Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-201

Coming to a decision, Lu Ping attacked with the Verdant Dawn Sword. All of a sudden, the scattered sword lights flew back and formed a green Water Jiao.

The Verdant Dawn Sword was the Water Jiao's horn, and the Sword Spirituality sword lights were the Water Jiao's eyes and four claws.

The Water Jiao lunged forward and charged at the Cang Hai Sect cultivator who was pushed back by Lu Ping's previous attack.

The cultivator was still reeling with shock, having just experienced the power of Lu Ping's attack. He had expended a third of his arcane energy to defend himself, yet still almost suffered from internal injuries.

The Cang Hai Sect cultivator quickly repositioned the bone shield in front of him and his flying sword stayed hovered by his side. Even so, he still felt unsafe, so he gritted his teeth and used another charm which turned his bluish arcane energy into a blood-red shade.

When the other five cultivators saw Lu Ping going all out against the Cang Hai Sect cultivator, instead of turning to help him, they continued to aim their mystic instruments at the former in the hopes of landing a significant blow.

Without sparing them a glance, Lu Ping used the Umbra to enhance his aegis energy and Auspicious Cloud to try to dodge whatever attacks he could.

A moment later, a loud explosion rang in their ears. The Cang Lang Sect cultivator let out a cry of pain as his flying sword was slapped away by the Water Jiao's claws, his bone shield shattering into pieces by its horn.

The cultivator's aegis energy was clearly enhanced by the charm he used, so the Water Jiao coiled around the cultivator and strangled him, weakening his aegis energy. Finally, as the Water Jiao bit down on its opponent, the cultivator’s aegis energy eventually broke apart, causing the Water Jiao to disperse.

The Verdant Dawn Sword flew back and returned to Lu Ping's hands.

The cultivator breathed a sigh of relief, feeling glad that he ultimately defended himself from the Water Jiao’s attack.

But suddenly, a flash of light—beneath the sun's rays, the cultivator saw Lu Ping raising his hands once again.

The cultivator immediately plunged into a state of chaos and disorder, his bone shield shattered and his aegis energy broken. The only thing he had left was the flying sword that was slapped away by the Water Jiao.

Panicked, the cultivator recalled his flying sword in the hope that it could parry the incoming attack, but it was too late.

Two Emerald Blood Divine Needles had reached him before his flying sword could, puncturing his heart and destroying his heartspace. With a burst of arcane energy, the cultivator's heart was then squeezed into a lump of crimson flesh.

In those few seconds Lu Ping took to kill the Cang Lang Sect cultivator, he had already received several attacks from the other five cultivators. Although the Umbra and [Water Sky Curtain] had absorbed most of the damage, Lu Ping was still unavoidably injured.

He quickly recalled the Verdant Dawn Sword and cast its sword arts to defend himself. To his amazement, his opponents were unexpectedly formidable.

But he was unaware that the five were even more shocked at his strength. The idea that anyone could hold their ground against the six of them had never crossed their minds.

One must know that they were all core disciples in their respective clans, and thus highly-valued by the sect elders as future Core Forging Enlightened Masters. All six of them had joined forces and yet they couldn’t take down a mere Seventh Layer Blood Condensation Realm cultivator?

Worst of all, Lu Ping had succeeded in killing one of them while under attack!

The remaining five were even more determined to kill Lu Ping, not only because of their mutual hatred, but because they simply couldn't stand to see a cultivator more talented than them!

However, although Lu Ping had managed to kill the Cang Lang Sect cultivator, he knew that he had no chances of taking down another one from their group.

After witnessing Lu Ping’s swift and powerful attacks, they would prevent him from focusing on one individual and would certainly unite to defend each other from his attacks.

Not to mention that he’d exerted himself from killing the cultivator and tanking the others' attacks, which had taken its toll on Lu Ping's arcane energy and divine sense.

Knowing that he could not fight head-on against the remaining five, Lu Ping was prepared to run for his life. So, while he fought off their attacks, he gradually retreated to the west.

Miao Wei-Dong, who had always led the Xuan Ling Sect's Blood Condensation Realm disciples, was quick to notice Lu Ping's intention, and he shouted, "He's trying to escape! Stop him! If we let him go today, we’ll never live our days in peace!"

The cultivators thought about Lu Ping’s appalling capabilities despite being in the Seventh Layer. It was clear to all that if they let him live today, he would eventually grow into a massive threat to them in the future.

So, the five of them attacked even more aggressively to stop his escape.

To the west, in the direction of Zhen Ling Sect, were Miao Wei-Dong and Zhou Wei-Long.

