Astral Pet Store - Chapter 502
Chapter 502 Boiling Blood
The titled battle pet warriors who had traveled from other base cities were stunned speechless. That was the Qin family of the Longjiang Base City!
“Father, since you and Mr. Xie are in command, I will also join them!”
The current family head of the Qin family, Qin Feiyu, bowed to Qin Duhuang. Qin Feiyu turned around and unleashed his astral powers with determination, summoning his nine battle pets. He then flew off from the outer wall.
He went after the other Qin family elders and flew toward the Winged Serpent.
Come on!
The team of titled battle pet warriors and their battle pets from the Qin family caught the attention of both the Winged Serpent and the Cyan Flame Dragon. Both beast kings charged toward them. The Winged Serpent traveled faster, given the lack of traps in the air. It reached the Qin family titled battle pet warriors in an instant.
Xie Jinshui was tearing up. “Fire the cannons. Give them cover!” The cannons were turned around and missiles were fired at the Winged Serpent.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The cannons poured down like rain. However, the missiles exploded in the air before they could reach the Winged Serpent. A special transparent field in the air had stopped them.
Hiss!
The Winged Serpent showed its teeth and hissed. Then it flapped its wings, generating several hurricanes in the air!
The hurricanes were growing in size; it was a ninth-rank skill but the hurricanes were even more powerful than usual. The color of the hurricanes had transformed to black from green, with many sharp blades contained within.
Those blades could pierce through armor and scales, able to penetrate everything!
That was too harsh to watch.
Beast king!
Beast kings were able to easily unleash skills that were beyond the ninth-rank with a ten-fold impact or more!
The several dark hurricanes spun in the air like dragons. Even across the distance, people standing on the outer wall were able to feel that the wind was cutting their faces. Qin Duhuang suddenly said to Xie Jinshui, “Use the cannons to distract the other beast king. Let us handle the Winged Serpent!”
Xie Jinshui was choked up with emotions. “Are you… sure?”
Qin Duhuang offered no reply. He just gazed at his people. Many Qin family titled battle pet warriors had reached the Winged Serpent at the moment. Taking the lead was Qin Shuhai and another elder of high standing in the family. That elder was Qin Duhuang’s brother. He had failed in the family head selection and had become an elder since then. Right then, that fierce elder was standing on the head of a Frost Phoenix.
“Listen up, take formation!”
Qin Shuhai slowed down. The other titled battle pet warriors of their family soon assumed their respective positions. “Battle God Formation and Trapping Formation!”
“Begin!!”
The Qins’ titled battle pet warriors and their battle pets then spread out, trying to encircle the Winged Serpent. The titled battle pet warriors were connected to their battle pets. They were casting a net over the Winged Serpent! “Is that the Battle God Formation of the Qin family?”
“I’ve heard that this formation can even defeat beast kings!” “That is the true power of the Qin family…” The ones standing on the outer wall were staring at the formation in amazement.
Hiss!!
The Winged Serpent cried. The several dark hurricanes quickly went after the Qin family titled battle pet warriors.
The Qins’ titled warriors quickly mobilized astral powers and all their battle pets of the water family released their skills. The temperature quickly began to drop; a heavy dense of white mist was forming. The hurricanes sucked the white mist in. However, the white mist seemed to have bleached the hurricanes. The hurricanes gradually slowed down until one of them stopped, becoming a towering stone pillar!
Even the sand grains had been frozen! In the meanwhile, the titled battle pet warriors released many chains that were known as Chains of Stars. The battle pets were pouring part of their energy to the titled battle pet warriors at the moment. The Chains of Stars followed the formation patterns. Some of the chains locked the Winged Serpent’s wings; some trapped its neck, while others targeted its claws.
The Winged Serpent had been locked up in an instant.
That view excited the people standing on the outer wall. The titled battle pet warriors had been able to compete with the beast king!
