Astral Pet Store (WN)
chapter-360

Su Ping was at a loss for words. He wanted to say “you don’t know sh*t.”

But, being the gentle, refined and handsome man that he was, he did his best to avoid using those words so freely.

Mr. Luo and Ms. Lin were beyond words as they witnessed how much Fei Yanbo was trying to butter up Su Ping. That being said, they did sit down next to Fei Yanbo. They had no idea how the young man managed to fool Fei Yanbo who was always sharp-witted. How could he have fallen to the kid’s deceiving words?

After he sat down, Fei Yanbo tried to initiate a conversation with Su Ping. “Mr. Su, I think it’s highly likely that your sister is going to win first place.”

Su Ping gave a perfunctory reply, “Yeah, I guess. She is here for the championship, to begin with.”

Mr. Luo and Ms. Lin became dazed for a second. Mr. Luo asked Fei Yanbo, “By winning first place, you mean…”

Of the Top 5, there was only one girl. So…

Mr. Luo and Ms. Lin remembered that the girl was Su Lingyue, surnamed Su, and Fei Yanbo had just addressed the young man as Mr. Su…

“Alas, look at me. I completely forgot about that.” Fei Yanbo patted his head and continued, “Miss Su Lingyue is Mr. Su’s younger sister.”

Both Mr. Luo and Ms. Lin were stunned still.

The students that were trying to eavesdrop on the conversation were similarly astounded.

That talent Su Lingyue who had renounced the world splendidly was the younger sister of this young man here?

Su Lingyue had gained influential fame which was spread all across the Longjiang Base City. Every barber knew her. Those students were considering her as a milestone that they could never reach. Even the teachers would view her as a rare talent. They would have never guessed that the glamourous girl was related to the young man next to them. She was his younger sister! Mr. Luo and Ms. Lin looked at each other; both could see the surprise in the other’s eyes. They trusted that Fei Yanbo would not lie on such an important matter because lying would entail a great cost.

“So…” Mr. Luo had a hard time finding words for a second.

She was his sister?

So, why was one of them sitting down here, unnoticed and the other one was standing on the stage, being the center of attention?

As for the statement made by Fei Yanbo, claiming that Su Ping was at the titled rank, it had completely slipped from Mr. Luo’s mind; he didn’t believe that for a second. He had never heard of a titled battle pet warrior that young. Even if there were such a person, he would have risen to fame. The last Elite League had taken place three years prior, but no one had seen this young man compete back then.

Fei Yanbo observed the looks on the faces of his colleagues. He smirked. Finally, I’m not the only one freaked out.

Su Ping darted a glance to the gloating Fei Yanbo but said nothing. He turned his focus back to the pre-show on the stage.

Yu Weihan glanced at Fei Yanbo and whispered a question to Luo Fengtian, “Mr. Fei always says that this person is a titled battle pet warrior. Is that true?”

Luo Fengtian had been staring at Su Ping’s back. Upon hearing her question, he turned to her and nodded. “Very likely. Anyways, he’s quite strong. Not even Mr. Fei can beat him.” Yu Weihan was unable to believe it. “Are you sure? How is that possible? Mr. Fei is at the eighth-rank and is about to make the breakthrough to the ninth rank, to later become a titled battle pet warrior. How can he lose to Su Ping?” “That’s the truth. You can ask them.” Luo Fengtian was never chatty. He didn’t bother to explain and threw the conversation to the other students sitting next to him.

Those were the students who had visited the Phoenix Peak Academy with Luo Fengtian the last time. They nodded to Yu Weihan. “It is true.”

“It was because of him that we lost.” “You know that we were basically crushing the Phoenix Peak Academy. It was him that came out and defeated us. Mr. Fei’s Abyss Snake was hurt by him. You asked about that. Remember?”

“He’s right. That guy is a freak. Do not provoke him.”

All those students wore scared looks. Yu Weihan suddenly felt puzzled, since this young man was Su Lingyue’s big brother.

Was he really that powerful?

He could defeat Mr. Fei. That was to say, if he were to participate, he would have been one of the Top 5, right? A moment later, Yu Weihan finally passed the initial stage of surprise and threw out another question, “Then… why isn’t he participating?”

The other students looked at each other. None was able to answer that question.

