“The Four Ferocious Gods…”
Heather looked at Joanna with mixed feelings; she would become stronger than any of the Superior Gods once she subdued the four beasts.
Given her great potential, Joanna had a good chance of becoming a Superior God. She would surely exceed them after breaking through.
“Anna, the responsibility of our homecoming is on your shoulders. I hope you can understand our longing!” Shivalello said to Joanna telepathically with a friendly sigh.
Joanna glanced at him. After being silent for a moment, she sent a telepathic reply, “Don’t worry. He made a promise to me, and he will deliver; I believe that we’ll go home soon.”
Shivalello felt relieved. “Thank you!”
“It’s something that I’ve also been hoping for. No need to thank me,” Joanna replied.
Su Ping looked at them and asked, “What are you secretly talking about?”
Shivalello was astounded. He was a Superior God, and yet Su Ping had detected their telepathic exchange?
Joanna was slightly surprised too. Even though Su Ping had shown extraordinary combat ability that was even greater than hers, she wasn’t able to detect a Celestial expert’s telepathic message, unless they were talking to her.
“Nothing important. We’re saying our goodbyes,” said Joanna simply.
Su Ping glanced at her but didn’t overthink. “All right; it’s time for us to go back. The pets have been trained too; tell me if other powerful beasts emerge here.”
Shivalello felt relieved. He replied with a smile, “I will surely let you know.”
Su Ping immediately returned with Joanna.
“I’m planning to train in seclusion for a while. About the store…” Joanna looked at Su Ping and said, “I’ve found the answer I’ve been looking for during our march through the forbidden lands. Maybe I’ll be able to make a breakthrough.”
Su Ping was slightly astonished. He had planned to help her subdue the four ferocious beasts. However, she would be capable of breaking through to the Celestial State on her own.
“All right, leave the store matters to Green Lady then. You can find a nursing pen and train in seclusion for now.” Su Ping accepted her request.
“Thank you.”
Joanna then added, “I’m walking on my own path to the Celestial State. It might not be suitable for you. So, my understanding…”
“That’s fine; I’ll find my own path,” said Su Ping with a chuckle.
Clearly relieved, Joanna stared at Su Ping and said, “I hope we can fight side by side someday!”
“You’re already fighting by my side by watching over the store for me. Business is just like war: you must not underestimate it,” said Su Ping.
Lost for words, Joanna glanced at him and said, “Can I really never leave the store?”
Su Ping saw that she was serious, and felt comforted by it. Then, he replied bitterly, “It’s hard to say. Maybe you can do that in the future. However, even if you can, you should just stay. You’ll be gone if you die outside, while I can always ensure your safety if you stay here.”
“But I’m hoping I can take care of some problems for you…” said Joanna softly.
“That’s fine. I can take care of them on my own. It’s just a lingering Celestial from another age. He won’t be able to do anything to me when I rise to the Celestial State, and I’ll still be able to go anywhere I want!” said Su Ping with ease.
Joanna didn’t reply; she nodded and entered one of the nursing pens.
Su Ping released a few pets that had just been trained, then grabbed another batch and signed temporary contracts. Afterwards, he then told Green Lady about Joanna’s seclusion, and asked her to supervise the store.
Once again, he went back to the cultivation sites.
He was also searching and thinking about his journey to the Ascendant State while training pets.
Meanwhile, he was urging his pets to work harder, hoping they could rise to the Ascendant State too. The store could be upgraded as soon as enough energy was gathered if one of them broke through; training and energy points would come faster. New beast-catching rings for Ascendant pets would also be made available in the store.
Time flew.
A couple of months passed in the blink of an eye.
It was a couple of months in the normal time flow of the universe, while a few decades passed in the cultivation sites.
His cultivation was rising steadily just like before, but his level remained the same. He didn’t reach the Ascendant State; however, he noticed that his power was becoming steadier. He had fully grasped his eight small worlds, and knew of his own combat ability to perfection. He had hit a bottleneck while cultivating the ninth Astral Painting of the Chaos Star Chart.
The cultivation method of the ninth Astral Painting was unlike any of the previous eight Astral Paintings. Su Ping had yet to comprehend it.
