Astral Pet Store (WN)

Su Ping silently followed Emperor Xin.

The latter turned to glance at Su Ping. Although he didn't hear a reply, he could feel that there was a scorching fire in the young man's heart; one that would never burn out!

He withdrew his gaze and led Su Ping to a certain place.

"Humans are among the Dragon Tamers' vassal species, and we live on their continent. This is the Yellow Region where we live!"

Emperor Xin added, "The Dragon Tamers' continent is extremely vast, and is made of nine regions; humans live in one of them. Our position is high among all vassal species because we're close to them. This place is absolutely safe; you may cultivate here without a worry.

"I heard about the assassination attempt at the border, and the clan is investigating the matter. Nobody will approach you, except the core members who have passed the test."

Su Ping nodded, not expecting Emperor Xin to be that fast.

He asked, "Do you know about the source of all divine power, senior?"

"The source?"

Emperor Xin was dazed for a moment.

"I'm planning to peer into the source of divine power and obtain the ultimate knowledge," said Su Ping outright. That was the purpose of his trip, and Emperor Xin was absolutely trustworthy; there was no need for him to hide anything.

The latter was stunned for a moment, then stared at Su Ping while remarking with a smile, "As expected of the guy who managed to kill Emperor Ye's clone; you're more ambitious than normal people hundreds of times over. You're so unusual!"

…Are you complimenting me or mocking me??Su Ping was lost for words.

"No wonder you're so astonishingly strong; every consequence has a cause in this world. The strong didn't become that way for no reason, and the weak are weak for good reasons too. Good!"

Emperor Xin praised him and continued, "However, while your idea is great, the task is too much for you right now. The higher level experts can hardly approach the source of divine power; even if I were to escort you there with special secret techniques, you'd only be able to see the illusion of the source. You wouldn't be feeling the real thing.

"You would actually be destroyed the moment you felt it.

"Looking at the illusion is pointless. That's also the reason why the experts of every clan haven't used such a method to train their young."

Emperor Xin sighed and ended by saying, "If only there were an Ancestral God in our clan, we could have asked them to protect you. Unfortunately…"

Su Ping shook his head and said, "That's fine. I simply hope to take a look and experience it in person."

Emperor Xin quickly shook his head. "That's not an option. I know you're extremely gifted and as strong as Emperor Ye's clone, but you'll be destroyed even before you approach that place. The source of divine power is protected by the structures of the Ancestral Gods' willpower; even we wouldn't dare to approach it recklessly. Best give up on the idea."

Su Ping frowned. He knew it was for his own sake, but he still wanted to try it.

"We've arrived."

Emperor Xin led Su Ping to a magnificent city, with buildings scattered on the earth like tiny boxes, making the perimeter walls seem even greater. Beyond the settlement were boundless grasslands and rivers.

Su Ping didn't say anything else, knowing it was impossible for him to persuade the guy; he would have to sneak out at some point.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Many people dashed over. They were all the top experts of humanity.

The whole group was relieved to see Su Ping and Emperor Xin. One of the middle-aged men chuckled and said, "It's great that you've brought him to safety, Emperor Xin; we'll take it from here."

"Is everything prepared? All the treasuries of our clan, the 103,000 Class A and the 1,210,000 Class B ultimate techniques will be accessible to him without reservation. All the top medicines will be provided to him, and he may choose any divine weapon he wants. You will accompany him and answer his questions."

Emperor Xin spoke in a calm and intimidating manner.

Everybody accepted the task.

"This is Ember City; you'll be cultivating down there, in the Ember Palace. Whatever you need, just tell us, and we'll try our best to meet your demands. All you have to do is cultivate," said Emperor Xin after patting Su Ping's shoulder.

Su Ping was slightly shocked. He knew he would be valued, but not to such a degree. Were they going to train him with all the resources available?

Emperor Xin faded away into the void. The other experts glanced at each other; one of them stepped out and led Su Ping to the Ember Palace. They introduced Su Ping to the environment, and told him about the rules to follow in the city; still, none of the rules applied to him.

Rules were for other people.

Su Ping enjoyed the privilege, which he hadn't received even when he became Shen Huang's disciple.

"It's not like I'm a little prince, but I do like the feeling of being pampered…" Su Ping mumbled and returned to the Ember Palace after taking a tour.

While touring, he saw that many people came out to watch him. Some of them were experts and geniuses; it was as if they were watching a gorilla in the zoo, while exclaiming and pointing fingers. They seemed surprised to see that the genius who had slain Emperor Ye's clone walked in exactly the same way as they did.

It's a shame I can't open my store here, or else I would have ripped all of them off.?Su Ping regretfully returned to the Ember Palace. He looked at the mountain of treasures that had been delivered to him, feeling that all his cells were being stretched out.

There was a hidden cultivation array in the palace, constantly transmitting purified divine power into Su Ping's body. Even if he were just a stone incapable of cultivating, he would have turned into a divine stone there.

"It's true that resources are the most indispensable things in the world.

"Whoever has resources is the boss."

Su Ping clicked his tongue and activated the Chaos Star Chart, then absorbed the divine power to fill the eighth Astral Painting.

That painting had yet to be perfected, and that was a good time to work on it.

"This is the Purple Crystal Dragon's blood, this is the Ancient Demon Bird's blood, this is the Chaos River Beast's blood, and these are the Blood-Eyed, Eight-Armed Lion's eyes…" one of the experts introduced the materials to Su Ping, one by one; all of them were top, rare ingredients.

