Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-158

When Lu Ping landed beside Lu Qin, she had already consumed three out of the eight Condensed Blood Beads belonging to the Scarlet Ibis. Lu Ping kept the remaining five Condensed Blood Beads.

These Condensed Blood Beads were a considerable fortune. They could be used to exchange for water-element Condensed Blood Beads of the same quality, or as ingredients to concoct medicinal pellets.

In the Scarlet Ibis's heartspace, there was also a small red fire that was emitting a great amount of heat despite its small size. But, due to the Scarlet Ibis' death, this fire looked as though it was on the verge of extinguishing.

This small fire was the condensation of the Scarlet Ibis’ natural fire-element talent.

When Lu Ping saw Lu Qin ignoring the little fire, he asked strangely, "Is this fire not useful to you? Would it not enhance your Verdant Luan Fire after fusing with it?"

Lu Qin proudly tilted her long neck to the side and gave Lu Ping a blank stare.

Lu Ping rubbed his nose awkwardly, "Well, it seems that the quality of your Verdant Luan Fire is much higher than this Scarlet Ibis Fire. Fusing with it will lower the quality of your Verdant Luan Fire."

Lu Ping took out a jade crystal bottle and sealed the Scarlet Ibis Fire inside.

The Scarlet Ibis Fire naturally couldn’t compare with the heaven-and-earth spirit fire, but it was still much stronger than Zhen Ling Sect, Pavilion of Alchemy's, earth fire. At times when Lu Ping couldn’t use his Azure Spirit Fire when concocting medicinal pellets in front of others, the Scarlet Ibis Fire would make a good substitute.

At this time, Ji Zi-Xuan and Yin Zi-Chu had also killed the monsters they were facing. When they saw Lu Ping put away the Scarlet Ibis Fire, Ji Zi-Xuan said enviously, "Senior Brother Lu is really fortunate. Eighth Layer Condensed Blood Beads and Scarlet Ibis Fire, these two together are worth tens of thousands of spirit stones."

Yin Zi-Chu still had a frosty expression. Lu Ping laughed, "Luck, it’s all luck."

Ji Zi-Xuan wanted to say something further, but suddenly, he turned his head to look at Lu Qin. The Verdant Luan's aura was fluctuating. She was swaying side to side as if she was drunk and would pass out at any time.

Lu Ping looked at Lu Qin with a happy expression, and casually kept Lu Qin back into the spirit pet pouch.

Ji Zi-Xuan smiled, "Congratulations Senior Brother, when this big bird wakes up, Senior Brother will have another powerful Late Blood Condensation Realm helper."

Lu Ping was also happy, he didn't expect Lu Qin to have a breakthrough so soon.

After that, Ji Zi-Xuan asked Lu Ping why he was here, and he told him what happened.

After listening to Lu Ping’s experience, Ji Zi-Xuan said, "No wonder Senior Brother used a mask to disguise your appearance. But Senior Brother, you have a secret art that hides your cultivation base, so you actually don’t have to worry about the monsters seeing through your disguise!"

Lu Ping was stunned for a second and said, "But I can’t change my aura. The monsters can still determine my identity through this."

At that moment, Yin Zi-Chu, who had yet to speak, suddenly said, "The image cannot transmit your aura!"

Lu Ping suddenly understood and cursed himself for being thoughtless.

If he had explained that he had a secret art to hide his cultivation base, Enlightened Master Yang Xuan-Mu wouldn’t have told him to return to Huang Li Island.

The image in the jade scroll could convey Lu Ping's face and cultivation base, but not his aura. So, except for those who had fought with him, it would be difficult to tell Lu Ping's identity without his aura.

Ji Zi-Xuan laughed, "Little Chu and I are about to head to the Heaven of Seven Stars. We were thinking that just the two of us are too weak. If Senior Brother has time, you can come with us. Senior Brother’s prowess is far above us, you will surely be a big help."

