An instant defeat! Was Su Ping cheating?

At those words, everyone instinctively turned to look at Su Ping.

Li Shu, standing nearby, could no longer hold back:

"Seriously, Zhou Shuchen, have you no shame? Never mind that Su Ping's Forest Wolf has lower racial potential than your Red Fang Tiger. You've had your Red Fang Tiger contracted for over a month,

"while Su Ping hasn't even had his for half a month. And on top of that, the Red Fang Tiger has an elemental advantage over the Forest Wolf. What are you thinking?"

At those words, several people's expressions turned rather strange.

Their class president was far too petty.

Besides, he had clearly been the one to provoke Su Ping earlier, only to get in over his head and be scared off by a beauty at Su Ping's side. Now that she had left, he suddenly had his courage back?

Zhou Shuchen paid no attention to any of that. In this world, strength was the best reputation anyone could have. What did anything else matter?

He was going to make Su Ping and all these people understand that things were no longer as they had been.

Now, he was the owner of a commander-rank Red Fang Tiger, a Beast Tamer with a commander-rank pet and a boundless future!

As for Su Ping, aside from his supposedly well-off family, there was nothing about him worth mentioning.

His gaze remained fixed on Su Ping.

On that infuriating fellow whose expression never lost its calm.

"What, are you afraid?"

When Su Ping remained silent, Zhou Shuchen deliberately put on an arrogant air.

Su Ping merely shook his head.

"Of course I'm not afraid. But you'd better think this through. My Forest Wolf is available for rental. If you want to fight me, you'll have to pay!"

Pay?

Zhou Shuchen's expression froze, but he quickly recovered.

"Hmph, that little bit of money means nothing to me. Just bring it on!"

"All right, then!"

If someone wanted a beating, Su Ping certainly would not refuse. Fighting a pet battle against someone like this would not do much for him or his pet, but money was money. What did it matter whose pocket it came from?

He slowly stepped onto the outdoor battle arena.

"Little Dot!"

"Awooo..."

Little Dot, who was now the size of a wolfdog, came up in front of Su Ping.

Smiling, Su Ping rubbed Little Dot's head.

He did not summon Xiao Qing.

Using Xiao Qing against Zhou Shuchen would really be bullying him. Granted, this was already rather unfair, but money was money.

Xiao Qing and Little Dot were currently at the same level: ordinary sixth rank.

But even at ordinary fourth rank, Xiao Qing had been able to dominate the sixth-rank Little Dot. With Poison Vine Strangulation, Xiao Qing could even have defeated Little Dot instantly if desired.

Those terrifying toxins could strip Little Dot of all ability to fight.

A pet battle with such a vast disparity in strength held little meaning in itself.

After all...

Su Ping looked at the fiery-red Red Fang Tiger Zhou Shuchen had summoned. It was only the size of a Pekingese. Though the little cub already carried the air of a tiger whose roar shook the mountain forests, Su Ping could tell at a glance that it was merely ordinary third rank.

Compared with the wolfdog-sized Little Dot, it was plainly a good deal smaller.

Zhou Shuchen, however, had failed to notice the difference in their ranks.

Zhao Guowei and the man below the arena whom Zhou Shuchen called Brother Jin had clearly noticed.

The two exchanged a glance, each seeing astonishment in the other's eyes, but neither spoke.

Ultimately, to them, this was merely children squabbling. More importantly, although Zhou Shuchen was ostensibly on their side and closer to them,

Qin Xiaoxue had just given them far too great a shock.

What relationship did that woman with the monarch-rank-potential pet have with Su Ping?

These were the questions that people like them, who had spent years navigating society, would consider.

Thus, speaking up to warn Zhou Shuchen now would mean offending Su Ping. It simply was not worth it.

Wisely, both chose to remain silent.

As for Zhou Shuchen, he was already swept up in excitement. How could he spare a thought for any of that?

There was no need for a professional referee to announce the start. Once the safety staff on duty saw that the participants were in position, they activated the energy shield that prevented energy from spreading outside.

