Astral Pet Store novel - Chapter 490

Chapter 490 Legend Taking the Bait

“Humph!” Master Mo groaned. He called back all of his battle pets. Before he left, he said one more thing to Su Ping, “You won, fair and square. I heard that you’re from the Longjiang Base City When time permits, I’ll go and pay you a visit!” “Anytime,” said Su Ping. Master Mo flew off the stage immediately. On his way down, he cast a glance at the old man who was about to go onto the stage. He could not help but sneer at the seemingly calm old man. Whoosh! While escorted by several Qing family titled battle pet warriors, the old man flew to the stage and softly landed on the ground. There was an aloof and detached feeling about him. Senior Yan gazed at the old man. He had lived for a long time; even Senior Yan was a bit afraid of him. “Close the seal!” Senior Yan commanded.

The seal covered up the stage again.

The rubble and debris was left where it was and the mess on the stage was not fixed. Everything remained as it was. For titled battle pet warriors, what the stage was like did not matter. An uneven ground would not affect their battle. Su Ping and the old man of the Qin family sized up each other. Both appeared to be composed. But not the onlookers. They held their breaths and felt the tension in the air; it was sharp enough to cut their skins. The old man from the Qin family suddenly spoke. His voice was gentle. “My friend, if you cannot take it, you’re welcome to give up later.” “Right back at you,” Su Ping said seriously. The old man from the Qin family smiled. All of a sudden, he squinted his eyes and three swirls appeared behind his back. The three swirls were enormous, especially the one in the middle that had a golden color. With overpowering momentum, that swirl was like the sun hanging in the air! Amid everyone’s gazes, and accompanied by a roar, a huge golden dragon head snuck out slowly from the swirl, followed by the golden dragon wings and body that seemed to be cast of gold!

That was… a Golden Dragon!

The most powerful, the best, the rarest dragon! The stadium was in perfect silence. Master Mo—who had just gotten down from the stage and was unhappy about the actions of the old man from the Qin family-was at a loss for words. A Golden Dragon! That was the most powerful battle pet that anyone could find at the peak of the ninth rank. It was said that a Golden Dragon at its peak state was able to compete against a beast king! The average beast kings could not even summon the courage to offend a Golden Dragon! That was a battle pet that could intimidate beast kings when it was at the ninth rank!! It was a dragon so rare that one could hardly be seen in a hundred years. But this old man from the Qin family had one! One that was at the peak of its state!

In the air.

As the body of the Golden Dragon slowly stretched out from the swirl, there was no roar, no sound, but a terrible feeling made the audience fall silent.

Boom!

The Golden Dragon’s feet slowly landed, and the entire stage shook slightly. Everyone at the stadium felt their hearts throbbing. Next to the stage, the titled battle pet warriors were dumbfounded.

Unexpectedly, a kind of dragon which only existed in the illustrated book, and was actually almost extinct, was actually seen there.

What was the point of the match now? Venerable the Blade and his friends came back from their shock and produced forced smiles. The one who lived long enough could hide many treasures! How incredible the old man was, to be able to get a Golden Dragon! He was peerless among all titled battle pet warriors!

Entering the Golden Dragon in the match was to bully the opponent! From the other two swirls crawled out two demon pets, of which Su Ping had seen one before, the Bloody Servant!

But that Bloody Servant was at its peak state.

The peak of the ninth rank!

That Bloody Servant was taller than Qin Shaotian’s Bloody Servant. The fiendish energy coming off from the Bloody Servant was suffocating. With twisted and hideous limbs that had been fully matured, just standing there, the Bloody Servant would make people feel uncomfortable, as if they were going to be torn apart; no one dared to look at the Bloody Servant directly The other demon pet was of humanoid shape as well, or more exactly, like an angel. The demon pet had eight pairs of black wings. There were black chains that entangled and crossed over in front of its chest. There was something sinister about the demon pet whose eyes were completely black and could swallow the light. People could even hear a pin drop. Horrific! The three pets were rare and powerful. Even having one of them would make one a peerless titled battle pet warrior, not to mention three! It was hardly conceivable! That was the power of the old man! “It’s not too late to give up now.” He eyed Su Ping, surrounded by the three pets. He talked as if it were no big deal, but his energy could frighten all of them! Su Ping was indeed surprised.

