Astral Pet Store

It was one of the ten most dangerous places in the Demigod Burial. Even the God Warriors who were on par with those in the Star State rarely went there. The place was extremely dangerous. Most of the local beasts had a Fate State level, if not the Star State. Only the Major Gods would dare to cultivate there, or forge secret treasures with the natural environment.

Su Ping didn’t even consider asking Joanna for her divine spring. The divine spring was remarkably effective; the training would have been completed immediately if Mia’s battle pets were soaked in it, and their combat ability would soar.

However, the divine spring was so precious that Joanna was reluctant to even offer it to Su Ping, much less to nurture random pets. It was condensed divine energy, just like how Nie Huofeng had gathered astral power with formations. Some of the God Warriors didn’t even have such great resources. Soon after, Su Ping reached a dangerous place full of dark elements. The place was dim, with dark clouds and black fog looming and roaring up above. Many demons and undead beasts could be heard, howling in the deepest parts. The God Warrior who had been tasked by Joanna to escort Su Ping was rather grim-faced once he laid eyes on the forbidden land. He solemnly said to Su Ping, “Mr. Su, please be careful.” “Okay.”

Su Ping waved goodbye and asked him to stay and wait for him to return. Then, he flew in with all the battle pets.

Mia’s battle pets were obviously reluctant to go in; they were frightened by the environment, and their instincts told them that they would die if they went in! However, they couldn’t resist the order given by Su Ping via the contract. They could only wail in their hearts, while their loyalty to Su Ping took a serious plunge.

“The undead energy is quite dense. Little Skeleton, do you like it here?” said Su Ping to the Little Skeleton with a smile, while he flew above the forbidden land while riding on one of the Inferno Dragon’s shoulders.

The Little Skeleton looked around and nodded at Su Ping. It did love the place. “I think prey is coming.”

Su Ping didn’t expect to meet something so quickly. The enemy also seemed to have a Star State cultivation! “I’ll take care of this one. It’ll be a good chance for me to check my ability.”

Su Ping didn’t ask the Little Skeleton nor the other pets to help. He still had not sensed the limits of his combat ability yet, ever since he became a legendary warrior.

He had previously killed the Lord of the Deep Caves with one attack, and he hadn’t exerted his full strength, at all.

Su Ping didn’t intend to merge with his pets this time. He would rely completely on his own skills and battle expertise!

The Little Skeleton and the Inferno Dragon were rather confused. Mia’s pets, on the other hand, were delighted to hear that. They had never been fond of Su Ping to begin with; they would be happy to simply watch the battle. They didn’t care whether Su Ping lived or died. They would gladly see stupid masters die when they chose such dangerous places!

Whoosh!!

All of a sudden, the rays of light between the sky and the earth were gone, and then a shadow that was wreathed in black fog flew close. The shadow had the curly horns of a demon and a brawny body. Its lower half body was that of a bull, yet its upper half was that of a bronze-skinned human.

“A demigod? Or maybe a subgod?” The demon saw Su Ping and sensed a magnificent divine power in his human body. Its eyes gradually became bloodshot. “You’re bold enough to trespass. You’ll be my dinner!” It quickly took action, and the space around Su Ping quickly squeezed him.

Divine light flashed in Su Ping’s eyes and lightning burst out. He didn’t suppress the aura in his body anymore; all his energy surged out. The splendid divine power and astral power moved as one, and the laws of lightning and annihilation that he had grasped shined in his hands, causing spatial ripples. “The power of laws! How is it possible?”

The demon narrowed its eyes in shock after seeing the manifestation of laws in Su Ping’s hands.

It had sensed that Su Ping was so weak that it could kill him with a look. However, such an insignificant being had mastered the power of laws!

And it wasn’t one law, but two!

“Die!”

Su Ping unleashed his maximum strength. He concentrated the power of laws in his sword and charged at the demon. The sword art with which he had used to kill the Lord of the Deep Caves was again displayed. “Lightning Prison: Catastrophic Void Sword!” Thousands of lightning bolts instantly appeared, shining among sword auras. It was like another Heavenly Tribulation! The demon was shocked and scared. It suspected that Su Ping had been pretending to be weak so that it would lower its guard. These gods are truly vile!

The demon cursed, having to use all its strength to fight back. Space collapsed when they fought; the aftershock of their battle attracted the attention of many other creatures in the forbidden land.

“Haha. Two idiots are fighting a life-and-death battle!”

“That’s the aura of the Prison Defending Bull Demon. Who has it pissed off?” “Just fight! It’ll be great if they wound each other badly; that way I can take advantage of both of them!”

Many creatures were observing in secret. Some were chuckling in delight. Mia’s pets were right behind them, all of them trembled with fear as they saw how unstoppable Su Ping was. Is he really our master? He’s as horrifying as a devil!

Boom!