"Su Ping, I'll show you that I'm not the person I used to be!"

Looking at Zhou Shuchen, who could barely contain his excitement, Su Ping honestly struggled to understand why this fellow was so determined to target him.

But he did not need to ponder something that meant nothing to him.

The next moment, at Zhou Shuchen's command, the Red Fang Tiger, whose voice still had a cub's milky softness, pounced.

"Go! Red Cloud, Flame Pounce!"

Not only that, a faint fiery-red glow appeared around Zhou Shuchen himself. His talent, fire elemental affinity, could increase his pet's combat strength to a certain extent.

It was quite a good beast-taming talent.

And at that moment, everyone finally saw why this Red Fang Tiger, whose racial potential reached commander rank, had given Zhou Shuchen such confidence.

"Roar..."

The low growl actually had something of a tiger's menace. Flecks of flame appeared across the Red Fang Tiger's lunging body, as though about to envelop it entirely!

"Ordinary third rank! The class president's Red Fang Tiger is growing pretty quickly!"

"It's not just its level. Look at its skill!"

One of the watching classmates pointed out the key issue. Indeed, what had made Zhou Shuchen so smug earlier was that the Red Fang Tiger had comprehended its racial skill, Flame Pounce, in just half a month.

Acquiring that skill had brought a true transformation.

Fire completely countered wood. This was taught in the basic lessons on elemental advantages at school.

Not to mention that the Red Fang Tiger's racial potential was higher than the Forest Wolf's.

In other words, among all their classmates, aside from Li Shu, who had blind confidence in Su Ping, even Yin Yin, who thought quite highly of him, did not believe the Forest Wolf could defeat the Red Fang Tiger under these circumstances.

The flames burned so fiercely that even with the energy shield separating them, the spectators felt as though they could sense the terrifying heat.

Even a juvenile Red Fang Tiger was beyond comparison with an ordinary low-level pet.

Unfortunately,

the Red Fang Tiger did indeed have an elemental advantage over Little Dot, as well as higher racial potential.

But Little Dot was no ordinary low-level Forest Wolf.

Forest Wolves actually had only two primary combat skills: Accelerated Growth and Tree Vine Strangulation.

The former enhanced a Forest Wolf's ability to fight physically, functioning much like a size-multiplication skill, while the latter summoned vines to bind and strangle.

Both skills belonged to the wood element.

And any wood-element skill received Woodheart's enhancement!

Immediately, as Little Dot watched the Red Fang Tiger pounce, light seemed to bloom in Little Dot's eyes.

Little Dot's body abruptly grew another size larger! The effect was far more powerful than ordinary low-level, beginner-stage Accelerated Growth.

Now the size of a small calf, Little Dot seemed to have become an adult Forest Wolf in an instant.

In the animal kingdom, under normal circumstances, size represented fighting strength.

As long as there were no excessively absurd supernatural skills involved, the strength and speed granted by size alone were enough to overwhelm an opponent!

This moment was no different!

Watching the fiery kitty pounce, Little Dot did not let down any guard. Using the simplest of abilities, Little Dot likewise leaped, first raising a paw and swatting the cub away.

Then Little Dot lunged after it, moving even faster than the Red Fang Tiger was flying backward.

Those enormous wolf jaws snapped down and caught the fiery kitty!

"Roar... meow!"

The shrill cry jolted Zhou Shuchen awake. Only after seeing that his Red Cloud had merely fainted from the slap and the bite that followed did he let out a breath of relief.

That hateful Forest Wolf even turned an innocent gaze toward Su Ping.

But at that moment, Zhou Shuchen, who had what it took to become a class president at Sixth Middle School, finally caught on. He glared furiously at Su Ping.

"That's an ordinary sixth-rank Forest Wolf! It isn't your contracted pet at all! Su Ping, you're cheating!"

Immediately, everyone who had witnessed this first pet battle end far faster than they could have imagined turned to look at Su Ping.