To the south were the two cultivators from Fei Yu Sect and Ling Gu Sect.

To the north was He Li-Xin alone, but she was often helped by the other four.

Finally, to the east was the monster race sea, so Lu Ping naturally wouldn't consider that route. Knowing this, the cultivators tried to drive him eastwards to so they could sandwich him between them and the monster cultivators.

Ever since the Golden Jiao Island was ambushed, the monster race had abruptly shown no signs of movement. But anyone with a sensible mind could tell their forces were brewing a bigger operation in the dark.

At the very least, Lu Ping knew that the monster beasts were assembling together, as if preparing for war. To enter the monster race sea now would only get him killed in the end.

Lu Ping looked around him, gritted his teeth and swung his hand to the back. A three-inch silver iron stamp seal shot out towards the two cultivators from Fei Yu Sect and Ling Gu Sect who were behind him.

He then waved his sword and cast another Water Jiao that charged towards He Li-Xin.

He Li-Xin's face turned pale when she saw this, recalling the death of the Cang Lang Sect cultivator. She hurriedly used all her protective measures and shouted for help, "Senior Brother Miao, Senior Brother Zhou, help me!"

Miao Wei-Dong quickly threw out a jade pendant, which turned into a fire bird that swooped down on the Water Jiao.

Without warning, Lu Ping had already cast out the Cold Jade Glazed Bowl, raising a two-hundred feet tall tidal wave that crashed down on Miao Wei-Dong and Zhou Wei-Long.

The duo immediately braced themselves when suddenly, they saw Lu Ping turn around and flee to the south right after the iron stamp seal.

The two cultivators in the south, one wielding an iron hammer and the other a flying axe, were working together to parry the incoming stamp seal when they suddenly saw the weapon expand to gigantic proportions.

The iron hammer and flying axe could barely ward off the stamp seal, only producing a few sparks against its surface as it continued to barrel towards them.

The two looked at each other and saw the shock in their eyes. They quickly dodged sideways and gave way to the iron stamp seal.

One of them was a hair’s breadth too slow—the seal grazed his defensive mystic instrument and protective aegis energy. The cultivator’s face turned pale as his mystic instrument was immediately knocked away.

As the two scattered, they suddenly heard He Li-Xin shout, "Don’t let him get away!"

Only then did they notice Lu Ping’s presence behind the stamp seal as it blasted out an escape route to the south.

They hurriedly cast their weapons again, but were quickly warded off by Lu Ping's Verdant Dawn Sword. They hastened to give chase, while He Li-Xin had already turned into a mist of water to join their pursuit.

Lu Ping used the Verdant Dawn Sword to force He Li-Xin back, but Miao Wei-Dong was already swooping down astride his osprey pet. Lu Ping cast up the Umbra to protect himself and thrust out his sword at the osprey's abdomen.

Miao Wei-Dong hurriedly parried his attack while the osprey's talon only scratched the surface of the Umbra. Instead of dealing any damage, the osprey's arcane energy was corroded by the Million Poisons Ominous Essence fused in Lu Ping’s aegis energy.

The osprey shrieked in pain and hurriedly flew back into the sky, just as Zhou Wei-Long caught up to them and dragged Lu Ping back into the fray again.

Just like that, the five cultivators kept Lu Ping occupied without giving him the chance to catch his breath. It was now a battle of attrition, their goal was to wear him down and kill him with ease.

The six of them battled while gradually moving southeast. Over time, they eventually entered the monster race sea.

As the battle dragged on, the five cultivators were more and more frightened. There were five of them and they took turns to fight Lu Ping for the whole day.

Yet, Lu Ping was still able to hold himself up despite attempting to flee, and his arcane energy and divine sense were seemingly nowhere close to depletion.

As a result, the five of them re-doubled their efforts to kill Lu Ping.

As they entered deeper into the monster race sea, things started to become more complicated.

Initially, there were still some Early Blood Condensation Realm monster beasts that would emerge from the sea to ambush them. But as they went deeper, the number of monster beasts gradually dwindled, and not a single Mid or Late Blood Condensation Realm monster beasts had appeared.

The five cultivators were too focused on putting Lu Ping to his death, so they didn’t pay much attention to their surroundings.

But Lu Ping had noticed this anomaly and had long kept his guard up. He quietly braced himself for whatever might happen.

Eventually, the five cultivators became aware of this emptiness. After all, they were elite disciples in their respective sects; they only overlooked it due to the heat of battle.

The cultivators abruptly turned vigilant to their surroundings, fully distracted from their initial blood lust towards Lu Ping.