Astral Pet Store (WN)

After Ciro left, a Star Lord stepped up and introduced the training rooms to everyone.

"This is an Astral Power Index Indicator!

"The first floor of this training room is suitable for those whose Astral Power Index is between 100 and 300.

"The second floor is for indexes between 400 and 600.

"The third floor is for those between 600 and 1,000!

"Star Lords have an Astral Power Index above 1,000 under normal circumstances. A small proportion of the Star State experts may reach a similar reading with the help of some special techniques; it would definitely be impossible to achieve with regular means."

Su Ping was surprised to learn this. He looked at Claesabe and Ibetaluna, then asked in a low voice, "What's the Astral Power Index?"

Claesabe was stunned. He asked, "You don't know? Well… never mind. The Astral Power Index is the total amount of astral power in your body, according to what is measured by special equipment. This would indirectly show your fighting capability."

Su Ping understood.

It was a test to find out the density of astral power in one's body.

He asked a few more questions. Thanks to Claesabe's replies, he realized that the Astral Power Index was not proportionate to combat ability. While technology was advanced in the Federation, it was impossible to find out a person's real combat ability; only predictions were possible, based on the Astral Power Index, footage of earlier battles, and so on.

After all, real combat ability depended on mental power, responsiveness, special resistance, and many more factors!

The system was probably the only thing able to offer a precise reading.

That being said, the Astral Power Index was indeed one of the most important indicators of combat ability!

"You can test yourselves here. This is a small astral power detector designed for students; it's able to measure those who are below a thousand in the Astral Power Index with accuracy," said the Star Lord with a smile.

A lot of people were eager to try upon hearing that, but the majority remained calm, as if they were already acquainted with such a technology.

A brawny man who had thick hair walked out and said, "Let me give it a try."

He looked like a healthy wild bear; his armor and clothes were rough and solid. Someone recognized him; he had delivered great performances in the earlier battles, having later ranked among the top twenty!

The Star Lord nodded with a smile and turned the equipment on.

The equipment was a vertical green tube with a glass-like surface. The equipment door closed after the young man walked in, and data was instantly manifested on the green surface.

The data was changing at a fast pace, and then a bright red mist surrounded the young man inside the tube.

Moments later, the mist was sucked away by the ventilation holes of the equipment. Then, the complex array of data was reassembled into a few words stated in the Common Tongue, followed by a number.

Astral Power Index: 823!

The crowd was instantly excited. Some of the calm looking people had shocked expressions.

"Greater than eight hundred. Damn!"

Claesabe exclaimed too. "His astral power density is even higher than mine, even though he's not using any secret technique to enhance himself. This is an amount of astral power that can compare to the advanced phase of the Star State!"

Ibetaluna also took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "It's true that many monsters are out there."

Many weren't expecting that the plain-looking young man would have such a high Astral Power Index.

Unfortunately, the competitions of the top hundred had ended prematurely after the top ten were settled; many didn't know for certain how strong each other was.

"It's only a bit over eight hundred?"

The brawny young man walked out and frowned at the result, looking dissatisfied. He scratched his head and said, "I expected it to be higher than a thousand!"

Many people rolled their eyes.

How could go beyond a thousand under normal circumstances?

The Star Lord had already mentioned that only the Star Lords could achieve this with normal means; some Star Lords' readings could even go up to several thousand.

"You're merely in the Fate State; such an astral power density isn't bad at all. It's probably related to your physical build. There's a chance that you can make it to the top ten and even the top five of this galaxy if you hone your skills further!" said the smiling Star Lord; there was a touch of amazement in his eyes.

In terms of astral power density, that young man was definitely among the best in that group of people.

After all, those kids were in the Fate State; the limit of the Astral Power Index for the Fate State was a hundred!

And yet, the young man's result was eight times the limit!

Such a result didn't seem to be remarkable, but any further improvement from the main bottleneck was extremely difficult.

"That sounds like a lot of thinking. I don't like that!" the young man shook his head and mumbled, "I will simply build up my physical strength and shatter all the opponents my own way!"

The Star Lord's lips twitched, but he chose not to add any comments.

Building up physical strength was definitely an approach too, but it was too primitive; too much time would be wasted.

Those who used their brains were always better than those who used their brawn in recent years.

Of course, if the guy wasn't smart enough to understand that, there was no point in arguing with him. All the top hundred geniuses surely had Star Lord masters; they had surely taught them that simple lesson.

After the young man left, someone spoke eagerly, "Let me give it a go too!"

Soon, the equipment was activated again, and the Astral Power Index this time was 305!

"Not a bad result. You're very good at skills and laws, but your physical strength isn't good enough. It's not bad compared to the average Fate State warrior, but not good enough for a genius," commented the Star Lord with a smile.

"Okay."

The person who took the test felt frustrated, but he could only listen to the suggestion.

Some others moved closer to take the test. Their Astral Power Index ranged between 300 and 700, averaging out between four to five hundred.

Those whose result was lower than five hundred were among the weaker ones.

On another side—Linghu Jian was next to two young men who were the best students in the Sword Deity Academy. One of them was Sword Maniac, who was only second to Linghu Jian in the academy; the other was also a bigshot in the academy.

The bigshot in the academy, however, stood in front of Linghu Jian dutifully. "Boss, are you going to take the test? I think your Astral Power Index will definitely dwarf theirs."

Linghu Jian said indifferently, "I took the test at my master's. I haven't improved much recently; it would be pointless to test myself again."

