Astral Pet Store (WN)

Bang!

The sword light lacerated the air and reached toward Su Ping before he could finish speaking

The sword light was traveling so fast that it seemed to be free from the boundaries of time and space. Su Ping couldn’t feel anything before he found himself standing in the darkness, waiting to be revived.

It went without saying that the guy had slain him.

Seriously?

Whoosh!

Su Ping returned to life on the spot.

He saw a slight twitch on the rigid face of that figure. It was evident that the system’s might had once again been a source of astonishment.

Ignorant… Su Ping grinned. He tried to sound sophisticated. “Sir, I have stated that I came here bearing no ill will. I am merely here seeking to learn skills to wield the sword. Fear not, I wouldn’t learn from you for free. You can express your wishes and I certainly will do everything within my power to grant them.”

That creature gazed at Su Ping with a pair of blood-red eyes that conveyed calmness and a glint of sharpness, seemingly able to pierce into Su Ping’s mind.

After a long while, the creature uttered a question. “Human, where are you from?”

Surprised, Su Ping blurted out a question that even himself found odd, “You know that I’m a human?”

He was surprised because the dragons had mostly been unaware of his race in the Realm of Purple-blood Dragons. Only a few dragons at the Fate State had recognized that he was a human being. All that Su Ping was able to see were ghosts and demons in that city. It went without saying that he was the only human present.

“Humans… should be long gone. There weren’t any human survivors,” the creature went on. Su Ping was speechless. Humans had been extinct in the Realm of Purple-blood Dragons, and were also extinct in that Ashura City. It seemed that humans were indeed too weak in the realms of other species.

Su Ping replied, “I will be straight with you, since you can tell that I’m a human. I come from another realm, another plane. As for my intention of coming here, as I said, I’m here to learn some sword skills from you. You don’t want to waste energy on killing me or imprisoning me, or trying to find out what secrets are hidden within me. Such efforts will all be futile. Can we please get along?”

e re

The creature remained silent, merely gazing upon Su Ping, wondering if he was telling the truth.

After a long while, the creature responded, “I don’t detect any aura of this place from you. You’re a human and yet you seek to learn sword skills from me. Never mind. I will teach you. But I’m not sure how much you can learn.”

Su Ping was surprised that the creature had agreed that easily. What about the ferocity and cruelty of Ashura creatures like him?

“Are you sure?”

“Lying is beneath me,” the creature commented calmly. Su Ping was just thinking that he would have to die over a dozen times before the creature realized that he couldn’t end Su Ping’s life, until it decided to have a nice talk. The creature turned out to be more understanding than expected.

“Good. I’m grateful that I can learn from you. My name is Su Ping. Now that I’m a student, I should call you teacher. Sir… I wonder, how should I address you?” Su Ping asked politely. Since the creature decided to treat him with respect, he was going to return the favor. The creature answered after some thought, “Call me ‘Dusk’. I have one condition before I can teach you. Since you can come here, I suppose you can visit other worlds and realms. If you can, I hope you can find a god for me…”

To find someone? No, to find a god?

“I can promise you that,” Su Ping answered, “Can you give me a description of the god you’re searching for?”

“A description of the god’s appearance won’t do.” The creature’s eyes seemed to be glowing after Su Ping agreed to the terms. He lifted his greyish hand and lying in his palm was a green ring on which some clothes had been wrapped. The clothes were of uncommon fiber for they were giving out a glow.

“Her name is Cangyue, Shen Cangyue!” Dusk stared at the green ring in his hand with affection. “The aura on this ring belonged to her and she looks like this…”

With that said, a mass of darkness appeared in front of Dusk and the mist gradually changed into a fair lady wearing green.

The fair lady was imbued in holy light and her beauty was impeccable. Su Ping had only seen such a perfect look on Joanna. Both ladies seemed as if they had been carved out of jade. The difference was that Joanna was more arrogant, while this fair lady was gentler.

Su Ping committed that look and aura to memory.

He nodded. “I will try and track her down for you in the realms of the gods. But I cannot promise you speedy results. After all, there are many realms where gods reside, and to find a particular god is like finding a needle in a haystack. However, I can promise you this… If I find her, I will tell her that you are looking for her!”

Su Ping sounded serious and Dusk nodded. The former sharpness in his eyes had vanished. “It’s okay. I can wait. I’ve been waiting for her for a hundred thousand years. I changed myself from a demigod to this form, just to wait for her. I can wait some more.”

One hundred thousand years?

Su Ping was shocked by the number. A human being at the Fate Realm could only prolong his or her life to about ten thousand years, and would have to rely on some mysterious herbs. One hundred thousand years was too long a time, and too distant in the ancient past. Su Ping was unable to believe that the creature was a degraded being that used to be a demigod. No wonder he knew a goddess.

“No offense, but I can’t help being curious. What is your relationship with that goddess? Siblings?” Su Ping asked.

He thought of a girl who was always arguing with him.

