Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-133

The server asked, "Big Brother Lu, when are you coming back? I'll ask the manager to leave the door open for you."

Lu Ping laughed, "No need for that, I may just leave directly after I finish my business. You have helped me a lot today. Here, I have some small presents for you."

The server reached out to receive the item and just as he looked up to thank Lu Ping, he had already lost sight of him. The server scratched his head in puzzlement and walked back towards the inn.

But after taking only a few steps, the server suddenly paused, before immediately speeding up his pace back to the inn.

"No matter what, I’ll definitely ask for a month off work from the manager, even if I have to give up this month's wage. I will also break through to the Third Layer Blood Refining Realm first."

The server gripped the interspatial pouch in his hand. This was the first time he had ever held an interspatial mystic instrument. The interspatial pouch was a gift from Lu Ping.

Inside, there were three bottles of Early Blood Refining Realm medicinal pellets and one bottle of Mid Blood Refining Realm medicinal pellets. There were also a hundred low-grade spirit stones.

These items, which Lu Ping casually gave away, were actually a huge fortune to the server.

After listening to the server's explanation for a whole day, Lu Ping understood a lot about the streets of Qiu Yun Island’s market. He pretended to wander around, but if one were to observe carefully, they would find that he was always following two cultivators who were donned in dark cloaks.

One of the lessons he had learned from the several life-and-death experiences over the years, was to always spread out his divine sense in wariness of the situation around him.

This cautious measure led to an unexpected discovery while he was on his way back to the inn.

Thanks to his strong divine sense, Lu Ping was able to stay outside of the two cultivators’ divine sense range while still including them within his own divine sense range. He had discovered the identity of these two cultivators.

These two cultivators were Ocean Overturning Gang cultivators who had left a deep impression in his mind from previous encounters.

One of them was the Furious Sea Division's Red Robe Division Master, which Lu Ping just met not long ago on the monster race waters; the other was a Late Blood Condensation Realm, who had chased and hunted Lu Ping five years ago.

The pursuit from that cultivator could be said to have cost Lu Ping the most, making him take nearly a year to recover from his injuries. Ever since, Lu Ping held a deep hatred against this cultivator.

The two of them were extremely cautious as they moved across several streets. Occasionally, they would even separate and go around checking each other’s back for anyone tailing them.

If it wasn’t for the fact that Lu Ping’s divine sense was far superior, he knew that they would’ve discovered him already.

But their cautiousness taught Lu Ping a lot about how experienced battle-hardened cultivators ensured their own safety.

Two hours later, they finally arrived at the back door of a manor.

There were two cultivators who had placed stalls either side of the back door. Both of them nodded to the stall owners at the same time. In reply, the stall owners quietly shook their heads, indicating that they weren’t being followed, and the two entered the manor in a flash.

But the four of them failed to notice that long before the Ocean Overturning Gang duo arrived at the back door of the manor, a young cultivator was already at a stall not far away.

He was bargaining with the stall owner for a mid-grade spirit material. After sensing the two entering the manor, the young man shook his head regretfully and finally gave up buying the spirit material and left.

To be able to build such a huge manor in the middle of the island market, who else could own the manor other than Qiu Yun Island's de facto owner, the Qiu Clan?

Lu Ping was grinning with interest as he entered a teahouse nearby the manor. He casually paid the waiter a dozen spirit stones and asked for a window seat next to the street, as well as a pot of mid-grade spirit tea. He enjoyed the teahouse storyteller’s [North Ocean Gods and Immortals] in a leisurely mood.

Roughly two hours later, when the sky had darkened, the two cultivators who had entered the manor finally exited.

Lu Ping also settled the bill and continued to follow the duo as if nothing had happened. He used his strong divine sense to follow the two from afar.

The two of them left Qiu Yun Island and flew east for hundreds of miles before landing on a desolate island where no grass grew.

The Ocean Overturning Gang cultivator who had chased Lu Ping before said, "Senior Brother Hong, I'll send you off here. Take care of yourself."