Other experts would shiver a bit when each name was mentioned. Even experts like them were rather shocked to see all those rare materials.

—They had been collected over countless years.

Some of the materials had been consumed or given to geniuses of their clan, but the rest of them could still be used for 100,000 years. And yet, all of them had been allocated to Su Ping just then.

"Well…"

Su Ping looked at the glittering materials before him; many were even more valuable than the dragon and phoenix blood he had acquired from Old Monster Ye's stash of relics.

Had I known I would get here, I certainly wouldn't have needed to go to that relic!?Su Ping couldn't help but say inwardly, almost wanting to slap himself. Wouldn't it have been much better to just stay home?

He had all the materials he needed right then and there!

Su Ping quickly took action and absorbed all the materials. Then, following the recommendation of one of the experts, he found a huge cauldron amongst the artifacts. It was an emperor-level cauldron that was even better than the cauldron woman!

While holding plenty of materials, Su Ping hopped into the cauldron and began his absorption and refining process.

The nearby experts didn't expect Su Ping to act as wildly and absorb that many materials in one go. They wanted to persuade him but eventually gave up, and could only help Su Ping control the cauldron, so that his body wouldn't explode due to over consumption.

Su Ping continued absorbing all the materials and mist popped up from within the cauldron, where materials were gradually processed and sucked into Su Ping's body.

He enjoyed taking all those materials. He felt that the absorption rate was too slow, so he wandered inside the cauldron, only to be tripped over by something. All of a sudden, flames started rising from the cauldron's bottom; they seemed illusory, but they caused him excruciating pain. He couldn't help but roar.

While in the midst of flames, the materials eaten by Su Ping were melted, quickly circulating inside his body. The effects of the materials soon took effect; all of it was amazing.

"Crap! He just kicked away the lid that blocked the fire!"

"He's just a Celestial God. How can he endure the Heavenly Fire? Block the flames already!"

"Good thing that only some of the flames leaked out. Otherwise…"

The experts quickly put out the fire and looked into the cauldron, only to find that Su Ping's body was blackened, while he was yelling and struggling.?He seems to have been heavily wounded, but why is he hopping that vigorously?

All the experts looked at each other in bewilderment, wondering what kind of little monster he was.

Su Ping grunted for a while, eventually shaking off his blackened skin, revealing a dazzling golden light. Once the golden light was gone, it could be seen that his new skin was glowing, every cell containing infinite power. Su Ping could also tell that the astral vortices inside each of his cells had turned golden; he was much stronger than before!

I haven't established my fifth world yet, but I've been significantly strengthened…?Su Ping was shocked, feeling he had been granted the power equivalent to at least half a small world. Those great materials were terrifying; his Solar Bulwark seemed to have evolved unexpectedly too.

He had yet to enjoy the newfound power in his body when he looked down and shouted, "Where's the fire?"

All the experts were stunned. They looked at the glowing young man, feeling that they were looking at one of the princes of the high-ranked clans. No, he was even more breathtaking than the princes.

"Is he really the genius of our clan?"

"He's so strong. He survived the Heavenly Fire and absorbed all the materials in such a quick and perfect manner. His evolution is unbelievable!"

"Dear god, are human beings truly going to rise?"

Some of them wept, while others showed excitement.

Su Ping soon found a lid inside the cauldron. Once he remembered having tripped earlier, he kicked it away, and flames instantly popped up. Su Ping was covered in flames and the excruciating pain returned.

While in agony, the nearby materials were soon melted, turning into liquid and smoke. The smoke was absorbed through his pores; he was burned and blackened again.

The experts looked at each other. This time, they didn't extinguish the fire; rather, they kept it going to a degree within Su Ping's limits, while helping him control and refine the materials.

All those experts felt like cooks making food.

Once absorbed all the materials inside the cauldron, and later taking many more materials from the exterior outside, his body became as terrifying as that of a dragon or an elephant. This time, it wasn't Su Ping's inner strength, but his physical body that was refined.

The fire never died out inside the cauldron. A terrifying aura was developing like a fetus, becoming more powerful with each passing moment.

Time flew.

Three months later, the Heavenly Fire inside the cauldron finally died out. Su Ping was naked when he came out of the cauldron, but his body was as brilliant as gold, while emitting infinite light that displayed the images of flying dragons and birds around him.

Elephants were roaring and Golden Crows were flapping their wings behind him.

All the phenomena were caused by the air he exhaled.

Su Ping opened his eyes, and countless symbols of laws flashed across his eyes. He lowered his head and examined his body, feeling almost like a devil.

My body is really strong…

Su Ping's eyes glittered. He casually waved a hand, and an Ascendant State sword imbued with divine power flew towards him. He grabbed the weapon and slashed with it, but then broke with a clang!

The sword let out a cry, as if the will of the sword were screaming.

The experts were all too dumbfounded for words.

He was but a mere Celestial God, and yet his body was as strong as that of a Major God!

To be exact, not even Major Gods were as physically strong as Su Ping!

His physical strength and his bodily hardness made him invulnerable to divine weapons. Instead, the sword had been broken; it wasn't hard to imagine how great Su Ping's force was!

So, it's truly possible to counter all methods just with strength…?Su Ping thought.

He felt that he currently had the physical strength to easily pierce through a couple of small worlds; he could even destroy five small worlds if he were to exert more strength.

He was now confident that he could quickly slash Emperor Ye's clone to pieces should he encounter him again!

Laws?

The unusual phenomena caused by Su Ping's body carried innate laws; they could break all laws as long as they were powered enough!