Su Ping was in no mood to engage in verbal contending with her. He hung up his coat, then he went to the sofa in the living room and poured himself a glass of water.
“Hmm.”
He had just filled the glass when a delicate hand with porcelain skin reached over and took over the glass. She drained the cup with one gulp. Who could it be other than Su Lingyue?
Her raised eyebrows which expressed “do you have a problem with that?” when Su Ping landed his gaze on her.
Su Ping cast a glance to the Phantom Flame Beast who was crouching on her shoulder. That pet harbored no good intentions. Su Ping felt he had to be the bigger man to live his life. Therefore, he decided not to hold the grudge against her. He just took another glass and poured himself some water.
Su Lingyue snorted. She threw herself into the other side of the sofa and stretched to feel comfortable. “Someone is getting smarter today. Good, the stupid guy can be taught.”
Su Ping paid no heed to her words. He was measuring the Phantom Flame Beast lying in her arms with his eyes.
Soon after, information appeared in his mind:
Phantom Flame Beast
Property: pet of the demon family
Rank: upper position of the third rank
Combat Strength: 4.6
Aptitude: low
Abilities Mastered: Phantom Flame Strike, Hellish Breath of Fire, Mental Fire Thaumaturgy, Spiritual Impalement, and Roar of Phantoms
Su Ping raised his eyebrows as he finished reading.
Aptitude, low?
That was not good at all…
The Lightning Rat he trained could be rated as below average. This Phantom Flame Beast was really bad…
Noticing Su Ping’s stares, Su Lingyue glared at him. “What are you looking at with those obscene eyes of yours? My Snowball is an excellent Phantom Flame Beast. It is second to none among pets of the same rank. Hmm, there is no telling who can win even if Snowball meets a fourth rank pet.”
“OK.”
Su Ping did not express an opinion.
This Phantom Flame Beast currently was at the upper position of the third rank but its combat strength was rated 4.6. According to the interpretation made by the system, in reality, Snowball’s actual combat strength had reached the intermediate position of the fourth rank!
Indeed, it was remarkable that Snowball could compete against those in a higher rank.
But, that was it.
The Lightning Rat he trained had its combat strength rated at 3.6 when it was only at the upper position of the first rank!
He supposed that the Lightning Rat would be able to demonstrate abilities of the fifth or sixth rank when it reached the third rank. That aptitude should be deemed outstanding!
Yet, even such a genius Lightning Rat could only be rated as below the average by the system.
As far as Su Ping could tell, there was a long journey of progress laid before this Phantom Flame Beast. He wasn’t expecting that this Snowball could become alarmingly strong, but, maybe, it would be just average.
“What? What are you laughing at?” Su Lingyue frowned and pulled a long face.
Su Ping was speechless. “What, I can’t even laugh now?”
“But that is a cold laugh.”
“…”
“All right, all right. What are you two fighting about now? Come on and eat.” Li Qingru came over with the heated dishes and said to the siblings, “Time for dinner. Don’t watch TV now.”
Su Ping did not want to badger Su Lingyue at the moment. He got up to wash his hands for dinner.
The dinner was sumptuous, with fish soup, stewed pork with brown sauce, fried pork with hard bean curd, and some other vegetables. This feast provoked Su Ping’s appetite. He washed his hands and took his seat to dig in.
Su Lingyue came to the dining table with Snowball in her arms as well.
Li Qingru filled Su Lingyue’s bowl with rice and sat down. “How was the match today? Did you pass?” Li Qingru asked.
Su Lingyue picked up her chopsticks. The corner of her mouth was raised while she kept a straight face, “Today was just for preliminary rounds, which is of no trouble to me. Besides, all my opponents are just some new students in my class. It wasn’t much of a challenge. It took me just one morning to collect all the points to be qualified for the next round. It is just a pity that…”
“What is a pity?” Li Qingru became concerned.
“It’s just a pity that I cannot compete against the seniors in the third grade. Otherwise, I could have a chance to join in the finals.” Su Lingyue appeared to be sorry for this fact.
“Eh-hem!” Su Ping almost choked. He began to cough violently.
Su Lingyue looked at him through the corner of her eyes. “No one is taking food away from you. Aren’t you afraid of choking to death by eating so fast?”
