Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-122

When it came to cultivation, there was no impression of the passage of time!

Two dazzling lights suddenly flew over the calm waters of the monster race sea—two cultivators were seen hurrying side by side.

The younger one of the two said while flying, “Big Brother Huang, there’s chaos all over these waters. North Ocean sects have dispatched their cultivators to infiltrate the depths of the monster sea while the Ocean Overturning Gang has grown increasingly rampant. Yet, despite all of that, why did Young Master Ai request to scatter our forces, instead of moving as a whole?”

Big Brother Ai smiled. “Young Master Ai is smart and talented, how can I guess his thoughts? However, I believe that Young Master Ai summoned us for an important task and didn’t want to attract attention from other forces. This is why he asked us to move on our own and gather at the predetermined place.

“We just have to get to Fei Lang Reef and the young master will tell us his purpose for this meeting. But right now, Brother Cheng, monster beasts could attack us at any moment, so it’s best to be careful, lest we attract unwanted attention and reveal our tracks.”

Cultivator Cheng nodded and stopped talking. Then, Brother Huang suddenly breathed in deeply and wondered, “What is this scent? Why does it smell so good?”

Cultivator Cheng also sniffed the air carefully and indeed, he detected a faint fragrance in the air. Although weak, the fragrance was enough to trigger their sense of smell and induce a pang of hunger inside them.

Cultivator Cheng’s face changed abruptly and he said, “Big Brother Huang, don’t breathe it in! It could be poisonous gas!”

On the other hand, Brother Huang frowned slightly, as if recalling something. A moment later, he smiled and said, “Brother Cheng, ease your worries. This fragrance comes from a strange medicinal pellet known as Starvation Pellets. This fragrance can induce a deep sense of hunger in mortals and make them search for food to eat. If they don’t eat, they can die of starvation. But the more they eat, the hungrier they will get. Eventually, they will end up dying of a full stomach while under the misconception that they had starved to death. However, Starvation Pellets have little to no effect on cultivators like us.”

Cultivator Cheng heaved a sigh of relief, and then wondered, “Since they have no effect on cultivators, what kind of people would use such strange medicinal pellets?”

"Although these medicinal pellets do not affect human Blood Condensation cultivators like us, they have some influence on Blood Condensation monsters. Such monsters may have awakened their cognitive abilities, but most of them retain their strong beast-like instincts, causing them to be tempted by Starvation Pellets. But of course, there are some gifted monsters that can remain immune.

“This enticement will lure most monsters out of hiding. If the human cultivators set up traps near the Starvation Pellets, they can easily hunt the Blood Condensation monsters."

As soon as Big Brother Huang finished speaking, the uproarious sounds of spells and the cries of monster beasts came from a few miles ahead. The two of them looked at each other and flew towards a coral reef in front of them.

They stopped more than a hundred feet away from the coral reef, where they could clearly see the pair battling it out on an island—a young cultivator about 20 years old and a flying monster beast circling around on top of him.

Cultivator Cheng saw that the young man was only a Fifth Layer Blood Condensation cultivator, while the flying bird monster beast was at the Sixth Layer, bordering on the Late Blood Condensation Realm. Intending to lend his aid, he hurriedly cast up his mystic instrument.

Suddenly, Big Brother Huang pulled Cultivator Cheng and tugged him down. Big Brother Huang looked at Cultivator Cheng’s puzzled eyes and stayed silent. Instead, he hinted for Cultivator Cheng to continue watching the fight between the human cultivator and monster bird.

At this time, the young man on the island seemed to notice their arrival and he glanced over in their direction. Then, the young man made a hand seal. In just a few moments, a cloud of vapor spread around the coral island and shrouded the area in a thick fog.

Cultivator Huang and Cultivator Cheng stood in the periphery of the coral island but their vision was obstructed by the fog. They could no longer see anything on the island.

They could only hear the noises coming from within, like a heavy downpour had fallen over the island, accompanied by the cries of the flying monster bird. After a while, the sound of rain remained unchanged but the monster bird’s cries gradually turned harsh.

Cultivator Huang and Cultivator Cheng, who didn’t know what was happening inside, looked at each other and felt a chill in their hearts.

Finally, amidst a long and miserable cry, the fog that shrouded the island disappeared and revealed the young cultivator standing unscathed, facing the two cultivators with a smile.

The monster bird lay on the ground beside the young cultivator. The body of the monster bird was huge, its wings spanning more than three feet. The surrounding plants had been ravaged by spells and perforated with countless holes.

Cultivator Huang clasped his hands together and said, “Fellow cultivator, we were just passing by when we felt enticed by your Starvation Pellet . We have no other intentions.”

The young cultivator nodded with a smile and said, “I am Lu Qi. This monster bird and I had a mutual enmity, so I came here for revenge. I didn’t expect that my Starvation Pellet would draw you to this place.”

Cultivator Cheng looked at the monster bird with envy. Then, he said with a trace of hesitation, “Fellow cultivator, flying monsters are the trickiest for us cultivators to defeat, not only because they can fly, but they are also vengeful. Once you’ve crossed paths with them, they will dare to pursue even the Late Blood Condensation cultivators. But you actually captured it alive! I don’t know what else to feel other than admiration!”

Lu Qi waved his hand and said, “Please, you’ve overestimated me.”

Lu Qi noticed that although they were conversing, he was on the island and the two cultivators were a hundred feet away on the sea. He was a little unused to having a conversation from so far a distance, and so he said, “If you have time, you can come and rest on the island. I still have some tea that can be served to guests.”

Immediately after saying that, Lu Qi regretted his words. The sea was vast and riddled with danger, so to invite guests would only cause unnecessary suspicions.

