Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-144

Although Lu Ping’s interspatial ring was usually worn on his hands, he normally hid it with a disguise spell, in order to avoid any unwanted attention.

However, as he was in his teacher’s cave-dwelling, he naturally didn’t have to worry about that. Besides, it was extremely rude to use a disguise spell in front of his teacher, hence he didn’t.

High-grade spatial mystic instruments were incredibly rare, especially small and exquisite ones like interspatial rings. They were rare even for Core Forging Realm Enlightened Masters.

In Chong Hua Palace, only Enlightened Master Liu and Second Senior Martial Sister Li Xuan-Ru had an interspatial ring. Even the other two Core Forging Realm senior martial sisters were only using interspatial belts.

Lu Ping rubbed his nose awkwardly when he saw his senior martial sisters all looking inquisitively at the interspatial ring on his hand, and he said, “I got it by chance on Fei Ling Island, it’s not worth mentioning!”

Jiang Zi-Xuan, didn’t let the matter go so easily, “A high-grade spatial mystic instrument, what’s more, an interspatial ring! And you say it’s not worth mentioning?”

After that, she held a mischievous expression on her round face.

Lu Ping didn’t know how to answer and looked helplessly at his teacher for help.

But Enlightened Master Liu only looked at Lu Ping’s awkward face and smiled. It was possible to see a trace of hidden gloating on her face.

A short moment later, Enlightened Master Liu finally spoke up, “Crazy girl, stop fooling around. Don’t you want to see your Ninth Senior Brother’s meeting gift?”

Only then did Jiang Zi-Xuan finally remember her previous request, and glanced at the jade bottle that was already in Lu Ping’s hands.

Lu Ping handed the jade bottle to Jiang Zi-Xuan, who couldn’t wait any longer, and said, “This is a bottle of Perfume Pellets I’ve concocted. The bottle contains ten pellets, each with a different fragrance. Little Junior Sister, you can choose a fragrance according to your preference. After consuming it, the selected fragrance of your choice will be emitted from your body for up to three years.”

Jiang Zi-Xuan was still a child at heart. When she saw such special medicinal pellets, she was very interested in them.

She quickly asked him what the different types of fragrance were and Lu Ping answered them all.

After seeing that his little Junior Sister was finally satisfied, Lu Ping took out five more bottles of Perfume Pellets.

“The little brother has concocted quite a number of these pellets and I had planned to present them to all the Senior Sisters. But, I didn’t know what kind of fragrance the Senior Sisters liked, so I chose one of each fragrance. If Senior Sisters still need more in the future, feel free to come and find me.”

His five senior martial sisters were all delighted to receive such a gift from Lu Ping. After all, every woman paid attention to their appearance, even cultivators.

Although as cultivators, females could easily find ways to apply fragrance to themselves.

However, the incense perfumes were time-consuming to apply to garments and were short-lasting, which meant they had to be applied frequently.

Whereas directly casting a spell to maintain a fragrance, would burden the cultivators and affect their cultivation progress over time.

On the other hand, the Perfume Pellets were medicinal pellets specially concocted for this purpose, without any disadvantages. Although they brought no improvements to one’s cultivation or any real benefits in any aspect, they really pleased the women.

Fourth Senior Martial Sister Wnag Xuan-Jing looked at the pellets, and said curiously, “I didn’t think that Ninth Junior Brother knew alchemy. Has Junior Brother become an alchemist already?”

Lu Ping nodded, “Concocting Blood Condensation Pellets are not difficult for me!”

Third Senior Martial Sister, Zhao Xuan-Ji, suddenly thought of something and said, “When making my way here, I heard from the sect disciples that a disciple had used the Beauty Everlasting Pellets as an appreciation gift during this round’s Discipleship Ceremony. Could it be… you who concocted them?”

Although Zhao Xuan-Ji was asking Lu Ping, she was actually looking at Enlightened Master Liu Xuan-Ling.

Enlightened Master Liu laughed, “Third, you don’t have to be cautious. Yes, I got a bottle of Beauty Everlasting Pellets from Ninth this time. They can preserve one’s appearance for 300 years, and were concocted by him as well!”

