Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-318

Whilst Hong Ying was eating with his guests, Lu Ping and Chilian Ying were in the cave-dwelling.

Back when Chilian Ying had just broken through to the Core Forging Realm, she didn’t even wait to consolidate her cultivation base before already returning to Wave Listening Island with Yue Jiang-Rui and the others. Lu Ping didn’t think too much into the matter at that time, but now he eventually realized that something wasn’t right.

Especially after returning to Wave Listening Island and hearing about Chilian Ying’s personality change, from an open and active individual to quiet and reclusive.

"So, what happened?" Lu Ping looked into her eyes and asked.

In front of him, Chilian Ying was still her usual casual and unrestrained self. However, her eyes were now covered in a layer of confusion, pain, and sadness.

"My soul… was searched!"

Lu Ping was stunned. He could clearly feel the deep anger brewing underneath Chilian Ying’s calm expression.

Soul-searching techniques were an invasion of another’s mind and memories. These techniques can only extract memories in small fragments, rather than obtain everything and hence they often cause irreparable brain damage or even death.

As a result, Chilian Ying experience was definitely a rarity. Not only did she manage to survive without a scratch, she even made it to the Core Forging Realm.

Seeing Lu Ping’s shocked expression, Chilian Ying finally smiled, and said, "Although I didn’t become an idiot, I did lose all of my memories until I managed to advance to the Core Forging Realm."

Lu Ping calmed down, and asked, "When did that happen?"

Chilian Ying’s gaze wavered as she tried to recall the information, "Probably 30, or even 40 years ago, I can’t remember it very well. What I do know is that I was by Aunt Mei’s side all the time, with Sister Xuan-Meng taking care of me like a mother. I re-learned everything, including cultivation. During my advancement to the Core Forging Realm, fragments of old memories suddenly appeared in my mind, but I can’t remember them clearly."

Lu Ping suggested, "Perhaps Enlightened Master Mei and Senior Sister Zhu Xuan-Meng might know something."

A hint of pain appeared on Chilian Ying’s face, "They do, they’ve appeared several times in my fragmented memories."

Lu Ping asked in surprise, "You… are you suspecting them? That’s why you hurriedly left Melodious Inn and returned to Wave Listening Island?"

Chilian Ying answered frankly, "They have been taking care of me for as long as I can remember, and have done everything possible for me. But, I just can’t bring myself to be close to them. Equally, Sister Xuan-Meng appeared to be keeping a distance from me as well, while Aunt Mei was even colder to me. Sometimes, I could see the strange expressions on their faces when they looked at me. Even though they taught me everything, they didn’t take me under their lineage. Hence, I left when I entered the Blood Condensation Realm; it’s as if some part of me didn’t want to stay near them."

Lu Ping thought for a moment, before shaking his head, "They might know about it, but that doesn’t mean that they are related to the matter. By the way, if Chilian Ying is just your alias, what’s your real name?"

Chilian Ying shook her head, "Aunt Mei and Sister Xuan-Meng both called me Ying, they never told me my full name even when I asked. As time passed I stopped asking and the distance between us widened even more, eventually ending up in me leaving."

Lu Ping sighed, "After you advanced to the Core Forging Realm, what did you find in the memory fragments?"

Chilian Ying shook her head again, "Just some fleeting images, there are some other people, but I don’t recognize them at all, they could be anybody, maybe even my parents, but I have no idea."

She went on to describe the few people in her memory fragments. Lu Ping listened to her and his brows became furrowed. Chilian Ying noticed his expression, her heart thumped as she couldn’t help but ask, "You… know something about them?"

Lu Ping’s expression changed. He pondered for a moment, and said, "Maybe, but I’m not sure. If they are really who I think they are, your true identity is… complicated…"

…

For some time, the Three Clans Alliance and its 27 mini islands remained in peace. However, everyone knew that this was just the calm before the storm.

Lu Ping sat solemnly in his room, focusing on a spirit pearl in front of him. His divine revelation was compressed into thin threads as he meticulously engraved the Mystical Inscription inside of the pearl.

The Mystical Inscription was extremely complex, such that a single error could lead to failure, and result in him having to start all over again. Lu Ping’s divine revelation was being rapidly consumed, his face turned pale and he was soaked in his sweat, but he didn’t dare to move in the slightest for fear of making a mistake.

Finally, as he finished drawing the last of the 36 array formations, the formations were activated, linking together to form a Mystical Inscription.

Lu Ping ignored the feeble feeling caused by the exhaustion of his divine revelation, and looked happily at the pearl in front of him. The pearl was suspended in mid-air, glowing with various colors and containing incredible power.

The spirit pearl suddenly flew into Lu Ping’s chest and disappeared.

Inside his heartspace, his Golden Core was engraved with two mysterious runes, while eleven spirit pearls orbited the Golden Core. His true energy was ebbing like waves, nurturing the spirit pearls and the Golden Core.

Suddenly, another spirit pearl barged into the heartspace and joined the other eleven spirit pearls in orbiting around the Golden Core. The heartspace quivered whilst the Mystical Inscriptions in the spirit pearls glowed brightly, forming a connection between them.

The spiritual energy in the room was instantly drained away, despite the fact that there were now five mini spirit veins supplying the spiritual energy on the island, with Lu Ping’s cultivation room given the greatest supply.

Qiao Wei-Ying, who was cultivating in another room, opened his eyes and looked in the direction of Lu Ping’s room. He shook his head helplessly, and murmured, "What a freak."

Chilian Ying laid back in her room, stretching her body, "Bah, I don’t feel like cultivating anymore, this is the perfect excuse for me to rest!"

In the heartspace, the twelve spirit pearls suddenly drained a massive amount of spiritual energy, while the slightly dimmer second rune on the Golden Core shone brightly. Then, both runes moved on the surface of the Golden Core acting as if they had gained sentience.

These runes originated from the three bloodlines that a cultivator absorbed during the Blood Condensation Realm. In the Core Forging Realm, these runes would manifest on the Golden Core as the cultivator progressed in their cultivation. Then, in the Avatar Realm, these runes and the Golden Core would eventually become the Great Ancestors’ Avatars.

The adventure to Chong Xuan’s Dojo was extremely fruitful. Not only did he obtain great gains, even more importantly, he gained the battling experience of fighting with many Enlightened Masters. As a result, his insights in the Core Forging Realm were propelled , giving him a clear understanding of the cultivation realm and his strength.

Hence, not long after Luan Yu’s advancement to the Core Forging Realm, Lu Ping also broke through to the Second Layer Core Forging Realm and forged the second rune on his Golden Core.

Afterwards, Lu Ping started working on upgrading his nascent mystic instruments into nascent mystic treasures. However, the Mystical Inscription was formed by 36 exquisite array formations, so he had to engrave a Mystical Inscription in all twelve Primordial Stars in order to upgrade them!

As he finished engraving the last Primordial Star with the Mystical Inscription, his nascent weapons were finally upgraded into mystic treasures. The Primordial Stars were transcending, resonating with his Golden Core and stimulating it to absorb a massive wave of spiritual energy to be refined into true energy. This process also helped consolidate his newly advanced Second Layer Core Forging Realm cultivation base.

Feeling the great power inside the Primordial Stars, Lu Ping couldn’t help but smile. This was his biggest confidence in eradicating the Wang Clan without Maiden Pavilion’s help!

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Editor: Immortal BloodRogue