For obvious reasons, Su Ping chose to be revived at a random spot.
When his vision cleared, he saw greenery and flowers around him; he was worried that he had been put back inside the garden again. But after a more careful look, it wasn’t a garden anymore, but an untended flowerbed grown on the side of a mountain.
In the great distance to his left, he saw a huge city enclosed inside white castle walls that glowed with energy runes. The walls were too high for him to see what was inside the city, except for the tips of several exceptional large buildings and another mountain located at the center of the city, on which more structures lined along each other.
Su Ping took a moment to admire the magnificent city. He didn’t know what that place was, though he was sure that it had to be well-populated and flourishing.
Was that a city of gods?
Since a “random revival” would not place him too far from his point of death, he wondered if the strange garden was right inside that city, while he had just been taken out from there.
If so, then it would be better not to approach the city to prevent the “goddess” from finding him again. Still, he didn’t think that was possible; he was confident that his fake death could have easily fooled her.
He decided to look for a place to fight monsters for the moment. If he still had time to spare once the training was done, he’d return and take a look at this otherworldly city, and perhaps check out what the lives of the “locals” looked like. After all, coming across a city of gods was a rare opportunity.
Having made up his mind, he summoned all his four pets and began heading to the other side of the mountain.
A civilization, eh? And a divine civilization at that. Maybe these cultivation planes are real worlds that exist somewhere, and not virtual spaces forged by the system.
This place was quite a different sight when compared to the other planes he had visited in the past, which were all about deadly environments and even deadlier monsters that wanted him dead. He suspected that the local civilization might be even more advanced than his home. And if this place did exist somewhere in the unexplored universe, it meant he might visit this place again in the future without using the system.
To think that both the Chaotic Realm of the Undead and the Archean Divinity were real places as well…
This was beginning to get scary. In comparison, his home planet was tiny. And even when he was on his home planet, he was a vulnerable guy who had to depend on the system’s protection to survive. There was much much he had to do to become stronger.
Becoming a legendary warrior could be a start. Then, I must aim for something better… He felt great determination swelling up in him all of a sudden.
The Purple Python had carried him to the base of the mountain, ahead of which lay a borderless desert where he caught a glimpse of huge bones randomly scattered about that were larger than some of the biggest aircraft carriers he had seen in movies.
He asked the Dark Dragon Hound and the Inferno Dragon to take the front. The pets seemed reluctant at first when they sensed the dangerous air up ahead. Though they still had to obey Su Ping’s orders.
The Dark Dragon Hound kept its nose on the ground in order not to miss any signs of threats, while the Inferno Dragon also lowered its stance and awkwardly tip-clawed on the sand in a very un-dragonly manner.
After proceeding for a few kilometers, the Dark Dragon Hound suddenly sank into the sand as its body had been captured by a large, mouth-like trap that instantly crushed its five elemental shields.
The Inferno Dragon jumped, before it saw what was going on and rushed to help its comrade. However, it didn’t get to move too far before a whip shot out of the ground and knocked it aside.
Meanwhile, the Dark Dragon Hound soon stopped struggling as its body was snapped in half.
Su Ping frowned and resurrected the hound immediately, preventing the strange mouth from enjoying its meal.
The Dark Dragon Hound was left stunned for a second before it remembered that it couldn’t die for real while “training.” It checked the munching mouth just nearby that still had blood dripping, and turned around to escape.
Su Ping activated the “Killing Intent” skill right away, making the hound turn back and begin clawing at the enemy.
Su Ping felt the ground beneath them quake. He quickly told the python to take him away.
As soon as he retreated, he saw a creature climbing out into the open which was akin to an alligator, but with several thin legs covered in hard shells that looked like crab legs. It had a creepy unknown organ protruding from the top of its head, which was the “mouth trap” it had just used to capture the Dark Dragon Hound earlier. Its hardened body had many holes on both sides from where a good number of spiky tentacles were sticking out. No doubt that those were deadly weapons as well.
Su Ping grimaced. That was a Beast King.
The Dark Dragon Hound tried intimidating it by howling, which didn’t work so well. In return, the “crab alligator” responded with its own booming growl that instantly sent a chill inside Su Ping’s body.
The Dark Dragon Hound was snapped out of its berserk state, as it trembled and backed away.
Su Ping summoned the Celestial Pig so it could join the action.