Astral Pet Store

“The Mayhem Star Zone?”

Su Ping remembered hearing the name somewhere before. He searched through his memories for a moment and finally found the answer: it was a very famous star zone in the universe, the only one that barred Celestials from entering.

Such a strange rule made it the perfect hiding place for criminals wanted by the twelve Celestials.

The place was as disordered as its name suggested.

“That is correct.”

Shen Huang knew that Su Ping was still a young cultivator, so he confirmed the information. He said, “The Mayhem Star Zone is a special place in the universe. There’s a dangerous space crack deep within and terrifying beasts emerge on occasion, so we send Heavenly Lords to defend it.

“Us Celestials can’t enter because of the zone’s reigning laws. If we do go, not only would our realms drop to the Ascendant State, we would also encounter the dangerous creatures from deeper spaces. That is why many wanted criminals choose to hide there, out of our reach.”

Su Ping nodded and asked, “Why did you bring that up, master?”

Shen Huang said with a solemn expression, “An ancient corpse was recently spat by the space crack in the Mayhem Star Zone! There’s an independent universe and countless treasures within the corpse. From what we can tell, there must be relics and power left inside. If anyone can inherit them…”

He looked at Su Ping and said, “I might not have shared this with you if it were just some Celestial legacy, but the ancient corpse is more than that. Based on your senior brother Lian Qi’s investigation while defending the place, I suspect that it may well be the remains of a universe dominator beyond the Celestial State!”

“A universe dominator?”

Su Ping was dazed.

Considering the realm naming in the Archean Divinity, those who were beyond the Celestial State were the God Emperors.

Above the God Emperors were the Ancestral Gods.

Was it an ancient corpse from a God Emperor?

“That’s right.” Shen Huang nodded. “All Celestial experts have been cultivating for a long time; our sole objective is to rise higher, until we become as powerful as the universe itself.

“From a planet’s perspective, the atmosphere is considered the sky.

“When seeing the whole universe, the sky is much higher and the earth is much thicker. The universe is boundless; even we have to understand it and study so that we can establish small universes that are part of the grand universe. Once we master the small universes we can become the ultimate kings.”

Shen Huang added, “The universe dominator is a legendary level that nobody has been able to reach. However, the Celestial State wasn’t the upper limit, based on the books we retrieved from ancient relics; there were higher levels. That is to say, universe dominators existed in the past, but they somehow perished.

Maybe they fought for supremacy, or maybe they were killed by even stronger beings… Su Ping added in his heart.

Universe dominators were essentially God Emperors. Above them were the powerful Ancestral Gods.

“My plan was to ask you and your senior brothers to go and see what you can loot from the ancient corpse. Even if you can’t find anything, you must ensure that nobody else does,” said Shen Huang.

“The news has been spread and the entire universe is in shock. All the Celestials, and even the saints from the Planet of Origin will very likely fight for it!

“If there’s a legacy or treasures to be had, we will surely fight for them too!”

Shen Huang concluded with, “Cultivation is all about going against nature’s will! We’ll be left in the dust if we don’t compete, and we’ll be beaten in the future! Last time you showed that you were as strong as a Heavenly Lord; your safety and that of your seniors is guaranteed if you go to the Mayhem Star Zone, since no Celestials can enter. You can go there if you’re interested.”

In the end, Shen Huang left the final choice to Su Ping.

He was treating the latter differently from how he treated his other disciples, as he couldn’t just order the young man to do anything—

After all, Su Ping had a formidable and mysterious backer.

Furthermore, considering Su Ping’s own potential, there was a good chance that the lad would rise to the Celestial State if everything went well.

As for higher levels, chances were rather slim.

Su Ping wasn’t in a rush to accept the request. He considered for a moment and said, “I’ll think about it.”

Shen Huang nodded. “Take your time. The others will set off in five days; send me a message if you decide to join them. You would be directly teleported to the border of the Mayhem Star Zone by a hyperspace teleportation array, and you would also be teleported back once you’re done.”

