar came out from the Dark Dragon Hound. Even the judge was struck dumb with astonishment.