Astral Pet Store (WN)

"About that…"

The tattooed god hesitated upon realizing that the three weren't real participants of the trial; there was a chance that he could be punished later for revealing information to them. However, he didn't have a choice except to grit his teeth and say, "You have to gather ten Divine Cards to pass the second level, either from the beasts roaming the place or the other participants."

"Divine Cards?"

Joanna raised her eyebrows, immediately realizing the cards' sole purpose was to measure results. She looked at the four gods and said, "So, you have Divine Cards too? Hand them over."

The tattooed god's heart began to race, but he already knew that she would ask once he mentioned them. He opened his hand and said, "This is a Divine Card."

A glittering golden card appeared in his hand.

Joanna glanced at them and accepted it naturally. Then she said, "Just one?"

The tattooed god bitterly smiled and said, "We just came for the trial. We haven't hunted any beasts or other participants. We thought this human was alone so we tried to ambush him. But then…"

Joanna said indifferently, "Is that so? I don't believe you."

"…"

"It's true!" the tattooed god declared earnestly.

"Swear on your divinity," said Joanna.

"…"

The tattooed young man's lips twitched. He didn't expect the woman to be as petty as to demand him to swear. Does she think that divinity means nothing?

"I can swear on my divinity and promise that I won't get back at you in any way. I simply hope that you can let us go," said the tattooed god with gnashing teeth.

Joanna said coldly, "You need to swear that too, but don't change the subject. Swear that you only have one Divine Card first."

"…Is that really necessary?"

"Yes."

The tattooed young man collapsed. He moved his hands and took out two Divine Cards, before he said with a bitter smile, "I didn't mean it. We killed two divine beasts to get this. We'll definitely be eliminated if we give them to you."

Joanna was unsurprised. She observed the cards and naturally accepted them. "Swear on your divinity."

"…"

"Swear on your divinity," repeated Joanna.

The tattooed god looked awful. He looked at his companions, knowing that his efforts were moot.

Should we fight?

How could they fight the three weird smugglers?

An expert had surely helped them slip into the Heaven Path Institute.

He gloomily took out sixteen additional Divine Cards, before he said in a low voice, "That's all."

"Swear on your divinity."

"…"

The tattooed god's cheeks twitched. He took out three more cards, and voluntarily swore on his divinity before Joanna warned him again.

Swearing upon divinity was based on the laws of the Realm of Gods. It was an inviolable oath, unless one had a deathwish.

Joanna finally nodded after he vowed, and then robbed the others of their Divine Cards too. She acquired twenty-seven divine Cards in total, which suggested that their team was a strong one. All of them could have advanced after collecting a dozen cards more.

"Now, swear that you won't tell anyone about us; not one thing, or come to us for trouble," said Joanna.

The four gods felt frustrated; they reluctantly swore on their divinity.

The oaths were effective once golden divine power flashed in the world. Joanna stopped there; she only asked the gods about something else, and then let them go.

Both Su Ping and Tang Ruyan were lost for words after seeing how adept Joanna was at robbery; it was their first time seeing that side of her.

"That was nothing; I've robbed countless races in the past. It's much easier in the Archean Divinity, as I don't need to roll back time to investigate. I only need to force them to swear if I want to know whether they're telling the truth," said Joanna casually.

Su Ping asked curiously, "If swearing on your divinity is inviolable, is it impossible to lie?"

Lying was indeed bad, but a world without lies could also be terrible.

"You have to pay a price to make an oath to divinity. That price is part of your soul. So, normal people wouldn't easily force each other to use them unless the situation was critical. Fortunately, the people we met aren't our friends," said Joanna, as if reciting a tongue twister.

Su Ping nodded and asked, "Are you planning on going to the Heaven Path Institute?"

Her purpose was obvious, since Joanna asked them for the Divine Cards.

"Yes."

Joanna nodded and continued, "The Heaven Path Institute is the best cultivation land in the Archean Divinity. It is presided over by an Ancestral God, and the professors there are also powerful. All of them participated in the war against the Heavens.

"Eventually, all the gods from the Heaven Path Institute died in the war, and the rampant Heavens were also suppressed!

"The institute saved countless people. Unfortunately, they weren't able to survive the cataclysm in the end!"

Joanna seemed to be rather frustrated as she recalled the past, and the heroes among the gods from those times.

Su Ping was also in shock. He didn't expect a cultivation academy to be as selfless. He found the Heaven Path Institute quite worthy of admiration.

"I wonder if an institute that bears the same name has been restored to its former glory," said Joanna as she sighed, "In any case, it's a lifetime honor to be a student of the Heavenly Path Institute. There's also an Ancestral God Monument in the institute, which can allow me to become a Superior God if I'm lucky."

Su Ping said, "You have be there in person if you want to use the Ancestral God Monument?"

"Correct. That's why I'm planning on sending my original self there with my second reward," said Joanna as she looked at Su Ping, "You nominated me Outstanding Employee twice. You'll bring me here again, right?"

"Of course," Su Ping replied with a smile.

"As a matter of fact…"

Joanna felt relieved after seeing Su Ping accept her request so readily. She looked at the distance and said with a gloomy tone, "At first, I wanted to find the Archean Divinity and let my plane rejoin it when you mentioned that you had access to it. After all, this is my hometown."

She suddenly looked back at Su Ping and asked, "Can you take in a few more employees? I was planning on recommending the four Superior Gods to you. They would gladly work for you if they knew you could bring them here. With their help, it is possible that we can push our plane back to our hometown."

