Astral Pet Store (WN)

Su Ping looked like a sloth, latched onto the divine tree.

Flames were at the moment surging on his body, with many different features: burning, heat, explosion, splitting, among others.

He was shrouded in an indescribable aura, making him look as if he were in another world.

More flame laws were gathered on Su Ping; they were being perfected too. Those features seemed to be melding together into a single one with countless variations.

The perfect path is all about reorganization and unification?

Su Ping gradually had an epiphany; not only did he have to understand all features, he also had to combine all of them. That was why it was difficult to attain a perfect path.

Still, he had already mastered all those features just by eating the branch and seeing the evolution of the perfect path of fire; only a combination was needed, which was the most difficult step.

I have to find the most well-hidden features in every law and analyze them, so that I can combine all the features into one...

Su Ping slowly opened his eyes, then said to Joanna, "Can you control the flow of time here?"

"You want to cultivate? How much time do you need?"

Joanna immediately understood what Su Ping was thinking.

"What's your maximum?"

"A hundred times at most, without twisting the other paths in this place," said Joanna.

"A hundred times it is, then."

"Okay."

Joanna unleashed her divine power. A spacetime aura surged and covered both Su Ping and the divine tree. The flow of time was instantly slowed down.

Joanna was able to easily do what Ji Xueqing could; she was also a top Heavenly Lord, and a pure-blood god.

Su Ping had found the threshold to a perfect path via the branch he had consumed. But once he made his approach, he discovered that the task required not just wisdom but also time.

Su Ping immediately devoted himself to training after Joanna slowed down the time.

He quickly analyzed and combined the available traits.

Time went by, bit by bit.

Heather was greatly relieved to see that Su Ping stopped eating the tree. She asked Joanna, "Why is he cultivating so desperately?"

"Because the legacy of a Superior God is awaiting him," said Joanna.

She didn't keep it a secret, as she didn't think it was necessary.

Even Superior Gods had to go through Su Ping's store if they wanted to leave that world, and the only way was to become his employee. But none of the employees could leave the store, so they would not pose a threat to him.

No matter how much information she revealed about the Federation, it wouldn't affect him. The only things that would have to be kept secret were the abilities Su Ping acquired from cultivation sites.

"The legacy of a Superior God?"

Heather was dazed for a moment.

Joanna glanced at her and said, "You lost a precious opportunity because of your recklessness. You could have gone to the Archean Divinity too. What a shame."

Heather's eyes glittered. She shook her head and said, "I didn't expect them to be that 'bright'."

"It wasn't just the three of them, was it?" asked Joanna in a low voice.

Heather's eyes glittered as she gazed back at her. "You think I was part of the scheme? Yes, we did have a prior meeting. We even planned to confine him and force the bigshot to rescue him; it's better to take the initiative anyway. But later, we thought that peace was the best option. We all wish to go home anyway."

"Peace..." Joanna shook her head and heaved a sigh. "You hoped for peace, but your attitude was disappointing. That's the gods' greatest weakness. The Archean Divinity was shattered only because we were too arrogant to fight as a group, wasn't it?"

Heather was silent for a long time. Then, she remembered something and gazed at Joanna. "Anna, you've changed a lot; you would have never said that."

"Isn't the point of our long lifespan to have the opportunity for us to change?" asked Joanna.

Heather was stunned and silenced again.

She knew that Joanna's changes were due to the young human, or the terrifying bigshot behind him.

"Anna, you said that the Archean Divinity was restored, the Heaven Path Institute was rebuilt, and the high-ranked god clans returned. Do you think our families survived?" said Heather as she reminiscenced.

Joanna shook her head. "I'm not sure. You know how vast the Archean Divinity is. We went to the Heaven Path Institute as soon as we got there; we only had time to cultivate. If you're truly curious, you can take a look for yourself..."

"You're asking me to become his employee?"

Once he heard Joanna's implication, Heather put on a bitter smile. "I'm not as courageous as you. I cultivated for far too many years to reach this high level; I didn't do all this just to bow before a human being..."

"You're doing it again."

Joanna couldn't help but shake her head. It was true that something was ingrained deep in the goddess' bones.

Heather slightly opened her mouth, lost for words; she didn't say anything else.

Indeed, she couldn't just entrust her life to Su Ping that quickly, not only because he was an inferior human; she wouldn't have trusted him even if he were a high-ranked god.

That required absolute trust.

She found it hard to understand why Joanna trusted that human to such a degree.

If Joanna's trust could be won that easily, she would have been tricked a million times by the spies that her enemies would send over in wartime.

"How about I send a reincarnation to him like you did?"

"He doesn't need your help." Joanna shook her head and interrupted her. "But we need his help. That proposal is useless."

Heather was silent.

Indeed, signing a contract with a reincarnation would be a show of distrust.

In fact, she could have deceived Su Ping if Joanna weren't there, or use mental control on him, all to establish a contract with her reincarnation without him realizing it.

But Joanna was right next to her; she certainly wouldn't allow that.

They both fell silent. Time went by quickly.

The flames covering Su Ping receded after a long time passed, and the wings on his back were also retracted. The only thing different were the new locks of red hair on his head. They looked like fire; they contained an unusual power of laws.

Su Ping opened his mouth with a peaceful yet regretful mood.

He had analyzed all the traits related with the path of fire, but he didn't find a way to combine all of them to perfection.

Analysis required time, and the final combination required an epiphany.

Su Ping wasn't stupid, but he was trying to grasp a perfect path; figuring out the solution would hardly be possible with a single meditation sitting. He needed both an opportunity and an inspiration.

He's passed the barrier and is very close to perfection...

After observing Su Ping's changes, Heather knew he had received ample returns from the branch. She could only feel sorry for herself.

Su Ping looked back and posed a question to Joanna; he wanted to seek both her help and that of the other Superior God. Maybe they could answer it.

"This is about the real path. I cannot teach it to you." Joanna shook her head. She would have taught him long before if she could.

"In fact, the so-called perfect path isn't really perfect."

The nearby Heather uttered a shocking revelation with a calm tone, "The real perfect paths lie deep in the Source World. The perfect paths we know are just keys to the Source World; but you may alarm something forbidden if you enter that world with a stolen key. Paths must not be taught easily, otherwise disasters may arise!"

Su Ping was stunned for a moment. "Something forbidden? What's that?"

"There were once Celestials and even stronger experts who publicly taught perfect paths, but they soon went missing; nobody knew where they went. The same thing happened later on. Nobody dared to impart real paths soon after; only laws were taught," said Heather.

"They went missing?"

Su Ping was astonished.

Teaching complete paths would make someone disappear?

He suddenly wanted Heather to try.

Unfortunately, she wasn't his employee. Otherwise, he would have loved to find out where she ended up after the disappearance, and all the implications!

Although curious, Su Ping didn't ask her to become his employee, but he didn't think she would accept.

"Anna, you need to hurry up. Enter the Celestial State sooner; I want to see what will happen," said Su Ping to Joanna.

Joanna instantly realized what was on Su Ping's mind, and rolled her eyes. "Do you think I'm some sort of lab rat?"

"Of course not. And even if you were a rat, you'd be the most attractive rat in history," said Su Ping; it was completely unusual for him to flatter her.

Joanna instantly showed an expression of contempt.

Heather was amused by their conversation and chuckled.. Her mirth soon came to an end, because Su Ping started chewing another branch.