Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-230

The items in the interspatial pouches were diverse and stored haphazardly—they had obviously plundered many other cultivators and didn't try to organize the items.

After killing the cultivators, Lu Ping inspected the remains of the array formation carefully, trying to learn as much as he could about it.

Perceiving movement, he looked to the forest, where seven cowardly cultivators were slowly approaching him.

Lu Ping's divine sense swept across them and found that the three in the front were Mid Blood Condensation cultivators and the four in the rear were Blood Condensation cultivators.

When the cultivators noticed Lu Ping ignoring them, they emboldened themselves and stepped forward. "Greetings to the island master!"

Lu Ping was surprised and asked, "Have you mistaken something? I'm not your island master."

Among the seven, the strongest was in the Sixth Layer. He stepped forward and replied, "You've killed the former island masters, so according to the rules of Fallen Rift, you’ve automatically taken over their position as Double Hero Island's master, unless you give up your position or are defeated by another cultivator."

Lu Ping didn’t expect there to be such a rule and asked with a smile, "Double Hero Island?"

As if realizing something, the cultivator quickly said, "Forgive me, Island Master. The island's name is decided by the island master himself. The previous island masters were brothers, so they named the island Double Hero Island."

Lu Ping initially didn’t plan to stay, but the situation was really interesting. He suddenly thought of something and said, "In that case, lead me to the island's residence."

On the way, Lu Ping learned that the cultivator was called Wu Yan, a rogue cultivator who had come to Fallen Rift with huge ambitions. Unfortunately, the former island masters subdued him by force to serve them on the island.

Over the years, the island masters changed two times, Wu Yan also used every opportunity he could find to raise his cultivation to the Seventh Layer.

Wu Yan soon introduced the situation of the island to Lu Ping.

"So, you’re saying that there are twenty-seven mini islands in this area, and they all belong to a force known as the Three Clans Alliance? And this alliance is led by three Enlightened Masters in the middle layer?"

"That's right. It’s said that the Three Clans Alliance have occupied three small islands in the middle layer. Usually, the alliance won’t interfere with our daily affairs as long as we submit the offerings on time. The only exception is when someone tries to snatch the mini islands away from them."

"I see… Tell me about the resources available on Double Hero—and the island will be named Wave Listening Island from now on. Tell me how many resources we have on Wave Listening Island, and how many offerings we need to submit each time."

Wu Yan said apologetically, "Island Master, our Wave Listening Island is just a mini island, and it’s relatively barren and poor compared to others. We only have twenty acres of spiritual fields, a spiritual garden with eighty-three matured Black Spotted Bamboos, a one-acre spirit herb garden with hundred-year spirit herbs, and a mini spirit vein that only the island master can use."

"What?"

Lu Ping was dumbfounded; did Wu Yan just call this a poor island?

But such a mini island would be considered wealthy in the North Ocean!

Lu Ping had managed Huang Li Island for many years and nurtured six mini spirit veins. There were only ten acres of spiritual herbs, and a half-acre spirit herb garden. Even so, Huang Li Island was widely recognized as well-managed within Zhen Ling Sect!

Yet, Wu Yan was telling him that an island richer than his Huang Li Island, was only considered a poor island here in Fallen Rift?

Wu Yan saw Lu Ping's shocked expression and mistakenly assumed that he was unhappy with the island's poor resources. He quickly said, "Our island may be poorer than the rest, but that’s only because the former island masters were proficient in array formations. They discovered the developing mini spirit vein on the island, so they set up array formations to converge the island's spiritual energy to nurture the growth of the mini spirit vein.

"As a result, the mini spirit vein was successfully developed earlier than usual, but it greatly reduced the spiritual energy on the island, which shrunk down the spiritual field and caused half of the Black Spotted Bamboos to wither…"

Wu Yan shook his head regretfully, while Lu Ping calmed himself down and said, "It's not too bad. After all, the mini spirit vein has successfully formed. It will also be beneficial to your cultivation progress."

Wu Yan's face stiffened and turned pale. He hurriedly said, "We wouldn't dare to think of it. The mini spirit vein will only belong to the island master, and we promise we won't cross the boundary. The island's spiritual energy is good enough for us. Furthermore, the mini spirit vein is the island's deepest secret—if the others know about it, they will surely come to snatch it from us."

"I see."

Lu Ping nodded. The Fallen Rift seemed to have adopted the law of the jungle very well.

Lu Ping looked at the cultivators around him. Even though they knew of the mini spirit vein's existence, they still hadn't leaked the news out yet. One could tell how well the former island masters were in controlling their people.

