Astral Pet Store (WN)
chapter-1013

The guests were sent to different areas in the gala.

Heavenly Lords were at one place, Ascendants were elsewhere, while other friends of the family like Su Ping had an independent platform of their own. The less important ones, such as the lords of certain galaxies, were entertained in other platforms.

The rest of the guests were seated in the crowded auditorium behind the platforms.

Su Ping saw Six Lives Buddha, Lilian and Dragon Shepard seated among a bunch of Star Lords. They had extraordinary backgrounds, and it wasn't exactly demeaning for them to sit with a group of Star Lords.

Su Ping saw Ye Ling—whom he had recently confronted—seated on another platform. He was merely a Star Lord, but the Loulan family was already treating him like an Ascendant. The guests around him didn't complain about this. After all, Ye Ling was indeed a genius who had a good chance to rise and break through. It wasn't demeaning for them to be seated together with him.

Exclamations were then heard, coming from the exterior.

A group of people flew over and entered the meeting place. They arrived at the Loulan's main platform. Their leader was wearing white clothes; he looked as graceful and unworldly as a deity.

Many Ascendants recognized him and immediately stood up.

The old man with red eyebrows next to Su Ping exclaimed, "It's Heavenly Lord Ye Lan! He's here too!"

"Ye Lan?" asked Su Ping curiously.

The old man glanced at Su Ping and said, "He held the top position in the Divine Lord Rank of the Crimson Shadow Star Zone five hundred years ago. He secluded himself for a long time, until he reached the Ascendant State. He had killed ten Ascendant beasts in the Crimson Shadow Star Zone. He's the newest Heavenly Lord in the last hundreds of years!"

"The newest Heavenly Lord…" Su Ping didn't expect that the Loulans would invite the newest risen Heavenly Lord. It did seem influential.

The other guests of the Loulan family were similarly astonished. The Ascendants seated close to Heavenly Lord Ye Lan could not help but rise to their feet. After all, even though they were of Ascendant level, Heavenly Lords were very close to the Celestial State!

Soon, the leader of the Loulan family invited Heavenly Lord Ye Lan to sit down and talk.

As the gala went on, the top stars invited to warm up the atmosphere went about their performances, while some of the rare pets roaming about to build up the atmosphere were still around. Many of them enjoyed the shows and thought that the trip was worth it.

Su Ping had nothing to do, so he ate ravenously. The food on the table was not only delicious; it was filled with exuberant energy. It would have worked as a great tonic for ordinary people. While eating and digesting, he asked the beautiful waitresses to eat with him.

Those waitresses were considered stars in different galaxies. They were actually battle pet warriors, but none of them were above the Ocean State. They hesitated to accept Su Ping's invitation, but a few samplings of the food left them enamored and sparkly eyed.

All the food on the table was finished, and Su Ping had new dishes served. The food was free of charge anyway.

While eating and drinking, he then heard noises from a platform down below. He looked for the source of the sound, only to see a few young men in strange clothes looking around on the platform. Many people close to Six Lives Buddha were infuriated; some even stood in anger.

"What's going on?" Su Ping was surprised. Those young men were just Star Lords. They dare to cause trouble here?

"They're kids from the Blood Charm Star Zone. They're being arrogant, challenging other Star Lords." The old man glanced at the high pile of empty plates on Su Ping's table, visibly shocked. "I've always heard that the people of that star zone are bloodthirsty. It seems to be true."

"Is nobody going to stop this folly?" Su Ping looked at the Loulan family found on the main platform.

The old man with red eyebrows shook his head. "The family leader has purposefully invited lots of geniuses because he wants them to show their abilities, and because he wants his juniors to beat them in front of the honorable guests of other star zones. However, those youngsters seem to be very strong. I don't think many can beat them."

Su Ping understood. So, everything had been planned out.

He immediately dropped the idea of intervening. He ate and watched, ready to see the expertise of other Star Lords from the Divine Lord Rank.

