Astral Pet Store (WN)

Inside the Celestial Court.

A lot of people were standing in the square outside the palace. Most of them were Ascendants; only a few were Star Lords like Su Ping.

He saw a lot of familiar faces among the Star Lords, including Shuai Qianhou, the 50,000-year-old Star Lord that was recently apprenticed to his master.

There was also Diaz, his other apprentice brother.

There was also Qing Hongyue, the one he defeated during the competition for the legacy.

Besides them, Su Ping also saw many familiar people of the Loulan family, including Loulan Lin, Loulan Hai among them. They were accompanied by the Loulan family's Ascendant cultivators; most were standing at the square.

Loulan Feng was obviously there; he had received Su Ping earlier on.

The Loulan Heavenly Lords were also present, including Jian Lan, Loulan Lin's grandmother.

Su Ping also noticed that there were people who had competed with him during the Universe Geniuses' Contest, including the Six Lives Buddha and Linghu Jian, who also hailed from Silvy.

Next to Linghu Jian was a slim old man wearing a black robe who looked extraordinary; his back was as straight as a spear. He was very likely the Ascendant cultivator known as the Northern Sky Sword God.

In addition, Su Ping noticed a few familiar faces next to him, one of them being Hai Tuo, the lord of Silvy.

There were also two graceful men next to him, namely You Ying and Huan Lieshen.

He had been to the Illusory God Monument Mysterious Realm controlled by Huan Lieshen, back when he took part in the universal contest. He passed a hundred levels and eventually met the elder.

So many familiar faces…?Su Ping glanced at them with mixed feelings.

It seemed that all his acquaintances from the past had gathered in that place.

However, his acquaintances were only a small proportion of those who had gathered at the square; most were new faces.

In the crowd—Jian Lan noticed Su Ping, and said in a low voice, "He's here."

She was an elegant and mature lady with an alluring body figure, seemingly as unsullied as a white lotus.

Loulan Lin was standing by her side, looking less resplendent by comparison but she had her own vigor too. She had braided her long hair, which gave her a clean look.

Loulan Lin peered in the general direction her grandma was looking, noticing Su Ping who had arrived with Ye Feng; she bit her lips with a conflicted expression.

"I heard that the ancient devil has placed a bounty on his head. He nearly won the legacy; unfortunately, it was a trap. Lin Xiu, the famous Star Lord from 100,000 years ago, ended up becoming his vessel to reincarnate; it's a shame that such a talent met such a fate," Jian Lan said and sighed.

"He should be safe under his master's protection, right?" Loulan Lin couldn't help but raise his head and ask, concern reflected in her eyes.

Jian Lan looked at her and heaved a sigh. "He should be fine as long as he doesn't do anything reckless. I heard that there's someone else backing him. It could be one of the saints from the Holy Land, or some unknown Celestial. Only he knows the answer."

Loulan Lin was compelled to ask, "Are there other Celestials in the universe besides the twelve we know?"

Jian Lan smiled and said, "Of course. There aren't just twelve Celestials in the universe; it's just that some of them prefer to keep a low profile, while others spend all their time meditating in seclusion…"

Loulan Lin was stunned by the answer; she looked at Su Ping with a troubled face.

He was leaving her further behind, considering the backing of two Celestials and his own potential.

"Observe the battles carefully. It won't be long before you enter the Ascendant State with the soul of the destructive phoenix you've acquired. Don't get distracted," said Jian Lan softly.

Loulan Lin solemnly stared at Su Ping in the distance, then looked away. "Understood."

"You can't get what you want unless you're strong enough; that has always been the rule. There are things that you can't keep even if you get them," said Jian Lan softly.

"It's him!"

Elsewhere—Hai Tuo, Huan Lieshen and the others noticed Su Ping who had just arrived. Their eyes glittered.

Su Ping was a genius, the most famous person to ever emerge from Silvy. All of them were proud of him; they felt moved when they saw him again.

