Astral Pet Store novel - Chapter 997

“Sure.”

Su Ping accompanied Green Lady to travel in Luofu.

They didn’t have a clear destination at first. But then, Green Lady remembered the Twilight Deity King’s island, and learned from the deities she encountered that it still existed.

She immediately went to the island with Su Ping in tow.

“Everything looks the same.”

Green Lady arrived in Linglong Island, the place owned by the Twilight Deity King. She was very familiar with the place, even though it was extremely vast. She led the way for Su Ping.

Her eyes were filled with hot tears. Her shock increased as she pressed on, since everything looked just like before. Did the Deity Emperor restore it?

He must have restored the island to honor my lord… Green Lady thought.

They encountered a lot of ferocious beasts on the way. Some were Star Lords, and some were in the Ascendant State. Su Ping had transformed all of his astral power into supreme-ruler aura while they traveled; only supreme-ruler aura and supreme power remained in his body.

Su Ping had yet to master the transformation of supreme power. However, the two vortices in his body had already transformed his body into a supreme-ruler’s. Its mass was eight times denser than before, when he used astral power!

Su Ping could then directly absorb the surrounding supreme-ruler aura to cultivate. Normally speaking, energy cultivation would require a change of techniques. However, what astonished him was that his Chaos Star Chart could directly absorb supreme-ruler aura. His cultivation became even faster.

Su Ping gradually mastered the aggressive supreme-ruler skills he had inherited from the vortices while fighting the beasts.

My astral oceans have been transformed into supreme-ruler oceans. Their coverage is the same, but they contain eight times as much energy as before…

The two vortices had brought forth a qualitative change for Su Ping. Such an improvement was as significant as the one that occurred between the Fate State and the Star State.

Su Ping could tear apart normal Star Lord beasts with mere physical strength and his small world.

His death dealing would be even faster if he made use of his supreme-ruler skills.

With my current strength, if I were to challenge the Divine Lord Rank again, the girl who ranked tenth would probably not endure a single attack of mine. The continuous battles helped Su Ping gain a better understanding of his strength. He also was reaching the advanced phase of the Star State. As a matter of fact, he could break into the Star Lord State at any time.

However, he thought that there was still room for improvement, so he chose to postpone the breakthrough.

Two days after they left Luofu, Green Lady and Su Ping marched all the way to the inner territories of the island, where cities had been established and deities were flying. Occasional swords could be seen flying and zooming[a] in the sky.

“Seven Suns City, Mountain City…”

Green Lady was thrilled to see those cities as they passed; they were exactly as before. Their locations and sizes were completely unchanged.

On the last day granted by the system, Green Lady and Su Ping arrived at the Twilight Deity King’s palace.

The place stood majestically, rising high into the sky with many guards protecting the premises. Green Lady couldn’t help but enter.

Surprisingly, the guards in the palace were surprised to see Green Lady, but none of them stopped her. They simply allowed her and Su Ping to break in.

Green Lady moved inside the familiar palace, while swept by a surreal feeling. Everything was almost identical to how she remembered. She even wondered if she had been living in a dream for years, and that the horrible nightmare had finally reached an end.

“Maybe Master is still alive?”

The idea occurred to her. Her mind was in turmoil, even though she was an Ascendant State expert.

Su Ping was also surprised by the situation. He walked with Green Lady inside the palace, hoping to meet the Deity King, only to be informed later that the Deity King was out.

Therefore, they wandered the palace until Green Lady’s benefit time was over.

He felt no regret, even though he had not done anything that day. Green Lady wasn’t interested in cultivating, and he didn’t want to force her, either. He could return on his own later to train his pets. He was already half a supreme-ruler by then; cultivating there would be much more efficient for him.

…

The light flashed again. Su Ping and Green Lady reappeared, and found themselves back at the store.

Su Ping felt strangely warm as he looked at Joanna and Tang Ruyan on the couch. He smiled and woke them up.

The two of them ended their cultivation after seeing that Su Ping was back. Joanna narrowed her eyes the moment she laid eyes on him. “Your body seems to have changed.”