Sure enough, after hearing Lu Ping’s invitation, Cultivator Cheng’s face immediately stiffened up and his pupils shrank. On the contrary, not only did Cultivator Huang’s placid face remain unchanged, but he even smiled gently and said, “We still have other important things to do, so please forgive us for not staying.”

Lu Ping, seeing that the two were going to leave, hurriedly said, “Forgive me for the sudden invitation, I didn’t consider the situation thoroughly. I was chased by monsters and fled to this sea. In the process, this monster bird’s interception nearly ended my life, which is why I came back for it.

“After recovering from my injuries, I found that more than three years had passed. I was in a state of panic when I fled, and thus, lost my bearings. I don’t know where I am right now. So after seeing you two, I rashly invited you to the island because I wished to ask about our location in the monster sea as well as the North Ocean’s situation these past three years.”

After hearing Lu Qi's explanation, Cultivator Cheng's tense expression eased. He looked to the side and saw Cultivator Huang's quiet nod, and the two landed on the coral island and stayed there for a while.

Two hours later, Cheng Huang and Cultivator Cheng said goodbye and left. A few moments later, Lu Qi also left the coral island and leaped towards the sea surface. A huge sea turtle floated up from the water, carrying Lu Qi towards the south. Accompanying the turtle were three foot-long sea snakes who swam playfully in the waters.

Lu Qi was naturally Lu Ping. In a dangerous place like this, Lu Ping naturally didn’t speak the whole truth to strangers, and the same went for Cultivator Cheng and Cultivator Huang. However, the things they said about the North Ocean sects and the situation of the monster race were generally credible.

Lu Ping played with a token in his hand and placed it in his interspatial ring.

After the duo were a fair distance from the island, Cultivator Cheng couldn't help asking Cultivator Huang, "Big Brother Huang, Lu Qi obviously didn't tell the truth, and he didn't admit to being an alchemist, so how could we give him Young Master Ai's token just because he had a Starvation Pellet?”

Cultivator Huang laughed. "I was wondering how long you could resist asking questions. I didn't expect you to hold back for so long.”

Cultivator Huang's teasing made Cultivator Cheng feel angry. Without waiting for the other to speak, Cultivator Huang continued, "Naturally, I wouldn’t give away the token solely based on conjecture. Let me ask you, with the two of us together, could we have captured that Sixth Layer Blood Condensation monster bird alive?”

Cultivator Cheng hesitated for a moment and said, "We might not be able to capture it alive, but we could overwhelm it and wound it, and if it’s slow to escape, we could even kill it."

Cultivator Huang nodded and said, "That’s right, we’re both Sixth Layer Blood Condensation cultivators, and that is all we can do. Yet, this man is only at the Fifth Layer and he was able to capture this monster bird alive. Not only that, but he even had the ability to conceal the battle situation from us while simultaneously battling the monster bird. Just how strong is his prowess?”

Cultivator Cheng defiantly retorted, "Maybe he has some secret technique that can conceal his true cultivation level. Big Brother Huang, you saw that his Smoke of Essence wasn’t any inferior than yours and mine. And after obstructing our senses, perhaps he used some powerful mystic instrument to capture the monster bird.”

Cultivator Huang laughed. "If this person did conceal his cultivation, then it must not be any weaker than ours, so naturally he is qualified to be invited. If his strength is due to a powerful mystic instrument, then that is also part of his prowess, so long as it is in his hands."

Cultivator Cheng listened to the other’s explanation and shrugged his shoulders helplessly. He obviously agreed with Cultivator Huang's statement.

Cultivator Huang continued, "Recently, Ocean Overturning Gang’s activities have grown rampant in the monster race's waters. Our Young Master Ai’s faction is not strong enough, which is why the young master instructed us to invite strong rogue cultivators to join. I just hope this Lu Qi can come to the gathering on time; he will be of great help in our coming mission."

The two of them continued to move deeper into the monster sea.

Lu Ping returned to his nest and threw a Fu Ling Pellet to Lu Dabao, who stayed behind to guard the nest because it didn't like water. Then, he shook the spirit pet pouch and left the badly injured monster bird in a corner of the nest.

It has been three years since Lu Ping broke through the Fourth Layer Blood Condensation Realm. Two years ago, Lu Ping had actually consumed all the medicinal pellets he was carrying and the Mid Blood Condensation Realm medicinal pellets he concocted.

Therefore, he already planned to return to Huang Li Island when suddenly, he remembered the three medicinal pellet recipes he looted from the Xuan Ling Sect disciple Zhang Ping's Cave-Dwelling on Xiang Lu Mountain, Fei Ling Island.

One of the recipes was about the concoct of a type of special Blood Condensation Realm medicinal pellets.

This type of special Blood Condensation Realm medicinal pellets was collectively known as the Blood Spirit Pellets. They were concocted using the Condensed Blood Beads as the main ingredient supplemented with several common 500-years spirit herbs.

Condensed Blood Beads cannot be used in daily cultivation except when the cultivators need to include a new bloodline during the cultivation stage breakthroughs, otherwise it would cause conflict between the bloodlines and the cultivation could be completely ruined.

This was a bloody lesson learned by countless cultivators before him, and Lu Ping naturally wouldn’t risk his own cultivation; although he often wondered if his abnormally dominant foundation bloodline was able to overcome the effect.

Lu Ping used the only Third Layer Condensed Blood Beads he had left to concoct a cauldron of Blood Spirit Pellets for the Early Blood Condensation Realm cultivators.

Although only four Blood Spirit Pellets were successfully concocted in the cauldron, Lu Ping saw the good effects of these medicinal pellets by feeding them to Lu Dagui.

Hence, in the following two years, Lu Ping directed his attention on this monster beasts gathered in the nearby sea who were mostly all Mid Blood Condensation Realm monsters.