"As for the share of the offerings…"

Wu Yan said hesitantly, "The offering was originally a third of the island's income, but the former island masters used up a lot of spiritual energy to nurture the mini spirit vein, which greatly reduced the island's wealth. We had to venture beyond the island to hunt monster beasts, harvest spirit herbs, and collect spirit materials to make up for the shortage. We even lost two Blood Refining Realm comrades because of this.

"Eventually, the former island masters came up with the idea to hunt down cultivators that are new to Fallen Rift. That’s why they set up the Nine Meandering Sand Dune Formation, and then you happened to arrive…"

Lu Ping waved his hand to stop Wu Yan's flattery. "Don't worry, just carry on your duties as usual. As long as it's not the Enlightened Masters coming to look for trouble, I’ll handle any intruders and shelter all of you on the island."

In fact, they were only waiting to hear these exact words—a promise from Lu Ping to ensure their safety.

After all, they know how powerful the former two island masters were. The two of them had mastered several powerful array formations which allowed them to fight on par, and even defeat, Peaked Blood Condensation cultivators. Hence, they had established a prestigious position within the area.

However, Lu Ping had arrived and in just a short time, killed the two island masters with just a few attacks. It was clear as crystal how powerful their new island master was.

In a vicious place like Fallen Rift, it was only wise to follow the strongest, which was the same reason why the cultivators, after seeing Lu Ping kill their former island masters, risked coming out to acknowledge him as the new island master!

This was also the strangest phenomenon in Fallen Rift. Everyone here bore no trust for each other and were always wary of back stabbings and hidden dangers. And yet, those same cultivators would join together to protect their interests, and defend against the annexation of other islands.

Lu Ping, accompanied by Wu Yan, inspected the island's properties and casted a [Spirit Growth Art] to boost the growth of grains and herbs.

The residents were all rogue cultivators, and they would gain experience in growing spirit grains and herbs overtime, but they had no way to learn secret techniques like the [Spirit Growth Art] without being taught.

After Lu Ping cast the [Spirit Growth Art] to speed up the harvest, the cultivators felt collectively relieved. There would be no shortage for the island's next offering.

Other than these seven Blood Condensation cultivators, the island also had more than a dozen Blood Refining cultivators who were mostly responsible for the care of spiritual fields and the spirit herb garden.

On normal days, they would also go to the forest to harvest spirit herbs and spirit materials.

The mini island was more than twenty miles large. The beach where Lu Ping had landed encompassed one side, which was surrounded by cliffs on all sides. The island was covered by forests, where spirit herbs and spirit materials grew in abundance.

The former island masters had left behind a map they drew on their own. The area around the island was depicted in great detail, but they clearly had yet to explore deeper inside the Fallen Rift.

On the contrary, Participant 58's map was the opposite. It only had a general direction for the outer layer, but the middle layer was drawn in detail.

Therefore, Lu Ping suspected that Participant 58 was brought to the middle layer by someone else, and later on he inadvertently found the secret place with the Hundred Flowers Ominous Essence while exploring on his own.

Why else would the map have a detailed middle layer and nothing much about the outer layer?

He aligned the two maps together and confirmed that the secret place with Hundred Flowers Ominous Essence was an island under the Three Clans Alliance.

With that, he could almost guarantee that the Three Clans Alliance was actually formed by the three big clans on Three Clans Island.

Time passed quickly—the day for the offering had arrived.

On this day, the Three Clans Alliance would send three Late Blood Condensation Realm emissaries to collect offerings from the islands.

When the emissaries arrived, one of them was none other than the Li Clan's Innkeeper Li who originally managed the inn.

It had been some time since Lu Ping saw him, so he was surprised to see that the innkeeper had broken through to the Late Blood Condensation Realm!

However, from the aura emitted by Innkeeper Li, it was obvious that he had used a shortcut in his breakthrough, which made it almost impossible for his cultivation to progress any further in the future.

Lu Ping had the red face mask, Mirage Robe, and [Spirit Hiding Art], so he was unlikely to be recognized.

The offering this time consisted of the former island masters' wealth, plus the island's own production. After the submission, the emissaries left without saying much.

After they left, Wu Yan said worriedly, "Island Master, no one else knew that you became the new island master before this. But now that the emissaries have come, words will surely get out. I'm afraid that cultivators coveting the island will challenge your position!"

Lu Ping smiled and said nothing as he returned to the island master's exclusive cave-dwelling.