Astral Pet Store (WN)

The eighth Astral Painting is completely unlike the previous seven.

Su Ping had soon realized this when he made a first attempt to condense it. The eighth Astral Painting required seventy-two stars, nine stars more than what the seventh Astral Painting required.

However, those stars could no longer be condensed with energy alone; they required perfected laws!

Every star had to contain a perfected law in order for it to be fixed as part of the star array!

Su Ping didn't even have ten perfected laws in total!

Besides the four supreme laws, he only had the laws of fire, lightning, darkness, illusion, and sword!

There were nine of them in total!

His law of fire was perfected first; he had connected with it and grasped the law of lightning quite early too. The law of darkness was related to his Sorcerer's Divine Constitution; he grasped it in a natural way just as his constitution was awakened.

The law of illusion came from the Sea of Illusions.

The law of sword was his way of attacking. Once he mastered that, he could create sword techniques anytime, and meld plenty of other laws into that foundation law, performing unparalleled sword techniques as a result.

Only an eighth of them have been completed!

Although the stars in the eighth Astral Painting don't need the best laws, and even the weakest laws would suffice as long as they're fully mastered, I need seventy-two of them right now. It's impossible to grasp all of them that quickly. If I wasn't as smart, I would probably be unable to assimilate them in my entire life...

Su Ping smiled bitterly in his heart.

If it was like before, he would only need to exchange his resources for medicines to replenish his energy. Then, he would be able to cultivate and condense stars at a fast pace.

He would be capable of finishing the accumulation in a mere couple of years!

However, the case was different at the moment; he needed at least a hundred years.

I've only cultivated for a dozen years so far. A hundred years is too long... Su Ping heaved a sigh. He gradually felt the pain suffered by talented Star Lords whose level was stuck.

Inside the temple, while both of them were walking'”Ji Xueqing couldn't help but ask, "Is there anything you want or need to know about your cultivation?"

She had been wandering inside the temple along with Su Ping. She felt that she wasn't there to guide Su Ping's cultivation. She was being shown around the place he lived.

The trial was only three months away. Ji Xueqing didn't understand how Su Ping could remain as cool and still waste his time there!

Did he not know what a precious opportunity it was?

She and her peers were quite intrigued when the news came out.

Everybody who was under the Celestial State would have been tempted, except the top Heavenly Lords that even the Celestials couldn't deal with easily.

Unfortunately, only those below the Ascendant State could inherit the true god's legacy. Otherwise, she and the other Ascendants would have fought hard over the treasure long before kids such as Su Ping showed up.

Such a rare opportunity'”the like which one could only encounter once in 100,000 years'”had been delivered to those lucky kids by the Celestial State experts. Still, instead of trying to become stronger before the trial to obtain the treasure, Su Ping instead wasted time wandering his garden.

After hearing what Ji Xueqing said, Su Ping came back to himself. Instead of condensing the eighth Astral Painting, he thought that it would be easier to improve his strength if he sought unknown laws and tried to establish a third world.

"I'd like to grasp more laws."

"More laws?" Ji Xueqing nodded; she was no stranger to that.

Su Ping was merely in the Star State. So, he truly needed to learn more laws and build up his storage. This would benefit him when he became a Star Lord or even when he reached the Ascendant State.

"What law are you working on right now? I remember that Master would usually teach his disciples the basics for the law of vitality, so that it would be easier for you to save your life."

Ji Xueqing glanced at Su Ping andadded, "I have a way that can help you fully grasp the law of vitality. However, it requires a lot of precious medicines, and..."

"I've already grasped the law of vitality to completion."

What Su Ping had said made Ji Xueqing have to swallow what she was about to say. She looked dazed, then she stared at Su Ping. She was reminded that a certain junior brother was a monster who condensed a small world in the Fate State; she soon found it understandable.

She gave a slight nod. "It seems that you're quite talented, junior brother. I can teach you the law of destruction, but only the basics. If you want to fully grasp it..."

"I've fully grasped the law of destruction too," said Su Ping.

"..."

Ji Xueqing remained silent for a long time; she took a deep breath and said, "It's only been a few years since you rose to the Star State, junior brother. And yet, you've already made such achievements. No wonder Master thinks so highly of you."

"Does Master think highly of me?"

"Of course. Why else would he ask me to teach you?" Ji Xueqing rolled her eyes at Su Ping. All the mentors appointed to teach the rest of the disciples were Ascendants, while she was the only Heavenly Lord. Did this guy not notice?

Su Ping couldn't help but glance at her. According to Elder Yan, most of his senior brothers and sisters who had been recruited earlier had become Heavenly Lords.

"What about the law of time, or the law of chaos? Pick one," said Ji Xueqing casually, "I'm confident of helping you fully grasp either of them in three months. However, it will be..."