Dusk answered, “You can say that she is my master. She is a pure-blood god who can sign contracts with demigods to make them pets. Anyway, find her for me, if you can. Tell her that Dusk has been waiting for her here. She will know which place I’m talking about.”

Su Ping didn’t expect that the goddess was the creature’s master.

Did he wait for his master for a hundred thousand years?

Su Ping suddenly felt a surge of sadness. “You have my word. I will try my best to find her for

you!”

Dusk replied, “I shall start teaching you sword skills from this moment on, then. What made you think you could come here to learn sword skills? Who told you I was good with swords?”

Su Ping couldn’t have said that the system had told him that… He just made up a reply, “It’s a complicated matter. Well, I’ve promised you that I’ll try my best. I do hope you can do the same.”

Dusk cast another glance at Su Ping but didn’t press the latter for a more specific answer. He pocketed the green ring and stood up. “My way of wielding the sword is quite aggressive. Blood-thirst and violence have been integrated with the way I fight, after fighting here for years. One shall never learn that way if there’s a lack of a strong will, determination and profound killing intent. Do you understand?”

Su Ping smiled. “Of course.”

“So, let’s see if you can survive this!” Dusk announced.

A dark sword had appeared in Dusk’s hand before Su Ping could ready himself. He approached Su Ping instantly; the wind stirred up by that move had blown away the dust around Su Ping, and even his hair had been blown back.

“Die!”

Dusk gave Su Ping a ghastly stare.

The light of the sword was shining in all radiance.

At that moment, Su Ping could have sworn he was hearing ghosts crying and screaming. The tides of darkness were smashing down him and the ghosts were grabbing him. He felt as if he had been left in the world all by himself.

One move and ghosts cried!

Su Ping’s heart skipped a beat, but he soon adjusted himself. Killing intent rose from his eyes and the Force Field appeared behind him. Ghosts and demons were dancing around in the ocean of blood; his killing intent was not any weaker than that of Dusk.

“Interesting.”

Dusk was surprised. Such pungent killing intent! Also, look at the Force Field view! It’s a living hell!

There’s a living hell in the mind of this human!

What has he gone through!? Whoosh!

The dark sword was swept over by Su Ping’s hair. The darkness receded and the black sword was sheathed. Dusk looked at Su Ping. A moment later, he shook his head in self-mockery and said, “I would have killed you directly a hundred thousand years ago. But I don’t think I’m any better than you. You’re qualified to learn from me.”

Su Ping cooled himself down and killing intent ebbed away from his face. He was very proficient in controlling his killing intent by that point. The Force Field disappeared. Su Ping was able to understand what Dusk was referring to.

A hundred thousand years before, Dusk used to be a demigod; one of his kind would naturally end the life of someone that vicious. “I may have violence in my heart but I’ve never killed an innocent.” Su Ping chuckled. He wasn’t defending himself. It was more like a self-affirmation, or telling this to the fate manipulating him, a force he was unable to see.

Dusk nodded. He didn’t mean to probe further. “I will teach you a skill called Sin Cutter. It bears such a name but the skill itself is the most sinister. It is best learned in a harsh environment. Be ready.”

“Sure.”

Su Ping nodded. Without further ado, Dusk began the lesson.

First, Dusk explained the principles of the skill and then passed on the skill’s methodology directly to Su Ping’s mind.

Su Ping didn’t resist. He wasn’t afraid; he could not die in that realm, and even if Dusk were to search his memory while he did so, he wouldn’t mind.

Dusk would not threaten Su Ping in any way, even if he were able to see the existence of the system. The system was linked to Su Ping. When his time in the cultivation site ended, Su Ping would go back to the store; Dusk would have to stay in that realm, no matter how eager he was to know more about those secrets.

Dusk didn’t try searching Su Ping’s memories.

Dusk took Su Ping to the city after passing him the method and began teaching through practice.

Su Ping progressed rapidly, thanks to the revivals. He was a smart man, so he was soon able to gain a fundamental idea.

His understanding of swords was deepened.

Time flew.

Su Ping had stayed in the city for eight days. He would train his sword skills with Dusk every day and many skeletons and ghosts in the city had become his sparring partners. Dusk had a complete knowledge of where the most powerful beings in the city were gathered. Dusk would progressively take him to the most powerful beings to fight aginst them, which had further facilitated Su Ping’s growth. He had known next to nothing about swords before that visit; at the moment he had already become an expert to a certain degree. Of course, he didn’t forget about the pet training during that time.

He had summoned all of his pets. Dusk had recognized the Skeleton King’s bloodline the moment he had seen the Little Skeleton.

As for the four pets of the demon family, that city was the perfect environment for their training. Su Ping asked Dusk to help him set up the training for the pets; as a result, they had trained as hard as Su Ping during those eight days. The pets’ potentials were being unleashed to the fullest extent due to the repeated deaths.

Su Ping would go back in two more days.

