Under everyone's gaze, Su Ping's expression did not change in the slightest. He did not even acknowledge the fellow right away, instead rubbing Little Dot's head as the wolf hurried over and smiling.
"Well done."
Then he looked straight at the staff member responsible for keeping records in this area and raised one finger.
"One customer. Please record that for me. Thank you."
The staff member nodded, knowing this concerned Su Ping's beast battle rental service.
Only after finishing all that did Su Ping turn around and lead Little Dot down from the arena. Then he smiled.
"You never said you wanted to fight my Contracted Pet Beast. I've got so many Forest Wolves here, so naturally, I picked the most suitable one!"
Zhou Shuchen glared at him, while laughter rose from the sidelines.
It was true. Zhou Shuchen had only asked Su Ping to come up for a beast battle; he had never specified that he wanted to fight his Contracted Pet Beast.
And now look what had happened.
Not only had he failed to show off, but he had also taken a beating for nothing-and even lost the money for one rented beast battle.
Su Ping did not know the rates here, but how could the other classmates not know, when they had already discussed coming here in their group chat?
That money meant little to Su Ping and some of their classmates. But for Zhou Shuchen, who now owed several million in loans, it clearly was not as inconsequential as he had claimed.
Meanwhile, the young man standing beside Zhang Guowei narrowed his eyes slightly. Looking at Little Dot, who had returned to normal size, a trace of surprise appeared in his gaze.
As an employee of the Fire King Company—and specifically its nurturing division—he was responsible for observing the Pet Beasts and assessing the potential of the graduating students newly signed as company trainees. His instincts told him there was something off about this Forest Wolf.
However, his talent was not True Eye, and casually using a talent to inspect someone else's Pet Beasts was rather impolite.
He could only cast thoughtful glances at that strange little Forest Wolf from time to time.
Zhou Shuchen, however, clearly knew nothing of this. His face had flushed crimson.
It was even redder than when he had used his Fire Element Affinity earlier.
He stared at Su Ping resentfully.
"Su Ping, do you dare have another match using your soul-contracted Contracted Pet Beast?"
He had completely lost his head, throwing the steep prices here to the back of his mind. All he wanted now was revenge-to defeat this fellow who kept putting on airs, then trample him underfoot!
He had even prepared a string of taunts. Yet once again, something he had not expected happened.
Su Ping nodded again. Meeting his furious gaze, he remained utterly unruffled.
"Sure. But you should take your beast to get treated and woken up first. We can have another match once your beast recovers."
It was a kindly reminder. After all, he earned money by the match. If someone was rushing to hand him cash, why should he care?
Only then did Zhou Shuchen remember. With a cold snort, he carried his Red Fang Tiger over to the treatment room that had already been prepared.
Meanwhile, some of the other classmates who had witnessed the earlier fight became interested too. They picked reasonably suitable opponents and entered the arena for beast battles.
Even Li Shu and Yin Yin joined in.
Li Shu's Falling Seed Pine was a plant-type Pet Beast. Such Pet Beasts generally had limited movement and mobility, but the Falling Seed Pine had decent combat strength. By swinging its branches, it could unleash the skill Pinecone Bomb.
It was an extremely powerful means of attack, making it one of the rare low-level plant-type Pet Beasts with respectable combat power.
Unfortunately, Li Shu's Falling Seed Pine had yet to learn that skill. Against its opponent's Fangtooth Civet, it could only keep waving its branches, unable to inflict the slightest damage.
The sight left Li Shu sucking air through his teeth.
Yin Yin's beast, on the other hand, was somewhat unusual and worth mentioning.
It was a special beast called a Cloud Butterfly, with racial potential reaching the peak of Elite rank. Its combat strength was actually quite average, but it could create illusionary clouds and mist, as well as release a fragrance that confused the mind.
Its appearance, however, was exceptionally beautiful.
It suited Yin Yin's overall bearing quite well.
Combined with Yin Yin's talent, Mirage Trail, she seemed for a moment like a fairy dancing through the clouds. Despite having the racial advantage, the opposing Silkweaver Spider, whose combat strength was likewise quite average, was utterly bewitched-along with its Beast Tamer-by Yin Yin and her beast.
