Joanna took over the umbrella and the s.h.i.+eld of Ares. She nodded to the middle-aged man as a reply to his expression of grat.i.tude, a.s.suming a calm and reserved air. Joanna turned around to ask Su Ping, “Do you want to go on?” Su Ping took a deep breath. “Yes!” He nodded.

Joanna curled her lips. “They can keep on holding back their energy to take the Heaven's Test tomorrow. You can take a rest today.”

“No, thanks. Have them do it today to get it over with,” Su Ping replied.

He was determined. Joanna heaved a sigh but didn't say anything else to him. “Your turn. Go and get ready. Take this,” Joanna said to the bulky man with bull horns.

She threw the s.h.i.+eld of Ares to him casually.

The horned bulky man caught the s.h.i.+eld of Ares. It was as if he had only realized what was going to happen right then. He was no fool. He remembered what Joanna told them and what he had just witnessed. He was well aware that the three of them were taking the Heaven's Test there for the sake of that human being.

That human being was taking advantage of their Heaven's Test!

The horned man was unable to understand why the human being was doing this. He a.s.sumed that it was an experiment. The thundercloud with a diameter of one hundred thousand meters was still vivid on his mind. He took a deep breath and held the s.h.i.+eld of Ares tightly; he would have never agreed to take the test without it.

Since the previous man had successfully pa.s.sed the test, the horned man's mind was not as burdened, even though he could predict what was going to happen next.

“Yes, your highness.”

The bulky man with the horns replied obediently before he flew to the sky.

While he was ready to trigger the Heaven's Test, Su Ping used this window of time to check the changes in him.

Just then, he had been busy dealing with the bolts of lightning and didn't have time to inspect himself. After a careful look, he noticed immediately that the changes in him were big.

He remained at the intermediate position of the sixth rank.

However, the astral powers in the cores of his cells had been condensed and the amount was less than half of what he had before!

But the remaining amount of astral power was almost transparent, an indication of absolute purity! Su Ping felt like a heavy load had been lifted off from his body, giving him a relaxed and light-weighted feeling. He thought he could fly up just by standing on the spot.

Every pore was breathing in and out.

He was relaxed but powerful!

That is what the astral powers are going to be like after being refined by Heaven's Test…

After a moment of inspection, Su Ping suddenly thought of something.

With a buzzing sound, a bolt of lightning came into being in his palm. The cracking noise sounded as if countless birds were chirping.

That was fast!

Su Ping almost scared himself.

His energy release was two to three times faster than before!

If the former flow of energy could be compared to a bike, the current flow of energy would be a sports car! Su Ping then tried other skills of the thunder family.

Thunder Sprint.

Hiss!

Electric arcs covered him up in an instant, stimulating him. He believed that he could reach a thousand meters as soon as he took one step! Thunder Cloud!

Energy gathered and surged inside him. The next second, a dark cloud appeared above his head. Still, the moment the dark cloud emerged, it had been torn apart by something unfathomable.

Su Ping came back to his senses. He looked up and noticed that the bulky man with the horns had successfully triggered the test. A large thundercloud was growing.

The dark cloud that Su Ping had generated was consumed by this thundercloud.

Su Ping didn't mind that. In fact, he was rather thrilled.

The dark cloud came into being in an instant, in about one second!

That fact filled Su Ping with excitement. Before that day, he would normally have to use more than three seconds to prepare such skills!

The energy refinement was able to shorten preparation times by several folds!

In a battle, the summoning speed to get a skill ready was like drawing a blade. The one able to draw the blade quicker would be the person making the kill, even before the enemy pulled the sword out!

Su Ping had a sense that his astral powers used to be as heavy as an iron rod.

But they were as light as catkins right then.

Still, the lighter astral powers could generate the same effect!

As a matter of fact, because of this lightness, he could “wield” his astral powers faster for a better impact!

That was the result of energy refinement!

Su Ping's eyes glowed. The suffering he had gone through was worthwhile!

“It's coming.”

He heard Joanna's voice.

Su Ping gazed into the sky. The thundercloud triggered was one point five thousand meters wide, a bit larger than one produced by the middle-aged man.

Su Ping took a deep breath and made up his mind.

“Get ready!” Su Ping commanded his two battle pets.

The Dark Dragon Hound and the Inferno Dragon saw another round of Heaven's Test coming. They had just relaxed, but they had to crawl up on high alert, again.

