Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-220

When Lu Ping arrived at the Li Clan's meeting chamber, besides Li Mao-Lin and Li Xiu-Zhu, the father and daughter pair, there was an additional female cultivator seated.

The female cultivator played with a jade ornament in her hand while scrutinizing Lu Ping from head to toe.

Li Mao-Lin pointed to the female cultivator and introduced her, "Little Brother Lu Jiu, this is Chu Ting, the daughter of a close friend of mine whom I haven't met in decades. I've always seen her as my niece. I didn't think that she would be fortunate enough to inherit an alchemist's heritage. She’s also able to concoct half-step Core Forging Realm pellets! I'm really happy for my old friend and envy him for having such an excellent daughter!"

Lu Ping was stunned for a second. He bowed slightly, and said, "Lu Jiu greets Young Lady Chu!"

Out of courtesy, Chu Ting also got up from her seat to greet Lu Ping back.

After they were all seated, Li Mao-Lin opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Chu Ting said, "It's really amazing that Brother Lu can already concoct half-step Core Forging Realm pellets when you’ve just entered the Late Blood Condensation Realm."

Whilst Chu Ting was polite, Lu Ping could hear the arrogance between her words. It seemed that she was a cultivator of noble birth.

Lu Ping calmly replied, "I'm just lucky, it's really not worth mentioning."

Chu Ting didn't care about Lu Ping's perfunctory response, and continued to inquire, "May I ask what kind of half-step Core Forging Realm medicinal pellets Brother Lu has concocted before?"

This question was already overstepping the boundary, so Lu Ping looked at her and didn’t answer.

Li Mao-Lin hurriedly interjected, "The Seven Step Striped Pellets are almost as difficult as Core Forging Realm medicinal pellets, with the required spirit herbs also being extremely hard to gather. My Li Clan has been gathering the spirit herbs for years and has only barely gathered enough for four cauldrons.

"The pellets are crucial for my daughter's breakthrough, so I have to be extremely careful. Little Brother Lu and Niece Chu Ting will each have two cauldrons of spirit herbs. I only request one pellet from each of you, what do you think?"

Lu Ping naturally knew this was because the Li Clan never actually trusted him nor did they have any confidence in him either. After all, the Li Clan only invited him initially because there were no other options at that time.

But with Li Mao-Lin's niece here, she was obviously more trustworthy.

As an alchemist, Lu Ping naturally had his own dignity. He calmly stood up and said, "Since the Li Clan has no trust in me, and has invited a better alchemist, I will withdraw myself from this matter. However, I have already read the pellet recipe, so excuse me for not being able to return it to you."

Lu Ping's words were rather heavy and made Li Mao-Lin anxious. As an Enlightened Master he immediately understood the implications that this matter could bring to his clan.

If word got out, there would be no alchemist that would ever come to the Li Clan again.

Alchemists were a group of eccentric and conservative individuals.

If Lu Ping was ousted by Chu Ting today, in the eyes of alchemists, Lu Ping would have deserved to be humiliated because his alchemy wasn’t as good as someone else.

However, if Lu Ping left because the Li Clan hired a better alchemist and looked down on Lu Ping's alchemy, then not only would the Li Clan be antagonized by alchemists, but Chu Ting would also be isolated and scorned by other alchemists.

Chu Ting was obviously not familiar with these unspoken rules amongst alchemists, but Li Mao-Lin, who had gone through the vicissitudes of life, was obviously aware of these customs.

Hence, Li Mao-Lin hurriedly stood up and stopped Lu Ping, and said, "Little Brother Lu, calm down. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that this is my daughter's breakthrough to the Core Forging Realm which determines the very future of the clan. Our Li Clan is the weakest clan amongst the three big clans, so if we don't have another Enlightened Master, it won’t be long before we lose our foothold on Three Clans Island."

Lu Ping stopped. He knew that for an Enlightened Master to speak like this, he had been given a lot of face.

Besides, he had also learned the Seven Step Striped Pellet's pellet recipe already, so it wasn't very righteous for him to leave just like that.

Hence, Lu Ping said, "Since Senior Li had said so, then this junior will do his best."

Li Mao-Lin was overjoyed. He quickly instructed the servant to bring Lu Ping to the alchemy room and prepare two cauldrons of spirit herbs.

After Lu Ping left, Li Xiu-Zhu asked puzzlingly, "Father, since Sister Chu has arrived, we don't need Lu Jiu anymore. We don’t know for sure that he’s capable as we’ve never seen his alchemy before. He can leave if he wants to, why did you stop him? What if he’s not good enough and wastes the spirit herbs?"

