Astral Pet Store (WN)

In the blink of an eye, three federal days had almost passed.

Only the last five hours remained.

The young man with a divine constitution was shivering slightly while currently holding onto the 198th handle; it would seem that he was fighting something fiercely.

He had always been above everybody else, as expected by the Ascendant State experts and the top hundred contestants. Still, they were shocked to see that he had reached the 198th handle!

It had to be noted that the others were mostly between the 70th and the 90th handles; he was a hundred handles above them!

The person who ranked second was a young man with golden hair who was as handsome as an elf; still, he was only at the 173rd handle.

The third person was at the 165th handle.

Their gap was quite obvious; their achievement would have been more eye-catching if the young man with divine constitution wasn't there.

The other geniuses with Ascendant potential were mostly around the 150th handle. Su Jin'er was at the 157th handle; she had a solemn look, as opposed to her casual self. She seemed to be already exhausted; she would at most reach the 160th handle.

Apart from geniuses who had the hope of rising to the Ascendant State, Dragon Emperor, the Thousand Leaves Holy Lady, Linghu Jian and the others who were in the third tier had also crossed the hundreth handle mark.

"I've only passed ninety handles, but I can't climb any further."

"Our limits are just their starting points; I don't know what to say."

"This increase in difficulty is unbelievable. He's a hundred handles above us. Damn it!"

"I thought I would be the green leaf to highlight their flowers, but they've left me so far behind that I'm the root at most!"

Many were complaining. They were devastated after seeing the appalling height reached by the young man with a divine constitution, while they also questioned themselves.

"Looks like he's going to be the champion this year."

In the balcony—many Ascendant State experts focused their attention on the current first ranker, the young man with a divine constitution; all of them became hopeful as he approached the 200th handle.

"The one in second place seems to be the reincarnation of a phoenix. I hear he has pure inborn phoenix blood."

"What a shame. He has encountered a Reincarnation Divine Constitution, which is extremely rare."

"Interesting. The game is almost over, yet one of the kids is still enjoying it."

"Huh?"

Someone threw a hint, then many shifted their eyes to see the young man who was grasping the 110th handle. It was an unremarkable height; however, the young man had shown enough strength to reach the 150th, if not the 170th handle, with ease.

Why is he still lingering at the 110th handle?

Is he concealing his strength?

But it had already been exposed earlier.

The purpose of participating is to show off; why come here if he wants to hide his strength?

Many Ascendants were puzzled. There were only five hours left; even if the kid were to sprint at full speed, how far could he go? He didn't have enough time!

What is he thinking?

Ciro rubbed his hands anxiously while sitting at the edge of his seat. He regarded Su Ping and Su Jin'er very highly, but he had felt really pissed because of Su Ping in the previous two days.

Why is he not climbing?

He's capable of making it to the top ten or even the top five, but he'll hardly reach the top ten now!

He won't have a chance for a do over if he misses the opportunity!

Does he think he can reach the top by sprinting in the end? He's being overly confident! Ciro almost wanted to go and give him an earful.

He realized that Su Jin'er was more obedient.

If both of them were that confident and didn't reach top ten, he would surely vomit blood in fury.

"Greetings."

On the ladder—Su Ping saw Linghu Jian and Dragon Emperor catch up. He was slightly surprised to see those two "love birds" who were very close back in the mysterious realm, and now there.

"Huh? You're still here?"

Both of them were stunned to see Su Ping.

It's already this late in the match, yet Su Ping is still in this place?

They had been too focused on resisting the ladder's attacks to pay attention to Su Ping. They thought that he would have surely rushed to the top, even though he had lingered in the beginning.

Yet, Su Ping was still at their height when the game was almost over?

"Brother Su, don't you want to compete for the top ten?" Linghu Jian could not help asking.

He had always been proud and taciturn, but he could not stop himself from asking Su Ping.

Su Ping shook his head.

"You're giving up?" Dragon Emperor was also shocked too. Why would he give up when he's so strong?

"I want to be the champion," said Su Ping.

"!!"

Both of them were lost for words.

"I'm mostly prepared. I'll be taking my leave now." Su Ping smiled at them.

They smiled bitterly; it would be impossible for him to catch up when he was left so far behind.

However, they weren't as strong as him, so they couldn't teach him anything. They could only nod and say, "Good luck."

Su Ping smiled again and then climbed further. After doing some experiments, he figured out a way to store the understanding of laws in his body.

He could contemplate them after the match was over.

There was indeed not a lot of time left.

No more words were said as Su Ping quickly started climbing.

Whoosh!

Su Ping quickly jumped to the handle right above him. The power of laws had instantly attacked him, but Su Ping unleashed an enormous force with widened eyes before the law-based attack was fully gathered, destroying it with violent willpower and his attained laws.

Su Ping caught the power in the destroyed attack with a hand made with laws before it was dispersed, then moved it to his body.

After that, he continued climbing.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Su Ping climbed up like an agile monkey. Even though he didn't jump over multiple handles like others did, he was still shockingly fast.

It had to be noted that all the attacks he endured at such a height were in the advanced phase of the Star State!

Su Ping stayed for no more than ten seconds at every handle, resuming the climb after a brief pause.

Su Ping reached the 120th handle in the blink of an eye.

There were several meters between every two handles; he was dozens of meters away from Linghu Jian and Dragon Emperor.

"Well…"

The pair looked up, dumbfounded. The Thousand Leaves Holy Lady and several others who were on another ladder were equally shocked.

It was extremely difficult for them to climb higher; they had to try their best to deal with the attacks. Still, Su Ping had resolved them easily?

