Astral Pet Store

“Me neither.”

“Me…”

Su Ping looked around, but everybody was avoiding eye contact. Some looked down, as if appreciating their boots; others looked up, as if considering how great the ceiling was.

He felt helpless at the moment. It seemed that Emperor Xin had issued a gag order; he would probably have to sneak away.

“Why do you call me Young Master?” asked Su Ping.

A middle-aged man replied with a smile, “Young Master, everyone in this world learned of your grand feat while you were training in seclusion. The five emperors had a discussion and decided to address you as such. You’re equal to all of us, and only second to the emperors!

“You’re entitled to exercise all powers in our clan, except those which belong to the emperors.”

Su Ping hummed. He truly didn’t expect such a privilege. He heaved a sigh and said, “I’m no Young Master. You may call me Young Handsome. Or maybe Young Handsome Master.”

After a momentary daze, all of them nodded and replied, “We’ll call you Young Handsome Master then.”

Su Ping put on a smile and said, “I would like to go out and take a walk. Is that okay?”

“How… How far?” One of the experts realized something and said suspiciously, “Young Handsome Master, even though your talent is unprecedented, you’re still too weak right now. It’s best if you don’t leave Ember City. Thousands of Major Gods have snuck in and attempted to kill you twenty-three times while you were training in seclusion. Also, sixteen traitors have been rooted out in our clan…”

He looked at Su Ping and continued solemnly, “It’ll be difficult for us to ensure your safety if you leave the Ember Palace. For the future of humankind, we hope you can stay.”

Su Ping was dazed by the answer. The smile on his face was gone, substituted by a grim expression.

He knew the implications behind those numbers. The human clan had surely paid a great price to block and fish out all the assassins.

“Don’t worry. I won’t die,” said Su Ping in a low voice.

One of the experts quickly said, “Young Handsome Master, the Rain Clan doesn’t want you to grow up. They might even kill you remotely with a curse if you leave the Ember Palace. It’s too dangerous for you to go out.”

Su Ping shook his head and said, “Don’t worry; I won’t go out. I’ll just take a tour of the palace.”

The experts weren’t relieved until Su Ping relented; they knew it was cruel for a Celestial God to be confined to solely cultivate until he reached higher levels.

After all, such levels were unreachable for most top geniuses; it required both talent and luck.

They wouldn’t have dared to dream of that if Su Ping’s talent wasn’t as extraordinary.

The Ember Palace was humongous; it was more of a city than a palace. The garden at the back of the palace was boundless. Perhaps the human emperors were only interested in such great scenes.

There were no cultivation arrays in the garden, and cultivation was actually forbidden there; only some maids were seen, picking flowers.

There were also insects pollinating flowers. They were quite cute.

The maids and insects noticed Su Ping’s arrival. They couldn’t help but stop and gaze at the attractive young man; his body was much stronger than before, and his looks have been considerably improved.

The garden was protected by the palace’s barrier; external powers couldn’t enter the premises.

Su Ping wandered in the garden for a moment, and then hopped onto the top of a building, which shocked many of the maids. It was quite the reckless move; the Ember Palace was the home of a human emperor. Nobody would dare jump to the roof so carelessly.

The experts protecting him in secret felt helpless, but they didn’t say anything. Su Ping was only second to the human emperors. Besides, he was a young man and was allowed to be reckless.

This human settlement is rather well-off…

While standing on the roof—Su Ping looked at the distance and saw half of the city. The streets were clean and prosperous. The people living near the human emperor’s palace had to be part of the rich and powerful families.

He looked toward the palace’s east side; there was an arena where a lot of young men were practicing.

Some people had also activated their constitutions during their fights, turning into ghastly roaring dragons.

“Taking the Rain Clan out of the picture, this looks like a prosperous world for humans…” Su Ping mumbled, and suddenly felt guilty; humans wouldn’t have been implicated in such trouble if it weren’t for him. Even though humans weren’t respected, and were even slaves in some places, they could at least enjoy peace there.

The peaceful human territory had been implicated in a grave crisis.

Humanity would be at risk if the Dragon Tamers weren’t able to resist the Rain Clan’s pressure.

“I’ve been walking too slowly…” Su Ping said to himself.

Even though his combat ability was far beyond the Star State and even the Star Lord State, he was still very weak in the overall picture.

