Astral Pet Store novel - Chapter 309

Chapter 309 The Void Bug

Phew!

Joanna was panting. The spear she held vanished amid a ray of light.

She was staring at the dark energy gradually converging in the void. With the help of the dark energy, the Little Skeleton was slowly growing back.

Her spear contained “destructive force.” She could not believe that she had failed to end this skeleton’s life. Her spear should be able to render ineffective any regeneration skills such as “regeneration with a drop of blood” that some demons would use. She could kill those demons without the slightest difficulty. However, when it came to the Little Skeleton, her spear was not able to achieve that!

Su Ping stared at the mess in front of him. The battle lasted for merely five minutes but everything looked as if several aircraft bombers had blasted the place. Ruins were scattered everywhere.

A combat strength of 16.5 is much higher than that of average legendary battle pet warriors. Still, the Little Skeleton cannot defeat Joanna… Su Ping darted a look at Joanna. She was at the legendary level as well but she should be approaching the peak. He couldn’t see her combat strength. Whenever he tried casting an identification spell on her, all he could see was some question marks.

Given the huge gap between their strengths, Su Ping didn’t have the right to see her combat strength score at the moment.

Anyways, Su Ping was very happy about how the Little Skeleton did in this battle. The (Gate of the Dead) was horrifying. It could open up a path to another world.

All the monsters that it summoned were on par with titled battle pet warriors. Two of the monsters seemed to have surpassed the titled level but they had yet to reach the legendary level. It was somewhere in between. Su Ping didn’t know what the standard of strength the monsters that the Little Skeleton could summon would be.

It would be bad if everything was random.

On the other hand, if the strengths of the monsters were related to the strength of the Little Skeleton, then this would turn out to be a promising skill. Su Ping tried to ask the Little Skeleton about it. After all, since the Little Skeleton was the one learning the skill, it should know better than anyone. However, only in battles could the Little Skeleton demonstrate outstanding thinking. Other than that, the Little Skeleton would normally show a slow-witted demeanor, even a bit silly.

Their communication didn’t provide Su Ping with any answers. All of a sudden, he slapped himself on the head. How foolish he was. If he couldn’t get the answer by asking questions, then he could let the Little Skeleton try it a few more times.

Wow… He could not believe he didn’t think of that before. He and his pet were just as smart… “Take some rest. We’ll try a few more rounds afterwards,” Su Ping said to Joanna.

Joanna glared at him with her eyes wide open. He was treating her like free labor!

Was he testing the Little Skeleton or her?

“No problem. Who cares?”

Although angry, Joanna would never flinch from a battle. As a female war supreme-ruler who had been able to command wind and cloud in the Divinity, she had not earned her name for nothing. Su Ping told the Little Skeleton his intention at once.

Soon, a battle between the supreme-ruler and the dead broke out again. This once serene and deserted planet became full of noise; it was undergoing bouts of destruction that it did not deserve.

An hour later.

Su Ping had gained a basic understanding of the skill’s traits.

The monsters summoned from the Gate of the Dead varied in strength.

For that, there were two reasons. First was the Little Skeleton’s own strength. While the Little Skeleton was at the peak of its state, the monsters it summoned were usually powerful.

The other reason was the randomness.

When the Little Skeleton was at the prime of its state, occasionally, one or two monsters would be weak, at around the eighth-rank, or, the Little Skeleton could summon an extremely powerful monster that could be as strong as the Little Skeleton itself!

“The skill is a combination of strength and fate. No wonder this is a legendary skill,” Su Ping exclaimed to himself. He had a vague idea about the details of the legendary rank but he knew that this was a rank with a wide range of possibilities. There weren’t merely three positions in between. The gap between the strongest and the weakest at the legendary rank could be similar to that between a titled battle pet warrior and a first-rank warrior.

Or even wider!

Joanna was exhausted. She was panting and sweating. “Thank you,” Su Ping said with a smile.

Joanna turned away from him and snorted. “Should we go on? I will keep going till the very end!” As she declared so, the hand holding the spear was trembling. She had squeezed it too strongly.

Su Ping shook his head with a smile. He told the Little Skeleton to retreat, then he summoned the Inferno Dragon.

Su Ping checked the Inferno Dragon’s status with the newly updated identification spell.

Inferno Dragon:

Property: Pet of the dragon family

Rank: The lower position of the seventh rank

Combat strength: 9.8

Aptitude: Above average Abilities Mastered: Claw of Destruction (advanced), Sea of Fire (advanced), Rough Tackle (middle-rank), Dragon Deterrence (advanced), Golden Roar (advanced)… Inferno Dragonfire (legendary) (And 18 more advanced or middle-rank skills of various types.)

Basically, in terms of combat strength, the Inferno Dragon was at the upper position of the ninth rank, one step away from reaching the peak.

In terms of attack skills, the Inferno Dragon was more proficient in AOE skills and those of the defensive type. The Inferno Dragon would perform better in a group fight. In one-on-one battles, the Inferno Dragon still had room to improve. That was why the Inferno Dragon was unable to kill beasts at the upper position of the ninth rank within an instant, unlike the Little Skeleton. The Little Skeleton was most proficient in one-one-one battles.