He had to admit, he didn’t expect to see so many rare pets all at once. “Giving up?” Su Ping had stowed his curiosity away. “If I were not in a hurry, I might have been in a mood to appreciate your pets slowly. But now, go down!” With that said, the Dark Dragon Hound that had been sitting behind Su Ping stood up. The laziness in its eyes had shifted completely into coldness. The Dark Dragon Hound gently strutted over to where Su Ping was, standing side to side with the Inferno Dragon and glaring at the three battle pets coldly. “Huh?” The old man from the Qin family had already noticed the pet that looked like a dragon hound. But that was a kind that he had never seen before. He could tell that the pet was a mutation. Still, he never took it seriously. The Golden Dragon would always be No.1, the most powerful of all! Kill them! The old man of the Qin family commanded his battle pets. Behind him, the Golden Dragon slowly raised its head. Landing inside the pair of pure golden eyes—which was an indication of the purity of the dragon’s bloodline-were the two battle pets. The Golden Dragon could sense that there were dragon traits in the two battle pets as well. Such being the case, the two battle pets were ones that it could overpower! Roar!! The sudden bellow echoed in the stadium That coarse bellow was full of rage. Many people had to cover up their ears. Yet, surprisingly, the Golden Dragon’s roar did not seem to be… all that scary. While the onlookers were still wondering, there came another, much more ferocious roar!

Roar!!!

That roar toppled the Golden Dragon’s bellow! Roar!!!

Following that was another equally disturbing roar. The seal had begun to shake.

The Inferno Dragon and the Dark Dragon Hound were preparing themselves. After numerous times training, as soon as they got into a battle state from the idle state, the strong, desperate urge to survive would occupy their minds, making them cruel, heartless, and thirsty for blood. However, in the meantime, they would not lose their minds completely. They would be in a state of pure fierceness and absolute calm. In their eyes, a wild streak was flickering but composure was taking control. Finish them!! Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Many different types of shields emerged out of the void, cast over the Inferno Dragon and the Dark Dragon Hound. That was the doing of the Dark Dragon Hound. Within the blink of an eye, shields that were formed of wind, fire, lightning, rock, and water and so on had appeared to protect the two! Shields of all types!

In the meantime, with a muffled noise, a virtual image of a magnificent dragon appeared behind the Dark Dragon Hound. The virtual image was so large that it almost filled up the space on the stage. That virtual image was that of the old dragon king which gave the Dark Dragon Hound its legacy. Of course, the old dragon king’s consciousness was not within the virtual image; it was only there because it was a skill of the Heaven Expansion Dragons. Dragon Shield! The head of the virtual dragon turned into a shield that stood in front of the Dark Dragon Hound and the Inferno Dragon. Those many layers of shields blew the onlookers’ minds.

What pet is that?

Shields of all types?

Even the old man from the Qin family was overwhelmed by disbelief. Before the Dark Dragon Hound started to do anything, he didn’t think that the hound was any kind of special battle pet. And yet, at this moment, he had a feeling that the hound was not a common one! There was something… strange about that battle pet! Not delaying for an instant, the old man commanded his battle pets. Five more swirls appeared behind him and from them crawled out five pets at the peak of the ninth rank, all of the element families.

While each of his battle pets was not able to use skills of all types and families, he had enough variety of pets to make up for it! His battle pets covered the wind, fire, lightning, stone, and water families! All five battle pets that had just come out built up their shields. Energy synchronization was in the operation as well. The old man poured his astral powers into the Golden Dragon and the Bloody Servant.

Roar!!

The Golden Dragon growled. It had been frightened by the Inferno Dragon, which was surprising. That fear made the Golden Dragon feel that it had been disgraced. Roaring, the Golden Dragon unleashed one of the inherent skills, Golden Flames!

Swish!

The golden dragon flame built up a pillar of fire, and the loose rocks on the stage were instantly charred. The temperature in the air instantly reached the boiling point. Ordinary people would instantly be burned if they stayed within the seal. Even with the resistance of the seal, everyone outside the stage was able to feel the air heat up rapidly, as it was bathed in a sea of fire.

Bang! The Golden Flames reached the Dragon Shield but were unable to burn it. The Golden Flames should have been able to burn everything and anything; still, it was unable to char the Dragon Shield. The tides of the flames were shattered. The falling cinders burned many holes on the ground. Ineffective? Impossible.

In the meantime, the Bloody Servant had dashed out like a ghost. Its limbs, which were like sharp blades, began to spin rapidly. Several of its limbs became one huge machete, hacking at the Dragon Shield with tremendous force! No one would question how aggressive a Bloody Servant could be. But what happened next was jaw-dropping. The Bloody Servant’s machete limb bounced off of the Dragon Shield, and due to the recoil, the pet was smashed away. Before it was about to crash on the ground, the Bloody Servant adjusted its position in the air and landed steadily.

