Chapter 312 Vain Boasting
Su Lingyue curled her lips after hearing the first few of his words, but offered no comment.
To be able to get into the Ares Academy, apart from academic scores, one had to have a registered residence in the uptown area.
As such, she might not truly have a good opinion of all the students of the Ares Academy. However, the fact that Xu Kuang could make it to the Top 1000 relying on his own was proof of his admirable strength.
She wasn’t offended by his bragging because he had every right to do so.
“Come here. Let’s take a seat.” Xu Kuang dragged Su Lingyue to a place where several people had already taken seats. They were all from the Ares Academy.
Su Lingyue looked at them and shook her head to decline. She then glanced through the crowd and saw Ye Hao and Su Yanying. “It isn’t proper for me to go and sit with the Ares Academy. I’ll go and find my friends.”
Xu Kuang looked over and saw Ye Hao.
He and Ye Hao were old-time opponents. They had once fought against each other at the academy’s exchange matches.
Xu Kuang could see that Ye Hao was eyeing him with a provoking glare. The former sneered and said to Su Lingyue, “I’ll let you go then. Be sure to show mercy to me if we met each other on the stage.”
“You are the one who should be merciful to me…”
“No, no, you’re my teacher’s sister. I can never defeat you.” Xu Kuang answered right away. Whether he meant it or he was just being polite was yet to be determined.
Su Lingyue parted ways with Xu Kuang after they exchanged a bit of extra small talk. She went to find Ye Hao and Su Yanying.
“Do you know that guy?” Ye Hao asked.
“Not really. He said he is my brother’s student,” Su Lingyue explained. She felt a bit awkward when she used the words “my brother.” She had never called Su Ping like this in front of others before. It was because of his recent change that she gradually accepted and grew used to the fact that he was honestly her big brother. “Mr. Su’s student?”
Both Ye Hao and Su Yanying were both surprised, especially Ye Hao. He had more complicated thoughts about this fact. He and Xu Kuang had been competing against each other for a long time and he had to admit that Xu Kuang was strong and talented. Ye Hao was not born out of a major family so to be able to have such achievements was not easy for him.
Ye Hao never knew that his opponent was Su Ping’s student, whom he also used to regard as an opponent.
“Xu Kuang, who is that girl?”
Back to the students of the Ares Academy. As soon as Xu Kuang came back, one of his friends voiced his curiosity. He found the girl that Xu Kuang had been talking with appeared to be a bit familiar.
“You don’t know… Anyways, when you meet her on stage, save your strength. You’ll lose the game and get yourself hurt,” Xu Kuang sat down and answered casually. His attitude had changed completely from the modesty he demonstrated in front of Su Ping.
His name was Xu Kuang.
In his name, Kuang was the character that meant wild or undisciplined.
“What do you mean? Are you certain that I will lose to her?” The young man was a bit offended by his words.
Xu Kuang looked at the young man through the corner of his eye. “Hey, Chickens, don’t take it personally. Have you heard about the Pixie Pet Store? She is the one that is going to win the championship.”
“That’s her?!”
Xu Kuang’s words stunned all the people from the Ares Academy. All of them gave Su Lingyue a curious look.
The young man nicknamed “Chickens” turned angry at once. “I told you not to call me Chickens! Besides, I’ve seen her video from the matches before. She has a rare dragon, right? But I can tell that the dragon has just reached adulthood. I think I can win against her!”
The others nodded in agreement. Their calmness had been restored.
She claimed she would win the championship.
What a tone. But who wasn’t capable of talking big?
I could win the global-championship then!
“Hmm.”
Xu Kuang sneered at their reaction. He did not care for their attitudes but he didn’t feel in the mood to argue back. After all, those sitting around him were not merely his friends, but others who had graduated from the Ares Academy years before.
Xu Kuang had experienced the training in Su Ping’s store. Therefore, he was well aware that the pets’ size and rank did not matter. What mattered was their combat strength.
He had seen all of Su Lingyue’s videos. He could tell right away that the Moonfrost Dragon wasn’t anywhere near to displaying all of its powers. Every time, the Moonfrost Dragon only had to make one move and her opponent would be defeated!
Besides, who could tell if the Moonfrost Dragon was even her major pet or not?
Su Ping’s store had the Inferno Dragon. It was likely that the Moonfrost Dragon was Su Lingyue’s secondary pet. Then what would be her major pet like? It was appalling just to think about it!
“I will be one of the Top 10 winners!” Xu Kuang calmly asserted. He kept his eyes on the stage without saying anything else to his friends. He didn’t care who his opponent would be as long as it wasn’t Su Lingyue. He had absolute confidence in Su Ping and in the pet that he had trained for him.
