Time flew.
Void beasts attacked again in the next couple of days while Su Ping cultivated. He fought twice and killed many of them, making great contributions.
Su Ping helped the general kill a lord-level void beast in one of those battles, making a name for himself.
Many people were envious after learning that Su Ping had acquired the heart of a lord-level void beast and was qualified to advance. Those who had failed during their hunt outings could only sigh.
Some of them went to see him with the intention to purchase the heart for a high price; their offers were unsurprisingly declined.
“I’ve found two of the materials you mentioned.” Su Jin’er went to meet with Su Ping. The test was almost over and she seemed tired. She would have had to go hunting on her own if her original self wasn’t out there searching for the materials.
“I found one.”
The young man who had golden wheels in his eyes returned at the last moment too. He looked awful when he learned that Su Jin’er had found two items, so he immediately said to Su Ping, “But I have leads on four more. I should be able to find them given enough time.”
“I’m sorry.” Su Ping could only apologize to him.
Leads were just leads anyway; they weren’t enough to pay for the heart.
The young man looked bitter, knowing he had lost the chance to advance.
He didn’t really hate Su Ping. After all, it was the latter who had risked his life collecting the heart while they were trying to flee. He also didn’t feel it was unfair when Su Ping decided to give the beast’s heart to Su Jin’er. After all, she had found two materials.
“Fine. I’ll just give this material to you, since you already made your decision and you need this in any case.” The young man sighed.
Su Ping was stunned; he thought that the man would end up hating him; he didn’t expect that the young man would give the material away.
“Well…”
“We’ve fought together for a long time. Brother Su, keep it up. I hope you will become the champion. Remember to pay me a visit if you ever go to the Harus Galaxy,” said the young man with a smile.
It was unnecessary to make an enemy out of Su Ping. The material he had found was of little use to him anyway; might as well have Su Ping owe him. That favor would be much more precious if Su Ping ever rose to the Ascendant State later on.
Su Ping felt sorry after seeing his attitude. He nodded and said, “No problem. What’s your name, brother?”
“…”
The young man who had golden wheels in his eyes wore a bitter smile. It seemed that Su Ping wouldn’t have bothered to remember his name if he hadn’t given him the material.
“Just call me Mulhouse.”
Su Ping nodded and remembered the same.
The hunters returned one after the other in the last twelve hours of the round. The top ten in the earlier matches had also returned. Luo Ying’s return in particular had caught a lot of attention.
Dragon Shepard and a few squads came back too; their clothes were bloodstained, but all of them seemed to be excited; they had obviously found what they were looking for.
Diaz found Su Ping and asked with concern, “How about it? Did you qualify?”
Su Ping smiled and said, “Indeed.”
Diaz felt relieved; he crossed his arms in front of his chest and replied, “That’s good. You’ve earned the chance to be defeated by me.”
Su Ping smiled. He didn’t mind fighting the man; he was quite interested in finding out how powerful one of the nine divine constitutions was.
On the other hand, Su Ping had given the Purple Wind’s heart to Su Jin’er, who had promised to give him the materials the moment they left the place.
Su Ping wasn’t afraid of her going back on her word; he had seen the materials she had found with her special projections.
“I’ll be on the lookout for the rest of the materials you need,” said Su Jin’er.
“Thank you.”
Su Ping nodded.
The Ascendant State expert who had brought everyone to the site counted the results when the time was up.
Once the tallying was done, altogether thirteen people managed to advance!
Those who did included Luo Ying, Su Ping, Dragon Shepard, Su Jin’er and Diaz. Only two of the top ten players from the earlier matches failed to qualify.
Those five and eight more people advanced.
The Ascendant expert took them back to the palace built on the Chaos Grass. Lord Supreme praised them for their performance on the void battlefield, then reprimanded those who didn’t follow the rules and failed to advance. The ones addressed trembled in fear, nearly collapsing.
The organizations behind those geniuses were horrified too.
At last, the finals of the contest had arrived.
For starters, the thirteen players would compete for the top ten first.
“No matter what secret techniques you use, you’ll pass the test as long as you resist one of his attacks!”
It was easy to rise to the top ten; they would only have to endure the attack of a Star Lord general.
The expressions of Su Ping and the others changed when the rule was announced; even Su Jin’er seemed to be astonished. It was obvious that nobody had expected the sudden change of rules.
“Now, step up if your name is announced,” said Ascendant indifferently, not leaving any room for discussion.
Luo Ying’s name was announced first.
His face showed a slight change of expression when his name was mentioned. Even though he was confident of his capabilities, he wasn’t certain that he could resist a Star Lord’s attack.
The Star Lord who was asked to attack was obviously not a third-rate warrior in the outside world. He was one of the best in his level who used to be a great genius too.
The others were relieved since it wasn’t their turn yet; they watched the proceedings with rapt attention.
There was a moment of silence, then Luo Ying walked over to the place where the middle-aged Star Lord was.
“Don’t worry. I won’t use the power of faith,” said the Star Lord with a smile. It would have been an outright slaughter otherwise.
Luo Ying was slightly relieved, so he looked a lot better. He gave a slight nod.
The Star Lord drew the battle axe hanging on his back; astral power then surged from his body, spreading out from his feet like vortices and blowing off the mist around him. He looked like a berserker as he gazed at Luo Ying and said, “Be careful!”
Bang!
He suddenly slashed with his axe, which fell down like a mountain with destructive momentum. Such a move would have torn spaces open had they not been already in a deep space.
Luo Ying narrowed his eyes and suddenly launched an attack of his own. Purple illusions appeared around him; the illusions were humanlike, all of them gathering on his body and as he took action. They significantly strengthened him while he waved his sword.