Silence!

What a swift turn of events. A strange shield that no one had ever seen before was so sturdy that it could fend off the strikes from the Golden Dragon and the Bloody Servant at the same time!

Roar!

The Golden Dragon was flaring up. Once again, the Golden Dragon breathed out fire. At the same time, it also spewed a ray of golden light. That ray turned into many virtual dragons that were traveling fast, catching up with the flames, and then smashed into the shield. With a bang, the virtual images were bounced back and even the Golden Dragon was forced back a few steps. In the meantime, the Bloody Servant was preparing for another strike. Shadow Whirlwind, Bloody Slaughter, Soul Hunting… a series of the Bloody Servant’s scary skills were displayed. However, be it physical attacks or energy strikes, nothing could destroy the shield that was the huge virtual dragon’s head. The “Soul Hunting” was a skill that could allow the Bloody Servant to invade its prey’s spiritual realm within an instant, and use that spiritual realm as the medium for a killing move. However, even that had failed. Blocked by the shield, the Bloody Servant was unable to invade the spiritual realm of the Inferno Dragon. Things had become a little bit odd on the stage.

On one hand, Su Ping and his two battle pets remained standing. On the other hand, the supposedly overpowering Golden Dragon, the Bloody Servant, and the eight-winged Demon Guard were attacking like crazy, but were unable to crack that virtual shield in the slightest, no matter how many top-level skills they were trying! That was a perfect shield! “What is that anyway?” Many titled battle pet warriors exclaimed out of astonishment.

They had thought that the Qin family old man could easily force all the cards out of Su Ping with the Golden Dragon and the Bloody Servant and win with ease. But look at how ridiculous the scene is right now!

The Qin family ancestor looked awful. There was a trace of surprise in the depths of his eyes.

No one knew about his Golden Dragon and Bloody Servant better than he did. The two battle pets could even inflict harm on beast kings! However, neither could crack that shield!

More importantly, he had used energy synchronization and had secretly cast augmentation skills on the two again. Both battle pets were beyond their prime states at the moment! But, nothing worked! That skill… it has to be at the beast-king level, a very advanced one at that! The old man was hesitating, struggling. The Golden Dragon, the Bloody Servant, and the Demon Guard were still attacking wildly. But no matter how they roared, smashed and wielded, the shield just wouldn’t crack.

What was there to fight about when they could not even break the shield?! Give up? That thought weighed the old man’s mind down.

Su Ping stared at the three pets that were attacking the Dragon Shield with a frown and darted a glance at the hound. “Stop loafing about. Finish it soon!”

Defense was not what he wanted. He desired to finish the battle as soon as possible!

The dog trembled after receiving Su Ping’s order. It turned around and looked at Su Ping. The coldness in his eyes told the dog that he meant what he said.

The Dark Dragon Hound no longer dared to sleep on the job. It showed its teeth and slowly turned around to face its enemies. Shadow Slaughter, legendary skill!

Roar!!

The dog bellowed. A mass of rich dark aura oozed out from the Dark Dragon Hound. Half of the Dark Dragon Hound’s bloodline was that of a demon! The demonic aura was profound. Under the cover of the demonic aura, the Dark Dragon Hound turned into a puff of black mist that seeped out from the Dragon Shield, charging toward the eight-winged Demon Guard, the closest enemy! Noticing the incoming strike, the Demon Guard flapped its wings. The dark sword that it was holding burst into flames. The Demon Guard wielded its sword to face the black mist that was the Dark Dragon Hound! The next second, bolts of lightning flashed amid the black mist. The black mist was suddenly dispersed; it sped up in an odd way and surrounded the Demon Guard. The old man of the Qin family hurriedly told the Bloody Servant and the Golden Dragon to help out. Roar! The golden dragon flames dispersed the black mist.

As that happened, people were able to see that the Dark Dragon Hound had thrown itself onto the Demon Guard, and was biting the latter’s neck!

The Dark Dragon Hound completely ignored the Golden Flames. Bang, bang, bang! The many advanced shields over the Dark Dragon Hound cracked but the second they cracked, new ones were added. The dragon flames had died down when the fifth shield broke. On the other hand, the Dark Dragon Hound had rebuilt all of its previous shields. Building up shields was as easy as drinking water for the Dark Dragon Hound.

