Astral Pet Store (WN)

"..."

Elder Yan was lost for words.

The guy defeated the top ten two years earlier?

He had barely been a Star State warrior for a year back then, a mere beginner. Why is he so bold?

"You defeated the tenth all too fast; you must be able to fight those with higher rankings then. I can make another appointment for you... Which one do you want to challenge?" asked Elder Yan.

He was eager to find out Su Ping's limits.

Su Ping, however, shook his head. "Never mind. Master said that I'm free to leave as long as I make it to the top ten. I've seen what the others are capable of; it's unnecessary to see it again."

Elder Yan was gobsmacked by his response. He asked, "Don't you want to find out your ranking?"

"It's pointless," Su Ping replied, "Rankings don't matter in a life-and-death battle. I've gauged how strong I am, and the ceiling of the Star Lord State."

Elder Yan looked at him in a daze. He found it hard to imagine that a genius such as Su Ping would say that.

Shouldn't a young man like him be proud and eager to prove himself?

"Are you really so desperate to leave?" Elder Yan stopped trying to persuade him. After all, he knew that Su Ping could already defeat the tenth place holder. He had no doubt that Su Ping would be at the top of the Divine Lord Rank when he became a Star Lord; his current ranking didn't really matter.

"Yes." Su Ping nodded.

"Is the world out there really so attractive? The Celestial Court is a holy land that everybody dreams to visit. You can get anything you want here!" said Elder Yan.

Su Ping smiled and said, "Anything but friends."

"Friends?" Elder Yan was dazed.

"My friends are out there waiting for me. I don't want to keep them waiting," replied Su Ping with a smile.

Elder Yan fell silent while staring at the latter in the eye. He said, "I understand. I'll inform Master; he's been dealing with some tricky stuff laterly. You must be very careful in the outside world. Most people will respect you because you're Lord Supreme's disciple, but he also has his share of enemies. They might be unable to hurt him, but they can pose a threat to you."

"Yes." Su Ping nodded.

That was also why Shen Huang had prevented him from leaving until he made it to the top ten of the Divine Lord Rank.

Those enemies were mostly Star Lords.

As for the Ascendant State warriors, they would be tracked down even if they managed to kill him. Therefore, it wasn't worthwhile for them to go after him.

"Go back and wait for the reply. Master will summon you when he's free," said Elder Yan.

Su Ping nodded.

The two of them returned to the palace. Su Ping stared at the place he had lived in for three whole years; the maids and guards working there had been truly respectful toward him.

Even after he left, the people would stay there until he returned.

I just realized that I haven't explored the Celestial Court properly yet, Su Ping thought.

However, he quickly dropped the idea upon remembering the Celestial Court's size. It would take him decades if he wanted to properly explore the place. It would be better to leave the plan on hold until he reached higher levels. This was not a time for relaxation yet; he wouldn't be truly strong unless he reached the Ascendant State.

Once that last thought crossed his mind, Su Ping secluded himself in the training room again.

Elder Yan could only shake his head after seeing that Su Ping did not relax even for one second. He could not think of a reason why someone as talented and diligent as Su Ping wouldn't succeed.

His only worry was that the young man would end up stuck right before the threshold to the Ascendant State.

It was a monumental test, which had trapped many talented geniuses. They would hardly rise again if their mindsets went awry. The geniuses who held the higher spots high on the Divine Lord Rank would generally have Ascendant State potential, and yet many were mired in the Star Lord State, unable to go higher!

Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

Su Ping was summoned by his master while he cultivated.

He soon went to the most splendid palace at the center of the Celestial Court, along with Elder Yan.

Countless golden-armored guards were standing by the thousands of stairs outside of the palace. All of them were Star Lords; their captains were in the Ascendant State. They could be as strong as Heavenly Lords once engaged in formations!

Inside the palace'”Shen Huang was ensconced in his throne, like a god dominating the universe.

"Have you defeated the one holding the tenth place of the Divine Lord Rank?" Shen Huang's gaze was warm when Su Ping arrived. He had also been shocked by Elder Yan's report. In merely three years, Su Ping had made it to the top ten of the Divine Lord Rank, which was beyond his expectation.

"Yes, sir," Su Ping bowed and replied calmly.

Shen Huang smiled after seeing how confident Su Ping was. All his disciples were proud geniuses, not to mention that Su Ping was among the most talented. He had at first thought that Su Ping would have to spend decades cultivating, but he managed to accomplish the task while still being in the Star State.

Even though he had condensed a small world back when he was a Fate State warrior'”defeating Star Lords now that he had reached the Star State thus being more logical'”all the people in the top ten of the rankings were outstanding geniuses in the Star Lord State; none of them could be considered normal Star Lords.

"Your progress has gone beyond my expectations. I thought you would only accomplish the task until you became a Star Lord. Taking into consideration that you've already succeeded, I'll modify the special training program I had prepared for when you become a Star Lord," said Shen Huang with a smile.

"Thank you for your help, master," Su Ping immediately thanked him.

"I'm told that you're here because you want to leave the Celestial Court. Is this so?" Shen Huang didn't forget that Su Ping had previously asked how to leave the Celestial Court three years prior. It seemed that the three years enjoying privileges didn't change his mind. Elder Yan said that he was leaving because of a friend...

Was the friend female, or male?

Shen Huang was rather curious, but he didn't ask. He never pried on his disciples' private business as long as it didn't affect their training.

