Astral Pet Store (WN)

Chapter 580 Gather the Students

“Well….”

Han Yuxiang sounded nervous. “I checked but the surveillance failed during that period of time. Something was wrong with the system. I could not find anything out.”

“Failed?”

Su Ping sneered. “This is the best academy in the Subcontinent District and you’re telling me the surveillance failed? Does that happen often or not as much?”

“Er… it had never happened before, only this time…” Han Yuxiang felt embarrassed.

“Is that so? You’re not going to tell me that this is all just a big coincidence, are you?”

“Er, no, it’s not a coincidence. Back then, I realized that something might have gone wrong. So, I inspected all the surveillance seals around the area. But I didn’t find anything suspicious,” Han Yuxiang defended himself. Su Ping narrowed his eyes. “Did you not find anything wrong or did you find something but were afraid to tell?”

Su Ping was aware that the Valiant Academy gathered students from families and forces with complicated connections. Even Han Yuxiang was afraid to displease those factions.

A case in point would be that guy surnamed Fei who was said to be Han Yuxiang’s student. The former didn’t show any due respect to his teacher.

Han Yuxiang was a bit pale. He clearly understood what Su Ping was implying. Su Ping had shown a level of sophistication uncommon in a man in his twenties, but entering the Dragon Tower was proof that he was under 24. Han Yuxiang could not imagine who this guy’s teacher was.

“I honestly didn’t find anything. That is the truth,” Han Yuxiang insisted.

Su Ping didn’t comment on that. “Show me the recordings of the surveillance seal from that

day.”

“Sure thing.” Han Yuxiang nodded. He kept the record, thinking that he might use it one day.

“When the Principal comes…” Han Yuxiang was hesitant. “When he comes, tell him to find me.”

“Okay, sure.”

Han Yuxiang was afraid to upset Su Ping. The Principal was at the legendary rank but Su Ping was a person who was able to kill those legendary practitioners. Han Yuxiang knew a few things about the legendary rank. It was said that the Principal was merely at the first state of the legendary rank; the Qin Family’s legendary battle pet warrior whom Su Ping ha killed during the Supremacy League was at the first state of the legendary rank as well.

As such, Han Yuxiang had reason to believe that Su Ping and the Principal should be well-matched. Su Ping might be even more intimidating, as a matter of fact.

Mo Fengping had witnessed how afraid his teacher was of Su Ping. Han Yuxiang had kept his panicky attitude the entire time.

Su Ping turned to be more and more mysterious.

Fei Tianyi was angered by Su Ping’s casual responses. Arrogant as Fei Tianyi was, he held the Principal in awe and respect.

After all, the Principal was at the legendary

rank!

But that was not the only thing that made the Principal respectable. He was a man of irreproachable conduct. However, Su Ping was not showing any due respect, which was unacceptable for Fei Tianyi. That being said, he didn’t step forward to condemn Su Ping or anything. He was sure that if that record of the Dragon Tower was the truth, he was, in all likelihood, an unworthy opponent. Han Yuxiang’s attitude toward Su Ping was another point.

The Vice Principal led the way with Su Ping following him and Fei Tianyi followed after Su Ping. The latter thought that he could take the chance to meet the Principal.

Many students were thinking the same thing. A lot of them went after Han Yuxiang, looking forward to finding out what was going to happen. Soon after, they arrived at another building. That was the center of surveillance of the entire academy.

Han Yuxiang told the students to wait outside when he went into the building with Su Ping, Mo Fengping, Xu Kuang, and Fei Tianyi.

Han Yuxiang told the man in charge of the place to show them the surveillance record of the afternoon in question.

Su Ping stood in front of the device.

A projector lit up and displayed the recording on a wall.

Su Ping saw Su Lingyue in that recording; it seemed that she had grown up a bit. She was more experienced, no longer looking like a spoiled little girl like she was when she lived in the Longjiang Base City. She had matured after being out by herself, living an independent life.

Su Ping’s thoughts wandered.

He watched the recording for about thirty minutes when he heard some noises and some students cheering and screaming in surprise.

Mo Fengping, Xu Kuang and Fei Tianyi turned to look in the door’s general direction. They had an idea of who was coming and were looking forward to verifying this guess. Fei Tianyi seemed to be the least excited of the three, but the glow in his eyes gave him away.

