Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-294

Chapter 294: Great Ancestor Chong Xuan

“Junior Uncle, who is she?”

Lu Ping used his divine revelation and transmitted the question directly into Liang Xuan-Feng’s ears.

At the same time, Zhu Xuan-Meng also asked him, “Junior Uncle, is Alchemist Lu Jiu with you?”

Enlightened Master Liang suddenly felt a headache. For a moment, he really considered confessing the truth, but he suddenly remembered the horrible people behind them and felt a chill run down his spine.

Clearing his throat, he ignored their questions and quickly said, “Come now, since you two decided to help, then let’s plan out our strategy and get a share of the treasure from Crystal Palace and Sky Cleaving Sword Sect…”

“So Junior Uncle is the mastermind behind the conflict? How impressive!” Lu Ping’s eyes lit up with a trace of excitement and admiration.

Seeing this, Enlightened Master Liang answered proudly, “That’s right, I lured the patrols to expose Crystal Palace’s plan.”

Then, Lu Ping asked, “Junior Uncle, what is Crystal Palace doing there? Are the rumors true? The hidden treasures, could it be the heritage of an ancient cultivator?”

Enlightened Master Liang pondered for a moment and said, “Have you ever heard of Great Ancestor Chong Xuan?”

Lu Ping and Zhu Xuan-Meng were both taken aback, and the latter answered, “One of the few survivors from the annihilation of Fei Ling Sect, North Ocean’s number one Grandmaster Smith. Is that him?”

Lu Ping looked at Zhu Xuan-Meng with surprise, not expecting she would be so familiar with matters in the North Ocean. This also deepened his suspicion of Enlightened Master Mei, but he could see that Enlightened Master Liang had his reasons to conceal the truth. In the end, he decided not to probe.

Is it possible that Enlightened Master Mei is Junior Uncle Liang’s mistress in the East Ocean?

As soon as the thought appeared, Lu Ping shook his head to get rid of the absurd notion. As far as he knew, Enlightened Master Liang didn’t have any partners in the North Ocean, so there was no reason for him to hide a love interest.

Meanwhile, Enlightened Master Liang was nodding in agreement. “After surviving the Fei Ling Sect’s destruction, Great Ancestor Chong Xuan fled to the East Ocean. Since then, he has been active in the southern region, establishing his fame with his smith mastery.”

Lu Ping was puzzled and asked, “Wasn’t Great Ancestor Chong Xuan afraid of exposing himself to the North Ocean sects?”

Enlightened Master Liang continued, “He tried to gather the remaining survivors to continue the legacy of Fei Ling Sect. While he was the best Grandmaster Smith at the time, he was not a good leader, and the plan to revive Fei Ling Sect failed terribly. For decades, Great Ancestor Chong Xuan achieved nothing, and his activity in the East Ocean caught the attention of the North Ocean instead.”

“In the end, Great Ancestor Chong Xuan finally realized that he would never be able to restore the Fei Ling Sect. In desperation, he went mad and announced that if anyone were to bring him the head of a North Ocean cultivator, he would forge something of equal value.”

Lu Ping drew a sharp breath and said, “What a vicious plan.”

Enlightened Master Liang nodded his head and continued, “During that time, a large number of North Ocean cultivators were killed. By the time the North Ocean sects realized what was happening, more than thirty Enlightened Masters had already fallen in the East Ocean. East Ocean cultivators are generally stronger than their northern counterparts, and the killers acted in their own names, so it was nigh impossible for the North Ocean sects to track them down.

“In the end, several Great Ancestors from the North Ocean sects had to personally go to the East Ocean, tracking and taking down Great Ancestor Chong Xuan. However, Great Ancestor Chong Xuan was killed elsewhere, and no one knows where his dojo was located, even to this today.”

Lu Ping frowned and asked, “Then how did Crystal Palace find out?”

“It was the Ocean Overturning Gang.”

“The Ocean Overturning Gang?” Lu Ping frowned even more, “How did they dig up the dojo’s whereabouts when they mainly operate in the North Ocean?”

Enlightened Master Liang solemnly nodded. “Ocean Overturning Gang has been shamelessly scavenging the resources in the North Ocean, but with Crystal Palace as their backer, the sects are hesitant to intervene. In the end, they chose to focus on their own territories’ resources, while Ocean Overturning Gang continues to scavenge everywhere else. Who knew they’d find clues about Great Ancestor Chong Xuan’s dojo in the East Ocean?”

Enlightened Master Liang saw that Lu Ping was still puzzled, and he explained further, “Remember the Fei Ling Island that you were on before?”

