Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-182

In fact, Young Master Jin was not the only one who was surprised. Lu Ping and Ouyang Wei-Jian were also shocked by the compatibility and harmony between their sword arts.

Additionally, their cultivation methods matched well with each other, such that their movements were fully synchronized without the need for any communication.

Lu Ping and Ouyang Wei-Jian were filled with doubt, but they both just focused on defending with all their might as Young Master Jin intensified his attacks.

Suddenly, the space around the twelve pearls turned into a world of sword light.

Many cultivators still had their eyes on the pearls, some even tried to take advantage of the situation to sneakily reach for the pearls. However, the three of them naturally wouldn't allow that to happen.

Lu Ping's endless waves, Young Master Jin's countless swordfishes, and Ouyang Wei-Jian's raging winds, would all come crashing down on whoever tried to approach the pearls.

Most cultivators were killed without even being able to make a noise, whilst some let out cries of regret before being killed. Only a few strong cultivators were able to hastily retreat, albeit with severe wounds.

The battle eventually attracted the attention of other forces. There were at least five Ninth Layer Blood Condensation Realm cultivators that arrived. Their auras were obscure, making it hard to determine their backgrounds.

Young Master Jin laughed and said, "I've had fun fighting you two, but it looks like we have some uninvited guests. I will take my leave first. When the two of you have condensed your Golden Cores, we will fight again."

After that, he withdrew his sword and the swordfishes surged up towards the twelve bright pearls.

Lu Ping and Ouyang Wei-Jian also perceived the situation around them.

Lu Ping shot his Verdant Dawn Sword out after the bright pearls. At the same time, a Water Jiao emerged out of thin air with the Verdant Dawn Sword at the tip of its horn.

Ouyang Wei-Jian, not to be outdone, sent his Drifting Wind Sword spinning with the tip pointing to the ground, creating a whirlwind that chased after the pearls as well.

The school of swordfishes, Water Jiao, and whirlwind clashed with each other in mid-air.

Six of the twelve pearls were pushed by the swordfishes towards Young Master Jin. He kept the pearls and left without hesitation. He swung his sword backwards and the school of swordfishes lined up in the form of a giant golden fish that wrapped around him. The giant golden fish waved its tail and swam out, with no one daring to block its path.

Lu Ping's Water Jiao gnawed on three pearls and made a graceful turn mid-air, before returning to him.

Ouyang Wei-Jian's whirlwind also sucked in three pearls.

While the Water Jiao was returning to Lu Ping, a breeze blew by and the Water Jiao's water scales were scraped off.

Lu Ping sneered coldly, "I knew it."

After Young Master Jin left, Ouyang Wei-Jian was the first to act and attacked Lu Ping with his sword art, the [Dissolute Delightful 18 Swords]. The attack was directed at Lu Ping's Water Jiao, more precisely, the bright pearls in the Water Jiao's mouth.

Just as the Water Jiao was about to be destroyed by the sword attack, it suddenly exploded, and three monster snakes flew out of it.

With a wave of Lu Ping's hand, the snake trio disappeared. Then, Lu Ping turned his head towards Ouyang Wei-Jian and smiled.

Ouyang Wei-Jian immediately noticed the abnormality. Two small needle-shaped mystic instruments had silently shot through the air and arrived before him.

"Is that all you have to offer?"

Ouyang Wei-Jian disdainfully waved his Drifting Wind Sword, blocking both Emerald Blood Divine Needles.

When Ouyang Wei-Jian looked at Lu Ping with a provocative gaze, a clear, crisp cry was heard.

Unbeknownst to him, a giant verdant bird with huge wings had broken into Ouyang Wei-Jian’s whirlwind.

After a series of clanking noises, the giant bird entered the eye of the whirlwind, clawed on the three bright pearls, and flew back towards Lu Ping, albeit with a struggle.

Lu Ping saw that Lu Qin had been injured. At the same time, Ouyang Wei-Jian was lunging towards Lu Qin.

Lu Ping quickly pressed forward and attacked Ouyang Wei-Jian with the Verdant Dawn Sword, while raising his speed with the Auspicious Cloud to quickly rescue Lu Qin.

