Astral Pet Store (WN)

Chapter 102 League and Hassle

“Elite Pet Warrior League, huh?” Su Ping had been too focused on his shop to learn about such a thing.

He did hear about this league before. It was the joint effort of all 286 base cities around the globe, who would send representatives below the age of 28 and the seventh rank to participate. In other words, older people and advanced battle pet warriors of the seventh rank or above could not compete.

Most of the participants were students and graduates from famous schools, or settlers who had spent a few years exploring barren areas. Those eligible to join the league had to make it through the preliminaries held in their cities. Each city would send five qualifiers to the continental elimination games who would keep going until five winners for each continent remained.

Lastly, the five champions of each continent would enter the finals where the world champion would be determined.

The league was held once every three years. More than half of the planet’s population would lock themselves and stay glued to their TVs.

All TV stations and media would make sure they live-streamed the league’s events 24/7. Meanwhile, other channels and movie broadcasters would halt their activities because they wouldn’t be getting many viewers during that period.

To most people, showing their faces at the city preliminaries was already an honor, knowing that it was usually elites and children from rich families who would occupy better positions on the ranking list.

As for people who made it past the continental matches… They would be famous for the rest of their lives.

Being the world champion meant being the Number One who triumphed over billions of people. Throughout history, these world champions would either die because of the oppressive responsibility, or become legendary battle pet warriors who protected their lands as true heroes.

“You mean you want to help Ye Hao and Su Yanying reach the championship?” Su Ping wondered. “That’s… not quite possible. No offense.”

Dong Mingsong was startled by those words. “The championship? No no no. I’m not crazy. I just want them to learn and improve, that’s all. They might get lucky enough to be placed within the citywide top thousand and earn experience for the next league three years later.”

As the Vice Principal, Dong Mingsong knew for a fact that Ye Hao and Su Yanying were not the only exceptional geniuses the academy had to offer. The other schools out there might surprise them if they weren’t careful. Besides, the spotlight would very likely be taken by sixth-rank battle pet warriors who had gained a lot of combat experience during barren area expeditions. Regular students couldn’t compete with them.

Su Ping nodded to agree. For Su Yanying and Ye Hao, the league six years later should be their main stage. Getting experience was more important than winning in the short term.

He looked at Dong Mingsong again and silently admired the old man’s far-reaching vision. Just a moment before, he thought Dong Mingsong was only a smart businessman who valued profit more than the students’ wellbeing. His guess was off the mark.

“I see. What kind of compensation do I get for teaching them?”

Dong Mingsong shook his head with a smile. “A thousand professor credits.”

“Credits?” Su Ping learned of such a thing when he signed the agreement. Just like merit points, he could use the credits to exchange for skill books and resources from the academy’s storage.

“A thousand is not much, is it?” he asked, unsatisfied.

Dong Mingsong’s lips twitched. “It would only be for two extra lessons at most. One thousand is not bad!”

Luo Guxue helped by saying, “The Vice Principal is right. We advanced teachers are usually paid this much as a monthly salary. It’s a good overtime pay.”

“Okay… I guess.” Su Ping nodded.

Dong Mingsong wanted to take his leave, but stopped when he suddenly noticed Su Ping’s young look.

Wait. This boy can also join the matches. According to Miss Luo, he single-handedly dealt with an eighth-rank Magical Corpse Beast. That’s way better than Ye Hao and Su Yanying

He almost overlooked such a perfect candidate under his nose, given that Su Ping kept frustrating him with that careless attitude. After some thought, Dong Mingsong couldn’t remember another student at such an age who could do better than Su Ping in a fight.

Luo Guxue saw Dong Mingsong’s odd look; she checked Su Ping, and also realized what was going on.

“Hey, get it together, you two.” Su Ping started to feel uncomfortable with their long gazes. “I know I look awesome, but you don’t have to stare like that.”

Dong Mingsong recovered first. “Ahem. The preliminaries are just a fews days away. Aren’t you going to prepare, Mister Su?”

If that were the case, the academy would not urge Su Ping to teach. It would be the opposite.

“Prepare for what? I’m not entering the league,” said Su Ping.

“You’re not??” Dong Mingsong failed to stay calm this time. “Why would you let such a great chance go to waste? You have the skill to enter the city’s top five! Or top three, if things go well!”

Dong Mingsong had watched many matches in his career and knew the extent of the battles. He believed Su Ping could easily become a qualifier, if not the champion of their base city.

“Nah, I’m not interested.” Su Ping shook his head. He was neither lying nor being too humble. The truth was, he didn’t care about the league at all. Becoming the world champion only meant that he could study under a legendary battle pet warrior in the end, which was not so appealing.

The “Chaos Star Chart” he received from the system was enough as a training technique. Besides, he had seen his fair share of deadly opponents in all kinds of ancient planes. Legendary battle pet warriors would just become helpless prey if they went there. Being legendary was no biggie.

He might as well take his time to train several powerful pets and get more energy points, before using the points to get a Beast King if he could. By then, he would automatically become another legendary battle pet warrior.

Dong Mingsong went agape when Su Ping rejected the offer so quickly.

“But… Say, are you an advanced battle pet warrior of the seventh rank already? If that’s the case, you can only go for the Supremacy League that follows after.”

The Supremacy League was more brutal since anyone below the legendary battle pet warrior rank could participate. Anyone who could win in the preliminaries was at least a ninth-rank battle pet warrior.

Su Ping shook his head. “I’m not advanced yet.”

Being an eighth ranker, Dong Mingsong could easily scan Su Ping’s astral power, though he didn’t do it because it would be offensive. Besides, he didn’t believe Su Ping could have reached the advanced stage as a teenager, even though he had proven to be terrifyingly brilliant. “Why not join the elite league then?” Dong Mingsong insisted, “You don’t want to put your skills to use?”. “It’s simple, really. I’m too lazy to go through all that hassle. That’s all.”

Are all geniuses odd characters like him?? Dong Mingsong almost face-palmed. “Uh, well, just a piece of friendly advice: you don’t find these opportunities often in life. Please, think about it!”

Su Ping didn’t want to waste his time so he changed the subject. “Want to buy some pet food while you’re here?”

Dong Mingsong choked after hearing that. Is this boy selling pet food when there’s more important business to do?? Hey wait a second…

He checked several price tags; the lowest was a few hundred coins for a small cup.

Pet food? These are as expensive as low-rank pets!