Astral Pet Store (WN)

"Huh?"

Fang Hanxue was so shocked that her body tightened up. Her eyes went wide once she saw clearly who the stranger was.

"Mons—Wait, Mr. Su!" Fang Hanxue blurted out in a mix of delight and shock.

She didn't expect to meet the monstrous champion that quickly; she had previously flattered him, asking for his protection, and they had actually met right after the match began!

She was truly lucky!

"Are you wounded?" Su Ping frowned when he saw her appearance.

Fang Hanxue was terrified; her delight faded away. She quickly said, "I'm fine; these are just minor injuries. I have medications… I won't hold you back!"

"Is that so? Just conceal your aura and follow me then," said Su Ping.

"Great!"

Fang Hanxue quickly nodded; she found a few of her valuable secret medications she had stored and swallowed them without hesitation. Her wounds were quickly healed, and her astral power was also replenished too; even the lost flesh on her shoulder had regrown.

Once she was fully recovered, she remembered the fleeing silver-armored woman. "Mr. Su, a partner from our galaxy with me. Would—Would you like us to find her?"

The silver-armored woman had abandoned her earlier, yet she didn't blame her; after all, both would have died if she would have chosen to stay.

"Okay."

Su Ping nodded. Since he needed a team, he would go for as many teammates as possible.

A moment later—

Both Su Ping and Fang Hanxue met with the silver-armored woman; the latter's jaw almost hit the ground when she saw them. She didn't know that the stranger who had suddenly disappeared was the monstrous champion!

She was instantly enthused by the turn of events.

They could endure for a very long time with Su Ping helping them, even if they got eliminated in the end; they might even advance to the top hundred!

The silver-armored woman was named Shirley; she also belonged to a renowned family.

"Was the man who ambushed us killed?"

"Not killed, only defeated."

They moved forward and chattered away. Fang Hanxue and Shirley learned that Su Ping had taken care of the genius who had ambushed them; they were shocked to find that a man who was too strong for them to handle had been finished off that quickly!

"Ambush!!"

They had snuck for dozens of kilometers when Su Ping made a sudden stop; the seemingly peaceful forest became weird after Su Ping said that.

Both Fang Hanxue and Shirley were shocked; they remained still, fearing that they would disturb him. They looked around with vigilance, searching for enemies with their secret techniques.

Su Ping glanced around coldly. He then narrowed his eyes all of a sudden, then disappeared from that place.

Three men were hidingIn the tertiary space, behind a certain giant tree. They were geniuses from the same galaxy who had set up a trap.

"Oh no!"

The three ambushers felt goosebumps all over their backs after seeing that one of the three newcomers had suddenly vanished. Then, a golden fist emerged from a deeper space and punched one of them.

The man was appalled; he roared furiously and slashed with a sword surrounded by powerful laws.

However, the golden fist was unstoppable and crushed it with ease, knocking the man out of the tertiary space and into the secondary space and making him vomit blood in the process.

As the golden fist punched, a lightning-like leg kicked like a whip and knocked them out of the tertiary space and into the trees.

One of them was surrounded by two pretty girls; he was instantly defeated by their secret techniques.

The other two were caught up by Su Ping and quickly finished off.

He's so strong!

Fang Hanxue and Shirley were in shock as they witnessed the battle; they would have surely been defeated without Su Ping being around. Those three ambushers were very strong, but Su Ping had swiftly located and killed them, which was an indicator of his abundant battle experience!

Just as I expected, monsters like him have been through countless battles; I'm not nearly as good as them! both girls thought.

Su Ping moved on with the girls after finishing off those men. Very soon, their badges glittered again, letting them know that there were fellow geniuses around.

…

A lot of warships and spaceships had gathered to observe the elimination contest being held in the deep-space continent.

Many strong families were present, as most contestants were their kin. They were worried that their descendants might get killed by hostile families after the competition because of their excellent performances, so they waited to offer protection and to keep an eye on the other families.

Some strong organizations were also there to recruit talents.

Aside from them, some Ascendant State experts were also observing from the Celestial Court.

There was a luxurious palace there; it had a balcony that offered a view of space beyond the Celestial Court. Only those in the Ascendant State were qualified to be there.

On the balcony—

An old man was wearing golden armor; he looked like a golden lion. The man said with a smile, "Why isn't Tong Tian here? He didn't join such a gala?"

A young man who was wearing a silver robe said, "I heard that he's been cultivating in seclusion. He must have also foreseen the upcoming catastrophe after noticing the waves of the universe, right? A lot of our friends are training in seclusion."

"We've made very little progress in the past ten thousand years. Too many Ascendants might die this time…" said a worried Ascendant expert; he could not help but look at the glowing heights of the Celestial Court.

"I heard that an Ascendant saw an ancient coffin floating out of the deeper spaces, deep in the Blood Sea Star Zone. It was destroying all laws on its way. Is that true?" asked another Ascendant solemnly.

"I've also heard that rumor. It seems that the Lord Supreme of the Blood Sea Star Zone had to personally seal the evil coffin!" said a white robed Ascendant who looked like a traveler.

