Astral Pet Store (WN)

"You skipped me? Why?" asked Loulan Lin in confusion.

"Why?" Stunned, Su Ping shook his head and said, "There's no reason why. I happened to defeat the one below you, so I skipped you."

Loulan Lin was lost for words. She finally understood what Su Ping said. The man didn't challenge the people on the Divine Lord Rank one by one, but skipped many. How arrogant of him!

"You just became a Star Lord. Even if you condensed a small world, it's still rather unbelievable that you actually made it to the top ten of the Divine Lord Rank." Loulan Lin looked at Su Ping suspiciously, knowing what kind of monsters were on the section of the list; some were previous champions of the Universe Geniuses' Contest.

They hadn't stepped into the Ascendant State yet because they had yet to grasp their own path.

She found it hard to believe that previous champions of the universe had been beaten by Su Ping, who had just reached the Star State.

After all, those guys were geniuses who had defeated Star Lords while in the Star State. They had spent a long time in the Star Lord level, yet they were beaten by Su Ping, who was a realm lower than them. It didn't make sense.

"It's not that hard."

Su Ping, for one, didn't find it too unbelievable. After all, he had trained in the cultivation sites, and possessed powerful techniques offered by the system. In particular, after having seen and experienced the might of the princes and princesses among the gods, he knew that the Star Lords on the Divine Lord Rank still had a lot of room for improvement.

"Cough, cough!"

Loulan Feng was coughing so hard that his lungs were almost dry. He said, "Let's talk about something else other than training. Princess Lin, this is the first time that Mr. Su has come here. Show him around. Mr. Su, ask her if you have any questions."

Loulan Feng was puzzled. "Uncle Feng, are you sick?"

Su Ping was also surprised. "Do Ascendants get sick too?"

Loulan Feng's lips twitched. He looked around and soon saw a young man in the crowd. He immediately waved at him, "Hai, come here."

Hai was a young man with a pale face and white hair, which was different from everybody else's. He slightly frowned after hearing that, but approached anyway. He observed the talented young man who shocked the entire universe a few years back, only to find that he was no different from the other participants he had seen.

"Mr. Su, he is Hai, one of the most distinguished juniors in the Loulan family. He is proud to have a top demonic constitution named Skeleton Demon. You're on the same level… I wonder if you could teach him something when you're free," said Loulan Feng.

"The Skeleton Demon Constitution?" Su Ping raised his eyebrows. That constitution was only second to the ten divine constitutions; it was said that it could store all the laws he perceived in his bones. Once the bones were filled with laws, he could unleash an unbelievable power. He could also control other people's bones, which made him a potentially great assassin.

"I don't think I can teach him anything. I'm too busy with my own training in any case," said Su Ping.

Loulan Feng smiled and said, "You can work it out between you two. There's something else that I must attend to. See you." He then returned to his aircraft and left the peak.

The young man named Hai said indifferently, "Director Feng always minds other people's business. Don't feel offended. I too have to go and train. Goodbye."

Su Ping nodded.

Loulan Lin, however, stopped him and said, "Hai, what's with that attitude? Uncle Feng was doing you a favor. This guy must have some useful tricks to reach the top ten of the Divine Lord Rank; you can learn from him about the way to achieve that in the Star State. Huh. Speaking of which, how did you achieve that?"

She suddenly looked at Su Ping curiously.

Hai looked rather helpless. He was obviously used to Princess Lin's whimsical behavior.

"Well…"

Su Ping didn't know how to answer that question. He couldn't say that he simply smashed all his enemies down, could he?

"Forget it. It must be one of your secrets. I shouldn't have asked that." She thought she had seen reluctance from Su Ping's hesitation.

Su Ping felt rather helpless.

Hai glanced at Su Ping and said, "If you did challenge the Divine Lord Rank while in the Star State, Lord Shen Huang must have given you a lot of power of faith that allowed you to crush them. That's the only possibility."

"My master did give me a lot of faith power, yes," Su Ping nodded and admitted the fact.

With understanding in his eyes, Hai cupped his hands at Su Ping and said, "I'm off to continue my cultivation."

