Astral Pet Store

Inside the competition’s Fate State realm—

The Little Skeleton was climbing to the top of the magnificent mountain in the company of the Inferno Dragon and the Dark Dragon Hound.

Most beasts stayed out of their way.

Some of the aggressive ones tried to stop them, but they were knocked off the mountain and left with broken bones by the Inferno Dragon before the Little Skeleton did anything.

The Little Skeleton soon reached the mountaintop.

It had looted so many flags that all of them fluttered behind its back like ten thousand arrows ready to be launched.

Countless battle pets inside the realm looked up at the scene up on the mountaintop.

So many flags were there, but nobody dared to claim them.

The three beasts, two tall and one short, looked down at all the other creatures below.

“All the flags have been taken. A-Are they going to be the only three that qualify?”

“Only those three will pass the preliminaries?”

“Well…”

The audience in the city was so shocked to see this that they weren’t sure about what to say.

Right then, another roar burst out of the Void State realm.

Everybody looked at the source of the roar, only to be dumbfounded yet again.

A Vast Sky Thunderous Dragon with white scales was flapping its wings and raging throughout that smaller realm. It had attracted dozens of flags with its astral power, which flew behind it like erected scales!

Those flags had been enhanced by the power of laws and were virtually indestructible.

All the flags on the mountain were plucked and dragged to the Vast Sky Thunderous Dragon’s back as it charged forward.

Many pets tried to compete against it, but they were all flung back by lightning bolts.

“M-My Vast Sky Thunderous Dragon!”

“My Asura Magic Sickle!”

“What kind of mutant is this? It’s so horrifying!”

The whole city burst into an uproar when they saw that.

Both Filius and Mia were stupefied; their pets had also been defeated by Su Ping’s, much more easily than they had expected!

They were definitely not on the same level!

It had to be noted that their pets had been trained in Su Ping’s shop, and they were boasting ultimate bloodlines to boot. And yet, they were trounced like straws at that moment!

They were unable to put up any resistance!

A lot of battle pets charged forward, but all of them were easily crushed by the white-scaled Vast Sky Thunderous Dragon with the power of lightning.

“One against a hundred!”

“Not even Fate State pets are able to do that. Is that dragon a Class S super pet?”

“I don’t think it’s merely a Class S. All the other contenders are excellent pets of higher qualities, but they can’t defeat it; not even when working together!!”

“It’s so strong! It’s dominating the battlefield!”

“Do this dragon and that skeleton belong to the same person?”

As the battle in the Void State realm became fiercer, everybody was so dumbfounded that they were eventually unable to utter a word.

The pet was crushing all the competition, just like a Void State being would crush a bunch of apprentices!

The popular battle pets that people were betting on had been easily routed on the battlefield. Their skills were completely unable to hurt the white-scaled dragon.

In the meantime—

Someone soon discovered that something similar was happening in the Ocean State realm.

A giant serpent was slithering in an imposing manner, as if about to swallow the sky, and whipping all the pets in its way towards the mountain peak.

It claimed all the flags it saw and placed them on its back like sharp spikes.

The scenario was repeated in all three realms—the intense competitions turned into one-sided battles.

The Ocean State realm only had that giant serpent as the unique hero; it endured many powerful skills with nothing but its body, demonstrating an impervious defense.

In the Void State realm—the mutant Vast Sky Thunderous Dragon suppressed all the other pets with the gravitas of a true dragon!

In the crowd, Mia was dumbfounded as she looked at the scene.

Is—Is Boss Su going to make his pets claim all the qualifications?

She did not expect this. She had seen her fair share of powerhouses since she was a student at the Amir Royal Academy, but she was still astounded by the situation.

On the other hand, Filius was almost crying. His pet had been trained multiple times in Su Ping’s shop, but it gave its flag away and chickened out the moment it saw the white-scaled Vast Sky Thunderous Dragon, not even having the courage to fight against it.

He remembered never having seen his pet act this cowardly before the training!

It had always been brutal and aggressive, but it became a fraidy cat all of a sudden.

His estimation was to make it to the top three or top five in the city. However, it seemed that he would hardly pass the screening phase!

What happened inside the three realms had shocked everyone in Woffett City; such a turn of events was unprecedented.

At the square—the contestants who had intended to participate at the last moment didn’t know what to do.

All flags had been claimed. Even if they sent their pets in, they would be unable to reverse the outcome.

As time went by, the three realms gradually fell quiet, and the three mountains were occupied.

All the flags inside the realms were claimed and concentrated on the three battle pets.

The other battle pets had gathered in the middle of the mountains but didn’t dare go to the top.

