Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-150

On Huang Li Island, hundreds of lights shot out into the sky like a meteor shower, causing a commotion amongst the rogue cultivators on the island. The news began to spread quickly.

After knowing that it was a monster hunting operation organized by the North Ocean Alliance, countless cultivators headed towards the direction of the monster race sea.

The same scene happened at various islands of the North Sea sects near the monster race sea.

A few days later, in the sky above the buffer sea, 18 rays of light flew across the sky. Then, after a few moments, more than 70 beams of light followed behind, but these beams were travelling in a more chaotic manner.

Niu Dazhuang, who was flying slowly, complained, "These master immortals are all in the Eighth and Ninth Layer Blood Condensation Realm, but they only care about themselves and leave us behind."

In Patrol Team One, Yao Yong was casting the Fiery Skiff and leading the way. With his cultivation base in the Seventh Layer Blood Condensation Realm, he seemed to be rather comfortable with the journey.

Hearing Niu Dazhuang's complaint, Yao Yong turned his head and laughed, "I'm afraid the six Senior Brothers leading the patrol teams are testing our limits. Anyway, there is no danger here for us in this buffer sea."

It turned out that when the crowd was heading towards the monster race sea, the 18 leading master immortals from Huang Li Island’s six sea patrol teams had tacitly agreed to increase their speed whilst heading towards the monster race sea, leaving the rest of the patrol team members behind.

In the beginning, the cultivators were still able to catch up after expending a lot of effort, and barely following closely behind the master immortals.

But over time, there were some who weren’t good at traveling long-distances and others who were lacking in arcane energy, and so they gradually began to fall behind.

Lu Ping, the young yet experienced runner who had been chased several times by all kinds of cultivators beyond his prowess, has already practiced his own escape skills to perfection. So if it was truly needed, Lu Ping could easily catch up with the 18 leading master immortals ahead.

However, Lu Ping obviously didn’t want to draw attention to himself, and so he only released Lu Dagui from his spirit pet pouch and stood on its broad shell, as he followed behind Yao Yong.

Lu Dagui, who has broken through to the Mid Blood Condensation Realm and absorbed the Primal Giant Crocodile’s bloodline, had improved greatly in strength.

When Niu Dazhuang and Zhong Jian, who weren’t good at flying, saw the giant turtle, they immediately landed on Lu Dagui's shell to save their arcane energy.

Suddenly, there was a small commotion among the Patrol Team Three’s cultivators. A large high-grade mystic instrument flying boat abruptly appeared and shot out from the group of cultivators.

On the flying boat were the 12 cultivators from Patrol Team Three, including Lin Sheng, Li Cheng, Li Yu and some others.

It had been more than a year since they had met. Lu Ping was surprised to find that Lin Sheng had actually broken through to the Seventh Realm Blood Condensation Realm. As expected of a genius figure who was on par with Yao Yong back in the Zhen Ling Side Hall.

As Patrol Team Three stood out from the crowd, Li Yu looked at the lagging cultivators from the flying boat and laughed with glee. Li Cheng and Lin Sheng couldn't stop looking at Patrol Team One with a provocative gaze, especially when they looked over at Lu Ping.

At this moment, a carriage suddenly appeared in front of Patrol Team Five.

The carriage was drawn by four horses, with a cultivator standing on the carriage driving it. The carriage sped across the sea, with its wheels cutting two white waves on the sea surface, catching up with the flying boat in the blink of an eye.

Lu Ping looked at the four horses that were running with a curious look on his face.

They were obviously not monsters, but rather four puppet beasts. Each one had a Mid Blood Condensation Realm cultivation base.

The appearance of the flying boat and the puppet horse carriage seemingly ignited the crowd.

The sound of bird chirps and beast roars could be heard consecutively as a dozen more monster birds and beasts appeared in the sky and on the sea. These monster pets carried their masters and rushed to the front of the crowd.

The rest of the crowd also produced a variety of methods to catch up to the leading cultivators.

All of a sudden, a competition of speed had been created.

Yao Yong turned his head back and laughed, "It looks like we have to show off some of our skills too, we can't let the rest underestimate us for no reason!"

Yao Yong put his finger in his mouth and blew out a long whistle, a long neigh could be heard responding to his call. Immediately, a masculine Kirin with blazing red hoofs appeared on the surface of the sea.

Yao Yong jumped onto his mount and shouted, "I'll go first!"

The Kirin raised its forelegs high up and strode away with an ethereal gait, disappearing into the horizon, leaving only a trail of palm-sized fire burning on the surface of the sea.

Du Feng gave a cold snort. His flying sword quivered rapidly and shot out like a shooting star, taking Du Feng away in the blink of an eye.

"The [Void Shattering Golden Flash]! How extraordinary!" Chen Lian praised loudly, while a red light flared up beneath his feet.

Then, with a flash of bright red light Chen Lian sped away. His voice could be heard saying from afar, "Junior Martial Brother Lu, with great power comes great responsibility, the rest is up to you. The few of us will go first."

Zhong Jian and Ma Yu looked at each other. Zhong Jian then turned his head and smiled smugly at Lu Ping.

As the couple held hands, their arcane energies bridged together and complemented each other. The flying mystic instrument beneath their feet resonated with their arcane energy and they left without turning back.

"The [Hearts Meeting Mutual Minds Scripture]! These two lovebirds actually cultivated this mystical cultivation method!"

Lu Ping was speechless.

Without saying a word, two ice crystal wings suddenly stretched out behind Leng Qian’s back. With a flutter of her wings, she also shot out towards the group to chase after them.

Shi Lingling chortled happily and took out a fiery-red jade talisman, filling it with her arcane energy.

Lu Ping's eyelids twitched when he saw that this Senior Martial Sister was actually using a talisman treasure just to catch up with the others in a casual speed competition!

