Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-288

Chapter 288: Water Alchemy

“Did you confirm their scents?”

A white robed cultivator asked.

“Don’t worry, I’ve remembered the assassins’ scent. However, the other guy with the snake scent disappeared too quickly. He’s also being concealed by a secret technique or something similar, making it impossible to trace him.”

“Are you sure the scent belongs to the Emerald Sea Spirit Snakes?”

A cultivator wearing a black robe glanced at the white cultivator, and said, “You don’t trust my sense of smell? Why would I bring you here if I wasn’t certain? But unfortunately, we’re too late.”

The white cultivator was puzzled, “That doesn’t make sense. I haven’t heard of anyone from the Chu Clan coming to the Northern League recently.”

The black cultivator smirked, “Who knows. From the scent, their cultivation bases aren’t high, it could be some kids who sneaked out. It’s not like that’s never happened before. Didn’t two Chu Clan children sneak out and get eaten by Yan Clan’s young master causing the two clans to get into a deep feud?”

“What a pity. If we can find them and drain their bloodline, our cultivation bases will improve greatly.” The white cultivator spoke with a look of greed.

“Don’t even think about it. Ignoring our bloodline compatibility, do you really think that you can escape from the Chu Clan after doing that? The entire snake race will be after us, and we’ll have no place to hide.”

The black cultivator warned seriously. The white cultivator’s expression changed, and he smiled awkwardly, “I was joking, I’d never do anything to the Emerald Sea Spirit Snakes. What should we do now? Inform the Chu Clan that a few of their own kind are inside Qian Yuan City?”

“Of course, but first, we have to figure out who these assassins are. The Chu Clan will not be happy to learn about it. We need to at least narrow it down for them or they will certainly make a big fuss in Qian Yuan City.”

Lu Ping, who had returned to the cave-dwelling, naturally didn’t know what had happened. Back at his cave-dwelling, there was a guest that had been waiting for him for a long time.

“Gang Lord Qiao, forgive me for not being able to welcome you.”

Black Mountain Gang Lord Qiao Zheng-Yan waved his hands, and laughed, “No need to be so formal. Little Brother Lu, you’ve made a splash in this city, everyone knows who you are now. You and I can talk as equals, there’s no need to address me as a senior.”

Lu Ping wasn’t bothered, and asked, “Is there something wrong with Young Master Qiao’s injury? I apologize for not being able to concoct the pellets earlier, too many things have been happening recently.”

Qiao Zheng-Yan was relieved to hear Lu Ping ask him first, and answered, “No, no, that injury has stuck around for years, he’s the same.”

He passed over an interspatial pouch containing three cauldrons of spirit herbs for the Spirit Water Vein Nourishment Pellets. There was also a jade bowl that contained a bowl full of clear water.

“This… is Enigmatic Purified Spirit Water?”

Qiao Zheng-Yan smiled, and replied, “No wonder everyone says that alchemists are the most knowledgeable amongst cultivators. Although it’s not as good as heaven-and-earth spirit water, Enigmatic Purified Spirit Water is still sufficient for these pellets. If there’s any water left over, Little Brother Lu can keep it for yourself.”

Lu Ping looked at the bowl of spirit water, and smiled, “Understood, then I will gladly accept it. This spirit water is indeed of great use to me. If there’s any help I can provide to Gang Lord Qiao, please do not hesitate to ask.”

Qiao Zheng-Yan was overjoyed to hear the promise. On the other hand, Lu Ping didn’t think much of it since what could Qiao Zheng-Yan ask from him other than to concoct some pellets, which he could always outsource to Yue Jiang-Rui!

After Qiao Zheng-Yan left, Lu Ping’s expression turned gloomy. He began to wonder who would risk offending the Northern League to attempt an assassination on him inside of the city? They even sent a Core Forging Realm Enlightened Master!

However, it seemed that they didn’t know about his true strength. Otherwise, the Enlightened Master wouldn’t have waited until the other men were killed. If the Enlightened Master had attacked with all his might at the beginning, aided by the element of surprise, they might have really succeeded in killing him!

Now, that Enlightened Master had become a loose end. Not only did he know about Lu Ping’s true strength, he also saw the snake trio by Lu Ping’s side. Given an average Enlightened Masters’ general knowledge, it wouldn’t be surprising if he recognized the Emerald Sea Spirit Snakes.

If that was the case, Lu Ping would have to be prepared to face the immense pressure from the monster race for keeping top-tier monsters as his spirit pets. The Emerald Sea Spirit Snake Tribe would come looking for his trouble. Fortunately, he was currently in the Northern League’s Qian Yuan City, so the monster race wouldn’t dare to make a big move inside the city.

Putting his thoughts aside, Lu Ping returned his focus to the Enigmatic Purified Spirit Water that was a type of peculiar water. Although Lu Ping needed to absorb one more type of spirit water to successfully cultivate the [Heavenly Curtain Aegis], this peculiar water was more suitable for something else.

