Astral Pet Store (WN)

Chapter 209 Mark of Qualification

“Sh*t,”

The golden dragon was too fast for him to evade. The only thing he could do in time was putting his astral shield up. The golden figure went through the shield and hit his forehead.

Bang!

Su Ping felt the whole world spinning around him for a brief but painful moment. When he could think clearly again, he felt something strangely hot moving along his head as if he were bleeding.

He put a hand on his forehead and sensed a small bump on his skin.

What the heck?? This never happened inside the virtual dragon tower!

The hot feeling suddenly returned, not on his skin, but directly inside his brain this time.

He saw images flashing past his view. Images of an ancient and barren land assaulted by constant lightning bolts and hurricanes, as if some kind of world-ending apocalypse had arrived.

A large, five-clawed golden dragon emerged from the distance and flew into the thunderclouds above.

Su Ping saw the towering silhouette of something hidden among the clouds, from where another blade-like lightning bolt came down and shattered the dragon’s scaled body.

For a moment, the image became too bright for him to watch.

When he was able to open his eyes, he was looking at the familiar “battlefield” inside the dragon tower again.

Another message magically crossed his mind, allowing him to understand what just happened. What he had just seen was the last moment of the ancient dragon king before it was slain. Also, it wasn’t a “bump” on his forehead caused by injuries, but the “mark of qualification” he had received by defeating the final enemy in the tower.

He was then allowed to go for the dragon’s king’s heritage, the final legacy. He had to wait until all the “seals” inside the different sectors were lifted by explorers, by which time those who possessed the marks would be summoned into the final trial site.

Furthermore, the mark of qualification had many interesting effects by itself.

First of all, he could use the mark to directly enter this Mysterious Realm even if the entrance was closed.

Secondly, the mark allowed him to summon the dragon soul to assist him in a fight during dangerous situations. It seemed this ancient dragon king had generously given him this privilege to protect him, so it didn’t lose a “rare successor” who could inherit its gift. The mark could also help him instantly travel to a selected sector while also telling him whether the “seal” in the sector had been lifted or not.

And he was very surprised when he read the general situation regarding the sectors. Apparently, 95 sectors had already been cleared out, not 57, like people used to tell him. This meant the final heritage trial would come up once the remaining 14 sectors were explored.

“Damn it. So this is why many treasures were already taken. 95 sectors… people can’t possibly finish so many of them in only a few days. Something fishy is going. Someone’s trying to hide the true progress from people.”

But why?

“Maybe the managers of this place already learned about the legacy? They let people in so they can unlock the sectors faster, which in turn…

“Wait, if this is true, then the ‘best record of the tower challenge must be fake as well. Perhaps someone has already reached the final floor.”

He did know about the dragon king’s heritage ground, but he had yet to learn about the final trial. He needed information.

He considered for a moment, then he took out the magic scroll. Inside, he saw Tang Ruyan sitting idly beside the Anima Fruit Tree with a bored look, instead of looking for a way out.

“What do you know about the dragon tower?” Su Ping asked by sending his voice inside, which sounded like booming thunders in Tang Ruyan’s perspective.

Tang Ruyan was glad that she finally had a chance to negotiate with her captor. She had been trying to break out of the strange prison without any success. Talking to Su Ping meant opening up new options.

She wondered why Su Ping wanted to know about the dragon tower. But on second thought, she decided not to ask such a silly question when this man was strong enough to murder titled warriors.

“Ahem.” She stood up and put up an unfriendly look while looking at Su Ping’s face, which appeared as a giant image above her. “I’ll tell you once you let me out. Let’s make a deal: free me, and I’ll go away and forget all about what happened. You’ll also take this stupid tree as is. Or else—”

“Answer my question. You’re in no place to bargain with me.”

“You-hmph! You know what? You can just kill me then!” Tang Ruyan threatened by putting a hand on the tree nearby. “I’m not afraid of death! But you’ll never see your precious tree again!”.

Su Ping chose to take a step back. “Fine. I’ll consider sending you away, on the condition that I learn what I need about the dragon tower.”

Tang Ruyan flashed a grin as her plan worked out.

“Let’s see…” she spoke without moving away from the tree. “I don’t know much. Mind that I can’t teach you how to climb higher. If you don’t know already, I only reached the sixth floor last time. What’s beyond that point is… well, it’s beyond me.”

“Do you know who has gone the farthest by now? Which floor have they reached?”

Tang Ruyan gave him a strange look. “What, you want to leave your name in the Pioneer’s Ranking too? I think the current champion is Ye Tianming from the Ye Family in Longjiang City. I heard that he’s going to go for the seventh floor but he hasn’t actually done it yet. People said that he’s been working very hard these years. He also got his hands on a rare pet or something. If you ask me, I think he’s going to reach his goal soon.”

Su Ping frowned. After he learned the “fake news” regarding the number of successfully-explored sectors, he would never trust these so-called lists and news available to the general public.

“Pioneer’s Ranking? What’s that? Is it reliable? Are you sure it has everyone’s name? Maybe someone went very far but without being recorded.”

Tang Ruyan looked displeased when Su Ping openly questioned the authenticity of the ranking list she had been struggling to be in. She knew Su Ping was good enough to become the next champion, but having her faith looked down upon still hurt.

“…It only shows young challengers, maybe. Elder battle pet warriors don’t bother writing their names on the list.”

“I see. Do you know that a heritage awaits at the end of the Mysterious Realm?”

Tang Ruyan frowned. “Heritage? What heritage?”

Su Ping sighed in disappointment.

“Tsk. Even the Tang Family is left out of the game? Figures.”

Tang Ruyan was smart enough to capture what Su Ping was implying. And when she did, she could no longer remain calm.

“There’s a heritage?? Whose heritage? Wait… can it be the ancient dragon king? But that would mean it’s something left behind by a king of beast kings! I would have never thought… Hey-hey, who told you this? Do you know what this means?? More importantly, how do we find this heritage? Don’t tell me it’s the tower—”

Su Ping lost interest since this woman clearly didn’t have anything he could use.

“Same as before, take care of the tree. One missing leaf and I’ll have your head on a plate.”

He left the scroll, leaving Tang Ruyan staring at the sky agape.

But—but he doesn’t think I’d destroy the tree for real??

She couldn’t do it. The tree was the only thing that kept her alive, and she knew it well.

“DAMN YOU DAMN YOU!!”

The woman stomped a foot in rage, but quickly stopped when she heard the tree rustling dangerously.

Su Ping put the scroll away and carefully went over what he just heard. Even though Tang Ruyan didn’t tell him much, he still learned something from the way she acted.

Firstly, even the biggest families and clans were unaware of the hidden truth, which meant the “mastermind” behind everything could be a legendary warrior, since titled warriors couldn’t possibly hide such important clues from the whole world.

The “Pioneer’s Ranking” wasn’t trustworthy since even the topmost rankers had no idea that someone had gone farther up.

Lastly, Tang Ruyan was smart but also simple-minded when she was upset. Using

o learn about the Tang Family should be easy.