Astral Pet Store (WN)

“I have to go out,” Su Ping said to Joanna who was waiting for him to come out.

Joanna narrowed her eyes. Once again, Su Ping appeared to be different from before; there was something in him that even she was afraid of. It was a distinctive, primitive feeling; even more ancient than the gods she had met…

Joanna had become used to the fact that Su Ping was a man of mystery. “Aren’t you going to open the store for business?”

When the store was open, she could be of help and she could become an outstanding employee sooner.

“You… can help manage the store for me,” Su Ping said. He was up to his neck with things to do, but he couldn’t give up the store. If anything were to happen, he would have to rely on the store and the system!

He looked at the revenue. His trip to the Celestial Moon had cost him hundreds of thousands of energy points, which was fewer than he had anticipated.

He had gotten lucky because he managed to pick up the Yang Fruit soon after he got in and managed to become more resistant to fire. Otherwise, he would have died hundreds of times over during the past two weeks.

“Help me plant the tree.”

Su Ping took out the scroll.

A burst of hot air was suddenly felt as soon as the scroll was opened, like an erupting volcano. Su Ping was taken aback; he then sensed that the world inside the scroll… was completely burned!

Everything had been obliterated!

The picturesque landscape was scorched!

That Astral Spirit Fruit tree… was also gone!

The Astral Spirit Fruit tree was a rare and cherished item, maybe less so when compared with the Yang Fruit tree, but it would be revered by titled battle pet warriors!

But the tree was gone!

Anyway, where’s that girl?

Su Ping noticed that Yan Bingyue, who had been kept inside the scroll, was nowhere to be found!

Was she burned to death?!

IIII

Su Ping was speechless. That Yang Fruit tree was more intimidating than he had imagined. He had stored it inside the scroll, turning the world inside into a veritable hell!

While Su Ping was in shock because of the Yang Fruit tree, he heard a girl’s angry voice. “Finally, you’re here!”

That voice sounded familiar. He focused his sight and saw that a half-transparent figure had floated out from the tree. Was it Yan Bingyue?

She didn’t die?

No, she just didn’t die completely…

Su Ping curled his lips. He could tell that it was Yan Bingyue’s spirit. Her physical body was gone, but the realm of the undead had failed to take her soul away.

“You got me killed! Did you know that?” Yan Bingyue shouted in rage. She was clenching her teeth. Nothing had happened to her while being inside the scroll; she had been praying that there would be a chance for Su Ping to let her out. However, one day, out of nowhere, a flaming tree fell from the sky when she was cultivating, and it just so happened that the tree had fallen on top of her!

She could not even cry before she had melted!

Her body was vaporized and the tree absorbed it like a nutrient!

She noticed that her consciousness had been trapped inside the trunk of the tree and she was unable to get away!

She finally began to accept the fact after a long time passed. She had “died”!

Her soul was imprisoned in the tree!

“I didn’t do it on purpose…” Su Ping wanted to explain whatever he said came as a weak excuse.

He didn’t do anything on purpose but she had in fact died.

The world inside the scroll was scorched. She must have died a painful death.

Piss…

“What is that look on your face?” Yan Bingyue pulled a long face. “I don’t think you’re at all sorry. Don’t you feel the least bit of guilt? “You cannot say that. I am sad. My heart is bleeding… The blood is just diverted into other blood vessels.” Su Ping heaved a sigh. Yan Bingyue was about to break her teeth when she saw that “sadness” on Su Ping’s face.

She knew that Su Ping held a grudge against her and it was because she had almost killed his sister. That was why he had been keeping her there!

But your sister lived!

I was kept here long enough. You should have vented your anger by now!

“You’re going to die a bad death!” Yan Bingyue cursed.

Since she had died, she was no longer praying for Su Ping to let her go, “alive.”

“Are there any kinds of deaths that are good?” Su Ping said, “Anyway, how come you’re still here after dying? Did your spirit… merge with the tree?”

“Hmm!”

Yan Bingyue crossed her arms in front of her chest. “You’re the one to be blamed. I cannot even be reincarnated in a new body!”

Su Ping shook his head. “That is not my fault. Who told you that you would reincarnate in a new body after dying? Have you visited the undead realm? The deceased are just a bunch of wandering ghosts in that place. You should thank the tree that you are still here.”

Yan Bingyue sneered. “Don’t talk like you have been to one.”

“I have…” Su Ping said. He didn’t go into details because that wasn’t something he could explain. “This girl’s situation is uncommon. Do you know the reason?” He asked the system.

“What do you think is the reason? She was assimilated by the tree and has become the tree’s associated spirit.” The system sounded to be familiar with such cases.

Su Ping raised his eyebrows. “Associated

spirit?”

“The tree is young and it hasn’t formed its consciousness yet. Her consciousness took over; you can say that she is now the tree’s spirit!” the system explained. Su Ping was stunned. Tree spirit? The girl became the spirit of a tree? “So, she can… control the tree, right?” Su Ping asked.

“Of course.”

Su Ping was speechless. He couldn’t have, for the life of him, anticipated that Yan Bingyue would become a tree’s spirit; he wondered if that was good or bad for her.

However, if she was the tree spirit, cultivating the tree was to cultivate her.

That was a headache.

“Can I separate her from the tree?” Su Ping asked.

“Yes, but your powers aren’t even close,” the system answered.

Su Ping lost his tongue.

As he gazed at Yan Bingyue who was floating above the tree crown and biting her teeth, Su Ping said, “Don’t look at me like that. You look like a vengeful ghost.”

Yan Bingyue was about to calm down when the words “vengeful ghost” rekindled her rage. “Who turned me into this? You, it was you!!”

