Astral Pet Store

“I will surely come again. You must inform me if you have more Ascendant pets available, Boss Su!” said Milaluo quickly.

Such Ascendant pets were being sold for almost nothing.

Still, he didn’t think that Su Ping meant it. Even if such pets were available, he would probably have to wait a thousand years, and they would be given to someone who was on friendlier terms with the boss.

“Okay.”

Su Ping nodded. He then pondered whether or not he should catch some Ascendant pets in his spare time.

After asking Joanna to continue taking care of their Ascendant State customer, Su Ping went to a side room and displayed the system store. He would have to use the beast-catching rings sold by the store to capture Ascendant pets in the cultivation sites, or he wouldn’t be able to take them out.

The alternative was to establish a contract with the pets, take them out and then sell them after dispelling the contract—

Still, the cancellation of a contract came with a weakening backlash that would last for a long time. It was not the best choice during those dangerous times.

“Today’s store…”

Su Ping searched and did find a beast-catching ring, the best available in the system; it had a 90% success rate when capturing Star Lord pets!

In addition, there was a 1% chance it would capture an Ascendant State pet.

As for Star State pets, he only needed the lesser beast-catching rings.

Su Ping checked the system store every time he returned. Altogether, he had six high-level beast-catching rings that could entrap six Star Lord pets.

Each ring was worth two billion energy points. In perspective, one Star Lord pet was only sold for one to five million energy points in Su Ping’s store.

He would incur a loss if he were to catch a mediocre pet.

Su Ping estimated that the system was probably encouraging him to look for rare pets in the cultivation sites. That was the only way to profit with the rings.

If I catch an Ascendant pet, its minimum price would be thirty million energy points, which translates to three billion astral coins. If the pet’s bloodline is great, it can easily sell for dozens of billions of astral coins.

Su Ping couldn’t help but heave a sigh; the system’s pricing was truly brutal. Other stores would go bankrupt if he were to compete with them.

Even Ascendant pets with a sickly condition were extremely rare in the Federation, and could be easily exchanged for ten prosperous planets.

Nevermind. Astral coins mean nothing to me; the system is probably only testing me by letting me charge astral coins. After all, the most important thing to do right now is to improve the store to level nine and gain more permissions. The access to cultivation sites alone is already enough to make up for the underpayment.

Su Ping wasn’t regretful. He used to feel sorry for the loss, but he had already thought everything through. After all, he wasn’t short of money; countless people would invest in him if he wanted money.

I have six rings. The odds of me capturing a pet increases if I beat the creature to near death. I should try my luck; it’ll be profitable even if I only catch one.

Su Ping made plans to go to a cultivation site, catch an Ascendant beast and sell it as soon as possible. He wanted to upgrade his store, so that more advanced beast-catching rings would be available; that way it would be easier for him to catch more Ascendant pets and make more money.

It happened to be Milaluo’s turn when Su Ping returned to the counter. The man was going to talk to Su Ping, but then the loud sound of a horn came from the distant sky above the planet.

Moo!!

Milaluo felt dazed, his expression changing ever so slightly. “They’re coming again!”

“What’s going on?”

Su Ping flashed to the store’s gate and gazed at the distance. All the clouds and air in between were ignored in his eyes. He could directly see the vast universe beyond the planet’s atmosphere.

It was quite a strange feeling, as if he were standing above the planet while looking down.

Su Ping was able to see the brilliant and magnificent Celestial Court protected by the enormous energy shield. Furthermore, he saw an ancient battleship in space, right outside the energy shield. It was ramming into one of the gates on the energy shield, which was connected to other star zones.

Such a maneuver would prevent the other star zones from being able to enter the Celestial Court directly through teleportation arrays.

The more open structure of the gates made them vulnerable points for the energy shield. A thin shielding was manifested as the ancient battleship crashed in, with many rhombic energy structures appearing. Still, the gate was destroyed in the end.

Many people were squeezed out of the gates. Some had already been mutilated, and some were crushed and killed.

