Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-293

Chapter 293: Silver Sword Island

The Sky Cleaving Sword Sect was the most powerful sect in the southernmost region of the East Ocean. It also had the best relationship with the Northern League, the most powerful sect in the northernmost region.

Silver Sword Island was one of the only three large islands under the Sky Cleaving Sword Sect, situated in the southernmost region. It was also the closest large island to the monster race territory. Hence, it had a strategic role as the main operating base to defend against a potential monster race invasion.

The other two large islands were the sect’s home base, the Jade Sword Island, and Golden Sword Island, functioning as the region’s center of economy. Among the large sects, the Sky Cleaving Sword Sect was the only sect that didn’t have a colossal island in its territory.

…

The teleportation formation was activated, and a young cultivator in his twenties walked out from it facing the astonished eyes of a crowd.

The island’s teleportation formation had been built atop a huge platform, divided into three concentric circles. Depending on the distance, the teleportation formation would activate certain parts or the whole array.

For short-distance teleportation between islands directly under the sect’s control, only the innermost circle was used. For medium-distance teleportation between islands within the region, the innermost and middle circle was used. For long-distance teleportation between different regions, all three circles were used.

“Why are there more and more foreign cultivators these days?”

“Exactly, there have been so many long-distance teleportations in the past few months, as well as many who have traveled by foot from other seas.”

Lu Ping came down from the teleportation array and heard the quiet murmurs. He frowned, intuitively understanding that there was something going on, so he looked around and found an Early Blood Condensation Realm cultivator.

He threw an interspatial pouch to the cultivator, and said, “Are you a guide? I’m buying your services. It’s my first time here, bring me around and get me familiarized with the island.”

The cultivator was actually the leader of a group of tour guides in the area. He was only overlooking the business and didn’t need to be an actual guide himself. Just as he was about to refuse, he saw the contents in the interspatial pouch and was taken aback.

He couldn’t help but quietly check Lu Ping with his divine sense, but he was shocked when his divine sense never returned anything to him. Beads of cold sweat immediately rolled down his cheeks when he saw Lu Ping smile back at him.

“I’m at senior’s command, “

He quickly lowered his body and respectfully spoke amidst the shocked gazes of the other tour guides. Then, he led Lu Ping towards the city center.

“Huh? Why is Big Brother Stone personally doing a tour-guide?”

“That’s right, Big Brother Stone isn’t a tour guide anymore, he doesn’t even service Peak Blood Condensation Realm cultivators.”

“Although we’re just tour guides, we have the Sky Cleaving Sword Sect backing us. What made Big Brother Stone so humble?”

“Maybe it’s because of the interspatial pouch? I bet there are at least 500 spirit stones inside, otherwise, Big Brother Stone wouldn’t have acted in such a manner.”

“I think that guy must be a big shot, so Big Brother Stone is rushing to befriend him.”

……

“So, it all started three months ago, from a fight between Crystal Palace’s adventuring disciples and Sky Cleaving Sword Sect’s patrolling disciples?”

Lu Ping asked.

Big Brother Stone was half a step behind Lu Ping, and answered, “Yes, the patrols found one of the Crystal Palace disciples acting strangely in the area, and quietly tracked him down. In the end they found a group of Crystal Palace disciples. When the Crystal Palace disciples noticed that they had been exposed, they set up a trap and tried to annihilate the patrolling disciples. Luckily a few managed to survive.”

“Dead people are the best at keeping secrets.” Lu Ping smiled and commented, “The Crystal Palace, huh, I would expect nothing less.”

Big Brother Stone was more relaxed after understanding that Lu Ping was clearly not fond of Crystal Palace either. Naturally, his subtle change in attitude didn’t escape Lu Ping’s eyes, but Lu Ping didn’t mind either.

The best guides were always the most well-informed cultivators in the area. While the guides were showing the foreign cultivators around, they were also quietly collecting information about the cultivator. This information would eventually end up in the hands of the local parties, allowing them to identify threats and ensure stability in the area.

Big Brother Stone continued to speak, “Exactly. However, the patrols had already notified the sect when they found the suspicious Crystal Palace disciple. So, help arrived while the Crystal Palace disciples were slaughtering the patrols, causing a huge battle to ensue.”

“What were the casualties on both sides?”

Big Brother Stone honestly replied, “No one knows. Both sects concealed the news and didn’t release any statements. But rumor has it that it was all because Crystal Palace found a hidden treasure in the outer waters. Now that it was impossible for Crystal Palace to secure the treasure by themselves, both sides reached an agreement to share the wealth evenly. Regardless of the truth, the rumor has attracted many cultivators to come to Silver Sword Island.”

Lu Ping naturally knew that the truth wasn’t that simple.