Su Ping pulled up the details for the [Inferno Dragonfire). Inferno Dragonfire

Score: 15

(Note: legendary skills are rated from 10 to 99.)

Explanation: Summon the inferno fire hidden deep in the bloodline. The Inferno Dragonfire has long-lasting combustion and corrosive ability which cannot be healed. Except for a few skills and abilities such as freezing, annihilation, destruction and others, the Inferno Dragonfire is difficult to contain, and can burn away sacred energy, everything except dark energy!

It is difficult to burn soil, air, and other materials.

Length of automatic combustion: eight hours.

Only after finally reading the introduction did Su Ping have a full understanding of the effects and strength of this pet skill.

Given that the Inferno Dragonfire had a long-lasting effect and could inflict burns that could not be cured, the Inferno Dragonfire could be considered terrifying. It was a fire that couldn’t be dispelled, much like a virus.

However, the score of the Inferno Dragonfire was merely 15, which was unexpected.

“I don’t think the system has given a low score to the Inferno Dragonfire. It’s just that the Gate of the Dead is too intimidating. It can work well with the Little Skeleton’s regeneration ability. That is to say, before the enemy takes out the Little Skeleton for good, they would have to endure attacks from the monsters the Little Skeleton summons incessantly. Average legendary battle pet warriors would be unable to endure that…” Su Ping said to himself. His decision of “favoring” the Little Skeleton so that it would get the Gate of Dead had enabled it to master the strongest combination skills. What a happy coincidence.

“Do you want me to test your dragon?”

Joanna must have rested well because she had an itch to try once she saw the Inferno Dragon. All dragons had a tough defense. But compared to that exceptionally strong skeleton that could never be killed, the Inferno Dragon had become quite an easy target. Oh, such an adorable clay pigeon.

“No, we’re going back.”

Su Ping looked at her from the corner of his eye. He didn’t give her a chance to seek revenge or else the Inferno Dragon would suffer. Both the Inferno Dragon and the Little Skeleton were his children. He couldn’t be biased.

“Hmm.” Joanna snorted. Su Ping waved his hand. The system did his work and the views changed. Soon, they were back in the store.

They stayed in the cultivation site for one hour but only a moment had passed in the outside world.

The girls were still going about their lesson in the training room. Su Ping let them be. He took the pets that were booked for professional training to the Demisupreme-ruler Burial for Joanna to train while he, the Little Skeleton, the Inferno Dragon, and the Purple Python went to take their baths in the spring. While he was cultivating, Su Ping remembered the Void Bug he had captured.

That was one with a cyan carapace, one of the weaker ones among all of the Void Bugs. At the moment, that Void Bug was average in terms of strength and aptitude.

The rank was the intermediate position of the seventh rank.

The combat strength was 7.8.

Similar to his strength. Nothing worth mentioning

The Void Bug’s aptitude was poor.

Su Ping had just grabbed one randomly and his goal was to use the Void Bug to generate Divine Crystals for him. Back then, he didn’t know that he would sponge off a money bag like Joanna who could ensure the supply of Divine Crystals.

Although he no longer needed the Void Bug to generate Divine Crystals for him, he didn’t want to cancel the contract and get rid of it.

He was very much interested in the special ability and origin of the Void Bug. He planned on raising one.

“Come on, little guy, this is your favorite.”

Su Ping summoned the Void Bug and allowed it to swim around in the spring. The Void Bugs enjoyed eating supreme-rulers, the main reason being that they could absorb their supreme energy, which was rich in that spring.

With a splash, the three-meter, long-horned beetle-like Void Bug dove in the spring. The Void Bug moved up and down and soon managed to make itself float on the water. The Void Bug choked on some water, seemingly a bit uncomfortable.

But soon enough, the Void Bug noticed that it was surrounded by an appealing scent. After sensing the profound supreme energy in the spring, the Void Bug began to chirp happily.

Su Ping could sense how glad the Void Bug was. He said to the Void Bug which was swimming around, “Come one, I will teach you the backstroke.” The Void Bug looked puzzled, but soon imitated Su Ping after he demonstrated the move.

The huge spring was filled with splashing noises.

The pets and Su Ping were enjoying themselves. The Inferno Dragon had put out the fire surrounding it. At the moment, the Inferno Dragon was crouching at a corner with only its head above water. People would mistake it for a crocodile.

The Purple Python merely stuck half of its body inside the spring, leaving the other half outside. Given its sheer size, there would be no room for others if it sunk its whole body.

The Dark Dragon Hound was the happiest of all. The Void Bug dog paddled around with its tongue sticking out. How joyful.

The Little Skeleton sunk to the bottom of the spring and scattered all of its bones to remain motionless. Su Ping had once tried to teach the Little Skeleton to swim but it simply couldn’t learn…

The two servants guarding by the spring looked at the scene speechlessly. They were jealous at the same time. The spring was precious and would usually be sold on the market by the drop. It pained their hearts to see that spring being squandered away by those creatures.