"I also heard that there's a dragon head lingering in the eighth space of the Autumn Deer Star Zone while looking for its power. It is said to be a dragon species that had gone extinct millions of years ago. Its master must have perished!"

"If the master perishes, does the contract still exist?"

"Who knows? The horrifying men from ancient times might have special methods to create special contracts."

"It has to be at least a Celestial State beast to be able to wander in the eighth space. Common knowledge speaks of the nine layers of space in the universe. What kind of creatures can live in the ninth space? Are there other paths beyond the Celestial State?"

"Who knows? The Celestial State is already the highest level we can look up to."

"Tsk, tsk!"

"These are troubled times!" someone remarked with mixed feelings.

The others were also discussing recent events. They later focused their attention on the contest when they realized they couldn't reach any conclusions.

Being Ascendant State experts, they had seen too many contestants like them. Brilliant geniuses would emerge every time, but most would perish halfway and only a few would be able to reach the Ascendant State. Likewise, only the strongest of the top geniuses might eventually evolve to attain the Celestial State.

Therefore, none of those experts were truly amazed, even though those kids were far stronger than the average Fate State warrior.

Someone chuckled and said after watching for a while, "I heard that a great treasure appeared in the Divine Sea Mysterious Realm; those contestants are clearly stronger than the ones from previous years."

"Exactly. Look at those two kids; they even have the time to hunt advanced Star State beasts."

"That kid over there isn't bad either; he's not holding back anymore."

"All of them are gathering into groups; it must have been an order given by their superiors, since it can truly increase their odds of success."

Many Ascendant experts were eating, drinking and watching, like ancient emperors enjoying a jesters' show.

…

On the deep-space continent—

Several hours had passed; eight people had already gathered around Su Ping. The continent was quite vast, while there were only a hundred representatives from Silvy. Su Ping had defeated several dozens of enemies on his way, later running into a couple of geniuses from his galaxy. They had the opportunity to gather with the help of the badges.

One of the eight men was Sword Maniac from the Sword Deity Academy, who was also a high-ranking genius; however, he had run into a genius from another galaxy, and they had a fierce battle.

That genius was very strong, only slightly weaker than Linghu Jian. Sword Maniac was heavily wounded; he would have died without Su Ping.

He was currently part of the team, and he listened to Su Ping's commands.

Su Ping decided to give them a break after walking for a moment. "Let's take some rest. You're wounded."

"We'll hunt some beasts for food," two young men volunteered and left with Su Ping's permission. The roar of beasts echoed in the woods moments later, but they quickly died down. The two young men soon returned with what appeared to be a crocodile.

An indifferent-looking young man in white frowned and said, "Wouldn't it be too eye-catching if we eat here? There are enemies everywhere; we should be careful."

The two young men were stunned; they looked at Su Ping.

Su Ping waved his hands and said, "It doesn't matter. It just so happens that I'm also hungry. We'll just beat anyone who shows up. Anyway, battles are inevitable!

The young man frowned and disagreed with Su Ping, feeling that he was being arrogant, "That being said, we should wait until our group is bigger; our odds of winning potential clashes will be higher."

Su Ping raised his brows and said casually, "It's fine. I've got you covered."

The white-robed young man's expression changed a bit; he was gnashing his teeth, but he didn't say a thing.

The others looked at the young man and shook their heads, as he hadn't yet realized that they needed Su Ping; it wasn't the other way around.

Su Ping was still capable of surviving to the end without them.

"Just ignore him. Let's eat."

Sword Maniac stepped closer. He was the strongest genius present except for Su Ping, and was also proud in nature; he didn't want to lay low like a rat when Su Ping was by their side.

After all, even if they ran into geniuses from other galaxies, the latter had yet to form large groups; they could beat the enemy with Su Ping as the leader.

The two young hunters were delighted to receive Su Ping's permission; they quickly eviscerated the beast and gave its core to Su Ping.

Su Ping summoned the Little Skeleton and gave the core to it.

The Little Skeleton bit the core and absorbed it; the core quickly faded and turned into a white stone, quickly falling apart.

The little one was full; it fell apart into a bundle of bones, and the glittering patterns on the bones were gone. It seemed lifeless; any passing beast would mistake it for the remains of a human kid.

All the others looked weird when they saw the Little Skeleton. They knew that the complex patterns on its bones was an indicator of a deep understanding of laws; the little Fate State pet had to be extraordinary.

Soon after, the beast was roasted by Fang Hanxue and Shirley; someone brought out seasonings and applied them to the meat; the fragrance was then spread out.

Fang Hanxue sliced off the most delicious leg of the beast and gave it to Su Ping. Then, the others would share the rest of the beast.

The young man in white was also drooling, but everybody chose to ignore him; he was too proud to ask for meat, so he had to hold back his hunger.

While they leisurely ate and drank… a giant stone emerged from the deeper space above them and fell thunderously.

Su Ping raised his eyebrows and punched, shattering the stone to pieces. The others also became vigilant, knowing that enemies had arrived.

"Die!"

Sword Maniac drew his sword and locked onto the enemy, then dashing over brutally.

The other geniuses also took action and summoned their strongest pets. They didn't use their secondary pets to avoid making a racket. After all, top geniuses like them were far stronger than their pets; their pets would only act as support during battle.