The [Tri-Pristine True Vision] was a type of minute divine ability that Lu Ping had learned from Hu Lili. It was said that this minute divine ability was capable of seeing through illusions, and was an important skill to master for all array masters.

However, the cultivation of this minute divine ability required three types of peculiar water with the abilities to cleanse and strengthen a cultivators’ eyes. This was exactly what the Enigmatic Purified Spirit Water was capable of doing, making it one of the best peculiar waters to cultivate the [Tri-Pristine True Vision].

The bowl of Enigmatic Purified Spirit Water was only enough for two cultivators, so Lu Ping naturally didn’t want to use it for alchemy, and wanted to keep it for himself and Hu Lili.

The other peculiar water he had was the Million Poisons Pulp, that was only suitable for poison pellets. There was also a ball of spirit water residing in the pool of Million Poisons Pulp, but Lu Ping wasn’t sure what it was, so he wouldn’t naturally wouldn’t take a risk.

Hence, the only option left was the Kui Water Essence inside the Tome of Thousand Millets. He had used up most of it, with the remaining amount being used to try and grow the lotus seeds. However, the seeds didn’t seem to sprout at all, and were probably not going to grow.

Hence, Lu Ping scooped up the last remaining third of the Kui Water Essence to use in the concoction of the Spirit Water Vein Nourishment Pellets.

When Lu Ping saw the pellet recipe for the Spirit Water Vein Nourishment Pellet, he was overjoyed, as he was being exposed to a new branch of alchemy!

It was common knowledge that spirit fire was used in alchemy, which was why most alchemists were fire-element cultivators. Water-element alchemists like Lu Ping were an anomaly, and they had to spend more time and effort to improve their skills.

However, the Spirit Water Vein Nourishment Pellet was a type of pellet that used spirit water during the concoction process. In other words, this was an unpopular branch of alchemy, known as water alchemy.

This was simply ridiculous to less knowledgeable alchemists. Although some insightful alchemists were able to see the value in water alchemy, they simply couldn’t practice it as they had only ever used fire alchemy their whole lives. In order to use water alchemy, they would have to put in a constant effort from the beginning.

There were also some alchemists who saw the value of water alchemy, but deliberately dismissed it because they were afraid of being replaced. After all, the rise of a new method would surely impact the traditional methods. Water alchemy would allow more water-element cultivators to become alchemists, making the fight for resources even fiercer.

Lu Ping was overjoyed upon hearing about water alchemy because it was simply a perfect match to him!

Pellets concocted using water alchemy had a less immediate, but more longer lasting effect. Because of this, they were exceptionally good recovery pellets for weak and severely wounded cultivators who couldn’t withstand the insurgence of rapid medicinal efficacy.

Lu Ping had no difficulty with the water alchemy, and easily used the Kui Water Essence to extract the essence from the spirit herbs, and purify the extracted essence with his purification technique. Afterwards, the medicinal paste and Kui Water Essence combined together to form a watery pellet.

A delighted Qiao Zheng-Yan hurriedly brought the medicinal pellets back.

A few months later, the young master of Black Mountain Gang, who had been paralyzed for several years due to his cultivation, miraculously recovered and even successfully advanced to the Core Forging Realm.

Soon after, the Black Mountain Gang broke out into civil unrest. A Core Forging Realm hall master attempted a coup to replace the gang lord and kill the young master.

However, Gang Lord Qiao Zheng-Yan, his son, and another hall master joined forces and quickly killed the rebel hall master. After that, Young Master Qiao Wei-Jie replaced the hall master’s position.

…

Lu Ping let out the Amethyst Bees in Black Mountain Gang’s spirit herb garden. The bees had all advanced to the Mid Blood Refining Realm, with the queen bee even reaching the Late Blood Refining Realm. Right now, the swarm was already strong enough to withstand a Mid Blood Condensation Realm cultivator!

However, in order for this group of Amethyst Bees to reproduce and expand, Lu Ping would have to wait until the queen bee reached the Blood Condensation Realm.

Yue Jiang-Rui arrived and looked at the Amethyst Bees with a hint of envy in his eyes.

Lu Ping turned around, and asked, “Finished concocting already?”

“Yes, they were only ordinary healing medicinal pellets. I am curious though, you promised them a lot of healing pellets for their wounded members to recover following their internal troubles. Is the Black Mountain Gang really worth your investment?”

“Who knows what will transpire in the future. Besides, they provided the spirit herbs, so we didn’t lose anything other than some time.” Lu Ping answered casually.

“That’s because you’re not the one actually concocting the pellets.” Yue Jiang-Rui was clearly dissatisfied with Lu Ping’s behavior of using him.

“Well, you have to serve me for ten years, so you naturally have to do what I tell you to.” Lu Ping laughed and poked at the seasoned alchemist.