Since all the battles in Group E had been fought, the day's agenda had reached the end. Afterward, celebrities that the owner of the venue had invited came to put on a show. There was a remarkable singer's live performance. The entertainment element brought an end to the first half of the fight for the Top 10 spots.
As the celebrities went onto the stage, the audience was again seized by pa.s.sion. But some t.i.tled battle pet warriors of the major families and the partic.i.p.ants began to gradually take their leave.
The performance was just for the sake of the public. In this world, battle pet warriors were more prominent than anyone else. Therefore, they didn't have to chase after the stars. They became the brightest stars when they were powerful enough. Su Lingyue said goodbye to Ye Hao, Luo Fengtian, and Su Yanying, then hurried to the place where the family members were seated.
Along the way, the audience cried out in excitement as they saw her. They looked at her as if she were their idol and nothing could calm down their excitement.
“You did well.”
Su Ping stood up and smiled as people were still shouting in joy. Su Lingyue blushed. “Don't make fun of me. I didn't do anything.”
“That is exactly where you did well.”
Su Lingyue: 8(°4°111)__
“Let's go.”
Since more and more people were looking their way, Su Ping and Su Lingyue made a quick getaway to get back home.
The atmosphere became less exciting as more and more people left the venue. In the meantime, though, the intranet of Longjiang Base City was boiling with exhilaration!
The battles had been live-streamed on the internet. Tens of millions of the Longjiang Base City had been able to watch the compet.i.tion as it happened.
Of all the stunning matches, Qin Shaotian and Su Lingyue's stood out as the most shocking. None other came even close!
Many people had watched that match with the utmost concentration. The viewers had been astounded by the b.l.o.o.d.y Servant as well as the two dragons Qin Shaotian had. Anyone would have thanked heaven if they could own a dragon, let alone two.
Of course, the most shocking part was when the judge had been hurt.
Those who were watching the live stream were unable to utter a sound. Shock had overwhelmed them once they saw how the t.i.tle-ranked judge had lost an arm when he tried to intervene.
To the general public, the t.i.tled battle pet warriors were the most powerful people in the world and they enjoyed high status. As long as they didn't encounter beast kings, nothing could harm those exalted pet warriors!
However, while at a place such as the Elite League where the sixth rank was the highest attainment, a t.i.tled battle pet warrior's life had been threatened! How crazy was that!
It was said that the talented could defeat those at a higher rank. But it shouldn't have been anything like this!
The battle pet warriors of the famous academies in the base city, whichever year they were at, had been dumbstruck by that match, which had shown them something which was not in the test book.
People's abilities shouldn't be judged only by checking their rank!
That was a fact known by all the students from famous academies. But, they had never understood as clearly as they did in this moment!
Once the live streaming was over, many video websites posted the edited version of the battle as the highlight of the day on their main pages!
Kings Battling!
A Fight Between the Mightiest!
A Dragon Almost Finished the Judge, a t.i.tled Battle Pet Warrior!!
Dragon with Comprehensive Abilities Helped Sixth-rank Battle Pet Warrior Fight Against One at the t.i.tled Level!!
b.l.o.o.d.y Servant Crushed by the Golden Dragon!
Champion at the Longjiang Base City Determined!!
Those exaggerated t.i.tles were blinking on the front pages. All the focus was on the words “t.i.tled rank” and “dragon.” The other partic.i.p.ant of the match, Qin Shaotian, seemed to have been forgotten by everyone.
Qin Shaotian had enjoyed a high reputation before that day. But this time, he had become the supporting role.
No one was certain about how strong Qin Shaotian was, but everyone knew that the judge was at the t.i.tled rank.
That was the most stunning part, the sole fact that had made the greatest impact! Soon after the game, Su Lingyue's support rate jumped to the top of the list from the thirteenth place!
People began to see her as the most likely champion, even more so than Mu Yuanshou.
On that day, the name “Su Lingyue” was heard all across the Longjiang Base City. Every barber knew about it!
While the sensation on the internet kept on going, many people had become Su Lingyue's fans. At the same time, someone restated that Su Lingyue was the person whom the store had proclaimed as the next champion.
Many people knew about this but they had never taken it seriously because they had seen it as a publicity stunt. But then, they saw that it was more than a social buzz.
For the girl to win first place was something with a high likelihood!
Not even the judge had been able to stop her. He ended with a severe injury. If she couldn't win first place, who could?
