Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-181

Looking down from the sky, three cultivators were knocking back all who stood in their way as they rushed towards the twelve bright pearls.

The first cultivator was a magnificent nobleman dressed in golden robes. Hundreds of sword lights poured out from his every sword attack. The sword lights moved like golden carps and wreaked havoc everywhere, mercilessly killing the cultivators in front of him.

The second cultivator was unpredictable like the wind. At times a breeze that quietly sneaked past his foes, at times a gale that knocked them to the ground, and at times a whirlwind that swept them into the air. He was so fast that no one could catch up to his speed.

As for the third cultivator, he moved like an unstoppable wave, rushing forward as he swept aside all from his path without slowing down.

These three were naturally Young Master Jin, Ouyang Wei-Jian, and Lu Ping.

Young Master Jin's speed was the fastest. In the blink of an eye, he soon fought his way out of the crowd of cultivators surrounding him. He looked up and saw the twelve crystal clear pearls flying in his direction, and even though he was an Enlightened Master, he still couldn't contain his joy as a smile curled up at the corners of his mouth.

Young Master Jin waved his sword forward while his arcane energy formed an energy net aimed towards the twelve pearls.

At that moment, a strong gale swept forward as a flying sword blew away Young Master Jin's arcane energy net right before it could capture the pearls.

Then, a fair and gentle-looking cultivator in a white coat arrived with a single breeze.

Young Master Jin looked at Ouyang Wei-Jian with interest and said, "I’ve heard rumors about the excellent swordsmanship of a young disciple called Ouyang Wei-Jian from Xuan Ling Sect. It makes me curious about the strength of the younger generation of the North Ocean's human race. It seems I will be testing that out for myself today."

Young Master Jin's sword quivered softly, the energy net disintegrated and turned into a rain of sword lights that poured down onto Ouyang Wei-Jian.

As arrogant as he was, Ouyang Wei-Jian was surprised to see the sword lights.

In his mind, although Young Master Jin's Sword Complexity had reached the level of 500 sword lights, he was confident that he could put up a good fight against the other.

However, Ouyang Wei-Jian was shocked to find that the sword lights carried a touch of spirituality. Unlike the standard Sword Complexity that released the sword lights in one go, Young Master Jin's seemed to re-position and change their speed and timing before attacking!

Ouyang Wei-Jian was forced back by the sword attack, while Young Master Jin again reached for the pearls in the air. But this time, Ouyang Wei-Jian lacked the strength to stop the latter.

It was at this moment, a strange-looking Water Jiao with a single horn suddenly appeared in front of Young Master Jin. The Water Jiao opened its mouth as if releasing a silent hiss, and crashed head-on into Young Master Jin's arms.

Young Master Jin's face finally turned serious, and with a flip of his sword, half of the swordfish attacking Ouyang Wei-Jian suddenly turned around and surrounded the Water Jiao.

Although the Water Jiao was much more powerful than any of the swordfish, it was greatly outnumbered and in just a few moments, it turned back into a splash of water.

The Verdant Dawn Sword which acted as the Water Jiao's horn shot up in mid-air and returned to Lu Ping's hand.

Young Master Jin, who had been interrupted from collecting the pearls, looked at Lu Ping with a smile. "So it's you. Your sword skill has certainly improved!"

"That is all thanks to you, Young Master Jin."

As Lu Ping spoke, a whirlwind suddenly swirled around them. The swordfish surrounding Ouyang Wei-Jian spiraled out of control in the whirlwind and shattered.

Ouyang Wei-Jian's Drifting Wind Sword hovered above him in the air. He glanced wordlessly at Lu Ping beside him, then turned to stare at Young Master Jin.

All of them knew very well that Young Master Jin was clearly the strongest among the three, and he was also the only monster cultivator. Hence, despite being at odds, Lu Ping and Ouyang Wei-Jian would have to work together to get rid of him first.

Even if he were to win the battle for the twelve bright pearls, they must at least ensure their own survival. Otherwise, it would be a huge loss for either of them to die here.