The jade talisman flashed and Shi Lingling had shot out into the sky like a rainbow!

Lu Ping looked at the remaining few members who were Zhang Zi-Cheng, Hu Lili, Niu Dazhuang and Zheng Jie. Not only were they weaker in cultivation, but they were also lacking in flying skills, good flying mystic instruments or spirit pets.

When Zhang Zi-Cheng and the remaining few saw the others taking the lead, they couldn’t do anything but smile helplessly.

Then, just as they were intending to try their best to fly on their own to catch up, they suddenly heard a clear and pleasant chirping sound overhead, followed by a huge shadow covering them.

A monster bird was circling in the sky above their heads!

Without allowing the others to feel shocked by Lu Qin's appearance, Lu Ping hurriedly invited Zhang Zi-Cheng, Zheng Jie, and Niu Dazhuang to ride on Lu Qin's back.

However, Lu Ping's invitation was quickly interrupted by a discontented chirping sound – the proud Verdant Luan didn’t welcome anyone but Lu Ping to ride on her back.

Lu Ping helplessly persuaded, "Alright, alright, we’ll find you some Late Condensed Blood Beads with wind and fire-elements in the monster race sea to help you break through the Late Blood Condensation Realm, how about that?"

Lu Qin looked down at Lu Ping and seemed to be measuring the authenticity of Lu Ping's promise.

Seeing that Lu Ping, the master, was about to get upset, Lu Qin haughtily perked up her wings and agreed to Lu Ping's deal.

After Niu Dazhuang, Zheng Jie and Zhang Zi-Cheng sat on Lu Qin's back, the Verdant Luan let out a long cry. With a flap of her wings, a visible depression on the sea appeared, and Lu Qin raced across the sky at a speed faster than all the previous cultivators.

After that, Lu Ping, rather elegantly this time, made an invitation gesture to Hu Lili.

Hu Lili gave a soft chuckle. Although her face remained calm, there was a noticeable touch of redness on her face. However, she still generously placed her wrist on Lu Ping's hands, and landed on Lu Ping's Auspicious Cloud.

The Auspicious Cloud flew up into the clouds and blended into the sky without a trace.

At the border of the buffer sea and monster race sea, Zhen Ling Sect's 18 Late Blood Condensation Realm master immortals were waiting for their team members who were chasing after them.

"I wonder which of these little brats will catch up first!"

"These brats always flaunt their rapid cultivation, but today, they will be taught a lesson. A fast cultivation speed doesn’t necessarily mean strong prowess. The key is to see whether their foundation is solid enough. Without a strong foundation, there will be no future for them, no matter how fast their cultivation progress is."

"That's exactly right!"

"Oh, I'm afraid I'll have to let you all down this time. In our Patrol Team Three, there is a high-grade large flying boat in Li Cheng's hands. If the other members of the team worked together to power the flying boat, I think their speed would not be slower than us."

The Master Immortals looked at the speaker, Li Zi-Ming, the deputy leader of the Patrol Team Three, whose cultivation level had reached the Eighth Layer Blood Condensation Realm.

Master Immortal Zhang Xian of Patrol Team Five was clearly not happy with Li Zi-Ming's smug expression and said coldly, "High-grade flying boats? That's nothing. My team’s Yuan Zhan also has a high-grade puppet chariot. The victor is still uncertain."

......

On the contrary, Patrol Team One’s Master Immortal Liu Zi-Yuan ignored the master immortals’ arguments. He only looked up towards the distant sky and said, "Here it comes!"

The arguing master immortals heard him and looked at the distant sea, only to see a faint black silhouette flying in their direction.

Just as the master immortals were guessing whether it would be the flying boat or the puppet carriage, a loud chirp could be heard.

The small black silhouette in the distance was enlarging in front of their eyes at an alarming rate.

With a gust of wind, a huge monster bird flew over the heads of the master immortals.

Li Zi-Ming's face changed and he shouted, "Not good, a monster has come!"

After saying that, he threw a rope-like mystic instrument out at the monster bird.

The rope whipped in the air like a spirit snake, and wrapped towards the wings of the monster bird. As long as the monster bird's wings were tied, its life would be at his mercy.

But even though the monster bird was huge, it was exceptionally dexterous in the air. With a flap of its wings, it suddenly moved sideways midair and evaded the rope.

At the same time, its two huge claws reached out and grabbed the rope at two ends. Then, with a tug, the mid-grade rope mystic instrument was ripped into two pieces.

Li Zi-Ming cried out in pain, "How dare this wicked animal do this. Martial siblings, this monster is rather sly, quickly help me take it down!"

After Li Zi-Ming finished shouting, he took out another high-grade mystic instrument.

But just as he was about to cast the mystic instrument, he suddenly noticed that the master immortals were talking amongst themselves. There were a few good-hearted ones who wanted to remind him of something, but in the end they kept quiet and just looked at him with an odd look.

Li Zi-Ming finally perceived something was wrong. He quickly looked up and saw that the monster bird wasn’t going far away, but was instead hovering overhead, and it also didn’t continue to attack.

Li Zi-Ming suddenly remembered to probe with his divine sense, and noticed the cultivators sitting on the back of the monster bird.

This monster bird was actually a mount!

Li Zi-Ming suddenly felt his face burning hot in embarrassment!

"Senior Brother Li is old enough, your cultivation is enough, it is only reasonable to say that your experience is also enough, and your knowledge should be more than others. Yet how is it that you can’t even distinguish between a spirit pet and a monster!"

A white cloud detached from the sea of clouds in the sky, and a teasing voice came from the cloud. These words were the exact ones that Li Zi-Ming sarcastically said to Lu Ping back then. So if it wasn’t Lu Ping, who else could it be?