That was beyond any logical explanation. How could the hound construct so many advanced shields while not needing the slightest effort? The old man from the Qin family turned pale. Pff!

With a pull, the Dark Dragon Hound yanked the Demon Guard’s head off. Bellowing, the Dark Dragon Hound then charged toward the Golden Dragon. Legendary skill, Dragon Shape! Strong energy surged out of the Dark Dragon Hound that changed its body. The Dark Dragon Hound’s four limbs grew, its body lengthened, turning into a dragon in a flash! That was the Heaven Expansion Dragon!

Roar!!

The Dark Dragon Hound yelled all of a sudden. It pounced at the Golden Dragon. Swiftly, the Dark Dragon Hound wrapped itself around the Golden Dragon and tore many scales off the latter.

The Golden Dragon was being suppressed!

Roar!!

The Dark Dragon Hound would not stop roaring as it held the Golden Dragon down and tried to bite its wings off. The Golden Dragon’s scales stood up as an effort to force the Dark Dragon Hound to retreat. But the terrifying thing was, being a dragon, a creature famous for its strength, and a king of dragons thanks to the inheritance, the Golden Dragon was not a match for the Dark Dragon Hound! “Stop it!!” the old man of the Qin family screamed.

He had lost his gentle demeanor. His face was contorted.

But the Dark Dragon Hound ignored him. Su Ping ignored the scream as well. He would not stop unless the old man shouted his defeat! However, when the Dark Dragon Hound was about to rip the Golden Dragon’s wings off, a glaring ray of golden light shone around the Golden Dragon. That was a ray of light no one had seen before. Then, with tremendous strength, the light threw the unprepared Dark Dragon Hound off from the Golden Dragon.

In the air, the Dark Dragon Hound adjusted its position and landed unharmed. But that twist had angered it. Su Ping was taken aback.

He was… getting a beast king sense from the Golden Dragon. Just then, the strength that the Golden Dragon had demonstrated was not of the ninth rank, but should be that of a beast king!

“Punk, you should be proud of yourself even if you lose, now that you forced me to this point,” the old man said.

Su Ping looked at him. The former head of the Qing family who seemed so refined had just turned hostile. His face was so cold that it seemed to be covered with frost. He was staring straight at Su Ping as if he had a deep rooted hatred. The most intimidating thing was that there was another swirl opening up behind him! That swirl was larger than the one the Golden Dragon came out from! Roar!!!

A noise broke free from the swirl. Immediately afterward, a sturdy claw covered with scales crawled out from the inside, followed by a massive body. That was a fat creature which resembled a giant frog; but unlike a frog, its limbs were all sharp claws. The creature was like a mountain of flesh and the skin has sharp protrusions. Though it didn’t have scales, the creature’s skin was as hard as iron. A sense of energy that didn’t seem to belong in this world was felt by everyone. Even the majestic-looking Golden Dragon seemed weak and vulnerable compared with that creature.

Down the stage. Several titled battle pet warriors appeared to be scared. “Beast king!” someone shouted. Venerable the Blade and his friends stared in disbelief.

Beast king! Indeed, that was a beast king!

They recognized that it was a Demon Stone Toad!

It was a terrifying beast king of the stone family. Given its beast king rank, the Demon Stone Toad did not only have properties of one specific family. Part of the Demon Stone Toad’s bloodline was that of a demon and it could use almost incurable venoms that could easily kill beasts of the ninth rank, including dragons that were highly resistant to poisons! The old man from the Qin family had a beast king! “Kill them!” he bellowed. All the grace and gentleness had left him. He had been consumed by hatred and killing intent!

He hated that Su Ping had forced him to a corner!

Su Ping was not all that surprised to see that beast king. Theoretically speaking, a titled battle pet warrior could sign a contract with a beast king. It was just that for the most part, titled battle pet warriors were unable to catch a beast king by themselves.

But it would be another story if they had some help.

Beast king… Su Ping thought calmly. Nothing special. He gave his order. The Dark Dragon Hound growled. The sense of the beast king had reminded the Dark Dragon Hound of some pretty bad memories; memories of pain it had experienced in the cultivation sites.

Kill it!!

The Dark Dragon Hound’s eyes reddened. It was aware that every time a beast king appeared, it was time for a desperate fight! Fight! Fight! The Dark Dragon Hound let out a dragon roar! This battle pet had many defensive skills but few offensive skills.

The Dark Dragon Hound’s combat strength was 14.2, stronger than some beast kings, but it wasn’t aggressive by nature. However, after receiving the old dragon king’s legacy, the Dark Dragon Hound had mastered one of the aggressive skills imbued in the bloodline.