“Your eyes are keen.” Su Ping smiled and told them how he had received an old man’s help. He didn’t keep any secrets from them, except that about the system itself. Besides, such information wasn’t a big deal. Su Ping would remember the old man underneath the tree, as he owed him a big favor.

However, it still puzzled him why the man would help him like that.

Green Lady was still regretting that she had to leave the palace, and was silent at the moment.

Su Ping looked at the store and checked the upgrade progress, only to find that it would require twenty hours more.

It’s indeed possible to transform astral power into supreme-ruler aura, but the transformation rate is too low.

Su Ping absorbed the dispersing astral power inside his store and transformed it inside the vortices. However, the supreme-ruler aura he received was so thin that he might as well try absorbing supreme-ruler aura directly.

“Carry on. I’ll be going on another tour,” Su Ping said to Joanna and Green Lady. Their employee benefits had been used up, and the cultivation sites were too dangerous for them. However, he could still go there.

Once he said goodbye to them, Su Ping entered the Luofu Realm of Deities again.

Five thousand energy points as ticket fee was nothing worth mentioning for Su Ping, since he had saved his revenues for three years.

Su Ping found himself in the middle of a forest when he arrived in[b] the Realm of Deities, surrounded by a heavy demon aura. This time, he was alone and could fight in the way he wanted.

“Come on out.”

Su Ping summoned the Little Skeleton and his other pets. Then, not intending to conceal his presence, he unleashed a brilliant, silver colored supreme-ruler aura.

Soon enough, a beast that was hiding in the dark couldn’t hold any longer and attacked Su Ping.

“Go!”

Su Ping immediately had the Inferno Dragon and other pets attack. The ambusher was a Star State beast. Even though it had grown in the Realm of Deities and was as strong as the rare Star State pets in the Federation, it was still torn apart rather quickly.

Su Ping didn’t stop his pets from swallowing its flesh and core.

Evolution for beasts is much more brutal than that of human beings. I cannot create a transformation vortex in my pets, but I should be able to gradually transform their attributes if I let them eat the beasts in this place, Su Ping thought.

Then, leading the Little Skeleton and his other pets, he marched fearlessly in the unknown beast grounds of that unknown island.

“Did you hear the noise?”

“Oh my supreme-ruler. Who’s yelling in this forbidden land? Aren’t they afraid of waking up that thing?”

“Let’s hurry up and leave. We’ve met Golden Deity zombies at the edge. It’s said that this forbidden land is unclean, and that some ancient creatures were buried here. That wild laughter couldn’t have been uttered by a human being!”

Far in the distance—a family team who had been exploring that forbidden land chose to quickly take their leave. Its leader, a Golden Deity expert, had a grave expression.

While in the forbidden land, Su Ping led the Little Skeleton and the others towards places where the demon aura was thick.

The demon beasts they encountered on the way were increasingly stronger; most of them were Star Lords.

“Huh?”

A horrifying power blasted in front of Su Ping. A giant, thickly furred lion suddenly dashed out from the black soil. It was appalling to see that, although half of the lion’s skull was broken, there was no blood or brains in the wound!

The lion gazed at Su Ping with its only eye, which only had the white sclera left.

It’s a Golden Deity? It’s so badly wounded. Wait, it also has an undead aura! Su Ping was very sensitive to the undead aura, having visited the Chaotic Realm of the Undead. He realized that the lion was already dead!

And yet, the power released by the lion indicated that it was still a living creature.

Is it possible that, just like the Chaotic Realm of the Undead, dead creatures can also move about here? Su Ping wasn’t at all scared by the lion’s white eye. He was rather curious about the special laws of that place, which allowed undead creatures to move freely.

An Ascendant undead creature… Su Ping’s eyes glittered. I haven’t fought anything in the Ascendant State yet.

Anyone would have been scared out of their wits if they knew what was on Su Ping’s mind, wondering why a Star State warrior would dare to fight an Ascendant creature.

It wouldn’t have crossed his mind before, as he would have been instantly killed without a chance to practice. However, he was different by then; normal Star Lords would be crushed by him. He could not measure the limits of his strength without a worthy opponent.

