Astral Pet Store (WN)

"It's not manipulation. No need to pity your master."

The old man seemed to have seen through Su Ping's train of thought. He said, "Your master won't fall for the trap if he can resist the temptation. You have yourself to blame for most of the misfortunes that happen to you!"

Su Ping had no doubt that the old man was more complicated than Golden Lotus mentioned; he seemed to move around in a gray moral area. He was clearly aiding and abetting at the moment.

"I'll think about it. But I don't think we should try it on my master; I know just the perfect candidate."

Even though Shen Huang didn't tell him everything—as the man had placed hopes on Shuai Qianhou-Su Ping didn't hate him for that. After all, his master had truly helped him a lot.

If they had to pick a Deity King to allure, Su Ping thought of the Celestial expert from the Dark Star Zone who was supporting Lin Xiu.

There were too many eyewitnesses who saw how he defeated Lin Xiu. So, that Celestial powerhouse would certainly not let him go easily.

"That works too." The old man glanced at Su Ping with a smile.

"That changes nothing. This place will be exposed sooner or later if twelve Deity Kings are outside. This place will be looted once the restrictions left by the old monster are broken," said the cauldron woman coldly, "I'd rather stay here than be caught by someone else!"

The old man said indifferently, "You can do whatever you want. Just lift Golden Lotus's curse, and I'll spare you this one time!"

The woman sneered and said, "Nice try. I won't lift the curse until I'm truly safe. Even you cannot do anything other than imprison me. I'm a natural product. What can you do?"

The old man sneered, "Is that so? Do you know how you were forged? Speaking of which, I'm half a father to you!"

The woman snapped, "Cut the nonsense!"

"I made you, and I can destroy you. You'd better not test my patience," said the old man, narrowing his eyes. "Come on then and give it a try!" The woman looked in the eye without flinching.

The old man gazed at her. They confronted each other in silence for a long time, until the senior finally said, "It seems that you've become more capable after being taught by the old monster."

She sneered and replied, "Stop trying to bluff. The old monster became what he was mostly because of you. You're an evil book; no matter who gets you, they will turn into a new monster!"

"Those sins were done against my will, but that's what I was born with; I have to atone for them with my life," said the old man indifferently.

Su Ping watched them argue and realized that things wouldn't work out. The flow of time had also been slowed down. The master of the ruins would probably return if the other trial-takers entered the third test.

"Seniors, there's no time to lose; let's just get out of here," said Su Ping as a way to interrupt their argument.

"As I said, I'd rather stay here if the situation outside is that terrible. Even though the old monster is cunning, paranoid and downright mean, I know him well enough anyway. Who knows what my next master is going to be like? They might be even worse!" said the woman with a snort.

The old man gazed at the woman with glittering eyes; there was no telling what he was thinking.

There was nothing Golden Lotus could do, either. The cauldron had learned of the situation outside, and was now reluctant to leave or lift the curses; she obviously wanted all of them to die with her.

"Senior Cauldron, you've seen that I have a way to get you out of here without being noticed," said Su Ping. The woman raised his eyebrows and glanced at Su Ping. "Aren't you afraid that I could kill you the moment we get out?"

Su Ping replied with a bitter smile, "Of course I am, but we will all die if we stay here. I'd rather trust you."

"Smart kid." The woman glanced at him with great interest. "If you're up for it, it might work. I've planted a curse on you anyway; you can't do anything against my wishes."

Su Ping felt relieved, seeing that she was on board.

"What are you talking about?" asked the old man with a frown.

Golden Lotus instantly informed the old man of the situation via telepathy.

"Double small worlds?" Dazed, the old man couldn't help but stare at Su Ping for a long time, until he finally mumbled, "It's a myth from the primordial times; I didn't know that anyone could really cultivate them. I remember that a Deity Emperor had once cultivated triple small worlds with an ancient book he had found!

"I didn't know that someone else could achieve it too!"

He looked at Su Ping with an extra layer of solemnity. Su Ping had originally been but a mere tool to be taken advantage of in the man's eyes.

"Young man, release your small world; I'd like to see if I can sense the things inside," said the old man.

Su Ping inwardly cursed the latter for being a sly old fox, but he obediently released his double small worlds; he then asked Golden Lotus to enter the second small world.

Golden Lotus did as requested. The old man examined for a long time after Su Ping recalled his two worlds, then finally opened his eyes. "Indeed, I cannot sense a thing. It's truly amazing."

"Kid, given your potential, you're likely to become a Deity King even without the legacy. If you do inherit the legacy, you will forever be shackled by it and will forever be barred from going beyond. What are you thinking?"

The cauldron woman said angrily, "Your master was truly stupid and blind for sending you here. Are all Deity Kings as useless as him these days?"

Su Ping coughed and replied, "Well, I'm fighting to get the legacy for my pet…" The cauldron woman gazed at him for a long time, clearly stunned. Finally, she laid her hands on her belly and laughed aloud.

"For… For your pet? Hahaha… If the old monster ever learned that a kid is trying to give his legacy to a beast… He'll probably throw a fit so hard he'll be reborn again. Hahaha…"

She laughed without restraint; her image was too far removed to that of a decent lady at all.

The old man also looked at Su Ping with astonishment in his eyes.

"Interesting. Truly interesting. Kid, you have my approval. If we get out of this place, I promise you that I won't kill you unless you do anything that annoys me," said the cauldron woman, after laughing for a while.

Su Ping felt dazed for a moment; then, he suddenly found the woman rather candid. Even though she was quite temperamental, she was authentic. He replied, "Thank you, senior."

He secretly added in his heart, Same to you.

"If you're capable of hiding them from any prying eyes, then say no more. Let's get out of here," said the old man to Su Ping, "Ask Golden Lotus to come out; we need to make preparations."

Su Ping instantly released the pill lady.

Hardly had Golden Lotus exited the small world when she asked, "How about it, senior? Did you detect me?"

The old man smiled and then said, "It's a perfect way to hide."

Golden Lotus was rather delighted.

"Senior, do you know how to go to the palace with green lamps?" asked Su Ping, "Many disciples from the Deity Kings are taking part in the trial; they don't know this is a trap yet. Maybe the rebirth will fail and we can leave in peace if we stop them in time." He had claimed the dragon and phoenix blood, as well as all the treasures in the undersea palace; he was afraid the old monster everyone was wary of would be reborn and seek trouble.

Even though he could hide himself in the store, he couldn't stay there forever.

"Brat, you do want to set the old monster up for real, don't you?" The woman laughed, and seemed to find Su Ping even more agreeable.

The old man smiled. "If you want to see what's going on in that palace, you can observe by using the Heaven Square Mirror." He waved his hands as he spoke, and the illusion of a middle-aged man floated over. The middle-aged man offered a respectful bow at the old man, and then transformed into a silver mirror.

The mirror rippled and reflected the view of an ancient palace.

Su Ping instantly recognized it was the exact same ancient palace he had visited after using the key.

He grimly found that a lot of disciples had already found the way and gathered outside the old building.

There were many people he was familiar with among them, including Qing Hongyue, Brian, Shuai Qianhou, Diaz and Loulan Lin.