Astral Pet Store (WN)

Su Ping was determined to avenge all the lives taken by the Rain Clan.

Both him and the human emperor followed the Dragon Tamer experts to the mountains where they were based.

Bang!

Exactly at this moment—a force suddenly burst out. One of the Dragon Tamer experts escorting them attacked and destroyed Su Ping with violent force.

What he did had left everyone in shock.

All those present looked at him with disbelief; the scene was too abrupt and unexpected!

They snapped out of their daze after the blast of energy was spread out; they examined carefully, only to find that humanity's special genius had died.

Nothing was left of him.

An attack of such a strong expert was lethal for a Celestial God, as the gap between them was massive. He could have killed Su Ping with a glance, not to mention that he had attacked with full strength.

"Kuang Han, what have you done?!" another Dragon Tamer expert roared, looking at the guy with a mix of shock and fury, his neck reddened.

"Sorry. He was troublesome and couldn't be left alive." That expert seemed to have changed into another person; the enthusiasm on his face was gone, replaced by utmost indifference. He said his piece, then dashed and tore the void apart while covered by his weapon, making his escape in the blink of an eye.

Everything happened all too fast. All of them realized what had happened when the guy made his escape after ambushing Su Ping, but it was too late to chase him down.

It was clear that the guy had everything planned out, escaping right after the attack. He probably had all of it planned out.

Everybody looked at the dissipating energy in the void. Su Ping was nowhere to be seen; he had been erased both in past and the future. He was as dead as anyone could be!

The feather-crowned senior couldn't have looked more awful. He clenched his fists so hard they made cracking noises. He didn't expect that this would happen right at the end of the escorting operation.

"Ahhhhhhh…!" He could not help but lose his cool and shout.

The other humans present were also crestfallen, and felt like shouting.

The Dragon Tamer experts had contorted faces. One of them gritted his teeth and said, "That traitor! He must have been conspiring with the Rain Clan! He hid himself really well!"

"Rain Clan, we will not rest until you are destroyed!"

The Dragon Tamer experts were also furious, as they had sent emperors to protect Su Ping at the cost of offending the Rain Clan. However, Su Ping had been obliterated.

The Rain Clan had a spy in their clan, one with quite the high status; that was truly shocking.

A figure was solidified in the void while everybody was desperate to vent their fury, then Su Ping's voice sounded again. "Seniors, no need for mourning. I'm still alive."

"!!"

Everybody's eyes widened as if struck by lightning.

All of them were top experts who would rarely become emotional. Still, they were absolutely stunned at the moment.

Su Ping's reappearance was even more unbelievable than seeing him be attacked!

"Y-You're still alive?" one of the Dragon Tamers couldn't help but ask in shock.

Taking his senses and judgment into account, there was no way that Su Ping could have survived. Besides, the human emperor was also grieving just then, which suggested that there was nothing an emperor-level expert could have done.

The human experts were utterly dumbfounded, just like having run into ghosts.

"You…"

The feather-crowned human looked at Su Ping, still overcome with shock. He suddenly remembered the battle between Emperor Ye and Su Ping, where Su Ping had actually died and miraculously returned to the living. He had no time to ponder about it back then; it seemed that the same miracle had happened again. Could it be that Su Ping was being protected by an Ancestral God?

He couldn't find any explanation other than this one.

He thought it was absolutely impossible for Su Ping to resurrect with his own means. Only the Ancestral Gods were capable of such things, as their capabilities were beyond his imagination.

If Su Ping was backed by an Ancestral God, who might that formidable expert be?

It couldn't be the Dragon Tamers' Ancestral God. After all, he had been brought back to life once, back when he was still in the Rain Clan.

Could it be the Heaven Path Institute? Or maybe…

The feather-crowned human continued to ponder, thinking about a million possibilities in one second. He then calmed down and said to Su Ping, "I'm glad that you're fine."

Su Ping smiled with mixed feelings. "It's truly hard for a genius to survive."