As this information was reposted, some people jumped out on the internet to say that they had become Su Lingyue's hardcore fans. They even went as far as to share posts on the forums, saying that if Su Lingyue couldn't win first place, they would stick their hands into an electric fan operating at the fastest speed!
For a moment, all the electric fans were scared by the sheer thought.
Some people s.h.i.+fted their focus to the Primo stores.
As the news of the guaranteed champions.h.i.+p spots were revisited, naturally, stories of the previous compet.i.tion between the two stores were reposted. Some people had made videos to educate people about that matter so that people who didn't bother to check knew about them.
Based on the current status, Su Lingyue was very likely to become the final winner, which was a much-antic.i.p.ated outcome. On the other hand, Liu Jianxin, another popular partic.i.p.ant, had instantly lost to Qin Shaotian, even though Primo had claimed that Liu Jianxin would surely s.n.a.t.c.h a Top 5 spot. Having lost that match, Liu Jianxin's time in the Elite League had come to an end. He could not even get a place in the Top 10!
But the Elite League had to go on. The current result had been a heavy slap on the face for Primo. Their slogans had been enticing but their decisions had also been risky. Seeing them just then… They were unable to keep their promises, which destroyed their reputation. Since Liu Jianxin couldn't even make it to the Top 10, Primo had become a laughingstock.
Riding on the tide, some people who claimed to have been Primo's past customers even pointed out how the Primo would bully customers based on their business size. For example, Primo would sell expired pet food and wouldn't compensate when pets suffered from food poisoning. There were also cases of pets getting incurable illnesses when left there for training
Before the Elite League, Primo was the only noticeable pet store on the market. Many of their past deeds had been hidden from the public, but all the truth began to resurface that day.
Hitting a man when he's down. That was what Primo was going through right then.
Inevitably, every store was bound to have disputes with some customers.
Not to mention a franchise like Primo.
Some branch stores were operating under Primo's name, but had worrisome services and staff members. That was the main cause for Primo's negative reviews.
Primo's background was complicated. The Liu family was behind the business, which guaranteed the supply of money and business channels. But with it, came some disadvantages. Some patriarch-based management was applied in the Primo stores. Some family members who lacked the ability had managed to climb high on the company ladder by leveraging their relations.h.i.+ps in the family, something which had proverbially set a time bomb for Primo.
A bomb that was bound to go off.
It had not been the first time for Primo to be accused, but people who had received normal services would drown those voices, thinking that they were people hired to slander Primo.
This time, because of what had happened to Su Lingyue and Liu Jianxin, and because of Su Lingyue's high popularity, the once loyal customers were keeping their mouths shut. A few of them would still jump out and argue for Primo's sake, but their voices were quickly submerged by criticism.
No one could deny the fact that Liu Jianxin had lost!
The promise made by Primo had become a joke!
That night, countless people lost their sleep.
At the Liu family estate.
The territories of the Qin family, the Mu family, as well as the Ye family.
On Taohuaxi Street.
Su Ping had taken Su Lingyue home. That night, their mom threw them a party to celebrate her win. The dinner was fancy. Their mom was excited. Never did she imagine that Su Lingyue would be able to attain such an achievement.
When she returned home, some old neighbors went to congratulate her in person, which filled her with pride and excitement.
At dinner, Li Qingru asked Su Lingyue about the dragon. She heard from Su Lingyue that it had been a gift from Su Ping.
That was the same answer Li Qingru had heard before. Li Qingru had to turn to Su Ping to find out where he had gotten the dragon, how the dragon had been trained to become so powerful, and so on and so forth.
She attacked him with a torrent of questions. Su Ping didn't know where to begin; he couldn't tell her about the store. He said that he had access to a mysterious auction using his connections in the academy and got the dragon there. He claimed that he didn't know the dragon was that smart; it had progressed by leaps and bounds with some casual training.
Li Qingru was dubious of this answer.
Su Lingyue was also curious about the way the dragon had been trained. She could easily tell that Su Ping was making it all up; there were too many loopholes in his story.
Of course, she wouldn't point that out. She just thought that he was worse at making up stories than her.
Finally, dinner ended, and Su Ping escaped from home. He noticed there was a crowd of reporters waiting at the store. Su Lingyue followed him, planning to continue training at the store.
Some reporters noticed Su Lingyue and Su Ping. They cried out in excitement, and then all of them turned to the two like animals picking up the smell of blood.
Su Ping frowned. He mobilized astral powers and set up an invisible s.h.i.+eld five meters around him.
The reporters ran to them. Some ran so fast that they b.u.mped into the s.h.i.+eld, but it was soft so no one got hurt; they were only bounced back.