Furious Sea Division Master Senior Martial Brother Hong, clasped his hands together and said with a weary face, "Junior Brother Yuan, this time I will leave the Furious Sea Division in your care. It's all because Senior Brother was incompetent and fell for the monsters' treacherous plan. My Furious Sea Division had a hundred good men but only 30 made it back. This time, I will be punished in public when I return to the palace, I really have no face to go back to see my teacher!"

After seeing Senior Martial Brother Hong's emotional state, Junior Martial Brother Yuan hastily comforted him, "Senior Brother Hong, there is no need to be like that. Who would have thought that the monsters would become so cunning. Senior Brother you have already done well in saving 30 men after battling with the North Ocean cultivators and the monsters. If it were me, we probably would’ve all been wiped out."

Senior Martial Brother Hong said, "Junior Brother, there is no need to comfort me. Didn’t you just see Qiu Yuantian's face? He clearly puts the blame on me and has reported it to the palace. That’s why the palace removed my position as Furious Sea Division Master. To put it nicely, I have been told to return and report to the palace; but the truth is, the palace is summoning me back to punish me for my failures."

Junior Martial Brother Yuan said indignantly, "Old man Qiu is really scum. At the beginning, he was the one who strongly agreed with you to set up an ambush of the North Ocean cultivators at the sea pirate’s hidden treasure. Now that we were ambushed by the monsters and his grandson was killed in the ambush, he turned his head the other way and put the blame on Senior Brother for his grandson's death.

"His Qiu Clan has been in the North Ocean for too long which has made him forget that he is also from the palace. I think this monsters' ambush is clearly the Qiu Clan's collusion with the North Ocean factions so he can lead his clan to break away from the palace’s umbrella!"

Senior Martial Brother Hong shook his head, "Junior Brother, be careful what you say, this is just venting between us brothers, don't spread these words to others. The Qiu Clan would never dare to do that, they still have… in the palace. Moreover, if this was reported by someone, then even Junior Uncle Yuan would not be able to protect you from the consequences."

Junior Martial Brother Yuan knew that he had misspoke and laughed awkwardly, "Senior Brother, don't worry, return to the palace at ease. With Senior Uncle Cen in the palace, Senior Brother will not be punished too severely even if the palace wanted to. Furthermore, you also have some merits in the North Ocean over the years, and the elders in the palace won’t fail to see it."

Senior Martial Brother Hong nodded, "In that case, the Furious Sea Division's brothers and sisters will be in your care. This period of time is very important for us to recuperate and let our people recover. We should not compete actively and keep a low profile. The North Ocean cultivators have now strengthened their vigilance and we should also avoid being schemed against by others."

Junior Martial Brother Yuan naturally knew who Senior Martial Brother Hong was referring to, and laughed, "Senior Brother, don't worry. My cultivation base and ability is not as good as yours, so it’s all for the better that I become a mediocre hall master."

Senior Martial Brother Hong nodded and pressed a spot under the surface of the water on the deserted island.

The middle of the strange rocky barren island suddenly sank in silence. Two Seventh Layer Blood Condensation Realm cultivators suddenly leapt out from the sinking hole and shouted, "Who?"

Junior Martial Brother Yuan reached out and displayed a hexagonal jade token, "Ocean Overturning Gang, Furious Sea Division Master, Yuan Shi-Kong. I was ordered to send former Hall Master Hong Shi-Kui back to the palace."

The two men verified the token and said, "The teleportation formation is ready. There is someone at the other end waiting for your arrival. However, in order to hide from prying eyes, the teleportation’s destination is not close to the palace."

Senior Martial Brother Hong nodded in understanding. The two Seventh Layer Blood Condensation Realm cultivators walked to the center of the deserted island which had been turned into a flat land.

There, a large teleportation formation with an area of a hundred square feet was carved. The two men raised their hands and a total of 49 mid-grade spirit stones were set in different positions of the array formation.

Then, Junior Martial Brother Yuan placed his jade token in the center of the teleportation formation while Senior Martial Brother Hong stood in the center of the formation.

