Astral Pet Store

“Someone wants to see us?”

Su Yanying and Su Ping had yet to get off the stage when a manager of the academy walked over and invited them to the office building, saying that an important man was expecting them.

Su Yanying more or less knew who this “important man” was, since she had met him many times when her Lightning Rat made its name. And she felt excited to find out what kind of commendation she’d get after her rat’s brilliant performance.

She had only spent 10,000 astral coins at Su Ping’s shop to train her pet, which rewarded her greatly by instant-defeating a seventh-rank Thunder Basilisk. Whenever she thought about this, she couldn’t help but feel grateful.

Then she was terrified when she saw Su Ping already seated while helping himself with some hot tea.

This was the Vice Principal’s office!

Su Yangying felt it hard to stand properly while waiting for the Vice Principal as it was. And yet, Su Ping was already making himself at home.

“Get—get—get up from there,” She quickly urged. She wouldn’t want Su Ping to leave a bad first impression.

Su Ping was looking in another direction while checking the painting of a Purple-tailed Divine Phoenix on the wall. Just like the statue at the academy’s gate, this one also seemed to be the work of a master. Only… the phoenix didn’t look as awesome. It was only a Beast King, after all.

“What?” Su Ping heard the warning and slowly stood up, for he thought Su Yanying was calling him.

“The Vice Principal will be here soon. You don’t want him to see you like that!”

Su Ping sat down again. “What’s the big deal? Someone asked me to come, only to keep me waiting. It’s not like I need to ask for any favors. You know what? I’ll just leave if he doesn’t show up soon.”

Su Yanying decided not to argue because it made sense. Besides, the Vice Principal was probably asking for her. He didn’t know who Su Ping was or care how he behaved.

“Someone’s coming,” Su Ping said as he pricked up his ears.

At the same time, Su Yanying heard footsteps approaching and her heart skipped a beat; she quickly straightened herself at a seemingly proper spot beside the sofa.

The door of the office was pushed open, but no one came in. It seemed that whoever had just arrived was taking his time to check what was going on in the room.

“Mi—Mister Vice Principal, sir!” Su Yanying quickly uttered upon seeing not one, but several mighty figures outside, which only doubled her mental pressure. As someone who had recently gone through a lot in the academy, she managed to show her good manners by smiling politely.

An old man walking in front of the group nodded back with a kind smile and searched for the other “guest” in the office, only to see Su Ping’s head partially hidden behind the back of the sofa.

He wondered how Su Ping would react if he, as an elder, gave him a kind reminder to not slack off like that when someone important was present.

“Ahem. Welcome, Mister…?”

By doing this, Dong Mingsong meant to both announce his arrival and tell his assistant to leave.

Su Ping stood up so he didn’t appear too ill-mannered. He was a little surprised to see a total of seven people waiting behind the old man. Every one of them more or less had battle scars somewhere on their bodies. One of them even had the tip of his nose cut off, which gave him a horrid skeleton-like appearance. This man would surely scare kids out of their minds, that much was certain.

“Greetings.” Su Ping nodded slightly.

The simple response puzzled the visitors. This probably meant that Su Ping didn’t recognize the Vice Principal.

But how?

They realized that the young man they were looking at was not a student of the academy.

Dong Mingsong thought about the same thing and felt his mood drop. “Are you a student here, my boy?”

“No.” Su Ping shook his head.

The other visitors quickly made up their own plans.

Meanwhile, Dong Mingsong felt greatly disappointed since he no longer held the right to decide which team could accept Su Ping. Su Ping’s presence meant nothing to the academy as things stood.

A woman with red hair spoke up, “Judging from your age, you’re a first-grader, am I right? Which school are you studying in?”

“I’m not currently receiving any teaching.”

“You… what?”

As they previously discussed, this young man could be a better talent than Ye Hao. Someone like this had no proper education?

Dong Mingsong’s eyes glimmered. “What’s your name, young man? Are you perhaps interested in coming here? I can grant you free tuition, living expenses, an independent dorm and even an advanced Astral Pet pup upon your graduation. Or even an adult one, if you have good scores. What do you say? If you say yes, I can finish up the registration today so you can start your lessons tomorrow!”

Dong Mingsong spoke too fast, never giving the others the chance to say otherwise. Right then, they could only throw their hateful glares at the old man’s back.

Meanwhile, Su Yanying listened with a look of disbelief.

The Vice Principal is inviting Su Ping to the academy? Free of charge? A good pet as a gift? Why have I never heard of any of this before??

Reduced tuition was a commonly-seen welfare usually provided to brilliant students. But not even the top scorer could simply get an advanced pet for free!

Su Yanying started to wonder if the old president was in his right mind that day.

Besides, she should be the one under the spotlight. Why was everybody looking at Su Ping instead? Did they already find out that Su Ping was the trainer of the Lightning Rat?

On the other hand, Su Ping was rather discontented by the offer. Luo Guxue had already invited him to become an honorary professor in the academy, yet this old man had offered him a lower spot.

“I’m sorry, but no.”