Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-135

When they heard the voice, everyone looked in the direction of the small forest. When Li Yu and his accomplices saw Lu Ping, they were shocked and looked as if they had seen a ghost.

Li Yu shrieked in shock, “Lu Ping! How are you not dead—”

As soon as he said “dead”, Li Cheng and Lin Sheng coughed together at his side. Li Yu quickly retracted his panicked expression and stopped his sentence midway.

Lu Ping heard him but wasn’t annoyed. Instead, he smiled, and asked, "What’s the matter? Young Master Li was so certain that I, Lu Ping, was dead?"

Li Yu also knew that he had misspoke, and quickly forced a smile, "Haha, how… how is that possible? We’re just surprised since you had been gone for so long. We all thought that Junior Brother Lu forgot the undercover task to investigate the sea pirates."

Li Yu was accusing Lu Ping of failing his task. Lu Ping's expression immediately changed.

Lin Sheng noticed the change in atmosphere, and quickly pulled away Li Yu and Li Cheng, saying "Since Senior Brother Lu has returned peacefully, the sect naturally won’t take back your cave-dwelling. This saves us some work. Junior Brothers, we'd better go back first."

Li Yu and Li Cheng also realized their situation and awkwardly said goodbye, before turning around and heading towards Huang Li Island’s market.

Lu Ping stopped them and said leisurely, "You plot for my cave-dwelling, and then come and go as you like. Do you really think I’m an easy target to bully?"

Those who were about to leave suddenly stopped, and Li Yu, who was a hot-blooded young man, said angrily, "Lu Ping, don't think too highly of yourself! Do you think we can’t trash your cave-dwelling today?"

Lu Ping sneered, "You guys sure look powerful, so fierce. Well then, come and show me what you’ve got!"

The crowd froze. Hu Lili was concerned and quickly said, "Let's wait for Master Immortal Liu to come back, there are too many of them!"

Lu Ping looked at the seven cultivators who accompanied the three men in front of him.

Among the seven cultivators, three were in the Mid Blood Condensation Realm. In addition to Li Cheng and Lin Sheng, that meant half of the group were Mid Blood Condensation cultivators. Moreover, Lin Sheng and one other person were even in the Fifth Layer.

The remaining five cultivators were in the Early Blood Condensation Realm.

Hence, Lu Ping smiled mockingly, "Not a problem. You guys can come at me together!"

Clearly, Lu Ping was looking down on them, which greatly infuriated them.

Li Yu furiously shouted, "Lu Ping, don’t blame us for what happens! You asked for this yourself!"

He turned to his followers and said, "Since he’s being so arrogant, we don’t have to be polite. Let’s group up and go together."

All of them summoned their mystic instruments and moved towards Lu Ping.

Even Lin Sheng and Li Cheng, who were always very arrogant, also summoned their mystic instruments. However, they didn’t attack together with the other cultivators, instead wanting to see if Lu Ping could really hold off against them.

If he couldn’t, then they naturally wouldn’t have to join the fight. It wouldn’t be too late to join the fight later if he could. That way they also wouldn’t be accused of bullying him with higher numbers.

Lu Ping immediately understood their thoughts when he saw them take out their mystic instruments and stand vigilantly next to the battlefield.

However, since he intended to teach them a lesson and establish his prestige on Huang Li Island, he naturally wouldn’t let them get away.

Lu Ping cast the [Great River Eastward Sword Art], and with an unrelenting, dominant aura, he crushed the eight men's attacks in one fell swoop.

But the Soaring Wing Swords didn’t just stop there. They headed straight down and enveloped the group, including Li Cheng and Lin Sheng. The crowd felt as if they were drowning in a river of sword light.

When the group broke free from Lu Ping’s onslaught, they suddenly found that two of the mid-grade mystic instruments had been shattered, with the remaining eight sent flying away.

The crowd couldn't accept this huge defeat. They all shouted in unison, recalling their weapons or taking out replacements to attack Lu Ping again.

If the crowd was holding back before because of their higher numbers, then this time, they were going all out for real.

Lu Ping finally took their attacks seriously. But, as someone who had defeated the Late Blood Condensation Primal Giant Crocodile in a direct confrontation, there was no doubt that he would be the victor against these cultivators.

The Soaring Wing Swords suddenly morphed into two interlocking spheres of light as they slashed out 36 sword lights against the opposing mystic instruments, deflecting and parrying the crowd's attacks once again.

This time Lu Ping no longer held back.

After the two light spheres repelled the mystic instruments, they moved directly towards the crowd, slashing out another 64 sword lights all at once.

Li Cheng, Li Yu, and the others were left panicking as they tried to cope with the intensive sword attacks.

A few of the weaker Early Blood Condensation cultivators even had their protective mystic instruments and spells broken under Lu Ping’s attacks. Lin Sheng and the other Mid Blood Condensation cultivators managed to fare a little better.

They used all their strength to dodge Lu Ping's sword attacks, but before they could regain their bearings, they saw him point out his hand and send out another 64 sword lights.

This time, it wasn’t just the Early Blood Condensation cultivators—Lin Sheng and the others were also shocked by Lu Ping's powerful strength and the murderous aura he radiated.

At the same time, they perceived a strong divine sense firmly surrounding them.

While the cultivators were mourning their imminent deaths, they suddenly realized that they didn’t feel the expected sharp pain piercing their bodies.

Feeling at a loss, the crowd quickly felt a sting on their buttocks. A huge blow knocked them over, sending them rolling on the ground.

