Astral Pet Store

I think she’s in the Ascendant State.

Su Ping stared at the elegant woman on the chariot. His level was too low for him to detect anything, yet he still had his natural instincts; he was feeling a stinging pressure that only Ascendants gave off.

The phoenix cried and gradually stopped when it reached a high tower in the city.

Facing the high tower was a vast square where a lot of people had gathered; there were also nine silver pillars with dragon engravings set on said forum.

A group of young white-robed disciples in midair before the nine silver pillars.

There were a lot of people in front of every pillar; most of them were of rich upbringing, displaying glamorous clothes. Some were graceful old men; very few of them were in plain clothes.

“Senior Mu.”

The old men on the high tower welcomed the person riding the carriage in the most respectful way.

“How did it go? Did you find anyone with exceptional potential?” The beautiful and extraordinary woman walked off the carriage. She seemed to be shrouded in a cloud; a veil covered her face, showing only her enticing, watery eyes. “Senior, the recruitment test has just begun. There are already three talented candidates who were born with deity constitutions. They have the potential of becoming core disciples,” replied a red-robed elder respectfully.

“Is that so? I heard that a lot of unparalleled geniuses have been born recently; many sects are too searching for disciples. It seems that the rumors were true…” The woman gave a slight nod and moved to the edge of the high tower to look down.

A huge crowd had gathered before the nine pillars like a long snake.

“Are they all candidates?”

Su Ping reached the edge of the square and blended in the crowd. He caught wind of the situation by listening to the nearby discussions.

A sect named the Heaven Asking Church was recruiting disciples at the moment. The nine silver pillars present were known as the Deity Potential Pointers, which could measure a person’s cultivation potential.

Those who qualified would be able to cultivate in the Heaven Asking Church and reach immortality.

“The Green Sword Sect tested me last time; they said my potential was only mediocre and I was rejected. My father has purchased a lot of treasures to improve my physical build since then; I wonder if I can pass this time. I heard that the Heaven Asking Church’s standards are even more rigorous!”

“I hear you! The Heaven Asking Church is the greatest sect on this continent. The Green Sword Sect can only tremble in their

presence.”

“I’ve tested myself with the Deity Pattern Pointer at home. I came as purple; I wonder if I’ll make the cut.”

“It’s hard to say. I heard that the Deity Pattern Pointer is not as accurate as the Deity Potential Pointer. There’s no guarantee unless you have gold-colored potential.”

There were heated discussions everywhere.

Su Ping’s eyes glittered. The situation seemed to be quite interesting.

He happened to need a place to cultivate, as he had to restore his Star State cultivation as soon as possible; the Heaven Asking Church seemed to be a nice place.

He squeezed through the crowd until he arrived at the end of the line to take his measurement with the silver pillars.

“What are you doing? Pay up front if you want to wait in line!”

A few brawny young men stopped Su Ping; they were responsible for keeping order.

Su Ping detected vague energy waves coming from them; it was clear that they weren’t very strong. They weren’t even capable of flying. Still, it was evident that their status wasn’t ordinary.

“I need to pay? I don’t have any money. Can I pay with something else?” asked Su Ping.

“Where is this weirdo from? You don’t have money? What are you planning to pay with? We don’t need any trinkets.” One of the young men frowned and sized him up, curious about his fancy clothes.

Su Ping had just arrived in that world and had yet to change clothes. His modern attire didn’t quite fit the environment. He wasn’t bothered by it, though. He chanted in his heart, and wasn’t relieved until he found he could open the system’s storage.

He had kept a lot of his looted treasures in his small world. Still, his level decline had rendered him unable to detect his small world, and was naturally blocked off.

Fortunately, the system’s storage space didn’t have a level restriction.

Seems like I need to store some currencies in the system’s storage space, Su Ping thought.

The system’s storage system was great in every aspect, except for its limited capacity; he had to use it judiciously.

“Would you accept this?”

Su Ping took out pet food which would have been sold for a thousand energy points in his store. It was the cheapest he had in stock.

