Venerable the Blade and the others were checking the battle pets in the display room; they would at times inform Tang Ruyan about the ones that they wanted to buy.

“They are all at the Void State, the later stage…” They had seen over a dozen battle pets. They were surprised after confirming that Su Ping didn't lie to them. All those battle pets were at the Void State!

Did Su Ping find those battle pets in the Deep Caves?

That would be funny.

Defeating the Deep Caves with the Deep Caves?

Soon, many of them had decided which battle pets they wanted to purchase. “Six…”

There was hesitation as he looked at the projections of the other battle pets. He had eleven spots, but he already had many battle pets. He only had three spots left yet he was buying six. That was to say, he had to cancel three of his contracts!

Of the eight existing battle pets, he could decide on three that he could be okay with parting. But the other five… they had accompanied him for a long time and they had saved his life!

He could not give them up! Venerable the Blade wasn't the only one struggling. Qin Duhuang soon ended up in the same situation. He already had many battle pets; apart from the beast king that Su Ping had sold him, the other battle pets were his old pals.

Should I give them up?

Qin Duhuang's face reflected his inner struggle as he stared at the Void State battle pets.

Su Ping noticed that; he knew what they were thinking. That struggle was something he had expected and he saw it as a test for them.

Would they give up their old pals and choose the new ones that were more powerful? Or would they stick with their old friends?

Either way, there was neither right nor wrong.

After all, the wild beasts were coming. Choosing their old friends would mean that they were loyal, but it would also mean that they would not become powerful enough. They would be doomed in times of crisis.

But to give up all the existing battle pets… Su Ping didn't think he could do that, either.

“Mr. Su.”

Vexed, Venerable the Blade asked Su Ping in a low voice, “Do you have any Locking Chains or Beast Cages?”

What are those things… Su Ping was confused but the system offered a timely answer, “Locking Chains and Beast Cages are low-rank beast containing tools developed on the Blue Planet. They can keep the beasts contained but if they can easily struggle free if the creatures are vicious enough.”

That answered the question.

So, a low-level beast catching ring. “That is correct,” the system said.

Su Ping said to Venerable the Blade. “I don't have them but I think the other pet stores should sell those things. You want to use them on the battle pets you'll cancel contracts with, right?”

Venerable the Blade was surprised to learn that Su Ping didn't have those things in stock… How did he capture those beasts, then? With his fists?

Venerable the Blade curled his lips. That's not impossible…

“If so, I'll have to go to another pet store,” Venerable the Blade answered, “I want to keep the battle pets that I cancel contracts with by my side. I'll have more room for contracts when I reach the Void State; I will take them back by then.”

So, he's unwilling to give up his old friends… Su Ping nodded, “No problem. You can cancel the contracts here and you can leave them in my nursing pens. You can come back to fetch them when you find the Locking Chains. Of course, I do charge fees for the nursing pens.”

Venerable the Blade was relieved. “That's fine.”

He could cancel the contracts first without having to shop for Locking Chains.

Qin Duhuang strode over and said to Venerable the blade with a forced smile, “Hey man, I see that we haven't chosen the same battle pets.”

“Alas, Mr. Su has more than enough battle pets…” Venerable the Blade answered.

I would have fought with you to get the battle pets if Su Ping were only selling one or two! Qin Duhuang twitched his mouth. That was true.

Qin Duhuang asked Su Ping, “Mr. Su, I have chosen eight. I heard that you have nursing pens. Do you have more left?” “Yes.” Su Ping answered briefly while casting a glance at Qin Duhuang. So, he was keeping two or three of his battle pets. One of them would be the beast king he had bought the last time. Back then, he said that Qin Duhuang could only cancel the contract with the beast king after 10 years. The rule had been set up to avoid any reselling or anyone from torturing battle pets.

But in special cases, the contact could be canceled earlier with his approval.

For example, Su Ping would have given his permission if Qin Duhuang wanted to replace that beast king with those at the Void State. After all, he had gone through the trouble of getting so many battle pets over in order to help everyone be well equipped to deal with the upcoming strike. “Good…” Qin Duhuang was relieved. Knowing that Su Ping was serious when it came to battle pets, Qin Duhuang explained, “I will ask my family members to come back and pick up those battle pets soon. They have been with me for a long time. Truth be told, I feel sad about parting with them, but the good thing is that I can give the battle pets to our young family members. That way, my battle pets can guard the Qin family for generations to come!”

“That would be great,” Su Ping praised.

That was a smart choice. If the day came when he had to cancel a contract with a battle pet, he would try to let Su Lingyue have his battle pet. That way, his battle pet would eventually take care of her and he would still see his battle pet.

Venerable the Blade heaved a sigh.

He was alone; he didn't have a big family. He would have to take back the battle pets he canceled contracts with someday in the future.

Wait, maybe… I could take in on some students?

Venerable the Blade was interested in that idea. He could give his battle pets to his students later on. That would be good for his students and his old pals would still be close.

Good idea!

The more he thought about it, the more he liked the plan. A smile returned to his face.

“Hurry up and cancel the contracts. You will feel vulnerable in the next couple of days. Let's just hope the wild beasts don't come soon,” Su Ping said.

Of course, there was nothing he could do to change that. The good thing was that, even if they were vulnerable, they could still send out their battle pets to the battle.

After all, those battle pets might be of greater help than Venerable the Blade and Qin Duhuang themselves.

“Sure.”

The two summoned their battle pets and canceled the contracts one by one.

A glow covered the two and their respective battle pets. Once a contract was canceled, the memories of their time together would be wiped away from the beasts' minds. They would see their past masters as strangers.

