The young man who ranked third—the reincarnation of an ancient phoenix—looked at Lord Supreme with hopeful eyes.
Both Su Ping and Diaz had been taken as disciples. Would he also have a chance?
However, Lord Supreme didn’t invite him. He simply said, “The rankings of the Golden Star Zone have been settled; the top hundred will participate at the finals on my behalf.
“Whoever makes it to the top ten in the finals will be rewarded with an additional treasure!
“Next, you will have a two-day rest, then you’ll set off to the Divine Sea Mysterious Realm, where the finals will be held.”
Once the announcement was made, he looked at Su Ping and Diaz, then said, “You two, come with me.”
Then, the enormous illusion was gone, and so were Su Ping and Diaz from the Heavenly Path Mountain.
Su Ping felt that he had been enveloped in a gentle force as he traveled through the darkness. He later found himself in a splendid palace when he opened his eyes.
Outside the palace was a fragrant garden where rare, precious grasses and flowers were being grown.
A man was seated in a pavilion located inside the garden; he was none other than the majestic Celestial State expert.
Next to him, two Ascendant State experts who had concealed their auras looked at Su Ping and Diaz with smiles.
Diaz quickly realized who they were and fell on his knees upon seeing them. “It’s an honor to meet you, master.”
Su Ping had to kneel, too. “It’s an honor to meet you, master.”
“Both of you, rise,” said Lord Supreme with a smile, “Do you know my name?”
Diaz quickly replied, “I’ve heard a thing or two about you. Master, you are Shen Huang who reigns over the Golden Star Zone. You’ve slain countless demons and aliens, making great contributions.”
The two Ascendants present smiled when they heard the answer.
“It is our responsibility to slay the beasts and defend our borders,” said Lord Supreme with a smile, “You’ll have to go to the border too, in order to polish yourselves and protect humankind when you reach the Ascendant State.”
“As you wish, master,” replied Diaz solemnly.
Su Ping bowed and nodded.
“You have a Reincarnation Divine Constitution. You may be able to rise to the Celestial State if you discover its secrets. Once the competition is over, you’ll be free to advance to the Star State and even the Star Lord State. Your quest to the Ascendant State will be smoother if you get anything from the Divine Sea Mysterious Realm.”
Lord Supreme looked at Diaz and said with a smile, “You’re destined to encounter a disaster at the end of the matches, but you’ll rise to a new level if you make full use of the situation.”
Diaz was stunned by this revelation, making him feel alarmed. He quickly said, “Thank you for your enlightenment, master.”
Lord Supreme looked at Su Ping and remarked thoughtfully, “The aura of the primordial creature in your body belongs to the Golden Crows, which did not exist on the planet where you were born. It may be an atavistic phenomenon.”
“Golden Crows? Atavistic phenomenon?”
Diaz gazed at Su Ping in surprise.
Su Ping didn’t change his expression, but he began to feel really anxious. He didn’t expect that his secret would be found out that easily.
“Countless people have been born in this universe; there are always unimaginable things. What has never happened may happen in the future,” said Lord Supreme with a smile, “Both of you carry a fair amount of secrets. I will not pry into them.”
Su Ping breathed in relief.
Diaz was greatly relieved too; he too had a lot of clandestine secrets, including his cultivation methods.
“All you need to remember is that you will be the warriors of the Celestial Court, so you must stay loyal to it. Any other matters are irrelevant,” said Lord Supreme solemnly.
“Yes, sir!” Both of them replied.
“You have taken the fruits of laws before, and your understanding of laws is shallow. However, you have mastered the law of fusion and combined the power of those laws. You must have benefited a lot from the climbing. You’ll become even stronger when you fully digest your new knowledge.”
Lord Supreme looked at Su Ping and said with a gentle tone, “I look forward to your performance in the finals.”
Su Ping quickly nodded. However, he sighed to himself, as the man had detected what he was thinking.