"Why? Is nobody here courageous enough to fight me?" The blood-robed young man in the middle looked around and flashed a smile full of disdain.

"Humph. Let me teach you the importance of respect!"

A man suddenly jumped onto the platform. He was a brawny Star Lord who wore a piece of special armor. He spoke the Common Tongue of the universe with a strong accent.

One of the Loulan's Ascendants enclosed the platform with his power after the brawny man entered the arena.

On the platform—the bloody-robed young man's companions backed off and stood still. A battle immediately began. The brawny fellow and the bloody-robed young man unleashed their small worlds and fought.

Their respective attacks with faith power roared like dragons. All their pets were of the rare kind, Star Lord beasts that caused the platform to shake constantly. The venue would have been destroyed if the battlefield hadn't been enclosed.

The Divine Lord Rank geniuses don't seem to have Ascendant State pets.

Su Ping watched in silence. He had realized the same issue when he challenged the Divine Lord Rank; even the top ranker was only using a Star Lord pet.

Theoretically speaking, a Star Lord could sign a contract with Ascendant pets.

Is it because the gap between the two levels is so huge that the pet might go out of control even if contracted? Su Ping guessed, but he didn't think it was the real reason.

After all, pets could be ferocious, but it wasn't hard for those top geniuses to raise loyal pets. They had enough resources and connections to ask for the help of extraordinary trainers.

Furthermore, Ascendant pets were very smart. They could have asked the bigshots behind them to help intimidate the pets. Most pets would very likely be subdued.

Su Ping thought for a moment, and directly asked the old man next to him, "You don't know why?"

The old man felt surprised. The solemnity in Su Ping's face made him realize that the young man wasn't messing with him. He replied in a weird manner, "The reason is simple. Ascendant pets have already condensed Divine Marks. Your minds would be connected if you establish a contract with one of them; the closer you are, the more influential they'll be. Their Divine Marks will affect their masters, which is a critical condition for Star Lords, since it'll prevent them from rising to the Astral Seal."

"The more talented a Star Lord is, the less likely they'll contract an Ascendant State pet. If they're too greatly influenced by another path, it would be hard for them to free themselves. Such pets would be a source of constant interference. You must not contract Ascendant pets unless you've already become an Ascendant, otherwise you will never be able to reach that level!"

Su Ping didn't expect the reason to be that. He asked curiously, "Is there no way to block the influence?"

"None has been found as of yet." The old man shook his head. "After all, the Ascendant State continues to be a mysterious level. The Federation hasn't been able to fully analyze it with the current technology. As for the Star State and even the Star Lords, the Federation has already attained a lot of research finds, having even created many artificial Star Lord creatures. However, the Ascendant State is different."

Su Ping raised his eyebrows and looked down. He suddenly thought of something and asked, "Then, if a Star Lord has no chance to rise to the Ascendant State and contracts an Ascendant State pet, wouldn't he be even more dangerous than the geniuses on the Divine Lord Rank?"

"That's true." The old man nodded. "Therefore, the Star Lord State is rather complicated. Don't easily offend Star Lords who seem unremarkable, or you might get yourself accidentally killed. However, such Star Lords are rare, because it's hard for a Star Lord to tame Ascendant State pets to begin with.

"Such pets are usually gifted by the seniors backing them. But just consider how ferocious and smart the Ascendant beasts are. Even while suppressed, they would always look for an opportunity to slay their masters and escape. Who can find them? Even Heavenly Lords might find it hard to track down an Ascendant beast when the creature doesn't want to be found."

Su Ping was enlightened. So to speak, he had to be vigilant before mediocre Star Lords. Some may be carrying a nuclear bomb if they somehow managed to obtain an Ascendant State pet!

However, I have the Prime Sky Mirror. Not just the Ascendant State pets, I'd have a chance to escape and wait for my master's help even if I run into human Ascendants. Su Ping's eyes glittered.

