Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-102

When a cultivator from an unknown sect rushed into the cave, Lu Ping was busy harvesting a 1000-year spirit herb in the garden he discovered with his divine sense. Such a task required a great deal of effort and patience.

Lu Ping had encountered seven spirit herb gardens and it took him two days to completely clear them out. This alone suggested how time-consuming it was to harvest the spirit herbs.

This was due to the many precautions one had to take, otherwise, the spirit herbs could be damaged and lose their medicinal properties. The higher the quality of spirit herbs the more demanding the requirements.

Hence, when another cultivator finally entered the cave, Lu Ping was still harvesting his second 1000-year spirit herb. This was even after he hurriedly attacked the pathway, causing it to partially collapse so he could delay people from getting through.

When the cultivator saw Lu Ping, he clearly hesitated for a second. Lu Ping had openly displayed his full prowess just a few times, but he had left a deep impression. A sense of fear had been instilled in some of the cultivators.

However, the cultivator eventually couldn’t resist the temptation of 30 to 40 1000-year spirit herbs. He slowly approached the garden while raising his vigilance against Lu Ping.

Lu Ping also didn’t stop the cultivator, he was focused on harvesting the spirit herb in front of him. Seeing that, the cultivator finally let his guard down and started to work. Soon, more cultivators entered the cave but they all quietly occupied a corner to harvest their own spot of land.

Lu Ping finally understood the situation on Ling Yao Mountain. In mere moments, forty 1000-year spirit herbs and a thousand 500-year spirit herbs were removed from the two-acre big garden.

By then, Lu Ping had already left a long time ago. He only harvested nine 1000-year spirit herbs and ignored the 500-year ones.

He knew that as soon as the garden was cleared, a battle would quickly break out between the cultivators to plunder more spirit herbs. By then, as the strongest among the cultivators, he would definitely be the first target.

Along with Lu Ping were three other Zhen Ling cultivators. As for the rest of the Zhen Ling Group—Yu Jian Sect and the Chong Ming cultivators—they couldn’t care less about them now with the current situation.

There were only four to six hours left before Fei Ling Island’s closure. The battles between cultivators were only intensified in their ferocity. Everyone had fallen into madness; the fastest way to profit was not to harvest anymore but to rob from the other cultivators. Even some cultivators from the allied sects were turning on one another.

Therefore, only those from the same sect could be trusted, and their top priority was to gather and regroup with the rest of the Zhen Ling cultivators.

Through the explanation of one of the senior martial brothers that followed him out of the cave, Lu Ping learned that Wei Zi-Heng and Su Zi-Peng had led a few Zhen Ling cultivators to the other two pathways.

Lu Ping didn’t hesitate and immediately ran into one of the pathways.

This pathway was connected to the cave-dwelling owner’s profession cave, a place to forge mystic instruments and concoct medicinal pellets. The current situation in the cave was a total mess.

When Lu Ping reached the end of the pathway, he immediately saw Wei Zi-Heng and two more Zhen Ling cultivators. Surrounded by Zhang Wei-Qing and six Xuan Ling cultivators and under their fierce siege, they were in a precarious state.

At the same time, cultivators from the other sects were tangled in a chaotic battle beside them in the cave.

Zhang Wei-Qing laughed wickedly and said, “Zhen Ling scums, I’ll be sure to kill all three of you here. That way, our Xuan Ling Sect will definitely be the final winner before Fei Ling Island closes.”

Wei Zi-Heng didn’t answer as he mustered all the strength he had to defend against the other sect’s attacks. The trio cooperated with each other well, but they were outnumbered. The long battle had taken a toll on their energy and they were all severely wounded, all on the verge of collapsing.

The three cultivators behind Lu Ping were anxious and about to rush over and help when suddenly, Lu Ping raised his hands and stopped them. He cast up the Soaring Wing Swords and launched a sneak attack behind the Xuan Ling cultivators.

The three of them were surprised to see his actions. They were more than 40 feet away from the Xuan Ling cultivators, far beyond the divine sense range of ordinary Third Layer Blood Condensation Realms. So, how was it possible for Lu Ping to control his mystic instruments so far away?

In the blink of an eye, the Soaring Wing Swords were now 20 feet from the Xuan Ling cultivators and entered the range of their divine senses. They were caught by surprise from the sudden attack.