“Huh? Divine grass! The aura is so abundant…” The young men were stunned, not expecting that Su Ping would so easily produce a high-quality divine grass. It might not be a big deal for the Heaven Asking Church’s core disciples, but it was surely an ultimate treasure for outer disciples like them.

“Are you sure you want to pay with this?” One of the young men couldn’t help but look at Su Ping passionately.

Su Ping nodded.

“Brother, I can pay for your test. Just take it back,” said one of the young men all of a sudden.

The other young men were shocked to hear that. Their faces showed bewilderment.

They were about to get this divine grass, but this guy simply gave it back to him?

“Zhang Jing, you!”

“What are you doing?”

The young men were rather angry, but none of them dared to be too loud. Their chance to keep the grass would fade if they caught the attention of other disciples.

The young man named Zhang Jing didn’t say anything else. He simply took out some silver and then said to Su Ping, “Brother, this divine grass is too precious; it’ll be useful for your cultivation. The test isn’t costly; you could have a thousand tests with the divine grass!”

Su Ping was dazed for a moment, then thought that the young man was a decent fellow. He considered offering it to him directly, but then refrained upon realizing that the guy could end up being robbed because of that.

So, he said, “Your name is Zhang Jing? I’ll remember you. Just wait for it.”

Zhang Jing: “?”

Su Ping patted his shoulder and smiled. Then, he left and joined the line.

All the young men were stunned. One of them asked, “What did he mean? Was he saying that he’ll remember your favor in the future?”

The others looked at each other in bewilderment. Then, they remembered Zhang Jing’s stupidity and became infuriated.

They could have sold the grass and made a fortune.

“Zhang Jing, you just kicked away our free lunch. How are you going to compensate us?” demanded one of them coldly.

Zhang Jing’s smile finally disappeared when Su Ping left, leaving a solemn expression. His aura changed, and he totally looked like a bad a**. “How? He just offered divine grass for money. Do you think he’s not from a big family? His attire was bizarre too. What if he’s the young prince of a secluded family?All of us may get killed later when his family finds out that we ripped him off!”

All the young men were dazed for a moment. Then, they realized that Su Ping was indeed too extravagant!

The young man who had scolded Zhang Jing frowned, thinking that the latter had a point, but there was something that just wasn’t right.

Zhang Jing ignored them and looked at Su Ping’s back. For me, this may be an opportunity. If he’s truly the young prince of a certain big family and he remembers my favor, he might be able to help me become an outer disciple…

He had his own plan.

There were countless geniuses in an age where everybody cultivated while striving for immortality; those who weren’t talented enough had to fight for opportunities with their wisdom. Zhang Jing thought that the previous encounter was a good opportunity; he didn’t want to die as an ordinary person.

At the end of the line

Su Ping obediently waited in line while listening to the others in the queue. He now had a deeper understanding of the Heaven Asking Church

The members of the rich families finished their tests while talking and complimenting each other.

Su Ping had also learned how the test was conducted. It was fairly simple; he only needed to stick his hand to a pillar. A few seconds later, the nearby tester would announce the result.

He too witnessed how nothing happened when some people touched a pillar.

Others had made the pillars glow brilliantly when their turn came; the dragon engravings would seem enlivened.

The line was quite long. After hundreds of people were tested—there was a dragon roar that echoed throughout the field.

A handsome young man had laid his hand on the pillar, and the dragon engravings seemed to come alive as they let out a roar.

Up on the high tower—the old men and the Mu-surnamed woman looked in that direction. The old men were all excited. “Another man with a deity constitution!”

The Mu-surnamed woman gave a slight nod. “That’s right. The dragon roar was quite loud. Maybe his deity constitution is of a high rank.”

Under everyone’s gaze, the handsome young man was surrounded by a few white-robed young men who invited him to the high tower.

The others couldn’t have been more jealous. Many women asked about the man with glowing eyes. Undoubtedly, that handsome fellow would embark on the journey to divinity and compose his own legend.

“Deity Potential, third tier!”

“Unqualified.”