Lu Ping asked, “Was a clue found on Fei Ling Island?”

Enlightened Master Liang Xuan-Feng nodded. “The jade scroll was found on Fei Ling Island, which confirms that in his youth, Great Ancestor Chong Xuan once set up a cave-dwelling in the East Ocean. The location aligns with the area he was most active during that time, so Crystal Palace believes that he has expanded the secret cave-dwelling into a dojo.”

Having understood the general story, Lu Ping smiled and said, “Junior Uncle Liang really is capable. You gathered this news just in time to ruin Crystal Palace’s plan.”

Enlightened Master Liang smiled smugly. “The Zhen Ling Sect’s reach may not stretch as far as the Crystal Palace in other oceanic regions, but we do have our own bases and sources of information.”

Lu Ping pondered for a moment, then said solemnly, “What kind of heaven and earth wonder item is Junior Uncle looking for this time?”

Because of Enlightened Master Liang’s intervention, it was impossible for Crystal Palace and Sky Cleaving Sword Sect to secure all the treasures in the dojo anymore. Even though the two sects could eventually secure a large portion, they would still have to give in to public pressure and share part of it with the East Ocean cultivators.

Hence, the three of them needed to be clear of their goal and carefully formulate a plan to achieve it.

Enlightened Master Liang attitude became businesslike as he replied, “Great Ancestor Chong Xuan had four treasures that made him the best Grandmaster Smith. The first was a high-grade mystic treasure named after him, the Chong Xuan Furnace; the second an Earth-class high-grade wonder fire, Purple Garden Fire; the third a Heaven-class low-grade wonder water, the Mystical Heavy Water; and the fourth was a Heaven-class low-grade Heavenly Wind Leaf.”

Enlightened Master Liang paused for a moment, then said enthusiastically, “The Heavenly Wind Leaf is what I’m after. With it, I can break through to the Late Core Forging Realm and refine my Golden Core to the seventh rank. By then, my path to the Avatar Realm will be clear, and my chances of entering the Mid Avatar Realm a high possibility. I could even attempt the Late Avatar Realm.”

Zhu Xuan-Meng and Lu Ping exchanged a look, both waiting for Enlightened Master Liang to calm down a little before asking, “Junior Uncle, once the dojo is opened, how can we get to the Heavenly Wind Leaf before the others?”

Enlightened Master Liang merely smiled and said, “Don’t worry about that. I wouldn’t come here unprepared. I’ve cultivated a minute divine ability which helps locate any wonder winds nearby, that’s how we’ll find it first.

“As a Grandmaster Smith, Great Ancestor Chong Xuan had a lot of other treasures in the dojo aside from the wonder items, even part of the Fei Ling Sect’s heritage. Your share of the treasure will depend on your own fortune and capabilities.”

Lu Ping’s greatest concern was the number of cultivators flooding the dojo, and others might find the wonder wind before them. So, after hearing of Enlightened Master Liang’s ability and that he’d already devised his own plans, he breathed a sigh of relief.

With the mention of Fei Ling Sect’s heritage in the dojo, however, his attitude quickly turned to excitement. He then asked, “Junior Uncle, since Great Ancestor Chong Xuan used the four treasures in his smith, wouldn’t they be stored together? So, if we find the Heavenly Wind Leaf, we might also find the other three together, right?”

Zhu Xuan-Meng’s eyes lit up, while Liang Xuan-Feng pointed at Lu Ping and laughed. “Hahaha, I knew you’d think like that. No wonder Senior Br—…he recommended you to your teacher.”

Lu Ping asked puzzledly, “They’re not together?”

Enlightened Master Liang stopped laughing and explained, “Let me teach you something new today. The heaven and earth wonder items are natural objects that have spiritualities born within. They are rare and prestigious, like kings are to humans. And the one thing about kings, is that they can only be at peace in the same place for a short time. If they stay together for too long, they will fight, and fight, then devour each other’s spiritualities until only one survives. The stronger the wonder items, the more space they will need. Hence, Great Ancestor Chong Xuan would never put his three wonder items close together.”

Lu Ping never knew about this before. It was fortunate that his Azure Spirit Fire was always stored in his interspatial ring and the Soul Nurturing Wood was not anywhere close to the peach tree monster’s Psychic Wood. However, the nameless spirit water in the Million Poisons Pulp was also in the Tome of Thousand Millets; he wondered if it would clash with the Psychic Wood.

While Lu Ping was deep in thought, Liang Xuan-Feng and Zhu Xuan-Meng had no clue that Lu Ping, a newly-advanced Enlightened Master, actually had four pieces of wonder items with him!