Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-212

The Zhang siblings' expression turned serious. The silver uniform cultivator looked carefree, as he had obviously not been doing his best yet.

Li Xiu-Zhu had become the weakest party of the three. Naturally, the Zhang siblings wouldn't mind shifting the pressure onto her. Wang Yi-Shan wore a gloomy expression as he wasn’t happy with Li Xiu-Zhu's attitude, and so he also applied pressure onto her.

The old man beside Lu Ping shivered in fear. He was just an ordinary mortal, so getting trapped between cultivators fighting was frightening.

Lu Ping knew that the herb was not something that the old man could hold anymore, so after thinking for a moment, he whispered to the old man and handed him some spirit stones.

The old man was shrewd. He knew that his herb had now turned into a deadly timebomb, so he quickly handed the jade box to Lu Ping and happily trotted away from the scene.

The expressions of the Zhang Clan and Wang Clan cultivators immediately changed when they saw Lu Ping taking away the Whiffy Mimosa Grass.

Li Xiu-Zhu's divine sense was being suppressed by the other four. She was struggling and was already drenched in her own sweat. Even though she was reaching the point of exhaustion, she never backed down, not even slightly.

Lu Ping sighed. He knew that from the moment he accepted the Li Clan's invitation, he was already considered as an affiliate to the Li Clan by the other two clans.

Not to mention that he had been staying in the Li Clan's inn ever since he had arrived in the city. Furthermore, accepting their request to concoct the Seven Step Striped Pellets, would only bring them closer together.

Although Three Clans City was large, everything was still within manageable distance for cultivators. So, the events in the marketplace spread quickly in the city, and in the blink of an eye, many cultivators had already arrived to witness the spectacle.

Lu Ping eventually decided to help Li Xiu-Zhu and took a step in her direction.

"So he ‘s actually on the Li Clan's side."

"How dumb, does he not know this is a competition between five Peak Late Blood Condensation Realm experts? Is this something a Seventh Layer Blood Condensation Realm cultivator like him can interfere in? He’s just asking to be bullied!"

"That may not be true, he might be trying to play the hero that saves the beauty!"

"You haven't been around here lately, have you? He’s been visiting the herb stores and marketplace quite frequently as of late, it seems he’s actually an alchemist."

"That's right, and his reputation in the market has been good. He has never pressed down the prices and has even passed on some knowledge about the spirit herbs to others."

"But he’s already part of the Li Clan now. Someone said he saw him accept the Li Clan's invitation and enter their residence."

......

The Zhang siblings and Wang Yi-Shan all had mocking smiles on their faces as they looked at Lu Ping walk into the circle. They were waiting for him to make a fool of himself.

Li Xiu-Zhu saw Lu Ping trying to interfere and tried to stop him, but the others naturally wouldn't let her. They suddenly strengthened their divine sense, applying even more suppression on her, forcing her to concentrate and expend more effort.

To be honest, Lu Ping wasn't very interested in playing little games like this. After all, not only had he faced an Enlightened Master's aura suppression before, he had even held his ground firmly against the Mid Core Forging Realm Xuan-Jing's suppression.

In comparison, the suppression from several Late Blood Condensation Realm cultivators really meant nothing to him. Not to mention his divine sense had grown much stronger since then.

Just as the cultivators were waiting to see Lu Ping embarrass himself, the Zhang siblings, Wang Yi-Shan, and Qi Shi-Min, suddenly wore a serious and solemn expression.

In their divine sense, Li Xiu-Zhu was already on the verge of exhaustion, with her divine sense faltering like a drying pond.

But as Lu Ping moved to Li Xiu-Zhu's side, an unfathomable lake overlaid itself onto the drying pond. They could no longer perceive anything from the two of them. No matter how hard they tried, they were unable to affect Lu Ping’s divine sense, and were only able to cause a few ripples on the lake surface.

Li Xiu-Zhu was also surprised looking at the man beside her, who looked even younger than her. She felt as if she had suddenly been saved from the edge of a cliff, and the lingering fear finally crept in.

She was very grateful that he had come to help.

The cultivators were awed seeing Lu Ping able to casually hold his ground under the joint oppression from the other two clans.

