Astral Pet Store (WN)

"You're going to challenge the Divine Lord Rank, and you want me to go with you?"

In the courtyard—Elder Yan had been reading an ancient book at the time. He looked at Su Ping in surprise. He had rarely taught Su Ping anything during all his years being apprenticed. After all, the special training program had been completed, and all that Su Ping needed was to accumulate more energy. He could tell that Su Ping was making progress every day.

"Yes."

Su Ping nodded with an unusual expression.

Seeing such a response, Elder Yan suddenly widened his eyes and asked in shock, "Please don't tell me you're confident of challenging the top ten of the Divine Lord Rank. Is it so?"

"Yes."

Su Ping nodded again.

"…"

Elder Yan was lost for words for a moment. He said with a bitter smile, "I thought it would take ten years. Only three years have passed."

He didn't know what to say.

Su Ping had only been in the Celestial Court for three years, yet he had practically risen to the top ten of the Divine Lord Rank. Such a leap was truly horrifying!

His astonishment was substantial, even after having seen a fair share of unusual things in his day. If news were to spread out, the entire universe would probably be shocked!

"Are you confident?" Elder Yan asked.

"Yes."

Su Ping nodded.

The elder was again lost for words; he knew he shouldn't have asked. Su Ping wouldn't have been as solemn if he weren't confident. Even if he failed this time, he would definitely succeed before long.

"Do you really plan to leave after you succeed?" asked Elder Yan.

Su Ping nodded. "You've taken great care of me over the years. Don't hesitate to contact me if you need me to do anything."

"I didn't really do much; it was all Master's instruction." Elder Yan transferred the favor to his master. The favor from a genius such as Su Ping could be really useful; he wouldn't have bothered had someone else thanked him.

"Three years… How time flies." Elder Yan felt conflicted. Normal geniuses progressed quickly at the beginning, but they would slow down as they reached the Star State or became Star Lords. They would usually be stagnant for decades before being able to evolve. However, Su Ping retained his previous advancement speed, which was unbelievable.

"I haven't investigated your old opponents, but I have no doubt that you're the one who has made the greatest progress. You were the best in the Star State earlier on; you're probably the best in the Star State now. I hope you can rise to the top of the Divine Lord Rank someday!" said a hopeful Elder Yan.

Su Ping nodded.

The two of them immediately left for the city of virtual arenas together.

Hardly had they arrived when Su Ping noticed a familiar man who was about to leave.

"Humph!"

Su Ping saw Diaz, while the latter saw him too. They had been admitted by Shen Huang as disciples at the same time. Many people had compared them, discussing which of them had greater potential. Most answers pointed at Su Ping.

Su Ping deserved their expectation. After all, it was the champion, who had an unknown high-performing constitution.

Speaking of which, Su Ping's constitution had been confirmed and officially recorded in the encyclopedia of the Federation. The previous nine divine constitutions had become ten divine constitutions!

It was a hit in the Celestial Court. It wasn't hard to imagine how shocking the news would be in the outside world!

The nine divine constitutions had been at the top of the pyramid of body types for more than a hundred thousand years. Su Ping's was the only new addition. Also—given his status as champion of the Universe Geniuses' Contest—Su Ping was now considerably popular all over the universe, and was receiving a lot of public attention.

However, all the information on Su Ping had been blocked. Nobody had updates from his progress in the Celestial Court; there wasn't a single morsel to be found.

"Do you have a minute? Let's practice." Diaz had always been angry with Su Ping. He added, "I condensed a small world and rose to the 70th on the Divine Lord Rank. It's a completely different me, considering my performances from three years ago!"

Su Ping put on a weird expression. Elder Yan said with amusement, "Did my old friend not inform you of Su Ping's current progress?"

One of Shen Huang's pets had been tasked with teaching Diaz, and a special training program had similarly been drafted for him.

Diaz had completed the training and become a lot stronger over the years. He had also managed to condense a small world. Reaching the 70th place in only three years was quite the feat.

Unfortunately, Su Ping was even crazier. Elder Yan felt sorry for Diaz.

Both of them had the best constitutions, but their gifts in other aspects were truly different.

Diaz was definitely not weak; Su Ping was simply growing too fast. Shen Huang had mentioned that Su Ping's own cultivation technique was rather powerful, so he didn't teach Su Ping any cultivation techniques; just the secret technique named Thousand rain.

"Huh?"

Diaz was stunned for a moment; he had a bad feeling after seeing Elder Yan's expression. He then asked, frowning, "His current situation? What situation? Is he already able to easily defeat the 70th ranker from the Divine Lord listing?"