Su Ping was stunned by her plans. He immediately said with a smile, "Fine with me, but even if they're Superior Gods, they would really have to work hard in order to become Outstanding Employees. Besides, only one Outstanding Employee is elected every year, which means that the more employees there are, the more competitive it'll be. Are you willing to share this opportunity with them?"

A momentary perplexity flashed on Joanna's face, but she was already accustomed to the store's bizarre rules. Obviously, not even Superior Gods would be an exception. She said, "Everything will be fine as long as our plane can once again be part of our homeland."

She continued after a pause, "Besides, you name one Outstanding Employee per year. If we take turns, a hundred years would be enough for each of us to come and visit many times. When considering a thousand, or ten thousand years, we would have plenty of chances to visit."

"Fine then." Su Ping nodded.

He wasn't in sore need of Superior God employees, but he wasn't reluctant to take them in, either, if they wanted to work for him.

Unfortunately, those employees could only work in his store, a place where he was invulnerable thanks to the system's protection. They weren't necessary in those conditions.

"System, can employees not leave the store under any circumstances?"

"Not yet," replied the system.

"Not yet? When would they be able to leave?"

"You will know the answer when the time comes."

"…"

Su Ping was lost for words. Why was the system going about in riddles?

Su Ping refocused his attention and said to Joanna, "Enough about the future. If the Heaven Path Institute is so awesome, I might as well go there and take a look too. The trial is about to end. Let's look around a bit more."

Joanna nodded.

The trio quickly took action. They rushed around in the woods without hiding their auras, nor worrying about leaving traces. They simply took to the skies.

Thanks to the information drawn from the four participants, they learned that the strongest beasts in that place were only at the Star Lord level. After all, Ascendant beasts would easily kill countless participants.

"Can reincarnations make breakthroughs at any time?"

Su Ping was feeling curious about Joanna's breakthrough.

"More or less. After all, all the great paths are already in my head. For you, levels are stairs that you must climb; but for me, they are shackles that can help my reincarnation learn more about the original path.

"The purpose of developing a reincarnation is to seek another path to the Ascendant State. This way, the two paths can later be combined to make a superior, eternal path."

Su Ping then understood and stopped asking.

Tang Ruyan had been following them, listening and learning in silence. She knew that she was too far behind when compared to Su Ping and Joanna; therefore, she had to work a lot harder.

Joanna thought of something and glanced at Tang Ruyan. "So, all the participants are Star Lords. Would she be too eye-catching if she passed the trial?"

Tang Ruyan's heart was heavy. She looked forward to entering the institute and cultivate there after hearing Joanna's explanation.

"That's a good point." Su Ping felt baffled for a moment.

They had snuck into the place anyway. For Tang Ruyan to make it while only being in the Ocean State would be quite surprising.

"Let's give it a try first. We can always say that she's our teammate. We'll find a way later if the institute is unwilling to acknowledge her. After all, this is just the second level of the trial; there are still more tests awaiting for us. We can later teach her what we learn if she can't pass," said Su Ping.

Joanna nodded. "That's true. She'll be in your store once we leave this place anyway. The Heaven Path Institute won't know a thing if you teach her in private."

Neither of them was worried about not being accepted, as they were both confident of their strength. Not passing the trial would imply that the place was truly terrifying.

The fact that four gods had looted that many cards suggested that they were among the strongest participants in the trial. Their failed attempt to ambush Su Ping suggested that it wasn't the first time they had attacked other participants.

Tang Ruyan was quietly following them. Su Ping's last remark made her purse her lips. Her eyes were filled with tears, but she quickly lowered her head so that they couldn't see.

She knew that she was a liability to them, but neither of them thought of her as a nuisance.

Right when they started to move, they encountered a lurking beast that tried to ambush them. The creature ended up as prey and was killed easily.

Half an hour later—the trio had already flown out of the woods. They reached a swamp filled with hidden beasts. It was a dangerous place, although good for picking up Divine Cards.

Neither Su Ping nor the others step into the swamp. They simply wandered at the edge, as they had gathered enough Divine Cards; it was unnecessary for them to take action.

They only had to bide their time and wait for the trial to end.

Su Ping wasn't idle while they waited. He summoned the Little Skeleton, the Dark Dragon Hound, the white-scaled dragon and the Purple Python, then he asked them to hunt an isolated beast along with Tang Ruyan.

Su Ping offered her advice; Tang Ruyan continued gaining more battle experience, making substantial progress after each death.

A team of eight people, with a red haired girl at the center, showed up while they were fighting. Her seven teammates also looked graceful and attractive.

"How could any participant be that weak?"

They were surprised to see Tang Ruyan and the pets; even more so when they detected her level. But they soon noticed that Su Ping and Joanna were close by. They instantly realized that the human woman was probably a slave.

The eight of them despised Joanna for letting her slave and pets fight, not doing anything hands-on.

The redhead glanced at them and lost interest; she coldly led her teammates away, not intent on fighting for the beast.

Su Ping had also noticed the strangers. He was really happy after seeing them simply take their leave; his time would be saved.

The progress he could attain by fighting them would be too small.

He delved into his own memories while he taught Tang Ruyan. The method to instantly unleash all his strength could now be used as his ultimate technique. He could release it dozens of times along with the Heavenly Fall Sword Technique he had created, using his normal strength.

Time flew by.

The trial soon came to a close.

The beast was badly tortured. It tried to flee several times, only to be stopped by the Little Skeleton and the Dark Dragon Hound. It had to grit its teeth and continue fighting.