“A hyperspace teleportation array?” Su Ping was surprised. “I didn’t know such arrays existed. If so, have the other two Celestials arrived already?”

Shen Huang understood what Su Ping was thinking. He said, “They came not long ago; the array was developed only recently. Chi Huo and Xu Kong could have made the trip over to the Celestial Court at any time, but their subordinates would have been slaughtered if they left their territories unattended. So, they all migrated across space together.”

Su Ping understood and posed another question, “Is the Heavenly Devil Alliance still harassing us?”

“Not after we reunited. They’ll probably send people to compete for the treasures now with the news about the Mayhem Star Zone. Pay close attention to the Heavenly Lords of the Heavenly Devil Alliance. I’ve gathered their information and given it to Song Yuan; I’ll give you a copy later,” said Shen Huang.

“Thank you very much, master.”

“All right, take your time to consider.”

“Okay.”

Their conversation ended and Su Ping left the virtual universe. An email was simultaneously transmitted to his watch. Su Ping opened it and found it was the promised briefing document about the Heavenly Lords.

There were more than thirty Heavenly Lords in the Heavenly Devil Alliance!

That is, those were the ones his master had found; there could be more in the shadows.

Seven top Heavenly Lords!

Two from the Doom Star Zone, and one from the Bloody Charm Star Zone…

There are two new top Heavenly Lords. They seem to have been promoted by Old Monster Ye using ancient drugs.

Su Ping narrowed his eyes, just then realizing how resourceful Old Monster Ye was.

He went to the store and summoned the sutra old man to his own room.

“Su… Boss?” The sutra old man unconsciously called him by his name, but changed very quickly. He was slightly confused and nervous. Has Su Ping realized that I’ve been slacking off?

“Tell me what you know about Old Monster Ye. Does he have any drugs that can significantly improve combat abilities?” Su Ping asked.

The sutra old man felt relieved. “There are indeed a few recipes that can make such drugs. I can provide them if you want them, boss, but I don’t know if you can find the necessary materials.”

“Show me,” said Su Ping quickly.

The old man quickly handed over four recipes, which contained thousands of words, even though they were very concise and meaningful.

Su Ping gave them a quick read, then waved at the old man and said, “Bring Xiao Rong here.”

Xiao Rong was the cauldron woman’s nickname. She could refine both pills and weapons, and had potential to grow.

“Did you summon me, boss?”

The cauldron woman had grown accustomed to her new role; she met a lot of customers in Su Ping’s store, and argued with others in the virtual universe every day. She was having much more fun in comparison to her life at the bottom of the ocean, caged by Old Monster Ye.

“Old Monster Ye knows a few recipes. Check and see if they are the real deal; he must have used you to refine them before.” Su Ping gave the recipes to Xiao Rong and asked her to confirm; after all, the sutra old man was a cunning fellow.

Xiao Rong read carefully and nodded. “That’s right. Those are the right materials. Looks like the old man is not playing any tricks.”

Su Ping raised his eyebrows. Xiao Rong and the sutra old man had never seen eye to eye, which was a good thing.

“All right, work harder in the store. Maybe I’ll consider offering you some rare materials that will help you rise to higher levels if you get the Outstanding Employee rating!” said Su Ping casually.

Xiao Rong felt dazed, then her eyes glittered. “Are you serious?”

“Why would I mess with you?”

“I’ll try my best!” she quickly replied, feeling excited. Even though she was proud of herself and thought that she would become an emperor-level cauldron sooner or later, how “soon” remained to be seen. Refining rare treasures would certainly help her break the bottleneck much sooner!

“Go now.”

Xiao Rong left, then Su Ping considered for a moment and contacted his master a second time in the virtual universe.

Shen Huang was surprised to see him again so soon. “Have you made up your mind?”

“Not yet.” Su Ping shook his head. “I’ve found several ancient recipes that can make drugs with all sorts of effects. Some are stimulants to aid in breaking bottlenecks, but their effectiveness is unknown.

