Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-218

Inside a small forest, the ground opened up, and a green flying sword flew out, circling in the air. Lu Ping grabbed Dabao's neck and crawled out from the hole.

After checking the surroundings, making sure they were safe, Lu Ping patted Dabao's head, and said, "I've already prepared the Condensed Blood Beads for your breakthrough. After this, you really have to focus on your cultivation. I don't ever want to experience getting stuck underground again, simply because you ran out of arcane energy to cast [Earth Spirit Escape]. Do you understand?"

Dabao was extremely exhausted with his body limp.

Lu Ping hadn’t expected that the underground crypt was actually a few hundred feet deep underground. Dabao's arcane energy was already meager to begin with, let alone the fact that he also had to bring Lu Ping along.

Hence, Dabao eventually ran out of arcane energy as they were a few dozens of feet from the surface. This led to the situation where they were both stuck in the earth.

So, Lu Ping had to use the Verdant Dawn Sword to dig a way out.

Lu Ping kept Dabao back inside the spirit pet pouch and spread out his divine sense. He was actually on a small island with no one around.

He cast Auspicious Cloud and flew up to the sky, hiding in the clouds.

From a bird's eye view, Lu Ping realized that the island was southeast of Three Clans Island, where various small islands were scattered around. Who would've thought that the Three Clans Island's underground trade fair was actually held in one of the many islands here.

Not far from the forest, was a small hill that was sinking, which was most likely where the underground crypt was built.

Dozens of participants quickly scampered out from underground. Some of them immediately sat on the ground to recover their arcane energy and injuries, while others didn’t think it was safe to linger, and so quickly left.

Suddenly, a shuttle mystic instrument broke out from the ground not far away from the crowd. Then, a dozen participants hopped down from the shuttle and charged towards the crowd.

This was clearly an ambush.

Amongst the hundred participants, roughly a dozen were on the shuttle, ambushing the crowd. More than twenty people were killed in the underground crypt, with a further dozen unable to make it out as the crypt collapsed. In the end, fewer than fifty participants made it out alive, and they were all exhausted.

On the other hand, the assailants had the shuttle mystic instrument, so they were in good condition compared to the participants.

In fact, if not for Dabao's [Earth Spirit Escape], Lu Ping would've also had to expend a lot of arcane energy to escape from the crypt.

In a matter of seconds, the battle turned into a slaughter. Nearly ten participants were killed almost instantly, with the remaining participants forced to come together and defend themselves.

The assailants encircled the crowd, like wolves trapping sheep, despite the participants being twice their number.

Just as Lu Ping was hesitating whether or not to help the participants on the island, a chain of fire suddenly swept towards him silently from behind.

The Verdant Dawn Sword swiftly slashed out, and the fire chain broke into two halves.

However, the halved fire chains continued onwards, lashing out at him. Lu Ping pointed his finger and sent a stream of water towards the fire chains.

Psstt—

A burst of white fog filled the sky, as the fire chains and water stream canceled each other out.

Lu Ping's divine sense did a sweep around him, but he was unable to find the attacker. Suddenly, a giant cauldron appeared above his head, smashing down towards him.

In that instance, Lu Ping caught the source of the energy wave. He ignored the giant cauldron above him and pointed with his finger. The Verdant Dawn Sword shot out like a knocked arrow let loose.

As the sword flew, a couple hundred sword lights appeared around it, and they all headed towards the assaulter.

At the same time, a second before the giant cauldron was about to reach him, a giant stamp seal rammed into it from the side.

A loud explosion reverberated in the sky. The surface of the sea rippled and the small island shook. The cultivators fighting on the island felt the impact and they all paused to look up at the sky.

Although the giant cauldron was a high-grade mystic instrument, cauldrons were classified as special mystic instruments. A high-grade cauldron mystic instrument could unleash power equivalent to a mystic treasure, if it was in the hands of an Enlightened Master.

However, Landslide was also not an ordinary mystic instrument. It was a top-grade mystic instrument forged with Deep Sea Silver Sunken Iron. Additionally, it had the potential to be upgraded into a mystic treasure.

Not to mention that it struck the cauldron from the side, rather than clashing with it head on. So, it was no surprise that the impact sent the cauldron flying to the side.

As the cauldron was struck, Participant 72's arcane energy was affected. His divine sense fluctuated, slowing him down by a split second.

Lu Ping naturally wouldn't let the chance slip, and the Verdant Dawn Sword seized the advantage, cutting a hole in Participant 72's black cloak.

Lu Ping gained a short glimpse through the hole and saw a silver dress. However, the hole was quickly covered, blocking Lu Ping's divine sense.

Lu Ping was shocked.

Although he didn’t see Participant 72's face, it didn’t stop him from determining their gender.

It turned out that Participant 72 was actually a female cultivator!

The two things he had now learned about Participant 72, were her gender, and the fact that she was an alchemist.

The Verdant Dawn Sword flipped around and tried to cut open Participant 72's black cloak to reveal her face. But suddenly, two top-grade mystic instruments appeared from behind her, stopping the flying sword.

It turned out that the assailants on the island had sent two people to come and assist Participant 72 when they saw Lu Ping gaining the upper hand.

"Hmph!"

Participant 72 snorted coldly. Lu Ping suddenly felt a burst of pain in his head, as if his divine sense was tearing apart.

This must be an attack from divine revelation!

However, from the aura that leaked from the hole in her cloak, Lu Ping was sure that she was only a Peak Blood Condensation Realm cultivator.

It seemed that she had cultivated a secret technique which allowed her divine sense to possess certain qualities similar to a divine revelation.

Whilst Lu Ping's divine sense was much higher in quantity, her divine sense's quality was far superior.

No wonder she was able to plant a tracking spell on him and scare him into thinking that she was a Core Forging Realm Enlightened Master.

It only took a split second for Lu Ping to figure out everything. Once he realized that Participant 72 wasn’t a Core Forging Realm Enlightened Master, he finally eased his anxious mind.

Then, Lu Ping shrank his divine sense, and formed a thick wall of divine sense around him once more.

Participant 72's divine sense struck like a sharp knife, but his wall of divine sense was so thick that she couldn't penetrate through.

Right after Lu Ping blocked her divine sense, they both suddenly looked in the same direction.

Lu Ping’s expression had a hint of relief, while the assailants hurriedly retreated to the east.

Participant 72 activated the shuttle mystic instrument for the attackers to enter. Then, the shuttle flickered in the air and disappeared. It traveled more than a thousand feet in just a split second.

A fraction of a second later, three overbearing auras descended onto the island.

Lu Ping pretended to run out of arcane energy and landed on the island. He sat down and blended in with the crowd, who were also recovering from their injuries and recuperating their arcane energy.

Three loud whistles of anger could be heard coming from afar. In just a few moments, three cultivators landed on the island like shooting stars.

They were all releasing massive waves of arcane energy and divine revelation, clearly showing that they were all Core Forging Realm Enlightened Masters.

Lu Ping recognized the leftmost cultivator as the Li Clan's clan head, Li Mao-Lin, indicating that the other two must be the clan heads of the Zhang Clan and Wang Clan.