Astral Pet Store (WN)

Nobody wanted to continue fighting after Su Ping revealed his perfected small world.

Shen Huang didn't force them; he took everybody back to the temple.

"Not bad. All of you have performed well." Shen Huang praised everyone, and stared at Su Ping in delight. Just as he expected, Su Ping had already reached the peak!

No wonder he was able to kill six top assassins even though he was only in the Star State!

His disciple had shown the Celestial State potential even when he was only in the Fate State. He was again much stronger than his peers when he broke through and reached the Star State. He wondered what Su Ping's upper limit would be when he became a Star Lord!

Perhaps, he would grow into the strongest Star Lord in the universe in the next 100,000 years!

"Get prepared for the trial. I hope you'll try your best in the competition," said Shen Huang as he looked at his disciples in the palace, "You will be given rare training resources during the trial since other Celestials are investing, as well as other treasures. Most importantly, if you're lucky, you may get a true god's legacy!"

"A true god's legacy?"

All the disciples in the temple were shocked.

They had even forgotten the shock caused by Su Ping's performance, because a true god's legacy was beyond mind-blowing!

Celestials were also known as true gods!

So, did the news mean that they might get a Celestial's legacy during the trial?

Su Ping was equally stunned. A Celestial's legacy? Wouldn't that be too generous?

"That is correct."

Shen Huang smiled, seeing their reactions. "The universe is in turmoil. Although a disaster is underway, certain things that were hidden in the depths of the universe have been revealed."

"They're found in relics that belonged to an ancient true god, who somehow died in his temple and left his treasures as legacy.

"Supposedly, your Ascendant senior brothers and sisters are to explore the relics. However, they have condensed their own Divine Marks and cannot inherit the legacy. Therefore, we've decided to pick one of the Star Lords as the inheritor.

"Whoever is lucky enough to inherit the legacy will rise to the Ascendant State immediately. You will eventually reach the Celestial State when you fully absorb the legacy!"

Diaz and the other five disciples were already trembling with excitement due to Shen Huang's revelation.

They even wondered if they were dreaming.

However, such an opportunity would seem surreal even in a dream!

An opportunity to reach the Celestial State had been presented to them, just like that. It was unbelievable!

Su Ping was quite tempted too. However, he was puzzled by the information Shen Huang had left unsaid. The Celestial State would mean immortality.

Everybody who reached that level had an infinite lifespan, and could resurrect even if they died!

To put it simply, they could live as long as the universe existed, provided that they didn't want to perish!

Then, why did a Celestial die in his palace?

Did something happen to him, or was he caught in some sort of dangerous situation? One that forced him to make the decision?

His master didn't tell him the specific reason. Su Ping found it inappropriate to continue asking.

"Master."

Su Ping thought for a moment and asked, "If we inherit this ancient true god's legacy, will we still be able to create a path of our own?"

Shen Huang looked at Su Ping, who was the calmest of all, and smiled. "No. You will reach the Ascendant State the moment you inherit the legacy. Even if you create your own path in the future, you won't be able to condense a Divine Mark. To put it simply, you will reach the Celestial State with exactly the same path used by that ancient true god. You will reach his last level.

"The different paths that lead to the Ascendant State aren't equally powerful, right?" Su Ping asked again.

The twelve Celestial State experts of the universe were willing to give away the legacy to a Star Lord, so that the latter would grow to their height.

Su Ping didn't think the proposal was as decent as it appeared.

Of course, the legacy couldn't be a trap laid for Star Lords. After all, Celestials were too strong; they had no need to trick some insignificant Star Lords.

However, Su Ping did think that the Celestial who would grow via inheritance would not pose a threat to the twelve existing Celestials.

Celestials weren't equally strong.

It was just like in other realms, there were always people who were stronger than others.

The stronger Ascendants were known as Heavenly Lords; they were as respected as Celestials. The other Ascendants could only face them with awe.

The difference was probably the same in the Celestial State!

"Exactly." Shen Huang nodded. "The more you accumulate while being a Star Lord, and the more laws and features related to the path you create, the stronger you will be! That's the reason why everybody thinks highly of you and believes that you will become one of the Heavenly Lords when you reach the Ascendant State!"

Su Ping realized what was going on and asked, "Then, if I inherit this true god's legacy and reclaim his cultivation, would it be possible for me to surpass him again?"

Diaz and the other disciples nearly vomited blood after hearing that, almost hitting the ground as they stared at Su Ping.

Dude, the opportunity to the Celestial State is right in front of you. What are you thinking?

Shen Huang realized what was on Su Ping's mind, and was too momentarily dazed. Obviously, he didn't expect Su Ping to be as ambitious. Su Ping had shown enough potential to become a Heavenly Lord, but the likelihood of him becoming a Celestial was not that high.

Still, that young disciple of his was dreaming so big... he didn't want to just become a regular Celestial.

This little fella...

Shen Huang chuckled, but didn't criticize Su Ping for his lofty aspirations.