Indeed, it was.

He would have died if it weren't for the system.

Too many unparalleled geniuses in history had died prematurely.

However, he wouldn't have acted so arrogantly if he weren't capable of resurrecting. He would always keep a low profile in the outside world.

"How did you survive? He clearly killed you just now," remarked one of the Dragon Tamer experts.

Others glanced at the latter suspiciously before Su Ping even answered the question.

The assassin who had tried to kill Su Ping was secretly working for the Rain Clan. Who knew whether or not there were more traitors lurking about?

The expert realized how inappropriate he had been. He awkwardly shook his head and said, "Forget it, don't tell me the answer. Let's wait until we return to Dragon Mountain."

"It's no big deal. I once received a gift from a strong expert that can prevent me from dying three times. I've used it twice, so I only have one chance left," said Su Ping 'frankly'.

Everybody was enlightened by the answer.

It was just as they had guessed. Even though Su Ping never mentioned the expert's level, it was probably an Ancestral God!

"He couldn't have grown to have such strength without the training of a real expert. Not every genius can become that strong…"

"I see…"

Everybody found the answer they were looking for and stopped asking. They began to treat Su Ping with more seriousness and respect.

The human emperor said, "Let's go back to Dragon Mountain. Su Ping, come with me."

"Okay."

Su Ping approached the latter.

The Dragon Tamer experts saw this but didn't comment on it. After all, the assassin who had just tried to kill Su Ping was one of the Dragon Tamers; none of them dared to claim that there was only one traitor amongst them.

They soon reached their destination.

The Dragon Mountain was right at the center of the Dragon Tamers' territory; it stretched infinitely and was home to dragons. Many dragons could be seen flying and traveling nearby; some of them were playing with the Dragon Tamers. According to Su Ping's protectors, they were herding the dragons at the moment.

Su Ping had mixed feelings as he saw the dragons whose scales were of various colors. He enjoyed himself, feeling he had just entered a cultivation site specialized in dragons.

It didn't take them long for them to travel across the void and reach the main peak.

All the Dragon Tamers and the humans who had been waiting for a long time finally gathered once they arrived. A white-haired old man with a crutch sized Su Ping up and said, "I'm so glad to see you. We've been informed of the assassination attempt. We will give you an explanation for this."

The feather-crowned senior quickly said, "Elder Yu, you're being too kind; that was just an accident. We're all grateful to the Dragon Tamers for sending your emperors to protect us!"

"We only did what we should; you're under our protection. Slaughtering your people for no reason was a provocation to my clan; we might not be as strong as the Rain Clan, but we won't stand idle after such an insult !" Coldness flashed in Elder Yu's eyes, making his gentle face look daunting.

"I didn't expect Kuang Han to be a traitor. Damn it. We just looked into his past; there's a chance he's been conspiring with the Rain Clan for some time!"

"An accident happened to him while he was traveling, but he survived. The Rain Clan probably helped him and then controlled him somehow!"

"This is a warning to all of us; we must investigate the matter thoroughly."

All the other Dragon Tamers were filled with indignity.

The human emperor nodded; he knew the Dragon Tamers' overall character and was certain that the assassination was an accident.

"It is so great to see you reach safety. I watched the battles… Haha, I never expected that the battle of a mere Celestial God could be so exciting!" said a human expert and laughed.

They were all shocked and infuriated when Su Ping was attacked at the border, but then were once again thrilled after seeing him survive.

"I didn't know that such a genius had been born from our race. They all mock the inferiority of humankind, claiming that the best descendants we can have are emperors; this is a slap on their faces!"

"It'll be a true joy to look at the faces of the Rain Clan members!"

"From today on, we will train him with all the resources we have. It's going to be a wild gamble!"

All the human experts were excited, as they saw the hope of rising with the coming of Su Ping. Humans had been oppressed for too long; all of them dreamed of standing with their heads held high one day!

