Chapter 1016: Gifts

It didn’t take long for the battle on stage to end. Xuanyuan Long narrowly defeated the bloody-robed young man.

Someone else issued another challenge. It was obvious that they didn’t want to give away the Bleak Candle Dragon’s egg that easily.

The top experts on the Divine Lord Ranks from many star zones showed up in the consecutive battles that followed. They showed much more strength than normal Star Lords did, raising a lot of exclamations.

The atmosphere heated up as the geniuses on the Divine Lord Rank exchanged blows.

It was at that moment when Loulan Feng invited Su Ping to the main platform, saying that the master of the family wanted to meet him.

Su Ping didn’t decline. After all, the Loulan family was among the seven biggest families; even the Celestials had to show them some respect. Likewise, Loulan Feng had been overly courteous towards him only because they thought highly of his potential and his master.

He followed the man to the main platform.

Su Ping felt that the pervading noise had abated considerably when he arrived; it seemed that an invisible law was in place to block some of it.

In addition, the air in that place was densely packed with astral power. Powerful auras could be sensed all over the place, as grand as mountains, which belonged to the seated Heavenly Lords.

Many Ascendants noticed Su Ping as he made his way over; they focused their attention on the junior.

A few Heavenly Lords who were talking also noticed Su Ping and glanced at him.

Heavenly Lord Jian Lan stopped talking to observe the young man. She had already gone through Su Ping’s files and knew how talented he was; her own estimation was that he would be on par with her the moment he became an Ascendant.

However, the Ascendant State was still a major obstacle that couldn’t be ignored.

The master of the Loulan family was seated at the most honorable position; he was a six-meter tall man who carried a graceful and majestic aura.

As a matter of fact, the master of the Loulan family was inspired more reverence than emperors did. After all, an emperor could only master one dynasty, while the master of the family controlled countless galaxies and enterprises; emperors were just like ants in his eyes.

Su Ping walked up the stairs and approached the master of the Loulan family. The people seated next to him were Heavenly Lords, who were giving the young arrival intimidating stares. Normal people would have trembled under such harsh scrutiny, but Su Ping had seen too many horrifying beings in cultivation sites. The Chaos Perception Dragon for instance; it was a much scarier being than those Heavenly Lords, even while it was sleeping.

“It’s an honor to meet you, seniors.”

Su Ping smiled confidently, without being too arrogant.

The master of the Loulan family asked with a smile, “How is your master?”

“He’s doing great.”

“Mr. Su, it’s an honor for the Loulan family to have befriended a young genius such as yourself,” said the family master with a smile. “Although Lord Supreme undoubtedly showers you with resources, the Loulan family can give you something too. Whatever you need, just tell me.”

Su Ping shook his head and said, “I’m not in want of anything at this moment.”

“Not even pets with Ascendant State bloodlines?” said a handsome Heavenly Lord, obviously as a joke.

The Loulan master laughed and said, “Mr. Su, whichever kind of pet you need, I’ll have someone look for it later. I guarantee it’ll be no worse than today’s prize.”

Su Ping knew he was talking about the Bleak Candle Dragon’s egg, and was slightly intrigued. However, he already had enough pets that needed a lot of caring; he wasn’t planning on getting more pets at the moment.

After all, having too many pets wasn’t a definitive indicator of strength. Although the number of pets was important, he had too many things to do at the moment; it was important for him to develop his pets until they became Star Lords.

“I’m not short of pets right now.” Su Ping shook his head. It would be hard to return the favor later on if he were to receive an Ascendant pet from the Loulans.

The family master showed a weird expression after seeing that Su Ping was unmoved by his offer. The Heavenly Lords and the other Ascendants looked at him with admiration too. Even figures like them would find it hard to refuse an Ascendant pet, not to mention one that was better than the Bleak Candle Dragon.

“It seems that Lord Supreme does favor you.” The family master heaved a sigh, choosing not to dwell on the subject any longer. “This is the first time we’ve met. Mr. Su, you’ve never been to our main estate before. Consider this a gesture of friendliness from my family.”

He waved his hand after saying that, and three glittering balls flew out of the void.

The three items approached Su Ping and then their brilliance faded away. They were a string of red beads, a green pill, and a mask.

“Those Red Dragon Divine Pearls are Ascendant defensive treasures. Every pearl can resist an Ascendant State attack!” The master of the Loulan family chuckled. “The pill is made of Astral Source Tears, which contains a massive amount of astral power; it may come in handy when you try to reach the Star Lord State, Mr. Su.

“The mask is a secret treasure of Ascendant level which can hide your aura. When you travel in the future, Mr. Su, you may use it to change your identity. Most Ascendants would be unable to identify you.”

The Ascendant guests gazed at the secret treasures gifted to Su Ping with glittering eyes.

There were very few Ascendants, let alone those with such strength. Su Ping could hardly be assassinated while using the last treasure!

Although there would virtually be no Ascendants stupid enough to aim for Su Ping’s life, they wouldn’t be able even if they wanted to when Su Ping had such a treasure!

“The Loulan family has truly invested a huge amount of money on him!”

“Wouldn’t it be better to save such a treasure for the geniuses of his family?”

“He’s so generous. Is he that confident to forecast that this young man will reach the Ascendant State?”

“The Loulans will suffer a huge loss if that kid fails to reach the Ascendant State!”

A lot of Ascendant State experts had different thoughts.

Su Ping was rather surprised too, not expecting the Loulans’ gifts to be as generous. No wonder the family master took the Heavenly Lord’s joke in stride and offered him an Ascendant State pet; it was hard for him to decline such sincerity.

After a moment of silence, Su Ping eventually accepted the three gifts.

“Thank you,” said Su Ping.