After that, the reporters were reminded that Su Lingyue was a battle pet warrior and she could beat them all up. Out of instinct, the reporters thought Su Lingyue was the one who had built the s.h.i.+eld which was similar to an astral s.h.i.+eld.
As for Su Ping, the reporters didn't recognize him. After all, they had shown up for Su Lingyue alone.
“Miss Su, I'm from Blue Phoenix Radio. Can I ask you some questions? Your dragon…” “Miss Su, I'm from Nanxiang Media, I…”
Everyone was shouting their questions, elbowing their way through and pus.h.i.+ng others aside.
Su Ping raised his eyebrows. Su Lingyue was still in a daze. “They're all here for you. Deal with them yourself. You know what you can say and what you cannot say. If someone wants to interview you somewhere else, simply turn them down,” Su Ping told Su Lingyue.
Having said that, Su Ping left the energy s.h.i.+eld to Su Lingyue, then he pushed his way through and walked into his store.
Su Lingyue was surprised that Su Ping would leave her behind. Soon, she thought of a reason: that guy must be getting back at her for not helping him fool their mom at dinner!
Such a petty guy!
Su Ping closed the door. It seemed that Su Lingyue would not enter the place for the time being. He shook his head at the noise outside. Becoming famous was not all that good. At least, there would be some noise.
Of course, with fame, the store would have more business. He had to put up with the noise. After all, they didn't go there to see him.
“How was the store today?” Su Ping went into the pet room and asked Joanna who was cultivating in the nursing pen.
Joanna opened her eyes and darted him a glance. “Fully occupied.” Really? Su Ping did not expect that.
He went to get his notebook and saw the numerous names. He checked the storing s.p.a.ce as well and it was full to the brim.
Su Ping nodded and praised Joanna for a job well done. Then, he put the pets into different categories according to the prices of their training.
He had the dummy trainer take care of the pets for general training.
He picked out the pets left for professional training. There were only five of them and he could take them to the DemiG.o.d Burial in two trips.
Usually, a sixth-rank battle pet warrior could sign contracts with six battle pets at one time.
Su Ping already had the Little Skeleton, the Dark Dragon Hound, and the other three. But he could still sign contracts with three more pets, because the upper limit for him was eight pets. That stemmed from the fact that his spirit was particularly strong.
After all, he had died many deaths in the Chaotic Realm of the Undead. He had benefited greatly.
“Let's go!”
Su Ping pulled up the list of the cultivation sites and directly chose the DemiG.o.d Burial.
He could afford the transportation fee with his current income. With Joanna as the inside helper, he didn't have to spend extra energy points to buy revival times.
Joanna nodded and got out of the nursing pen.
She could go back to the DemiG.o.d Burial for each training. She was still happy even if she were running errands for Su Ping because she could also take care of something of her own in the process.
Soon, a night pa.s.sed.
Su Ping had spent four to five days in the DemiG.o.d Burial. He took a nap before he went back for the last time. Once he got back to the store, before dawn, he climbed into a nursing pen to cultivate. His ability would develop every time he visited the DemiG.o.d Burial.
He cultivated in the nursing pen and forgot the pa.s.sage of time. By the time he opened his eyes again, he saw that it was already ten in the morning.
He couldn't continue cultivating. He left the nursing pen and used his spiritual energy to check the surroundings.
He could perceive the store and the exterior with no obstacles hindering him, but no one could check the inside of the store from the outside.
Soon, Su Ping found many people outside. It would be another busy day.
He got dressed and cleaned himself up.
He called Tang Ruyan out from the scroll to get ready for the customers.
Su Ping opened the door and saw a long line outside. The customers were chatting away and Su Ping heard words like “match” and “dragon”. As he pulled the door open, everyone stopped talking and looked at Su Ping with delight.
“Sorry for the wait.”
Su Ping stepped aside so that customers could enter the store and went back inside. The customers went in to follow Su Ping.
Despite the great number of customers, they did keep the order. No one tried to rush to the front.
Everyone knew what the store could provide. They had heard that Su Lingyue's dragon came from the store and that there was a t.i.tled battle pet warrior there.
No one could produce any proof but none of them questioned the authenticity of the information.
It would be strange for the store not to have a t.i.tled battle pet warrior in control, especially when the store could raise such a powerful dragon.
“Well?”
Su Ping was about to talk to the first customer when he noticed something at the back of the line.
He picked up someone familiar. It was the one who had lost to Su Lingyue the day before.
Qin Shaotian, from the Qin family.