Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-117

All of them looked with disgust at the cultivator who spoke. This cultivator was none other than Zhang Wei-Qing of Xuan Ling Sect.

Senior Martial Brother Zhao furrowed his brows after hearing Zhang Wei-Qing’s words.

"In that case, we will banish him into the sea of the monster race. Whether he lives or dies, we will return and help Senior Brother Zhou Wei-Long break out of the siege."

Senior Martial Brother Zhao finally made up his mind and decided their final plan.

Zhang Wei-Qing was very upset, he was determined to kill Lu Ping. But just as he was about to object, he realized that everyone was looking at him. He immediately knew that persisting would only incur the public’s anger.

So, he hurriedly agreed to the plan. "All at the command of Senior Brother Zhao!"

Meanwhile, Lu Ping was riding on the high-grade mystic instrument Auspicious Cloud and flying towards the east.

Lu Ping didn’t know that the cultivators pursuing him had decided to return after forcing him into the monster race sea. He was still trying to quicken his pace to avoid being caught by Senior Martial Brother Zhao.

He was now sure that those cultivators held a treasure that could help track him down. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have detected his whereabouts so precisely and quickly this past month.

Every time Lu Ping changed directions, they would immediately flank him from the sides; every time he was entangled in battle with a pursuing cultivator, the rest of them would hurry to the scene and surround him.

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For more than a month, no matter how he changed directions, in the end, he was still getting closer and closer to the monster race sea in the east. In the end, Lu Ping stopped trying to alter his course.

Since the cultivators could find him wherever he went, Lu Ping’s only hope to escape was to enter the monster race sea. Perhaps, it would scare the cultivators into giving up the chase.

Three days later, a white cloud with the faint figure of a human standing on top of it was floating on the surface of the sea.

Lu Ping looked around the softly undulating waves. This was the monster race sea, but the surface looked no different from any other seas.

While Lu Ping was enjoying the scenery, a wave of arcane energy suddenly entered the range of his divine sense—it was coming from below the sea surface!

As he focused on the arcane energy, a water sword was shot underwater towards his back; it was aiming for Lu Ping's heart.

In response, the Water Avoidance Shield appeared in Lu Ping's hand and turned into a shimmering wall of water in front of his body and blocked the water sword. Ripples of water radiated from the point of collision, the water sword was absorbed and turned into part of the water shield.

Just as Lu Ping was about to probe his divine sense into the sea to check out the enemy, a black shadow broke out of the seawater and lunged towards him.

The black shadow moved with such speed that Lu Ping could only hastily increase the arcane energy injected into the Water Avoidance Shield.

Chiak—

A piercing noise resounded in his ears. A three-foot-long object that looked like a sharp flying sword had stabbed through half of the water shield.

If Lu Ping hadn’t increased the injection of arcane energy into the Water Avoidance Shield, this high-grade defensive mystic instrument would’ve been completely pierced through.

But the attack still caused severe damage. Lu Ping could now see that the flying sword object, or to be precise, the attacker, was actually a Mid Blood Condensation monster Swordfish.

The Swordfish’s long sword-like bill was almost a foot in length.

Lu Ping pointed his right hand out and the Soaring Wing Swords went for the Swordfish. But the Swordfish had already leaped into the sea by the time they drew close.

Lu Ping didn’t expect to be attacked by a monster beast so soon after entering the monster race sea.

As he probed for the Swordfish's trail in the sea, his divine sense was alerted by another black shadow that was approaching him from the back.

The violent impact shook the Water Avoidance Shield's water shield.

It turned out to be a second Swordfish monster beast.

The second Swordfish was smaller in size than the first one. But the arcane energy fluctuating around its body clearly told Lu Ping that it was also a Mid Blood Condensation Realm monster beast.

Without waiting for Lu Ping's reaction, this Swordfish swiftly returned to the sea.

However, in Lu Ping's divine sense, these two Swordfishes hadn't left and were wandering around him. They were waiting for an opportunity to attack again.

All of a sudden, Lu Ping found himself besieged by two Mid Blood Condensation monster beasts.

Although the Water Avoidance Shield provided a strong defense and could withstand their attacks, the monster beasts were quick to dive underwater, not giving him the chance to fight back.

The Swordfishes were like assassins that never tangled with the enemy during a battle; they hid in the dark and waited patiently for the right time to strike.

Their fighting style gave Lu Ping a headache, he didn’t know how to deal with them at the moment.

In fact, it would be an easy matter if Lu Ping decided to leave. He could always ride the Auspicious Cloud and hover up high in the sky. That way, the Swordfishes would never be able to reach him from the sea surface.

However, Lu Ping's curiosity got the better of him, so he wanted to battle it out with the two monster beasts. Especially their sword-like long bills that were no weaker than that of two high-grade mystic instruments.

Lu Ping's divine sense suddenly picked up a fluctuation and he sensed that a Swordfish had reached his feet. It was charging headfirst towards Lu Ping's soles.

Lu Ping smiled slightly and the Water Avoidance Shield flowed to the bottom of his feet, protecting him tightly while the Soaring Wing Swords were ready to be launched.

As the Swordfish hit the wall of water, Lu Ping felt an impact under his feet that launched the Auspicious Cloud up more than three feet in the air. The Soaring Wing Swords were already launched out towards the Swordfish.

Ding—

The Swordfish's long bill parried the primary sword and sent it flying away while the secondary sword moved close to strike the Swordfish's body when suddenly, the second Swordfish scurried over and blocked it with its long bill.