However, some Chains of Stars snapped all of a sudden. Dark flames burst out from the back of the Winged Serpent and the flames burned along the Chains of Stars! The Qin family elder who was standing the closest to the Winged Serpent shouted in a fit of terror, “Cut the chains. Switch to the Spear Formation!”
The other titled battle pet warriors were also freaked out by the strange flames. Even though the flames were only affecting the chains, the warriors were experiencing a burning sensation.
The titled battle pet warriors cut the chains, following the elder’s order. They made spears with their astral powers and hurled them at the Winged Serpent’s wings and neck. The Winged Serpent bellowed, clearly angered. All of a sudden, the winged beast flapped its wings, unleashing many dark blades that were more than a dozen meters long. The blades flew around randomly. Some battle pets, unfortunately, were hurt by the blades. Flames flared out on the battle pets which gave cries of pain. “This is not working!”
The strength and defense of the Winged Serpent had startled Qin Shuhai. Those spears should have been able to block the passage of the target’s astral powers upon contact. However, the Winged Serpent was still able to unleash such astral powers, even after receiving a dozen spears. It wasn’t affected, at all!
The family elder pulled a long face. “Stall it. Get it away from here!” The other titled battle pet warriors of the Qins immediately changed position and began to fly further away from the base city. Their battle pets began to resort to long-range strike skills as they were leaving, to keep attacking the Winged Serpent.
The Winged Serpent remained unscathed, even while being hit by so many ninth-rank skills. It was immune to all the skills. Still, the Winged Serpent was indeed lured by them. Hissing in anger, the Winged Serpent dashed toward them.
The flying beast king was fast; soon, some of the battle pets were caught. The smaller ones were eaten up by the Winged Serpent in one bite!
The battle pets’ masters could only stare with tears in their eyes.
In the meantime, Xie Jinshui was directing the use of missiles and other thermal powers to distract the other Cyan Flame Dragon to the other side of the battlefield. No one would be able to deal with the joint forces of the two beast kings if they were to strike the outer wall together; it would crack open without much effort.
Qin Duhuang gazed at the titled battle pet warriors that were fighting the Winged Serpent, clenching his fists. Eventually, Qin Duhuang tore his eyes away from that area and tried to find his Storm Scorpion, as it still was battling against the mammoth. The sand storm had dispersed. The two enormous beasts were tangled together. The mammoth was using many legendary skills, mostly of the stone family. The ground trembled, cracked and many stone pillars grew out from the ground. The stone pillars quickly reached the Storm Scorpion producing a stunning effect. The Storm Scorpion was most proficient in using the skills of the wind family; while huge, the pet was agile. It was in a deadly lock with the mammoth as they struggled. The two beast kings were inflicting great damage to the surrounding grounds. The other wild beasts were afraid to get close, so they had to go around them.
“Kill it! Kill it!”
Qin Duhuang stared at his beast king, clenching his fists. A titled battle pet warrior from the government shouted, “Oh god no, the wild beasts are coming!” People turned around. The wild beasts had reached the zone with stone pillars since most of the thermal weapons were being used to lure away the Cyan Flame Dragon. The other zones had been filled up with corpses. The stone pillars and boulders could only slow down the wild beasts a little bit. After the stone pillars, the wild beasts would be free to reach the outer wall! Deathly pale, Xie Jinshui shouted, “Everyone, be prepared for war!!” The titled battle pet warriors from the government summoned their battle pets.
The titled battle pet warriors from other cities began to mobilize their astral powers to get ready.
Since the wild beasts had reached the stone pillars, Xie Jinshui was unable to wait any longer.
“Charge!”
Roar! Roar!! The battle pets roared. The titled battle pet warriors from the government were the first to dash out toward the wild beasts among the stone pillars. The titled battle pet warriors from other base cities followed close behind. Their ninth-rank battle pets landed and quickly charged toward the wild beasts.
The advanced battle pet warriors called out their battle pets. Some battle pets of the same family were standing together and using the same skills to amplify the effect.
