Astral Pet Store (WN)

Loulan Feng and Loulan Haisen concealed their auras and stood by one of the store's corners. The customers passing by didn't realize they were awe-inspiring Ascendants.

"This store…"

The longer they observed, the more shocked they became. They felt that they were somehow being suppressed while standing inside the store, as if something was gazing at them from above, bringing them an invisible pressure.

"Have a seat. Make yourselves at home," said Su Ping.

The two of them looked at each other, and Loulan Feng shook his head. "We feel reassured now that an Ascendant is looking after you, Mr. Su. We'll be taking our leave as there's another business we must attend to."

"Don't hesitate to inform us if you need any help," said Loulan Haisen. He changed his attitude towards Su Ping, dropping all his contempt.

"All right." Su Ping didn't insist on having them stay. He nodded; he also had other things to do.

"Xiao Lin, let's go," Loulan Haisen called out to her.

Loulan Lin snapped out of her daze and changed her expression. She couldn't help but look at Su Ping, only to discover that the latter was looking back at her. Her heart raced, and she said, "We've only just arrived. Shouldn't we take a tour?"

Loulan Haisen was stunned for a moment. Then, he realized that his family had sent Loulan Lin to accompany Su Ping for a simple purpose; it seemed that she already had an answer.

"You don't get to travel often. Stay here if you want to take a tour; you'll be in safe hands while Mr. Su looks after you. Just don't cause trouble for him," said Loulan Haisen, offering help as her uncle.

Loulan Lin blushed and looked at Su Ping.

Stunned for a moment, Su Ping could only say, "All right."

He was intending to refuse her. After all, Loulan Lin was not an employee and might cause a lot of inconveniences. However, he didn't decline her as he recalled how she had protected him during the assault.

Loulan Lin couldn't help but raise her head in delight after hearing Su Ping's reply.

On the other hand, Tang Ruyan gnashed her teeth in fury when she saw that.

Then, Loulan Feng and Loulan Haisen offered a few reminders to their junior and left.

They didn't leave the planet right away; they hid themselves somewhere in the dark. They knew that assassins wouldn't attack until Su Ping's protectors left, if any Dark Tower assassins were lurking on the planet. They waited for signs of hitmen to show up.

Although they were needed for family matters, nothing was more important than Su Ping and Loulan Lin's safety at the moment.

They intended to lay low for a while, until they made sure that everything was safe.

Inside the store—

Su Ping asked Loulan Lin to go anywhere she wanted while he helped Joanna receive customers; Su Ping felt he was no longer familiar with the business after being away for so long. Joanna and Green Lady, on the other hand, had become quite skilled. None of the customers talked much; those bold enough to hit on them had ended up feeling frustrated.

Sometimes, they only needed to glance at the customers to quench their enthusiasm.

Loulan Lin was quite curious and surprised to see Su Ping serve customers who were mostly around the Star State. Those customers shouldn't even be qualified to talk to him, yet Su Ping was serving them without any signs of disdain.

She could feel the big smile on Su Ping's face was genuine. He seemed to be truly happy.

Is making money on your own really that delightful? Loulan Lin felt intrigued; she wondered if she could take over her family business sometime.

As long as she wanted to, she could become the master of a planetary system and control countless corporations.

A customer had often fed his pet with fruits intended for fiery pets, causing spots on the beast's shell, which was an indicator of internal wounds. Su Ping scolded him, "This is a sea class pet, yet you fed it Fire Dragon Fruits. Do you want it to cultivate fire and water at the same time?"

Su Ping dashed among the customers and made enticing proposals.

"A fiery beast? No problem. How do you want to develop it? How about professional training? Or maybe you want it to pick another class?"

The customer behind him felt at a loss because of Su Ping's proposal.

Time went by; all the pens were filled by noon time. Joanna dropped a hint at Tang Ruyan; the latter understood, so she went to announce that the store was closed.

The customers were already familiar with the rules; they could only console themselves as they waited.

Su Ping stretched his arms; he felt that he wasn't as familiar with the business as Joanna was because of being away for so long. He then sat on the couch and asked Tang Ruyan to fetch snacks. After that, he summoned the Little Skeleton and the Inferno Dragon, before he asked Joanna how to make his pets transform.

Green Lady chimed in once she heard talk about transformation; she was obviously an expert in that regard.

Seeing that she was willing to help, Su Ping immediately asked the Little Skeleton to learn after her.

"I have other things to do, so I can't accompany you. Try to stay inside the store, as there may be other Dark Tower assassins out there. You can't be more careful," Su Ping said to Loulan Lin.

Loulan Lin was stunned. She asked, "Where are you going?"

"I'll be in the store too," said Su Ping.

Loulan Lin: "?"

They would be under the safe roof. Does he have to warn me so solemnly?

"Ask Senior Green Lady if you have any questions. She'll take care of you," said Su Ping. He entrusted Loulan Lin to Green Lady. Then, he picked the Inferno Dragon among his pets and asked it to go to the Archean Divinity with him.

"The rest of you, learn as much as possible," Su Ping said to the Little Skeleton and the Dark Dragon Hound.

The Little Skeleton was reluctant to leave him, but Su Ping petted and soothed the little fellow.

The Dark Dragon Hound, however, appeared to be delighted, which made Su Ping want to change his mind. That pet was shrewd and surely knew he was going to a cultivation site.

Noticing Su Ping's glance, the Dark Dragon Hound turned from delighted to lethargic and collapsed on the ground; it couldn't have been a better actor.

Su Ping rolled eyes at it. Then, he sent the Inferno Dragon back to the contract space and took both Joanna and Tang Ruyan to the pet room.

"Huh?"

Loulan Lin felt that something was wrong and stepped up, seeing that Su Ping had taken two girls into a room and closed the door.