Ouyang Wei-Jian was stopped by Lu Ping's attacks and could only watch on as Lu Ping fetched the injured Verdant Luan into his spirit animal pouch, while pocketing the three bright pearls.

Lu Ping turned around to retrieve the Verdant Dawn Sword and smiled at Ouyang Wei-Jian.

Then, he cast the Auspicious Cloud and quickly flew away before the suspicious cultivators could form an encirclement around them.

Along the way, there were many cultivators who tried to stop him, but he pushed them back with the Verdant Dawn Sword, and defended with Umbra and his aegis energy.

In a few moments, he was gone.

Ouyang Wei-Jian's face was gloomy, this was the second time he encountered Lu Ping, and both times had ended in his loss. It wasn’t because his cultivation base was inferior, but rather because Lu Ping was more shrewd.

Ouyang Wei-Jian didn’t dare to stay either. His Drifting Wind Sword quivered, and like a raging cyclone, he stormed out, venting his anger on the cultivators on his path.

The cultivators knew that he didn’t get the pearls, so few cultivators intercepted him along the way, so Ouyang Wei-Jian also left in the blink of an eye.

When the few suspicious cultivators arrived, there was nothing left to see. They only glanced around, and then quickly disappeared among the cultivators.

No one knew if they were humans or monsters, or even where they came from.

Shortly after, the Seven Star Palace hovering in mid-air rumbled loudly before suddenly disappearing. The cultivators who witnessed the closure of the Seven Star Palace all sighed regretfully.

After getting rid of some cultivators that were pursuing him, Lu Ping wasn’t interested in rendezvousing with Qi Zi-Cai and the others.

He arrived at a quiet corner in the Heaven of Seven Stars and regrouped with Dabao.

Even though Dabao was a mouse, it was as big as a wild boar!

Lu Ping didn’t want to play with Dabao and immediately sat on Dabao's body. Dabao stuck its head into the ground, and carried Lu Ping to a cave underground.

This cave had obviously just been opened up by Dabao.

Lu Ping hopped down and patted Dabao's small head, which was completely out of proportion with its fat body.

Then, he sat down on the spirit gathering futon to meditate and recover his arcane energy.

After half a day spent recovering his arcane energy, Lu Ping opened his eyes to find the bored Dabao lying on the ground sleeping.

He couldn’t help but say, "You lazy boy, don't you know to stay alert whilst I am cultivating? If others find this cave and barge in while I’m meditating, we could both get killed."

Dabao woke up in a daze. Faced with Lu Ping's scolding, it immediately protested with a squeak, saying that the cave it made definitely would not be discovered.

Lu Ping knew that Dabao was actually an intelligent monster beast. Otherwise, Lu Ping wouldn’t have spent so much effort to nurture a lowly Spirit Seeking Mouse to the Second Layer Blood Condensation Realm.

The cave's location was secluded and desolate. Coupled with Dabao's earth-burrow talent, ordinary cultivators definitely couldn't find them. Lu Ping was only trying to teach Dabao to not let its guard down.

Dabao was now on the verge of breaking through to the Third Layer Blood Condensation Realm. Although it was the weakest spirit pet under Lu Ping, it didn't care much as it didn’t have combat responsibilities.

Just like this expedition, when Lu Ping was fighting for the treasures, Dabao's job was to find a safe place for them to hide. At the same time, Dabao was also instructed to pay attention and collect information about the treasures in the Heaven of Seven Stars.

However, although Dabao's cave was well built, it didn't find many treasures.

Firstly, there were only three days left until the closure of the Heaven of Seven Stars, and so the treasures in here were mostly harvested by the cultivators already.

Secondly, Dabao's cultivation base was low, and it was timid in nature. It didn't dare to appear in front of others and could only sneak around to find treasure.

Lu Ping smilingly said to Dabao, "How is your foundation bloodline the Tiger Bloodline? Look at you, where is the tiger's majestic aura? You are a mouse that is more timid than a mouse!"

Lu Ping's taunting words naturally provoked another protest from Dabao, which made Lu Ping laugh heartily.