Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-222

Chu Ting came forward and handed a Crystal Jade Bottle to Li Mao-Lin, and said, "I’ve only concocted three Seven Step Striped Pellets. One came from the first cauldron, with another two from the second cauldron. This is my limit at my current alchemy standard."

Li Mao-Lin was delighted, "Very good, very good. Your alchemy has exceeded my expectations. Three Seven Step Striped Pellets are already enough for your Junior Sister Li to break through to the Core Forging Realm!"

Then, Chu Ting and Li Xiu-Zhu both looked at Lu Ping with a hint of provocation in their gaze!

Li Mao-Lin was relieved to see three Seven Step Striped Pellets, so he looked at Lu Ping with a relaxed expression.

Without waiting for Li Mao-Lin to ask him, Lu Ping smiled softly, and said, "Young Lady Chu's alchemy is really extraordinary, I admit that I am no match for her. I did my best and managed to concoct one Seven Step Striped Pellet. Senior Li, here is the pellet, please inspect it."

Lu Ping handed over a Crystal Jade Bottle. Li Mao-Lin checked the contents and found a Seven Step Striped Pellet. He happily praised, "I didn't expect Little Brother Lu's alchemy to be this good. The Li Clan is fortunate to have your help!"

Seeing that Lu Ping had actually concocted a Seven Step Striped Pellet, Li Xiu-Zhu also changed her opinion of him, and thanked him as well.

To be able to concoct a half-step Core Forging Realm pellet proved Lu Ping's status as a Quasi-master Alchemist. Hence, the Li Clan's attitude towards him was visibly more respectful than before.

However, Lu Ping didn't care as he had no intention of staying at the Li Clan for long.

Chu Ting's gaze was mysterious. It appeared as if she was slightly disappointed, as if her judgment of him had been wrong.

Lu Ping politely declined the Li Clan's kindness to stay in the residence, and returned to the inn's cave-dwelling.

Outside the cave-dwelling, he saw Little Sima squatting on the ground, drawing something with a branch.

After seeing Lu Ping, Little Sima threw away the branch and happily greeted him.

Lu Ping glanced over at the drawing on the ground. It was a 500-year Wind Whispering Grass. Despite the drawing being simple, it was beautifully sketched.

Lu Ping didn't comment, and smilingly asked, "Little Sima, in the several days that I haven’t seen you, it seems that your cultivation base has already broken through to the Mid Blood Refining Realm."

Seeing that his drawing on the ground failed to attract Lu Ping's attention, Little Sima couldn't help but be a little disappointed.

However, after hearing Lu Ping’s praise, he cheerfully replied, "It's only possible thanks to the spirit stones given to me by senior."

Then, they walked into the cave-dwelling. Lu Ping sat down on the cultivation platform, while Little Sima stood quietly beside him.

Lu Ping didn’t speak for a long time. Little Sima, not knowing why Lu Ping called him over, was anxious, with his little eyes nervously looking at Lu Ping.

Lu Ping smiled and asked, "Little Sima, do you want to learn alchemy?"

Little Sima was stunned by Lu Ping's sudden inquiry, and began to stammer. However, Little Sima was a clever person, and quickly knelt on the ground, "I dare not deceive senior, this junior does want to learn alchemy from senior."

Lu Ping laughed, "Do you know what the hardest part about alchemy is?"

Little Sima shook his head, "I don't know. I would like to ask senior to explain."

Lu Ping shook his head and didn’t explain. He took out a jade scroll and said, "Alchemy’s heritage cannot be achieved overnight. I will be traveling around the East Ocean, so I won’t be here for long. If you really have the perseverance and determination to become an alchemist, you need to study this jade scroll carefully in order to lay down a solid foundation. There are many hurdles to overcome in the path to becoming an alchemist, knowing spirit herbs is nothing but the first step in the long journey ahead."

Little Sima immediately knew that Lu Ping had seen through his thoughts, so his face couldn't help but blush red.

Lu Ping continued, "Some days later, the Li Clan will be making some moves in Three Clans City, and there will be a new store opening. I have already talked to Innkeeper Li. You can find him and apply to be a staff member there, in charge of spirit herbs. As for how much you can learn and grasp, it all depends on your effort and fate."

When Little Sima heard Lu Ping finish speaking, he knew that this marked the end of today's matter.

Little Sima was shrewd. Although he didn’t get to practice under Lu Ping's tutelage, he was still able to enter the Li Clan and also received Lu Ping's alchemy heritage. As long as he worked hard, he could still achieve great things in the future.

Lu Ping sat quietly, watching as Little Sima kowtowed to him and left the cave-dwelling.