The master of the Loulan family put on a smile after seeing Su Ping’s solemn expression. It was indeed a huge investment, but he believed that the young man was worth it; he was willing to bet on the possibility that Su Ping would reach the Ascendant State. Even if he failed, the loss was acceptable; if it did come to pass, those gifts worthy of a Heavenly Lord’s appreciation would definitely be worth it.

Su Ping accepted the three gifts and straight off wore the string of beads, which would be triggered automatically to defend against Ascendant State attacks.

There were altogether nine beads on the string, which meant that they could resist nine attacks for him!

Together with the Prime Sky Mirror, Su Ping believed that he was even safer than before. Normal Ascendant experts could hardly ambush him, unless they also had strange treasures.

Su Ping said goodbye and returned to his platform after some chit-chatting.

“Congratulations, Mr. Su. You’ve received great treasures,” said the red-eyebrowed elder with a smile.

The other guests joined in the rounds of congratulations.

Some were only saying it as a polite gesture, but some were truly envious.

All of them were friends of the Loulans, but none of them had ever enjoyed such privilege. They’d be lying if they said that they weren’t green with envy.

However, despite their jealousy, they understood the family’s purpose. A young master such as Su Ping was under Lord Supreme’s protection, and his future was nothing but promising; none of them would make an enemy out of such a guy, either.

I can use this pill right now.

Su Ping was silently examining the pill in his storage; it was given to him along with two Ascendant State treasures. Although the family master claimed that it only contained abundant astral power, Su Ping was able to tell how awesome it was. When he breathed in the air, Su Ping felt that his astral oceans were surging and his body felt extremely comfortable.

There were too many people present, so he decided not to take it out to examine it further; he intended to wait until the ceremony was over.

The sparring matches ended at that moment. Ye Ling turned out to be the final champion; he was invited to the main platform where he picked up the Bleak Candle Dragon’s egg while everybody watched.

The egg was almost ten meters tall. Its surface was golden, with lots of narrow red stripes which made it seem as if it had been burnt. They also looked like the veins of a leaf.

Ye Ling was no longer as pale as before, once he picked up the egg. His quick assessment allowed him to detect an almost overflowing vitality inside the egg when he received it.

He had gone all out in the following battles so he could get the egg, and even used forbidden skills to win. The battles had made him splurge ten years worth of his cultivation. However, the cost was absolutely worth it since he won an Ascendant State egg!

Once the sparring was done, some Ascendants stepped up and interpreted their understanding of laws.

Such lectures were highly beneficial to all the cultivators who had made the trip over from afar.

Time flew. Three days passed.

The gala finally reached a perfect end, and the Sea of Illusions was finally opened.

It seems that the Loulans’ main purpose for holding this gala is to invite Heavenly Lords for something.

Su Ping had focused most of his attention to the seats on the Heavenly Lords’ side during the festivities. He didn’t know what they were talking about, but they seemed to be arguing a lot.

None of those powerhouses had paid much attention to the practices and teachings during the gala.

Once the event was over, the Ascendants of the Loulan family announced that the Sea of Illusions would open in two days. Aside from Su Ping, there were many others who had made the trip especially for the Sea of Illusions.

Su Ping returned to the Loulans’ cultivation holy land and resumed his cultivation.

Loulan Lin also went to the cultivation area and was planning to talk to him, but then she became angry since he went straight to cultivating. Having no other choice, she too focused on cultivation.

After setting a secluded spot with a barrier, Su Ping took out the pill he was given, and immediately felt that the astral power density around him was dozens of times higher. Every ray of light emitted by the pill contained a mountainous astral power.

Probably anyone can reach the peak of the realm if this is used to break into the Star Lord State. Su Ping sighed.

No matter how untalented a person was, reaching the limits of the Star Lord State as long as a small world was established!

Su Ping quickly swallowed the pill.

Wasn’t he afraid of indigestion?

Su Ping didn’t feel any kind of pressure. The Chaos Star cultivation was so effective that Su Ping never felt full thus far. No matter how much, he was able to absorb lots of astral power; his cells were able to store an unimaginable amount.

Right from the moment the pill entered his mouth, Su Ping immediately felt that dense astral power moved from the surface of the pill, to later spread throughout his body. Every layer of the pill was enough to fill him up.

However, the two astral oceans inside him were constantly swallowing the astral power to transform it into deity aura, which was immediately used to condense stars. Crystal fruits were soon condensed in his body.

Su Ping became stronger with each newly condensed star.

His pores were constantly absorbing astral power from the astral array inside the holy land. Su Ping felt as if he were almost melting in an ocean of astral power.

It took some time for the pill to gradually shrink until it was the size of a grain; Su Ping finally felt that the expanding astral power in his body slowed down by then.

Su Ping woke up from his cultivating trance, and first thought was the Sea of Illusions. Shocked, he took out his watch and checked the time.

To his relief, precisely two days had passed. Fortunately, he didn’t miss anything.

Once that was out of the way, Su Ping noticed the number of stars in his body, and was instantly shocked. He had gained more than twenty stars in two days!

“I only need a few more stars to complete the seventh Astral Painting!”

Su Ping was delighted. That pill had increased his cultivation speed dozens of times, compared to the holy land’s normal speed. This also meant that his improvement rate was hundreds of times faster than on a normal planet!

I’ll cultivate for a few more days after I return from the Sea of Illusions. My small world will reach the ceiling of the first level when I complete the seventh Astral Painting. Su Ping was excited; he paused his cultivation for a moment.

Hardly had Su Ping stepped out when he saw a familiar person close by.

Once he saw Su Ping, Loulan Feng quickly stepped up and said, “Mr. Su, you’re finally back. The Sea of Illusions has already been opened. Everyone is there. Let’s join them.”

“Okay.” Su Ping nodded.