Jiang Zi-Xuan was still wondering which Perfume Pellet she wanted to pick, when she heard that Enlightened Master Liu had a bottle of Beauty Everlasting Pellets.

Her eyes lit up and she immediately put aside the Perfume Pellets in her hands. She hopped over to Enlightened Master Liu, “Mother, are they really Beauty Everlasting Pellets? Can your daughter have a look?”

At the same time, when Enlightened Master Liu confirmed that Lu Ping was the one who concocted the Beauty Everlasting Pellets, he immediately felt several pairs of eyes staring at him.

Even Leng Qian beside him, also had a mixed expression on her face.

Lu Ping’s heart sank, he knew that if he didn’t take a stand now, they definitely wouldn’t let him go easily.

These Chong Hua Palace’s female cultivators certainly weren’t easy targets. Just looking at how imposing Enlightened Master Liu was in front of the other Enlightened Masters, he was already able to infer how imposing his senior martial sisters would be.

Enlightened Master Liu seemed to have forgotten about her only male disciple. She was letting her daughter admire the Beauty Everlasting Pellets in her hands without even batting an eye at Lu Ping.

Lu Ping hurriedly recorded the dozens of spirit herbs required to concoct the Beauty Everlasting Pellets in a jade scroll and said, “Senior Sisters, here are nearly 30 types of spirit herbs required to concoct the Beauty Everlasting Pellets. You can take your time and gather these spirit herbs. After that, Junior Brother will take some time and concoct the pellets for you all. However, my alchemy is still lacking. The success rate of the Beauty Everlasting Pellets is only 30-percent so I’m afraid there will be a lot of waste!”

Second Senior Martial Sister, Li Xuan-Ru, spoke up, “Ninth Junior Brother sure is generous. Since Little Ninth is already this kind, your Senior Sisters will gladly accept your kindness. Otherwise, acting too polite will only put distance between us. From now on, we are a family, so we should love and help each other.”

Never did Lu Ping expect that Second Senior Martial Sister Li Xuan-Ru, who gave him the impression of being the most composed Senior Martial Sister, would say something like that. He was speechless and mourned inside his heart.

Coincidentally, Enlightened Master Liu finally satisfied her daughter’s curiosity. Before Jiang Zi-Xuan could pester Lu Ping for the Beauty Everlasting Pellets, she said, “Alright, we’ve all seen what Little Ninth can do. He can concoct the pellets for you because you are all his Senior Sisters. But, alchemy is a time-consuming job, so you all mustn’t let this Quasi-Master Alchemist delay his cultivation for your pellets.”

The ladies saw Enlightened Master’s seriousness, and answered respectfully in unison, “Yes!”

Enlightened Master Liu then said to Lu Ping, “Little Ninth, your Beauty Everlasting Pellets have earned me face in front of the others in the ceremony. Your Senior Sisters have given you their meeting gift, naturally, I have also prepared a small gift for you.”

Enlightened Master Liu opened her hand and revealed a transparent bead with a swirling cloud inside of it.

Lu Ping’s eyes lit up as he recognized that this was a Spirit Gathering Pearl!

Enlightened Master Liu noticed Lu Ping’s reaction and said smilingly, “It seems you know this thing. When placed inside of a spirit vein, this Spirit Gathering Pearl can breed a mini spirit vein in two to three years’ time. I know that your cave-dwelling isn’t on Tian Ling Mountain, so I’m giving you this pearl. I wish to see you cultivate diligently in the future.”

After Lu Ping thanked her, Enlightened Master Liu continued, “Since I have accepted an official disciple, it is customary to hold a cultivation lecture seven days later. Second, you will be in charge of this matter. The registered disciples and sect disciples are also welcome to listen to this session!”

Second Senior Martial Sister, Li Xuan-Ru, answered in a respectful tone. Then, Enlightened Master Liu dismissed the crowd after telling Li Xuan-Ru to arrange a place for Lu Ping to live temporarily at Chong Hua Palace.

