Astral Pet Store (WN)

The fight went on.

Su Ping was swallowed by the undead lion, to later resurrect again and again. He tried his best every time. His attacks became increasingly faster as he approached his limits. Although still unable to cause damage to the undead lion, he was getting accustomed with quick outburst attacks.

Later, Su Ping simply stopped merging with his pets, letting them join the battle, so that they could also grow too. Once the fusion with his pets was dispelled, the battle became even more challenging for him. However, he gradually figured out a way for him to keep up with the undead lion, and he reduced the blast effect with his small world.

The undead lion seemed to know nothing except killing. No matter how many times Su Ping resurrected, it simply killed him again and again.

Su Ping and the undead lion's battlefield was gradually moved to the depths of the forbidden land. He couldn't care less about the environment, as he was fully devoted to fighting.

That is, until a roar suddenly burst out.

Both Su Ping and the undead lion stopped. The brutal and bloodthirsty lion seemed to have been hit in the head; it trembled with fear and crouched.

Su Ping was also wary. He felt that both his skin and his heart were quaking. His legs also began to shake beyond his control. Such horror, one that was more severe than the apocalypse itself popped up in his head. He wasn't scared of dying, but he was still affected.

It was like those who feared snakes, how they would tremble in fear if placed in front of a cave full of them, even if they were wearing iron armor.

"What's that?"

Su Ping's pores were constricting. He was even more frightened than when he faced the Blue Cloud Deity King and the old man underneath the tree. Of course, those two experts had concealed their auras to remove some of the pressure.

By seeing the ferocious lion trembling like a cat, Su Ping had no doubt that the owner of that roar was a horrifying being who was at least in the Celestial State.

Isn't there only one Deity King on each island? The roar was too brutal and scary to be uttered by a Deity King if not cornered.

Su Ping looked toward the source of the roar, wondering if he should go there and take a look.

But soon, he shook his head and dropped the idea; it would be pointless, even if he went there. That guy was too strong, and would kill him the moment he approached.

Su Ping was too weak to learn anything from that kind of death. Besides, the Celestial State was still too far away for him; it was better to spend time on improving himself than on curious observation.

He looked back at the cowering lion on the ground, and no longer hesitated: he went and attacked it together with the Little Skeleton.

The undead lion ignored Su Ping and continued lying on the ground the latter attacked with his pet. Its fangs shook, as if holding back its fury.

Su Ping didn't hold back; he attacked again and again. However, he found that the damage dealt was not much, even though the undead lion wasn't defending itself, at all.

I'm too weak. I can hardly hurt it, even if it just stands here without moving. Su Ping smiled bitterly.

He could already emulate the combat ability of a peak Star Lord, but it was absolutely nothing for an Ascendant. Star Lords could cause no more damage to them than those in the Fate State could.

The earth shook while Su Ping attacked continuously. Then, countless birds soared from the deepest parts of the woods. There were also screams of countless panicked beasts. Then, noises burst out continuously, but they grew further away from Su Ping.

Once the noises gradually faded, the undead lion—which had been enduring Su Ping's attacks for a long time—finally roared and charged at Su Ping furiously.

Su Ping was soon knocked down, but he simply grew excited and charged at the lion after his resurrection.

Time flew.

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

Su Ping didn't go anywhere; he had been fighting the undead lion the whole time. Their battlefield stretched for hundreds of kilometers and destroyed the environment.

When he wasn't fighting, Su Ping also collected a few rare pieces of pet food, all of which had aged for more than ten thousand years.

This is a truly precious land. Su Ping looked at the undead lion, which was almost a familiar friend to him by then; he could almost sketch each of the lion's hairs after ten days of fighting. His level had yet to improve, but his combat ability had grown significantly thanks to the experience he collected.

Su Ping picked up many tricks that would allow him to fight to the limit During their confrontations.

The most obvious change was that he could kill Star Lord beasts he ran into. They were no longer able to cause him any trouble.

He didn't know how strong those beasts would be considered in the Star Lord level, but having survived in the Realm of Deities for such a long time, they could surely qualify as rare pets in the Federation.

…

Inside the store—Su Ping appeared out of nowhere.

Too bad that I couldn't catch the undead lion with my beast-catching ring, or I would've caught it and sold it in my store, if it could still move outside of that region.

Su Ping felt some regret upon seeing the familiar adornments in the store.

I think the store is bigger than before. Very soon, Su Ping noticed the store's changes. He displayed the system panel, and found that the "Upgrading" message was gone. It had become a level-5 store.

"Give me a list of the new functions and permissions in the store," said Su Ping to himself.

"Congratulations. Your store has been upgraded to LV5. The store's coverage is three times bigger. The system store was upgraded to LV5. You may encounter Ascendant State treasures.

"You are now able to train Star Lord pets.

"Since you have developed a pet with special-grade aptitudes, the Multiverse All-Species Chaos Talents Rank is now officially open to you!

"The Chaos Talents Rank is refreshed every month. You will receive tremendous benefits if your name appears on the ranking."

The system's notifications sounded one after the other. He soon learned of all the new functions by checking the store menu. The greatest change was the Chaos Talents Rank.

The system would check his aptitudes. Once able to qualify, his name would appear on the list. If his name remained on display by the end of the month, he would receive a special gift from the system!

Is the system trying to have me compete with all the geniuses in history and in all universes? Su Ping realized what the system was up to. He always had the feeling that the system's main training target was himself.

Since the store had been upgraded to LV5, the system was now revealing its plan.

Su Ping was already one of the most talented men in the Federation, but he was still considered insignificant when compared to the brilliant geniuses throughout history.

After all, too many astonishing figures had been born since the foundation of the universe.

Some of the geniuses had epic and uncopyable experiences.

"Open the Chaos Talents Rank," Su Ping said to himself.

Soon after, a silver colored list popped up before his eyes. The top on the list was the 500th, while the bottom was the 1000th.

"What's going on?"

"In light that the host isn't qualified to appear on the Chaos Talents Rank, you can only view the secondary characters right now. Please strengthen yourself and rise higher as soon as possible," said the system casually.

Su Ping was lost for words.

His current combat ability wasn't enough to enter the top thousand?

"What are the top thousand guys? Monsters?"

Su Ping didn't know what to say. He believed that he could easily win the championship against all the people from the Divine Lord Rank in his star region. He was one of the best in the Federation, and he was only in the advanced phase of the Star State. He had always considered himself terrifying. And yet, the system didn't consider him strong enough to even be listed among the top thousand of the rank.

So many geniuses have been born. Counting those who have recklessly gotten themselves killed, at least half of them are still alive. They will certainly rise to the Celestial State or even higher…

So to speak, hundreds of Celestials have appeared in our long history. Su Ping blinked; he felt awe as he did the math. He also knew that many Celestials would stand out later in life. Therefore, a lot of Celestial experts had left their mark in history.

"This seems to be a ranking list of all species. I'd like to see the rank of human geniuses only" said Su Ping to himself.

Soon, the list changed. This time, a splendid and awe-inspiring list slowly unfolded before Su Ping.

The top of the list was the 100th, and the bottom was the 500th.

It was a list of human beings!

The only reason that Su Ping could see the higher-ranked figures was because he was among them.

"My name…" Su Ping quickly searched for his name.. He was eager to find his position.