Astral Pet Store (WN)

"I won," said Su Ping.

Although relieved, Elder Yan remarked with a somewhat troubled tone, "I thought you had lost that one. You were there for only two minutes. I knew you had a good chance to succeed, but victory came too fast…"

He was truly amazed by Su Ping's performance; he was surprised by it every time.

"Do you want to continue issuing challenges?"

"Yes, I want to challenge the 40th spot," said Su Ping.

"Sure."

Elder Yan accepted his request immediately.

Five minutes later, Su Ping exited the virtual battlefield again. The elder immediately asked, "What about this time? Did you win?"

"I won…"

Su Ping continued, "Make an appointment with the 30th for me, please."

"The 30th…" Elder Yan was in a trance. Su Ping is already capable of fighting the 30th place holder of the Divine Lord Rank? How long has he been in the Star State?

"Sure," Elder Yan snapped out of it and accepted the request.

Soon after, the battle started.

This time, it took eight minutes for Su Ping to open his eyes again. Elder Yan quickly asked, "Did you win?"

"I lost." Su Ping shook his head and pondered over the previous battle.

He had made use of all the skills and powers he had in his arsenal.

Still, he was defeated in the end.

His opponent used an odd secret technique able to corrupt his small world and deactivate his power of faith for a brief moment. Even half his astral power was suppressed.

I can accumulate more power in my body. My constitution can be further improved, and so are my secret techniques… Su Ping realized his shortcomings after the battle. Without it he would have still been under the illusion that he was invincible with his newfound power.

Shortcomings cannot be ascertained without failure.

"It's understandable." Elder Yan wasn't surprised, as failure was to be expected. It would have been surprising to see Su Ping win again.

After all, wasn't it perfectly normal for a Star State cultivator to lose to the 30th spot holder of the Divine Lord Rank?

"You're still new to the Star State. Even though Master's special training for you has ended, there's still a lot of room for improvement. Challenge them again after cultivating for a few years," said Elder Yan.

Su Ping nodded. Not wishing to linger, he returned with Elder Yan to continue his training.

Inside the training room—

Su Ping concentrated his astral power and condensed stars inside his body. The third Astral Painting was his goal.

The second Astral Painting had brought him infinite strength, and the third Astral Painting could further strengthen his defense!

Such protection was not just physical; it also involved many other aspects, such as willpower and astral power.

Part of his astral power was brittle; it would shatter or be restrained by a greater power. Taking his previous battle as an example, half of Su Ping's astral power had been suppressed by his opponent's mystifying technique.

However, had his astral power been sturdier, it would have been more useful in such scenarios!

Astral runes were rising and rippling inside the training room. They were so effective that people would be able to cultivate automatically, even if they only slept there. Conscious cultivating would produce even more shocking results.

There were also shelves of rare herbs besides the astral rune array. Some of them could activate a person's veins and accelerate the speed of astral power absorption. Others could set a fire in one's body to refine astral power. All those medications ready and available for Su Ping to take.

Su Ping condensed twenty-seven stars in just two months. He was able to make good progress on developing the third Astral Painting!

Several days passed, and the third Astral Painting was finally condensed.

The Mystic Star Astral Painting!

Su Ping activated his astral power, and a special energy surged out of the third Astral Painting located within his body. His mind, eyes and ears were then sharpened.

All the geniuses on the Divine Lord Rank have aimed at my neck, heart and other vitals in earlier battles, since they could hardly make a dent in my other body parts. I wonder if they can still cut my neck, now that I've been fortified by the Mystic Star Astral Painting…

Su Ping left the training room while deep in thought.

Elder Yan was surprised to find that Su Ping wanted to challenge the Divine Lord Rank again, because he hadn't taken any special training recently. He had surely made significant progress in two months, but not to a large degree.

However, he didn't advise Su Ping against it, as he deemed it as an opportunity to practice.

He didn't go with Su Ping this time. He simply told him how to make appointments and gave him an account with enough money to pay for the appointments.

…

Su Ping arrived at the plaza alone; he went and made an appointment as Elder Yan had instructed, then wore the virtual helmet and waited for the battle.

Soon, his opponent appeared—the cultivator in 30th place of the Divine Lord Rank. It was a handsome young man.

Once the battle began, Su Ping dual-merged with his pets and had a head on clash with his opponent, just like before.

However, Su Ping didn't dodge or resist this time, merely standing silently in place.

Bang!

His opponent's spear stabbed at his throat; weirdly enough, it was unable to pierce him. The spear left a tiny red spot on his skin after bouncing back, which soon disappeared, as if nothing had happened.

Just as I expected…

Su Ping was rather delighted; his opponent was quite strong, with a spear that was very likely a powerful secret treasure. However, he was too sturdy at the moment. His Golden Crow body was already as hard as a Star Lord's, and it had been further activated by both the Immortal Phoenix's blood and the Mystic Star Astral Painting. He would probably remain safe even if he was attacked by hundreds of Star Lords!

The only people who could hurt him would be the exceptional geniuses.

While the might of such gifted fighters was still below that of Ascendant experts, they had indeed surpassed the limits of the Star Lord State. The ones at the top of the list in the Divine Lord Ranking for instance; they could easily annihilate any advanced Star Lord.

Bang!

Su Ping slashed his sword. He no longer tried to defend himself as he attacked in full force.

The handsome young man soon performed the same weird technique, which began to corrode Su Ping's small world. However, the corrosion rate was much slower this time. A hole had been produced in only one minute when they first fought, but now his small world wouldn't crack until several minutes later.

A few minutes were more than enough for Su Ping to act.

He did not believe that his opponent would be able to use such a powerful technique for minutes. He would be a real monster if he could.

Aside from his small world, the astral power inside Su Ping's body was no longer as suppressed as before. He was still being affected, but he kept control over most of his astral power.

A minute later, his opponent's weird technique was dispelled, and Su Ping instantly felt that he had been fortified. He executed the guy in merely ten seconds.

He finally defeated the cultivator in 30th place!

Su Ping was thrilled; he thought he was getting really close to the top ten.

Once he returned to the plaza, Su Ping thought for a moment and decided to challenge the tenth spot holder directly.

The one in tenth place was a woman wearing a black robe. She had an alluring body figure and pale cheeks; her eyes were green and clear.

A minute later—

Su Ping found himself back at the plaza. He blinked and found it hard to believe; he had expected her to be much stronger than the one in 30th place, but she was even stronger than he thought. She was unable to hurt his body, but he did sense some pain, and her ultimate skill had simply severed his head!

She has mastered the path of destruction!

She's much better at the path of destruction than I am. Her power is so destructive that even Star Lords raised by the major organizations would probably not withstand a single attack, Su Ping thought.

He even wondered if the purple bracelet his master had offered him could resist the woman's attack.

I may have to spend more time on the paths of time, destruction and vitality. I'll probably become a true immortal if I gain a deeper understanding on the path of vitality. Even if my head is blown up and my body torn apart, I can still be reborn with just one drop of blood… Su Ping's eyes flashed. He realized that he still had a lot of room for improvement.

He thought for a moment and challenged the one in 20th place.

Several minutes later, Su Ping opened his eyes again. He had failed; even the ranker on the 20th spot was still formidably strong. He currently had a very sturdy complexion, but his opponent had made his body decay with a special poison, defeating him in the end.

I am very resistant to poison, but his poison broke through my small world. How bizarre! Su Ping shook his head.

All the outstanding geniuses had their own share of unusual trump cards. Su Ping had to admit that they were really good.

He didn't stay for too long.. He left the plaza and continued his training.