Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-255

Two giant hands rose from the sea and caught the jade rings that were knocked away and brought them back to Lu Ping.

Although Chilian Ying also coveted the jade rings, she was barely able to stand from exhaustion, so she could only look on helplessly as Lu Ping obtained the jade rings.

Lu Ping suddenly turned around and smiled at Chilian Ying. She immediately knew that he had seen through her thoughts. However, she wasn’t feeling embarrassed, instead, she rolled her eyes and gave Lu Ping a wide stare.

Lu Ping, having made a fool of himself, smiled helplessly and threw a jade bottle at Chilian Ying.

Chilian Ying reached out and took the jade bottle, pouring the medicinal pellet out of the bottle and straight into her mouth, without even checking it first.

“How daring, aren’t you afraid that it’s a poisonous pellet?” Lu Ping asked with a smile.

Chilian Ying gave him a look of contempt, and giggled, “You save me first then kill me right afterwards? Do you think my brain is as broken as yours?”

Lu Ping smiled wickedly, and said, “Maybe it’s an aphrodisiac!”

Chilian Ying carried on laughing, and teased, “Then there’s nothing I can do. Come, let’s do it right here, together with the beautiful scenery of the East Ocean by our side.”

Lu Ping laughed bitterly. He was unable to handle this brazen young lady, so he didn’t reply and started to inspect the jade rings in his hands.

Chilian Ying noticed Lu Ping’s shyness. She smiled mischievously like a kitten and looked at Lu Ping with a dazzling gaze.

Lu Ping noticed her gaze. He cleared his throat unnaturally and said, without raising his head, “If I were you, I would take advantage of the healing medicinal pellet to recuperate before the wounds affect your cultivation foundation.”

Chilian Ying flirtatiously glanced at Lu Ping, and said, “Please don’t leave this beauty behind on her own while she recuperates her wounds, alright?”

At this point, Lu Ping was aware that the more he talked, the more chances she would find to tease him. So, Lu Ping totally ignored her, making Chilian Ying laugh coquettishly again. Then, she sat down on the sea surface and began to recuperate from her injuries.

Lu Ping stood next to her like a guardian in order to ensure her safety, whilst also trying to figure out how to use the jade rings. After inspecting the jade rings, Lu Ping knew that he had found a treasure.

The moment he touched the Ice Jade Ring, he immediately recognized the Thousand-year Frost Jade that had been used to make it. Thousand-year Frost Jade was a type of Grade 2 spirit material.

Lu Ping also had a Thousand-year Frost Jade, given to him by his Second Senior Martial Sister, Enlightened Master Li Xuan-Ru. He had asked Old Man Chen to forge the Frost Jade into a Spirit Mediate Pendant which currently hung from his waist.

As for the Fire Jade Ring, whilst he couldn’t tell what material it was made of, it should be made from a material similar in quality to the Thousand-year Frost Jade.

The Fire-Ice Dual Rings were top-grade mystic instruments with huge potential. Hong Shi-Kui clearly intended on upgrading them into mystic treasures to use them as his nascent weapons. If only he had advanced earlier and upgraded the weapons into mystic treasures, he would have been able to escape easily, or even kill both Lu Ping and Chilian Ying.

Lu Ping submerged his divine sense and arcane energy into the jade rings to erase Hong Shi-Kui’s branding. After that, he attempted to refine the jade rings and leave his brandings inside them. During this process, Lu Ping realized that there was an unfinished Mystical Inscription in each of the jade rings.

He was no stranger to Mystical Inscriptions, and could tell right away that they were a set of Mystical Inscriptions with opposite elements, fire and ice.

Yet, for some reason, this set of Mystical Inscriptions was able to fuse together two sharply contrasting elements together boosting their power. But that wasn’t all, there also seemed to be a deeper link between the Mystical Inscriptions that resulted in the creation of the bizarre white fire.

Lu Ping felt the jade rings in his hands and praised them in his heart. They weren’t mystic treasures yet but they could already compete with the Golden Scale Sword. If they had their Mystical Inscriptions completed and became mystic treasures, they would be even stronger than ordinary mystic treasure with two different Mystical Inscriptions.