Su Ping was indeed a super genius, but he considered himself not far off. Besides, people in his position didn't have to curry anyone's favor. As soon as he worked out a unique path, he could later reach the Ascendant State and become a Heavenly Lord too.

"Sure."

Su Ping nodded and said to Lin, "I too have to cultivate."

"Okay." Loulan Lin felt somewhat helpless as she saw Hai leave. He said to Su Ping, "Cultivate well, then. I'll have someone spare a seat for you." She then waved her hand, asking a few young men to spare a hole where astral power was gushing from.

Su Ping realized that Loulan Lin and Hai were among the renowned in the crowd. That was probably why Loulan Feng had made the introductions.

Shedding all random thoughts, Su Ping approached the hole and was about to cultivate, when he heard a delighted voice. "Brother Su, you're here too!"

Su Ping raised his head with evident surprise; he saw a bald man flash over, appearing a few meters in front of him. He was none other than Six Lives Buddha, who had almost won the Universe Geniuses' Contest.

Su Ping didn't expect to meet him there. He said with a weird feeling of familiarity, "I didn't know you were here."

"The Loulans invited me. I heard that they had also invited you, so I dropped by to see you." The Six Lives Buddha looked at Loulan Lin who was next to Su Ping, and said to the latter, "I heard that your master gave you a hard test where you had to fight the top ten of the Divine Lord Rank, just to allow you to leave the Celestial Court. Is that true?"

"Yes."

Su Ping nodded. He didn't know that the monk had been paying attention to him too.

"Did you complete the test?" asked the Six Lives Buddha, his eyes wide.

Su Ping replied with a smile, "It took me years to do that."

"…"

The monk didn't know what to say. "You must have grown a lot since the Universe Geniuses' Contest. I thought the gap between us would be shortened, but it is even wider than before."

Su Ping saw that the monk had grown mature when compared to years back. He asked, "What about you? You didn't challenge the Divine Lord Rank?"

"I did. I'm now only around the 80th," said the monk with a bitter smile.

He would reveal this to others just to show off. However, he was truly feeling sorry for himself at the moment; he felt devastated by Su Ping's achievements.

"That's not bad." Su Ping comforted him.

Six Lives Buddha smiled in frustration. Then he thought that they were both growing rapidly, and that the bottleneck to reach the Ascendant State was still ahead of them. He still had a chance to catch up, and even surpass Su Ping before they came into contact with that obstacle.

"I heard that Luo Ying has been crazy too, and that he's as strong as the top ten of the Divine Lord Rank. It hasn't been confirmed yet, but I believe it's true." Six Lives Buddha heaved a sigh with mixed feelings. "You two are truly monsters. I couldn't have defeated you."

Su Ping said with a smile, "One victory or one failure doesn't mean much. Let's spar again when we both reach the Ascendant State."

Six Lives Buddha said with excitement in his glittering eyes, "Everyone says that we'll become Heavenly Lords the moment we reach the Ascendant State. Let's share some pointer by then!"

"Do count me in if you're going to practice," said a gentle yet firm female voice, interrupting them.

Both of them raised their heads, only to see a cute girl flying over. It was none other than Lilian who had performed remarkably in the contest.

Behind Lilian was an arrogant-looking young man; he was Dragon Shepard.

The latter had heard a lot about Su Ping too, and wore a complicated expression as he looked at him. He had been crushed in the contest, and didn't even have a chance to fight Su Ping. It was truly uncomfortable after seeing that the champion from back then was still brilliant, and was able to stand head to head with the monsters on the Divine Lord Rank.

The gap between them was being widened.

He had always been the person who left others far behind, yet he was experiencing the opposite at the moment.

"Okay," said the monk and laughed.

Su Ping smiled too. They had competed in the past, and now they met again like old friends.

"Alas, Luo Ying has been training in seclusion and was unable to join us. I would love to find out which of you is stronger!" Six Lives Buddha glanced at Su Ping with competitiveness in his eyes.

"Luo Ying isn't simple either. I heard that he's been admitted as a disciple of a Celestial expert," said the Dragon Shepard in a low voice.

