Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-200

NETS – Chapter 200 – Escape and Fight

After they separated from the rest of their fellow disciples, Yuan Zhan, Leng Qian, and Hu Lili, were escorting the unconscious Jiang Zi-Xuan away from the pursuit of the monster beasts.

But no matter how hard they tried, there was always a group of monster beasts chasing close behind them.

This group consisted of almost forty Blood Condensation Realm monsters, led by eight Late Blood Condensation Realm monsters.

So, if they were caught, they definitely wouldn’t be able to survive.

Hu Lili, who was in the Fifth Layer Blood Condensation Realm, was the weakest in the group. Additionally, she specialized in array formations and was not very experienced in regular combat. Hence, she was much slower compared to the others.

On the other hand, Yuan Zhan and Leng Qian were both in the Late Blood Condensation Realm. Even when carrying the unconscious Jiang Zi-Xuan, they were still much faster than Hu Lili.

Overtime, Hu Lili couldn’t keep up and gradually fell behind.

However, as if Yuan Zhan and Leng Qian had forgotten that Hu Lili was still behind them, they turned a deaf ear to her pleas and continued to fly away, leaving her further behind.

Hu Lili immediately realized that they had already decided to abandon her, and were using her to stall the monsters’ chase.

Hu Lili couldn’t help but feel a burst of sadness. Yuan Zhan was nobody to her, so it was understandable that he would act that way.

However, Leng Qian… was a good friend and also Lu Ping’s senior martial sister under the same teacher. Hence, when Hu Lili saw Leng Qian’s actions, she couldn’t help but tremble with sadness and disappointment.

However, Hu Lili was a decisive and intelligent cultivator; she wasn’t willing to sacrifice herself for those two. From the moment Huang Li Island’s Enlightened Master Yang Xuan-Mu was ambushed and seriously injured, Hu Lili had sensed an air of conspiracy, so she had always been keeping an eye on the happenings around her.

At that moment, knowing that Yuan Zhan and Leng Qian wouldn’t come back for her, she decisively turned and fled to the north.

As expected, only a few Mid Blood Condensation Realm and a dozen Early Blood Condensation Realm monster beasts turned to chase her, while the rest continued to chase after Yuan Zhan, Leng Qian, and Jiang Zi-Xuan.

Hu Lili fled to the coral island. Her arcane energy had already been mostly depleted, so she knew she wouldn’t be able to escape from the monsters anymore. As a result, she landed on the island and set up the Frosty Forest Array.

Fortunately, Hu Lili had accumulated a considerable amount of wealth from the stores on Huang Li Island. Before leaving Huang Li Island, she bought a lot of resources that she could use for her array formations. Additionally, Lu Ping had also given her many precious medicinal pellets for healing and regeneration.

Consequently, she managed to hold her ground and repel the monsters’ attacks several times. Two days ago, three of the six Mid Blood Condensation Realm monster beasts suddenly left.

This gave Hu Lili a chance to escape, so she took a day’s time to recover her arcane energy, and prepared to break out of the encirclement.

However, right as she was about to leave the island, she suddenly picked up a hint of the aura from the Late Blood Condensation Realm cultivators that quietly surrounded the island. This forced her to cancel her plans and remain on the island.

At this time, Lu Ping had finally sorted out the whole story.

Firstly, Hu Lili did not volunteer to stay behind and stall the monster beasts as Yuan Zhan had claimed, instead she was actually abandoned by Yuan Zhan and Leng Qian.

Secondly, Yuan Zhan told Lu Ping the wrong direction to look for Hu Lili, so he could buy more time to inform Zhou Wei-Long and the others to find Hu Lili first, using her to set up an ambush for him.

However, what they didn’t know was that Hai Yan Sect’s Zhao Chang-Yun had delayed his arrival because Hai Yan Sect was far away from the location. So, on his way to the ambush point, he was spotted by Lu Qin and Lu Ping discovered their ambush plan.

As Lu Ping and Hu Lili were discussing how to break out of the remaining six cultivators’ encirclement, a burst of spells rained down on the Frosty Forest Array causing it to shake. It seemed that the cultivators had finally realized something was wrong and decided to attack directly.

Lu Ping pondered for a second, before handing Hu Lili the pale mask, a Jade Crystal Bottle that contained a Heart Condensation Pellet, and a bunch of medicinal pellets and spirit materials that he couldn’t use anymore.

Lu Ping said, “They are here for me. I will stall them and buy time for you to escape to safety. I need to know you are safe, otherwise I won’t be able to concentrate. The Yuan Clan has some influence in the sect, so Yuan Zhan has definitely prepared other means besides this. Wear this mask once you are out, that way they won’t be able to recognize you.

“Remember the coral island south of Huang Li Island? The one where Alchemist Sheng Tao’s secret cave-dwelling is at?” Lu Ping looked into Hu Lili’s beautiful eyes and smiled warmly, before continuing, “I was there that day, and even found Sheng Tao’s heritage. But I also almost died in the hands of that snake monster.

“After you escape, go to the cave and wait there for two days. Do not return to Huang Li Island yet. If I don’t come to meet you after two days, you will have to find a way to return to Tian Ling Mountain. After that, I believe you know better than me what to do next. Take care of everything on Huang Li Island for me before I come back to your side.”