The elder didn't want to frustrate Diaz. He said, "You're not wrong about that. All in all, the gap between you two is too wide. You're no match for him at this point; such a practice is unnecessary."

Unnecessary?

Diaz was stunned. He would've burst into fury had anyone else said that.

That was the most insulting statement possible, wasn't it?

However, it was Elder Yan himself who had made the statement, and he didn't know what to say. His heart was cold too. Has Su Ping surpassed me again?

His face then showed regret; he still wanted to insist on a battle against Su Ping, but he eventually held back his urge.

Elder Yan's attitude had made him vaguely realize the answer, but he was truly reluctant to give up!

He had been working hard enough, yet he was being constantly dwarfed!

He had never experienced that in the past; it all began when he met Su Ping. He was always the one who left other people so far behind they couldn't possibly catch up with him—

And now he was the one being left behind.

Looking at Diaz's expression—seemingly suffering from constipation—Su Ping had mixed feelings too. He said, "I'm about to leave the Celestial Court. See you. Feel welcome to visit my store when you're free."

He then waved his hand and left with Elder Yan.

Diaz was stunned. Su Ping's going to leave the Celestial Court?

The plaza's environment was very comfortable, and the people in the area were friendly. Why would he want to leave?

He felt really depressed for a moment. On the other hand, he too felt slightly delighted.

If Su Ping left, he would definitely not find a training environment as good as in the Celestial Court. So, would he have a chance to catch up with him?

He dropped the idea the moment it occurred to him. He cursed himself for even thinking about such a demeaning method!

Diaz shook his head and returned to his palace.

"What's wrong?"

Inside the palace—an old man was surprised to see the genius return that quickly. Losing challenges for a spot in the Divine Lord Rank were nothing unusual. Why is he so upset?

"That guy is leaving," said Diaz with a gloomy attitude.

The old man asked, "That guy… Do you mean Su Ping?"

"Who else can it be?" Diaz was bummed. Who deserved his attention except Su Ping?

"Where is he going? Didn't Master say that he isn't allowed to leave the Divine Lord Rank unless he's capable of beating the tenth place holder on the Divine Lord Rank?" asked the old man in confusion.

Diaz trembled and suddenly raised his head. He asked with wild disbelief, "W-What did you say?"

He even forgot to address him as "senior."

Seeing how shocked he was, the old man remembered what Elder Yan had told him during a conversation from half a year prior; he then wondered if that young disciple was already capable of doing that.

…

Inside the plaza—

Elder Yan made an appointment for Su Ping, and the latter entered the virtual battlefield with practiced moves. The black-robed woman was right in front of him.

Su Ping had fought against her many times during those three years, all to learn the path of destruction from her.

He felt conflicted by their new encounter.

Su Ping looked at her and said softly, "Thank you for your help over the years. Too bad I can't meet you in reality."

The black-robed woman remained expressionless. She was just a stack of battle data that wasn't capable of communicating.

Very soon, the battle began.

Su Ping took a deep breath. He had been through countless such battles, and he decided to finish the last one with his real strength.

Bang!

His dazzling sword aura illuminated the entire world; just like the sun, before it suddenly perished.

The black-robed woman facing him had already been stabbed through. Her body then collapsed and vanished completely.

Su Ping returned to the plaza and took off his helmet.

A stunned Elder Yan asked, "Why did you exit this soon? Did something go wrong with the equipment?"

"It's done," replied Su Ping calmly.

Elder Yan's eyes almost popped out. He asked in shock, "It's over? How long has it been? You were there for only thirty seconds."

"This is the outcome of the battle; the equipment can never be wrong." Su Ping pointed at the monitor, which displayed "victory" in a fiery font.

Elder Yan was lost for words for a long time.

He had thought that Su Ping had a good chance of defeating his opponent, but he didn't expect the battle to end that quickly. He wasn't there to watch the battle, but it had obviously been a crushing victory.

It meant that Su Ping had a chance of beating her and leaving the Celestial Court even earlier!

Elder Yan suddenly asked, "What's the highest ranking you can beat at the moment?"

He gazed at Su Ping in the eye, not blinking even once, as if he was more concerned about the result than Su Ping was.

The latter, however, simply shook his head and said, "I haven't tried yet."

"You haven't?" Stunned, Elder Yan found it hard to believe. "Why not? Aren't you curious about the specialties of those with higher rankings? Why have you never tried them?"

"I challenged each of the top ten participants two years prior. I was too weak to beat them back then, so I only challenged them to see their specialties.. I haven't challenged them again as of yet," Su Ping explained.