Astral Pet Store (WN)

Chapter 182 Nearly a Beast King

The corpses must have been left there a long time before because they had turned to bones already. And even the bones seemed rotten.

From a quick look, Su Ping could see at least a hundred bodies down in the crater, mixed with occasional human skeletons. There were also a few fresh human corpses lying on top of the pile, whose blood had yet to fully condense. Not far from them, the dead body of a Silver-Winged Dragon was miserably slumped aside. One of its wings had been torn off, and its neck had been snapped in the middle. It had a giant hole where its heart should have been, but the heart was nowhere to be found.

Su Ping felt all of his hair stand on end as if a deadly monster were right behind him, breathing against his neck.

“These people must have been alive a second ago. Did they sneak inside while we were dealing with the Flame Blood Dragon?” someone asked.

Everyone frowned as they all realized that they had probably been used as bait; whoever came first would have gotten their hands on the final treasure easily.

“Is that tree the ‘secret treasure’ then?” Both Old Mo and Chen gazed at the plant that seemed perfectly kept at its top condition.

“Captain, captain!” Ye Chenshan told his Azure Lizard to carry Nie Chengkong closer by manipulating the floor.

“The—the fruit…” Nie Chengkong muttered with a weakening voice. His eyes were no longer responding to light, which meant he didn’t have much in him.

So he did know about the fruit beforehand? Su Ping thought.

“He’s a lost cause!” Old Mo briefly checked Nie Chengkong before saying, “We should get out of here NOW! Before that thing gets us! We should have never come to a place where there’s a thing able to kill the captain this easily.”

Chen quickly ordered his Earthen Dragon to activate all possible defensive skills. “Everyone, enter the dragon’s mouth. We’ll make a run for it!”

Ye Chenshan put Nie Chengkong down with a painful look. As a settler, the agony of losing someone dear was nothing new. He managed to collect his spirit and quickly follow Chen’s suggestion. It was already a miracle that Chen and Old Mo didn’t leave the team behind. He should be grateful.

Similarly, all the other team members recovered from their grief in time.

As the Earthen Dragon lowered its giant head to let everyone “get inside,” several spikes shot out of the cave walls again. At the same time, the walls grew brightly red as if they were melting. “Oh Gods…” Seeing this, Old Mo gave up their plan and simply told his Death Scythe to carry him to the exit.

However, he was stopped by the large head of a dragon currently directing a deadly gaze at them, while blocking the only entrance they could use. It was a Flame Blood Dragon. But this one was twice as big than the one they had killed.

Su Ping frowned as he sensed the weak signature of a Beast King coming from the target. By his experience, he could tell that this one was not an actual Beast King yet. But it would soon be.

Rowww!!

The dragon opened its maw and belched a fire beam at the group.

Old Mo was too close to the dragon. As a desperate move, he summoned two eighth-rank pets to act as his shield. The pets almost died instantly in the intense fire attack.

“Come on! Together! Let’s break through!”

Chen immediately ordered the Earthen Dragon to apply more barriers onto its body, before ramming into the cave wall. He no longer had time to wait for everyone to get on.

The wall did break. But instead of an escape route, people were presented with the buried body of the Flame Blood Dragon.

Since that way was no good, the Earthen Dragon stomped the ground and leaped upward, creating another opening in the ceiling this time.

Thankfully, the ceiling of the cave was not so tough. The Earthen Dragon charged through the hole and kept moving without looking back.

On the ground, Luo Guxue jumped onto her Holy Flame Bird and beckoned to Ye Chenshan and Su Ping. “Come! Quick!!” She knew Su Ping could fly by himself. Although, humans should never race against flying monsters. They simply would not win. “GET OUT OF MY WAY!!”

Before Su Ping and Ye Chenshan could reach the bird, Old Mo’s Death Scythe slammed the bird aside so he could flee through the new exit first. Either intentionally or not, the Death Scythe sent the bird to the direction of the Flame Blood Dragon.

Luo Guxue yelped as she fell from her pet and landed inside the dragon corpse pit. On top of his Death Scythe, Old Mo laughed madly as he had seen the ceiling gap just within reach.

However, a giant, spiked tail suddenly came into his view and came down upon him.

He fell, together with his Death Scythe. The head of the Flame Blood Dragon lashed out and caught the Death Scythe in midair.

The Death Scythe struggled for a few seconds in vain, before its body could no longer stand the deadly grinding force of the dragon teeth and broke into two parts.

Taking the chance, Su Ping told his Purple Python to open its mouth so he could climb in. Meanwhile, he used telekinesis power to drag Ye Chenshan, who had been completely frozen due to despair, along with him.

As for Ye Chenshan’s lizard, it would have to rely on its own. “GO!”

Upon hearing Su Ping’s order, the python charged at the ceiling, while Little Skeleton and the Dark Dragon Hound acted as cover. The python could not fly so it had to crawl along the burning cave wall, causing its body to smell like burnt meat. Even so, it did not slow down.

Seeing its prey getting away, the Flame Blood Dragon spat out the broken Death Scythe and rushed at the python.

Little Skeleton put itself between the python and the dragon and raised its blade.

The Flame Blood Dragon reacted in time by coating its body under intense fire. In the end, Little Skeleton’s bone blade only left a shallow white scar along the dragons’ body.

The Flame Blood Dragon stirred as it fully moved out of the cave wall. It closed in on the Purple Python at full speed.

Little Skeleton once again tried to stop it, but its weak body of a sixth-rank Astral Pet was powerless against the full assault of a ninth-rank monster that almost reached the level of a Beast King.

Little Skeleton was shattered to pieces against the dragon’s ramming attack. It would need a few seconds to reassemble.

The Flame Blood Dragon had already reached its target. It bared its bloody fangs and chomped down at the python’s neck.

Using the exceptional fortitude he had gained from all the deadly training, Su Ping remained cool-headed as he forced his brain to work out a solution.

He remembered something that might be of help.