Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-171

For the past few days in the Canyon of Sullied Gold, Lu Ping exhausted his arcane energy multiple times, and swallowed a large number of medicinal pellets for replenishment. As a result, a profuse amount of medicinal toxins had stagnated in his body, which could affect his future cultivation if not properly removed in a timely manner.

And so, Lu Ping left without taking any breaks in between the regions, traveling straight out of the canyon from the opposite direction from the one he entered from.

Lu Ping guessed that the other entrance was already being watched, and since he was not at his peak, he cautiously chose to avoid his original direction.

However, even when Lu Ping tried to stay out of trouble, trouble still managed to find him. Just as he exited the golden fog, he found himself surrounded by people.

"Tsk, a Seventh Layer cultivator daring to enter the Canyon of Sullied Gold alone, you must truly be a fool!"

One of the men spoke sarcastically, a swagger to his steps as he approached Lu Ping.

As he spoke, four more cultivators slowly revealed themselves and surrounded Lu Ping in the middle.

"Brat, your cultivation base won't have lasted long in the Canyon of Sullied Gold, but you must’ve picked up something good at least. How about a friendly trade? We’ll exchange your goods for something you like?" the cultivator continued.

"Oh, what are you offering?" Lu Ping stood still and quietly circulated his arcane energy. He furtively observed his surroundings and the cultivators who were trying to rob him.

"Heh, the price is absolutely fair. One 500-year spirit herb for a low-grade spirit stone, and one 1000-year spirit herb will naturally get you two low-grade spirit stones." The cultivator facing Lu Ping shook his head mockingly.

They seemed to be a small group of rogue cultivators who preyed on lone cultivators. There were five of them, all in the Seventh or Eighth Layer of the Blood Condensation Realm, so they weren’t weak.

Lu Ping took out a mid-grade mystic instrument that he’d plundered from some other cultivators. Swinging it in the air, he said solemnly, "That's too cheap. One high-grade spirit stone for one 500-year spirit herb, and maybe I’ll consider it."

The cultivator looked at the mid-grade mystic instrument in Lu Ping's hand, a look of contempt flashing across his face. When he heard Lu Ping's words, he sneered, "He's looking for death, so he has no one to blame but himself! After we tear him apart, we can share his harvest equally."

Lu Ping’s arcane energy was heavily depleted, so he didn’t want to be tangled in another battle.

As the five cultivators were about to cast their mystic instruments, they suddenly saw numerous sword lights fanning out to attack. The sword lights were overwhelmingly powerful, clearly beyond the strength of a mid-grade mystic instrument.

They immediately realized that this young cultivator was not an easy target and quickly cast out their defenses.

The leader was the first to realize the situation had changed. Just as he was casting up his defense, several water currents had already tied him up and suppressed his cultivation base. When he opened his mouth to call for help, a sudden gust of wind swept into his mouth and interrupted his cry for help.

The cultivator immediately felt a sharp pain as a pair of iron talons pierced into his shoulders. Wishing to cry out in pain but unable to make a single noise, he was lifted off the ground and carried out of the canyon.

In the middle of a nameless hill far from Canyon of Sullied Gold, Lu Ping looked at this muddy mess of a cultivator and asked, "Your guts sure are big. Just a small group of rogue cultivators and you dare to block the path. Aren’t you afraid of bumping into sect cultivators? They’d definitely wipe you all out."

The cultivator’s face twisted as he sobbed, he was obviously tortured by Lu Ping, and he hurriedly answered, "I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’ll never do it again! These days, most of the cultivators in the Heaven of Seven Stars have rushed over to the Seven Star Palace. Those left behind are all rogue cultivators with no backing. That’s why I gathered a few friends to wait outside the canyon rob cultivators, but how would I know—"

Lu Ping interrupted him with a wave of his hand and asked, "What Seven Star Palace?"

The cultivator looked at Lu Ping with surprise, but still answered obediently, "It’s where the seven Great Ancestors who own the Heaven of Seven Stars impart their knowledge. The palace is located in the center of the entire domain. With each opening, the sealing array formation in the Seven Star Palace will weaken and some treasures will be expelled from the palace."

Lu Ping wondered, "The Heaven of Seven Stars has opened dozens of times in the past ten thousand years, how many treasures are there left for the Seven Star Palace to spew out?"

The cultivator shook his head and said, "How would I know? When the seven Great Ancestors went their separate ways, the battle between them almost destroyed the Heaven of Seven Stars. Afterwards, one of the Great Ancestors made mention that the treasures within the Seven Star Palace had been collected back when they were young. But these treasures became useless to them after they entered the Avatar Realm, and ever since then, they would give them to juniors as rewards."

"And the seven Great Ancestors were famous in the North Ocean. Be it humans or monsters, both sides have benefited from them. So, out of respect, the two races would present gifts every time they met the Great Ancestors. Therefore, no one actually knows how many treasures they possessed. But every time the Heaven of Seven Stars opens, the Seven Star Palace will always reveal a pile of treasures."

Lu Ping knew very little about these things, so he listened with great interest.

Looking at the cultivator who had a hopeful expression, Lu Ping smiled. "Tell me the situation in the Heaven of Seven Stars. I’ll let you go if you explain it well, otherwise..."

Lu Ping smiled while the cultivator was filled with hope again, like a drowning man who was suddenly given a piece of driftwood. He quickly explained everything that happened, regardless of the credibility or importance of the events.

Two days later, Lu Ping finally recovered all his arcane energy and returned to his peak state. Lu Ping returned the cultivator’s interspatial pouch back to him, who opened it and found nothing left of the spirit herbs, spirit materials and spirit stones he had robbed from others. What remained were two mystic instruments, one for attack and one for defense, and a few medicinal pellets that restored arcane energy.

Lu Ping ignored the tearful cultivator and left in the direction of the Seven Star Palace.

From the cultivator, he learned of many interesting things that had happened the past few days.

After learning of the ambush, Liao Hu left Canyon of Sullied Gold from another direction. However, He Li-Xin and her Shui Yan Pavilion cultivators still succeeded in catching him by surprise. The Liao Clan cultivators suffered heavy casualties and only Liao Hu managed to escape with severe injuries.

But Shui Yan Pavilion didn’t benefit from the ambush either. Not only did they not obtain the recipe for the Heart Condensation Pellet, but they were also caught off guard by the Ocean Overturning Gang cultivators.

The gang had taken them by surprise, and more than a third of Shui Yan Pavilion cultivators were killed and injured, ultimately losing a large portion of their harvests.

Another piece of news was related to a North Ocean 18 Warrior, Hai Yan Sect’s Peng Chang-Qing. Apparently, he’d been killed by a talented cultivator from Xuan Ling Sect that went by the name of Ouyang Wei-Jian. It seemed that Xuan Ling Sect had now secured three places among the North Ocean 18 Warriors, surpassing the Zhen Ling Sect.

However, Xi Ling Island’s Ai Clan soon spread the news that Peng Chang-Qing had previously been wounded by an Ai Clan cultivator and Zhen Ling Sect’s Lu Ping, prior to his death in Ouyang Wei-Jian’s hands.

But the majority of cultivators were skeptical about this news. Many had witnessed Ouyang Wei-Jian killing Peng Chang-Qing, while no one had seen Lu Ping and Ai Shu-Tao injuring him. Not even the Ai Clan cultivators spreading the news had seen it for themselves.