The Heaven of Seven Stars was once the dojo of Seven Great Magi in ancient times.

Legend has it that these seven great cultivators used to listen to the lectures under Prime Jiao, one of the Heaven Cleaving Seven Primes.

As a result, five of these seven great cultivators eventually reached the True Spirit Realm, while the remaining two cultivated to the Late Avatar Realm.

However, for some reason, the five who achieved the True Spirit Realm turned against each other. A battle broke out between them and since then, none of them have ever been seen again. The battle also shattered the Heaven of Seven Stars, leaving it in ruins. The dojo fell and was trapped in space rifts.

However, the space rifts that the dojo was trapped in would weaken periodically. Whenever that happened, the dojo would reappear in different locations in the North Ocean.

On the first three days, the weakening of the space rifts would present an opportunity for cultivators to enter the dojo. Then, three months later, the dojo would fall back into the space rifts and the cultivators in the dojo would be teleported to random locations within a radius of 10,000 miles from the dojo’s location.

…

On this day, three lights flew up from the horizon and stopped above the vast and empty sea. The three lights revealed a dashing and gentle young master, an emotionless young man in black, and a red-faced man in his thirties.

Above the silent sea, there was a huge door-like portal floating in the air. It felt like a mirage that was altering between being illusory and real. This was the effect of the space rifts.

Ji Zi-Xuan sensed the auras left behind on the sea, and face changed slightly, "It seems that there are many people that have already entered before us."

Ji Zi-Xuan activated a jade talisman.

Lu Ping knew that this was a kind of Seal Breaking Charm crafted by Avatar Realm Great Ancestors. After all, only Avatar Realm Seal Breaking Charms had the power to withstand space rifts.

Once activated, the Seal Breaking Charm glowed with a yellow light, firmly shielding the three of them within a dome of light. Then, they started walking towards the turbulent portal of the Heaven of Seven Stars.

As soon as they stepped into the portal, the enormous spatial force started tearing the yellow light dome, deforming its shape. However, the light dome remained intact, keeping them safe.

Hearing the jade talisman making creaking noises, as if it would break at any moment, they accelerated their steps.

Ji Zi-Xuan said, "Although this space tunnel is difficult to travel through, it limits the cultivators entering the Heaven of Seven Stars to only the Blood Condensation Realm. If Enlightened Masters try to enter they will trigger the spatial forces in the space tunnel, which would tear them into pieces."

Lu Ping, who was in disguise, asked, "What if the Enlightened Masters seal their cultivation base to only the Blood Condensation Realm, would they then be able to enter the dojo?"

Ji Zi-Xuan laughed, "Naturally, this can happen. But even in the dojo, they still have to maintain their cultivation base at the Blood Condensation Realm. Once they lift the seal on their cultivation base, they will immediately be sent out of the Heaven of Seven Stars."

Lu Ping secretly marveled at the otherworldly measures of the seven great cultivators who created the Heaven of Seven Stars.

At this time, a rippling screen of light appeared in front of the space tunnel.

Ji Zi-Xuan said solemnly, "This is the end of the space tunnel. We will be randomly teleported to various places in the Heaven of Seven Stars. Keep an eye on the Psychic Charms I gave you both. The Psychic Charms will send out a signal to indicate our position once we are within 10 miles of each other. Then, we will be able to regroup, so that we can have a better chance of fighting for resources in the dojo."

After Ji Zi-Xuan finished speaking, they heard the jade talisman above them shatter into pieces.

An ethereal force of energy wrapped around Lu Ping, and he felt the world begin to spin.

But Lu Ping's extraordinary divine sense allowed him to quickly break out of the dizziness. He immediately felt a strong gale, accompanied by the energy from an array formation, coming towards him.

Lu Ping waved his hand and cast a dark cloud that wrapped around him.

A loud sound could be heard as a mystic instrument slashed into the cloud. The mystic instrument travelled deep enough, almost reaching Lu Ping, before eventually coming to a halt just a few inches away from him.

