Astral Pet Store (WN)

Two more days passed in the blink of an eye.

The selection matches were over, and the top hundred geniuses that represented Silvy had won; their names resounded in space and were learned by billions of people.

The residents of many planets kept an eye for those participants, which made them rising stars; countless corporations were waiting to make commercials with them. They didn't need to worry about training resources. They were even more valuable than some of the lone Star Lords!

Although it somehow sounded unbelievable, it was a fact.

Some of the famous among the ordinary people were more valuable than regular Fate State cultivators. The battle pet warrior profession was the most popular, but it wasn't the only one.

Three more days of rest came after the top hundred were confirmed.

In three more days, the contestants would be fighting duels amongst themselves until the top ten, top five, and champion were determined.

In the sky above the continent—

Hai Tuo and You Ying were seated outside of the temple. They were next to a brawny old man who was the Old Boxer from Heavenly Fist Mountain. His hair and beard were both white, but he had a healthy red skin and a pair of sharp eyes.

There was also a woman wearing a thin black dress next to them. She wore a veil that blocked any peeping, but her exposed eyes were as fascinating as the sea of stars.

They had also been invited by Hai Tuo to have some wine with the others.

"I was eager to see the little guy attack, but he actually made it to the next stage without fighting." Hai Tuo was amused once he saw the end of the matches.

He had already asked Huan Lieshen which genius had caught his eye, making him show up to the competition; the latter didn't keep it a secret. It was impossible to keep it hidden as things stood, since the Old Boxer and that woman had surely checked his background and knew what he looked like.

It wasn't a difficult thing to do for any Ascendant.

Even if Su Ping's records had been destroyed, they could still look into his past through his projections in the river of time.

It was simply not as detailed as physical records.

"Even if he did, those people couldn't have forced him to reveal his full strength," said Huan Lieshen casually. He didn't try to keep Su Ping a secret anymore; after all, he had just made some preparations.

"That's true."

The Old Boxer nodded regretfully. He had already watched all of Su Ping's battles with fast forwarding; he didn't think that Su Ping could have passed a hundred floors of the all-class monument with that kind of strength. The guy had surely hidden at least half of his combat ability!

The woman from the Black Phoenix Palace made no comment; she simply enjoyed her tea in silence.

Hai Tuo was going to say something, but then he furrowed his brow and said after being silent for a while, "The following matches are going to be held in advance…"

"In advance?" You Ying raised his eyebrows and looked at him.

Seeing the surprise in their eyes, Hai Tuo nodded and said, "I just received the notification. It seems that something happened to the Divine Sea Mysterious Realm. That is why everything will be pushed forward, and the rules for the finals may change."

"Supposedly, the top ten geniuses of the universe will be sent to the Divine Sea Mysterious Realm at the end of the finals to get seeds of the Ascendant State. But the finals have to be held in advance, or they will miss the greatest prize of this contest."

"What happened?" asked Huan Lieshen in surprise.

The Divine Sea Mysterious Realm was an SSS mysterious realm that had remained steady since it was opened. It was also being supervised by a Celestial expert. How could anything happen to it?

"I'm not sure," Hai Tuo shook his head and said, "Six hundred years ago, a meeting was convened in the Federation, and all the galaxy lords such as myself were summoned. The Celestial State experts mentioned during the meeting that the wall of the universe was constricting, and the deeper spaces were turning unstable and chaotic. You must have sensed it too. I wonder if that caused the accident."

The Old Boxer became solemn and said grimly, "That's true. I was almost caught in a deeper space a while back, when I was hunting an ancient apparition in the seventh space; I thought I would be knocked out of our universe. The deeper space felt so horrifying there was no doubt in my mind I would die if I fell into it!"

The others were shocked; all of them turned to look at him.

"It seems that the sage's theory about disorder may be true…"

Hai Tuo changed his expression and heaved a sigh. He shook his head and added, "Let's not talk about it anymore, lest it spreads out and causes a bad influence. Maybe something else caused the accident. Be that as it may, we must change the rules to finish the matches in advance."

"The top hundred have been confirmed; all we need to do is to rank them. Let's pick the champion and the second best first, then the top ten. Just leave the rest alone. Nobody will remember them anyway."

"Sure."

You Ying and the others didn't disagree; the matches were boring children's games to them anyway. The fiercest competitions would happen sooner since the champion was going to be picked first; they would be spared of all the long and tedious waiting.

…

…

At night when the top hundred were selected—

The people from every planetary system were discussing the top hundred players with ardor on the Internet. Those players would go to the star zone and fight the other geniuses of the universe on behalf of Silvy!

It would be glorious for Silvy if any of them managed to show up at the finals!

After all, considering the vast scope of the universe, Silvy was more of a small city than a galaxy.

An announcement was made on the Internet right then, stating that the rules would be changed and the matches would continue on the next morning.

The announcement caused another heated round of discussions, but the audience were just watching the competition for fun. They were happy to find there would be no intervals between the matches.

The only people who were upset were the forces behind the contestants; they knew how badly wounded their children were after the past battles; how could they recover overnight?

However, the rules had been announced. It was fate, according to the authorities.

Luck was an ability.

Stamina was also an ability.

The rules applied to every contestant; that was the relative fairness of the rules.