Soon, an old man wearing a white robe went through the door.

He wore a blue hat and had the looks of a scholar.

He had the air of a refined and learned man, and if one observed carefully, they would see that he was also quite powerful.

“Sir.”

“Nice to meet you, sir.”

“Sir.”

They greeted the Principal at once.

Han Yuxiang hurried to the Principal. “Sir, Mr. Su is waiting for you.”

“I understand.”

The old man nodded. He gazed at the young man who was watching the recordings; a glint of seriousness passed his eyes. He soon adjusted himself, put on a kind smile, and stepped over to meet the young man. “You must be the Fate Challenger. Nice to meet you.”

Fate Challenger?

Mo Fengping, Xu Kuang, and Fei Tianyi stared at Su Ping in disbelief.

Su Ping is a Fate Challenger?

Everyone knew the significance of the title. It was exclusive to those at the titled rank but was given to those who could defeat legendary battle pet warriors!

There were fewer Fate Challengers than legendary battle pet warriors!

Su Ping is a Fate Challenger?!

Fei Tianyi could not believe this. This guy was able to enter the Dragon Tower… Not only did he reach a higher rank but is also a Fate Challenger?!

This meant that he was much more powerful!

Fei Tianyi remembered the record of the Dragon Tower and felt his heart skip a beat. If Su Ping was a Fate Challenger, making it to the 33rd level would be an acceptable feat.

But…

Fei Tianyi was already the best student of the year and was claimed to be the best one in the past hundred years.

And yet, he was much inferior when compared to Su Ping.

Could this guy even be real?!

Su Ping heard the greeting and looked away from the projection. He unleashed some astral power to freeze the recording in case he would miss something

“Are you the Principal?”

Su Ping looked at the old man whose blue hat was unable to conceal all of his white hair. He then noticed something interesting about the old man. “Are you at the legendary rank?”

The old man smiled and cupped his fists. “Barely. That is not worth mentioning, Fate Challenger Su.”

“How should I address you?”

“Yun Wanli. Mr. Su, if it’s all right with you, you can just call me Brother Yun,” Yun Wanli suggested with a smile.

That answer was jaw-dropping for Mo Fengping, Fei Tianyi, and Han Yuxiang. The latter was well aware of what Su Ping was capable of, but it was still against his expectations that the Principal would act that humbly, allowing Su Ping to address him as Brother Yun.

That was the first time that Han Yuxiang had seen the Principal like that.

The Principal, a legendary battle pet warrior!

“Okay, I will call you Brother Yun. What I am going to tell you is about the Dragon Tower and it cannot be heard by others. I would like some privacy.” Su Ping went straight to the point.

Yun Wanli was surprised. “Okay. Let’s go outside.”

“Good,” Su Ping agreed and vanished on the spot.

Yun Wanli narrowed his eyes. That was teleportation!

That was a skill exclusive to the Void State and above. However, Su Ping-who was merely at the titled rank—was able to use that skill with such proficiency! Yun Wanli had heard stories about that Fate Challenger but seeing was believing.

No wonder Su Ping had been able to exit the Tower alive after creating a scene and killing legendary battle pet warriors!

Yun Wanli didn’t dally as he left the building. He looked up to the sky and saw Su Ping standing in the air. He immediately flew to join him.

Su Ping raised his eyebrows. It was interesting to see that Yun Wanli didn’t teleport. It seemed that Yun Wanli was merely at the Ocean State; he had thought that Yun Wanli had already mastered teleportation.

“Fate Challenger Su, do tell.” Yun Wanli set up a seal solemnly.

Su Ping nodded. “I don’t think the Dragon Tower is some usual test place. Do you know the story behind that place? I went in there to find clues about my sister and something happened. I smashed through the roof of the tower; I don’t know what it was but the monsters inside were afraid of something and they didn’t come out, but I don’t know when they’ll come out, either. When they do, they have the power to destroy the Valiant Academy in a single blow.

“The residents of the Longyang Base City will suffer as well, and the entire Subcontinent District will fall. The only way to stop that from happening when the monsters get out is for all the legendary battle pet warriors of the Tower to come and help.”

Yun Wanli produced a forced smile. “I knew that the Dragon Tower meant trouble!”