To think that the little kid they had met in the past was already known across the universe, all in such a short period of time. He was already a brilliant star, dazzling even for them.

"I knew it. I said he would walk further and exceed us, and that he would become a Heavenly Lord once he reaches the Ascendant State. I wasn't wrong!" Huan Lieshen smiled.

Hai Tuo said with a smile, "Silvy is truly a nurturing place. Look how bright he shines!"

You Ying glanced at them and said, "Why didn't you recruit him back then? It's pointless to talk about it right now."

Huan Lieshen chuckled and said, "What do you know? I simply didn't want to squander his potential. I couldn't offer what the cultivation experts could."

"Exactly." Hai Tuo quickly nodded in agreement.

You Ying rolled his eyes.

Su Ping went to the other side of the square under Ye Feng's lead.

"All your senior brothers and sisters are here." Ye Feng pointed at them for Su Ping.

The latter immediately saw a lot of Ascendant cultivators standing one side of the square. Many were looking at him, as if discussing something; smiling though. Ji Xueqing was even waving at him, without the solemnity expected of a Heavenly Lord.

Next to Ji Xueqing were people of different heights. Some were sharp, some were as steady as mountains, while others were as deep and profound as abysses.

Ye Feng landed in front of them along with Su Ping and clasped hands in salute. "It's an honor to meet you, senior brothers and sisters."

"You, too, Brother Ye." The others returned the greeting.

Su Ping was also quick to clasp hands. "Nice to meet you, senior brothers and sisters, and junior brothers."

The last part was meant for Shuai Qianhou and Diaz who were standing at the end of the line.

The two could only look at each other helplessly upon hearing such a greeting.

Diaz patted Shuai Qianhou's shoulder and said, "Junior brother, you'll get used to it."

Shuai Qianhou: "…"

"I've heard so much about you, Junior Brother Su. You are indeed an unparalleled genius. Haha!" said a brawny young man, all smiles.

Ye Feng made the introductions. "This is Zhu Feng, your seventh senior brother; he's very close to becoming a Heavenly Lord."

Zhu Feng waved a hand. "Hey, don't say that. You're imposing too much pressure on our junior brother, aren't you?"

Ji Xueqing chuckled while covering her mouth. "Old Seven, you're overthinking; our junior brother is not as vulnerable as you think. He's not nervous even in front of me, not to mention you. Stop worrying."

After being dazed for a moment, Zhu Feng raised his thumb at Su Ping. "Awesome. You're not afraid of this tigress…"

"What did you say?" asked Ji Xueqing, her smile gone.

"Old Seven needs more spanking." A middle-aged man with a frank and trustworthy appearance shook his head with a smile. He said to Su Ping, "Junior brother, I'm your first senior brother; you may call me Senior Brother Song. This is your second senior brother, Chunyu; he doesn't talk much, but he's a nice person."

After a momentary daze, he quickly clasped hands and said, "It's an honor to meet you."

Even though he didn't know much about Shen Huang's other disciples, his own disciple status had allowed him to hear a thing or two about the most famous ones.

He had once heard that this first senior brother was one of the strongest Heavenly Lords!

The man had once fought a Celestial expert and escaped all the way back to the Golden Star Zone, traversing multiple star zones.

His master had been in seclusion back then and couldn't rescue him, and would have died if he hadn't been strong enough.

As for his second senior brother, he was a very strong Heavenly Lord too. He used to be really famous in the whole universe, but he hadn't shown up in public in several thousand years, and was thus mostly forgotten. However, those who were old enough remembered the famous Heavenly Lord Chunyu.

"I'm your third brother. Call me Senior Brother Han," said a handsome and sunny young man next to Ji Xueqing. He was dressed in a really casual way.

Su Ping gave a quick nod. The top five disciples were Heavenly Lords. This one was clearly not an exception.

The rest of Su Ping's seniors took turns to greet him officially.

In another part of the plaza—the black clad Northern Sky Sword God whispered to his disciple, "Jian'er, the guy who took part in the contest along with you is right there."