The secondary sword only managed to leave a half-foot-long cut on the first Swordfish’s body.

"How coordinated!"

Lu Ping recalled the Soaring Wing Swords and exclaimed while looking at the Swordfish’s blood on the surface of the sea.

After that, Lu Ping rode on the Auspicious Cloud, pretending to leave while flying close to the sea surface. Sure enough, the Swordfishes fell for it and followed closely in pursuit.

Lu Ping pretended that his arcane energy was depleting and put away the Water Avoidance Shield which was hovering above his head.

Immediately after retracting the shield, the Swordfishes leapt out of the sea and stabbed towards Lu Ping’s back, their long bills gleaming with a metallic sheen.

But suddenly, Lu Ping turned around, his face showing a cunning smile.

Before the Swordfishes could react to the sudden change, he had raised his left hand. A round object flew out from his interspatial ring and expanded several feet long into a wide square net. The net mystic instrument wrapped the two Swordfishes in midair.

The net was a mid-grade mystic instrument that Lu Ping obtained from his spoils of war. Because of the rarity of net mystic instruments, he had kept it with him but never used it before. He also didn’t think that it would be used at this time.

Lu Ping initially planned to capture the two monster beasts alive. But with a loud screeching noise, the mid-grade net mystic instrument was torn by the sharp bills of the two Swordfishes.

After all, they were Mid Blood Condensation monster beasts.

Lu Ping knew his plan was too naive, and he hurriedly launched the Soaring Wing Swords into the net, slaying the two monster beasts in just a few moments.

But Lu Ping's net was also completely destroyed from their struggles as they died.

Lu Ping scavenged their carcasses and held the two long bills in his hands to admire them. He planned to ask Chen Lian to make them into a pair of high-grade mystic instruments after returning to Huang Li Island.

These two long bills could actually clash straight on with his Soaring Wing Swords, and so, they should turn out exceptional as mystic instruments.

At that moment, he heard a long laugh behind him, "Hahahaha, Zhen Ling brat, you’re really something if you can handle two Mid Blood Condensation monster beasts on your own. But sadly, you’re destined to die today!"

There was a flash of light behind him, Shui Yan Pavilion's Senior Martial Brother Zhao had caught up to him!

Lu Ping secretly complained in his heart; he was so focused on killing the two monster beasts that he forgot about the pursuers behind him.

Senior Martial Brother Zhao faced Lu Ping and laughed proudly, "Brat, you’ve been running for more than a month, but you still ended up in my hands. Let’s see how you’ll escape now."

As he spoke, another man leapt out of the sea—it was none other than Junior Martial Brother Wang. He took out a jade bottle and a squid leaped out of the sea, entering the jade bottle along with a stream of water.

Lu Ping looked at the jade bottle in his hand and said, "So this squid is how you tracked me down this past month."

Junior Martial Brother Wang smiled proudly and said, "That's right, it was my spirit pet that tracked your scent. Brat, with your cultivation base, take pride that you eluded a dozen of us for this long. Still, in the end, your death is inevitable!"

In the distance, there were a few more lights flying in from the horizon, they were all approaching the scene.

Lu Ping saw that there was nothing more he could do. So, he decisively cast up the Soaring Wing Swords and attacked them both at once. At the same time, the Auspicious Cloud rose under his feet and he fled into the distance.

Senior Martial Brother Zhao laughed and said, "Are you still trying to run?"

Both men chased after Lu Ping and attacked with their mystic instruments from the front and the side in unison.

Lu Ping held the Water Avoidance Shield in front of him.

When Junior Martial Brother Wang's mid-grade mystic instrument hit the wall of water, it only made a ripple on it.

Whereas Senior Martial Brother Zhao's high-grade mystic instrument was a wind pouch. After opening it, a strange wind spewed out from the pouch and blew on the Water Avoidance Shield’s water wall. The strange wind was wearing away layers and layers from the water wall, leaving just a thin layer in the blink of an eye.

Lu Ping’s heart tightened, he knew that he was not yet a match for the Late Blood Condensation Realm.

But thanks to his arcane energy which was much more profound than other cultivators in the same level, Lu Ping hurriedly increased the injection of arcane energy to maintain his shield’s water wall.

His Soaring Wing Swords were now completely tangled by Senior Martial Brother Zhao. Hence, Junior Martial Brother Wang attacked Lu Ping with all his might without fear of facing an attack.

The nine lights coming from afar were getting closer and closer. Once they arrived at the scene and surrounded Lu Ping, he wouldn’t be able to survive from an encirclement of eleven cultivators.

Lu Ping's heart stiffened up as he made a decision. The Soaring Wing Swords turned their attacks and left from Senior Martial Brother Zhao's entanglement. Then, he cast the [Disarrayed Rocks Puncturing Sword Art] and targeted Junior Martial Brother Wang.

Junior Martial Brother Wang didn’t expect Lu Ping to give up on his senior, who was the bigger threat, to attack him instead. He hurriedly put up his defensive mystic instrument and recalled his weapon to try his best to resist Lu Ping's attack.

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After more than a month of pursuit, Junior Martial Brother Wang and the others knew that this Zhen Ling Sect cultivator couldn’t be judged by common sense. Anyone who saw him as an ordinary Early Blood Condensation cultivator would suffer a great loss.

However, Lu Ping was somehow determined to take Junior Martial Brother Wang down with him.

He only blocked Senior Martial Brother Zhao's attack with the Water Avoidance Shield, and continued to press the other with the Soaring Wing Swords. He engulfed Junior Martial Brother Wang inside a sphere of sword attacks.