“Humor me.”

“That Dragon Tower is indeed not a common place. Our founder visited that place and noticed strange things about it, later deciding to build the academy in the area.

“Later inspection revealed that the Dragon Tower was a complicated place. There was a time when the place was off-limits!

“However, our third Principal opened up this place in the past, for the students to test their skills after some research was done.”

Yun Wanli heaved a sigh. “The Dragon Tower belongs to a distant past and was on the Blue Planet long before the age of astral pets arrived. The Dragon Tower was buried underground at the very beginning. At the dawn of the astral pets’ era, there was a battle between the first beast kings. Their chaotic fight split mountains and the ground was cracked, thus revealing the Dragon Tower.”

Su Ping raised his eyebrows. The Dragon Tower was in fact that Heaven Killer’s finger. The Heavenly King had to be extremely powerful, considering that a single finger could withstand the passage of time. That Heavenly King was stronger than anyone could imagine. “I have pierced the Dragon Tower. Can you deal with what’s inside?” Su Ping asked.

Yun Wanli came back to his senses from his recollections. He curled his lips. You broke it and now you’re asking me for a solution?

The one who breaks it should be responsible for the repair!

Of course, Yun Wanli was unable to say those words out loud. For Su Ping to be willing to discuss was proof that he, after all, was not a merciless person. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had to bring that up. The fall of the Subcontinent District would be nothing for legendary battle pet warriors, because they could easily find another place to settle down. Yun Wanli replied, “We are not without solutions.”

“The third Principal had thought of a solution when he opened up the place. He set up an ancient formation outside the Dragon Tower, a formation designed to kill all evil!

“I will ask some friends of mine to come over and help me and Fate Challenger Su, please come as well to help me repair the top. We will be safe as long as the formation is still active.”

Su Ping breathed in relief. “Good. I see that I haven’t made too much of a problem. It would have been bothersome to kill all those things inside.”

Yun Wanlid didn’t know what to say.

He had only entered the Dragon Tower when he was young but he had other means to gather information about the things inside. The top level was dangerous. To kill all the creatures inside was impossible, unless all the legendary battle pet warriors of the Tower, including the Master of the Tower, came as Su Ping suggested! “Do you know why there’s an age limit of 24?” Su Ping had other questions.

Yun Wanli shook his head. “I don’t know. That has always been the case since the Dragon Tower was discovered. No one knew the reason.”

Su Ping realized that it had to be an innate rule of the finger. It was a strange rule nonetheless. He would have to ask Joanna.

“I won’t bother myself about this since you have a solution. I’ll have to take care of my personal business now.” Su Ping decided he had to find Su Lingyue first.

“I heard that your sister went missing. Is there anything I can do to help you?”

“Not yet,” Su Ping said and teleported back to the building.

Yun Wanli forced a bitter smile after Su Ping’s disappearance. He, a legendary battle pet warrior at the Ocean State, was unable to teleport yet, while Su Ping could use it when he was merely at the titled rank. What a slap in the face.

Yun Wanli had to fly down and go back to the building

He could not leave since he was already there.

The others who were waiting inside the building wondered what Su Ping and the Principal had been talking about.

But the look on the Principal’s face told them that the discussion had gone well, which relieved Mo Fengping and Han Yuxiang.

“Play the recording,” Su Ping said to Han Yuxiang.

Han Yuxiang told the man in charge to play the recording from the place they had left off.

Su Ping browsed quickly and soon finished watching all the recordings on the day of Su Lingyue’s disappearance. Some areas were not shown on the recording. He was able to confirm that she had left her dorm, then she went past some cultivation areas and that was

Su Ping watched the recordings a second time but failed to find anything suspicious.

Su Ping thought about it with a frown and said to Han Yuxiang, “Gather all the students that were on campus on that day. I will ask them one by one.”

Han Yuxiang could not believe it. “One by one?”

“Since your surveillance system failed, the students are the perfect witnesses. I believe someone may have seen her in the areas where your surveillance system didn’t work,” Su Ping explained.

Han Yuxiang turned to the Principal for instructions.

Gathering all the students so that Su Ping could question them one by one?

It would be hard to gather all the students except for orientation or the graduation ceremony.

Those students had influential backgrounds. Not even the most common of the students would allow anyone to interrogate them.