Astral Pet Store

“Sir!”

A girl ran out from the store to meet Su Ping. It was Zhong Lingtong; she had been seized with excitement.

Tang Ruyan came out right behind her; she cast a smiling glance at Su Ping.

“I’m back.”

Su Ping was in a better mood to see them. He nodded to them with a smile.

The store was still in business.

Su Ping had told Joanna to look after the store before he left. She was the sole formal employee and had the right to look after the store on Su Ping’s behalf. It was just that she couldn’t provide professional training for advanced battle pets.

She could, however, sell pet food and take care of pets in the nursing pens.

“I see that you found your sister.”

Tang Ruyan smiled at Su Lingyue who was standing behind Su Ping.

Su Lingyue bit her lips and stole a glance at Su Ping.

“You’re my teacher’s younger sister. What should I call you?” Zhong Lingtong stared at Su Lingyue with her watery eyes. The girl was similar to her in age and was quite the looker. It seemed that the girl was a little timid; it was as if she were feeling bad for doing something wrong.

“Whatever you like. Call her by her name,” Su Ping said. He had never cared about etiquette. There was no need since everyone present was quite young.

Zhong Lingtong blinked. Really?

“She’s your student?” Su Lingyue gazed at Su Ping in surprise. Since when did Su Ping have a student?

But her confusion didn’t last for long; Su Ping had every right to have a student.

“Yes.”

Su Ping gave a brief answer. He went into the store as he asked, “Was everything okay in the store while I was away?”

“Yes. The store is famous across the Longjiang Base City. No one dares to come here to make a scene. You may not know this but our store is regarded as the best in the Longjiang Base City. There are quite a lot of people lining outside and they always behave,” Tang Ruyan answered.

Su Ping raised his eyebrows; it was a surprise, but it had also been expected at the same time.

The Pixie Pet Store had high standards in all regards, better than the other pet stores; it was only natural that the store would go viral.

The five major families controlled the other industries and resources; they would fiercely compete against each other, but they wouldn’t compete against Su Ping in the pet store business.

That was why there was no longer anything hindering the development of the Pixie Pet Store. The store quickly grew to be the best brand in the Longjiang Base City… Although it hadn’t been a surprising fact.

“You’re back.”

Joanna stood up from the seat behind the counter.

“Thank you for everything.” Su Ping nodded to her.

“It’s only my job.”

“How was the revenue?” Su Ping asked.

“We were unable to provide professional training while you were away. We could only give general training, sell pet food and manage the nursing pens. The total revenue is over two million,” Joanna reported.

Su Ping nodded. That was to be expected.

He wouldn’t make much money without professional training. Of course, while professional training could get him more money, it would also imply a higher energy cost; he would have to train the pets himself to offer professional training.

“I think your original self is an Order God. Did I get it right?”

Su Ping remembered something. They didn’t go to another room to talk in private because Su Lingyue and the other two girls wouldn’t understand what he was talking about anyway. He didn’t care even if they could understand. “Do you know what kind of being would have a physical body that would not decay upon death and the past memories would still exist in that physical body?”

He was talking about the finger he had seen at the Valiant Academy, the finger that was regarded as the Dragon Tower!

“An incorruptible Physical body?”

That was not a question that Joanna would expect. “Why are you asking?”

“I have my reasons. Just tell me.” Su Ping didn’t want to get into the details.

Joanna didn’t probe further. “The bodies of the usual God Warriors can keep their physical bodies incorrupt after death for a short while. God Warriors are on par with those who have the Star Rank. Those at the Star Rank can master the rules of nature and the force of time. Also, they are physically strong to begin with. They can travel across the universe by themselves and attack interstellar warships!”

“A short time? How short?”

Su Ping frowned.

“An era. It’s like one hundred thousand years according to your time references! Of course, that’s the time for the weak ones at the Star Rank. The strong ones at the Star Rank realm can keep their physical bodies intact for ten era, a million years, for example. My original self can do that; her life expectancy is one hundred eras, and her body will stay sound for a million years, even after death!”