Lu Ping looked around and found a middle-aged, Late Blood Condensation Realm cultivator, behind him.

The cultivator was looking at Lu Ping with a surprised face, "With a cultivation base just at the Third Layer Blood Condensation Realm, you dare to enter the Heaven of Seven Stars? Moreover, you can actually use a top-grade mystic instrument?"

Lu Ping spread out his divine sense and found that there was no one else within a radius of a hundred feet. He then cast Umbra above his head, and the middle-aged cultivator recalled the jagged blade high-grade mystic instrument back to his hands.

Lu Ping said coldly, "Don't you think it's too much to kill without saying anything?"

The middle-aged cultivator looked at Lu Ping with a surprised face and said, "Kid, is there anyone here in Heaven of Seven Stars who will talk to you about benevolence? This top-grade mystic instrument of yours is impressive. With your cultivation base, you won't have any arcane energy left to use it anymore after blocking my attack. What a pity, I think it will be used better in my hands."

After saying that, the middle-aged cultivator struck out with a golden wheel mystic instrument. The golden wheel followed a strange trajectory making an ear-piercing noise.

Seeing that the wheel was about to hit Lu Ping, the middle-aged cultivator smiled, as if he was about to witness another easy harvest.

There was a sudden burst of arcane energy and a thick Essence Smoke coming from Lu Ping’s body [1]. A pair of delicate flying swords flew out striking the center of the flying golden wheel. The golden wheel shook and fell to the side.

The middle-aged cultivator was shocked. He quickly pointed out his finger, causing the golden wheel to regain control and fly back towards him.

Lu Ping's Soaring Wing Swords were already shooting towards the middle-aged cultivator.

In a panic, the middle-aged cultivator pointed at his feet. A huge flower broke out of the ground, wrapping around him.

The Soaring Wing Swords slashed seven petals off of the flower, but the number of petals kept increasing.

After the golden wheel flew back to the cultivator, he had sent it out to parry the Soaring Wing Swords.

Ever since Lu Ping’s Soaring Wing Swords were damaged, when chopping off the monster shark’s fin, he rarely used them to fight other mystic instruments head-on anymore.

While Lu Ping commanded the Soaring Wing Swords to hold back the golden wheel, he flicked his fingers, shooting out two tiny flying needles towards the flower.

Dang--

The first flying needle shot through the layers of flower petals but was blocked by the middle-aged cultivator with another mystic instrument.

The second flying needle sneakily slipped past the mystic instrument and broke through the middle-aged cultivator’s aegis energy. The flying needle made a huge hole on his thigh, causing the cultivator to wail in agony.

The middle-aged cultivator was hit hard and his mystic instruments were shaken. Lu Ping took advantage of the situation and struck away the golden wheel again using his Soaring Wing Swords.

Then, the Soaring Wing Swords lashed out a combo attack, cutting down nine flower petals in one go, revealing the middle-aged cultivator in the flower-like mystic instrument.

The middle-aged cultivator finally realized that he had messed with the wrong person.

The cultivator wiped a handful of blood on his wound, making several hand seals while chanting rapidly.

The flower mystic instrument suddenly bloomed and dozens of petals shot out towards Lu Ping.

Lu Ping's dual swords swirled like a whirlpool and sucked in the petals one by one and crushed them.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged cultivator was covered in a bloody light and instantly fled more than a hundred feet away.

Lu Ping coldly laughed, "You really think you can run?"

A white light flashed beneath his feet and in the next moment, he appeared behind the middle-aged cultivator.

The middle-aged cultivator drew a breath of cold air and panicked, after finding Lu Ping catching up to him.

He opened his mouth as if he had something to say, but Lu Ping had already swung out his sword.

This attack broke through the cultivator’s aegis energy and delivered the sword directly into the middle-aged cultivators' heart.