Astral Pet Store (WN)

“Here we are…”

Standing in front of Su Ping was a bronze door of primitive simplicity. The door was engraved with bizarre but lifelike behemoths that seemed to be looking down at the world in front of them.

An ancient savage atmosphere oozed out from the door, which seemed to have stood here for tens of thousands of years.

The bronze door was slightly ajar. Su Ping let his sense seep in from the crack. There were no beast kings.

I cannot believe there is a door in a place where the beasts live…

Su Ping was baffled. This door didn’t seem to have been made by some wild beasts.

Could it be that in the beginning, the battle pet masters drove those beasts over and built that door to contain them?

It seemed to be the only explanation.

Su Ping moved without hesitation.

Whoosh!

He teleported himself through the slight opening and appeared on the other side of the door.

The parts surrounding the massive bronze door were imbued with strange powers. He could not teleport through any other place, only through the crack.

He would have had to push the door open if the door had been tightly shut.

While on the other side of the door, Su Ping saw a passage full of mucus, cobwebs, beast skeletons and dried blood before him. That passage had a downward slant; it exuded an unpleasant smell, and there was no light.

Su Ping had become used to pitch-dark environments, so he didn’t feel any discomfort. After getting his bearings his perception, he carefully followed the Little Skeleton down the passage. That shaft was extremely wide, with a diameter of four to five hundred meters; it allowed for close to five large beast kings to walk by side by side.

Compared to that massive passage, Su Ping was just like an ant.

Hot gusts of air occasionally flowed from the depths of the passage, as if it were the mouth of a living, breathing beast.

Su Ping carefully extended his consciousness to the maximum range. As he went deeper into the passage, he soon reached the end, where he found a flame burning at the entrance to a cave.

Lying at the end of the passage was a lava field.

There were no more forks in the road. It was a flat land with strange rocks standing there. The land was so vast that the radius had to be in the hundreds of kilometers. Su Ping could not even see the border of such a vast land!

The rocks and walls were red, and the high temperature in the air had to be at least eighty or ninety degrees.

Some huge skeletons were scattered around the land. It was obvious that the competition among monsters was fierce.

I don’t think there are any beast kings here…

Su Ping failed to find any beast kings.

Even the beast kings had left.

Su Ping frowned; he still kept his energy concealed and pressed on.

As he went deeper and deeper into the land, Su Ping noticed that the temperature in the surrounding area was getting higher and higher. The ground under his feet was covered with scarlet rock; some rocks had been under such a high temperature that they eventually turned into scarlet crystals. There were some sharp blades formed by crystals on the nearby walls.

Although the crystals didn’t have any special effects, they could still be sold at high prices, even by the gram, given their beautiful appearance.

Having visited the Golden Crows’ star, Su Ping was unaffected by the heat. The Little Skeleton, too, was at ease since it had gone through severe training in harsh environments.

That place was actually cool when compared to the Golden Crows’ domain.

All of a sudden, Su Ping stopped. He saw a crimson beast perched on a rock wall in front of him, a hundred meter long creature akin to a lizard with bright red scales. The beast was resting on one of those crystals; at first glance, he had mistaken it as part of the rock.

The beast seemed to be sleeping.

Void State…

Su Ping frowned. He had never seen a beast like that but he could tell that it couldn’t be underestimated.

The beast kings he had encountered above the lair were basically at the Ocean State. But the first beast king he found down there was at the Void State!

Even though he had become very resistant to fire, virtually becoming an invincible opponent for beasts of the fire family, he decided not to attack. The land was vast and he couldn’t assess the situation clearly. He did not know what more could be lying in wait around him.

Detour!

Su Ping went around the beast and then pressed on.

After that red lizard encounter, Su Ping soon found other beast kings. One beast king was playing around in a pool of lava and two smaller beast kings were following the larger one which was at the Fate State! Su Ping was dumbstruck. A Fate State beast king was as mighty as the Otherworld Heavenly King! Those beast kings should be rarer than this.