Even though some of the battle pets were merely at the seventh or eighth rank, combining efforts they could produce strength able to approach the ninth-rank. The wild beasts arrived. The first close-quarter fight between humans and beasts began!
Qin Duhuang noticed what was happening; he summoned the rest of his pets without hesitation.
Roar!!
Roar!!!
Several ninth-rank battle pets came out, including dragons, demons, and the Fierce Fire Ape that he had bought from Su Ping. Qin Duhuang did not send them over to the beast king because they weren’t nearly as powerful, but they could be of great help in eliminating the wild beasts.
The stampede of wild beasts was split up as his battle pets joined; the pets fought and dashed around.
The Fierce Fire Ape was the fiercest of all, like a wolf attacking a pack of sheep. It was quickly surrounded by the wild beasts, leaving behind a large number of dead bodies and blood around. Every second, there would be a wild beast that would die under the Fierce Fire Ape’s fist. Even some of the ninth-rank wild beasts failed to withstand the strikes from the Fierce Fire Ape. Some of the wild beasts that had just reached the ninth-rank were torn apart by the Fierce Fire Ape before they were able to fight back. The Fierce Fire Ape was at the peak of the ninth-rank and had a below-average aptitude.
A battle pet would usually have to be trained to have such an aptitude. That was to say, the Fierce Fire Ape was even more powerful than the average battle pets at the peak of the ninth-rank! An old man standing next to Qin Duhuang summoned his battle pets. “Pal, I’m gonna heat out now!” That old man was Qin Duhuang’s friend. He had gone there to support the Longjiang Base City. He was actually the one who had bought the pet together with Qin Duhuang the other time.
“Be careful,” Qin Duhuang cautioned his friend.
“Haha…” The old man laughed and cried to the sky. His back straightened up as he dashed toward the wild beasts. After gaining permission from Xie Jinshui, the other titled battle pet warriors from other base cities were also charging toward the wild beasts.
Roar!!
Right then, there came an angry shout.
Qin Duhuang turned over, only to become frightened. The shout was from the Winged Serpent. The Qin family titled battle pet warriors had forced it to the side. However, the number of Qin family titled battle pet warriors and battle pets had decreased by one-third! As it shouted, the Winged Serpent was split into two and dashed into the formation. One of the titled battle pet warriors instantly fell into the mouth of the Winged Serpent. His astral shield cracked and the sharp fangs penetrated him!
The Winged Serpent hissed. Full of wrath, it dashed around madly. Many ninth-rank battle pets were smashed away or hit by the Winged Serpent’s tail. The battle pets immediately fell where the wild beasts were.
The formation was cracked!
At the moment, the Qin family titled battle pet warriors hovering around the Winged Serpent were like puny insects, completely unable to fight back!
Qin Duhuang could not believe this. He wanted to send over the Storm Scorpion to help them, but he turned around, only to see that the Storm Scorpion was still battling the mammoth. After all, the mammoth was also a beast king as well. The Storm Scorpion could not break free at the time. Worried, he saw that the Fierce Fire Ape and a dragon were on a killing spree elsewhere; he immediately told those two to help out. The Fierce Fire Ape and the dragon freed themselves from the wild beasts and dashed toward the Winged Serpent. “Go to hell!!” Qin Shuhai shouted, full of indignation. One of the Qin family elders was hit by the dark blades that the Winged Serpent had hurled out. A beam of sword light came off from Qin Shuhai’s sword; he quickly moved about and hacked at one of the sides of the Winged Serpent’s head.
Bang!!
The beam of sword light pressed forward, but soon landed on something hard, making a crisp noise.
The recoil from that impact bounced Qin Shuhai away.
“Shuhai.”
Whoosh!
A man approached from somewhere behind him. It was Qin Feiyu; he hurried to catch Qin Shuhai. The next second, he pushed Qin Shuhai away and tried to escape to the side as well. Still, he was too late. A huge tail came down from above. With a bang, Qin Feiyu’s shields cracked almost immediately. Qin Feiyu lifted his arms. However, he instantly turned into a mass of blood!