There was a boom sound as the axe and the sword collided; both of them quickly moved back.
The middle-aged Star Lord took two steps back while Luo Ying took five.
“Hiss!”
The Star Lord took a breath; he was shocked by the numbness of his arm. It was a brutal outcome—for a Fate State cultivator to resist his attack and even hurt him.
“Huh? Is it the Purple Star Divine Constitution?”
“One of the nine divine constitutions? It’s said that the divine constitution is connected to the already perished stars in the sky. Were the illusions around him the ancestors of the purple stars in primordial times?”
“He managed to fight back against a Star Lord while being a Fate State cultivator, thanks to the protection of his ancestors. As expected of one of the nine divine constitutions.”
Many of the onlooking geniuses seemed shocked; the Ascendant State visitors were similarly astounded.
They belonged to the organizations backing those geniuses. Some had made the trip to the Divine Sea Mysterious Realm to explore it. All of them were amazed by Luo Ying’s performance.
One of the nine divine constitutions?
Diaz’ expression changed a bit as he stood in the crowd.
He gazed at Lou Ying; the young man also had one of the nine divine constitutions, but he didn’t think he was as strong as the latter.
That divine constitution seemed to be further developed.
To be protected by one’s ancestors is nothing remarkable, he thought.
In the palace—the Celestial experts were discussing other matters while watching the battle.
There had been a consensus when they had estimated that no more than ten people would be able to hunt a lord-level void beast; however, thirteen people had. The current test also came as a surprise.
Any of the nine divine constitutions meant a possibility to reach the Celestial State.
Someone said, “I don’t think any of us has a Purple Star Divine Constitution. All the fortune of that clan was surely condensed on that kid. I somehow feel that the illusions around him will arrive in reality as his guardians someday; however, he has to rise to the Ascendant State first and break his wall of time!”
“It’s true that the universe is about to merge; the will of the universe is also lending a hand. I don’t remember seeing this many divine constitutions in any of the earlier contests.”
“It seems that the will of our universe has realized the danger too.”
Those Celestial State experts had glittering eyes.
“Is the guy with the Reincarnation Divine Constitution your disciple?” An old man looked at Shen Huang.
The latter nodded and said casually, “He barely activated his constitution and received some of the legacies recently; he hasn’t yet had a chance to develop it as deeply as that guy has. He might have won the championship had he mastered the Realm of Reincarnation.”
“The Realm of Reincarnation… Tsk, tsk. It’s a great weapon that can wipe out the heroes of an entire age. Will there be two guys who master reincarnation in the next ten thousand years?” someone remarked.
A female Celestial chuckled and said, “I think highly of the kids who are as strong as them without the need of any divine constitution, like the one who has the phantom of a primordial dragon, and the one who carries the extinct Golden Crow bloodline. I’ve never seen anyone like them before; I feel that something is awakening.” Her skin was fair, and her smile was alluring to a fascinating degree.
…
Outside of the palace—
Luo Ying successfully passed the test. Then came Su Ping’s turn.
The latter discovered that the order was based on the rankings from the earlier battles.
It wasn’t a big deal for him, so he simply stepped up.
He then merged with the Little Skeleton; it wouldn’t be necessary to also merge with the Inferno Dragon since the man wasn’t using the power of faith.
Astral power circulated in his body as he waited patiently.
“Be careful!” roared the middle-aged Star Lord and performed the very same attack. The axe fell down with destructive might again.
Su Ping unleashed his strength too. The aggressive power of his Astral Painting was gathered in his hands, then he launched the Fist of Exorcist in quick succession, each punch containing a hundred laws.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
His dazzling fist auras illuminated the temple and enshrouded both Su Ping and the man in a majestical display.
However, all the fist auras were quickly cut apart as the axe fell down; Su Ping suddenly raised his hand and seized it.
He took a step back, while the middle-aged Star Lord stood where he was with a bitter smile.
His attack had been consecutively weakened by Su Ping’s fist; there wasn’t much power left in the end.
“Passed!” announced the Ascendant expert with a smile.
Then came the third guy.
He merged with his pet immediately and transformed into something akin to a bloody devil. The thick mist of blood that covered him was able to corrode and block the axe. His own chest was cut open, but it was soon healed.
On the other hand, the middle-aged Star Lord was breathing heavily.
He suddenly realized that the test wasn’t for the kids, but for him.
Are the people truly in the Fate State?
The fourth guy was Dragon Shepard.
He summoned his pets and brought up a lineup exclusively formed by dragons.
All the dragons were extremely rare, and they mutually boosted each other in such a set up; they roared and blocked the attack without much trouble.
The other contestants followed suit, taking their turns.
Su Jin’er solemnly unleashed all her strength when her turn came. She pushed while shrouded in phoenix flames, which turned into two golden phoenixes that lunged at her opponent. They were cut apart by the axe, so she quickly launched more fist auras and managed to resist the attack. She was successful, but she ended up pale after being pushed back.
In the crowd—the young man who had golden wheels in his eyes felt lucky after witnessing such a move. He would have failed brutally had he been there.
The tests ended soon. Four of the thirteen players failed to resist the Star Lord’s attack and were eliminated.
The remaining nine players drew lots and fought for the championship of the universe.
“Ha, ha…”
Diaz laughed after he saw the opponent he had drawn, as it was exactly what he wanted. Of all the eight potential opponents, Su Ping was the name he drew; even luck seemed to be on his side.
Su Ping was also surprised by his next opponent, not knowing what to say when he heard Diaz’ laughter. He also became eager, as he was indeed curious about what it would feel to fight one of the top constitutions of the universe.