Astral Pet Store (WN)

Chapter 728: Joanna's Expertise

Whoosh!

A summoning vortex appeared next to Mia; the ferocious aura of a Void State beast was then spread out. The pet that stepped out was a fierce tiger with white wings. However, its body shrank right after it came out, turning into a short cute tiger with small wings.

Roar!

The short and cute tiger growled at Su Ping when it saw the unknown human.

Su Ping reacted with a friendly smile.

"What's the training cost going to be?" Mia was ready to pay.

Su Ping said, "Since it's a Void State beast, the price is a hundred million."

"A hundred million?"

Even Mia was more or less surprised by the price. Layne—who had been holding back his anger all this time—sneered and said, "So, you'll earn a hundred million for training the pet for one day? That's certainly some easy money. Although, a hundred million is not a big deal to us…"

"Cut the crap if it's not a big deal, then." Su Ping looked at him. Don't be picky if you want to show off! Crush me with your money if you're as rich as you claim to be!

Layne was stunned; his lips twitched with anger. It seemed that Su Ping had no respect for him or his family!

"Young man, watch your attitude!" declared Layne coldly. He was from the main branch of the Layne family anyway. They may have had the same rank, but he had defeated too many opponents of his rank or even beyond!

Su Ping raised his eyebrows, wondering if he should really throw the guy out.

"Okay, a hundred million it is. The money will be worth it if the training is really as miraculous as you claim!" Mia had been hesitating, but she then quickly chose to accept the offer once she saw that Layne was stepping up for her again.

She preferred not to get involved with the Ryan family, which made things complicated.

Su Ping looked at her and nodded. "Okay."

Mia then made the payment.

"Please wait here. If you need anything…" Su Ping was going to say that they could talk to his assistant if they needed anything, but then remembered that Tang Ruyan couldn't speak the Common Tongue, at all.

He then thought of Joanna who was in the pet room; she had mastered the Blue Planet's language the moment she arrived. He wondered if she could grasp the Common Tongue just as quickly.

"Wait a moment," Su Ping said to Mia.

He entered the pet room and said to Joanna, who was at the moment cultivating in one of the nursing pens, "A customer is here, and Tang doesn't speak her language. Can you keep her company?"

"You mean the language that you've been speaking?" asked Joanna calmly.

Su Ping nodded.

"No problem." This time, Joanna spoke in the Common Tongue of the Federation without any accent, which surprised Su Ping.

I say… A god's aptitude is truly astonishing!

"How did you grasp it?" Su Ping couldn't help but ask in confusion.

Joanna said casually, "I've fought on countless worlds and heard just as many languages. This one is slightly complicated, but it's just rudimentary when compared to the language of the god race. I can also learn it easily with Language Proficiency. Of course, don't think it will be as easy for Tang; she's too untalented to learn the skill."

Su Ping was at a loss for words and suddenly felt pity for Tang Ruyan; she had just been crushed in the virtual battles and was then despised again by her coworker.

She's so weak and pitiful…

After slightly shaking his head, Su Ping said, "I'm glad that you know it. I'm going somewhere else. Stay here and keep the customer company."

Joanna looked at him and asked, "You don't need me to go with you?"

"No. It's just normal training. I can take care of it on my own." Su Ping chuckled.

"Fine…" Joanna was slightly disappointed, as she missed the Demigod Burial.

Without further ado, Su Ping took her to the hall.

Both Mia and Layne widened their eyes in shock when Su Ping took Joanna out of the pet room.

Joanna's appearance was too alluring; her face was exquisite and flawless, her eyes were as deep and profound as the starry sky, and her hair was blond. To top it off, she carried the unique aura of the god race; she would definitely be in the spotlight anywhere she went. Mia, Tang Ruyan and the other women were all eclipsed by her.

Layne, who stood next to Mia, was distracted for a moment. He had never seen a woman as beautiful as Joanna. If Mia could be compared to an angel, then Joanna would undoubtedly be a goddess who was a more sacred creature!

"She is Joanna, one of my employees. You can call her Anna; tell her if you need anything," said Su Ping to Mia, dragging them back to reality.

Mia was quite stupefied.

Such a gorgeous woman is only an employee in Su Ping's shop?

The first employee she met—who had only been defeated eight times by her in five minutes—was shocking enough. Still, this one was even more unbelievable.

The woman could become a famous star across the universe by the sole virtue of her face!

Appearance was the most important thing in any world. Even the unawakened women could make experts fall before them with nothing but their faces.

"I'm leaving," said Su Ping.

He then looked at the little cute tiger and gave a friendly smile.

Mia was quite reluctant to withdraw her gaze from Joanna's face, for everybody was drawn to beauty in all its forms.

She asked her battle pet to go with Su Ping and be obedient.

It wasn't the first time for the tiger to be trained. It soon understood its master's intention and followed Su Ping, however unwillingly.

Su Ping took it to the pet room with a smile and then stuck a temporary contract to its forehead.

After the training was over and the temporary contract was canceled, the pet would forever be unable to say or what it saw in the cultivation sites or reveal it by other means. That was the restriction of the system.

The tiger was stunned when the contract was stuck to its head. It seemed perplexed as it looked at Su Ping. It had disliked and despised the stranger a moment earlier, but then it found the guy rather amicable all of a sudden; the beautiful woman it remembered seemed to be fading away.

