Astral Pet Store (WN)

Chapter 227 A Contest of Wits

“What can I get in return if I do fulfill that promise?” Su Ping asked a question instead, for he didn’t wish to reveal his intention too soon.

The woman raised an eyebrow. “Land? Power? Gold? A divine ability to crush your enemies?”

Su Ping gave her a doubtful glance. “That’s a lot of stuff. Are you saying that I can get none of these?”

“Hmph. As a matter of fact, you may choose freely. Note that if you want a piece of land, the best I can do is to grant you a minor world of a divine city. Since I have zero idea who you are or what you’re planning to achieve, I suggest that you ask for money or a skill. Don’t even think about asking for any of our secret arts though. You won’t get any.”

Su Ping stared at the woman without speaking. A small world? A city? He had never intended to ask for that much!

He suddenly realized that he might have miscalculated the woman’s true value. “Pardon me, but… What kind of god are you?”

He invaded my territory twice but doesn’t know who I am?? The woman thought carefully. If so, I might as well play dumb. No point in telling him too much.

“Forget what I said. I wasn’t being serious about that. Heh.”

Su Ping’s lips twitched. That was a big lie even he could notice. She sounded quite serious back then.

Moments before, he thought he had been dealing with another common worker among all gods or maybe a small leader. But he just had a different idea; this woman might be someone really important.

By working with many divine descendants in recent days, Su Ping had learned that “racism” was a pretty bad problem in this world. Pure-blooded gods would always despise half-bloods, who in turn looked down upon lesser divinities. Then, the chain of discrimination went on and on until it reached humans and the livestock they kept.

This land had first been discovered and ruled by several pure-blooded gods, who still reigned over all else to the present day. In their view, those who carried the blood of lesser creatures were filthy products who ought to be treated as slaves.

Su Ping wondered if this woman was such a “pure god.” She sure looked different from all the other semi-gods and whatnot he had encountered previously. In a good way. That golden hair and pure, golden irises suggested the purity of her blood, which only added to her divine look. While such a hair and eye color was not exclusive to pure gods, half-bloods with similar features tended to have a lot of random shades blended in their hair. Sometimes, they even attempted to pluck them clean just to look better.

If their eyes had mixed colors… Well, there was no fixing them.

The most reliable proof that confirmed the “purity” of a god was their wings, which were also their tools for unleashing their inner strength in various ways. However, gods usually kept them hidden when not in use. At least Su Ping couldn’t see the woman’s wings from his position.

Ugh, forget it. Su Ping shrugged. Her lineage has got nothing to do with my plan once I capture her. Being a pure-blood is just a bonus.

By using her, I can start looting this world for valuables or even build my own army. Oh that sounds great…

“What are you thinking about?” The woman frowned when she noticed a hint of evil in Su Ping’s eyes. She was naturally sensitive to signs of emotions; she had been born with such a gift. “Oh, hehe…” Su Ping feigned a smile. “I mean, I don’t want a secret art if you don’t want to show me. Can you give me something a little weaker then? Like… an art that is less of a secret?”

Heh. Of course he has more dirty plans than that. The woman thought before replying, “You should know that those arts you’re thinking about are only available to divine beings. A human without divine power cannot master them. How about this, I shall present you with a secret training technique that works wonders for human warriors.”

Su Ping grinned. “Sure, that’ll do.”

The woman summoned a glowing booklet in her hand. “Here, this is one of the nine exceeding arts known to humans, the “Transcendent Spirit.’ It was said that an ingenious human warrior created this skill based on a secret divine art and made it possible for humans to enhance their spirits similarly. A good choice if your own abilities are heavily reliant upon your spirit power. Do you wish to take it?”

“Of course, of course! This is nice.”

“I see. So, how are you going to take me to the Archean Divinity?”.

“Can I take a look at that book first?”

The woman tossed the book his way without a second thought.

However, Su Ping tried and failed to flip it open.

The woman giggled happily. “I’ve placed a seal on it. I’ll help you access the content once I arrive at the Archean Divinity.”

Su Ping didn’t protest, for the book was never the real prize he was looking for.

He stashed the book inside his inventory space with an unchanged smile. “It’s quite easy. I can teleport you there right now.”

The woman tried but didn’t find any storage-related containers on Su Ping’s body. She was rather surprised to see Su Ping place the book somewhere she couldn’t see.

“Is that so? Kindly show me.”

Su Ping nodded. “To make sure the teleportation works, I will need to leave a rune on your forehead. Without it, you will be at risk of being lost forever in the void. I surely don’t want that to happen.”

The woman narrowed her eyes. “That’s no problem.”

She moved her blanket away, exposing her body covered in a golden, fancy armor, before moving her head closer to Su Ping.

Just as I thought. She’s prepared. Su Ping smirked. Too bad you’re going to fall into my trap regardless. Su Ping bit his finger and began using his blood to draw several lines on the woman’s tender skin. The soft touch almost made his heart race faster, though he had experienced enough battles and deaths to learn that he shouldn’t be affected by her charm that easily.

“Ah-ha…” The woman noticed Su Ping’s movement and also smiled.

Behind her back, she reached a hand inside her armor and also began writing something on her body-a “reversed version” of Su Ping’s rune.

They both applied their finishing touches at the same time.

“There. It’s done.” Su Ping took a step back.

Of course, this so-called rune was a pet contract. He meant to enslave this goddess. As the system said, all life forms had to succumb to the power of a pet contract once established. Gods weren’t the exception.

The contract with a Beast King or something even stronger wouldn’t work if his spirit couldn’t take it. But this wasn’t an issue here, since he could simply sacrifice his life force to make up for his lack of spirit power.

As he watched his work with a contented smile, the woman also appeared quite happy for some reason.