Astral Pet Store (WN)

Chapter 1217: Ceiling of the Ascendant State

I must practice with a Celestial.

Su Ping released the Golden Crow guard and stopped attacking.

The latter realized the enormous gap between them. He was shocked; he had heard about human beings, but they weren’t part of the mythical creatures. How could this guy defeat me?

“Could you please ask someone stronger than you to practice with me?” said Su Ping sincerely while watching the guard descend.

The Golden Crow looked at Su Ping with shock and suspicion. “I need to report this matter.”

“Okay.”

The other guard returned just then. Once he noticed that Su Ping was out, he said, “Princess Diqiong is training in seclusion. Please come with me and wait for her.”

“I have to wait for her?”

Su Ping thought for a moment and nodded. “Fine.”

…

Su Ping followed the guard and headed to Diqiong’s residence.

“The princess is still training. Please wait patiently,” said the guard in a low voice.

Su Ping stood with hands behind his back, then looked at Diqiong’s golden nest. He only noticed until then how extravagant the place was; it was surrounded by nine Dao Patterns, three times more than his cultivation spot!

Furthermore, the golden nest had been established at a branch juncture. He could see that the power of chaos was constantly flowing from the tree trunk.

There were also incomplete symbols of power mixed in the power of chaos. Forming a complete Dao Pattern was definitely possible if they were gathered!

My place is a dog shed compared to her residence.

However, cultivation places like the one given by my master or the one in the Loulan territory wouldn’t even count as dog sheds in comparison…

Su Ping couldn’t help but shake his head. That was certainly a privileged girl.

Even a pig could probably rise to the Celestial State if it were tied there long enough.

Su Ping waited patiently for two hours. He could not help but ask the guard at the door, “How much longer do I have to wait?”

“The princess is training in seclusion. Please wait patiently.”

“I know. I am being patient, but how much longer do I have to wait?”

“Please be patient. The princess is training in seclusion.”

“…”

Su Ping felt that his blood pressure was increasing due to that brush with bureaucracy. “Can you give me an estimate? How long will I have to wait?”

“The princess is training in seclusion; there’s no telling how long it will take. Please be patient.”

“Could you tell her that I’m here then?”

“The princess is training in seclusion. We’ll let her know the moment she comes out.”

“I’ll see her when she comes out. Why would I need you to let her know?”

“Please be patient.”

“!”

Su Ping took a deep breath and said, “Call me when your princess comes out then. I’ll be on my way.”

He then turned around and left.

His head would probably explode if he were to wait a moment longer.

Right when he was about to leave—he heard a strange noise from the training place further inside. Diqiong flew out and said angrily, “Can’t you just wait for me a while longer?”

“You knew I was here, right?” Su Ping turned around and looked at her.

Diqiong held her head high in silence. She wanted to deny it, but then remembered that she was a princess and lying wasn’t necessary. Even if I admit to it, so what?

Seeing her proud look, Su Ping rolled his eyes and stopped trying to argue with her. “Let’s cut to the chase. What do you want from me?”

Diqiong said, “You said that you would take me to the outside world. When will you honor your promise?”

“Anytime,” Su Ping said angrily, “It all depends on your people. Are the Chief Elder and the others willing to let you leave with me? Won’t they fear that something would happen to their beloved child?”

“Do you have no respect for me at all? I’m not an ordinary Golden Grow!” said Diqiong angrily.

“You’re just the same to me. All of you have wings,” said Su Ping casually, “I’m planning on leaving in a few days. I hope you can find a noble whose level is higher than yours to spar with me; I want to test my strength.”

Diqiong was rather angry. “In other words, you’re just like worms because all of you have heads. And you say you want to practice with someone stronger than me? What’s your problem? My hands happen to be itchy. If you’re that eager to get beaten up, I’ll grant your wish.”

“You belong to the Golden Crows’ royal family anyway, and have elegant and beautiful looks. Why are you so vulgar?”

“Who says that I can’t speak like this? Just tell me if you want to be beaten up.”

“Let’s give it a go then. It just so happens I always wanted to find out how different you are from the other crows.”