Joanna continued, “The Superior Gods can maintain their physical bodies intact for one age! Even the end of an age wouldn’t necessarily destroy their physical bodies!”

Su Ping felt that the measuring units for time Joanna used were kind of large.

He didn’t know that the ones at the Star Rank could do that.

Even the weakest at the Star Rank could ensure that their physical bodies would stay uncorrupted for a hundred thousand years!

That was a long time. To put it in perspective, the average legendary battle pet warriors could only live for a thousand years!

The legendary battle pet warriors at the Fate State could only live for ten thousand years!

It seemed that there was only one step between the Fate State and the Star Rank, but anyone who was able to make that step would enjoy a much longer life!

“What do you mean by an age?” Su Ping asked.

Su Lingyue, Tang Ruyan and Zhong Lingtong were perplexed. What on earth were the two talking about?

A hundred thousand years? A million years? Were they making up a story?

“Age is the longest time unit.”

Joanna heaved a sigh. “An age includes more than a million eras! I was born in the Archean Divinity. The place was approaching the end of the Immemorial Age back then, on the verge of entering the Remote Age, an age when all forces fought in a wild war. With time, even the Archean Divinity was broken into pieces. My current homeland is actually a broken piece from the Archean Divinity!

“The Immemorial Age lasted for millions of eras and countless powerful people came into being. Some were born and some died. Even a fair amount of Superior Gods died. However, their corpses would remain incorrupt for a whole age, as long as they weren’t deliberately destroyed!”

Su Lingyue and the other two girls were completely lost when she finished. It was as if they were learning to read hieroglyphs.

But they did catch the part when Joanna said she was from a broken piece of something.

They had long believed that Joanna was not from the Subcontinent District because of her flawless looks and her intimidating strength. She was a mystery. They were finally convinced that Joanna was indeed from an unknown place.

“An age…” Su Ping murmured. He had a feeling that the will and the memory he sensed in the Dragon Tower was not from the current age.

That was to say, it was likely that the Heaven Killer was a Superior God from the Immemorial Age!

He wouldn’t have given himself such a crazy name if otherwise.

That is too far away from me…

Su Ping wanted to become someone like a Superior God but he knew that was too far away from him. He shook his head. He had yet to reach the legendary rank; the Star Rank was still out of reach for him, let alone something beyond that.

Su Ping turned and said to Su Lingyue, “Go home. Mom and dad are worried. Tell them that I’m also back, but I won’t go home for the moment. I have other things to do.”

“Ah? Oh. Yes.”

Su Lingyue was startled.

She cast one more curious glance at Joanna before she left. She knew that Joanna was not a common girl you could find on the street. She was unable to understand a single thing that Joanna had just mentioned.

“Little Tang, I have a job for you,” Su Ping said.

Tang Ruyan moved her gaze away from Joanna. “What job?

“I’m older than you. You should call me Big Tang,” she added.

“You wish,” Su Ping answered and told her about Li Yuanfeng’s family. “You can deal with all kinds of situations as long as you don’t fight a legendary battle pet warrior. I will entrust you with helping Li Yuanfeng. If you do your job well, that legendary battle pet warrior may like you and grant you some gift in return.”

Tang Ruyan blinked. He was telling her to help a legendary battle pet warrior straighten out his family?

“He is a legendary battle pet warrior, right? Would there be anyone who wouldn’t abide by a legendary battle pet warrior’s orders?” Tang Ruyan was curious.

Su Ping argued grumpily, “On the surface, of course they will listen. I told you to go and help because I want you to weed out those who would do something in the dark. Why else do you think you’re needed if a legendary battle pet warrior can solve all problems just by standing there?”

Tang Ruyan pouted. “I see. I will do my best to solve the problems as soon as possible.”

“You don’t have to hurry. Just do it well.”

“Don’t worry. I know what I should do.”