It kept on trying to remember, but the more it thought about her, the blurrier her face became.

"Okay, let's go." Su Ping picked a middle-rank cultivation site. He also took with him the Little Skeleton, the Dark Dragon Hound, the Inferno Dragon, the Purple Python, and the Void Bug he had captured in the Demigod Burial.

Su Ping had never found the time to train the Void Bug, but it had fed upon a lot of the beast kings he had killed; thanks to this it had grown to the higher phase of the ninth rank.

The little tiger became wary when it saw Su Ping's other pets. It flinched as the three pets posed an intense threat in its eyes; it was jumpy, with goosebumps all over its body.

Whoosh!

The vortex was opened; and Su Ping led them in, starting a fun journey.

…

Outside the pet room—

Mia discovered, to her surprise, that her contract with her pet became faint when Su Ping took the little tiger to the site. Something seemed to be jamming their mutual bond.

She was quite surprised, as only a powerful blockage formation could have done that.

"Mia, that guy must be a fraud!" Layne was still angry after Su Ping left, but he kept a calm expression. He stood even more straight after seeing Joanna, feeling sorry that such a beautiful girl had been fooled into working there by Su Ping. That man is unforgivable!

"Your pet may be weakened instead of strengthened if he pulls any tricks during the training. This would definitely not be favorable considering the upcoming contest!"

Layne brought up the matter Mia was most concerned about.

He knew how much the ever proud lady of the Laiyefa family cared about the upcoming contest. It was of the utmost importance to her.

He had bribed her maids, learned her schedule, and tried to help her with her pets for that very reason.

He sincerely wanted to help her strengthen her pet, thinking that her gratitude after she won the contest would easily pave a way to her heart!

Mia frowned in agitation. His words had struck true, since it was exactly what worried her the most.

"I've thought about it, but it's okay. Little White was wounded and has already been exposed to the public. People will take advantage of its weakness in the upcoming contest, so I don't intend to deploy it," said Mia calmly, frowning.

Layne couldn't help but continue, "But…"

"Ms. Anna, are you really an employee in this shop?" Mia interrupted him and looked at Joanna, visibly astonished.

Even she, as another woman, found Joanna exceptionally attractive, but she wasn't jealous of her.

"Yes." Joanna nodded, neither too arrogantly nor humbly, then said, "Tell me if you need anything." She was already used to watching over the shop while Su Ping was away.

Tang Ruyan and Zhong Lingtong were both shocked to hear Joanna talk. Zhong Lingtong could still control herself, but Tang Ruyan exclaimed, "Y-You've learned this bizarre language too? Since when?"

Joanna glanced at her and said, "Is this language difficult? You're just too dumb."

"You…"

Tang Ruyan was mad and upset. She found that she was almost incapable of continuing as Su Ping's employee if she didn't work harder.

The eight consecutive defeats she had suffered that day made her feel just as frustrated as when she had been captured by Su Ping.

She realized what she could do once she remembered her eight defeats, then she wore a mischievous smile. She looked at Mia and was about to open her mouth, only to come up with nothing. She became depressed again.

She had intended to provoke Mia into practicing with Joanna. She could never see through the latter, but she had to admit that she was wrong.

She would feel exhilarated no matter which of them won!

Unfortunately, she couldn't speak the language!

How could she instigate a conflict between them?

Tang Ruyan thought so hard that she unconsciously scratched her head.

Mia looked at Tang Ruyan and remembered their recent practice. "Hey, are you free? Let's practice again."

"Aasdlkfjadslkfj?"

Tang Ruyan looked at her in confusion.

Joanna interpreted for her, "She wants you to be her sparring partner."

Tang Ruyan instantly glared at her. "Tell her to get the hell out of here!"

Sparring partner? She wanted to get back at Mia, but she wasn't an idiot; she knew she couldn't catch up with the latter any time soon. She would only be crushed one more time if they fought right then!

Tang Ruyan would certainly not allow anyone else to take advantage of her like that.

She would rather die!

"Su Ping may kick you out of his shop if I tell her the exact translation," said Joanna casually.

Tang Ruyan stiffened at once. She gnashed her teeth with a contorted face and said, "Fine, let's practice! I'm not scared of you!"

Joanna replied to their customer with a casual smile.

Mia noticed that Tang Ruyan didn't speak the Common Tongue, then wondered why the two clerks were that different. She looked at Joanna and said, "You don't seem weak either. Would you like to practice with me?"

"Me?"

Joanna had concealed her divine power, making it impossible to determine her level, but it made Mia realize she couldn't be weak.

After all, her Frost Blood Star Dragon was a Void State pet and she hadn't sent it back to the contract space. Its aura was the same, even though it had temporarily been shrunken by the store. An ordinary person would have trembled with fear while standing next to it.

Joanna, on the other hand, was absolutely calm and at peace, not even bothering to look at her dragon; she was definitely not an ordinary person. Still, Mia was unable to tell her level, so there were only two possibilities: either Joanna's level was much higher than hers, or she had a secret technique to hide her aura.

However, Mia didn't really scan her carefully, which would have been considered an awfully rude and presumptuous move.

"Well, would you?" asked Mia curiously.

Joanna frowned and was about to turn her down, but then she remembered her responsibility as an employee and could only heave a sigh. "Fine."