Astral Pet Store

The place is indeed special; no wonder Ye Chen was reluctant to enter. He was wanted by the entire universe; if someone stays here all the time he would in time become the nightmare of all his enemies! Chi Huo thought and understood Ye Chen’s mood.

He would probably react just as Ye Chen did, eventually being unable to sleep at night.

Su Ping turned around and said to the group, “Everybody, this is my pet store. You can stay on this street, but it seems to be crowded right now. I’d advise you to go and buy your own residence; you may seek shelter in my store in case of danger.”

Chi Huo chuckled. “All right. Brother Su, your store seems to have a flourishing business. There are so many customers here.”

“Well, the business is not bad. Feel free to train your pets too; professional training will be personally conducted by me. Right now, I can only train pets up to the Ascendant realm,” said Su Ping.

“You know how to train pets too?”

Liu Xia was standing next to Chi Huo, she looked at Su Ping in astonishment.

Her preconception was that Su Ping had spent all his time cultivating and meditating. Otherwise, how could he grow and become that strong in only a hundred years?

“As a matter of fact, pet training is my forte,” said Su Ping gloomily. He remembered the Little Skeleton and couldn’t help but bite his lips.

IIII

Everybody shared bewildered looks.

A pet trainer?

They considered pet trainers as the weakest in their level.

They would only advance to train better pets; otherwise they wouldn’t need to level up.

“Can I train my pets here?” asked a Heavenly Lord from the Red Fire Star Zone.

Su Ping glanced at him and said, “Yes, but you need to wait in line.”

No longer feeling like talking, he then turned around and entered the store.

“Wait in line?”

The dazed Heavenly Lord looked at the infinitely-stretching line occupying the street, not knowing what to say.

Hardly had Su Ping returned to his store when Tang Ruyan, the Green Lady and the others saw him. They were delighted to greet him.

“You’re back.”

Su Ping nodded in silence. In his heart-he asked the system, “System, is there any way to bring the Little Skeleton back to life?”

“Yes, and no,” replied the system.

Su Ping said gloomily, “I’m not joking; I’m serious.”

“I am serious too,” said the system in a solemn manner, “I never joke when it comes to pets. Although there’s a method, you are currently incapable of using it; technically speaking, it doesn’t exist.”

“What is the method?” Su Ping blurted out in a rush.

His unexpected reaction surprised all the people present; they gave him shocked looks.

Tang Ruyan and Green Lady were both stunned, both realizing that Su Ping seemed to be acting differently from his usual self.

“You will know when the store is promoted to level 9, which is too far away from you right now,” said the system.

Su Ping was stunned.

His store was barely in level 6. There were three more levels to go.

Su Ping couldn’t help but ask, “The store has to be upgraded to the highest level? Doesn’t it mean that I need the Ancestral Gods’s core to revive the Little Skeleton?”

The system didn’t give him a direct reply. “You could say that. After all, it’s completely dead.”

Su Ping’s face looked awful. He also knew that his pet couldn’t be any deader. He couldn’t even find it in the river of time, as if wiped out from existence.

Su Ping thought of a place and asked in a hurry, “Can I find it in the Chaotic Realm of the Undead?”

The system said, “The Chaotic Realm of the Undead is the place where the soul essence of all deceased lives is kept. However, your pet’s soul essence has been destroyed; it cannot be found there.”

“Then…”

“Better focus on improving your own strength. There will be a catastrophe in the near future; everything you have right now will be gone if you can’t survive through it,” said the system indifferently after pausing for a long time.

Su Ping was stunned.

Everything I have right now?

His parents… the Inferno Dragon, the young Chaos Beast… Su Lingyue, his master, and the others?

“What kind of catastrophe? Why have you never mentioned it? Does it have to do with the crack in the universe?” said Su Ping as he recalled the scene.

The system fell silent and stopped replying.

Su Ping asked one more time but no answer came; he knew it would be pointless to insist. His feelings were a mess.

The only positive bit was the future chance to resurrect the Little Skeleton.

Even though it was far off, there was at least a slim chance!

A universal catastrophe…

I have to upgrade the store as fast as possible; it’ll be only a matter of time, given my current influence. It shouldn’t take too long! Su Ping’s eyes were resolute.

His store was not short of customers; he only needed more time to train pets.

He looked at the crowded store, then glanced at Tang Ruyan and Green Lady, shaking his head to hint that he was fine.

The cauldron woman and the sutra old man were busy receiving customers, but Su Ping could tell that they were just pretending. As a matter of fact, all the customers were quiet and obedient; keeping order was unnecessary.

Su Ping remained silent. He left the store and saw his master and the others; Chi Huo had already entered a building near his store, seemingly having become its owner.

Su Ping didn’t know how he did it, but he wasn’t in the mood to asking. Given the power of a Celestial expert, buying real estate was a walk in the park.

“Master,” Su Ping called out, then spoke to Chi Huo telepathically. Chi Huo flashed to meet with Su Ping and asked in surprise, “Brother Su?”

“I want to know all the secrets of the universe, including those related to the Planet of Origin. I also want you to immediately send your forces to the Mayhem Star Zone, so they can monitor the situation over there,” said Su Ping solemnly.

Both Celestials felt dazed as they saw Su Ping’s expression; they glanced at each other. Shen Huang nodded and said, “I’ve already learned of the current situation. I sent an exploring team to the Mayhem Star Zone on the most advanced spaceship; they should be arriving shortly, and will probably send a message back in no time.” “Okay.”

Su Ping trusted his master’s effectiveness. He then asked, “Master, what’s the universal catastrophe you mentioned earlier?”

Shen Huang looked at Chi Huo, who said, “Brother Su is absolutely qualified to know this. This is actually based on our observations, including the findings of the sages from the Planet of Origin. The first sign appeared more than 100,000 years ago. We kept on observing, and gradually confirmed that a catastrophe would hit our universe!” “More than 100,000 years ago?” Su Ping felt dazed, not expecting such an early sign. “That is correct.”

Shen Huang said, “It was more than 100,000 years ago; we accidentally discovered that the deep spaces of the universe were moving in a small scale. Ever since then, we’ve concluded that those movements have a fixed pattern.

“You know that there are nine deep spaces which make up the universe. The wall of the universe is found beyond the ninth space; once you break the wall, you will enter an unknown domain outside the universe.

“However, not even Celestials are capable of breaking the barrier, so we have never been able to explore the regions beyond.”

Shen Huang continued, “The deep spaces of the universe have been merging since that first sign, and it has become more obvious in recent times. All the nine deep spaces will be combined in a couple of thousand years or so, and the universal barrier will become even harder to break, practically indestructible!

“Most importantly, the sages have determined that once the spaces combine, the universe will automatically collapse. Our universe will shrink!”

Su Ping was stunned.

Combination of deep spaces? Shrinking of the universe?

“A terrifying catastrophe will befall us when all the space in the universe changes and the mass doesn’t. A lot of ordinary beings will be squeezed to death without protection,” said Shen Huang.