Diaz could not help but look at Su Ping after hearing that. He finally realized that the latter had been painstakingly slow at the beginning because he was trying to gain a deeper understanding of the laws with the help of the Heavenly Path Mountain.
So to speak, his combat ability could be further improved? Diaz felt angry when the thought crossed his mind. He was already hitting the bottleneck, yet Su Ping still had room for improvement. Should I try to comprehend multiple laws too?
“These two pieces of armor, known as Soul Divine Armor, have been personally made by me.”
Lord Supreme took out two, mist-like objects and said, “They can resist Ascendant State attacks for ten minutes, but they won’t be triggered by lesser attacks. These are two Bracelets of Faith, which can take on Star Lords’ attacks for you.”
A pair of purple bracelets appeared in his hand.
“As for any attack below the Star Lord State, you’re more than capable of dealing with them on your own. They would not pose a threat to you; you can always escape if you can’t win.
“Your opponents in the following next selection round won’t trigger the Soul Divine Armors nor the Bracelets of Faith; they’re meant to protect you from assassins.”
The purple bracelets and the Soul Divine Armor flew to Diaz and Su Ping as he spoke.
Diaz’s eyes glittered as he stared at the Soul Divine Armor.
It was a secret treasure that could resist Ascendant State attacks for ten minutes!
More importantly, they could make use of such treasures even though they were only in the Fate State!
It had to be noted that even the Star Lords’ weapons of faith were intangible for those below the Star Lord State, not just the Ascendant treasures, which couldn’t even be touched, as if they were in another dimension.
“Thank you very much, master!” Diaz said excitedly.
Su Ping was quite surprised too, suddenly feeling that it wasn’t bad to have a Celestial State expert as his master; that Soul Divine Armor alone could ensure his safety.
That was the benefit of working for a Celestial!
“Okay. You Long will tell you the other things you should know. Work harder and try to reach the Ascendant State within a thousand years,” said Lord Supreme before he disappeared.
The two Ascendants who were next to him bid goodbye respectfully.
Then, a tall and handsome young man said with a smile, “Junior brothers, I’m your seventh senior brother. You may call me Senior Brother You Long.”
“Senior Brother You Long!” Diaz quickly said, feeling flattered.
The man was an Ascendant State, and still he had become his senior brother!
Su Ping called out to him respectfully too.
“This is your ninth brother, Ye Lan,” You Long introduced the other young man.
Ye Lan seemed somewhat cold, as if he were born that way. He nodded at them and said, “You’re rather talented. Work harder. I’ll take you to the Star Tower Domain when you reach the Ascendant State.”
“The Star Tower Domain?” Diaz was slightly puzzled.
Ye Lan replied casually, “It’s a mysterious realm hidden in deeper spaces; there’s a strange tower there. It is said that you may find out secrets to reach the Celestial State at the top of the tower. Apart from that, you may find countless treasures too. However, you have to reach the Ascendant State first before you go there, or you will only get killed.”
Diaz was shocked. “The secrets to the Celestial State?”
Su Ping asked curiously, “Can’t our master go there? He can claim all the secrets if he reaches the top of the tower, right?”
Ye Lan glanced at him and said, “There’s a special boundary in the Star Tower Domain that bars the entrance to all Celestials.”
Su Ping instantly got it.
Diaz seemed regretful too.
“Your priority is to take a good rest and try to make it to the top ten in the finals, which will give you the privilege to visit the Divine Sea Mysterious Realm; you can easily reach the Ascendant State given your talents. Once you reach the Ascendant State you can cultivate and exploit your potential until you reach higher levels,” said You Long with a smile.
Diaz said respectfully, “Of course, senior brother.”
Su Ping asked curiously, “Senior brother, how many disciples does our master have?”
You Long smiled and replied, “83 in total; 85, counting you two. Our master will hold a formal recruitment ceremony for you when the competition is over. A lot of bigshots will send their congratulations, including other Celestial experts. The ceremony will be postponed because you’re still in the middle of the competition.”
