Astral Pet Store (WN)

A leaf-shaped spaceship emerged from deeper spaces, right above the balcony where the Ascendants were gathered. It had a thin shape, almost resembling a sharp blade; there was a glowing hand pattern underneath the spaceship.

"Let's go," You Long said.

All the Ascendants present stood up to say their goodbyes to You Long. Some of them approached him while taking their winning proteges along, all to ask him to take care of them during the trip.

Being a friendly man, You Long accepted the requests with a smile.

Su Ping saw that Linghu Jian was standing next to a white-haired old man, whose beard dangled in front of his chest like a sword.

The old man, while observing Su Ping, suddenly said to Linghu Jian in a low voice, "It wasn't your fault that you lost to him."

Linghu Jian was slightly stunned by his remark. He smiled bitterly and said, "Thank you, master."

"He is truly a human-shaped monster with inexhaustible astral power, easily able to shatter your sword techniques!"

Noticing that Su Ping was looking back at him, the old man smiled at him and then said to his disciple telepathically, "Your sword techniques aren't good enough. You might have been able to chop his astral power apart if you had grasped the third level of the Sea Cutting Sword Technique, no matter how overwhelming it was!"

"Master, can I really grasp the third level with my current cultivation?" Linghu Jian couldn't help but ask.

He remembered that his master was quite satisfied when he grasped the second level, thinking it was a truly rare occurrence for someone of his level to do that.

As for the third level…

He wasn't quite there yet.

"It has nothing to do with your cultivation. A higher level will give you a comprehensive improvement, so that you'll be smarter, and thus be able to understand it with more ease. However, a genius like you still has a chance to grasp the third level with your current cultivation," said the old man telepathically.

Linghu Jian was stunned into silence.

"That young man is the best in this star zone this time."

A lot of people were observing Su Ping in the balcony; many were part of the families backing the top hundred contestants, such as Dragon Emperor and Claesabe. After all, it was a great thing that their descendants would rise to the top hundred.

Given their familial relations, they were given the privilege to visit them.

"I didn't know that you were able to rise to the top hundred with his help. My goodness. It's an accomplishment that even your grandfather failed to achieve. You must thank him properly if there's a chance," said a brawny man next to Claesabe with a smile.

"Father, keep your voice down. You're surrounded by Ascendant State experts," said Claesabe with a guilty-ridden face.

"You are part of the top hundred, and you also have the hope of reaching the Ascendant State. Keep it up, or I'll break your legs. Oh right, you must not touch any women until you reach the Ascendant State!"

"…"

Very soon, as per You Long's instruction, all the contestants bade farewell to their families and entered the spaceship.

Those related to the contestants who had qualified thanks to Su Ping's protection were gazing at him; they wore friendly smiles when Su Ping looked back at them.

"Senior brother, I want to say goodbye to my friends," said Su Ping.

You Long was momentarily stunned, but then said with a smile, "Fine."

Su Ping immediately flew out of the balcony. He went to the space beyond the Celestial Court, immediately seeing a massive planet at the periphery; it was much more eye-catching than the spacecraft carriers.

Therefore, a lot of media representatives from other galaxies were covering the news about the planet's presence, wondering who was using it like a warship.

Su Ping soon arrived on Rhea after traveling through deep space.

He didn't enter the planet; he had sensed Green Lady's thoughts when he was close to the atmosphere.

"Senior Green Lady, you don't need to come; the place I'm going to is rather complicated. It's a top mysterious realm in the universe and a few Celestials will be there; you might get exposed," said Su Ping via telepathy.

Green Lady said, "It's fine. There's nothing to be scared of while I stay inside your store."

Su Ping was lost for words. He smiled bitterly and said, "Senior, while the master backing me is strong, it isn't easy for them to deal with the Celestial State experts. My master also dislikes showing up in public."

The Green Lady remained silent for a while.

According to her perception, the being behind Su Ping was definitely a Deity King (Celestial State expert,) or even a Deity Emperor who could live eternally!

However, since Su Ping had put it like that, that could be the wish of the being protecting him.

Not daring to disobey, she said after a moment of silence, "Okay, take care of yourself."

She had already detected the Deity King's aura in that place. She could have been exposed if Su Ping's store hadn't concealed her own aura. She preferred keeping a distance to avoid unnecessary trouble.

"Senior, please move the planet back to where it was; I'll go back when the contest is over. Please take care of the business while I'm away," said Su Ping in relief.

Green Lady was lost for words. Why does he still care about his business?

She could easily loot all the wealth on the planet if Su Ping truly wanted money.

"Take care of yourself," said Green Lady, severing the communication.

Su Ping smiled and went back.

He quickly returned to the balcony. You Long looked into the distance after he saw that he was back; he seemed to be in deep thought. But then he put on a relaxed smile again and said, "Junior brother, your friend seems to be rather extraordinary."

Su Ping was really alarmed by this. A Heavenly Lord like him had already scanned Rhea?

He must have sensed that something was wrong. After all, an Ascendant was able to easily detect all the areas on the planet except his store, which was as eye-catching as a grain of sesame in the middle of the snow.

Su Ping only smiled, choosing not to say anything.

It wasn't a big deal, even if his store was blocked; the man was his senior brother anyway; the incident would not change a thing.

You Long remained silent, but he respected Su Ping even more. There was a store on the planet that not even he was able to see through. Whoever was inside had to be a horrifying existence, or invincible even among Ascendants.

A moment later—Su Ping and Diaz boarded the spaceship under You Long's lead.