For instance, if the Crystal Palace disciples were really on a secret mission, why would there be a disciple wandering around by himself, and even attract unwanted attention? Clearly, there was another party that had disguised themselves as a Crystal Palace disciple and lured the Sky Cleaving Sword Sect patrols to the real Crystal Palace disciples. Finally, the rumor had spread too far too quickly.

Both Crystal Palace and Sky Cleaving Sword Sect must’ve also realized this, leading them to temporarily put aside their conflict to try and control the situation.

Lu Ping suddenly thought of Junior Uncle Liang Xuan-Feng who had told Lu Ping to meet him on Silver Sword Island two years ago. Lu Ping wondered if Junior Uncle Liang was the one responsible for this event?

Big Brother Stone brought Lu Ping around the island for two days and introduced the situation of the seas around the island. Although he was just an Early Blood Condensation Realm cultivator, he was incredibly knowledgeable about the island and the surrounding waters.

The outer waters were like buffer seas, inaccessible to weaker cultivators like Big Brother Stone. So, he must’ve learned the information from someone else.

…

In front of the entrance of an inn, Lu Ping suddenly stopped, and said, “You’ve done well. This is your payment, all the best in your cultivation.”

Big Brother Stone wasn’t surprised as he had seen things like this many times before. He received the two jade bottles from Lu Ping and expressed his gratitude. Then, he hurriedly left without turning back to see who Lu Ping was meeting.

After making sure Big Brother Stone had really left, Lu Ping smiled and shook his head. Whenever he encountered hard-working cultivators, he was always reminded of himself during his Blood Condensation Realm days. This made him subconsciously want to help them; today it was Big Brother Stone, in the past it was Three Clans Island’s Little Sima, and Qiu Yun Island’s server.

Lu Ping glanced at the hidden mark outside of the inn’s door and walked straight in.

…

“Kid, you really broke through to the Core Forging Realm?”

Enlightened Master Liang Xuan-Feng looked like he had seen a ghost after meeting Lu Ping.

On the other hand, Lu Ping froze when he saw a female Enlightened Master in the room. Lu Ping had seen her at the Melodious Inn during Li Xiu-Zhu’s disciple acceptance ceremony. The woman was actually Enlightened Master Mei’s second disciple.

After hearing the question, Lu Ping laughed, and answered, “Uncle, why make such a fuss, I was already in the Peak Blood Condensation Realm two years ago. It’s not unusual to break through two years later. Uncle, shouldn’t you introduce your friend?”

Two years ago, Enlightened Master Liang Xuan-Feng had only casually mentioned the breakthrough to Lu Ping, similar to words of encouragement. He had never thought that Lu Ping would actually be able to break through to the Core Forging Realm, let alone reach the peak of the First Layer so quickly!

Enlightened Master Liang immediately wanted to caution Lu Ping not to neglect his foundation in return for faster progress as his senior, but he quickly noticed that Lu Ping’s foundation was extremely solid.

After hearing Lu Ping’s question, Enlightened Master Liang suddenly paused and looked back.

The female Enlightened Master in the room smiled, and said, “Isn’t this the famous Alchemist Lu Jiu, who attended my sixth sister’s disciple acceptance ceremony?”

Lu Ping smiled, “It was a last-minute invitation. Although I saw you at the ceremony, I still don’t know your name and how to address you.”

The lady politely introduced herself, “I am the second disciple under Enlightened Master Mei, Zhu Xuan-Meng.”

When Lu Ping heard that her name also consisted of “Xuan”, he couldn’t help but turn his head to look at Enlightened Master Liang, only to see him staring dumbfounded at the answer. Lu Ping returned the salute and greeted back, “Greetings, Fellow Daoist Zhu! “

Liang Xuan-Feng finally came back to his senses, waved his hand in amusement, and said, “All right, all right, don’t put on so many false pretenses. Both of you address me as your uncle so you’re both my juniors, just address each other as martial sister and brother.”

Lu Ping’s intuition told him that Enlightened Master Liang was trying to cover something, the look on his face had been very strange. However, Lu Ping also knew that his junior martial uncle wouldn’t harm him.

Furthermore, Enlightened Master Zhu was stronger and looked older than him, so it wasn’t strange to address her as a senior martial sister. Hence, he said, “Greetings, Senior Sister Zhu.”

The reason he addressed her as “Senior Sister Zhu” rather than “Senior Sister Xuan-Meng” was because only disciples from the same sect could address each other with their first names.

Zhu Xuan-Meng had also clearly noticed Enlightened Master Liang’s strange behavior. However, she still nodded and greeted back, “Greetings, Junior Brother Lu.”

Although they had noticed Enlightened Master Liang acting strangely, they both hadn’t noticed the mischievous smirk in his eyes.