They looked at Su Ping with their watery eyes, trembling, but that begging could not change anything. They received Su Ping's command. The last glow in their eyes died down and all hope was dashed to pieces.

As the Dark Dragon Hound and the Inferno Dragon invaded the Heaven's Test, the thundercloud, as though enraged, grew again. Just as before, the diameter increased to more than one hundred thousand meters when Su Ping joined them.

Joanna noticed that the thundercloud was still growing slowly.

In the first Heaven's Test, the thundercloud was one hundred and twenty-seven thousand meters but this one was one hundred and thirty-three thousand meters!

Had the Heaven's Test noticed that Su Ping's strength was increasing after such a short time?

Joanna forced a bitter smile to herself. Su Ping had endured so many bolts of lightning. No wonder he could be empowered. The Heaven's Test would refine the energy inside him to the extreme. She suspected that the purity of Su Ping's energy could even compete with the purity of a G.o.d's energy!

He was at the sixth rank but his energy had such purity. This would be a disaster to the other battle pet warriors at his rank!

“This guy…”

After rounds and rounds of revivals, not long afterwards, the horned man had pa.s.sed his test, which also ended after six rounds.

After him, it was the turn for the man with the tattoo.

Same as the first two, he also had the s.h.i.+eld of Ares to protect himself.

Just like before, Su Ping took advantage of his revivals and joined the test.

Two hours later, the man with the tattoo finished his test. This time, the thundercloud had a diameter spanning one hundred and thirty-five thousand meters, two kilometers more than before.

Joanna noticed this. She understood that the effect produced by the tests was diminis.h.i.+ng. After all, there was a limit to energy refinement.

While it was true that Su Ping was getting less and less benefit from the thundercloud, a one hundred and thirty-five thousand meter diameter was still stunning and threatening.

Joanna was having a bitter feeling; to think that her thundercloud was merely a little over one hundred thousand meters.

She had a talent and potential that was rare even in the Divinity. Even so, she was still second to Su Ping the freak.

Su Ping was merely at the sixth rank and there was a lot of room for him to grow. When he reached the peak of the ninth-rank, who could tell whether his potential would be even greater? Joanna shook her head. She couldn't even begin to think about that.

Although upset, Joanna kept a firm hold on her confidence. After all, potential just that, potential. If she wanted to, she could kill Su Ping right then.

No matter how great his potential was before he could grow up, he was still weak.

Only the good die young! If it weren't for the protection given by her true self, Joanna wouldn't have lived thus far.

Su Ping was a talent this day but he could end up a dead body the next. There was no telling if he could make it to the day when he could fully develop…

Joanna was a bit relieved after reaching this conclusion.

However, she suddenly remembered something… death didn't seem to be a problem for Su Ping.

Her face began to twitch.

“Your highness, are you feeling unwell?” the G.o.d Warrior asked in a hurry. “p.i.s.s off.”

“As you wish…”

After the three men pa.s.sed their Heaven's Test, Su Ping was finally able to rest.

Su Ping left it for Joanna to take care of the three. The only wish on his mind was to find a place to relax.

After each revival, his strength would come back, but the mental fatigue remained.

He called over the Dark Dragon Hound and the Inferno Dragon. Su Ping thought of going to the spring, which was the only place his soul could enjoy some comfort. It would also release the tiredness in his body.

He said goodbye to Joanna. He managed to easily find the way to the spring and threw himself into the water.

The Dark Dragon Hound and the Inferno Dragon were glad that the h.e.l.lish training was over. Joyfully, they jumped into the spring and enjoyed themselves.

While Su Ping was relaxing, Joanna was deeply troubled. She was dealing with many reports coming to her from various sources.

The Heaven's Tests had stirred up a huge sensation!

Three thunderclouds with a diameter of over one hundred thousand meters emerged above the mountain.

The strange scene had not only stunned the guards on the mountain but also alerted the citizens. Some of the more powerful G.o.ds flew out from their homes or training places and headed to the city wall to look at the phenomena.

One thundercloud with a diameter of over one hundred thousand meters would mean the coming of a blessed talent.

There were three in a row… What? Was there a meeting of blessed talents?!

Everyone was stunned speechless. Even a single talent of such caliber would become famous in the entire city. As things were, three of them showed up that day, and they pa.s.sed the test in the same place. How unimaginable!

Soon, this information was quickly leaked from the city and was spread out in less than half a day!

Many powerful forces were showing interest to know the truth.

