Astral Pet Store

Shen Huang moved his fingers to magnify the picture. A terrifying scene was immediately displayed.

There were many planets in that place. However, their surfaces seemed to have rotten for some reason. All plants and buildings were half-melted, as if soaked in powerful acids.

Furthermore, those planets were arranged in a helical shape, with a hole at the center.

Su Ping narrowed his eyes and looked at his master. “What’s this?”

“There’s also this.”

Shen Huang displayed another picture, where a gigantic arm was floating in the void. However, upon closer look, it could be seen that one end of the arm was connected to a corpse. It seemed that the arm was reaching out somewhere beyond the universe.

Shen Huang quickly snapped his fingers, displaying picture after picture. There were strange vines in space, piercing through and taking root in those planets, turning them into massive vases.

There were also plenty of dead and cold dragons floating in space. It was quite weird.

“The Celestials of all the star zones have moved there. To prevent leaving any innocent civilians behind, I organized an investigation group to comb through the abandoned planets. They didn’t find anything at first. However, they started noticing those weird things in the past year.”

Shen Huang added in a gloomy tone, “Right now, almost all the population of the universe is now gathered here. Ninety percent of the universe is currently desolate and uninhabited.

“Do you remember the merging of the universe I mentioned earlier?”

......

Su Ping couldn’t help but look at the pictures. “Master, are you saying that the universe is merging and those things were squeezed out of the deep spaces of the universe?”

“That is correct.”

Shen Huang said solemnly, “Such a merger was not a problem we had to solve immediately. After all, based on our observations, it was happening at a very slow rate; it could take at least ten thousand years before we had to take action. Our greatest concern was the worm tide…

“However, something seems to have happened. The merging has been significantly accelerated!”

He looked at Su Ping and continued, “I asked Kayafollet to sneak into other star zones and investigate this. So far, it’s reached the sixth space!

“It has even reached the seventh space in some areas!

“The detector she took with her showed that the merging is moving fast and is fluctuating a lot. It is highly abnormal. According to the specialists, the merging will be complete in five to ten years!”

Su Ping frowned and asked, “Have they found out the reason?”

The man sighed and shook his head. “Not yet. However, I suspect that some sort of power is pushing this change; it could be the alien hidden among the worms. But there’s also another possibility. Our universe might have received some stimulation and accelerated the transformation on its own. As you said, every universe has wisdom; maybe the universe we’re living in is intelligent too!”

Su Ping’s eyes glittered. “In other words, it has decided to do this because of some sort of threat? To protect itself?”

“It’s possible.”

Shen Huang said, “It’s probably because of the worms rampaging as of late. But that’s not a good thing for us; people like us will be fine once the universe is completely merged, but the ordinary folk won’t have a chance to live peacefully anymore. Many planets will change fundamentally, and so will the overall environment of the universe. By then, even Ascendant cultivators will have to struggle in order to live.

“We had originally planned to build a shelter before the merging of the universe was completed. It would be called the New Land.

“There would be similar shelters in all of the twelve star zones. Now that the worms are here, the New Lands in the other star zones have already been abandoned. The New Land in the Golden Star Zone has also been left aside because we’re too busy dealing with the worms. Right now, even if we work at full speed, there won’t be enough time.”

Su Ping became grave. “If there’s no time, we’ll have to send those people into our small universes.”

.

Shen Huang said with a bitter smile, “That’s the only solution. However, based on my calculations, even if all the Celestials and the Ascendant cultivators empty their small universes and worlds to accommodate them, there won’t be enough room for all the population of the universe. There’s barely enough room for half. A lot of people will be sacrificed…”

His expression showed sadness. “Such catastrophe is unavoidable. Ever since ancient times, there have always been casualties in disasters like these. We can only strive to save as many as possible.”

“Only half…” Su Ping mumbled. Did it mean that the other half would be squeezed and killed during the merger? He thought that the worm tide was tricky enough. He didn’t expect that the accelerated merging of the universe would be a greater disaster.

After a moment of silence, Su Ping said to his master, “I will think of a way.”

Stunned, Shen Huang couldn’t help but look at Su Ping. “What way do you have?”

“If necessary, I will ask my employees to help.” Su Ping thought of a solution. “It should be possible to accommodate the other half, if there are several dozen more Celestials.”

“Several dozen Celestial State experts?”

Shen Huang was quite taken aback by Su Ping’s proposal. He knew there was a Celestial State blonde in Su Ping’s store. Had his disciple kept more Celestials hidden?

Su Ping, however, was considering how to address the imminent problem. Judging from the current situation, he would have to hire more Celestial State employees from the cultivation sites.

Shen Huang interpreted the silence; Su Ping wouldn’t say anything unless he was certain. The former thought for a moment and said, “It would be great if that problem can be addressed, but there are other troubles.”

“Huh?”

Su Ping looked at his master.

“After the merging is finalized, not only will it be impossible for ordinary people to live, there will also be a resurgence of hidden existences left between the layers of the universe, as well as the power fragments from ancient times. The entire universe will very likely become a jungle. Even people like us will have to struggle to survive…” Shen Huang said with utmost concern.

Su Ping felt dazed for a moment. The outlook gave him a chill as he looked at the floating pictures and the terrifying scenes.

He had encountered a lot of dangers when he tore through deep spaces. He also saw the terrifying beasts living in deep spaces; they would definitely be released in the outer world after the merger.

Furthermore, ancient bodies like the War Emperor’s would probably appear too.

Even as corpses, they were determined to fulfill their duties.

Some of those were probably different; maybe they became the cradle of terrifying existences.

“When it rains, it pours…” Su Ping was sullen. He felt terrible about his lack of strength. If he were an Ancestral God… He would probably be able to easily take care of everything

“Are there any updates about the alien among the worm tides?” asked Su Ping.

That alien was a source for deep concern. After all, it was probably one of the Heavens, a race that even the Golden Crow ancestor chose to hide from.

“No, it looks like it’s gone, but nobody dares to go and confirm it. Only Celestials attract that thing’s attention when they take action…” Shen Huang shook his head.

After a moment of silence, Su Ping said, “In any case, I want to know the moment anything happens. That alien is unimaginably dangerous.”

Seeing how serious Su Ping was, Shen Huang nodded. “Certainly.”

“Right, if the universe is merging, how’s the situation in our area?” asked Su Ping.

Shen Huang replied, “That is one of the weird things I wanted to talk to you about. All the areas we’ve found in the process of merging are in the desolate, unoccupied areas; ruins, essentially. So far, this part of the universe is relatively stable; there’s no sign of any merging.”

He looked at Su Ping and added, “If the universe is intelligent, do you think it’s aware of us and is avoiding us on purpose?”

Su Ping was dazed. If that was the case, the possibility was truly there.

Once I condense a Dao Heart, maybe I’ll be able to perceive the spirit of the universe. If I can communicate with it, maybe I’ll find out about a lot of secrets… Su Ping’s eyes glittered. He was even more eager to condense a Dao Heart.