At the same time, the immense pain made them cover their rears as they wailed. Everyone's buttocks were left with a bruise mark in the shape of a long sword.

Li Yu and others struggled to stand up. They looked at each other, seeing the shock in each other's eyes.

After looking at Lu Ping with resentment, they turned around and left without saying a word.

Lu Ping smilingly turned to look at Hu Lili, Chen Lian and Fang Tao, only to find that their faces were drained of color.

Lu Ping smiled, "What, even you three thought that I died out there in the sea?"

Fang Tao looked anxious and quickly denied the claim while Chen Lian smiled bitterly and said, "Junior Brother, you’ve been missing for five years. Seeing you finally return today, I thought I could finally show off the speed of my cultivation progress. But, despite how far I’ve progressed in my cultivation base, the gap between us didn’t shrink and somehow grew even wider."

Hu Lili nodded with a look of approval. "One against ten, Junior Brother is about to rise to fame."

Lu Ping sighed. "If you were in a constant state of tension for five years straight, knowing that you could encounter monsters at any moment, I believe your prowess would also improve greatly."

Chen Lian shrugged his shoulders and didn't say anything.

Lu Ping walked to the front of the cave-dwelling and cast a few spells. The Ice Age Slaughtering Array immediately opened a pathway for them to enter.

It wasn’t the first time Chen Lian and Hu Lili had visited Lu Ping's cave-dwelling, so they went in rather casually.

Lu Ping invited the trio to sit down. He brewed a pot of spirit tea for them, with the exception of Chen Lian who asked for a bottle of Lu Ping's Hundred Spirit Wine to drink alone.

Hu Lili hurriedly asked Lu Ping about his life for the past five years. He briefly explained his experience while hiding a lot of the sensitive details from them.

After hearing about Lu Ping’s ordeal, Chen Lian slammed the table and said indignantly, "So someone really did leak your whereabouts! It must have been that Li Zi-Ming father and son duo along with Lin Sheng. No wonder! Junior Brother, when you didn’t return before the specified time, Li Yu couldn’t wait to jump out and spread the news of your possible death to everyone on the island. Not only did he take over your spirit fields for his own cultivation, he even tried to snatch your stores.

"Just five years after your disappearance, that father and son proposed to take back your cave-dwelling. Lin Sheng and Li Cheng aided them both openly and in the dark. If Master Immortal Liu hadn't suppressed the matter, those people would’ve already broken into the Ice Age Slaughtering Array."

Lu Ping had predicted the loss of his spirit fields, but wondered why they were also after his cave-dwelling. He asked curiously, "The spirit fields and stores were within my expectations, but why were they eyeing my cave-dwelling? After all, when cultivators travel, they usually don’t leave their valuables in their cave-dwelling, unless it’s a secret cave-dwelling."

Chen Lian smiled and looked at Hu Lili, who straightened her bangs and said, "I’ll explain this. During the five years you were gone, a few spirit-gathering fields suddenly appeared on Huang Li Island. Right now, the spirit fields on the island have expanded from the original seven acres to fourteen acres.

"This increase in number naturally drew attention as it could only mean one thing—the island may have given birth to a spirit vein, or at least a mini spirit vein. However, they searched the entire island and even the nearby sea for miles, but still found nothing. In the end, your cave-dwelling, which was the only place that hadn’t been searched, became the target of suspicion.

"The Li family’s father and son duo were so jealous that they started bad-mouthing you. Something along the lines of ‘No wonder you didn’t set up your cave-dwelling in Tian Ling Mountain, it’s because you had secretly found a good place here.’ So, as soon as the five-year period was up, that father and son duo, along with Lin Sheng and Li Cheng, and some cultivators from their clans, repeatedly demanded for your cave-dwelling to be taken back according to the rules of the sect.

"Fortunately, soon after you left, Master Immortal Liu arrived at Huang Li Island and became one of the island’s master immortals. Moreover, he’s in the Ninth Layer Blood Condensation Realm, just a step away from becoming a Core Forging Enlightened Master. With his protection, those people didn’t dare to go too far.

"But recently, Master Immortal Liu led Yao Yong, Du Feng and the other junior martial brothers out on a sea patrol. So, those people took the opportunity to try and break into your cave-dwelling. Thankfully, you came back just in time. Otherwise, the few of us alone wouldn’t have been enough to stop them."

Lu Ping sneered, "Those clowns!"

He then got up and led the trio across the living room to the fake training room Lu Ping had opened up in the back.

They saw a stone door on the back wall of the room with several Spirit Concealing Charms made by Lu Ping. He took down the Spirit Concealing Charms with a wave of his hand, and a faint spiritual energy emanated from behind the stone door.

Lu Ping tossed back a smile as he reached out to push the stone door open.

Immediately, a gurgling sound of water could be heard clearly, while a rich spiritual energy rushed at them. The trio behind Lu Ping quietly exclaimed with appreciation.

During his absence, the situation in the belly of the mountain didn’t change much, with only the spirit herbs garden growing lush.

The two Spirit Gathering Pearls that Lu Ping buried in the spirit vein had completely merged with the spirit vein. Now his cave-dwelling had gathered four mini spirit veins.

Fang Tao had a dumbfounded expression. Chen Lian was also astonished, "So Junior Brother really did have something here!"

Only Hu Lili might have already guessed it, but she definitely didn’t expect the spiritual energy to be so rich and dense. This was certainly not what a mini spirit vein was capable of.