Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-178

Lu Ping made nine consecutive sword attacks. Sword lights rained down like falling stars on the eight cultivators nearest to the alchemy cauldron. Three of the cultivators were killed, and the remaining five injured.

Only expert cultivators in the Eighth and Ninth Layer Blood Condensation Realm were strong enough to compete for the treasures, with all of them being ruthless and seasoned fighters.

Hence, when the eight strongest cultivators who fought most fiercely for the alchemy cauldron were suddenly pushed back and retreated, the surrounding cultivators couldn’t help but slow down in shock.

Lu Ping quickly seized the chance and kept the alchemy cauldron in his interspatial ring.

But none of the cultivators here were cowards and weaklings. They quickly recovered from their shock and swarmed Lu Ping from all sides, blocking his path.

Lu Ping swung his hand in circles and made seven whirlwinds around him. When the seventh whirlwind was formed, streams of water were added to the whirlwinds, transforming them into water tornadoes.

The seven water tornadoes were sent out, three to the front and four to the back. The cultivators chasing after him were all blasted away, tumbling around in the rolling waters.

Such was the power of the Seventh Layer Enlightened Master, Liu Xuan-Ling’s, talisman treasure!

When the water tornadoes disappeared, Lu Ping was already long gone!

Lu Ping was hiding in an underground cave that Dabao had made in advance, rejoicing for securing the alchemy cauldron!

The talisman treasure from Enlightened Master Liu Xuan-Ling was incredibly precious, its power was something even an ordinary Enlightened Master would have to take seriously. Lu Ping could even heavily injure an Enlightened Master if he attacked them by surprise.

So, why did Lu Ping use it without hesitation? Was this alchemy cauldron really worth it?

The truth was, at the very moment Lu Ping touched the alchemy cauldron, he immediately knew that it was a top-grade alchemy cauldron!

What did a top-grade alchemy cauldron mean?

As one of the largest sects in the North Ocean, Zhen Ling Sect only had three alchemy cauldrons that were top-grade mystic instruments!

Whereas the strongest sect in the North Ocean, Xuan Ling Sect, only had one alchemy cauldron that had been successfully upgraded from a top-grade mystic instrument to a low-grade mystic treasure!

Therefore, Lu Ping had decisively used the Water Tornado Talisman Treasure to escape, so he could obtain the alchemy cauldron. Furthermore, the identity of the red-faced cultivator had to completely disappear before the news was spread.

Lu Ping stayed in the cave for almost two hours. During this time, he restored his arcane energy from thirty-percent back to seventy-percent with the help of the Spirit Regenerating Pellet, Essence Recuperating Pellet, Thousand Spirit Wine, spirit-gathering futon, jade pendant, and spirit stones.

After that, Lu Ping left the cave and headed north.

At this time, another hall in the Seven Star Palace had opened again, but he was unaware as to which hall it was.

As Lu Ping took a detour and crossed a small grassy hill, two lights suddenly flew, one after another, towards his direction.

Lu Ping hastily hid behind a tree, but on second thought, he wasn’t confident in his own stealth skills. So, he carried Dabao with one hand, and the two disappeared into the earth.

“Hehe, little brother, where are you going to escape to? Why don’t you follow this sister back to my cave-dwelling? We can have some adult fun together, won’t that be good?”

When Lu Ping heard this, he was already ninety-percent sure that the pursuer was a female monster cultivator; only they would talk about copulation so bluntly.

“Shameless! Why don’t you take a look in the mirror, you ugly monster! If you want me so much, come catch me yourself!”

A weird expression appeared on Lu Ping’s face when he heard the voice. The voice clearly belonged to Ai Shu-Tao. He never expected to see this little brother being harassed by a female monster cultivator.

Ai Shu-Tao’s insult seemed to have hit the jackpot, the female monster cultivator hissed angrily and seemed to have unleashed some secret spell. Ai Shu-Tao cried out in alarm. A series of loud noises ensued, as the two engaged in an intense fight.

