Astral Pet Store (WN)
chapter-1201

"Since they're all here, might as well catch them once and for all!"

Xue Mei was cold. There was an alluring charm in her face; her dismissive attitude made her even more likable. A lot of Heavenly Lords admired her.

"Let's give them a taste of the Heavenly Devil Array we just grasped!" said Ye Chen with a cold smile.

A tremendous number of people came out of the vortex after he said that. They used the channels established by the Celestials to teleport themselves over; all of them were Ascendant State experts.

The new arrivals confronted the people already on the battlefield, and were almost dwarfing them.

It was a fact that Chi Huo, Shen Huang and the others had just established their alliance, and were still in the process of selecting a commander for their troops. The Ascendants in their ranks weren't really united yet!

"Huh?"

Xu Kong's expression turned cold. She quickly said to Shen Huang and Chi Huo. "I just received a report that they entered the Debris of Time and spent a hundred days there, which equals ten thousand years in our universe. They learned an ancient secret array; its main section can concentrate the power of 1,800 Ascendants, making them as strong as Celestials!

"There are 108 branch arrays, each manned by nine people; this can increase their combat ability to that of Heavenly Lords!"

"What?!"

Both Chi Huo and Shen Huang's expressions showed their wariness.?There was such a terrifying military array?

They looked at Ye Chen. That peculiar array surely belonged to the devil that came from the ancient times; they would have noticed if it were another Celestial's work.

"No wonder they were bold enough to come. This isn't a test!

"Damn it, Shen Huang, what do we do now? I suggest we leave this place and counterattack when the chance arises; or maybe we can just attack their nest and kill their subordinates!" Chi Huo proposed. He was quite decisive, and was determined to fight.

Shen Huang's expression looked awful; that was indeed the most suitable choice. They could grab their subordinates and hide them in their universes, making it more difficult for their enemies to reach them.

However, would their enemies neglect such a fact?

Shen Huang was doubtful.

They would have quickly decided if they were confronting other Celestials; however, there was so much they didn't know about Old Monster Ye. They had scoured the Federation's databases to find information about the latter after his first appearance, and had also looked for the information in several different relics, but didn't find much.

That old monster had only been a temporary star in his time. He had indeed been an eye-catching figure, but he wasn't remembered in the ages that followed.

As if seeing through Shen Huang's concern, Xu Kong said, "How about you prepare for battle first? I'll try to escape with my people. I'm not defecting; if they don't stop me…"

She suddenly stopped, as she realized that there was a major flaw in her plan.

Shen Huang shook his head. "We're not afraid of your defecting; however, they must have taken this scenario into consideration. They don't have to chase you, as they can go after you later."

Xu Kong assented, knowing it was true.

"Let's try to fight them. We'll retreat if we can't win," Chi Huo said.

Shen Huang replied, "All right; we must at least force them to reveal their trump cards. Let's find out how powerful the Heavenly Devil Array is, and later figure out how to crack it!"

"Great!"

Xu Kong was also on board.

They talked at length, but it took place in but a moment.

Ye Chen had already ordered his Ascendant underlings to take a battle formation by then. They knew that some of their subordinates were Shen Huang's spies, but it was hard to sniff them out. Fortunately for the evil group, those spies only knew how to establish the array, but didn't know how to break it.

The Ascendants moved quickly; the 1,800 of them rushed out and stood in position. Their Ascendant power was linked and combined, and the array was overseen by nine Heavenly Lords. Three of them were the leaders; they controlled the array's body, energy and soul respectively!

Having practiced for ten thousand years, the main trio had already developed a great sense of teamwork.

Their brilliant golden energy was linked, which started to burn like a furnace. The flames rose to the sky and turned into a golden giant a thousand meters tall, releasing a terrifying pressure.

The change in quantity had led to a change in quality, giving way to real Celestial State pressure!

Shen Huang and the others changed their expressions at that moment; their Ascendant allies widened their eyes in disbelief.

The 1,800 Ascendant cultivators and the nine Heavenly Lords had produced a Celestial State combat ability!

Also…

They felt that the newly formed giant was even more terrifying than a regular Celestial expert!

"The ancient secret techniques are always surprising!" Chi Huo's eyes were cold, but he didn't flinch because of the current situation. He was feeling an unprecedented pressure coming from the giant. That secret array really seemed to be effective against a Celestial opponent!

"1,800 Ascendants fused their powers with the array. It's indeed extraordinary." Shen Huang frowned gloomily.

He concurrently gave the order and asked his Ascendant cultivators to gather in a battle formation. He also asked those who didn't know battle formations to get ready for battle!

The same order was given to the Ascendants from both the Red Fire Star Zone and the Void Star Zone, who came to the ghastly realization that things weren't going in their favor. They had essentially been ambushed by Ye Chen!

However, they had to fight since their Celestial betters weren't planning to retreat!

Song Yuan commanded the people of the Golden Star Zone. Shen Huang's sixty-seven disciples were all Ascendants except for Su Ping, Shuai Qianhou and Diaz; they had also gone over military formation drills.

Led by those disciples, the other Ascendants from the Golden Star Zone also took action.

They also had secret arrays they had acquired in ancient ruins, which were truly destructive. Individual actions of Ascendant cultivators were useless in massive battles. They had to rely on military formations.

The Loulans' ancestor quickly arranged his family's Heavenly Lords to activate their own secret arrays.

The family wouldn't call upon all its members to gather and use that powerful array unless it was a grave crisis.

That would be the very first battle they had to fight as part of an alliance!

"Linlin, stay by my side," said a solemn Jian Lan as he looked at her concerned granddaughter, "Don't worry about him; his master will take good care of him."