Screams and exclamations were echoing; the area surrounding the gate became chaotic.

Furious roars were bursting out from other directions. Golden streaks of light were flying away, and the Ascendant warriors were moving to reinforce.

The Ascendant cultivators posted at the gate also charged furiously at the battleship.

The battleship’s figurehead was an intimidating dragon head, which at that moment let out a furious roar. The resulting sound waves made all the warriors around the gate explode; none of them were able to resist.

Large battleships fell out of the gate and broke apart. The nobles traveling from other places fled in panic. Some failed to dodge in time and were pierced or beheaded by the debris.

Countless people were injured or killed instantly.

“The Heavenly Devil Alliance again! Those bloody bastards!”

Milaluo appeared next to Su Ping and spread out his senses, also seeing the gory scene by the gate in the distance. His face was cold.

Su Ping held back, seeing that a lot of Ascendants were going in that direction to offer aid. He asked, “Has the Heavenly Devil Alliance been attacking frequently? How dare they? Where’s my master?”

“Lord Shen Huang stays in the Celestial Court. He cannot take action easily, as this might be a ruse; the leaders of the Heavenly Devil Alliance might be lying in ambush. The Heavenly Devil Alliance knows that this would be our course of action. That’s why they’ve been sabotaging the star gates frequently; they don’t want people in other areas to teleport here. They want to isolate us!” said Milaluo.

“What about my eldest senior brother and the rest of them?” asked Su Ping quickly.

Milaluo said with a bitter smile, “All Heavenly Lords are currently guarding the star gates; they must have been appointed to guard some. Look, that is star gate No. 17; it’s currently being defended by the Loulan family’s ancestor.”

Su Ping narrowed his eyes and watched. He noticed how a dazzling golden light was radiating near the gate, from where the hazy image of Goddess Galan surfaced.

That was not the Loulan’s official military formation. It looked dimmer in comparison, about to fall apart at any time.

There was a brawny man inside the goddess’ head, roaring and directing attacks at the battleship. He raised a hand and launched an air wave that stopped the battleship and suppressed the dragon head’s roar.

Ascendant reinforcements arrived at that moment. The edge of the battleship flipped open, revealing not cannons but black snake heads which emitted a strange power of laws, enhanced and transformed into scorching rays.

The Ascendant reinforcements quickly defended themselves. Some were hit and flung back, receiving mild injuries.

Those manning the battleship didn’t seem intent on fighting for long. The vessel slowly moved back, and a channel appeared in the void, right in its retreating path.

“Stop them!”

The Loulan ancestor roared and charged, launching a flurry of fist attacks in an instant. All those fists were thunderous, as if ready to crush the ship.

However, a sword aura came out from the battleship and destroyed the fists volley. The battleship quickly entered the channel and disappeared.

Only debris and floating bodies remained near the star gate.

The Ascendants who had just arrived were furious.

Coldness suffused Su Ping’s eyes; he would have taken action if he weren’t too far away. The Heavenly Devil Alliance was too shameless and foul, fleeing right after bombarding; reinforcements couldn’t arrive in time. The Loulan ancestor and his partners were completely unable to stop them.

Besides, there was a Heavenly Lord on the battleship who was as strong as the Loulan ancestor.

“The battleship was steered by a top Heavenly Lord. Truly disgusting…” Su Ping looked at the dead bodies with a grim expression. Some were dying, but the Loulan ancestor reversed time and healed them.

However, it was impossible to revive the dead.

It was possible to fix their bodies by reversing time, but their souls would sink into the Chaotic Realm of the Undead once they died.

It was impossible to bring souls back by reversing time.

Not even Ascendants or Celestials could bring the dead back to life!

They could probably create an identical life with the exact same memories and experiences, but it wouldn’t be the same as the deceased; it would simply be a copy.

Death was eternal regret, even for Celestials.

“What about other star zones? We can counterattack with the exact same tactics used by the enemy,” Su Ping said to Milaluo.