“Show me the Ascendant State strength.”

Su Ping immediately summoned the Little Skeleton and the other pets to stay close. All of them had detected the lion, and considered it a formidable enemy. However, none of them flinched; they simply stood in front of Su Ping and bared their fangs, as if about to fight with their lives on the line.

Su Ping directly activated his dual merging and then unleashed his small world.

Power of faith, supreme-ruler aura, supreme power!

Su Ping released all the power at his disposal without a care for consequence or cost!

The lion seemed to have been provoked when his aura rose to the peak; it roared and charged at Su Ping. Hardly had it dashed out when time and space in its surroundings were torn apart. It flashed and instantly reappeared, shrouded in a strange power.

Su Ping’s small world—made of multiple laws—began to fall apart when facing such a power.

Eventually, only the laws of time, destruction and vitality remained. The law of chaos, which hadn’t been fully mastered, was almost falling apart too.

What kind of power is that?

Su Ping was shocked by that attack.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t yet experienced being killed by an Ascendant before. Creatures of Celestial level and above had also killed him.

However, they had killed him at such a fast speed that he hadn’t even been able to tell how he died.

He was currently able to feel the lion’s power, which was neither the power of laws, faith nor worlds, but one he had never seen before.

Why were the supreme laws left intact? Is it because the lion is also using some sort of law or path?

My master said that you have to create your own path in order to reach the Ascendant State. That is why the method to become an Ascendant can’t be taught. Is this special power the path that the undead lion created?

Its path destroys all laws, but it can’t fully demolish the supreme ones…

Countless thoughts flashed in Su Ping’s head the moment his small world was shattered. He suddenly had an epiphany, a sort of glimpse to the Ascendant State.

Unfortunately, the moment of enlightenment was too short. The next moment, he was enshrouded by a heavy pressure from the undead aura, giving him no time to consider anything else.

Draw the sword!

Su Ping didn’t wait to die. Instead, he roared and drew out the Blood Cloud Sword, which contained the power to slay Ascendants, even though he was too weak to fully activate it. Still, Su Ping exerted ninety percent of his strength with the trick he had devised in the Archean Divinity.

Bang!

A sword aura dashed out, which was even more dazzling than sunlight.

The world instantly lost its splendor. That sword aura contained Su Ping’s spirit as well as all of his supreme power, supreme-ruler aura and power of faith, which were perfectly combined.

There was an explosion, then time and space collapsed. All the energy and laws that filled the world were being torn apart at this moment. Only the glowing sword aura could be seen moving towards the lion’s mouth.

However, a deafening roar suddenly burst out. Next, the seemingly unstoppable sword aura was shattered like glass. The broken sword aura left shallow marks on the undead lion’s face. Right after, Su Ping had already drowned in the massive mouth.

Bang!

A heavy smell of blood was coming from the lion’s mouth, but Su Ping resurrected next to it only one second later.

His eyes were glowing. He wasn’t scared at all; rather, he was excited. Even though the lion had killed him with ease, he looked at it like a hunter examining his prey.

Not enough. I could have caused greater damage if I were stronger and my sword aura were more powerful! Su Ping’s eyes glittered.

Although he failed, his sword aura left many shallow marks on the lion’s face.

Su Ping believed that the marks would have cut deeper, really inflicting damage if his sword aura were more powerful!

My body capacity is already reaching the limit, unless I condense a second small world and concentrate the power of the two small worlds on my sword. Then, it would be ten times more powerful!

However, my first small world hasn’t been perfected yet. The law of chaos that I obtained from the Chaos Perception Dragon is too weak…

Su Ping’s eyes glittered. He had to master all the four supreme laws to perfect the first small world, while the law of chaos was his only weakness among the four laws. He hadn’t fully grasped it yet.

[a]Rustling produces a somewhat muted sound. Like “rustling leaves as you walk in autum”

Zooming could work, by what I think you meant, but let me know what you think.

[b]Large places would use “in”

Still, for some reason “on” is used when arriving on a planet.

Islands and towns also tend to use “at”