After that, the two cultivators activated the array formation at the same time. Following a flicker of flashing light, Senior Martial Brother Hong could no longer be seen.

Junior Martial Brother Yuan nodded to the two cultivators, before turning around and heading back towards the way he came. The deserted island quaked silently and returned to its original state, with the two cultivators nowhere to be found as if they were phantoms.

A few moments later, a huge turtle surfaced from the sea a mile away from the deserted island. Lu Ping was sitting on it, deep in thought.

Such a large array formation that requires 49 mid-grade spirit stones but can only teleport one person. This is obviously a long-distance teleportation formation. Could it be that this "palace" Hong Shi-Kui is going to is not in the North Ocean?

Then the Ocean Overturning Gang should also be a group of cultivators disguised as sea pirates sent by the mysterious "palace" to the North Ocean. There is also the Qiu Clan, the Core Forging Realm Enlightened Masters backing the Ocean Overturning Gang, and the sect’s Avatar Realm Great Ancestors’ inaction. They all seem to confirm something!

Lu Ping continued to follow Yuan Shi-Kong, who was now all alone, with a lot of questions rummaging around in his head.

Lu Ping intended to kill Yuan Shi-Kong halfway, even though the latter was in the Eighth Layer Blood Condensation Realm. Lu Ping had fought with Yuan Shi-Kong before. Back then, he was only in the Third Layer Blood Condensation Realm and was still able to escape after he was seriously injured.

However, this also let Lu Ping see Yuan Shi-Kong’s prowess clearly. Although Yuan Shi-Kong was an Eighth Layer Blood Condensation Realm cultivator, Lu Ping estimated that Yuan Shi-Kong was far weaker than the Seventh Layer Blood Condensation Realm Primal Giant Crocodile who had died by his hands.

Hence, Lu Ping was confident that he could take down Yuan Shi-Kong with the element of surprise.

However, Lu Ping was concerned that the Ocean Overturning Gang and Qiu Clan would be alerted once they found out that Yuan Shi-Kong was dead. As a result, the teleportation formation on the deserted island would likely be abandoned and destroyed. But this was the only clue to the mysterious force behind Ocean Overturning Gang, the "Palace".

Lu Ping intuition told him that this teleportation formation had a big role to play in discovering the truth.

Lu Ping followed Yuan Shi-Kong back to the Qiu Clan’s manor. On the way, he eventually managed to refrain himself from making a move.

Just as Lu Ping was about to leave, he discovered that Yuan Shi-Kong had left Qiu Clan Manor alone again. This time, the latter was heading north. Lu Ping was delighted and slowly followed behind.

Yuan Shi-Kong was obviously not as vigilant as before, perhaps he was relaxed after completing a task. He was traveling leisurely and slowly.

When the first light of dawn was about to appear, Lu Ping finally saw a small island a few miles ahead of them. Yuan Shi-Kong picked up his pace and headed towards it.

It was also at that moment, a gust of wind rushed up behind Yuan Shi-Kong's head. Yuan Shi-Kong didn’t even think and immediately lowered his head while a hexagonal translucent shield suddenly appeared at the back of his head.

A pair of huge green claws scratched the shield with an ear-splitting sound, followed by a sharp chirping. After the blow missed, a huge Verdant Luan flung its powerful wings and shot back into the sky.

As Yuan Shi-Kong was raising his shield, two of the waves on the sea suddenly surged higher and turned into a pair of flying swords staggering towards Yuan Shi-Kong, who was crouching.

Yuan Shi-Kong sneered, "What a puny diversionary trick!"

Yuan Shi-Kong's crouched body quivered and two shuriken-like mystic instruments struck out, knocking the Soaring Wing Swords away.

As Yuan Shi-Kong's divine sense spread out to look for the hidden attacker, a sharp murderous aura had already reached Yuan Shi-Kong's back. The brutal cold aura froze his back, he could suddenly tell what death felt like!

"Top-grade mystic instrument!" Yuan Shi-Kong exclaimed in shock.