Most of his arrogance had been lost after the fiasco in the contest, and was willing to make friends with a genius such as Su Ping for the sake of himself and his family.

Su Ping smiled, but didn't comment on it.

"It seems that the winners of the last contest are worthy contenders," said Loulan Lin, then she glanced at the monk and added, "I heard that you're good at the laws of time and space. What do you say? Care to practice with me? I'll go easy on you."

Six Lives Buddha was stunned by the proposal. He quickly shook his hands and said, "Princess Lin, you're among the top thirty on the Divine Lord Rank. It wouldn't be the least bit challenging for you to fight me."

"It's just for fun. Why are you so anxious?" snapped Loulan Lin.

The monk smiled bitterly. "It's fun for you, but a pointless beating for me."

Loulan Lin glanced at him and then at Su Ping. She remembered what Loulan Feng had said, so she held back on what she wanted to say. To be honest, she really wanted to practice with Su Ping, but then she remembered the wide gap between them so she chose not to in the end.

"He's only a Star State warrior, and he can already fight against the top ten of the Divine Lord Rank. Is it really true?"

"Tsk, tsk. He personally admitted it. He couldn't have lied, could he?"

"Indeed. He's the disciple of a Celestial State expert. I don't think he'd lie for vanity points."

The other descendants of the Loulan family looked at him with astonished eyes; he was already beyond their imagination. He had worked out another miracle, just like when he condensed a small world while still being in the Fate State.

"Were you the participants of the recent Universe Geniuses' Contest?" said a casual, yet cold voice at that moment. Like a freezing wind in autumn, it made the air become refreshing and cool.

Everybody turned around and saw three men walking toward them. They concealed their auras, but their gait made it seem as if they were the center of the world, absorbing the energy around them.

"It's Ye Ling!"

"They invited him too? How awesome!"

"Ye Ling?"

"Indeed. He was the champion of the Universe Geniuses' Contest a few decades back! He's now already a Star Lord; in fact, he reached the top ten of the Divine Lord Rank the moment he became a Star Lord. I think he's ranked third right now!"

"That's THE Ye Ling, third on the Divine Lord Rank?"

A lot of exclamations burst out. All the Loulan geniuses were shocked; they were indeed talented, but none of them could compare with such a powerhouse.

After all, he was the third most powerful in an entire star zone!

He was one of the best Star Lords even in the scope of the entire universe!

It meant that almost no one could kill them, except for Ascendant experts!

"I heard that there's a genius who condensed a small world in the Fate State. Is it you?" The purple-robed Ye Ling immediately found Su Ping and singled him out.

He could feel the weird aura the young man emanated, giving off an uncanny pressure.

He was especially interested in such a genius, one who had stood out in the Universe Geniuses' Contest.

Su Ping learned of the young man's identity after hearing all the whispers around him. He nodded and said, "Hello."

"I just heard that you challenged the top ten of the Divine Lord Rank while still being in the Star State." Ye Ling looked at Su Ping with great interest. "Are you interested in practicing with me?"

Wow!

Everybody exclaimed. This came as a shock to all the Loulan geniuses, not expecting Ye Ling to be willing to spar with Su Ping.

Although surprised, Su Ping glanced at him and shook his head. "No, I'm not."

"You're not?" Ye Ling was dazed by the answer, not expecting that someone as renowned as Su Ping would decline a challenge extended in public. He shook his head and said, "Don't worry. I won't use all my strength. How about this? I'll just use one hand. Show me how you challenged the top ten of the Divine Lord Rank with your lower realm."

There was nothing but silence.

Everybody looked at Su Ping. There had been no mockery or condescension on his face when he spoke. However, there was exceptional confidence in his casual words; it was nothing personal, only the aura of a top genius which had been developed over a long period of time. However, Su Ping was also a top genius in his own right; it was unlikely that he would take such an offer lightly.

It was then that Loulan Lin suddenly interjected with a frown."Mr. Ye, Mr. Su is a friend of the Loulan family. You're a Star Lord and a champion from a competition years in the past, while Mr. Su has just reached the Star State. A spar between you two wouldn't be fair, would it?"

Hai—who had turned around and left earlier—watched in cold silence among the crowd.