The spaceship seemed to be thin, but it was actually quite spacious and luxurious.

"It will only take half a day for us to reach the Divine Sea Mysterious Realm, so I won't arrange a training room for you. It's been an exhausting contest so far; have some rest first. It's not a good thing to have taut nerves all of the time." You Long smiled at Su Ping and Diaz.

Diaz shook his head and said, "Senior brother, I prefer training."

Su Ping had a lot to digest. He also said, "Senior brother, training is resting; it would be a shame to waste half a day."

"Well, you…"

You Long was stunned. He looked at them, then he shook his head with a smile and said, "Not only you're more talented but also more hardworking than others. How can they possibly beat you? Fine. Diligence is a good thing. Master will kill me if he learns that I didn't let you train."

He led them to a training room and said, "This is the special training room I use all the time. It's possible to adjust the astral power inside; I've lowered it to Star State level-10, which should be good enough for you."

Diaz instantly expressed his gratitude.

So did Su Ping.

"That's all right."

You Long waved his hand, opened the door of the training room and summoned a Star Lord guard. "Give them whatever they need."

The Star Lord nodded respectfully, and then bowed towards Su Ping and Diaz; both were surprised by his attitude. After all, he was a Star Lord!

The training room was quite spacious; it had a strong gravity that could temper the body. It also contained dense astral power and a special attraction force.

It was good enough to prevent one's astral power from leaking out, let alone absorbing astral power. However, if one was adapted to the environment, training here would be very efficient.

After giving the instructions, You Long left Su Ping and Diaz alone in the room.

They were the only two in the enclosed room.

Su Ping had planned to check the materials for the Solar Bulwark that Xingyue Shen'er sought for him, but since he wasn't alone, he had to absorb the broken pieces first.

"This training room seems to be special."

Su Ping felt that it wasn't as easy to absorb astral power as before while he cultivated. He closed his eyes and fully activated the Chaos Star Chart. The astral power inside his cells began to spin like vortices, unleashing a strong attraction force.

The weird pulling force was instantly weakened; astral power flooded into his body and filled his cells, improving and strengthening him.

Su Ping had also sensed a refreshing aura in the room as he cultivated, which cleared his mind and reminded him of a lot of things which had escaped his attention; he found solutions to a lot of problems too.

Su Ping could not help but feel amazed by Senior Brother You's training room.

"Your cultivation technique is really similar to my divine constitution!"

Diaz's voice was suddenly heard close by.

Su Ping opened his eyes, only to find that Diaz was staring at him with a gloomy expression; there was also a vague tinge of disbelief and anger in his eyes.

Su Ping saw the black holes which had appeared around the guy's body, attracting the astral power nearby. They were similar to the black holes inside his body, sucking astral power, making his cultivation progress at an equally fast pace.

"Junior brother, your divine constitution is really good," said Su Ping with a smile.

Diaz raised his eyebrows. "You're calling me junior brother?"

"Are you not, junior brother?" said Su Ping with a smile.

Diaz's lips trembled. Their master had recruited them at the same time and he didn't mention who was senior, but Su Ping had won the championship and was evidently the stronger one. Seeing it from that angle, he could really be the junior brother.

"I will catch up and defeat you."

Diaz snorted and said, "My divine constitution has just been manifested; there are infinite treasures in it that haven't been developed yet. Let's compete again after it's fully developed!"

"Fine by me, Junior Brother Ten Handles," said Su Ping with a smile.

"You!"

Diaz was furious. Junior Brother Ten Handles? The guy was clearly referring to his ten-handle declaration.

He was close to blushing as he thought of the outcome, almost going on a rampage when Su Ping stared at him with teasing eyes.

However, he would be a real loser if he threw a tantrum; he gritted his teeth and kept quiet.

Su Ping smiled once again, but then stopped making fun of him. He closed his eyes and focused on cultivating.

The gathered fragments of laws were slowly being released. He devoted himself to understanding them.

The laws were deeply analyzed, one after the other. They were inching ever closer to become complete paths.

Time flew by, and half a day passed in the blink of an eye. Su Ping felt that he had just started meditating when he was woken up.

Su Ping shook his head, feeling that he needed more time; he was wondering why the contest had been conducted in such a rush this time.

The system's voice suddenly echoed. "The sky is changing."

Su Ping was really shocked by that remark; it had been a long time since the system had spoken. Surprised and infuriated, he asked, "Can you give me a heads-up before you decide to talk? What do you mean by the sky changing? The weather?"

The system, however, didn't sound as relaxed as before. He said solemnly, "I mean the sky of your universe, which is countless light years above your head!"

Su Ping was stunned. It was rare to see the system act that seriously. He couldn't help but look up, only to see the dome of the training room. He wanted to fly out and observe the space; however, he didn't do it in the end, as there was no distinction between up and down, even if he were to go out there.

There were countless stars and cold space in every direction. Was there even a sky?

"Do you know why?" asked Su Ping.

The system stopped talking.

Su Ping tried asking several times, only to be received with nothing but silence. He was really angered by the system, for bringing up the subject in such a vague way!

He decided not to think about it further; there would be stronger experts to worry about that problem anyway. It would be better for him to focus on winning the championship prize.

Once the competition was over, he would be able to improve his level.

He had held back and avoided breaking through for a long time; there was no telling what level he would reach.

I need to accompany Joanna to the Archean Divinity too. I've taken too long in fulfilling that promise, Su Ping thought. He felt sorry for Joanna, and could only shake his head. Then, the training room was opened, and Senior Brother You Long was standing by the door.

"Come on out. We've arrived."