Su Ping’s turn finally arrived. The plain-clothed young man who had been before him, left with frustration, lips pursed and clenched fists; the tester looked rather indifferent.

Su Ping unconsciously patted the young man’s shoulder as he passed, then said, “Bro, don’t be too frustrated; you’ll have other opportunities. I can see that you’ve been born to make great achievements.”

The young man: “?”

After a few seconds of silence, the young man cupped his hands and said, “Thanks. I won’t be depressed over this; a lot of things may change in three years. I’ll be back three years from now!”

“Good luck!”

Hardly had Su Ping finished encouraging the young man when the tester said impatiently, “It’s your turn. Stop wasting my time.”

Su Ping then walked towards the silver pillar.

“Touch the pillar,” instructed the tester.

Su Ping laid his hand on the silver pillar and felt cold. Exactly at that moment he sensed that there was something sharp on the silver pillar which stung his hand. He instinctively wanted to move his hand back. But on second thought, maybe that was the actual test.

The sharp thing stung fast, like a needle.

Su Ping had thick skin, though. Even though he didn’t move his hand, the needle was unable to penetrate.

“Deity Potential, first tier.

“Unqualified. Back off,” said the tester indifferently.

Su Ping raised his eyebrows; he was certain that the needle was the test. Was it trying to collect his blood to test his potential?

He didn’t back off; instead, he quickly bit his finger and laid it on the silver pillar again.

Seeing Su Ping’s action, the tester changed his expression and asked in shock and fury, “Brat, I asked you to back off. What are you doing?”

A mere mortal was bold enough to defy him!

He shook with anger as he dashed towards Su Ping like the wind. He was going to throw that ignorant young man away, when a magnificent dragon roar resounded. It was as if the massive creature were emerging from a deep abyss and rising to the sky!

The entire silver pillar was quaking; the dragon engraving seemed enlivened.

The quake and the roar made the tester tremble. He stopped and looked at the silver pillar in shock.

The dragon engraving on the pillar turned into an intimidating illusion that looked down at the entire square and then roared loudly.

The entire square fell silent again. Everybody fixed their shocked eyes upon the young man.

On the high tower—the old men and the Mu-surnamed woman were stunned. They quickly looked, and the woman said with astonishment, ‘The dragon roar is so loud that he probably has a high deity constitution!”

The old men were quite excited. They hurriedly had someone invite Su Ping over.

Next to the experts was the handsome young man from earlier, who was both stunned and frustrated at the moment; he was able to tell that the dragon roar invoked by the stranger was louder than his.

The young man who had just passed by Su Ping suddenly turned around. His eyes glittered as he stared at the guy standing in front of the silver pillar. “One day, I’ll shine just like you!”

“D-Deity constitution!”

The tester snapped out of his stupor and swallowed in astonishment. He quickly flashed a smile and looked at Su Ping in delight. “Young man, congratulations. You have an unparalleled deity constitution, and you have a chance of becoming a core disciple of the Heaven Asking Church!”

Su Ping didn’t give him a hard time. He simply nodded.

A few white-robed disciples squeezed through the crowd and invited Su Ping to the high tower. Su Ping followed them, quickly reaching the top which had a wonderful view; the crowd in the square were just like ants from there. Su Ping then looked at the woman on the carriage, and the old men with concealed auras. They were very likely Star Lords.

“Young man, what’s your name?”

“Su Ping.”

“Young man, you have a deity constitution. You’ll be admitted as an outer disciple right away. No extra tests are required,” said a delighted old man. “You’ll be further evaluated when we return and check both your background and your constitution. You’ll be given suitable training resources, so that you can embark on the journey of divinity!”

Su Ping frowned. A background check?

Still, it was understandable. After all, such major sects had to take measures when dealing with possible spies.

“Okay.”

“Su Ping, this is Senior Mu, a supervisor from our sect. You can choose to cultivate under her tutelage since you were picked in this region,” said an old man.

Su Ping looked at the Mu-surnamed woman. “Master, nice to meet you.”

The Mu-surnamed woman: “…”

They had never met before. Was the young man really that clever?

The others who had been selected were just as surprised.