"Yes," Su Ping nodded and said, "Thank you for your care over the past three years. I want to travel outside and do some things I've postponed."

Shen Huang looked at him with a smile and said, "I won't restrain you. I'll allow you to leave since you've already attained a prowess on par with the top ten holders of the Divine Lord Rank. Just keep in touch with the Celestial Court after you leave. If you need anything, it will be sent to you; don't delay your cultivation."

Su Ping was relaxed; he quickly offered thanks once again.

"Yun Mu," said Shen Huang all of a sudden.

Rays folded and twisted in the air ahead of him. Then, a slim woman slowly manifested. She wore ancient clothes, while her overall appearance was pretty and gentle.

"It's an honor to meet you, Lord Supreme."

The woman quickly knelt before Shen Huang after she appeared.

"Your task is to look after my disciple for a hundred years, or until he reaches the top of the Divine Lord Rank. Then, you'll be freed," said Shen Huang casually, "You'll be obliterated if anything happens to him!"

The woman was greatly delighted. She looked at Su Ping and accepted the task. "Thank you, Lord Supreme."

Shen Huang looked at Su Ping and said, "I will feel more at ease if Yun Mu keeps you company while you're away."

Su Ping was slightly dazed by this development. He looked at the woman and felt somewhat awed. Given his ample fighting experience with the Divine Lord rankers, he could tell that she was definitely not a Star Lord. She was an Ascendant!

His master had just appointed an Ascendant State expert to protect him for a hundred years?

Su Ping gave his sincere thanks once more.

"Is there anything else that you want?" asked Shen Huang with a smile.

Su Ping was truly flattered. He was then reminded of the recent Universe Geniuses' Contest; he asked the question that had bothered him for a long time. "Master, some of the zombies I encountered in the Divine Sea Mysterious Realm seemed to still be conscious. May I know what happened to that world?"

He had never forgotten the female zombie he had seen during the trial.

Her eyes gave him a strong sense of familiarity, as if he had seen her before.

"Huh?"

Shen Huang didn't expect to be asked such a question, as it had been three years since the competition ended. He glanced at Su Ping and said, "That world is Mu Shen's territory; he knows it better than I do. To my understanding, it's an ancient world that carries the air of the Archean Divinity. Some have speculated that it's indeed a broken piece of land from the Archean Divinity."

He then added with a thoughtful tone, "It involves incidents in the most ancient history. According to the investigations done on many relics, a fierce battle took place in the primordial times; it shattered many worlds, including the Archean Divinity where the gods lived. However, those incidents were from too long ago; we don't really know what happened."

Su Ping fell into a slight daze. He found the theory rather familiar.

The land was actually a piece of the Archean Divinity!

He suddenly remembered that the Demigod Burial was another piece of the Archean Divinity.

Being the case, it was possible that the Archean Divinity had already fallen apart.

"If so, the zombies roaming the place used to be gods?" asked Su Ping quickly, "Then, why have they become so weird?"

Shen Huang shook his head. "Probably because of the war. Maybe a virus infection, or some sort of weird power has changed them."

He glanced at Su Ping and asked, "Why are you asking about them?"

Su Ping changed his expression, not knowing how to explain. However, his master would easily see him through if he were to lie. He had to confess dutifully, "I saw something unusual on one of the zombies, and felt that it was conscious and... familiar. So, I wanted to know more about them."

"Familiar?"

Shen Huang was able to tell that Su Ping's words were true. He narrowed his eyes and then said, "It's probably because of the Golden Crow's bloodline inside your body. It's said that the Golden Crows carry the bloodline of the gods... That must be why you found the ancient gods familiar."

Su Ping nodded, deciding to drop the subject.

However, deep down in his heart, he didn't think the theory was right.

After all, he didn't have such strange feelings when he saw other zombies.

Only that female zombie gave him such a sense of familiarity.

Unfortunately, that place didn't belong to his master; otherwise, he would have asked him permission to explore it again.

...

Once he bade goodbye to his master, Su Ping was ready to leave the Celestial Court.

Yun Mu would leave with him, acting as his personal guard.

Elder Yan saw him off. His master offered him a spaceship that only Ascendants were qualified to buy; it could leap to any place in the universe, and sail into forbidden lands and mysterious realms, also thanks to high security clearances.

The spaceship's warship system was powerful too; it could easily annihilate Star Lords, and pose a threat to many Ascendants. Su Ping would be safe as long as he stayed on board the ship.

Obviously, he couldn't stay in the spaceship forever, that was why Shen Huang had ordered Yun Mu to protect him as another safety measure. Nothing would happen to him as long as he wasn't too reckless.

Su Ping was really grateful to his master for those arrangements. Although he didn't think he would be caught in a dangerous situation because he would mostly stay in his store, it was still possible that the system would later ask him to go out and capture pets.

Inside the palace'”Elder Yan said with a smile after Su Ping left, "You gave Yun Mu to him. That wasn't part of the plan."

Shen Huang chuckled and replied, "That kid has been making progress too fast. He's only in the Star State, yet he's reached the top ten of the Divine Lord Rank in three years. That's an achievement that even I didn't get to accomplish. But then again, there wasn't a Divine Lord Rank back in my day. I did kill a lot of normal Star Lords, but I didn't run into any of the top of that realm."

There was regret in his eyes as he talked about the subject.