Just thinking about the recent changes in his pet filled Xu Kuang with excitement.
The young man nicknamed Chickens was speechless. He knew his best friend well. Xu Kuang had always been arrogant. He had become used to his friend bragging like this already. But, this wasn’t a proper place for Xu Kuang to make big claims. “Oh?”
“Is that so?”
Several others sitting there had graduated from the Ares Academy years back and had been in the explorers’ business for a long time. They all cast a glance of contempt at this student.
They had heard about some of his achievements in the academy… But, they had once been star pupils in the academy.
A young man with several dull red scars on his arm cautioned Xu Kuang coldly, “Brother, you should know that keeping a low profile is for the best. To make it to the Top 100 will be a nice result for you already. Don’t push yourself too hard.”
“Hmm, I see that the students in our academy have become more and more ‘confident’ during the years we’ve been away.” Another person chuckled but his words were full of sarcasm.
“I say the younger generation will surpass the older.”
“Top 10… ha, ha, ha.”
Xu Kuang replied to all those ridiculing remarks with a cold grin. He wouldn’t have dared to say those big words before. However, he wasn’t afraid at the moment. Those people had trained in the barren land for years. So what? That wouldn’t be as useful as him spending some money on Su Ping to train his
pets!
Xu Kuang gazed into the distance at the place where the Mu Family was.
Mu Chen, his arch-nemesis at the academy, who would always be the top student, was sitting there, instead of with the others of the Ares Academy. After all, Mu Chen was from the Mu Family whereas those sitting in the warriors seating area were not from the major families.
“Hmm, after you exhaust your means just to get into the Top 100, I will be among the winners of Top 10 or even the Top 5. Let’s see what the look on your face will be like.” Xu Kuang was filing his teeth. He could not wait for the battle to begin. He was going to establish his name!
What an achievement it would be, once he made it to the Top 10!
Back to where the family members were
sitting.
Su Ping found a random spot to sit down. Compared to the participants’ seating area, this place was livelier. Some family members were calmer while others were more excited. The latter would point here and there, discussing something. It seemed that this was their first time in such a big venue and enjoying such good seats.
“Mr. Su, we meet again.”
Soon, two people came and sat down on the empty seats next to Su Ping. “Anyone here?”
Su Ping opened his eyes. It was Fei Yanbo and his son Fei Fei. He could already tell that they were headed there from other seats on purpose. Su Ping knew that Fei Yanbo was trying to forge a closer relationship, to which Su Ping did not oppose. Fei Yanbo could become a potential customer.
When he could train advanced pets in his store, people like Fei Yanbo with advanced pets would be his major targets and his major source of income.
“Say hi,” Fei Yanbo said to his son.
Compared to last time, Fei Fei was much politer. Fei Yanbo must have taught his son a lesson after they went back.
“Mr. Su.” Fei Fei’s cheeks blushed. He was not used to the exchange of pleasantries among adults.
Su Ping did not reply. Others might address him as Mr. Su merely to be polite but since Fei Yanbo had made just a big deal about it, this might mean something entirely different for Fei Yanbo.
“I think those two students of yours can both make it to the Top 100,” Su Ping said casually.
Su Ping had shifted the subject. Fei Yanbo smiled an awkward smile. “I don’t think so. Them making it to the Top 500 will be good enough for me.”
Ashamed that Su Ping did not reply to his greeting, Fei Fei blushed even more. In indignation, he sat down and looked away.
Fei Yanbo was embarrassed by his son. Soon, he hid his embarrassment and continued to chat with Su Ping.
“Brother Su?”
Su Ping heard a voice that was gentle and mild. Someone else had come.
Surprised, Su Ping and Fei Yanbo looked over at the same time, only to see a middle-aged man in elegant bearing walking toward them with a smile.
“Qin Shuhai?” Su Ping didn’t expect to meet him there. But since he was from the Qin Family, this was nothing strange.
“Do you mind me sitting here?” Qin Shuhai asked.
“Of course not.”
Qin Shuhai sat down to Su Ping’s right. “We never met again after we said goodbyes at the Mysterious Realm. What a coincidence to run into you here.”
Su Ping sneered inwardly. There weren’t so many coincidences. They were all arranged “accidental encounters”.
“And this is?” Qin Shuhai looked at Fei Yanbo.
Fei Yanbo was curious about Qin Shuhai as well. When the latter was walking toward them, Fei Yanbo picked up a faint overwhelming sense from him. This person must be a mighty warrior.