But from Lu Ping's point of view, he had never even taken them seriously. Even though they were all in the Late Blood Condensation Realm, there was still a difference in strength.

Among the five of them, only Li Xiu-Zhu and Qi Shi-Min were equal in strength to the North Ocean 18 Warriors. The Zhang siblings were capable, but they were still a line weaker. Wang Yi-Shan had a poor foundation and was easily the weakest, he was at the level where Lu Ping could easily take him on without breaking sweat.

But Lu Ping didn't reveal too much of his strength. After all, his intention was only to stop the farce.

After seeing that the other two clans had gradually withdrawn their divine sense, Lu Ping gave Li Xiu-Zhu a smile and left without saying a word, heading in the direction of his cave-dwelling with Little Sima following behind him.

Li Xiu-Zhu looked at Lu Ping's back as he left, confused by her own thoughts. Then, she turned and coldly glanced over at the Zhang Clan and Wang Clan, before also leaving.

Wang Yi-Shan gritted his teeth and wanted to speak, but quickly noticed that the honored guest had finally put away his genial expression and left towards the Wang Clan. So, Wang Yi-Shan hurriedly called the Wang Clan's alchemist and caught up with the honored guest.

The Zhang Clan siblings exchanged a glance, their eyes flashed as if they were communicating between themselves. Then, a moment later, they also left.

The crowd lingered and chatted amongst themselves for some time, before later dispersing.

Throughout the entire incident, there were a few cultivators with hidden intentions that quietly observed the events. They obviously had something planned and hurriedly left as well.

All of a sudden, the situation in Three Clans City had become obscure. Even the mortals in the city were gradually becoming aware of the brewing storm.

At the same time, an alchemist called Lu Jiu, who was affiliated with the Li Clan, began to attract the attention of the powers in the city.

Half a month later, Lu Ping followed Li Xiu-Zhu to an inconspicuous store in the center of the city.

There was a middle-aged cultivator with a fiery red face that was with them. He was the Li Clan's alchemist, and he didn’t communicate much with Lu Ping along the way.

Obviously, he had great doubts as to whether this Lu Jiu could really concoct half-step Core Forging Realm pellets. This Lu Jiu looked so young and was only in the Seventh Layer Blood Condensation Realm.

But since the clan head and young lady had expressed their support towards him, he couldn't say anything.

After all, he only had less than 30-percent success rate himself while concocting Late Blood Condensation Realm pellets, let alone half-step Core Forging Realm pellets.

"This is where the underground trade fair will be held?"

Lu Ping looked at the dilapidated store in front of him with some uncertainty.

If Li Xiu-Zhu hadn’t brought him here, he would never have realized that such a store was actually the entrance to the underground trade fair.

The vast majority of people on Three Clans Island were rogue cultivators. They were brave and adventurous, and often explored the sea living on the edge.

Although the three clans occupied the island and raised the city, they were divided, with none of them having absolute control over the whole island.

Hence, whenever they had an auction in the city, there would always be a bloodbath.

Eventually, the three clans agreed to change the auctions into underground trade fairs instead.

Lu Ping followed Li Xiu-Zhu into the store. They were given three cloaks from the hunchbacked old store owner.

Li Xiu-Zhu took one of the cloaks and put it on. The cloak not only concealed her figure, but also covered her within an overwhelming arcane energy, blocking Lu Ping's divine sense, preventing him seeing her identity.

The cloak was superb. But what a pity, it could only conceal one's identity and not their tracks.

Lu Ping and the Li Clan's alchemist both took a cloak and wore it.

Then, the three of them went to an empty room behind the store, where a complex array formation had been carved on the floor.

Lu Ping realized that this was a short-distance teleportation formation. It seemed that the trade fair was actually held at a secret location.

Perhaps only the three clans that organized the trade fair would know the exact location.

Li Xiu-Zhu placed dozens of spirit stones into the formation, and the hunchbacked old cultivator activated the formation.

After a burst of white light, the three of them disappeared from the empty room.

The hunchback cultivator slowly walked out of the room and went back to the counter, waiting for the next group of cultivators that would attend the underground trade fair.