"Is that so? Then, what was your Astral Power Index, boss?" asked the young man curiously.

After a moment of silence, Linghu Jian said, "Only 920."

"…Only?"

The young man was dumbfounded.

An Astral Power Index of 920 was already the limit of the advanced Star State!

It had to be noted that the man was only in the Fate State!

"Mine is only 790," said a regretful Sword Maniac in a low voice.

The young man was instantly at a loss for words.

Standing next to Su Ping, Claesabe asked curiously, "Brother Su, are you going to take the test?"

Since Su Ping didn't know about the Astral Power Index, he couldn't have done the test before. Claesabe was quite curious about his Astral Power Index since his performance had been stellar.

The highest Astral Power Index thus far was left by the first young man. It was 823.

Once she heard that, Ibetaluna turned around too and looked at Su Ping, eager and hopeful.

Su Ping thought for a moment and said, "Fine."

He was also interested in finding out how strong he was.

He didn't have such advanced equipment in the cultivation sites.

"Does anyone still…"

Hardly had the Star Lord opened his mouth when he saw Su Ping move; he paused and waited eagerly.

The contestants—who hesitated because they didn't want to expose their strength—noticed the silence in the air and looked in surprise; their eyes widened when they saw Su Ping step forward.

They were really curious about the young man who had won the championship, wondering what Astral Power Index he could possibly have.

The Star Lord opened the equipment for Su Ping, just like before.

Su Ping entered the equipment.

Very soon, Su Ping felt itchy as the red mist covered his skin; he didn't activate the Astral Painting in his body, simply relaxing and letting his cells circulate.

Data started appearing on the equipment, flashing at a fast speed.

One minute, two minutes…

The flashing didn't stop until five minutes later.

Suddenly, the red mist was gone; the data on the equipment was also gone, replaced by a red "X" and a "Measurement Standard Exceeded" warning!

Hiss!

Everybody was silent and shocked. The Star Lord who was responsible for the test and his companions were equally mesmerized.

Measurement standard exceeded? Doesn't it mean that his Astral Power Index is beyond a thousand?

That's not normal!

Everyone was shocked. The Astral Power Index didn't represent real combat ability. For instance, Star Lords were able to unleash a damage of five thousand with only a hundred units of astral power, whereas those in the Fate State could only cause a damage of three hundred points. Nevertheless, astral power was still the foundation of everything!

Is he really a Fate State warrior? All the Star Lords had the same thought.

The contestants in front of the equipment realized what happened and looked at each other in bewilderment.

Linghu Jian's expression changed to a gloomy one.

Dragon Emperor, Holy King, Oasis Gray and the others, found that the result was understandable after the initial shock.

He's truly a monster!

Everybody had the same thought.

Su Jin'er raised her eyebrows but she wasn't too surprised. She had sensed Su Ping's extraordinary astral power in their previous battle and knew that the result would've been more shocking if it were the real data.

Unfortunately, the specs of that equipment were below his range.

She shook his head and left.

Whoosh.

Su Ping dashed out of the equipment and saw the surprise on everyone's faces. He knew he had accumulated a shocking amount of astral power, but he didn't expect it to be that much. Is it because of the Chaos Star Chart?

The Star Lord standing nearby chuckled and said, "Well, our equipment seems to have underestimated our champion. As expected of Silvy's best genius. Awesome!"

He thought for a moment, then said, "I'll ask Lord Ciro for a more advanced detector."

Su Ping shook his head after being stunned for a moment. "No need to go through the trouble. I only tried it out for fun."

He returned to his former place in the crowd after saying that.

The Star Lord gave him a bitter smile but chose not to insist. From what he could gather, Su Ping's master must have measured his basic data and definitely knew his Astral Power Index; he had only taken the test to show off.

But he had to admit, it was a nice way to brag.

To have an Astral Power Index comparable to that of a Star Lord while still being a Fate State warrior. It was just the lower spectrum of the Star Lord State, but it was still unbelievable nonetheless.

"Brother Su… Awesome!" Claesabe didn't know what to say when he saw Su Ping return. He could only express his admiration with a bitter smile.

Likewise, Su Ping didn't know how to reply, so he simply smiled.

All the others lost interest after Su Ping took the test; nobody else tried. They had always been the geniuses who would crush people's confidence, yet here, the tables had turned.

Everybody dispersed after the Star Lords had finished showing them around. Some went to the training rooms, some to the mysterious realms, while others used the time to heal their wounds and rest.

Su Ping didn't leave; he went ahead and trained on his own in the third level of the training room.

The training room's third level contained a magnificent density of astral power. There, like a beating heart, astral power from the universe was pressed into Su Ping's pores!

It was the first time for Su Ping to see such a training method.

It was like wearing a powerful oxygen mask; even while simply laying down, the training room would automatically do the work!

It was true that poor people had to count on mutations while rich guys relied on technology.

Su Ping didn't want to go to the minor mysterious realm anymore after experiencing such privilege; he simply kept on training there. He had heard that the minor mysterious realm was connected to a void battlefield where they could fight.

Su Ping wasn't short on battle experience; he preferred spending time to study his second Astral Painting.

Drawing the second Astral Painting required a lot of astral power. Su Ping had gathered enough, but he felt assured if he trained in the training room; it was fine even if he made a few mistakes. His speed began to rise as he became familiar with the process.

Time flew.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. The spaceship flew across many galaxies and eventually jumped into a vast space.

In the dark and vast space—a golden statue as high as seven planets combined floated in the void like a giant. It looked majestical as it held a battle axe.