Su Ping roared, fully activating the Solar Bulwark by burning his vitality. Burns started to appear on his body. He also showed the Dark Body he had acquired during the Golden Crow trials, which attracted the surrounding dark energy. He was radiating both golden and black light, which made him look frightening. A boom resounded; Su Ping tore apart the void, cutting apart the secondary space and sending his sword aura into the tertiary space. It swiftly moved and reached the demon’s head even faster than a flash!

The flash was at the average speed achievable inside the secondary space, which was too fast for creatures below the Star State to follow. However, the Star State lives had keen and powerful senses that could detect approaching objects in the secondary space, so that they could either dodge or fight back. However, it was beyond the demon’s expectation that Su Ping’s sword aura would stab its way out of the tertiary space; it brushed past the demon’s face and caused a wound.

The demon was quite tough, too. It had so much battle experience that it reacted in time and managed to keep its head over its shoulders!

I’m not as strong as when I merge with the pets, but I can still fight! Light burst out of Su Ping’s eyes as he activated the astral power in his cells. He stepped out with the boost of divine energy and performed the skill he had just acquired thanks to the middle-rank Guide to Enlightening

Super acceleration!

Su Ping swooshed out. Everything around him slowed down and came to a halt. He saw that the demon’s eyes were widening with disbelief, but its body had also slowed down.

Boom!

He passed through the secondary space and sprinted as fast as possible.

He emerged in the primary space again after having reached the demon and slashed with his sword.

The demon’s eyeballs almost popped out. Its body then emitted a dense black aura. Blood gushed out when Su Ping’s sword aura tried to cut into the black aura.

The flow of time around Su Ping flowed normally again. The demon’s head was surrounded by boiling black fog. Then, the black fog suddenly dispersed, revealing a huge wound on the demon’s neck, so severe that its head was almost falling.

Fire was still burning on the wound, and many electric arcs were still crackling. “What the heck...”

The demon covered its neck with fear. It suddenly escaped without saying a word, going straight into the tertiary space with fog rising from its body and disappearing from Su Ping’s eyes. Su Ping had the intention to chase it, but he felt as if his body were bound by a web made of a black power of laws. He was unable to quickly break free. The web was also corrosive; it ate away the energy he released. The demon had already vanished completely by the time Su Ping broke free from his entanglement.

Su Ping could only retract his energy after seeing that. The effects of his overuse of strength were evident once the fight was over. He vomited blood with a pale face.

He quickly became old. His hair was dry, and his skin was devoid of luster. It looked like a withering rind.

“I had to burn my vitality and try my best to fight against a Star State enemy, and I was still unable to kill it...” A weak Su Ping leaned against the Inferno Dragon while analyzing his findings related to his combat ability.

He could have easily killed the demon if he would have merged with the Little Skeleton and the Dark Dragon Hound, all without exhausting himself.

His combat ability in general was somewhere above that of the average Star State beings. Su Ping was rather satisfied with the result.

I absorbed the astral power accumulated for a thousand years, but I still failed to reach the Void State. Just by following logic, it should have been easy for me to reach the Void State with my understanding of space’s mysteries. I can see the bottleneck and know how to break it at any time...

Su Ping closed his eyes. He could immediately step into the Void State if he so wished.

However, he was unwilling to do that.

He thought that his attainments weren’t abundant enough yet.

I’ll probably become stronger if I can understand the law of space and break the Void State bottleneck with it. Then, once I perfect the law of annihilation, I should be able to fight experts at the top of the Star State... Su Ping thought, not realizing how terrifying his idea was.

Phew!

A myriad of shadows were flying over at the moment. Many of them were Fate State demons.

There was even a Star State demon.

Su Ping rolled his eyes, knowing that the scavengers had arrived. Time to work!

Su Ping took a deep breath and squeezed his cells again for more astral power. He sat in midair and asked the Inferno Dragon and Mia’s pets to attack. There was a boom; space around Su Ping was shattered and a dark tentacle penetrated his head.

“Haha...” A cold laugh reverberated in the area.

But the laugh came to an abrupt halt, as Su Ping was resurrected right where he had been, just after being torn apart. He had also been restored to his prime, youthful status.

“Well...”

The demon who had ambushed him was completely bewildered. “Let’s go!” Su Ping commanded coldly from where he was.

Mia’s battle pets—which had considered whether to attack Su Ping while he was weak —were shocked and confused to see his strength completely replenished. They could only shiver when he yelled at them; they went ahead and charged at the demon beasts around them.

Su Ping then cast skills on them to arouse their fighting spirit.

Time flew quickly. A new day had soon arrived. Mia was at the moment wearing a brown dress; she came from the end of the street while whistling a delightful tune and soon found a specific signboard.

Pixie Pet Store.

She smiled and moved to enter the shop. As she was reaching the door, she found a fat purple-furred rat lying between the two statues. The rat raised its head and looked at her when she walked over. But then it clearly lost interest in her and lay down again, enjoying its sleep. She had never seen such a rat before, although she didn’t pay it any mind after a quick glance since its level was rather low. Mia saw Su Ping in the lobby. Her eyes glittered as she said, “Boss, I’m here.” Su Ping turned around and nodded at Mia. “Good to see you again. Your pets have been trained.”