The rules would be equally applied. Why could some people win while others couldn't? Losers had no excuses!

The forces behind the contestants were mostly Star Lords who were in charge of a planetary system. They could only curse at home, since none of them dared to express their disagreement before Silvy's dominator.

As for the Ascendant State experts whose students or disciples were participating, they actually agreed with the idea. They were a proud lot, who wouldn't allow their students to complain about the rules when others didn't.

…

The next morning—everybody was gathered in a waiting area.

Seven Star Lords looked down at the contestants before them; they had concealed their aura, but they still gave off immense pressure like deadly beasts would.

However, all the Fate State contestants who had made it thus far were able to crush warriors of their same level, so they took it in stride. Only those who had been wounded seemed hurt and helpless.

"The universal match will be held in advance. You will set off tomorrow to the Golden Star Zone; there you will fight geniuses from other galaxies in the universe!

"So, all of you will be ranked today as quickly as possible!

"Due to time limitations, we've amended the rules a little bit. First of all, the champion will be selected."

Everybody knew that the rules would change, but they didn't expect them to change that much. To top it off, they would have to leave the next day after a whole day of fighting?

At the same time—all the stream viewers on the Internet were thrilled.

Countless people were too shocked to speak. The new rules were so unbelievable! A champion would be directly chosen from the top hundred?

Many of the contestants' expressions changed, showing their surprise; they soon frowned and glanced at the opponents that they thought were tricky.

There could only be one champion, one who had to defeat everybody else!

"As a way to compensate all the winners for the change of rules, Lord Hai Tuo has prepared a special award for the champion. It will be a piece of Time and Space Source!" the Star Lord added, and half of the contestants in the crowd seemed shocked. As for the other half, including Su Ping, they looked puzzled.

"The Time and Space Source is an extremely rare treasure, which is critical when you rise from the Star State to the Star Lord State, as it can significantly increase the odds of success. It contains the law of time that the Star Lords know and there would be no side effects after usage. If you want it, try your best to become the champion."

Once they heard that, the remaining half was astonished too; they didn't expect such a treasure.

It was very likely that not even those in the Ascendant State would have many of such treasures!

Untalented Star State cultivators would certainly be tempted by such an item. As to the geniuses, their odds of advancement were higher than average in the first place; success would almost be guaranteed if they had the Time and Space Source!

This would mean that one of them could break into the Star State after becoming the champion, and then become a Star Lord with rapid training!

The journey between the Fate State and the Star Lord State would be smooth!

Although the geniuses present would certainly reach the Star State, it remained to be seen if they could become Star Lords.

Only the top contestants such as Dragon Emperor and the young man who carried a wooden sword would be certain of that.

However, their potential would only allow them to reach the Star Lord State; they had to count on their luck if they wanted to reach the Ascendant State. It would be hard for them to advance even if they weren't short of resources.

That was why Su Ping raised so much attention, given his Ascendant State potential.

After everybody stopped whispering, a Star Lord said solemnly, "Now, I'll be announcing the rule to select the champion.

"The rule is simple. If you think you're capable of being the champion, step up!"

Everybody was beyond shocked after such a statement.

Soon, someone stepped out of the crowd, and more people followed.

Holy King, Dragon Emperor, Dragon Devil and other outstanding contestants stepped forward.

Some of them were already wounded, but they also wanted to try their luck.

Su Ping also joined without any hesitation; he wanted the precious Time and Space Source.

Very soon, only twenty people stayed behind.

Once he saw that, the Star Lord sneered and said, "Very good. First of all, I praise your courage, but it takes more than that to become the champion. Blind confidence is just stupidity!

"Release it!"

After his roar, another Star Lord threw out a bottle which darted a black beam of light that caused a vortex in space. Then, a dragon whose body was ablaze with black flames dashed out; there were hideous skulls on the dragon's back, and its tail was forked.

Many of the contestants changed their expressions. They recognized the dragon: it was a Ferocious Skull Demon Dragon!

It would become a peak Star State beast once it reached adulthood. It was incredibly strong too; most advanced Star State experts would be unable to defeat it even if they used their pets.

It was a beast naturally-born with Class-A aptitude, able to crush most advanced Star State beasts.

"Killing it will be your first test!" the hosting Star Lord declared coldly.

This caused gasps from many among the eighty contestants who had stepped up.

The twenty contestants who had stayed behind, on the other hand, felt lucky and relieved.

"If you want to quit, go back now!" scolded the Star Lord.

Once they heard that, half of the remaining contestants backed off. Those who were meaning to try their luck were overwhelmed with despair.

"Being battle pet warriors, you must have noticed that this pet is untamed. It's a wild beast that's just been caught. It's completely unrestrained!" said the Star Lord coldly.

"This time, Lord Hai Tuo won't rescue you. There's only you to blame if you overestimate yourselves and get killed because of a lapse in judgment; you might get killed if you recklessly take action just because you crave the reward. This can also happen in an unknown mysterious realm one day; you would end up dying, wasting all the resources you've absorbed!"

A lot of other people changed their expressions again. The coldness on the Star Lord's face made it clear; he wasn't joking.

Those geniuses had indeed been through the gore and cruelty during their growth. Spoiled geniuses wouldn't have been able to secure their ten victories at the beginning, let alone reaching the top hundred.