On the other hand, humans wouldn't be affected by this.

Roar!

After a short moment of confusion, a ninth-rank Wind Ape that Venerable the Blade had started to get violent. The beast showed its teeth and made threatening gestures. The Wind Ape felt that something had been removed from its head; the loss brought discomfort. It could not determine what had been lost since there was no longer any recollection of it. The resulting frustration stimulated the Wind Ape's violent nature.

Venerable the Blade gazed at his Wind Ape, feeling sad and sorry; he tried to reach out and comfort his battle pet.

Roar!

The Wind Ape stared at Venerable the Blade while being on high alerted; it seemed to be saying, “Do not come over”!

Venerable the Blade felt sick at heart. He heaved a sigh. “I'm sorry…”

Roar!

The Wind Ape felt a certain threat from him.

“Mr. Su, where are the nursing pens?” Venerable the Blade asked Su Ping. Whoosh. A girl with a perfect figure and a perfect face appeared next to Su Ping; it was Joanna.

She wore her golden hair down and her collarbones were s.e.xy. She stared at the Wind Ape and a glow of golden light emerged from her eyes.

She didn't do anything, and yet the Wind Ape's eyelids suddenly closed. The pet almost collapsed on the ground; some invisible energy lifted its body.

“Take it to the nursing pen,” Su Ping said.

Joanna nodded. She turned around and took the Wind Ape to the pet room.

Venerable the Blade and Qin Duhuang narrowed their eyes. Joanna didn't unleash any astral powers; even so, they both felt a tremble in their heart when she was standing next to Su Ping. Their instincts urged them to drop to their knees and bow.

That girl had almost killed Yuan Tianchen when he visited the store. Venerable the Blade forced a bitter smile.

Su Ping's store hid a lot of undiscovered talents!

Venerable the Blade went back to canceling contracts when he calmed himself down.

Before he canceled the contract, Qin Duhuang also said to a ninth-rank Stone Turtle with a sigh, “Good bye, my old friend.”

The turtle was large and it moved slowly. The Turtle then raised its head and tenderly gazed at Qin Duhuang; the look that expressed its affection and sadness.

Qin Duhuang could barely look at the turtle. He canceled the contract.

Soon, a glow appeared over the turtle and disappeared. The creature appeared to be baffled, but the confusion disappeared not long afterward. The turtle looked around on full alert. It built some defensive layers and stepped back, viewing the nearby people as enemies.

Joanna stepped over. The turtle felt drowsy and soon after, Joanna moved it to the pet room.

Qin Duhuang was turning pale. No one could tell whether the cancelation had worn out his spirit or if he was saddened by the goodbyes. He kept silent for a moment, then he summoned another one and canceled the contract.

One after one…

Goodbyes after goodbyes. Soon, they had finished the process. The two looked ghastly pale; they could barely stand. The process had taken a toll on their spirits; they would feel weak for a couple of days.

Su Ping sighed.

He suddenly had a question. Why couldn't the pets preserve their past memories when the contracts were canceled? It would be much better if a contract that could protect the pets' memories existed…

This time, the system didn't answer. He didn't know if the system had chosen not to peep into his mind at the moment, or whether it simply didn't have an answer. The two rested for a while. They paid Su Ping for the battle pets and they picked them one by one.

The battle pets that were hundreds of meters tall would shrink to dozens of meters according to the rules of the system. But the sizes of the battle pets would not affect the contract signing whatsoever.

Roar!!

The battle pets were no longer mere projections. The energy that belonged to beasts at the later stage of the Void State began to spread out, startling everyone present.

They would have run away if it weren't for the fact that Su Ping was there.

Terror!

Venerable the Blade—who was getting ready to sign new contracts-stared at the battle pet he had just bought. The coldness and violence were visible in the battle pet's eyes, but there was something he had not perceived from the projections. He started to get gooseb.u.mps.

“Don't worry, it won't attack you. Go ahead and sign the contract,” Su Ping encouraged him.

The system would stop the beasts from striking no matter how vicious they were.

Out of instinct, Venerable the Blade wanted to ask Su Ping if he was sure that the beast wouldn't strike, but eventually decided otherwise. He reached out with trembling fingers and drew the lines of the contract.

Soon after, a glow covered the battle pet and Venerable the Blade.

As the force of the contract vanished, the battle stopped looking at Venerable the Blade with violence, but the coldness in its eyes was still frightening

Venerable the Blade was able to perceive the battle pet's feelings and thoughts through the bond established by the contract. He immediately told the battle pet that he bore no ill will, then he carefully patted the beast.

The battle pet didn't fight back.

Venerable the Blade felt relieved. He did feel violence, coldness, anger and pain in his mind. This vicious guy… had surely gone through a great deal of suffering.

Venerable the Blade felt sorry for the beast. It was just like when you saw an unknown person wallowing in misery; you might not even feel a thing. But the contract made everything different; he was looking at the battle pet as his family. He felt sorry and he wanted to take care of the battle pet.

“Let's fight together from now on,” Venerable the Blade whispered to the battle pet.

The battle pet darted a glance at the person that was patting its legs and snorted. That expression could have been a show of contempt or its approval.

Qin Duhuang immediately began to build contracts with the battle pets he had bought.

Zhou Tianlin and Wu Guansheng looked at each other in astonishment. Those were battle pets at the later stage of the Void State. How terrifying!

They believed they would have soaked their pants if they had seen those beasts in the strike.

The two focused their minds and quickly began to choose battle pets for themselves.