Milaluo sighed. “Lord Shen Huang is waiting for Chi Huo and Xu Kong. The Heavenly Devil Alliance has been attacking and hindering their march, in an attempt to divide and conquer.

“The Celestial Court has been their main target; the Red Fire Star Zone and the Void Star Zone are relatively safe. After all, the enemy doesn’t have enough forces to attack the three star zones at the same time. That’s why Shen Huang hasn’t moved from the Celestial Court. He’s not giving them any chances.

“The Heavenly Devil Alliance would probably attack us with its whole army if Shen Huang were to be ambushed and wounded.”

Su Ping felt gloomy due to the news. He didn’t expect Old Monster Ye to be as efficient, with war breaking out all too soon. The troops from the Red Fire and the Void Star Zones were still on their way. Even if the two Celestials moved fast, it would take them many years to move their bases over.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do right now. Even Master is being cautious because Old Monster Ye and the other big shots of the Heavenly Devil Alliance could act in the dark and ambush them.

Considering how Old Monster Ye hates my guts, he will surely aim to kill me with the three Celestials if I take action recklessly. I’m still not capable of resisting their joint attacks just yet.

Su Ping took a deep breath. He was still too weak for that scenario, even though he had been significantly strengthened in the Golden Crows world.

Considering his options, the only thing he could do was to reach the Ascendant State as soon as possible.

However, even after cultivating the eighth world, Su Ping was still clueless about how to break through and become an Ascendant.

He was at a loss.

Going by logic alone, he should have been able to invoke a tribulation and rise to the Ascendant State when he created his own laws!

Alas, he didn’t feel anything; it seemed that the laws he created were absorbed by the Dao Patterns.

So, how could he break through?

He didn’t think asking his master would be helpful at that point. It would probably be better to ask the elders of the Heaven Path Institute, or humanity’s top experts, such as Emperor Xin.

Still, he didn’t think they knew the answer, even if he were to ask them. He had established the eighth small world, and his bloodline had been improved to that of the Primitive Chaos Clan. Nobody had walked that route before; he would have to explore on his own.

In any case, the only thing I can do right now is to strengthen myself. I should also upgrade my store and sell more Ascendant pets, which will increase our forces’ combat ability, Su Ping thought.

He made up his mind to capture more Ascendant pets.

First of all, he had to upgrade his store; he would have to accumulate energy and raise it to level six. It would be easier for him to catch Ascendant pets when more advanced beast-catching rings were made available .

He glanced at the star gate. The Loulan ancestor and the other Ascendants were fixing the energy array, healing the wounded, and reestablishing the gate.

Even though their opponent had kept on ambushing the star gates, they could only repair the gates again and again, as they couldn’t close them.

There were a lot of mortals aside from battle pet warriors in the Celestial Court, and consumed a shocking amount of food every day. Even though Ascendant cultivators could construct food with their attained laws, it would still be a waste of their strength. It was obviously dangerous to spend strength on making food for mortals while everybody was preparing for war.

Su Ping stopped watching and returned to his store since he couldn’t help.

“Professional training is available today,” Su Ping said to Joanna.

Joanna glanced at Su Ping. “Are you going to train them in person?”

“Yes, I can train them while I’m at it,” said Su Ping.

He needed to visit cultivation sites to cultivate and capture more pets; he didn’t have to spend a long time in seclusion, and he could train the pets along the way.

Milaluo walked back with Su Ping. He asked with glittering eyes, “Professional training? Can you take in Ascendant pets?”

He had learned from Joanna that professional training was a hundred times more expensive than the normal kind, but money wasn’t a big deal for him; he would have paid without hesitation, even if it were ten thousand times more expensive.

“Not yet.” Su Ping shook his head.

He was still unable to accept Ascendant pets for professional training; the store would still need to be upgraded to level six, and he needed to train an Ascendant with great potential.

He wasn’t far from the store level increase to level six. Then, all he would need was for one of his pets to rise to the Ascendant State—say, the Little Skeleton. Then, he would be able to accept professional training orders, and he would be earning energy much faster.