The more visionary and ambitious a person was, the more determined and persistent he would be on the cultivation path!

Conversely, those who didn't have dreams would only consider how they could spend money on personal entertainment, without any greater pursuits if they became rich overnight.

"Once you accept the legacy, you will attain the peak state reached by that true god someday, but it would be impossible for you to surpass him. You'll be inheriting his path instead of creating one of your own, so you cannot grow further," said Shen Huang with a smile.

"I see."

Su Ping realized what it was all about, and felt rather regretful.

It was a deal where his future prospects would be forsaken in exchange for a fixed Celestial State cultivation.

Su Ping wouldn't have hesitated if he hadn't seen the top experts residing in the cultivation sites. His only emotion would have been excitement.

However, Su Ping's eyes were opened after learning of the Deity Kings, Deity Emperors, the Ancestral Gods in the Archean Divinity, and the ancestor of the Golden Crows.

What a shame. It would be great if I had the option to continue growing stronger. Too bad progress is stunted if I inherit the legacy, Su Ping thought.

However, all of this was a mere conjecture as he hadn't seized the opportunity just yet; it was slightly hilarious that he was worrying about something that might never happen.

If I do seize the opportunity, I can have one of my pets inherit the legacy. That'll be great... Su Ping was both tempted and delighted.

He would become stronger if his pets were strengthened!

"That Celestial State expert was forced to die in his palace; it was rather humiliating. It's obvious that he couldn't deal with the problem!"

My master said that the turbulence in the universe was suffocating even for them. Even if I get the legacy, I may still be caught in a dangerous situation when the disaster happens. The Celestial State is not synonymous with invincibility!

If I give the inheritance to one of my pets, I will have a Celestial pet. Such an opportunity is not to be wasted!"

Su Ping's eyes glittered.

Shen Huang probably would have a hard time remaining cool if he knew what was on Su Ping's mind.

He had summoned Su Ping to profit from the precious opportunity, because he hoped Su Ping could inherit the legacy.

If Su Ping was among those who will eventually reach the Celestial State too, the two of them would have a much bigger say in the Federation!

However, Su Ping only wanted his pet to inherit the legacy... Just what does he think the Celestial State was?

"The trial will begin in three months; all of you should be making preparations. I'll give you more information about the trial in due time. Just stay in the Celestial Court and focus on cultivation."

Shen Huang added, "While you're here, your senior brothers and sisters will offer guidance to improve your cultivation; feel free to ask them questions if you have any."

Everybody accepted the orders and left.

Su Ping heard a cold and pleasant voice after they left the temple. "Junior brother."

He turned around and saw a tall, beautiful woman standing next to the temple. She wore white casual clothes, but her alluring figure was still evident.

"Fourth Senior Sister?" Su Ping was surprised. He had recognized her right away; it was Ji Xueqing, his fourth senior sister who had gifted him a piece of armor able to resist Ascendant State attacks.

However, he had yet to find a chance to use the armor.

"Elder Yan is busy. Master asked me to teach you," said Ji Xueqing with a calm tone. There was a casual aura radiated by her eyes, as if she didn't want to compete with anyone. She was an ice beauty in every aspect.

Su Ping nodded. "Thank you for the help in advance, senior sister."

"Let's go to your mountain now," said Ji Xueqing. Then, she walked away.

Su Ping glanced at the other disciples; each of them was led away by an Ascendant State senior brother.

"I will catch up with you!" cried Diaz'”who stood next to a young man'”when he noticed that Su Ping was looking at him.

Su Ping simply ignored him and then walked away.

Diaz gnashed his teeth in fury. The young man next to him, however, asked with a weird expression, "Is that our miraculous junior brother? Master just measured your cultivation, right? What's the gap between you and him?"

Diaz became gloomy when his senior brother asked that. He said, "Senior brother, please stop asking. He's my lifelong enemy!"

The young man was amused by the response. He said, "But he doesn't seem to consider you his lifelong enemy, at all."

"That's exactly the most annoying and arrogant part about that guy. I will surely beat him!" Diaz burst into a fit of fury, as if someone had just stepped on his tail. "I will get the true god's legacy in this trial and reach the Celestial State!"

The young man chuckled with glittering eyes. "All right. I believe in you. Let's go."

...

On Su Ping's cultivation mountain'”

Inside a magnificent palace...

Su Ping arrived with his fourth senior sister. He looked at the place where he had cultivated for three years and reminisced. Unfortunately, Elder Yan was nowhere to be seen.

He heaved a sigh, but didn't start cultivating right away.

Given his current level, there were only two ways for him to progress at a fast speed. One way was to find the method of creating an extra small world, and the other was to condense the eighth Astral Painting.

However, the difficulty for the eighth Astral Painting wasn't exactly as Su Ping had expected.

He thought it would be multiple times harder than the seventh painting. In fact, it was as difficult as the previous seven Astral Paintings combined!