Su Ping then turned to Zhong Lingtong. “I have other things to do. You don’t have to stay in the store. Go and study by yourself if you have some time. The teacher will lead you to the door but you must learn by yourself. It’s not easy to become a trainer; what matters the most is your own learning and observation skills. Feel free to explore the trainer’s path yourself.”

Zhong Lingtong was surprised. Was Su Ping going to be a complete hands-off master with her?

“But, but, sir, you haven’t led me into any doors yet.”

How unfair.

Leading her to the door?

Su Ping had not told her anything about training pets since she arrived. He wasn’t leading her anywhere.

“How can you say that? You are inside my store, right?” Su Ping pointed to the door.

Zhong Lingtong was dumbstruck.

That was the door?

Su Ping’s eyes confirmed her guess.

Zhong Lingtong opened her mouth but said nothing. She just gazed at Su Ping with her watery eyes.

“Now, off you go. Close the door. I have something I must do,” Su Ping said.

“We’re not opening for business today?” Joanna was surprised. He has just returned. Being the money-lover he is, shouldn’t he begin welcoming the guests right now?

But it didn’t seem like Su Ping was joking. Joanna didn’t ask further.

In the meantime, many people were trying to enter the store.

Su Ping heard a hearty laugh. Qin Duhuang entered the store. “Ha, ha, ha, Mr. Su, finally, you’re back. I was just thinking about asking you to train my pets.”

Su Ping broke the news to him. “We’re closed today.”

“Ha, ha… what?”

Qin Duhuang’s laughter stopped halfway. He stared at Su Ping in surprise. Closing today?

Su Ping motioned Joanna to go and inform the customers.

Joanna went outside to relay the message to those in line.

Those who were hurrying over to the store stopped right then. They looked at each other speechlessly, and then broke into cries of disappointment.

Qin Duhuang—who had just gone inside the store in a jolly mood—was chased out by Joanna, which was an embarrassing experience for him. Even so, he didn’t dare to reveal his frustration in front of Joanna. Ever since he reached the legendary rank, he had managed to faintly pick up a mysterious force in her. He knew that the girl was a threatening being.

He could not understand why Su Ping would assign a legendary battle pet warrior as an employee for his store. Of course, there were many things about Su Ping that he could not understand.

…

Su Ping closed the door. He and Joanna were the only two who remained inside the store.

“Time to get down to business,” Su Ping said.

Joanna frowned. She could tell that Su Ping didn’t come back in a good mood. He didn’t show it but she could tell; that was what her instincts told her.

“What do you want to do?” Joanna asked.

Su Ping didn’t answer. He was browsing the list of cultivation sites.

“Are there any places where the Golden Crows live?” Su Ping asked the system.

On his way back, he had worked out a plan.

He wanted to develop fast; other than reaching the legendary rank, he could better the Solar Bulwark and improve his Chaos Star Chart.

He had been cultivating astral powers at all times; it would take time to improve in that regard. The only thing he could do right then was to improve the Solar Bulwark.

He was merely at the first level of the Solar Bulwark. His physical body’s strength had reached the legendary rank thanks to the Divine Energy and the Heaven’s Tests.

He had asked the five major families to find him the materials needed for the Solar Bulwark’s second level, but only the mayor of the Hancheng Base City had found him two thus far; he needed more.

He didn’t even know if he could find the rest of the materials on the Blue Planet.

He had received a burst of inspiration during his trip to the Deep Caves. Why not go to a place where Golden Crows lived to get the necessary materials?

This would certainly speed up the process.

If he could attain the second level of the Solar Bulwark, he could then use some of the skills innate to the Golden Crows. That would be the fastest way for him to gain more combat strength.

“Yes. The place where the Golden Crows live is on one of the Archean planes. The admission cost is high,” the system cautioned Su Ping.

Su Ping replied, “Pull up the names.”

There were too many cultivation sites on the list. It would be faster to have the system search and find the name for him.