Linghu Jian had already noticed him; he glanced at the man in silence.

He knew that he had already been left far behind by Su Ping.

He had often heard of the latter's feats over the years. He was amazed by that low-profile man back in the contest.

"All his senior brothers and sisters are Ascendants. What he learns from them is much more than what you get from your own seniors," said the Northern Sky Sword God calmly, "But don't feel frustrated. There are thousands of secret techniques in this world; you only need one that lets you kill your enemies!

"One technique is enough to break thousands of techniques!"

The Northern Sky Sword God added, "You only have to focus on your sword. One day, the two of you will stand on equal ground again!"

"Just equal…" Linghu Jian said to himself in regret. However, regret turned into helplessness as he remembered Su Ping's glorious achievements.

However, what his master said next motivated him. "Your talent in swords is like none I've seen in my life; it'll only be a matter of time for you to exceed me. Just focus on your sword. You will have everything when your sword is powerful enough to turn the world upside down. Do you understand?"

Linghu Jian said in a solemn, low voice, "I do."

"Great!"

…

"Shen Huang is here."

Everybody present was whispering.

They didn't have to wait long for Shen Huang to walk out of the palace. He wasn't concealing his Celestial aura, which swept over them and suppressed Ascendants like a giant hand.

This is the power of the Celestial State…?Many Ascendants' hearts were racing.

Shen Huang looked down at those gathered, then nodded at Su Ping when he saw him. He said, "Now that you're all here, let's head to the void battlefield. Please take care of the observers you'll be bringing along."

Once he said his piece, he waved a sleeve and opened the sky.

There was a massive hole in space, as if torn by something. There was a colorful light inside, as well as freezing wind and some sort of devastating moans.

The next moment—there was a power filling up the entire field. Shen Huang was the first to fly towards the opening; everybody was taken along by him.

"It's finally starting."

Ji Xueqing's eyes glittered with excitement.

"I don't think any of us can get the commander position, but it shouldn't be a problem for us to become generals." Zhu Feng squeezed his fists excitedly.

His other senior brothers and sisters looked forward to it too.

The channel beyond the opening soon began to glow while everybody was eager to start.

The whole group found itself in a round space when the light was gone.

In the middle of that space was the half of a gigantic bubble.

A silver light was flowing on the partial bubble's outer surface. It seemed to be an independent space.

"I think everybody is here."

Shen Huang looked around, seeing that Chi Huo had already appeared elsewhere within that space. The silver light covering the wall of that space was twisting somewhere else. The surface was soon torn open, and a pair of long and beautiful legs stepped out. It was none other than Xu Kong.

She was followed by a lot of Ascendant experts too.

The three of them formed a triangle, given their current positions; they looked at each other ini silence.

Shen Huang waved a hand, manifesting plenty of seats arranged in different rows.

"Please have a seat," instructed Shen Huang, who drifted to a majestic throne at the very center.

The Ascendant experts felt that the power acting on them was gone. Each of them picked a seat.

Chi Huo and Xu Kong did the same. The Ascendants of the three star zones took seats. The three Celestials were hundreds of meters tall, looking like gods. They were seated in a way that left the massive half-bubble in the middle.

"Should we do this the old way?" asked Chi Huo.

Shen Huang said casually, "No objection here."

Xu Kong said softly, "Let's do it then. It's the most fair approach, even though it takes more time."

"All right, let's rank them according to their combat ability first."

Shen Huang raised a finger, and an enormous bronze statue appeared above the hemispherical space.

The statue was a four-winged fallen angel with crossed arms and folded wings. There was an oval stone in the creature's arms.

The angel is holding a stone?

"That's the Divine Descent Stone!"

Shen Huang announced, "All of you will take the test in turns. You will be ranked according to strength, all to set the pairings for the upcoming contest. Even though this examination method is not thorough enough, it's still informative.

"Also, I suggest that you don't hold back."