“Some can strengthen the taker, but their realms can’t be improved and they come with terrible side effects. It would be hard for the takers to make breakthroughs again…”

Su Ping gave the ancient recipes to his master and added, “These are the ancient recipes I found in one of Old Monster Ye’s books. The materials are probably extinct, but making those drugs is possible if they are found.”

Shen Huang’s eyes glittered as he accepted and checked the recipes. Then, he said with delight, “They are indeed marvelous and truly powerful. Are you sure that the recipes are legitimate?”

“I made sure to confirm.” Su Ping nodded.

“All right. I’ll have someone search for the materials; we’ll be able to manufacture the drugs if we can gather enough materials,” said Shen Huang. He knew how valuable the recipes were. Su Ping had previously announced that he would publicize a technique to cultivate multiple small worlds, and now he was handing over such precious ancient recipes. Shen Huang was at a loss, feeling that his disciple was even more generous than him.

Shen Huang held back his excitement as he said to Su Ping with a smile, “I’ve improved your universe rank to level eight, which grants you Heavenly Lord privileges. You will also have the key to my treasury; feel free to enter without asking for my permission.”

“Thank you very much, master.” Su Ping nodded.

Shen Huang was disappointed by Su Ping’s reaction. Is my treasury not appealing? He was essentially sharing his treasures with Su Ping; anyone else would have felt thrilled.

However, it was hard for him to see through that young disciple of his. Feeling slightly frustrated, he said, “There isn’t much I can do for you as your master; just tell me if you need anything in the future.”

“Okay.”

Su Ping nodded.

Shen Huang helplessly waved a hand and bid him goodbye.

Once again, both left the virtual universe. Su Ping returned to his store and calculated the time, then took some pets to the cultivation sites for the appointed training.

Time flew.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

The time difference made it stretch to fifty days in the cultivation sites.

Regretfully, Su Ping had yet to find any insight regarding how to break through to the Ascendant State.

His only progress had to do with grasping more laws.

Do I have to destroy my eight small worlds?

All the laws he created were absorbed by the World of Mythical Chaos as patterns that would roam within.

Given such absorption, the eighth small world became almost as powerful as the other seven small worlds combined.

Su Ping even visited the world of Golden Crows for advice. He also took 100TB worth of movies as a gift for the princess.

Alas, his situation was so unprecedented that even the Chief Elder of the Golden Crows was unable to offer any advice.

Su Ping had never imagined that he would be stuck in the threshold right before the Ascendant State.

Even though he had never tried his best before, he had always thought he would succeed if he tried hard enough.

However, he couldn’t break through even when going all out.

Am I truly stuck?

Su Ping felt rather helpless.

Five days later—

Su Ping left the store and handed the reins to Green Lady. Joanna was still training in seclusion; she had turned into a golden cocoon, surrounded by countless golden lightning bolts inside one of the nursing pens. Su Ping had left instructions to Green Lady, all to ensure that nobody disturbed her.

In the Celestial Court—

Su Ping quickly dashed to the temple.

There were four Ascendant State guards posted; all of them recognized Su Ping. They were curious, but they didn’t show any unusual expressions.

“I want to meet my master,” said Su Ping straight off when he arrived.

“Please wait a moment. I’ll report this right now,” said one of the Ascendant cultivators.

Hardly had the guard said that when Shen Huang’s voice resounded. “Let him in.”

The Ascendant guards were surprised. Judging by Shen Huang’s attitude, it was easy to tell how he favored that young disciple of his.

“I heard that this Star Lord kid is one of the most important people raising waves in the universe. His achievements will be remembered by future generations, even though he’s still young.”

“Old Monster Ye from the Heavenly Devil Alliance hates his guts; he placed a bounty on his head throughout the universe, one that is tempting even for Heavenly Lords. I truly wonder what he could have possibly done.”

“I heard he turned Old Monster Ye’s nest upside down.”

The Ascendants gossiped heatedly via telepathy.

The temple was opened and Su Ping went in. Then, he saw seven familiar people inside.