Loulan Lin withdrew her gaze, knowing that the Celestials would have to go all out during that crisis and wouldn't be able to ensure their family's safety. It was going to be a hard battle.

She quickly entered Jian Lan's world and said, "Grandma, be careful."

At the same time—all the Ascendants took all the juniors into their small worlds.

Qing Hongyue—from the Void Star Zone—entered one of her seniors' worlds too. She was feeling quite uneasy about the upcoming battle.

"Sixteenth disciple."

Shen Huang then said to one of his disciples, "Take care of your three junior brothers. You were unwilling to cultivate military formations, and only know the Royal Army's first array. We'll be using the second array, so you won't be able to participate. We'll be focusing on the battle; your task will be to take them away however you can."

The alluded young man changed his expression as he was following Song Yuan and others to establish the array, but then felt reassured after seeing how calm his master was. He quickly replied, "Master, I want to stay and help."

"It's an order."

The young man's lips twitched. He didn't say anything in the end, merely disengaging from the military formation. He dashed over to where Shuai Qianhou and Diaz were, still in shock on their seats, and took them into his small world.

After that, he flashed over to Shen Huang, then heaved a sigh as he looked at his junior brother standing on the throne's armrest.

To think his master was taking special attention to ensure his junior brother's safety at such a critical moment. It was truly unfair.

"Junior brother, come in," said the young man.

Su Ping glanced at his master, knowing that it had to be an order coming from him. He didn't say anything as he simply entered the world.

His sixteenth senior brother's world was vast and beautiful. He saw that Shuai Qianhou and Diaz were already inside, standing in midair obediently.

The two of them were also stunned after seeing Su Ping appear; they even felt somewhat delighted.

It seemed that they somehow were as important to their master as Su Ping was.

Shuai Qianhou chuckled and said, "Senior brother, it's been a long time."

"Sure," Su Ping replied, then gazed toward a certain direction.

The two juniors dashed over. Diaz said, "It's been a long time since we last met. I heard that the old monster posted a bounty for you. You must be careful."

Su Ping hummed.

"I was hoping to exceed you, but it seems that you'll reach the Ascendant State earlier than me," said Diaz with mixed feelings. He had already abandoned all grievances, and wanted to make friends with Su Ping. After all, even an idiot could tell the latter's potential. It was much better to befriend him, especially being fellow disciples under Shen Huang.

"Sure."

"Stop saying that. I'm talking to you; don't you have any respect for us?" Diaz had set his pride aside, but he was still triggered by Su Ping's attitude.

"I'm checking the situation outside. We're in trouble right now; let's focus on that," said Su Ping without looking back.

Both Diaz and Shuai Qianhou felt dazed. Shuai Qianhou asked suspiciously, "Senior brother, you can see what's going on out there?"

They were currently in the world of an Ascendant cultivator. They would have no chance to see a thing unless the Ascendant allowed it.

Besides, the senior brother protecting them was a Heavenly Lord, even though he was ranked 16th!

He wasn't as strong as the top Heavenly Lords like their first senior brother, but he was still a Heavenly Lord. It was said that his mind had been disturbed because of a woman, which was why he failed to reach perfection.

"Can't you?" Su Ping had hardly posed the question when he realized why. He then said, "I'll show you."

He waved a hand to invoke dark power, which hovered before their eyes like a cloud. However, there were illusory waves inside the cloud, which displayed the scenes from the exterior.

The battlefield set up for the commandery competition was caught by war; Ye Chen and the others were fighting them. All kinds of powers were bursting explosively, while Ascendants perished one after the other. Their pets were moaning and shedding blood!

"Well…"

The two juniors were shocked, both realizing that they were in grave danger upon seeing the gruesome scenery.

They were in no mood to talk to Su Ping anymore. Both were distracted and worried because of the gory battle.

Bang!

All of a sudden—a sword aura appeared in their view and slashed towards them.

Shuai Qianhou and Diaz unconsciously closed their eyes and raised their hands to release defensive powers. However, they soon realized that the sword aura was not aimed at them, but at their sixteenth senior brother who was protecting them!

Zing!

The sword aura was knocked away. Fang Shiliu—their sixteenth senior brother—punched and fended off the attack.

The auditorium had been completely destroyed by then. The thousand-meter tall giant waved a fist, roaring as it fought. Chi Huo, Xu Kong and Shen Huang were fighting the giant together. Next to them were Ye Chen, An Hei and Xue Mei. Shen Huang's side had a clear disadvantage in that three-versus-four battle.

They summoned their Celestial pets, which were so enormous that they were like a hundred interstellar aircraft carriers. Their appearance caused an overpowering rumble.

However, Old Monster Ye and the others also had Celestial pets of their own. The energy aftershocks caused by their battle was blocking the others completely; none of the Ascendants dared to step in. Such energy trails were enough to obliterate regular cultivators of their level!

They avoided that chaotic battlefield and fought fiercely elsewhere. That part of the universe was collapsing, and multiple deep spaces were being displayed at the same time in the most bizarre way.

Not even the most imaginative painter could have depicted such a strange scene.

Enemy Ascendants had also gathered to form smaller giants in groups of nine, who then charged at the righteous alliance!

Each of the small giants was as destructive as a Heavenly Lord!

In particular, the small giants made with Heavenly Devil Arrays were overpowering the military arrays formed by Song Yuan and Liu Xia along with hundreds of Ascendants.

Those small giants were so agile that it was impossible to hit them.

As for the other small giants, they charged at the rest of Ascendants who weren't in formation.

"Who said you could leave?"

On the edge of the battlefield—two small giants, part dark and part golden emerged from the void and stood in Fang Shiliu's way.