He was seeing one right in front of his eyes! The Thousand-eyed Demon Beast I saw in the Corridor was also at the Fate State. So, there are two already…

Su Ping’s mind was weighed down.

The Tower only had twelve legendary battle pet warriors at the Void State!

One beast king at the Fate State… was equal to seven or eight legendary battle pet warriors at the Void State!

He was also taking the legendary warriors’ battle pets into consideration. If each Void State battle pet warrior were to have three Void State battle pets, seven or eight legendary battle pet warriors combined could be equal to more than twenty at the Void State!

Still, they would be routed by one at the Fate State!

The battle pet warriors would have to use some special formations to even compete against a Fate State creature!

The gap between the Void State and the Fate State was as wide as a world. The two Fate State beast kings he had seen there were enough to unsettle the Tower, not to mention the four Heavenly Kings outside!

The Thousand-eyed Demon Beast didn’t kill the Little Skeleton. It also left the Corridor three days ago…

Su Ping learned that the Thousand-eyed Demon Beast had survived after communicating with the Little Skeleton. His skeleton had been unable to kill it since it was just at the ninth rank. It was already amazing that it had been able to hold out and even fight a beast king at the Fate State!

Likewise, the Demon Beast had been unable to eliminate the Little Skeleton, and the latter eventually found a chance to get away. The Thousand-eyed Demon Beast gave up on pursuing the Little Skeleton; that was how the Little Skeleton managed to stay alive.

Su Ping went around those beast kings and continued on his way.

Half an hour passed. He had encountered three more beast kings during that time, all at the Void State!

It seemed that Ocean State beasts were a minority.

What?

All of a sudden, he sensed a powerful presence at about fifty thousand meters ahead of him. All the beasts found there were at the Fate State!

Su Ping narrowed his eyes.

Four beast kings at the Fate State?

Counting the rest of the ones he has seen on the way, he had encountered five beast kings at the Fate State in total!

Such a number of overlords was enough to topple the world!

Why are they all gathered in this place…?

Su Ping found it strange. He told the Little Skeleton to merge with him.

The Little Skeleton dashed over and covered him up.

Violent energy instantly flooded Su Ping’s limbs. While covered in white bones, he was like a god of death.

After they merged, he stole his way forward.

Su Ping was able to conceal himself completely with the Little Skeleton’s help.

Soon after, he was close enough to get a better view. Flames were raging further ahead. There was actually a square formation; outside the seal, four giant beasts-each with a body of several hundred meters—lay in four directions. The beasts seemed to be guarding the formation.

Guarded by four beasts at the Fate State?

Su Ping felt how his heart skipped a beat.

There’s a formation right there!

The array had a complicated structure. There were runes flowing around the formation.

A sealing formation?

“Yes.” The system’s voice popped out.

Su Ping was startled. He got mad at the system after coming back to his senses. But it wasn’t like he could ever discipline the system. Also, the system had confirmed his assumption. It was a sealing formation!

Su Ping had spent a lot of time with Joanna’s subordinates in the Demigod Burial; he had learned many things from them. That was why he could tell the type of the formation from the runes used.

There was a sealing formation at the deepest level of the Deep Caves!

Was that the formation that Li Yuanfeng was talking about?

Su Ping denied that idea.

No, that wasn’t it.

If that formation was the sole element keeping the Deep Caves in order, the formation should have been broken at the moment!

Also, the four Fate State beasts guarding the formation; the formation has to be critical!

But…

What was sealed inside the formation?

An even more terrifying beast? Or is it something else?

I wonder what would happen if this formation was ever destroyed… Su Ping was itchy to have a try.

Four Fate State beast kings were there, but he was no longer the weak human everyone knew.

Even without merging with the Little Skeleton, Su Ping was virtually on par with the Fate State. He even felt that one such creature wouldn’t have resisted his Void Sword!

Once he merged with the Little Skeleton, he no longer worried about those beasts at the Fate State.

But he was still struggling.

The four Fate State beasts guarding the formation… None of them could be the actual ruler of the Deep Caves. If two men rode a horse, one would have to ride behind. That was the truth for any species, humans and beasts alike!