Luo Fengtian frowned. He had asked the same question in the past but later came up with an answer. “Mr. Fei said that he’s a titled battle pet warrior. He is at a rank higher than the limit.”

Yu Weihan was speechless.

Titled battle pet warrior… at his age. How surreal this was.

It was getting closer to the appointed hour. People were getting more and more passionate. One after another, the family heads and the elders from the major families arrived and took their front row seats.

“Hmm, that guy is always the last to come. How pretentious!” Sneering, the elder of the Ye family stared at the empty seat that belonged to the Qin family.

The family head smiled. “Those superficial things are not determinant factors when judging a person’s strength.” Only after the family heads of the other four major families had arrived did the family head and elder of the Qin family appear, while accompanied by a middle-aged man. Qin Duhuang, the family head of the Qin family, was still wearing his signature smile as he greeted the other family heads. One might even mistake this as a leader meeting his subordinates.

Sitting on their chairs, the other family heads flashed fake smiles. They remained seated while they shook Qin Duhuang’s hands; however, the other elders had to stand up and say a few words. They had to keep up appearances after all. Letting people see that they weren’t close with the Qin family was not necessarily a good thing. “King of Swords!”

It seemed that the family heads were surprised to see the middle-aged man walking with Qin Duhuang. King of Swords, Qin Shuhai. He was one of the most famous members of the second generation in the Qin family. He would usually travel around rather than stay at the Longjiang Base City. It was said that he was good at forging friendships. No one was able to tell how many connections he had made over the years and that was why all the major families were a bit afraid of him.

“Fancy seeing all of you here, my old friends. Do remember to come to the Qin Chamber for some tea.” Qin Duhuang kept that smile on his face as he took his seat. He looked just like any other mild, old man.

And yet, those who knew him and his title were aware of how cruel he could be!

One would not get the wrong title, but the wrong name.

“Old Qin, you have a promising child in your family.” Mu Beihai, family head of the Mus, smiled a sincere smile as if he was genuinely happy for Qin Duhuang.

Qin Duhuang smiled. “You flatter me. He should learn more. Were it not for the judge, he would have died.”

“No, you cannot say that. I have to say something to defend Shaotian. He’s a good kid. He can control an eighth-rank Bloody Servant when he is still at the sixth rank. He couldn’t have done that if he didn’t have a mind of steel. The only thing to blame is the strangeness of this year’s Elite League. No one could have expected the appearance of those two freaks. You never know what will happen next!”

Mu Beihai wore a pitiful expression.

Qin Duhuang smiled.

Liu Tianzong, the family head of the Lius, sat there and listened calmly. He could sense that the others were sizing him up though they kept it hidden. Those people were waiting to have a good laugh at his expense! A glint of depression and killing intent flashed past his eyes as he thought about the participants from his family.

No one from the Liu family had made it to the Top 10!

Not to mention the Top 5.

He wouldn’t have attended if it weren’t for the fact that people would castigate him and claim that the Liu family was a sore loser. Of course, he made an appearance not only to show that they didn’t mind those trivial matters. More importantly, he was there to see with his own eyes how the girl dead set on becoming the champion would suffer a crushing defeat.

Competing against the Liu family?

Winning first place?

Help is on my side, though! As he thought of that mysterious girl, Liu Tianzong could not help but put on a sneer. Indeed, the Liu family had lost. However, even heaven was helping them. How fortunate!

While Qin Duhuang and the other family heads were still chatting, all of a sudden, they all stopped because they turned their sights to the corridor.

Seven people walked out from that access.

The three to the right were the titled battle pet warriors from the government. All of them exhibited immense power, like sharp swords that could come out of the sheath at any time.

Of the three to the right, the old man was wearing a strange robe. Just by looking at the style of his clothes, it was evident that he wasn’t a local.

Walking next to him was a middle-aged man, standing up tall and straight.

A delicate girl holding a sword was closer to the center.

At the center was another girl wearing a bright red dress with some tassels dangling close to the ground. She appeared to be slim, and the look on her face indicated that she belittled everything and everyone. Nothing, other than coldness, was expressed by her eyes. She had arrived!

The representatives of the major families were taken aback.

Qin Shuhai squinted his eyes. Those from that place came after all.