“Really?” Even though she was ready for it, she was still quite delighted to hear a positive reply from Su Ping.

Without further ado, Su Ping asked Joanna to bring Mia’s battle pets. The pet room was opened. Joanna-with her blond hair and her unique vibe-walked in front, followed by the currently shrunken battle pets.

All the pets moved soundlessly and aggressively. Their eyes were sharp, and they emitted a ferocious vibe even though they were small.

Mia felt how the vague power of the contract became clear the moment she saw her battle pets; once again, she found a sense of familiarity in them.

The battle pets’ appearances reminded her of Little White when Su Ping had brought it back the day before. The training had indeed achieved similar results! With a racing heart, Mia asked, “Boss, werewere all of them trained?”

“Yes. You can have a feel for the results in the test room,” said Su Ping and then led her there, planning to keep her company as she conducted her testing.

Mia held back her excitement; she touched her battle pets and followed Su Ping to the test room.

Su Ping didn’t say anything; he simply asked her battle pets to demonstrate their powers.

Mia was surprised to see the new skills that her battle pets were using. She was so thrilled her pretty face was flushed. She suddenly remembered to examine her pet’s condition with her scanner while they were performing the tests.

The scanner readings had once again shocked her. They were similar to Little White’s from the day before.

All her battle pets had been significantly strengthened in a single day. Her total combat ability was almost doubled!

That’s so awesome!

She felt like she was dreaming; the skills and abilities her battle pets showed would make passing the monthly exam a breeze. Her target should be the championship in the monthly exam!

If I could become the champion of the sophomores’ monthly exam... She was excited at the thought of that. If she did, her performance would definitely be known by her family, and she might receive attention from her grandfather, the leader of her family!

All the battle pets were soon tested.

Su Ping asked Mia, “How about it? Are you satisfied?”

Mia nodded quickly and said, “Yes, I couldn’t be more satisfied. Boss, you’re truly wondrous!” Su Ping chuckled and said, “You’re welcome to come again for more training.” Mia nodded again and smiled. “I will, but I’m going to the Thunder Dragon Continent in a day or two. I’ve come to Rhea mainly to capture a Vast Sky Thunderous Dragon to make up for the shortcomings of my pet roster. Since you’ve trained my pets so well, I’ll try them out on the field once I reach the Thunder Dragon Continent.”

Su Ping had already won her trust, so she openly discussed her itinerary. She wouldn’t have easily disclosed where she was going Su Ping, however, didn’t show any reaction after hearing that. He nodded and said, “Good luck.”

Her mentioning a thunderous dragon made Su Ping suddenly think of the Thunder Ocean Fruit that was in the system store that week. The fruit could possibly help him grasp a law of thunder!

However, it was quite expensive. It required 86 million energy points!

He had earned a lot of energy from the catastrophe on the Blue Planet, but he had spent a lot of it, too. His balance was around fifty million. Adding the ten million energy points he had just earned from Mia still left a 26 million gap!

Only two days to go before the store was refreshed!

The item would be replaced by something else...

Su Ping didn’t think he could make it, but he was still intent on trying his best in the last two days. He had already mastered one of the laws of thunder, but one could never learn enough laws. Besides, the laws of thunder consisted of plenty of elements. He had to grasp a complete path if he wanted to reach the Ascendant State later on!

Grasping a complete path involved the full comprehension of all the laws related to a certain class, or comprehending one of the laws to the highest level, so that it could be perfected and isolated as an independent path!

Su Ping would be one step closer to that goal if he could understand a second law of thunder with the Thunder Ocean Fruit, and both laws of thunder would become more powerful together! In any case, Su Ping didn’t want to miss getting the Thunder Ocean Fruit.

However, he would get a headache when he realized he had to make 26 million energy points in two days. Where can I find a gullible and rich customer?

Mia kept her pets and said goodbye to Su Ping. Su Ping considered ways to make money while he minded the shop. After much deliberation, he decided that the fastest way to make money was to ask Joanna to catch pets in the Demigod Burial and sell them.

However, he could only sign contracts with Void State pets. He might be able to strike a temporary deal with early Fate State pets at the risk of getting himself killed. He might have a difficult time selling Void State pets quickly on Rhea, where few people knew him.

After all, the local pet shops were also selling beast kings. The other shop on the street sold Void State pets, too. There were even Fate State pets available.

It’s so hard to make money. Do I have to do a part-time job as a flier distributor again? Su Ping couldn’t help but moan. It was really hard to make 26 million in two days.

Footsteps were suddenly heard while he was brooding

“Let’s check this shop. Maybe it’s available here,” said a stranger in the Common Tongue. Su Ping raised his head and saw two young men walk into the shop. One of them had brownish hair while the other had purple hair. The latter had the typical look of a Rhea local, whereas his partner was clearly from another planet.

The two of them looked around and saw Su Ping on the couch, so the young man with brownish hair asked him, “Hello? Are you the boss?”