He had been carrying the Prime Sky Mirror since he acquired it in the Heavenly Star Pavilion, and had also tested its power in the cultivation sites; it had allowed him to travel in different spaces, and could even make a copy himself to deflect damage.

The battle ended while Su Ping chatted with the old man. The young man in the bloody robe won, albeit by a narrow margin. The one who lost, according to hearsay among the audience, seemed to be famous on the Divine Lord Rank. Still, he was defeated in the end.

"Who's next?!"

The bloody-robed young man looked around on the platform, his clothes stained with his own blood and his opponent's. He couldn't have looked more arrogant.

"I am!"

An angry female voice came from the bottom of the platform. Then, a girl with an alluring body figure dashed over and landed on the arena. She was covered in tight armor, but that wasn't enough to eclipse her sexiness.

"Ha. Bad choice!" The bloody-robed young man sneered. "I don't beat women, unless they offend me. You'd better reconsider!"

"Let me see how strong the fifth place holder of the Divine Lord Rank from the Blood Charm Star Zone is!" The angry woman snorted and attacked.

"I think she is Shi Xiaofeng, the fourth place holder of the Divine Lord Rank from the Flying Cloud Star Zone!"

"One of them is fourth place of the Divine Lord Rank, while the other is in fifth place. Tsk. I bet the one with the bigger boobs will win!"

"Do you want to get killed? She would skin you alive if she heard that!"

All kinds of whispers abounded. Many people were cheering for Shi Xiaofeng; they had obviously been infuriated by the bloody-robed young man's provocation.

The pair were fighting fiercely in the arena as the cheering went on. The power they demonstrated eventually silenced them all, as their strength was indeed shocking to behold.

They were just Star Lords, but they were much stronger than lords of planetary systems.

Up above—the Ascendants of many star zones and the Loulan family were watching too. After all, if the top geniuses on the respective Divine Lord Ranks reached the Ascendant State, they would also be tricky rivals.

"He's so strong!"

Loulan Lin watched in a daze. The two people fought using different styles, both equally horrifying. Their small worlds were indestructible, and their power of faith was as immeasurable as a deep ocean. Their constitutions and secret techniques were also quite intimidating.

"Burn the Sky!" Shi Xiaofeng roared. Her small world instantly turned into countless flames, like an enormous burning sphere. She pushed her small world toward her opponent like a meteor.

The bloody-robed young man, however, moved like a ghost. His small world was appearing and disappearing too. He suddenly split up and showed up behind Shi Xiaofeng's back, attacking her unpredictably.

A phoenix cry burst out behind Shi Xiaofeng's back. Her pet had dashed out and charged at the bloody-robed young man.

"What a smart pet!"

"The secret techniques of the Blood Charm Star Zone are all about assassination. They're so unpredictable!"

Many Ascendants nodded as they watched.

Someone exclaimed all of a sudden, as a hint of black color appeared in Shi Xiaofeng's burning small world. Then, the black color pierced through her small world like a sharp thorn. The burning meteor fell apart, wounding Shi Xiaofeng. Meanwhile, the bloody-robed young man leaped out of the flames.

A black and intimidating dagger was stuck right next to Shi Xiaofeng's forehead.

The battle was over, and the victor was obvious.

The audience was completely silent. Then, everyone exclaimed loudly.

None of them expected that the seemingly unstoppable Shi Xiaofeng would be defeated that quickly.

Everyone was astonished to see the burn marks on the bloody-robed young man's body. When did he sneak into Shi Xiaofeng's small world? Did he purposefully launch a clone to attack her from the back?

"The fifth place of the Flying Cloud Star Zone is just so-so!"

The bloody-robed young man withdrew his dagger and flashed a cold and disdainful smile.

Shi Xiaofeng's face was pale. She was angrily looking at her opponent while breathing heavily, but there was nothing she could say.

The audience had nothing to say about the young man's attitude after such an outcome. While his arrogance was annoying, he was truly worthy of such arrogance!