Lu Ping knew that Enlightened Master Liu was actually holding the cultivation lecture for him.

After Li Xuan-Ru made the arrangements, Lu Ping suddenly thought about the [Sea Coast Wave Listening Scripture], one of the two cultivation methods that made up the [North Ocean Wave Listening Scripture].

The [Sea Coast Wave Listening Scripture] he learned only went up to the Blood Condensation Realm. But as he had become an elite disciple and been accepted under Enlightened Master Liu’s tutorage, he was naturally qualified to learn the complete [Sea Coast Wave Listening Scripture].

When Lu Ping told Li Xuan-Ru about this matter, she giggled, “Junior martial brother, you still don’t know yet, right? Teacher’s cultivation lineage is mostly focused on water cultivation methods. So, we at Chong Hua Palace naturally have most of the water cultivation methods and arts that the sect has. You don’t have to go to Tian Ling Palace to find them anymore.”

After that, she handed a jade scroll to Lu Ping and continued, “The [Sea Coast Wave Listening Scripture] was one of Fei Ling Sect’s true heritage cultivation methods. However, most of its cultivation methods were lost after its annihilation. Our sect only managed to secure part of Fei Ling Sect’s cultivation heritages.

“Although I didn’t cultivate the [Sea Coast Wave Listening Scripture], I still study it often to learn from its strengths and weaknesses. Not only me, but many other water cultivators in the sect have also studied other water cultivation methods to learn from each other and benefit from the collective wisdom!”

Lu Ping knew that Li Xuan-Ru was taking this opportunity to teach him a valuable lesson, and after receiving the jade scroll, he thanked her sincerely.

After Lu Ping settled down in Chong Hua Palace, he saw that Li Xuan-Ru was still in the palace so he asked, “Second Senior Sister, in the hall today, other than Sixth Senior Sister who was in closed-door cultivation, why didn’t I hear teacher talking about First Senior Sister and Fifth Senior Sister?”

Lui Xuan-Ru’s face changed and she sighed regretfully,, “Both of them have passed away!”

Lu Ping immediately knew he had asked the wrong question, and was at a loss for what to say.

Li Xuan-Ru continued, “You’ll know sooner or later. Our First Senior Sister, Wu Zi-Min, was teacher’s first disciple during teacher’s early days in the Core Forging Realm. Naturally, teacher had high hopes for First Senior Sister. However, First Senior Sister’s talent was limited and the Core Forging Realm is very difficult to break through. Although First Senior Sister’s cultivation was diligent under teacher’s guidance and care, she didn’t breakthrough to the Core Forging Realm before her lifespan ran out. Her passing was more than a hundred years ago. Only Third, Fourth, and myself have seen her before.”

Lu Ping said in shock, “Teacher’s cultivation and means are heavenly, but even she couldn’t help First Senior Sister breakthrough to the Core Forging Realm?”

Li Xuan-Ru said solemnly, “Teacher naturally had the means to help her breakthrough to the Core Forging Realm. But relying on external forces, even if First Senior Sister formed the Golden Core, she would be in the ranks of the weakest Enlightened Masters and would be unable to progress any further in her cultivation. Although First Senior Sister’s talent was mediocre, she was extremely proud and was determined to rely on her own efforts to breakthrough. She would rather run out of time than take a shortcut.”

After Lu Ping heard that, his mind was in turmoil and he didn’t know what to say.

Li Xuan-Ru continued, “The fall of Fifth was a tragedy that happened in our Chong Hua Palace. Around 30 years ago, Fifth had gone out with a few friends on a trip to hone her cultivation to break through to the Core Forging Realm. It was said that they had discovered an ancient ruin in the buffer sea near Qiu Yun Island.

“But soon after their departure, they disappeared and sometime later, Fifth’s Life Token in Chong Hua Palace shattered. After knowing that Fifth was dead, teacher personally went to investigate but nothing was found.”

When Lu Ping heard Li Xuan-Ru mention Qiu Yun Island, he looked stunned and couldn’t help but murmur, “Qiu Yun Island?”