“You’re walking too slowly?” a voice replied all of a sudden.

Su Ping turned around, then saw a fiery figure hop toward him like an elf. She was a little girl in red clothes who seemed to be around twelve; her eyes were big and her skin fair.

The little girl pointed at Su Ping and said, “Are you sitting?”

Su Ping was stunned for a moment, then he said angrily, “Where are you from, kid? Aren’t you afraid of falling off and getting yourself killed?”

She snapped back, “Who says I’m a kid? I’m about to reach adulthood. I’m already twelve!” She was clearly pissed due to Su Ping’s lack of respect.

Su Ping looked at the distance and said lazily, “Is twelve years of age even close to adulthood? You have to wait at least six years. Do you even go to school?”

“Six years? I’ll be an adult in a year. Our rite of passage is held when we turn thirteen. Humph!” said the little girl with a snort, then turned her head away.

Su Ping was stunned for a moment, then remained silent.

Only in times of war would thirteen years of age be considered the beginning of adulthood.

The threshold of adulthood marked the beginning of difficulties.

“So to speak, those thirteen-year-old kids are about to pick up weapons and become soldiers?” asked Su Ping softly.

The little girl raised his head and said, “Stop talking as if you were an old man. You don’t seem to be much older than me. Besides, it is the ultimate honor of every adult to fight in the army!

“If we die for the greater good of humanity, we’ll die as heroes!”

Su Ping couldn’t help but glance at her. “Of all the things you said, that’s the only one that I don’t dislike.”

“Which one?”

Su Ping merely replied with a smile. He then said, “One day, we’ll step out of this place free from all constraints set by others. That day isn’t too far off.”

The little girl nodded. “That’s right. We’ll be able to do that when I become an Ancestral God.”

Su Ping raised his eyebrows and then peeped at her. “You think you’ll become an Ancestral God?”

“What’s wrong with that? I’m the top genius of my clan. Don’t think you can underestimate me just because everyone is praising you,” said the little girl angrily.

Just then, Su Ping realized that the girl was a level stronger than him. Furthermore, her strength was highly condensed. She was not a simple Star Lord; she would have been a top Star Lord in the outside world.

It was hard to imagine a twelve-year-old being that strong. She had surely started cultivating when she was still in her mother’s womb.

“Keep it up then. I think you can do it,” said Su Ping with a smile.

The little girl was surprised that the seemingly obnoxious fellow would compliment her. She dropped her prideful attitude and looked at Su Ping curiously. “I heard that you slew an emperor’s clone and fought your way out of a high-ranked clan. Is it true? How did you do it?”

Su Ping wasn’t surprised to find that she knew about him. After all, she had been able to easily approach him, a clear indication that her identity was special.

“Yes, but I didn’t escape on my own; a lot of people protected me on the way. Some of them died,” said Su Ping in a low voice.

“I know. Uncle Feng, Sister Yun and Uncle Li died…” The little girl was instantly down; her eyes were filled with tears at the mention of Sister Yun.

There was a moment of silence, then Su Ping said, “Maybe I can bring them back to life when I become an Ancestral God.”

The girl was stunned for a moment, she then stared at Su Ping with widened eyes and approached him, as if trying to see through his heart. “Really? Is it possible to do that?”

“Yes.”

Su Ping nodded.

The girl clenched her fists and said, “I will become an Ancestral God then.”

He would have laughed if others said that, but he merely smiled since she was just a kid. After all, it was great to keep the faith.

“Which clan are you from? How come I never heard about you before?” the little girl asked Su Ping curiously again.

Su Ping coughed and said, “I am from space.”

“Space? Is that the name of a clan?” asked the girl in confusion.

The secret bodyguards were alarmed by the revelation, and word was instantly spread out. The intelligence department immediately started working to investigate the space clan that Su Ping mentioned.

“It’s just a small place. Nothing interesting.” Su Ping gave her a slight head shake.

The little one abstained from asking more questions, seeing that Su Ping was reluctant to talk. She held up her chin with both hands and looked ahead just like Su Ping. She asked, “Is it more beautiful outside or here? My father said that it’s dangerous everywhere in the outside world. It’s an old and boring place too…”

“You’ve never been out?”

“Nope.”

“Oh… The outside world has barren mountains everywhere, and fools fight over rocks on the mountains. It’s quite boring,” said Su Ping.