“So, you have accepted! Don’t regret it now!”

Diqiong felt proud and excited as she took Su Ping to the top of a certain branch of the holy tree.

The leaves gathered below contained natural Dao Patterns that formed special fields which could be as large as planets. Those were used as arenas by the Golden Crows.

A lot of crows were “communicating” closely. Su Ping and Diqiong drew a lot of attention. To be more accurate, they were all looking at Diqiong intently.

Diqiong was deservedly the royal princess in their opinion.

She carried the noblest ancestral bloodline, and had been born to become a queen. She was being carefully guided by the elders. She would replace her mother in the future as the queen of the Golden Crows, becoming second only to the ancestor!

“Look, Her Royal Highness Diqiong!”

“Your highness.”

The Golden Crows watching the battles flew closer and paid their respects.

Su Ping saw that, and he couldn’t help but say to Diqiong, “Why don’t we go someplace less crowded?”

“Huh?”

Diqiong glanced at him and her lips curled. “It’s too late for regret. Don’t worry; losing to me is not humiliating. Besides, you’re too weak. Beating you wouldn’t even be a glorious victory.”

Su Ping whispered, “I only fear that you’ll embarrass yourself if you lose. I don’t care since I don’t know any of them, but you’re different. Would they respect you in the future if you lose?”

Su Ping was truly considering the situation for Diqiong’s sake. They often bickered, but he didn’t want to embarrass her in public.

“You!”

Diqiong raised her eyebrows and sneered. “Come on and try me then. Looks like me being courteous has made you underestimate me!”

“Well…” Su Ping knew she had misunderstood him, considering how angry she was. It was impossible for him to explain without making things even worse. He could only say, “Okay.”

Diqiong gave the order, and the two crows currently fighting stopped right away and paid her respects.

She then ordered a formation to be set and entered the arena with Su Ping.

The onlooking crows whispered in amazement upon seeing that they were about to practice.

Many of them had heard about the human visitor, but that was the first time seeing him. Their amazement was akin to having seen an alien.

“Look, he has a head!”

“And two arms!”

“Tsk, how amazing!”

They were chattering using the crow language; Su Ping couldn’t understand them. He focused instead on the fight. Diqiong had yet to break through to the Celestial State, but she was at the very top of the Ascendant level; he would have to try his best when fighting such a person.

“Don’t think you can underestimate me because you now have the Primitive Chaos bloodline. I’ll make you understand you can’t simply catch up to me just with bloodline alone!” Diqiong declared proudly.

“Why are you being like that? You have the noblest bloodline here,” said Su Ping.

Diqiong blushed and replied, “Cut the crap and get ready.”

Su Ping took a deep breath and focused all his attention. His eight small worlds surfaced, and he changed his human body to that of a member of the Primitive Chaos Clan, his bones cracking as he grew in size; he turned into a magnificent giant almost ten meters tall.

Diqiong became solemn upon noticing the intimidating aura and the intriguing eight small worlds, feeling both shocked and jealous. Su Ping seemed to have become more intimidating than she used to be when she was at his level, which she found unacceptable.

“Eight small worlds. This human being is unbelievable!”

“I heard that it was a human Heaven Master that sent this kid over.”

“Is he being trained by the Heaven Master? Wouldn’t that put him on par with Diqiong? He must be an unparalleled genius among humans.”

Many Golden Crows were talking, feeling shocked by Su Ping’s presence. His eight small worlds alone were already a remarkable achievement; the onlookers felt pressure despite the formation buffer. They probably wouldn’t be Su Ping’s match if they were at his level.

There was a boom—Su Ping was the first to attack.

Su Ping wasn’t planning on going easy since it was a test. He wanted to gauge his current strength, so he simply went all out from the very beginning.

The void was shaking. The eight small worlds gathered and turned into a beam of light that covered Su Ping like a battle suit. The World of Mythical Chaos—which was on the outermost layer—carried a destructive aura. Su Ping gathered the power of chaos in his hand and slashed out.

Fire, ice, and the origins of other paths began to interweave, constructing an amazing scene.