The ninth Astral Painting was also known as the Universe Astral Painting.
It was supposed to create an Astral Painting of the whole cosmos.
Su Ping had yet to figure out how to construct it.
However, Su Ping had already replaced all the previous laws with perfect ones in the eighth Astral Painting.
Besides, Su Ping had studied and parsed a Dao Glyph into 109 Dao Patterns during those few decades. Then he kept compressing the 109 Dao Patterns, until there were only 12 of them.
The two Dao Glyphs the Golden Crows’ elders parsed for him had been compressed into twelve Dao Patterns too.
The Dao Patterns’ power was almost doubled every time they were compressed.
Even though Su Ping hadn’t figured out how to break through to the Ascendant State yet, he was significantly stronger than before. It was becoming increasingly easier to solve encounters with Celestial beasts in the cultivation sites. He could slay some of the weak Celestial beasts with only three self-explosions!
As for opponents below the Celestial State, Su Ping had crushed them all.
“It’s truly difficult to rise to the Ascendant State…”
Su Ping walked barefoot on a bleak snowy mountain, feeling the coldness of the earth. He had a lot of complex thoughts in mind.
He had at first thought that he would surely rise to the Ascendant State in ten years, considering his potential.
But, as a matter of fact, he was stuck.
He sympathized with the Star Lord geniuses who spent their entire lives trying and failing to reach the Ascendant State.
But Su Ping wasn’t desperate yet; he wasn’t as anxious as he used to be. Anxiety would only lengthen the distance between him and the Ascendant State.
To reach the Ascendant State is as difficult as climbing the sky!
However… It’s easy to climb to the sky!
Su Ping looked up at the sky and heaved a sigh. The air he exhaled cleared the wind and the snow. The ongoing blizzard instantly came to a stop.
“It’s about time you rise to the Ascendant State. Are you waiting for me? That’s not unnecessary. Purple Python, why don’t you go first?”
Su Ping looked back at the Little Skeleton and the others.
They had already become accustomed to following Su Ping while keeping human shapes. They all looked like kids, while the young Chaos Beast was the youngest. It was chubby, but its eyes were clever; it kept eating unknown meat.
The meat was provided by the Inferno Dragon, which the cook in a sense. Although pets no longer needed to hunt to find sustenance, delicious food could make their lives more meaningful.
“Me?”
The Purple Python spoke with a childlike voice. Shaking its head, it said, “I’m hoping to try after your advancement. Besides, I want to consolidate further…”
“You’re already capable of mincing anything with Ascendant cultivation; further consolidation is unnecessary. One of us needs to break through. It’ll be useful to me,” said Su Ping.
The Purple Python was dazed for a moment. Then, the Little Skeleton stepped up and said, “Let me.”
Su Ping glanced at the little one, which could have risen to the Ascendant State a dozen years prior. But it didn’t choose that road to the Ascendant State, thinking it wasn’t good enough. It had been looking for a different pathway.
“Have you found a new way?” asked Su Ping.
“Yes.”
“Is it the one that you found the most satisfactory?”
“…”
Seeing that the Little Skeleton didn’t answer, Su Ping shook his head and petted its head. “Keep searching then. The road to the Ascendant State is an important journey. It must be satisfactory.”
The Little Skeleton didn’t want to lie to them, so it didn’t answer. It was always shrewd in battle, but too straightforward for other things.
“Let me, then,” said the Purple Python before the Dark Dragon Hound said anything, “You said you need it. I haven’t found another road to the Ascendant State yet. The previous two I found were mediocre; the one I’ve found recently is the most satisfactory. I’m not as talented as them, so let me accomplish this task first.”
“Don’t talk like that,” said the Dark Dragon Hound quickly.
“Indeed. Although you’re indeed the least talented one, you shouldn’t settle so easily. I can do it too. I find the Fire God Path I grasped recently to be quite satisfactory,” said the Inferno Dragon.
The Purple Python rolled eyes at them. “Give me a break. You would have already risen to the Ascendant State if your choices were satisfactory. What are you waiting for?”
The Dark Dragon Hound shook its head and heaved a hypocritical sigh.