“83?”
Both Diaz and Su Ping were stunned, not expecting such a large number.
Diaz could not help but ask, “Senior brother, are all our other senior brothers and sisters in the Ascendant State?”
“Mostly. Only a couple of new disciples are still Star Lords, but they’re invincible when confronting other Star Lords. It’s only a matter of time before they reach the Ascendant State,” You Long chuckled and said.
Su Ping slightly changed his expression, feeling shocked.
So to speak, he had more than seventy Ascendant State senior brothers and sisters.
That was a horrifying number of supporters.
He didn’t expect that a Celestial State expert would have that many Ascendant disciples.
“Your other senior brothers and sisters will show up with gifts for you when you’re formally recruited.” You Long chuckled. “Junior brothers, just take the Soul Divine Armor and have some rest. Tell me if you need anything. Also, keep these two Divine Warrior Badges.”
He threw two golden badges to Su Ping and Diaz.
“Not just in this star zone, you will enjoy the privileges you deserve in any part of the Federation as soon as you show this golden badge. Not even the lords of your original galaxies would dare to disrespect you,” said You Long.
Su Ping seized the badge and detected an immense divine power from it.
He didn’t expect that his position would soar to such a degree after that part of the competition, or that he would receive a treasure like the Soul Divine Armor.
“The Divine Warrior Badge is similar to the Lord Badge in many ways. You can enter a virtual world where you can do a lot of things. Now, let me take you to the Mountains of Cultivation where we always train; it’s a place with abundant astral power. Right, the Heavenly Path Mountain used in the competition is also there,” You Long said with a smile.
Both of them were stunned for a moment, and then accepted the arrangement.
You Long raised his hand and enshrouded them with his aura, disappearing together with Ye Lan.
Once they reappeared, Su Ping found himself at the top of a splendid mountain that was in the middle of a boundless mountain range. However, that was still a tiny area on one side of the Celestial Court, which was still glowing sacredly at a relatively close distance.
“This one is yours, Junior Brother Su. Junior Brother Diaz, I’ll take you to yours shortly,” said You Long with a smile.
Diaz was stunned. “Each of us will have a mountain?”
“Yes. These mountains are known as the Mountains of Cultivation. The Heavenly Path Mountain will be located at the center when it returns. You can easily enter a meditation state if you cultivate here, and understand laws like drinking water. However, it’s not as easy to comprehend paths, which requires wisdom.
“Of course, it’s not really challenging for the likes of us.
“All in all, you only need to focus on cultivation. Whatever resources you need, no matter how precious they are, you can apply for them as long as they’re useful to you,” said You Long with a smile. His attitude was never condescending.
Ye Lan casually stood next to them in silence.
Su Ping had a jumble of mixed feelings; even a pig from a powerful background could fly to the sky. It was just like kids from rich families who received allowances that were more than what most people could earn in their entire lives.
Then, Su Ping and Diaz both absorbed the Soul Divine Armor.
According to You Long’s indications, they touched it with their mental power and bound it to themselves.
Su Ping sensed that the misty armor was covering his mind like a spider’s web, and that it would be automatically triggered if he endured an Ascendant State attack.
After that, Su Ping put on the purple bracelet.
Once he finished equipping them, he would be able to withstand attacks from Star Lords and Ascendants.
As for the Star State attacks, he could deal with them on his own.
This is exactly Lord Supreme’s method. He ensures that we won’t die as long as we aren’t too reckless. Su Ping was still feeling at odds; this was the lofty dream the other geniuses had.
You Long spoke more about cultivation tips for the Fate State before he took off with Diaz and left Su Ping alone.
The mountain had just been created; it didn’t have any cottage nor houses; Su Ping would have to build them on his own when he had the time.
I wonder where Green Lady is. Su Ping looked up at the sky. His Celestial State master felt as immeasurable as a deep ocean or an unfathomable abyss, giving him the same impression as the Golden Crows, especially the Chief Elder, did.