During the last two days, same as before, Su Ping practiced the sword with Dusk while the Little Skeleton took the pets to continue their training; it was able to improve as well through this method. However, the Little Skeleton’s progress was limited in that cultivation site was limited. Only the undead aura could be of any help to this pet.

Ten days passed.

Su Ping returned to his store.

His customers’ pets’ aptitudes had risen to an above average grade, but they weren’t first-rate yet. Su Ping was not surprised; after all, he had been focusing on himself during the past ten days.

He had many pets in his store for professional training and he didn’t plan on finishing the training of all the pets within a couple of days. So, he chose to return to the cultivation site with the four pets of the demon family again, right after arriving at the store.

Su Ping went to see Dusk and his appearance surprised him, since he had witnessed how Su Ping had been teleported away. Su Ping did this to show Dusk that he wasn’t lying.

Dusk was clearly friendlier as he gazed at Su Ping.

“Sir, I’m here again to see you.” Su Ping had finally reached the platform after a couple of revivals.

Dusk gazed at Su Ping. “Are you here to practice the sword again?”

“Yes.”

“You have mastered the fundamentals of the Sin Cutter but you cannot unleash its full strength yet. You lack some demonic energy in you,” Dusk pointed out.

Su Ping nodded in agreement; he had always felt something was missing when he was using the skill.

“You will need some of that energy if you want to learn it in full,” Dusk continued, “There was once an Ashura King in the city and I made myself an Ashura by taking his flesh and blood. I have some of that blood left. You’ll have to drink the blood if you wish to complete the learning of that skill.”

Su Ping paused for one second before he answered, “No problem.” The fact that Su Ping had answered so readily came as a surprise to Dusk. With a frown, Dusk cautioned Su Ping, “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Once you drink the blood, you’ll surely be able to master the skill but you’ll have some energy of the Ashura species within you. You can be exposed when you go to a god realm. Even the creatures of the world you’re from will resist you.”

Su Ping looked into Dusk’s eyes. “Sir, you have those concerns but you still told me that. Sir, I believe you hope that I can take the blood.”

Dusk was taken aback. After a moment of silence, Dusk answered, “You’ll make the decision. You will alert the gods if you carry the Ashura energy and go to one of their realms. I think that’ll help you find the one I’m looking for even faster. You’re not afraid of death, after all, so alerting the gods is nothing for you.”

Su Ping spent some time deliberating. “I’ll take the blood.”

Dusk felt necessary to ask again, “Have you thought it through?”

“Yes.”

Su Ping nodded.

Just then, Su Ping was asking the system if there could be any side effects after drinking the blood.

The system presented Su Ping with a pleasant surprise. According to its answer, the Ashura race was from the Archean times and the blood of the Ashura king could become a nutrient to the Solar Bulwark. Su Ping would be able to hide the Ashura energy inside the Solar Bulwark and the gods would be unable to detect it.

“Okay.” A dark earthen bowl appeared in Dusk’s hand and within was some dark liquid with a pungent smell.

“This is the blood,” said Dusk.

Su Ping felt that the liquid was more like ink.

Su Ping took the bowl without hesitation.

He was able to tell that Dusk had been holding the bowl tightly when he made a grab for it. Dusk had let go of the bowl in the end.

Su Ping then drank the blood.

There was a foul taste in his mouth. The cold blood turned warm inside him, until it was burning and spreading all across his body. He felt he was on fire.

The pain made Su Ping scream.

Bang!

The bowl fell to the ground. Su Ping was scratching his hair. His eyes turned red and were jittering oddly.

The pain almost drove Su Ping crazy.

“Ah!!!” Su Ping shouted. Something seemed to have been alerted inside of Su Ping and the burning sensation was quickly defeated.

Su Ping gradually came back to his senses. He was able to endure the pain as it gradually receded. The popping veins on his face began to withdraw and he cooled down. But he was paler than before.

Su Ping opened his eyes which had recovered, but there was a trace of crimson color buried deep inside them. Phew!

Su Ping breathed in relief. The pain was going away and strength was rising in him. He could not tell why but he was feeling comfortable.

The vortexes in his cell cores were being filled up. “How?” Dusk was surprised about the unexpected change. Su Ping seemed to carry some Ashura energy but it wasn’t pure. Is it because Su Ping didn’t take enough blood?

Su Ping turned his hands and a red sword appeared.

He got the sword when he was training in the city after he killed a Fate State demon; he had to rely on his revivals to kill it.

Whoosh!

Su Ping wielded the red sword; a surge of energy burst out from him. There seemed to be a shadow behind him. When he wielded the sword, so did the shadow!

The void trembled. The air was cut open!

The light of the sword flashed away.

Su Ping put down the sword with delight.

What a powerful move!

That should be the true force of the Sin Cutter!

One cut to crack the air!

He had not even merged with the Little Skeleton yet. He had achieved that by himself! To be able to cut the air meant the strength of that move was close to the Void State!