Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-167

The Canyon of Sullied Gold was considerably large with many passages to enter.

Lu Ping called the Verdant Luan down from the sky. Lu Qin fluttered her wings and shifted in size from five feet in length to a tiny bird of one foot, then landed on Lu Ping’s shoulder.

This was Lu Qin’s innate ability after advancing into the Late Blood Condensation Realm, which allowed her to shrink her body freely. The three Emerald Sea Spirit Snakes had already learned this ability when they first entered the Blood Condensation Realm.

Lu Ping initially wanted to concoct some Humanization Pellets and Bone Condensation Pellets for her.

After monsters entered the Late Blood Condensation Realm, the next step was to take on human forms, which was also a signifying mark for monsters in the Core Forging Realm.

Hence, the Humanization Pellets were invented.

Although these pellets couldn’t directly increase their cultivation base, they allowed the monsters to take on partial human form in certain parts of their bodies. This was known as half-humanization, and served to aid the monster’s cultivation progress.

However, Lu Qin was unwilling to take any Humanization Pellets, because she felt the appearance of half-humanization was too ugly. She would rather slow down her cultivation speed and take on a full human form after entering the Core Forging Realm.

After Lu Ping helped her kill the Scarlet Ibis, Lu Qin was completely submissive to Lu Ping, so this was the one and only matter that she refused to comply with.

Moreover, Lu Ping didn’t have the recipe for the Humanization Pellet on hand, so he had no choice but to let her be.

As for the Bone Condensation Pellet recipe, Lu Ping had already purchased it from the Pavilion of Alchemy.

After taking Bone Condensation Pellets, the monsters could refine the hyoid bone in their throats, which would grant them the ability to speak.

Both were special pellets ranked between the Blood Condensation and Core Forging realms.

After Dabao entered the Canyon of Sullied Gold, the dangers in the surrounding environment kept it trembling along the way. Fortunately for Dabao, at this time, the Emerald Sea Spirit Snake trio had gone ahead, so the little mouse wouldn’t have to directly face any dangers.

As soon as Lu Ping stepped into the Canyon of Sullied Gold, he spread out his divine sense that was now capable of scanning a hundred-foot radius.

Soon, he detected many deadly auras lurking in the canyon, both from monster beasts and monster plants. Furthermore, they were covered in poisons of a wide variety of colors, all eager to lunge out to kill.

For this reason, Lu Ping had waited for the Emerald Sea Spirit Snake trio to wake up before entering the Canyon of Sullied Gold.

The three snakes were highly poisonous, so they were immune to most toxins. Therefore, while other cultivators found the canyon a truly dangerous place to tread, it was like a paradise to the Emerald Sea Spirit Snakes.

Along their journey, the poisonous creatures were either suppressed by the trio’s noble bloodline or scared away from the poisonous scent they emitted.

Lu Ping interacted with the snake trio and learned that Lu Bi specialized in a type of invisible poison, also known as Wind Poison. Shapeless, formless, and colorless, the enemy would often ingest the Wind Poison inadvertently and end up killed by it during battles.

Lu Hai was good at Corrosive Poison. Like its name implied, it could corrode anything that it came in contact with. It was so strong that it could even the mid-grade mystic instruments, let alone the cultivators’ flesh body.

Lu Ling dealt with Cold Poison. This poison wasn’t as fierce as the other two, but it was definitely the most vicious. It had a long-lasting effect that would gradually wear off the enemy’s cultivation base and ruin their foundation.

With the snake trio leading the way, Lu Ping traveled smoothly through the outer reaches of the canyon. Even when there were poisonous beasts that dared to attack, they were all easily handled by the snake trio.

Along the way, Lu Ping also encountered a few cultivators who were harvesting spirit herbs in the outer regions of the canyon. But in a dangerous place like this, they were all very restrained and avoided each other.

Dabao’s talent as a Spirit Seeking Mouse, in addition to Lu Ping’s strong divine sense, allowed them to find a lot of rare spirit herbs that couldn’t be found outside the canyon. This made Lu Ping very happy.

…

On this day, Lu Ping followed the map to navigate to the Golden Nut Tree. He suddenly found himself at the cross line between the canyon’s outer region and inner region.

From this point onwards, the inner region of the Canyon of Sullied Gold was covered by a faint golden fog, which was how the canyon had earned its name.

This fog was said to be formed from the poisonous gas emitted from within the canyon. The further into the depths of the canyon, the thicker the golden fog, and thus, a higher toxicity with more poisonous creatures dwelling nearby.

Lu Qin, the Verdant Luan, was resting on Lu Ping’s shoulder, when suddenly, she glanced back and chirped sweetly in his ear.

Lu Ping also glanced back and said, “Just some random cultivators. They’ve been following us for two days. But don’t worry, they’re nothing much.”

After that, he put Lu Qin back into his spirit pet pouch, and took out a jade bottle from his interspatial ring.

Taking out some Antipoison Pellets he had concocted, he threw one to Dabao and took one for himself.

Then, he placed Dabao on his shoulder and radiated his aegis energy around his body. Once done, he followed behind the snake trio and entered the golden fog.

Shortly after Lu Ping entered the Canyon of Sullied Gold, six cultivators appeared cautiously from the shadows and approached the area Lu Ping had stopped at.

A cultivator dressed in black said, “This guy really doesn’t fear death. The inner region is somewhere even Core Forging Enlightened Masters hesitate to enter with their cultivation base suppressed. He’s just a Seventh Layer Blood Condensation cultivator and still dares to enter.”

A slightly taller cultivator who was also garbed in the same black uniform, smiled and said, “If he dares to enter the Canyon of Sullied Gold, then he’s sure to have a few tricks up his sleeves. For starters, his three monster snakes are extraordinary. So maybe he’ll find some treasures inside.”

The rest of the cultivators all turned to look at their leader.

Their leader pondered for a moment and said, “Our mission is to monitor the battle between Shui Yan Pavilion and Liao Clan, and to work with our fellow members to ambush the two sect disciples whenever the time is right.

“But he can pass through the outer periphery of Canyon of Sullied Gold so quickly, and has a clear direction in mind for the inner region. He’s obviously aiming for the treasures inside, and has a way to resist the Sullied Golden Fog. We can’t miss this opportunity.”

Seeing that his words were approved by everyone, the leader ordered, “Junior Brother Qi, you will lead Junior Brother Yang and Junior Brother Wang. Stay here, and if you see him come back out, make sure you kill him and plunder any treasures on him.

“With Junior Brother Qi at the Eighth Layer and the two of you in the Seventh Layer, you’re powerful enough to hold back any one of those so-called North Ocean 18 Warriors. So I’m sure you can handle a mere Seventh Layer Blood Condensation cultivator.”

The tall cultivator who spoke earlier nodded and stayed behind with the other two, while their leader led the remaining two and sped off in the other direction around the canyon.

After Lu Ping entered the Sullied Golden Fog, he realized that the fog was slowly corroding his aegis energy. Unbothered, he continued to go deeper. As he traveled deeper into the canyon, the Sullied Golden Fog became thicker and more intensive in its corrosion of his aegis energy.

Although this was nothing given Lu Ping’s strong arcane energy, he still decided to melt two Antipoison Pellets into liquid and fused them with his aegis energy, which eased the rate of corrosion.

Compared to Lu Ping’s caution, the snake trio moved through the Sullied Golden Fog like fishes returning to water.