The Deep Caves’ ruler had to be much more powerful, since it had been able to manipulate Fate State beasts. The ruler was either at the peak of the Fate State… or at the Star Rank! He could deal with the former, but it would be too much trouble if it were the latter!

I’ll take a look around, to see whether the ruler is here. Su Ping quietly left the formation and went to another direction.

He had learned the stealth skill from Joanna. He had also discovered some disguise skills when he trained in the cultivation sites. Not even a Fate State beast could see through his disguise.

Of course, a Fate State beast with exceptional perception abilities could later notice him. Time flew.

Six hours later.

Su Ping had covered almost the entire area.

He avoided places where the beasts were resting. This was unlike the Corridor, where the passageways were complex, and if there was a battle in one passageway, beasts at another passageway might not notice.

But there, every corner would feel it once a battle broke out

Especially when the entire area was quite unoccupied.

There are… eight Fate State beasts!

Su Ping’s mind was clouded.

He saw eight of them at the Fate State!

Those were the ones that stayed behind. He didn’t know how many Fate State creatures had gone out.

He was sure that their Fate State numbers outside had to be larger!

For example, he didn’t see the Thousand-eyed Demon Beast.

But none of the beasts I saw on the way in were strong enough to be the ruler of the Deep Caves. So far, the eight beast kings I noticed are powerful, but I can still defeat them if I manage to fight them one by one, Su Ping thought.

He didn’t think any of the eight could have the power to command the four guarding the formation.

The ruler must have left!

I can try to destroy the formation.

Once he confirmed that the ruler was not there, Su Ping was itchy to try again.

He concealed his energy and stole his way back to the formation.

The four beast kings were still near the formation; one of them was sleeping, and another was so bored that it was playing with its tail.

Wait a moment, it’s not like the ruler is sealed in that formation, is it? Su Ping thought of something. That was likely.

If he destroyed the formation, he would have released the ruler!

However, he soon dismissed that idea.

If the ruler was sealed in the formation, how was it commanding the four beasts?

Was it because the formation had loosened and the ruler could command the four beast kings with its consciousness?

Or, maybe, a long, long time ago, the ruler was trapped in the seal and the Fate State beasts had been there to protect their ruler?

Su Ping was struggling.

Even though the likelihood was low, the risk still existed.

All of a sudden, Su Ping stopped struggling.

Say the ruler was indeed sealed in the formation; the fact that Fate State beast kings had to stay there and guard the formation meant that they had to ensure the formation was not destroyed! That was to say, destroying the formation would not be good for the beasts!

Su Ping’s eyes glowed. He mobilized his astral powers. He was going to do it!

But at that moment, Su Ping suddenly noticed that there was a pool of lava next to the formation. As the lava surged inside, a scarlet scale dozens of meters long was revealed.

Su Ping looked startled. He turned pale.

The scale contained a surging vitality!

The scale was from a dead creature!

Either the scale had just come off or the scale was still attached to a living creature!

Could it be that… Su Ping was wondering. He had once seen that a beast had placed a piece of feather in its lair. He had thought that the beast was away and he could steal the youngling. However, the feather had instantly turned into a beast which killed him.

That was something that those at the Star Rank were able to do: long-distance teleportation!

As long as a medium existed, the beast king could teleport to any place, even from the North Pole to the South Pole!

That floating scale was most likely the medium!

Once something went wrong in the lair, the creature could head back via the scale!

There were four beast kings at the Fate State. The owner of that scale had placed a lot of importance on the formation. What was being contained inside the formation?

What could it be, that even the beasts in the Deep Caves were afraid of?

If I could not destroy the formation and had alerted all those beasts, I could never come back again, Su Ping pondered. After a fair amount of thinking, he decided not to make a move at the moment.

The current priority was to deal with the beasts outside.

As for the formation, maybe there would be a right time in the future to return and destroy the formation to distract the beasts. It wasn’t a proper thing to do right at the moment. After all, once he failed, the formation would be more heavily guarded; a second attempt would be that much harder.