Lu Ping listened closely to the noise. They were heading towards him, but he didn’t rush out immediately. Ai Shu-Tao lacked combat experience, but with his cultivation base, he would still be able to hold for some time.

As the battle got closer, the aftermath of their attacks was also reaching Lu Ping. Lu Ping’s divine sense was also able to pick up the situation of the battle clearly, even with the layers of earth blocking him.

When Lu Ping “looked” at the battlefield, he was stunned.

The female monster cultivator was another familiar figure that he recognized. She was the Primal Giant Crocodile that he had met in the monster sea a few years ago.

She was still dressed in red, and her face was still covered up, perhaps because she had yet to fully transform her head into human form?

Ai Shu-Tao was clearly no match for the female crocodile and was being suppressed by her. If the female crocodile hadn’t been playing with him, Ai Shu-Tao would have already been killed by her.

Ai Shu-Tao obviously noticed the female crocodile was playing with him like a doll, and had gotten desperate.

The female crocodile giggled, “Aiyaya, little brother has gotten angry. How about this, if you give me the jade scroll that flew out of Yao Guang Hall, then I will let you go. What do you say?”

The female crocodile spoke in a gentle and warm tone, but Lu Ping couldn’t help but feel a chill when he thought about how those words were spoken out of a crocodile’s mouth.

Ai Shu-Tao was also feeling disgusted and said, “Shameless ugly monster! Come kill me if you can!”

This time, the female crocodile really became angry, and she said in a somber tone, “I initially planned to have you as my gigolo for a few days. But since you want to die so badly, then I will grant you your wish! I’ve been dying to taste some fresh meat, you will make a good meal!”

Ai Shu-Tao’s face turned white like snow. He gritted his teeth and fought back with all his might.

The female crocodile saw Ai Shu-Tao’s anxiousness and his loss of form in his attacks.

A few moments later, she saw an opening in Ai Shu-Tao’s stance, and was ready to take him down.

She had already planned out his fate. First, she would capture him, and wait until they left the Heaven of Seven Stars. Then, she would toy with him however she liked for a few days, before finally eating him alive.

Just as she made her move to take down Ai Shu-Tao, a sword light suddenly burst out from underground, slashing at the female crocodile’s unguarded abdomen.

The female crocodile didn’t expect there to be a person hiding under her feet. Caught unprepared, she only had time to circulate her aegis energy. Her clothes were quickly torn apart, revealing pieces of golden glowing scales.

Ciak—

The female crocodile’s aegis energy wasn’t weak, but it still couldn’t stop Lu Ping’s top-grade mystic instrument that was cast with all his strength.

With a loud cracking noise, her aegis energy was shattered by the sword.

Then, 128 sword lights pierced into her abdomen. Even though her abdomen was protected by scales, the sword lights still created dense, miniature holes that bled nonstop.

“It’s you! I remember you! That day, my fourth brother died chasing after you. You killed my fourth brother!”

The female crocodile immediately recognized Lu Ping.

After all, not many could take a Primal Giant Crocodile’s attack and still manage to escape. Therefore, Lu Ping has attracted a lot of attention, so the female crocodile remembered his aura clearly. This was why she was able to recognize Lu Ping, even with a mask covering his face.

Lu Ping’s face turned somber.

Just as the female crocodile was about to call for support, a water mass suddenly gushed up from the ground, changing into various water animals that swarmed into the female crocodile’s mouth.

Lu Ping had cultivated the [Water Manipulation Art] to the point of perfection. The female crocodile was shocked and was forced to close her mouth.

Then, Lu Ping cast the [Great River Eastward Sword Art] and attacked the head of the female crocodile.

The female crocodile pulled out a whip and lashed out 72 whip lights that wrapped around Lu Ping’s sword lights one by one. Although she couldn’t stop all of the sword lights, she still managed to change the course of Lu Ping’s Verdant Dawn Sword. The sword attack missed her head and only hit on her shoulder, chopping off a layer of flesh.