Su Ping finally recovered after he took a few sips of the fish soup. He didn’t give her a response and simply focused on his meal.
Li Qingru set her mind at ease after Su Lingyue’s explanation. “Look at you. You have just entered this academy of Astral Pets. It’s not an easy task to stand out amongst the new students. Don’t compete against the seniors or you will be worn out,” the former said, sulkily.
“Sure, mom, you’re right.” Su Lingyue nodded at once. Her smiling eyes curled like a crescent moon.
Su Ping coughed again.
Su Lingyue threw him a look that could kill people.
Su Ping could tell that a gaze that was growing in sharpness was fixed on him without even having to look up…
“You must be tired. Eat all you want.” Li Qingru picked up some pork to put in Su Lingyue’s bowl.
“Sure. You too, mom,” Su Lingyue answered with a giggle.
Su Ping was quick to finish the first bowl of rice and he filled it again.
Su Lingyue suddenly remembered something that made her exclaim, “Anyways, there was something strange at the tournament today. I don’t think you’ll believe me when I tell you.”
Li Qingru was surprised. “What is it?” she asked with curiosity.
“There is a girl, a senior, and she seems to be one of the students always in the spotlight at the academy. But she only used one Lightning Rat in today’s matches. We all thought that she was losing her mind. Only, you know what? Her Lightning Rat won two games in a row and it defeated a Dragon Hound and a Stone Rhino!” Su Lingyue’s eyes were shining as she shared the news. She was excited.
“Lightning Rat?” The name caught Su Ping’s attention.
Li Qingru was astonished as well. “The Lightning Rat defeated a Dragon Hound and a Stone Rhino? Are you sure? Was it a Thunderstorm Rat? Alas, no, not even a Thunderstorm Rat could have…”
As a formal trainer, Li Qingru was familiar with pets. She could tell such an occurrence would be impossible!
Sensing that Li Qingru was doubtful, Su Lingyue decided not to keep them guessing. She went on with a smile, “Don’t be freaked out when I tell you that this Lightning Rat has mastered two advanced skills, a seventh-rank ‘Thunder Slash’ and the ‘Thunder Shadow Illusion’! Relying on the two skills, the Lightning Rat defeated the Dragon Hound easily and crushed the Stone Rhino who failed to protect its master!”
Su Ping was stunned.
“Thunder Slash?
“Thunder Shadow Illusion?
“Was this the Lightning Rat I trained?
“Could it be…”
All of a sudden, Su Ping remembered the look of the master of that Lightning Rat. She was young, about the same age as Su Lingyue. That was to say, that girl was very likely to be a student.
More importantly, Su Ping didn’t think there could be another Lightning Rat that was so horrifying, also able to master the same skills the one he trained did.
“Such a small world…”
Su Ping mumbled to himself and produced a fake smile.
He would have never imagined that the master of that little guy was going to the same academy as Su Lingyue.
“Two advanced skills?” Li Qingru was taken aback. “What a talented Lightning Rat!”
“Right, everyone was astonished.” Su Lingyue had the same feeling. “Its master is a genius. There are few people that I, Su Lingyue, admire. Now that senior girl can be counted as one of them.”
Su Ping stopped his mind from wandering around and glanced at her. He was thinking, “If you only knew your brother did this, would you still treat me the same?”
But that was only on his mind. His sister would not believe him even if he told her the truth. Rather, she would laugh at him.
After dinner, Su Ping and Su Lingyue went their separate ways.
Su Ping headed upstairs after his shower. He had thought that he would have more energy to burn off after his afternoon nap. However, he was assaulted by drowsiness as soon as he lay down. Soon, it was dream time for him.
The next morning.
Su Ping saw a ghost face in front of him as soon as he woke up. Having become prepared due to the last day’s fright, he was only shocked for an instant before he caught his breath. He glared at Su Lingyue, who was sneering outside the door, and got up to go downstairs.
After breakfast, Su Ping and Su Lingyue left respectively, one for the academy and the other for the store.
Su Ping felt invigorated and recharged after a night’s rest. He had decided to harvest food that day, so that he could gain more energy as soon as possible!
At the store, Su Ping first fed the Managarm and then he closed the door. He summoned a cultivation plane window in his mind.
Soon, the window appeared.
Su Ping selected a plane that only required one point of energy to teleport and chose to enter.