However, although the Fire-Ice Dual Rings were powerful, they were unique weapons that required compatible cultivation methods to fully exploit their powers. In other words, one had to cultivate a dual fire and ice elemental cultivation method like Hong Shi-Kui.

For instance, Lu Ping’s cultivation method could exploit the Ice Jade Ring to the fullest, but not so much for the Fire Jade Ring. Hence, the dual rings’ power would reduce greatly in his hands.

At night, the reflection of the cold moonlight glittered across the sea painting a starry night on its surface. A Verdant Luan flew across the desolate sea, her sharp eyes gazing far into the distance.

After taking the Heart Condensation Pellet, Lu Qin had reached the Ninth Layer Blood Condensation Realm and was now much bigger and stronger. On her back, Lu Ping and Chilian Ying sat face to face.

Chilian Ying’s injuries had been controlled after recovering for a short time, but it was still inconvenient for her to travel by herself. Hence, Lu Ping had to call Lu Qin out of the spirit pet pouch to take the two of them towards Qian Yuan City.

Lu Ping asked, “What a coincidence, I didn’t think you were also going to Qian Yuan City. There are many cultivators there, are you not afraid of being seen and tracked down by Crystal Palace again?”

“Qian Yuan city is the Northern League’s headquarters. Naturally it won’t allow Crystal Palace to act wildly inside the city. Don’t you worry, I have my own plans, no one will be able to recognize me. What’s the matter, are you worrying about my safety?” Chilian Ying wasn’t concerned and took the opportunity to tease him again.

“Why did you want to kill Hong Shi-Kui so badly? He is an Enlightened Master, there was a chance that things would turn sour if he was any stronger.” Lu Ping asked curiously.

“Humph, he thinks he can run away after taking advantage of me? Crystal Palace or not, I won’t allow that. Even if I died, I would have made sure he paid heavily for what he had done!”

Chilian Ying didn’t explain exactly what happened, and Lu Ping also didn’t intend on pressuring her to talk. But unexpectedly, Chilian Ying suddenly pulled down her blouse and showed him her shoulder blade.

There was a palm-shaped bruise present.

Lu Ping looked at her puzzlingly while she explained, “This is Crystal Palace’s [Soul Chasing Palm]. Cultivators hit by this palm either die or are seriously injured. Even if they survive, the palm contains a trace of the attackers’ divine revelation allowing the attacker to track down the cultivators that survive. If I didn’t kill Hong Shi-Kui, there would be no use running, as he could come back time after time until he killed me.”

Lu Ping cleared his throat awkwardly, and said, “I see, right, makes sense, so that’s why. Ehem, it’s a windy night, be careful not to catch a cold. You should put your clothes back on to keep yourself warm.”

Chilian Ying looked at Lu Ping’s embarrassed face and suddenly burst out into laughter!

Lu Ping was feeling awkward but there was nothing he could do, so he closed his eyes and remained silent.

….

Two days later, in the vast East Ocean, a continent-like island gradually appeared on the horizon.

Qian Yuan Island was the largest island in the northern sea of the East Ocean. At the center of the island, the Qian Yuan Mountain rose from the ground as if it was reaching for the sky. At its base, the Qian Yuan City wall wound around the entire mountain.

This was the Northern League’s headquarters.

Lu Ping and Chilian Ying parted ways here. But before entering the city, Chilian Ying smiled coquettishly at Lu Ping and suddenly tore off a piece of skin from her face, exposing a mature and charming face.

This was clearly a disguise art that was far superior than Lu Ping’s red-faced mask, Lu Ping hadn’t even noticed her disguise at all. According to Hong Ying, Chilian Ying had been in the Fallen Rift for seven years. Didn’t this mean that she had worn this mask for seven years without being noticed before? Even the Enlightened Masters that she had encountered hadn’t seen through her disguise!

Her disguise was truly amazing, but what Lu Ping admired more was her patience and endurance.

——