Some pets couldn’t hold it any longer and marched to the mountaintop, only to be beaten back miserably.

The fierce screening had instantly turned into a silent confrontation.

The office responsible for the city-wide Pet Contest rounds received countless complaints and protests.

They were sent by anonymous contestants, who protested against the unreasonable behavior in the contest.

All the flags had been claimed; their Class A battle pets didn’t even pass the screening phase. It was outrageous!

“Mr. Mayor, what-what do we do now?”

The office director was panicking, as this had never happened before. They had made plans for every possible emergency scenario during the contest, but they never thought that a single battle pet would claim all the flags.

The maximum number of flags that a pet can carry had never been restricted in earlier contests.

The strongest pets had the right to loot more flags; they could always fight back if the other pets were unwilling to give in.

But then… Several pets were much stronger than all the others that had emerged. How should the contest continue?

“!!”

The mayor also seemed to be panicking as he looked at the director. The shock made it difficult for him to utter a single word. He had foreseen the fierceness of the pet competition in Woffett City.

After all, many Class A pets had popped up in recent days; their battles could turn into massive events.

But, as things turned out, those Class A pets were suppressed; they ended up being unable to pass the screening!

Considering the situation, they would only be a few winners in the screening phase.

The city preliminaries would come after the screening rounds ended.

But, if there were only a few winners, would the preliminaries be really necessary?

He felt that the pets occupying the mountains could be the champions of their respective ranks even in the global finals!

“Milly, find out who these battle pets belong to,” whispered the mayor.

A sexy girl in pretty clothes nodded next to him and then disappeared.

Time was still flowing at a slow trickle as the moment; people were heatedly discussing the situation everywhere.

Someone complained about the battle pets, claiming it was unfair that they deprived other pets of the opportunity of passing the screening phase.

Another person disagreed. There wasn’t a rule regarding the maximum number of flags that a pet could carry. Who says they can’t claim all the flags?

Noon had almost arrived; the girl returned to see the mayor and said, “Mr. Mayor, based on what I found, those pets… belong to the same person. He is none other than the owner of the Pixie Pet Store!”

She raised her head as she spoke, giving a weird look at the old man.

The mayor was stunned.

They belong to the same person?

And the person is THAT guy?

Isn’t that guy a Star State bigshot who captured Garland alive? How come he has such low-level pets?

The mayor turned back and looked at the woman. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“!!”

The mayor fell silent.

He suddenly remembered that the guy was a pet store owner. Did the guy train those pets specifically to win the global championships?

Is he doing all this in order to get the Transcendence Fruit?

The mayor realized what was going on and heaved a sigh.

The whole thing was too tricky!

Considering the person’s identity, the mayor had to abandon all the countermeasures he had devised.

He had to come to terms with the outcome.

Changing the rules on the go might anger that Star State bigshot, and the man’s fury would be too much for him or even the Ryan family to endure!

The rumors of a grandmaster trainer had already terrified him in recent days. Woffett City belonged to him. He hadn’t slept well for days, fearing that someone might pop up and infuriate the grandmaster trainer from that shop.

If such a powerhouse was enraged… Not just him, the entire planet might suffer!

“Make a new rule for the preliminaries. Cancel the preliminaries if no more than ten battle pets pass the screening phase, letting the winners go directly to the global finals,” instructed the mayor.

The director was rather stunned at first, but then he realized what it meant. He eventually relaxed while still harboring mixed feelings.

Those who weren’t powerful had to follow rules…

But the powerful were able to bend the rules!

At noon.

The screening phase was finally over.

Some of the pets inside the three realms joined hands in the last five minutes, ready to charge toward the mountaintops and fight for the flags.

Still, their attempts became brutal failures; nothing changed the final results.

Su Ping’s pets crushed the rest of the pets and claimed all the flags. The screening phase was over.

He was speechless. He was to blame since he had not explained the situation clearly to his pets. The outcome made him look excessively arrogant…

However, he somehow felt comforted after seeing that his pets were looking down at the battle pets that were popular in the Federation.

Once upon a time… The Dark Dragon Hound had been a lowly, abandoned Moon Chasing Hound, and the Little Skeleton was just a second-rank skeleton that would supposedly be forever unable to advance to a higher level in its entire life!

While the Inferno Dragon had a better bloodline, it was only restricted to the Ocean State; it didn’t even have a king-level bloodline!

They had risen to prominence at that moment!

Even in the vast Federation, they could still distinguish themselves from the pets of the same level!

Su Ping felt like a father witnessing the growth of his children, seeing how awesome they were.

The referees were already in position outside the realms, ready to count the flags that each pet had claimed, to make a list of those who made the cut for the preliminaries.