They wanted to see a prosperous humanity, able to dodge the slaps aimed at their faces and fight back when met with injustice!

"Congratulations on finding such a great talent. He's already made it to the Chaos Talents Rank."

"Indeed. His name just appeared on the Chaos Monument. He's the second best Celestial God. Haha!"

"He took down Emperor Ye's clone. This is enough for him to feel proud for the rest of his life!"

The Dragon Tamers were generous with enthusiastic praise. The emergence of a human Ancestral God would turn them into a high-ranked clan; considering their close ties, they would become great allies to the Dragon Tamers!

That was also the reason why Dragon Tamers were willing to help them, even though they had to declare war against the Rain Clan.

The feather-crowned human led Su Ping and thanked each and every one of them. Another person arrived soon after; he was an emperor-level human known as Emperor Xin.

The feather-crowned emperor introduced Su Ping to Emperor Xin and said to the former, "You've never lived in the headquarters of our race. The Rain Clan won't stop until they kill you, considering your demonstration today. Do not leave the headquarters until you reach higher levels. It's for your own safety; I hope you'll understand."

Su Ping put on a bitter smile. He had just offended a Celestial expert in the outside world, and wouldn't dare leave the store until he reached the Ascendant State.

Now, he pissed off the Rain Clan yet again, and couldn't leave the continent until he reached the Celestial State.

Fortunately, he wouldn't really die even if he left the headquarters.

You can't even travel freely if you're too weak.?Su Ping sighed in his heart. But he wasn't truly reluctant; he actually liked staying at home.

"You've been studying in the Heaven Path Institute; we'll talk to them and see how you can continue your studies. Given your potential, I'm sure they'd be willing to send an elder to teach you personally," said Emperor Xin with a smile, as if having planned everything out.

"Thank you, sir," said Su Ping.

"No need to thank me. Let's go." Emperor Xin chuckled. He then said goodbye to the others, and flashed away with Su Ping in tow.

While traveling in the void—Su Ping asked Emperor Xin, "Senior, how many human emperors are there?"

Emperor Xin looked like a handsome middle-aged man, with a flame tattoo between his eyebrows that gave him a sacred image. He chuckled and replied, "Five, including Emperor Yu who rescued you, me, and three others who didn't make it there. We thought Emperor Yu would be enough to rescue the captured humans, and neither did we expect that you would cause such a mess. I would have joined in had I known this."

Su Ping nodded to show he understood.

"Are you angry since the rest didn't help?" asked Emperor Xin with a smile.

Su Ping shook his head. "I wouldn't dare."

"You wouldn't dare, but you're angry." Emperor Xin dropped his smile and heaved a sigh. "The five human emperors have emerged over countless years. Any of them dying would be a grave loss that would result in billions more being oppressed and killed!

"Two emperors making the trip would have indeed raised their winning odds, but the consequences would have been too costly to bear if they died. Even more humans would be killed!

"There are things we want to do, but we simply can't do them."

Su Ping felt dazed for a moment, then said after a moment of silence, "I understand."

Emperor Xin glanced at Su Ping and nodded. "Your performance has given hope to all humanity. You might not know this, but from today on, countless humans will hear of your name and remember your great feat. You'll become their hope and source of faith that motivates them to endure their humiliations and sufferings!

"There are still countless humans living on other continents beyond our reach. All of them are being oppressed as slaves, pets even. They're seen no better than livestock.

"However, your existence will bring them hope in their dark lives. I know this puts a lot of pressure on your shoulders, but I'm sure that someone brave enough to challenge an emperor can handle it.

"You must work hard and exceed the old ones like us; humans won't be able to stand with our backs straight until then. The day will come when they won't dare to take advantage of us or kill us when they see us!"

Su Ping hadn't stayed there for long, and had never seen the way humans lived in that world. However, he could picture it clearly, based on what Emperor Xin said.

All the gods, such as those of the Rain Clan, would treat other lives like ants; humans were no exception.

The other races were probably living miserable lives too.