“Yes, yes, yes…”

Su Ping nodded. “You have a choice now.”

“Forget about it!”

“You can face annihilation or you can listen to me. Maybe you can regain freedom in the future,” Su Ping said.

“Annihilate me? I’ve died already. I’m not afraid of you,” Yan Bingyue protested.

Su Ping heaved a sigh. “You’re not dead, you just lost your body. True death means that your consciousness is gone forever. You can at least talk, right?”.

“What do you mean ‘I just lost my body’? Do you know how important that is for a girl?!”

II

11

“Think it through. Live in the tree to prevent your consciousness from being destroyed. If you work with me, you can have your freedom back one day,” Su Ping said solemnly.

“Can I trust you?”

“There’s no one else you can trust.”

“You are shameless!”

“Make your choice.”

“Forget about it!”

“You asked for it.”

Su Ping took the tree out. The scorching heat from the tree was completely unable to affect him; plus, the store was impervious to the heat.

“What is that tree?”

Joanna was startled when Su Ping took out the tree. She stepped back, clearly afraid. The heat from the tree was making her sweat.

A golden glow appeared over Joanna; she covered herself with Divine Energy.

Whoosh!

A branch tried to smash Su Ping.

Su Ping immediately grabbed the branch.

“You!”

It came as a surprise to Yan Bingyue that Su Ping had been able to stop her sneak attack.

After being imprisoned in the tree, she gradually noticed she had become different from before. First of all, she was more sensitive to her surroundings. She learned that she could control the tree, which was quite destructive. That was why she was torn between hating Su Ping, and not, all at the same time.

She no longer had a physical body, but she had become over ten times more powerful than before!

“So, you were trying to kill me.” Su Ping did not know what to say. “I gave you this thing. Do you think you can hurt me with it?”

Yan Bingyue’s face was clouded.

Su Ping let go of the branch and said coldly, “Never mind. Make your choice.”

That time, Su Ping was serious; Yan Bingyue was struggling. Eventually, she decided. “I know what I should do.”

Su Ping nodded and said to Joanna, “Take care of her. Anyway, have you seen a tree like this? It’s called Yang Fruit tree. Do you know how to grow such a tree?”

Joanna was dumbstruck. “The Yang Fruit tree… One of the five mysterious plants of the fire family?”

“The five mysterious plants of the fire family?” Su Ping said, “I don’t know.” Joanna had become used to Su Ping’s lack of knowledge. She calmed herself down and gazed at the tree for a bit longer. “I cannot believe that you stumbled upon this thing in your trip. I heard that they had gone extinct; this is a tree that should have only been found in the immemorial age!”

Su Ping shrugged. He did get the tree from the immemorial age. “Since you know how to take care of it, please do so. The fruits are valuable. You, bear some fruits as soon as possible so I can sell them for good money,” Su Ping said.

He and his battle pets could eat the Fruit. They would become popular products of his store!

After all, that was a fruit that could make anyone resistant to fire!

It was a must-have for battle pets of the fire family! “You bear fruit! Your entire family bears fruit!” Yan Bingyue shouted.

Su Ping glared at her.

“I understand.” Joanna still had troubling feelings. Even she had been unable to foresee that she would ever see that tree, which was supposed to be extinct!

This scroll is of no use now. I have to find something else. The system’s storage space is too small, Su Ping thought; he no longer could not put anything into that wasted scroll. The edge of the scroll had been burnt; it could shatter into pieces at any time. The world inside would also collapse. It was not a risk worth taking

He shook his head and threw the scroll over to Joanna. He remembered the Chained Ghost he had captured in the Deep Caves, a demon beast currently at the Void State, which could later evolve and could grow to reach the Fate State. There was a small chance that the Chained Ghost could later evolve and become a Ghost Lord at the Star Rank.

“I’ll keep it here and sell it to someone trustworthy.” Su Ping moved the Chained Ghost from the beast-catching ring to the “On Sale” page of the system. A ball of dark mist surged into the store and the Chained Ghost appeared. It was much smaller than before.

The Chained Ghost lay on the ground; it looked ferocious but was no longer willing to move. Joanna was surprised by the Chained Ghost but managed to calm down soon. The beast was rare, but she had seen others which were more powerful than that.

Apart from the Chained Ghost, he took out the other beast kings he had captured from the Deep Caves. Most of the beast kings were at the Void State and at the peak of their growth. There wasn’t much training value left for them. Su Ping was planning on selling those beast kings. It just so happened that the world was in chaos and wild beasts were everywhere; selling those beast kings to the legendary battle pet warriors would help the human race as a whole.

However, since those beast kings were at the Void State, he could not sell them to titled battle pet warriors. Otherwise, he would have been inclined to offer Venerable the Blade one or two beast kings. After all, he wasn’t close with many titled battle pet warriors and he mainly trusted Venerable the Blade.

“Put them on display and I will make the sale myself when I come back,” Su Ping said to Joanna. All of them were Void State beasts; it would be risky to sell them to someone he wasn’t familiar with. He had to select the customers himself.

“Yes,” Joanna said.

Joanna was not surprised when she saw Su Ping take that many beast kings out. She knew him well and there was something mysterious about him. She would not be surprised if Su Ping were to give her a Star Rank beast.

On the other hand, Yan Bingyue was stunned while she floated above the tree crown.

She had been kept in the scroll and she knew nothing about Su Ping after he made the Tang family bend and compromise; those beast kings were eye-openers.

She felt that she had missed out on too many things while she was kept inside the scroll.

When did this guy become so powerful?

Her fear made her decide to stop offending Su Ping.

“I have to find someone to ask about a certain matter,” Su Ping said and handed over the store’s operation to Joanna. Joanna nodded.