"They'll do some stuff inside. You'd better not disturb them," said Green Lady.

"They'll do some stuff?"

Loulan Lin blushed, and then became pale after hearing that. Her body shivered while her head was ringing. So bold for Su Ping to take two girls into the same room to do stuff. Is he that kind of person?

Green Lady saw the latter's ever changing expressions, so she asked, "What are you worried about? It's safe here. They won't be in danger."

Loulan Lin's head was blank. Green Lady's remark sounded weird in her ears, and she felt bitter. "They're certainly safe now that you're here. He just escaped from a dangerous situation, but he's already this impatient…"

The more she said, the more disappointed and pained she felt.

Although she hadn't known Su Ping for a long time, she knew her family wanted to marry her off to him. She started having feelings for him after the assassination; however, Su Ping had broken his image in the blink of an eye, turning from a mature and reliable man to a disloyal playboy!

She had seen many geniuses who had plenty of women; that was the norm. Her uncles had children everywhere too; their descendants could already make up a big family on their own.

However, she had been cultivating with her grandmother, Heavenly Lord Jian Lan, and had always liked her grandmother's relationship. Her grandmother and grandfather were loyal to each other for their entire lives. Even after her grandfather died, her grandmother never changed her heart. Furthermore, her grandfather had been even more brilliant and talented than her grandmother when he was young, but he refused all the other girls, only wanting to be with her grandmother.

That was the true love Loulan Lin desired.

"Are all men like this?" Loulan Lin was blue and disappointed.

It was obvious that Green Lady didn't know much about young girls in love. She didn't realize the nuance behind the weird question Loulan Lin had just asked. Rather, she keenly caught the new information and immediately asked, "You said he just got out of danger? What danger?"

Green Lady became anxious upon remembering that two Ascendants who came with Su Ping were clearly acting as bodyguards.

"He just survived an assassination attempt…" Loulan Lin was not in the mood for talking at that point. She even wanted to leave the store immediately, as she couldn't help but imagine what was happening behind that door. She gnashed her teeth and told Green Lady everything that happened.

Green Lady turned utterly cold after learning that. However, she soon remembered the almighty being backing the store, and knew that Su Ping wouldn't really be in danger. That was very likely a test for him.

"No wonder he's so impatient after he barely returned…" Green Lady realized what was going on, and said to Loulan Lin, "Don't blame him. He wants to improve his strength; that's the only way to protect more people."

Loulan Lin felt that the Ascendant senior was becoming weirder by the second. She asked angrily, "Can you strengthen yourself by doing that kind of thing?"

Green Lady was stunned; she saw the fury in Loulan Lin's eyes and finally realized that the girl had misunderstood her. She shook her head and said, "You misunderstood me. He's… training pets in that room."

"You hesitated." Loulan Lin wasn't at all convinced. Her senior claimed that he was doing stuff a moment earlier, and just then she said he was training pets. Is Su Ping even capable of training pets?

"It's true." Green Lady was about to explain. Then, she stopped and asked weirdly, "But it doesn't really have anything to do with you, does it?"

Loulan Lin was stunned; her face switched from red to pale. She gnashed her teeth and said, "Indeed it doesn't. Humph. I'm leaving. Just tell him I went back home when he comes back."

"I think you've misunderstood him. It's better if you wait until he comes out." Green Lady didn't bother to explain further, intending to have Su Ping deal with the matter. "You can't leave this store without his permission."

"Senior, you!"

Loulan Lin was infuriated; she didn't expect that the senior would give her such a hard time on Su Ping's behalf.

"I'm a member of the Loulan family!"

"It doesn't matter who you are," said Green Lady casually, disregarding her threat.

Loulan Lin was seething, since it was impossible for her to leave. But there was hope, deep down in her heart too; she wanted to wait for Su Ping to come out and explain to her in person.

…

In the Archean Divinity—inside the void.

Su Ping appeared with Joanna and Tang Ruyan. Both of them observed the environment; Joanna detected the site's aura and was thrilled, but she was a lot calmer than when she visited it for the first time. She asked Su Ping, "Can we really resurrect here?"

"You now enjoy the privileges of outstanding employees thanks to the temporary contracts," said Su Ping.

He had taken them there mainly because they had been admitted by the Heaven Path Institute and they could grow up faster there; Su Ping even used two temporary contracts so they could enter sooner.

He had bought the contracts in the system's store. Tang Ruyan had used one in the past, but then her memory was wiped out. However, they had been with Su Ping for a long time and he trusted them; he would restore their memories even if the contracts ended.

"We're here mainly to cultivate. Try not to die," said Su Ping.

Unlike employee benefits, Su Ping would have to fork out the energy for their resurrection if they died.

"Okay." Both girls were rather excited. Tang Ruyan was particularly thrilled, since her strength had grown significantly in her last visit; she wasn't expecting that she could get a chance to return so soon.

Their complaints about Su Ping's long-time being away had instantly disappeared.

Su Ping was easily able to find the continent where the institute was located.

After paying the cost of death several times, he smoothly found the continent and then returned to the Heaven Path Institute via the badge.

Su Ping said goodbye to the two girls, and then looked for his young mentor.

Su Ping returned to his residence on the island, then encountered the maid who was asked to serve him. She quickly said to him, "Master, why have you come out at this moment? The prince of the Rain Clan challenged you to another duel!"

"Has he taken care of his business?" Su Ping raised his eyebrows. He was going to counterattack last time, but the guy was caught in an investigation and he had to drop it.

"Yes. The investigation is over. I heard that the woman died in an accident during training," said the girl obediently.

Su Ping's eyes were cold. The princess of the Rain Clan—the only person in her clan who had passed the divine quality test—was found to have died in an accident. It seemed that a lot of people must have taken action to cover up the matter.