The skill was one of the core inherent skills of the Heaven Expansion Dragon. Dragon Soul Elegy! The desperation inspired the Dark Dragon Hound to unleash all of its might! To survive! To live!

Behind the Dark Dragon Hound, the virtual image of the Heaven Expansion Dragon was roaring simultaneously! The dragon energy inside the Dark Dragon Hound was waking up. Dragon flames were burning around the Dark Dragon Hound, turning it into a real Heaven Expansion Dragon!

Phew!!

The Dark Dragon Hound ran toward the Demon Stone Toad. The Demon Stone Toad squatted on the ground, with cruelty glaring in its huge eyes. The toad’s skin had turned into rock. At the same time, the toad opened its mouth that seemed to be bottomless. Inside the mouth dark energy had gathered. A dark wave suddenly emerged from the mouth. The Demon Stone Toad could feed on some smaller dragons! That Demon Stone Toad had eaten many dragons already. To feed it well, the old man of the Qin family had once bought many creatures that were subspecies of dragons for the Demon Stone Toad to feast on.

The Demon Stone Toad had never cared about dragons or their might! Bang!!

The dark light wave was shot out instantly, shattering everything, and annihilating everything. The stones of the stage disappeared instantly. They weren’t even broken; the stones were directly turned into dust after the vicious attack.

The dark light wave landed on the Dark Dragon Hound, generating a loud noise. But the Dark Dragon Hound kept on roaring. It was still unharmed. Instead, the dragon energy was shining even brighter! Cruelty glowed in its red eyes. The Dark Dragon Hound bellowed as it charged against the dark light wave!!

Roar!!

That dark light wave was pushed away, dispersed. A golden virtual dragon whooshed out from the Dark Dragon Hound. The virtual dragon smashed into the Demon Stone Toad, piercing through its fat stomach. With a bang, the Demon Stone Toad smashed into the seal with its chest caved in.

The Dark Dragon Hound roared non stop. It rushed to where the fallen Demon Stone Toad was, stomped on it, poked its eyes with sharp claws. Blood oozed out from the Demon Stone Toad. The Dark Dragon Hound’s roar echoed in the stadium!

No other sound was audible in the stadium. Apart from the Dark Dragon Hound’s roar! The Dark Dragon Hound was standing on top of a beast king and was shouting into the sky! People were stunned speechless. That’s a beast king we’re talking about! No one had ever imagined that a beast king would lose, not to mention within one move!

The old man from the Qin family was standing in a daze.

Why would my beast king lose? While he had yet to recover from his daze, the Dark Dragon Hound had opened its bloody mouth and bit at the Demon Stone Toad. The Dark Dragon Hound was also wrapping itself around the flesh mountain that was the Demon Stone Toad and was tightening its grip. Kill the enemy! Never let go before the enemy is dead! “Stop it!!” The old man of the Qin family was on the verge of crying. The Demon Stone Toad was his favorite pet!

He had been worl the pet!

“I am going to kill you!!” He glared at Su Ping. Something around the old man of the Qin family seemed to be breaking. He was demonstrating energy like never before! Whoosh!

He dashed over. With a bang, he had reached the Demon Stone Toad and punched at the head of the Dark Dragon Hound which was caught off guard. Bang, bang, bang, bang!! With one punch, all the shields over the Dark Dragon Hound cracked! The Dark Dragon Hound fell to the ground. Down the stage, many stood up in alarm, opening their eyes wide! That man was… A legendary battle pet warrior?!! Some titled battle pet warriors took one more second to process that information. Were they wrong? No, that teleporting and that punch… and the state of the man… Everything was proof that he was definitely at the legendary rank!! Above the stage, Senior Yan was dumbstruck. He remembered something. That idea made him look at the private room. Someone was walking around in that private room but he could not see clearly. Senior Yan understood that this old man from the Qin family, who looked nothing like before, was the man that the big shot wanted to lure out. A legendary battle pet warrior took the bait! A hidden legendary battle pet warrior!

On the stage. The old man of the Qin family was a different man at the moment. He was no longer hunchbacked; he looked rather young, though his hair was still white. He wore his hair down his shoulders. Glaring at Su Ping coldly, he said, “I do not mind exposing myself now that my life is approaching the end. I understand that there’s some hidden agenda for this year’s competition but it no longer matters. I don’t care about the prizes. All I want now is to kill you!”

Su Ping squinted his eyes. “What makes you think you can do that?”