Hu Lili knew that her cultivation base was lacking, and was not experienced in fighting, so not only would she not be able to help, she would also hold him back.

So, Hu Lili nodded her head and said worryingly, “The six of them are all in the Eighth and Ninth Layer Blood Condensation Realm. Two of them are ranked among the North Ocean 18 Warriors, and Zhou Wei-Long is also not any weaker than Miao Wei-Dong. Are you sure you can handle all six of them?”

Lu Ping took a good look at Hu Lili and suddenly laughed, “Don’t worry, I just found out today that you are such a beauty. I just can’t get enough of admiring your beauty, so I certainly won’t let these clowns get me.”

Hu Lili’s white face suddenly blushed red. She said, “I knew you were having thoughts like that in your head. But I’m really happy you came for me today, so nothing else matters anymore, all I ask is that you come back to me safely.”

Hu Lili was like a wife talking to her husband who was about to go away. Lu Ping’s heart warmed up, and without promising her anything, he smiled and walked towards the outside of the formation.

Although the Frosty Forest Array was exquisitely arranged, it wouldn’t last long under the attacks of several Late Blood Condensation Realm cultivators.

After one of the cultivators hit the array formation again with his mystic instrument, the Frosty Forest Array shook and the frost on the trees melted away, returning the forest back to its vibrant green color.

When the cultivator was about to retrieve his mystic instrument, a green sword light flashed out from the forest followed by more than a hundred sword lights. The sword lights were in groups of three forming the Three Essence Formations.

The cultivator was calm, and cast a high-grade bone shield in front of him in an instant, with his aegis energy quickly covering his body.

Miao Wei-Dong saw the rising sword lights and hurriedly shouted, “Careful! The sword lights are in the state of Sword Spirituality! He must be a master of the sword!”

Meanwhile, Lu Ping had already flown out of the forest and was rushing towards the cultivators.

There was already no point in hiding their identities anymore as they could see each other clearly now.

Lu Ping recognized that amongst the remaining six cultivators, three of them were He Li-Xin, Miao Wei-Dong, Zhou Wei-Long; whereas the other three were Fallen Cultivators from Fei Yu Sect, Cang Lang Sect, and Ling Gu Sect respectively, who had also participated in the previous chase.

The cultivators saw Lu Ping and their eyes all turned red with hatred. They lashed out their attacks at him.

The cultivator that was facing Lu Ping’s attack was the Fallen Cultivator from Cang Lang Sect. He was very strong as he took the full brunt of Lu Ping’s sword lights, and was only knocked back tens of feet behind.

However, the power of the sword lights still frightened him and turned his face pale.

Lu Ping’s face also turned grave, as he didn’t expect the cultivator to be able to take the full brunt of his attack. Lu Ping didn’t take the advantage to send another attack. Instead, he grabbed Hu Lili’s hand behind him and launched her out, and said, “Go now!”

At that moment, because the Cang Lang Sect cultivator had been pushed back by Lu Ping’s attack, there was now an opening in the encirclement of the six cultivators.

Hence, Hu Lili was able to exit the encirclement and flashed out like a knocked arrow let loose to the east. Since Lu Ping helped to push her out, she was so fast that no one could stop her escape in time.

Furthermore, fearing that the cultivators would go after Hu Lili, Lu Ping cast the [Stormy Waves Crashing Shore Sword Art], the sword art most suited for group combat, with the Verdant Dawn Sword, including all six cultivators within the attack range. 162 sword lights were split into groups of six and attacked the cultivators.

Sure enough, the six cultivators were nonchalant about Hu Lili’s escape, and all focused on attacking Lu Ping instead.

After all, Lu Ping was their goal, Hu Lili was just a lure to set up an ambush for Lu Ping, which was why they trapped her in the Frosty Forest Array for so long.

After exchanging a few rounds of attacks, Lu Ping realized that they were not like the ordinary Late Blood Condensation Realm cultivators that he had killed before. Among them, He Li-Xin, Miao Wei-Dong, and Zhou Wei-Long were the strongest, while the other three were slightly weaker.

However, none of them were the usual ordinary Late Blood Condensation Realm cultivators.

Lu Ping soon felt the pressure and realized that these cultivators were all talented disciples, valued as future Core Forging Realm Enlightened Masters by their respective sects.

Miao Wei-Dong and He Li-Xin were ranked among the North Ocean 18 Warriors, which said a lot about their talent and prowess.

Whereas Zhou Wei-Long and the other three, had been the leaders of their respective sect’s Fallen Cultivators. They had gone deep into the buffer sea for operations, without any help from their sects, and returned unharmed from the massive siege of Zhen Ling Sect. So, they naturally had trump cards up their sleeves.

Lu Ping knew that the longer he dragged on the battle, the more unfavorable it would be for him. Although his arcane energy was much thicker than his enemies, they had the advantage of numbers and could slowly wear him down to death.

But as the saying went, “Injuring all of a man’s fingers is not as effective as chopping off one.”

Lu Ping knew that he must kill one of them swiftly before it was too late.