Li Mao-Lin shook his head and explained the unspoken rules he knew about alchemists to her. Although it seemed like he was explaining it to Li Xiu-Zhu, he was in fact explaining it for Chu Ting’s benefit.

After listening to the rules, Chu Ting put the jade ornament on her waist and murmured, "No wonder teacher repeatedly instructed me to befriend any alchemist I meet regardless of their alchemy standard. I initially didn't take it seriously, but now I know why."

Li Mao-Lin shook his head and added, "It's also not true to say that his alchemy skills are bad. Since his arrival in the city, the rogue cultivators in the marketplace have often gone to him with their spirit herbs, as he always answers their questions. So far there hasn’t been any spirit herb that he couldn't recognize. This shows that at the very least his alchemy foundation is quite solid."

Chu Ting said, "The Three Clans Island is only a small place. I don't think there are many rare spirit herbs here at all, so it's not that impressive a feat."

Even though Chu Ting's words were dismissive, her expression still became less arrogant and had an additional tinge of seriousness.

Li Mao-Lin didn't mind Chu Ting's words and continued, "He is also very mysterious as I actually couldn't see through his true cultivation level. He must have cultivated a powerful secret technique that can hide his cultivation base and aura. I don't think he is actually a Seventh Layer Blood Condensation Realm cultivator. Perhaps, even Zhu'Er is no match for him."

Li Xiu-Zhu replied in disbelief, "How is that possible? Doesn't that mean he is in the Core Forging Realm?"

Li Mao-Lin’s expression became solemn, and he raised his voice, "Nonsense! Do you think you are unrivaled in the Blood Condensation Realm? If that's the case, can you defeat your Sister Chu? I don't think you can, right?"

Whilst Li Xiu-Zhu knew that she had spoken incorrectly, she was still unconvinced!

Chu Ting thought for a moment and agreed, "Indeed, Junior Sister Li, do you still remember Participant 57 from the trade fair? That guy was incredibly strong, I don't think I am a match for him. Initially, I thought he was a Core Forging Realm cultivator who had sealed his cultivation base to the Blood Condensation Realm. But thinking back, he feels similar to this Lu Jiu fellow. No wonder I felt a sense of familiarity when I saw Lu Jiu."

Li Mao-Lin was shocked, and quickly asked, "Are you sure?"

Chu Ting shook her head and said, "I can't be sure, they just feel related. Participant 57 was extremely cunning, he didn't leave any trace of his identity, and even managed to break the tracking spell that I placed on him with my divine revelation. Furthermore, he seems to be proficient in a kind of secret technique that can hide his cultivation base, which is why I originally suspected that he was a Core Forging Realm Enlightened Master."

Li Mao-Lin said, "It's a pity that I couldn't be there. Otherwise, I wouldn't have let him live. Are you sure he didn’t notice your identity?"

Chu Ting thought for a moment and said, "I don't think he did. As soon as my cloak broke, I used the Cloud Shrouding Robe to cover my appearance and aura, so I don't think he noticed anything."

…

Meanwhile, in the Li Clan's alchemy room.

Lu Ping had already made up his mind. No matter what, he would leave the Li Clan as soon as possible after concocting the Seven Step Stripe Pellets!

He hadn’t expected the Li Clan to be the mastermind behind the attack on the underground trade fair, with Chu Ting being none other than Participant 72!

Lu Ping and Participant 72 had fought twice that day.

Although Lu Ping opened a hole on Participant's cloak with his Verdant Dawn Sword, she reacted quickly and covered herself with another silver dress.

As a result, Lu Ping could only tell that Participant 72 was a female and nothing more.

However, when Lu Ping saw Chu Ting just now, he was drawn to the jade ornament she was playing with in her hands. The jade ornament gave him a familiar feeling, as if he had vaguely seen it through the hole on Participant 72's black cloak before.

Furthermore, he also smelled a light and calming fragrance.

This fragrance was very recognizable to Lu Ping, as it was a fragrance that came from taking Hundred Flowers Pellets.

Although the fragrance of Hundred Flowers Pellets could be changed according to a cultivator's preference, as an alchemist, he could still tell if the fragrance was from a Hundred Flowers Pellet or not.

Chu Ting hadn’t changed her fragrance, which was exactly the same as the fragrance emitted from Participant 72!

Her silver Cloud Shrouding Robe could cover up her appearance and aura, but it couldn’t block her body fragrance!