With shocked exclamations, they quickly turned to defend, but it was already too late. The Soaring Wing Swords killed one and severely wounded another.

Zhang Wei-Qing turned his head and saw all four, including Lu Ping, dashing towards them. He gritted his teeth and shouted with resentment, “You again! Damn it, retreat!”

With these parting words, he hurriedly led his group away to the side.

Whereas Wei Zi-Heng shouted, “Where do you think you’re going!”

He cast out a net mystic instrument and captured the severely wounded Xuan Ling cultivator who was falling behind the group. As soon as he was caught, the other two Zhen Ling cultivators cast out their mystic instruments. Just like that, another Xuan Ling cultivator was killed.

Wei Zi-Heng and Lu Ping didn’t have time to chat yet. Once their predicament was resolved, they hurriedly left the cave and went down the third pathway for Su Zi-Peng and the rest.

The third pathway was connected to the cave-dwelling owner’s study cave, where they studied spells and array formations, and craft charms.

When Lu Ping and the others arrived, the cave was already scavenged; the remnants of the bookshelves, tables, and chairs were scattered all over the place. When they found Su Zi-Peng, he was leading four Zhen Ling cultivators to chase and kill several people from the other sects.

The group didn’t hesitate and rushed over to assist them in killing their opponents. Their mystic instruments flew out and killed the cultivators in an instant, scaring the rest of the cultivators in the cave into backing off.

Su Zi-Peng looted a few jade scrolls from the fallen cultivators and said, “Damn brats, death is what you’ll get if you intercept our Zhen Ling Sect’s goals!”

Lu Ping’s group of four from the middle pathway, Wei Zi-Heng’s group of three from the second pathway, and Su Zi-Peng’s group of four from the third pathway; none of the Zhen Ling Sect cultivators who entered the cave-dwelling had fallen. Only Wei Zi-Heng’s group was severely wounded. But they were still glad that no lives were lost.

After leaving the cave-dwelling, the Zhen Ling cultivators didn’t stay on the mountain top but traveled down Fei Ling Mountain. They found a safe place in an unknown corner of the mountain and waited patiently for Fei Ling Island’s closure. By then, they would be teleported out of the island by the Enlightened Masters.

Finally, they were able to talk about their experience in the cave-dwelling.

Wei Zi-Heng said, “The most important valuables in the cave I found are most likely in Zhang Wei-Qing’s hands. He was the second one to enter and killed the Shui Yan cultivator who got there first. He took a few bottles of high-quality medicinal pellets, and some said they were Crystal Jade Bottles, so most likely contained Core Forging medicinal pellets.

“He also secured most of the spirit herbs, spirit materials, and mystic instruments in the cave. We took a very small portion of the items and ended up fighting them for a mid-grade cauldron. If not for Junior Brother Lu, we would’ve probably been dead already.”

Su Zi-Peng also remarked, “A Hai Yan cultivator arrived at the cave before we did, but we were quick to follow behind and scavenged some good items, including a set of inheritance jade scrolls on interlocked array formations. We found most of the scrolls but a few were snatched away. But then, you all arrived and killed them, so now we have the full set of scrolls.”

Lu Ping wanted to ask if they found any jade scrolls relating to alchemy or charms, but then he saw them looking at him. Clearly, they were expecting him to reveal what he’d found in the middle cave, so Lu Ping smiled and said, “Nothing much, just a Jade Marrow Bottle.”

A collective gasp could be heard and they exclaimed, “A Jade Marrow Bottle?”

“Isn’t that…”

Su Zi-Peng lowered his voice, but he still couldn’t hide the excitement in his expression and he said, “Is it really a Jade Marrow Bottle? The same bottle that only Avatar Realm Great Ancestors use to contain their cultivation medicinal pellets?”

Lu Ping nodded. “Yes, it is indeed a Jade Marrow Bottle.”

Wei Zi-Heng also asked impatiently, “Did that cave-dwelling belong to an Avatar Realm Great Ancestor?”

Lu Ping thought for a moment and shook his head. “Unlikely. It’s more probable the cave-dwelling of a prominent Late Core Forging cultivator with a distinguished status in Fei Ling Sect.”

