Chapter 52: Ninth Rank

“Sure!”

Fan Yujing adopted a more serious attitude and explained, “The world found inside the space fracture this time is a place suitable for habitation. The place floats in an unknown galaxy not registered on the interstellar map. As for whether the new world is a continent or a planet, we don’t know yet.”

“A large number of indigenous Astral Pets live there, and the majority are aggressive Astral Pets of the demon family. Based on the information we collected of the environment near the entrance, for the most part, we have found low to middle-level Astral Pets. However, as our team advanced to the deeper regions, we’ve encountered more middle-rank and advanced pets.

“The strongest of all the Astral Pets we’ve met was an eighth-rank Flame Bone Dragon. Fortunately for us, we spotted it in time and managed to get away in advance.”

At this point, Fan Yujing realized that he had revealed too much. An eighth-rank Flame Bone Dragon was not something to be messed with. Although Su Ping was strong, he was in his early twenties nonetheless. He would be unable to defeat an eighth-rank pet.

Fan Yujing stole a look at Su Ping and surprisingly, he saw no worries on his face.

“The deeper areas you reached, how deep were they?” Su Ping looked into Fan Yujing’s eyes.

Fan Yujing replied, “We haven’t covered the entire area yet, and we have no idea how vast the world is. The so-called deeper area is a relative term. But based on information we collected with our instruments, we believe we got close to that world’s inner zone.

“According to our past exploration, there must be more than one eighth-rank Astral Pet living in that world. There’s a chance that ninth-rank Astral Pets can be found there!”

He was telling the truth.

He knew what he was doing.

Fan Yujing was aware that by saying this, Su Ping could lose his interest. After all, ninth-rank Astral Pets were the strongest of all, second only to beast kings. Even the best of the top explorers’ teams would pale at the mention of a ninth-rank pet.

“Ninth-rank?”

Su Ping squinted his eyes.

The only ones who could tame ninth-rank Astral Pets were battle pet warriors with titles. Only a handful of such battle pet warriors could be found in the entire Longjiang Base City.

But this was not among Su Ping’s biggest worries. He had other questions. “Is the ninth-rank the highest present? Could we encounter Beast Kings?”

If we were to compare ninth-ranked Astral Pets to a cannonball, Beast Kings could be regarded as a small nuclear bomb! The gap between the two was huge!

A Beast King could even destroy over half of a base city!

“Beast Kings?” Fan Yujing’s face was drained of color after hearing that term. For people who had to constantly risk their lives, this name was taboo.

Su Ping was not joking. Fan Yujing shook his head and answered, “No, it’s not possible. If Beast Kings lived there, then the number of eighth and ninth-rank Astral Pets would be far greater than what we found. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough food for the Beast Kings, unless we were dealing with a herbivore Beast King.”

“However, the death aura in that world is rich. There are few herbivore Astral Pets to begin with, let alone those that can grow to be Beast Kings.”

Su Ping gazed into Fan Yujing’s eyes and nodded. “How is the strength of your team?”

Fan Yujing stated, “The explorers’ teams are always made of five. Excluding the two injured teammates on our team, we have our captain, another member, and myself. I am a battle pet warrior at the intermediate position of the sixth rank and the strongest of my Astral Pets is at the lower position of the seventh rank.

“Our captain is the most powerful of us all. He’s a battle pet warrior at the upper position of the seventh rank and he has an eighth-rank Astral Pet. However, that pet cannot compare to an Astral Pet of the demon family like the Flame Bone Dragon. The other teammate is on par with me.”

“That is to say, the strongest power that can be released can only reach the eighth rank?” Su Ping frowned.

That was too weak.

They would not stand a chance against a ninth-rank Astral Pet, not to mention a Beast King.

Even a stronger eighth-rank Astral Pet could eliminate the entire team!

Fan Yujing felt embarrassed for a moment, since he noticed the dissatisfaction and contempt shown in Su Ping’s facial expressions.