Su Ping kicked the Dark Dragon Hound and said angrily, “Stop being pretentious, or I’ll just push you to make a breakthrough.”
The Dark Dragon Hound fell to the ground, then crawled back to its feet, grimacing. “Boss, I’m your strongest shield. I must find the best defense path before I rise to the Ascendant State. Otherwise, who can protect you in the future?”
Su Ping rolled his eyes. The Dark Dragon Hound had been persistently pursuing better defenses, but it often happened to pick up aggressive laws. Su Ping thought it was more talented in offense than defense, but it never listened to him, and he couldn’t do anything about it.
The Purple Python glared at the Dark Dragon Hound, then rose to the sky without further ado.
The next moment, it revealed its true form in midair, flying with a body that was thousands of meters long. It was still a snake, but it was so appalling that it seemed large enough to swallow the sky. It had even intimidated many dragons during training.
The Purple Python had swallowed plenty of dragons when training, but never evolved into one. It kept a snake form, except that it was more and more ferocious.
It hasn’t reached the Ascendant State yet. That body size is quite remarkable. Su Ping watched in silence. He hadn’t stopped the snake from reaching the Ascendant State first because he was biased against it. He knew his pets very well; it was indeed difficult for the Purple Python to find a more suitable road to the Ascendant State.
Su Ping believed that it had found a more powerful path than most of the Ascendant paths he had seen.
Roar!
The entire sky shook after that roar, and the snowy mountain was falling.
Boundless clouds were gathering, seemingly about to cover the entire sky.
The Purple Python slithered like a black mountain between the sky and the earth amid the lightning strikes. All the beasts within a radius of a thousand kilometers were scared off due to the enormous pressure, including some Ascendant State beasts…
“An Ascendant Heavenly Tribulation…”
Su Ping glanced at his pets and said, “Aren’t you going to experience it?”
The pets were dazed for a moment. Then, they realized what was going on and ran forward excitedly.
Su Ping also stepped into the tribulation range.
Such tribulations triggered in cultivation sites were more powerful than those Su Ping had experienced before.
The clouds ready to launch lightning bolts rolled again, and deafening thunder were rumbling.
The cluster of clouds was spreading further into the distance.
The Purple Python was rather touched after seeing Su Ping and the others. “Boss, you…”
“We’re just here to experience the Heavenly Tribulation. We won’t help you.” Su Ping smiled.
The Purple Python: “…”
The lightning bolts were soon formed and struck down.
They were so powerful that even Ascendant cultivators would have been wary. However, neither Su Ping nor his pets thought much of them, since they had gone through a lot.
Their faces were illuminated by the lightning bolts. All of them were extremely calm.
Roar!
The Purple Python roared and slithered upwards, swallowing the lightning bolt which glowed in its mouth and was ultimately consumed.
The Purple Python didn’t seem to have enjoyed itself yet; it suddenly swung its tail at the clouds.
The lightning in the clouds was exposed as the clouds were moved. Enraged by such a taunt, the clouds threw down countless lightning bolts which enshrouded Su Ping and the others.
The Purple Python kept slithering and eating lightning bolts amidst the rumbling noises. The lightning bolts which struck its scales only left some tiny traces that were healed quickly.
The Purple Python’s body was once clenched by a powerful Ascendant State dragon, which tried and failed to tear it apart; it was too sturdy to be hurt by the Heavenly Tribulation.
Su Ping observed in silence. The lightning bolts that hit him were gone, like flames poured into the ocean; they were absorbed as his nutrition.
The Purple Python soon passed the Heavenly Tribulation after the lightning bolts roared and struck down. Once it swallowed the last lightning bolt, the snake expanded as if reborn. It gave a deafening roar and all its scales stood up. It shook and coiled up.
Its body expanded significantly, increasing to more than ten thousand meters long; it could easily flatten mountains with its tail.
The powerful aura unique to the Ascendant State was spread out. The Purple Python’s body was coiled in a regal manner.
“It was only forced to use five small worlds…” Su Ping was rather regretful to see the tribulation end just like that. He hadn’t enjoyed himself yet.