The female crocodile grunted in pain and turned around to flee, but Ai Shu-Tao had unknowingly appeared behind her. He summoned his six mystic instruments, forming a huge trident, thrusting it towards her face.

The female crocodile finally couldn’t support the green fog that covered her face anymore; her crocodile head was slowly revealed as the fog dissipated.

The Verdant Dawn Sword flew out like a flash of lightning. The female crocodile’s head was taken cleanly off her neck and fell on the ground.

When monster cultivators die, they would revert back to their true forms. So, as the female monster cultivator fell to the ground, she turned back into her true form of a Primal Giant Crocodile.

Lu Ping swept his divine sense across the huge body, but unfortunately, he didn’t find any Condensed Blood Beads inside. So, he waved his hand and kept the huge carcass away.

The female crocodile had an interspatial pouch, but there was no mystic treasure as he had hoped. However, this wasn’t a surprise, since mystic treasures were incredibly rare and precious.

Just look at the Zhen Ling Sect, there were more than twenty sect members here in the Heaven of Seven Stars, but they had only found two mystic treasures.

On the contrary, Lu Ping alone owned two pieces of mystic treasures. What more could he ever ask for?

Ai Shu-Tao saw Lu Ping killing the Primal Giant Crocodile. He immediately ran over to Lu Ping, and said excitedly, “Brother Lu, I got a jade scroll in Yao Guang Hall when it opened. Let’s find out together what’s inside!”

Lu Ping helplessly looked at the jade scroll held up in front of him, and said, “Are you not afraid that I will steal your jade scroll and then kill you?”

Ai Shu-Tao was nonchalant, and said casually, “If you did that, then you are no longer Brother Lu.”

Lu Ping probed his divine sense into the scroll, “This jade scroll is sealed with divine revelation. We cannot read it right now. Keep it and go home. Ask your clan elders to tell you what’s inside.”

“Oh, okay.”

Ai Shu-Tao was a little frustrated as he kept the jade scroll back inside his interspatial belt. Back then, he only cared about grabbing the jade scroll and running, so he didn’t know that it was sealed with divine revelation.

In the distance, a few successive lights flashed towards them. Lu Ping said, “Your brother is here.”

At the same time, Lu Ping was sarcastically thinking in his heart, “Why is his big brother always one step too late to save him.”

When Ai Bo-Tao saw Lu Ping and the puddle of blood on the ground, he immediately figured out what happened. He quickly said, “Brother Lu has helped a lot again this time. I am really sorry, I didn’t expect that one of the Primal Giant Crocodiles had already advanced to the Core Forging Realm. Even with all our efforts, we were only able to stop the Core Forging Realm crocodile who had sealed his strength.”

Lu Ping saw that there were fewer people behind Ai Bo-Tao than before, and remembered the words of the Ocean Overturning Gang cultivators, who had ambushed Ji Zi-Xuan and Yin Zi-Chu. Lu Ping asked, “Did Brother Ai encounter the Ocean Overturning Gang’s ambush?”

Ai Bo-Tao’s face was gloomy, “Exactly, we lost a few of our men, and a few others are recovering from their wounds. But the Ocean Overturning Gang didn’t win either, we killed at least three and seriously injured five more.”

Lu Ping thought about it and quietly whispered, “After all the halls in the Seven Star Palace have opened, Brother Ai can contact my sect’s Senior Sister Qi. Perhaps, the North Ocean sects will mount a counterattack against the Ocean Overturning Gang.”

Ai Bo-Tao said in a fierce voice, “Great, I’ve been wanting to get rid of these ghouls for a long time, but they are scattered and spread out among many rogue cultivators, so it’s hard to tell them apart. Does Sister Qi have any way of finding their secret hideouts?”

Lu Ping shook his head, “I don’t know about that.”