"Senior sister, I know both of them. I've fully grasped them too," said Su Ping in a low voice.

Ji Xueqing stopped and stared at Su Ping for a long time, before she finally said, "Junior brother, are you sure you're not messing with me?"

"I would never..." Su Ping couldn't help but put on a bitter smile. He raised his hand, showing auras of four laws in his hand.

Ji Xueqing glanced at them, and found it hard to move her eyes away; her chest rose and fell underneath her white clothes, returning to normality moments later. She looked at Su Ping thoughtfully and said, "So to speak, you've condensed a small world and fully grasped the four supreme laws. You're already qualified to perfect your small world. All you need to do is fill it with other laws..."

"My small world has already been perfected," said Su Ping.

"..."

Ji Xueqing almost lost her cool.

She looked at Su Ping, who had rendered her speechless again and again. Even if she was a Heavenly Lord, she hadn't been as shocked in many years.

Can you let me finish a sentence for once? Can you?

Huh?

"Senior Sister Ji?" Su Ping suddenly felt that the air was rather intense; he had even sensed the inkling of a flashing killing vibe. He couldn't help but look at his senior sister, only to discover that she didn't look right.

"It's okay."

Ji Xueqing took a deep breath, and then calmed down.

She said coldly, "In conclusion, you've already perfected your small world even though you're just a Star State warrior? You're strong enough to rise to the top of the Divine Lord Rank, right?"

"Yes." Su Ping nodded.

Ji Xueqing almost found it impossible to continue talking after seeing Su Ping nod so naturally.

You're merely in the Star State, yet you can beat almost all the Star Lords, and even reach the top of the Divine Lord Rank. Is it not surprising to you, at all?

"If that is the case..."

After a moment of silence, Ji Xueqing finally said, "I don't think there's anything I can teach you."

She almost wanted to leave.

Even though she was an unparalleled genius too, having eventually become a Heavenly Lord, she still felt frustrated as she talked to someone like Su Ping, the little monster.

If the young man received the true god's legacy, he would definitely rise to the sky. He would break the records, to become the youngest cultivator to reach the Ascendant State and the Celestial State!

The more she thought about it, the more conflicted she felt.

Didn't they say that opportunities were only for those who were prepared?

She was thoroughly prepared as a Heavenly Lord. Why didn't she have such an opportunity?

Hearing that Ji Xueqing wanted to leave, Su Ping quickly said, "Senior Sister Ji, you must be joking. Given that you're a Heavenly Lord, there are lots of things I can learn from you. I'd like to learn more laws, especially those which don't belong to our universe. Can you teach me?"

"The laws that don't belong to our universe?"

Ji Xueqing glanced at Su Ping in a daze, noticing that he was being sincere. Her anger immediately fizzled down. She then asked, "What do you mean by laws that don't belong to our universe? Are you planning on creating laws right now?"

She was truly stunned. The man is trying to do what Ascendants can when he's only in the Star State?

How could he be so unbelievable?

Well, fine. It seemed that he had done a fair share of unbelievable things.

Ji Xueqing's lips twitched.

"Well..."

Su Ping didn't realize that he could be misunderstood by Ji Xueqing, a Heavenly Lord.

Also, he was slightly surprised by what she said. It seemed that he was indeed doing things normally done by Ascendants.

However, there was still a difference.

Ascendants created their own paths!

What kind of path could be considered as their own?

It was obvious that those paths didn't belong to their universe, and had never appeared before. That was why they could be "created"!

He had grasped laws of other universes, such as the path of illusion, which was from the Sea of Illusions. That was why it could help him establish a second small world.

However, that was not his own creation; it counted more as stealing.

Su Ping felt he had to seek the laws of other universes in order to create another small world. The laws of lightning, fire and darkness were among the basics of every universe, and could only be used to construct the first world.

If he wanted to establish an additional world, he had to avoid those paths.

Making another world would be possible if Su Ping could create a path of his own; one that had never been known!

However, that was an obviously difficult task, and Su Ping didn't have a clue just yet. After all, that problem was usually tackled by Ascendants. Also, once he created his own path, his level might soar to the Ascendant State directly.

Then, he wouldn't have an opportunity to establish more small worlds.

Su Ping confessed his true intention, "I'd like to find the Path Source. Senior Sister Ji, have you seen the Path Source? What lies at the source of every path?"

If he could see the Path Source, he might find a way to establish a third small world.

"The Path Source?" Ji Xueqing felt dazed; she couldn't help but glance at Su Ping due to her surprise. That junior brother of hers was truly ambitious. He wants to learn the Path Source when he's barely a Star State warrior?

"Every path has a source. It's said that there's an origin from which all paths derive at the far end of the sources that make up all paths. That is the beginning of nature and the universe.. However, that's just a legend from ancient classics. Nobody has ever seen it, not even Celestial State experts..."