The cultivators themselves also didn’t believe it was an Avatar Realm Great Ancestor’s cave-dwelling, so they agreed with Lu Ping’s view.

There was still an hour until Fei Ling Island’s closure. In order to get more resources, the stronger sects began to gang up on the weaker cultivators. Whereas the weaker sects also didn’t give up; they would avoid groups of stronger sect cultivators, and kill solitary cultivators of any sect whenever they encountered one.

Fei Ling Mountain’s situation soon turned chaotic again. However, the battles this time were much duller, often happening and ending just as quickly. Everyone was highly alert; they were afraid that if the battles were prolonged, they would attract other cultivators to come and take advantage of them. Hence, the cultivators wanted to end the battles swiftly and cleanly within a few attacks.

Zhen Ling Sect’s group of eleven cultivators seemed extremely abrupt as the most powerful group with the most members on the mountain. Hence, no cultivators came to provoke them.

So, what next?

The Zhen Ling cultivators looked at Wei Zi-Heng, Su Zi-Peng, and Lu Ping.

Wei Zi-Heng pondered for a moment and said, “I think we should still turn back to assist Cang Hai Sect, Yu Jian Sect, and Chong Ming Sect. After all, they are allied sects to our Zhen Ling Sect. If we leave them on their own in these final moments, it wouldn’t give face to our sect’s Enlightened Masters in charge.”

The cultivators agreed. At this time, everyone from the Zhen Ling Sect already had a great harvest compared to the Xuan Ling cultivators. The chances of them winning was already high. Hence, the most important thing was to save their strength and survive in the final moments.

Therefore, the cultivators also didn’t separate and moved in a formation. They searched all over Fei Ling Mountain and gathered everyone from the three allied sects they could find. Soon, they rounded up seven cultivators from the three sects; and as word of their actions got out, another four actively found and joined the group.

At this time, Lu Ping and the others learned that Xuan Ling cultivators were hunting cultivators of other sects for their harvests. Obviously, Zhang Wei-Qing had realized that their harvests were lacking and they were losing in the competition with Zhen Ling Sect. This caused the cultivators on the run to avoid the Xuan Ling cultivators.

Wei Zi-Heng noticed that Zhen Ling Group had already gathered 22 cultivators, which empowered them as the strongest group on Fei Ling Mountain. Hence, he said, “Let’s go and give Xuan Ling Sect some trouble. We can’t let them continue like this anymore.”

The Zhen Ling Group consisted of 22 cultivators from four sects. As they made their way towards the center of the battlefield where the action lay, a few more cultivators from allied sects saw them and joined the group.

Among the newly joined cultivators, two of them were hiding in the periphery close to the mountain. This was because in order for the cultivators to be teleported out from the island, they would have to be on Fei Ling Mountain.

Therefore, the two of them planned to only enter the mountain at the last second before Fei Ling Island was closed. But naturally, when they saw the group, they hurriedly joined them.

Along the way, the group also killed a number of cultivators that dared to eye them. It was then, a panicked cultivator ran towards them from the back of the mountain, trying to flee from three other cultivators chasing behind him.

When he got close to the group, Lu Ping realized that the cultivator was none other than Ai Shutao, whom he met in the Heavenly Gold Sand spirit mine, and the three cultivators were from none other than Xuan Ling Sect, Fei Yu Sect, and Ling Gu Sect.

What a coincidence, their enemies have come to them on their own!

Lu Ping turned around and said, “Senior brothers and sisters, the fleeing cultivator in the front is a friend of mine. I plead for your help to take down those Xuan Ling scums chasing him.”

The cultivators nodded. “Of course!”

A few of them dashed out to the sides to encircle the three cultivators while Lu Ping flashed forward in a straight line, shouting, “Brother Ai Shutao, come here!”

At the same time, his Soaring Wing Swords shot out towards the three cultivators.

Ai Shutao was overjoyed when he saw Lu Ping, but quickly hesitated when he saw the Zhen Ling Group cultivators behind him. Even so, he still decided to run towards Lu Ping, and he said quietly to him, “Xuan Ling Sect, Hai Yan Sect, and Shui Yan Pavilion have found a Core Forging Realm cave-dwelling ahead.”