He had introduced his team proudly. After all, they were a middle-level team that could explore a space fracture. On the other hand, many explorers’ teams could only explore third-level unclaimed territories in their own blue planet.

Fan Xiaoyu felt vexed by the fact that her brother had been looked down upon. In her mind, since young, her big brother had always been a genius superior to many others!

Her brother was a celebrity at the academy. After he graduated, he had achieved his current position and strength and joined a second-level team, all in a matter of a few years. His future was promising!

Still, he had just been despised!

“How annoying!”

If it weren’t for the memory that Su Ping could break her brother’s arm easily, Fan Xiaoyu would have talked back. But the world was one that was run by fists. While she was unhappy about Su Ping’s attitude, she had to admit that compared to her brother, this despicable store owner was a more powerful man. A peculiar and odd one at that!

He opened a store there to live out his life in retirement instead of fighting and training in pioneering excursions when he was so young. This was a complete waste of his talent!

Su Ping paid no heed to how the siblings reacted. His eyebrows were knitted together as he pondered about the risks of this trip.

“System, are there any tools for protection?” Su Ping asked in his mind.

The system replied, “No.”

“Seriously!”

He could not count on this stupid system.

Su Ping was grinding his teeth inside.

While running into ninth-rank Astral Pets was the worst that could happen, he had to be prepared.

Fan Xiaoyu and Fan Yujing didn’t make a sound. They waited for Su Ping’s reply quietly. At the end of the day, exploring the barren land was not like playing house or making jokes. People could lose their lives!

A long moment later, the glow in Su Ping’s eyes dimmed down. He lifted his eyes to look at the siblings and inquired, “Aren’t you going to buy something?”

“…”

The siblings, who were looking forward to his decision, almost spat out of blood in frustration.

“What is wrong with your brain?

“We said so many words and all of them went down the drain?!”

“Sir, sir…” Fan Yujing’s lips were trembling.

Su Ping said, “Don’t misunderstand me. I will go with you. But before that, aren’t you going to make a purchase?”

“What?” Fan Yujing opened his eyes in astonishment and asked, “Are you willing to help?”

Su Ping nodded and repeated his words, “Pick some goods now. All the items in the store are of high quality. You know that. Well, buy something expensive. What’s the point of having money if you don’t spend it?”

The siblings, who were momentarily happy due to the surprise, were stunned speechless by Su Ping’s words.

Well, indeed, they had also gone there to buy more goods. They felt relieved, given that Su Ping had agreed to join them in the exploration. They began to browse the goods on the shelf.

“What? This…” Fan Yujing’s sight landed on a pale-white bone lotus instantly. He was shocked after seeing the price tag. “Is that worth 1.2 million coins?”

Su Ping’s eyes sparkled. “Do you want that?”

Fan Yujing was dumbstruck.

Was Su Ping trying to rip them off?

Despite the fast money-making chances explorers had, it was still hard for them to make more than a million.

“What… does it do?” Fan Yujing couldn’t help but ask. Last time, the treasured food that was said to be able to inspire intelligence was sold at 20,000 coins. But the price for this lotus was 60 times that!

Su Ping introduced it with a smile, “It can help an advanced undead pet to directly rise a rank. If you have a ninth-rank pet of the undead, there is a 5% chance that the pet can become a Beast King after consuming this.”

The siblings were wide-eyed and could not make a sound.

That food could promote an advanced pet one rank directly. Did such a thing exist in reality?

There was a chance that a pet at the peak of the ninth rank could evolve into a Beast King?

As informed as Fan Yujing was, he had only heard about such treasures in legends. He had never seen one in real life. He just thought those were only things made up to spice up a story. How could he believe that such an item was being sold there?

“Do you want to buy it?” Su Ping pressed him.

Fan Yujing recovered from his shock. He pulled up the corner of his mouth and smiled. “Well, we don’t have contracts with any undead pets. So, I don’t think we’re going to buy it.”

Su Ping pulled a long face at once.

“What are you smiling about if you don’t want to buy it?”