Diqiong’s expression changed a bit upon feeling the threat. She covered herself in golden flames and revealed her original self. There was a shriek, and a beautiful Golden Crow soared, launching a flame storm.

The sword aura was swallowed by the golden flames with a bang; the aftermath shattered the surrounding void.

Su Ping became excited upon feeling the Ascendant power filling the environment. He had only used five Dao Patterns, fearing he could hurt Diqiong, but then it became obvious that he was far from knocking her down.

“Get ready!” Su Ping roared as an amazing scene appeared around him, which was a mixture of law traits. It was like the ancient chaos, with all kinds of strange phenomena manifesting.

Eighteen Dao Patterns appeared, which looked like black serpents. They were equal to a complete Dao Glyph!

The Dao Patterns gathered to form a sword that slashed out through the void.

Diqiong’s face revealed shock; Su Ping’s power was beyond her expectation. Is this guy’s level truly lower than mine? Besides shock, anger and pride emerged in her blood; she shrieked and charged to clash with Su Ping’s sword aura.

Brilliant golden stripes appeared in the air; Diqiong was also using the power of her Dao Patterns. She had grasped the Dao Glyph from her ancestral bloodline, which could be parsed into dozens of Dao Patterns. She compressed them into nine Dao Patterns to unleash them with all his strength, setting the entire arena ablaze like a torrent of fire.

There was a boom. Both Su Ping and Diqiong shook and were flung back.

Su Ping felt as if he would have been torn apart. The traits of his opponent’s Dao Patterns were burning him, causing an excruciating pain.

Diqiong flew thousands of meters away. She narrowed her eyes even more tightly, not expecting that Su Ping could block her strike. She had been concerned for him before the attack.

“Her Highness used the Golden Crow Bright Fire!”

“That’s the divine with Dao Patterns. The human survived it!”

“Is that human hiding his level? I don’t believe this!”

All the onlooking crows found the situation hard to believe. A few of them that were observing the battle from places in the peripheral void also showed different expressions after seeing their clash.

“Was that your best?”

Su Ping removed the power of the Dao Patterns on his body and soon recovered. He looked at Diqiong and asked, “Do you have anything better?”

“Are you provoking me?” Diqiong was infuriated. “Come again!”

“All right!”

Su Ping smiled. He didn’t use his Dao Glyphs because he feared the risk of hurting Diqiong. After all, he could resurrect even if he died, but Diqiong was a local; she would die for real.

Boom!

Even more Dao Patterns emerged around Su Ping; thirty-six of them. They slithered like thirty-six dragons, causing unusual phenomena in the void.

Once she noticed that, Diqiong instantly stopped gathering her Golden Crow Bright Fire. She said with a pale face, “Your Dao Patterns…”

“Huh?”

“What’s wrong?” Su Ping asked, once he noticed that Diqiong had stopped attacking.

Diqiong’s face was changing from red to pale, thinking that Su Ping was purposefully taunting her, and felt frustrated. She knew that the thirty-six Dao Patterns were enough to construct two Dao Glyphs. They would be even more terrifying if Su Ping controlled them well and compressed the Dao Patterns.

“I’m not feeling well today. Let’s continue this another time.” Diqiong gnashed her teeth.

Even though she could resist the attack, she would have to unleash all her strength and one of the two would surely be hurt or killed.

“Well…” Su Ping thought it was her time of the month and was smart enough not to ask. He dismissed his power and said, “All right, let’s fight another day. Could you recommend another noble to practice with me?”

Diqiong said coldly, “Are you trying to test your power?”

“That is correct.”

“All right, as you wish.”

Diqiong snorted and asked for the barrier to be dispelled. She then summoned a Golden Crow guard and said something to him.

The sky turned dim as a Golden Crow thousands of meters long flew over. Once it was close enough, it shrunk in size and transformed into a middle-aged man.

“Your Highness.”

“Well, offer him some enlightenment,” said Diqiong.

She then said to Su Ping, “He’s the Chief Elder’s guard. You can attack with full strength.”

Su Ping also sensed the surging power inside the Golden Crow. It seemed as if ten suns were residing inside him. It was certain that the Golden Crow was a mythical Celestial creature!