Su Ping's rapid sprinting caught a lot of attention; some people higher above looked down and took notice, seeming surprised for a short while.

They were at first surprised to see that Su Ping was still underneath them, when all of them knew he was capable of climbing to the 150th handle.

"This guy…"

Su Jin'er noticed Su Ping too; she had paid a lot of attention to him. After all, he was much more talented than the others were.

He didn't start sprinting until the game was almost over. He's too confident of himself. Su Jin'er frowned. She didn't feel that Su Ping was arrogant when they met; she had found him rather approachable. She didn't expect that he would become as cocky as the other geniuses.

That was a fatal weakness that caused the deaths of many geniuses.

"Look, the kid has started sprinting."

In the balcony—some Ascendants noticed Su Ping, who had performed magnificently in earlier battles. He was definitely one of the top three players apart from the unreasonable young man with a divine constitution.

"He didn't start running until just now? It's a bit late."

The other Ascendants noticed this too, and could only shake their heads.

He was being overly confident.

That was not a good thing; after all, overconfidence meant stupidity.

Su Ping would have had the chance of making it to the top ten had he tried his best since the beginning, but now he would hardly make it!

Ciro had almost burst into tears of joy when he saw Su Ping move, but his heart became heavy when he heard that. He knew they were right; he regretted not teaching the kid a lesson earlier, which would have prevented him from being cocky. He really shouldn't have gone easy on the geniuses!

He blamed himself; he was planning to teach Su Ping a good lesson after the competition was over, or he would surely suffer in the future!

Su Ping had just reached the 130th handle at the moment.

His fast pace continued, reaching each handle in ten seconds; it only took him a minute and a half to cover ten handles.

"He's truly capable of making it to the top five. Alas, he started too late."

"He's still moving really fast. He's truly gifted."

"The unfortunate thing is that the difficulty above the 150th ladder is way higher."

Many Ascendants shook their heads even harder.

They felt that it was a shame that a man with such great potential had been too confident.

At that moment, on the ladder—Su Ping was attracting more and more attention. All the geniuses down below were shocked; they were approaching their limits, climbing with everything they had. And yet, Su Ping was climbing as if it were a normal mountain. It was brutal!

"He's about to reach the 140th handle; it's only been a few minutes…"

Dragon Emperor, Linghu Jian and the others stopped and gazed at Su Ping; he was moving so fast that they couldn't take their eyes away.

They had thought that it would take hours for Su Ping to reach the 150th handle. However, it was already within his reach after only a few minutes passed.

They looked at each other and suddenly realized why Su Ping had dared to linger.

"I wonder if he has enough time." Linghu Jian seemed worried. He had not spoken a lot with Su Ping, but he regarded him as a friend; he would surely prefer that he won instead of someone from another galaxy.

After a long silence, Dragon Emperor suddenly whispered, "Have you noticed that he's climbing even faster than that guy?"

Linghu Jian was stunned by the revelation; his pupils narrowed afterwards.

Su Ping slowed down a bit after the 140th handle. It took him half a minute to pass each handle; even so, it was still a shocking speed. Many Ascendants stopped making assumptions; they seemed to be genuinely surprised.

"He's so fast!"

"How long has it been? Judging from his speed, will he manage to reach the 150th handle in ten minutes?"

"He dawdled for too long, and yet he's catching up so quickly. He's truly…"

Ciro was stunned; Su Ping was too fast. He thought that Su Ping didn't have enough time, but the young man was already catching up to the progress he should have made under normal circumstances.

Is this the reason why Su Ping is so confident?

He suddenly became both anxious and eager. Considering the speed, there was a good chance for Su Ping to make it to the top ten, if not the top five or even the top three!

Ten minutes later—

Su Ping reached the 150th handle.

He ran into a few geniuses who had Ascendant State potential.

Still, he ignored them and continued his fast-paced climb.

Su Ping realized that the air of laws around him was even more exuberant there. He felt as if he were in the fifth space, where the atmosphere of laws was similarly rich; anybody could be easily inspired.

Su Ping's eyes glittered; it became increasingly clear to him that the test of the Heavenly Path Mountain was actually a prize!

However, only those who were worthy could claim such a prize.

The attacks at the 150th handle were even more powerful and assorted. Some were based on pure laws, with some almost being complete paths. Their might was at the top level of the Star State.

Some were mental invasions and a horrifying external pressure that could cause significant damage to the body.

Su Ping took a deep breath, unleashing his astral power and activating the Astral Painting to melt the unparalleled aggressiveness into his mental power. It cut everything apart like a sharp sword.

Whoosh!

Su Ping didn't slow down at all, simply unleashing more and more abundant power. The other participants on the ladders sensed his radiating astral power; it felt like a furnace.

Ten minutes later, Su Ping saw Su Jin'er.

However, he was fully devoted to climbing at the moment, so he didn't greet her like before.

Su Jin'er's eyes were glittering; she was stunned as she saw that Su Ping had turned a blind eye, mainly focusing on the ladder.

The guy didn't even see girls when he's fully focused?

She curled her lips, not angered by his actions. She actually admired him even more.

Very soon, Su Ping reached the 160th handle.

It had only been half an hour since he started his mad run, and he was already in ninth place!

"Good lord, he's in the top ten!"

"How long has it been? He's unbelievably fast!"

"He's moving that fast even after the 150th handle? He's a little monster too!"

In the balcony—many Ascendants showed surprise. They had at first thought that it was too late for him to reach that spot, and still he accomplished this in only half an hour.

There were four and a half hours left to go. Considering Su Ping's speed, there was a good chance that he could make it to the top three!