Joanna was the one in command there and all the major forces were aware of the ident.i.ty of her true self; someone who was second only to the Superior G.o.d, a G.o.ddess of war that had established her name at the early ages of the Divinity. Her true self had a strength very much like the Superior G.o.d and she was almost peerless in the Divinity.

As such, no major force would dare to go and ask her directly. They had to use other, more prudent ways to get information.

Talents that could trigger a thundercloud with a diameter of over one hundred thousand meters!

Three of them!

The major forces believed that recruiting and training any one of them would guarantee them another ten thousand years of prosperity!

After all, G.o.ds had a long life expectancy. Ten thousand years was not a long time for the G.o.d race.

Joanna was speechless after being notified of all the inquiries. Apart from herself and her trusted followers, no one would believe that it was the same person who triggered the growth of all three thunderclouds.

Besides, this one person would never join any of those forces… Even if he did, he would only be a disaster for them!

Joanna remembered all the benefits that Su Ping had s.n.a.t.c.hed from her. She wondered if she should introduce him to some of them.

That way, he would not have his sights on her alone. At the very least, someone would be her companion in this misery.

But soon, she dismissed the idea. After all, that force would later learn about Su Ping's secrets and that mysterious store. That way, if someone else were to become his employee, then she would not be the only one going to the Archean Divinity.

She could allow others to visit the Archean Divinity, and they could work together so that this DemiG.o.d Burial, the lost land, could return to the Archean Divinity.

However, she had to be the first to enter the Archean Divinity.

She had to have all the leverage in her hand!

Therefore, before she could go, she would not allow anyone else to arrive before she did.

She heaved a sigh. Having no other choice, Joanna had to bite the bullet and clean up after Su Ping.

Joanna stopped all the questioning.

At the same time, after Su Ping recovered in the spring, he went to find some G.o.ds to test his abilities…. In that process, he would still ask the latter to “show him mercy.” No matter how strong he was at the moment, he could not have survived the strikes from legendary battle pet warriors, let alone those True G.o.ds. The ones who were eligible to guard the mountain for Joanna were the stronger ones among the True G.o.ds, who were much more powerful than legendary battle pet warriors on the Blue Planet.

Several days went by. While he trained, he had become aware about the disturbance he created. No wonder Joanna disappeared for days. It seemed that she had been busy dealing with all those major forces in the Divinity.

Su Ping had no plan on joining any forces; Joanna was enough to satisfy all his needs at the moment. Joining other forces would not do him any good. Rather, it would slow him down. He did not want to find another employee in the DemiG.o.d Burial, unless the Superior G.o.d showed up in person, which was unrealistic.

After several days of training, Su Ping had completely digested the progress he made during the Heaven's Tests; he gained a clearer idea of the benefits he received.

Apart from the refined energy, his body had become more resistant to thunder and lightning

That also applied to the Dark Dragon Hound and the Inferno Dragon.

The level of resistance was high. Su Ping was even able to neutralize some ninth-rank lightning skills by half!

As for the generic lightning, he was immune to that.

Besides, Su Ping noticed that he had better strength and defense. His body was still that of a human, pale and delicate. That and his handsome face gave him a vulnerable look.

However, his skin was almost as st.u.r.dy as some dragon's scales!

As such, even some armor-piercing bullets would only leave marks on his skin!

Su Ping had a feeling that inadvertently, the Heaven's Test had helped him finish the mission related to attribute strengthening.

Ten days later.

Joanna had finally gotten rid of all the major forces looking for information. On the surface, peace had been restored and no one was paying particular attention anymore. But under the surface, no one could tell.

Joanna was exhausted after the 10 day period. After all, she could not talk so casually with those forces, the way she did with Su Ping.

If it weren't for the fear caused by her true self, they would have straight-off gone to the mountain and s.n.a.t.c.hed the talents away from her.

Joanna was well aware that this was just the beginning. Those major forces would most likely send someone to keep an eye out near her place. She could do nothing about this. Luckily enough, as long as the Superior G.o.d didn't give the command, those people would not invade her territory. Joanna only wished that she could get enough points so that she could visit the Archean Divinity as early as possible.

If she could find the path to become a Superior G.o.d, those forces would no longer be a problem for her.

Before she left, Joanna gave some orders to some of her G.o.d Warriors and then went to a place where no one could see them and returned to the store with Su Ping.

After they arrived, they could see a gentle light being cast in the store through the window.

A new day had begun.