Interesting.
Watching the scene in the arena, Su Ping nodded. The Mirage Trail talent could increase a Beast Tamer's speed and was very helpful for dodging attacks from Pet Beasts.
Although it could not directly increase either the tamer's or their beast's combat strength, it was still quite a practical ability.
As for the combination's appeal, nothing else needed to be said. In just this short time, quite a few other Beast Tamers had joined their classmates among the spectators. That alone made its charm clear.
Those who came here were all young, and there was no shortage of people who wanted to show off after seeing such a beautiful girl.
And how could they show off in a beast training and battle facility? Through strength, of course.
Within this venue, Su Ping was the only one renting out Pet Beasts for battles.
Yin Yin's match with her classmate had set things rolling. In this short stretch of time, apart from Little Dot, who had just fought, even the Elite Tier Forest Wolves had all been rented out.
The open-air venue went from so deserted that sparrows could have nested at its gates to bustling with activity.
Su Ping was delighted.
Who would've thought our campus beauty had this kind of benefit and use? Once I make it big, should I hire a few pretty ornaments too, to turn these young Beast Tamers with more money than sense into easy marks?
Su Ping thought the idea had considerable promise.
"Brother Ping, how much can you make in a day doing this?"
Li Shu came over, asking excitedly.
Not far away, Zhou Shuchen, who was still waiting for his Red Fang Tiger to recover in the treatment room, pricked up his ears too. He also wanted to hear.
Just how much could this fellow earn, having willingly sunk so low, caring only about money and reeking of copper coins from head to toe?
Su Ping smiled faintly, making no attempt to hide it from the others.
"Not counting the guaranteed payment, just the beast battles in this little stretch have brought in a bit over twelve thousand!"
An Ordinary-rank beast cost five hundred per battle; an Elite Tier beast cost twelve hundred.
None of them were idle now except Little Dot, and Zhou Shuchen had already paid for Little Dot's earlier match.
That brought the total to precisely that amount.
"Whoa! That's some easy money!"
Li Shu was rather envious. His father, the editor-in-chief of a media outlet, earned only a little over twenty thousand a month, which was already considered good in Linzhou.
Beside him, Zhou Shuchen's eyes reddened even further, and he clenched his fists.
Money!
If he truly cared as little about money as he claimed, why had he not paid off his loans first?
At that thought, Zhou Shuchen's resentment grew. Just wait! Once Red Cloud recovers, I'll show this fellow that my money isn't so easy to earn!
Yet just as that thought arose, two identical figures approached Su Ping and looked at him.
"Um, are you the one renting out these Forest Wolves? Do you have any left? My brother and I want to practice fighting alongside our Pet Beasts. We need two Forest Wolves to fight at the same time, somewhere around Ordinary fifth to seventh rank. Would that be possible?"
Looking at the twin brothers before him, Su Ping paused. Still, it seemed Little Dot was the only one he had available.
The twin brothers evidently noticed this too and scratched their heads. Zhou Shuchen, however, gave a snide smile from the sidelines.
"Su Ping, don't you still have a Contracted Pet Beast? Just put it together with this Forest Wolf. Though who knows whether that Contracted Pet Beast of yours meets their rank requirements!"
Clearly, Zhou Shuchen was mocking him.
After all, Su Ping had just brought Little Dot out and defeated his Red Cloud in an instant, yet had not used his own Contracted Pet Beast. Although Zhou Shuchen had never specified that beforehand, it had still led their classmates to believe that Su Ping's other Forest Wolf was probably no match for Red Cloud!
Naturally, that meant it would not meet the fifth-to-seventh-rank requirement of these twin Beast Tamers.
Yet those words seemed to remind Su Ping of something. Facing the twin customers' somewhat expectant gazes, he nodded.
"That works."
Then, before the dumbfounded eyes of Zhou Shuchen and all their classmates nearby, a white light flashed. Xiao Qing, who had never had a chance to make an appearance, finally emerged!
Before you continue