He was killed in an instant! Qin Shuhai, who had been pushed away, stared; his mind was blank. “NO!!!” he shouted, overwhelmed with sorrow. The other titled battle pet warriors from the Qin family looked over. They turned pale. Some could not help but shout, “Feiyu!!” Qin Feiyu was the family head, but some of the family elders had been looking after him since he was a kid.
In the distance, Qin Duhuang had also heard that scream. His heart skipped a beat. What he saw when he looked over would never leave his mind.
He saw a mist of blood.
That was Qin Feiyu!
His son!
Qin Duhuang did not know what to think.
He stared. “Ah…!”
Qin Duhuang suddenly ran into the battlefield, wildly heading toward that Winged Serpent. He had earned his title, the Raging Spirit, when he was young. He had resigned from a fighting post when he returned to the Longjiang Base City, ready to inherit the family business. He had been in command from behind the curtains. After such a long time, he had forgotten what fighting felt like.
Later on, he wouldn’t easily get involved in any fight. He didn’t want to admit it to anyone but he knew that he had aged, having become less bold.
But at that moment, something was bursting out of him. That young and impulsive soul was returning to him!
“Qin!”
Xie Jinshui tried to stop Qin Duhuang who was going crazy but it was too late. Xie Jinshui was stunned by Qin Duhuang’s angry shout. Xie Jinshui darted a glance at the Winged Serpent. Only seven or eight were left. Most of the battle pets had died or were injured. Even the living battle pets were merely hanging by a thread.
That was a beast king!
“Qin…” Xie Jinshui swallowed back the words. He clenched fists, bit his teeth and continued to instruct others to fight the wild beasts. In the air, Qin Duhuang was dashing forward. His face was twisted. While his mind was seized with killing intent, he had not lost his mind.
“Body of Dragon!” “Dragon Strides!”
Qin Duhuang’s astral powers were burning, generating a golden mist. His aged look quickly reversed to a middle-aged man’s look. After lying dormant for so many years, his combat instinct was waking up. “Sword of King Qin!” Qin Duhuang was close to the Winged Serpent. The energy exuded by the beast king didn’t scare him away. Rather, his heart was pumping and his blood was boiling with excitement!
He was crying out blood. Suddenly, an ancient sword appeared in his hand. The handle was dark but the blade was surrounded by a golden hue.
“Ah!!!” Qin Duhuang shouted. In an instant, he had approached one of the Winged Serpents. He wielded his sword.
Bang!! Blood was spilled. That Winged Serpent’s neck was injured; blood gushed out.
The other titled battle pet warriors were stunned speechless. Qin Duhuang was using some of the secret skills that were unique to the Qin family. They had no idea that he had reached such a stunning level! He was reaching the upper limit of their secret skills!
“Die! Die! Die!!”
Qin Duhuang maneuvered his sword with wild abandon. His astral powers were bursting out. He was angry, more than ever! The beast king could not intimidate him at all.
Boom!
All of a sudden, something clicked in his mind. Something broke. In the meantime, he felt a force was calling him from the void. He could see it. He could grab it!
Bzzz!
Qin Duhuang’s consciousness shook as he grabbed onto that line.
Boom~~!!
Dark clouds were gathering above the remaining Winged Serpent and thunder clapped.
The Winged Serpent was about to lose its temper from the pain when it darted a look at the sky, terrified.
It would never forget that feeling.
It was… the Heaven’s Test!
The redness receded from Qin Duhuang’s eyes. He looked and he understood.
He was making a breakthrough! He had been stuck at the peak of the titled rank for years. Finally, he was breaking through! He was reaching the legendary rank! Qin Duhuang could not believe it.
Tears coursed down his cheeks.
He wasn’t happy at all. Why not… Why not a moment earlier?
Then his son wouldn’t have died! Pain. Anger. Regret! Qin Duhuang yelled to the sky. The yell echoed in the sky. In the distance, some other titled battle pet warriors were alerted. All of them stood aghast, not daring to move.