"The two most outstanding young humans in the Heaven of Seven Stars are now working together against me. What more can I say? This is what I've looked forward to—to test your sword skills."

With this statement, he made a circle with the tip of his sword as he finally became serious. This was the first time he had properly cast a sword art.

Lu Ping's face turned solemn when he saw this change. Before this, Young Master Jin's sword attacks were no more than just casual swings of the sword. This time, the young master was clearly about to go all out in his attacks.

Ouyang Wei-Jian had no previous experience with Young Master Jin, but as a sword practitioner, he naturally understood the situation as well.

The Drifting Wind Sword trembled in his hand akin to a breeze of silver wind, while his right hand grabbed the blank space in front of him, as if grasping the wind itself.

Then, Young Master Jin finally moved. In just one sword attack, 648 sword lights spilled out to the front. They separated into two groups and simultaneously attacked Lu Ping and Ouyang Wei-Jian at the same time.

Although he was just one man, it felt like a siege!

Each of them faced 324 sword lights that moved like a school of piranhas swarming at the sight of their prey, each sword light moving in tacit coordination.

Lu Ping knew Young Master Jin had yet to use his full strength, but he never expected his sword skill to reach such an abstruse level. Not only could he release 648 sword lights, which was just one level away from the peak of 1,296 sword lights, but each one was mixed with a sense of spirituality.

This was another great attainment known as Sword Spirituality!

Sword Spirituality was a necessary condition to attain Sword Simplicity. Only sword lights that carried a sense of spirituality could be merged together.

Not only was Young Master Jin one step away from the peak of Sword Complexity, his progress in Sword Spirituality was also on the same pace. This simply meant that his advancement in Sword Simplicity later on would be an easy journey.

By contrast, Ouyang Wei-Jian, who was known for his sword skill had only cultivated Sword Complexity and Sword Simplicity for just 81 sword lights. Furthermore, he only succeeded in Sword Spirituality for one of the 81 sword lights, which he now used as the main sword light.

As of now, he was still trying to achieve Sword Spirituality with the other sword lights by using the main sword light to influence the rest.

Even though his sword skill was also considered powerful among the younger generation, it was nothing compared to Young Master Jin who was in an entirely different league.

Lu Ping used his aegis energy to blend with Umbra. Together with the Verdant Dawn Sword, he cast the most powerful sword art that he’d mastered, the [Thousand Stacks of Snow Sword Art], trying his best to parry the sword lights.

On the other side, Ouyang Wei-Jian's [Dissolute Delightful 18 Swords] raised a whirlwind that flung aside the swordfish. But the golden swordfish swarmed back nonstop, and so his situation was no better than Lu Ping’s.

Although Young Master Jin fought them on his own, Lu Ping and Ouyang Wei-Jian were also fighting on their own. In addition to Young Master Jin's superior sword skill, they were in a perilous situation.

The twelve pearls were slowly flying in the direction of Young Master Jin as his arcane energy brought them towards him.

Lu Ping and Ouyang Wei-Jian looked at each other. Although their eyes revealed their wariness of each other, they quickly cooperated with the other to fight against Young Master Jin.

Lu Ping's cultivation method was the [North Ocean Wave Listening Scripture] and his sword art was the [Thousand Stacks of Snow Sword Art]. Hence, his attacks would always be accompanied by waves of water.

Ouyang Wei-Jian's cultivation method was Xuan Ling Sect's strongest [Nine Firmaments Skyrocketing Godly Art], and its corresponding sword art, the [Dissolute Delightful 18 Swords]. His attacks were swift and unpredictable like the wind, fast and untraceable!

As the wind blew, the water surged higher; as the water surged, the wind blew stronger!

The two of them were gifted in swordsmanship, and this was their first time working together. To their surprise, they actually had an unparalleled understanding of each other's moves.

In just a few blows, they turned the tide of battle and could now fight on par with Young Master Jin's sword skill.

Young Master Jin finally looked a little surprised, and with a change of sword style, he retaliated!