As night fell, the cave-dwelling became dark, with only Lu Ping's eyes shining brightly, his thoughts a mystery.

…

Surprisingly, Dabao had been thrown out of the spirit pet pouch.

Dabao had not been happy recently, as many things had suddenly become miserable.

To begin with, Dabao was a Spirit Seeking Mouse, a lowly monster beast that didn't have much potential. The only reason that Dabao could grow all the way from the Blood Refining Realm to the peak of the Early Blood Condensation Realm, was because of Lu Ping's steady supply of medicinal pellets over the past ten years.

When Lu Ping started practicing alchemy with Blood Refining Realm medicinal pellets, the pellets he concocted were all fed to Dabao; that was, until the other monster beasts came along, causing the pellets to be shared between them.

Despite the medicinal pellets helping Dabao's cultivation reach the Early Blood Condensation Realm, they also made his foundation weak and unstable. If nothing was done to remedy the situation, Dabao's cultivation limit would probably just be the Mid Blood Condensation Realm.

Therefore, even after Lu Ping bought the pangolin monster beast's Condensed Blood Beads, he didn't give them for Dabao to use immediately.

Instead, Lu Ping let out the other spirit pets to train Dabao and consolidate his foundation.

Due to Lu Ping's favoritism, Dabao had always been lazy and casual, causing the other spirit pets to be more or less dissatisfied with his attitude.

The snake trio were jealous of Dabao being Lu Ping's favorite. Since they viewed Lu Ping as their father, they thought that he could favor only them.

In Lu Qin's eyes, Dabao was a cunning rat, good at exploiting the favoritism showered onto him to do obscene matters behind their master’s back.

In Dagui's opinion, Dabao was a problematic spirit pet that didn’t qualify to be one as he lacked the slightest bearing of a loyal and hardworking spirit pet.

Lu Ping mercilessly placed Dabao on the table and let the other spirit pets train him.

Dabao tried to run, but Lu Qin was flying above, scooping down from time to time to attack him.

Dabao tried to dig a hole, but the snake trio were always hot on his tail, their hisses scaring him.

Dabao tried to use [Earth Spirit Escape], but Lu Ping cast a spell that hardened the ground.

Dabao tried to rest, but the dedicated Lu Dagui who was supervising, didn’t allow him any respite.

The fastest road to improvement was to go through numerous fights, or in Dabao's case, numerous escape attempts.

Spirit Seeking Mice had more than just two talents, but Lu Dabao had only specialized in the spirit seeking talent and [Earth Spirit Escape].

Hence, as Dabao's mastery in these two talents increased, he became increasingly difficult to catch. He also developed numerous tactics to escape on the basis of these talents, giving the other spirit pets an even harder time.

In the end, even when all five spirit pets have worked together, they could no longer catch him.

Besides his progress, the most obvious change to Dabao was his weight.

Previously, Dabao was like a fat swine, with a small head and a belly that was about to touch the ground. Now, Dabao was like a ball without legs, he had become so fat that it looked like he was rolling on the ground instead of running with his legs.

Lu Ping had no idea how to explain Dabao's weight increase as his cultivation improved.

At this time, Lu Ping had already been in seclusion for half a year.

Dabao finally received Lu Ping's approval. He swallowed a Condensed Blood Bead, and began his breakthrough to the Mid Blood Condensation Realm.

Watching Dabao fall into a deep sleep quickly, Lu Ping knew that Dabao had already honed his cultivation base to the peak of the Third Layer Blood Condensation Realm, being only half a step away from advancement. Hence, Lu Ping expected that Dabao's breakthrough would go smoothly!

Besides Dabao, his other spirit pets had also made progress during this period of time.

Lu Dagui finally entered the Fifth Layer Blood Condensation Realm.

The Snake trio's cultivation base remained in the Fifth Layer Blood Condensation Realm as Lu Ping had deliberately asked them to slow down. Lu Ping had high expectations for the snake trio, so he didn’t want their cultivation base to grow rapidly and affect their foundation.

Lu Qin's cultivation base was steadily advancing, but because of the difficulty in cultivation after entering the Late Blood Condensation Realm, she had only now reached the peak of the Seventh Layer Blood Condensation Realm, and was preparing for her breakthrough.

Lu Ping was satisfied to see the improvement of his spirit pets.

Lu Ping redirected his attention to the twelve bright pearls revolving around him.

He had gone through a series of battles to gather these twelve spirit peals. They were made of high quality spirit materials and were incredibly compatible with Lu Ping's cultivation method. As a result, they were the best choice for him to use as his nascent mystic instrument.