Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-341-30041322

Lu Ping, Great Ancestor Liu Tian-Ling’s ninth disciple, recently returned after years of being missing, who was now a Third Layer Core Forging Realm Enlightened Master; he was now challenging the Li Clan Head Li Xuan-Liang, who was a Mid Core Forging Realm Enlightened Master.

What’s more, Lu Ping was the one issuing the challenge!

At his declaration, not only the Li Clan, but everyone else watching the situation were dumbstruck.

"How dare you!"

Infuriated, Li Xuan-Liang retorted, "You may have worked hard to achieve the Core Forging Realm at your age, but you’re still too young and naïve! Do you know how high the disparity is between the Early and Mid Core Forging Realms? Take back your words while you can, this is my advice to you as a senior. Don’t think too highly of yourself just because you excel in cultivation progress—this is a cruel world that speaks with strength more than talent!"

On the surface, Li Xuan-Liang seemed confident, but he was actually quite wary of the situation. After all, Lu Ping was Great Ancestor Liu Tian-Ling’s official disciple, and he knew just how domineering she could be.

One such incident had occurred thirty years ago which had shaken up the entire North Ocean. Zhen Ling Sect and the other sects worked hard to cover up the matter, but those who experienced it could never forget how terrifying she was!

Lu Ping responded by drawing out the Golden Scale Sword from thin air, pointing its tip at Li Xuan-Liang.

The Golden Scale Sword had been engraved with two more Mystical Inscriptions, and now had a total of three. This vastly altered the sword’s appearance, so Lu Ping no longer had to worry that anyone would recognize it as Enlightened Master Jin Li’s nascent flying sword.

Seeing that Lu Ping turned a deaf ear to his words, even pointing his sword with killing intent, Li Xuan-Liang’s face contorted in extreme anger.

"You… you…! Fine, I’ll teach you a lesson, even if it might offend Great Ancestor Tian-Ling. You’ll know the true difference between our realms!"

Lu Ping watched Li Xuan-Liang’s pretentious manner and suddenly laughed.

Time after time, Li Xuan-Liang would posture himself as a victim while bringing attention to Great Ancestor Liu Tian-Ling’s support for Lu Ping. He gave out a mix of impressions: one part confident in his ability to defeat Lu Ping, one part fearful of Great Ancestor Liu Tian-Ling’s retaliation.

It was true that his teacher was protective, but Lu Ping was the one challenging the Li Clan, so he would have to accept whatever the outcome would be. In other words, Great Ancestor Liu Tian-Ling wouldn’t step in unless the Li Clan crossed the line.

This led to Lu Ping wondering—Why is he still so afraid of Teacher? Was there some precedent where Teacher reacted aggressively then?

He considered this briefly, then immediately mused, In any case, she would only do it for her disciples. One must be grateful instead of having other thoughts.

Li Xuan-Liang cast up a mystic treasure and unleashed his Mid Core Forging Realm’s immense aura. Behind him, the Li Clan members retreated and cleared the space for the fight.

Li Xuan-Liang looked solemn, he didn’t dare to let his guard down. After all, Lu Ping was Great Ancestor Liu Tian-Ling’s disciple and had made the challenge, so he must have something up his sleeves as well.

After seeing that his opponent was ready, Lu Ping then looked at his feet. Immediately, Li Xuan-Liang’s heart thudded, he thought of something and just as he was about to speak, the Golden Scale Sword split into a giant light sword that slashed towards him.

Li Xuan-Liang exclaimed in shock, "Sword Unity! Mini sword divine ability!"

His words caused an uproar amongst the Li Clan members. Li Xuan-Wu was in utter shock, Li Cheng gazed deeply in jealousy, Li Zi-Ming hid himself deeper in the crowd, and Li Yu was… shivering in fear?!

At the same time, more divine revelations appeared to observe the situation. Even they were in turmoil and rapidly exchanging information. Several divine senses pulled back and stopped looking as the mini divine ability’s power had exceeded their capabilities. Only the Enlightened Masters’ divine revelations could withstand looking at it directly.

Li Xuan-Liang now knew the battle was going to be difficult, but he remained confident. He too had cultivated a divine ability of his own.

His mystic treasure quivered, and a cloud-piercing shadow clashed with the giant light sword.

However, the shadow only managed to weaken the sword before the blade slashed it apart. Li Xuan-Liang felt a slight disappointment; although his nascent mystic treasure’s power was not a mini divine ability, he had a cultivation layer advantage, so he expected it to perform better.

Sword skills—they were worthy of being called the most powerful attacks in the cultivation world!

Meanwhile, the giant light sword continued towards Li Xuan-Liang. A turtle-shell shield mystic treasure appeared in front of him, followed by a red and green light barrier that merged with the shield.

It was a mini protective divine ability!

The Li Clan members’ hearts were eased; the clan head also had a mini divine ability!

However, Lu Ping only smiled mockingly when he saw Li Xuan-Liang taking a defensive stance.

In the next moment, the giant light sword hit the shield and light barrier, and Li Xuan-Liang’s face changed drastically, not because the mini sword divine ability was too powerful, but because it was almost powerless!

In that moment Li Xuan-Liang realized it was a trick—the giant light sword had split into more than a thousand spiritual sword lights, all raining down towards the Flying Lightning Island’s protective formation beneath his feet.

Despite Li Xuan-Liang’s quick reactions and best efforts, he only managed to stop less than two hundred of the spiritual sword lights.

In the Li Clan’s Ancestral Hall, half of the spirit stones on the formation chassis had been broken by the Kui Water Yin Lightning. Then, when the spiritual sword lights barraged the protective formation, half of the remaining spirit stones were broken again. In the end, about twenty mid-grade spirit stones and five high-grade spirit stones were left to power the protective formation.

Li Xuan-Liang shouted at the Li Clan members, "Host the protective formation, it mustn’t break!"

Immediately, Li Cheng flew back into the island to the Ancestral Hall.

At this time, Li Xuan-Liang realized Lu Ping’s main goal was not to challenge him, but to break Flying Lightning Island’s protective formation. He mustn’t let that happen!

The Golden Scale Sword drew a circle in the air and 1,296 spiritual sword lights filled the blank space once more. As the sword moved, the sword lights swarmed in and they formed a Sword Jiao, lunging towards Li Xuan-Liang.

Another mini sword divine ability!

As Lu Ping’s sword intent progressed to Sword Unity, he was not only one step away from achieving great sword divine ability, it also enabled him to cast the [True Origin One Essence Sword Art] and [Green Jiao Sea Haunting Art] to the level of a mini divine ability.

This time, even Li Xuan-Liang’s pupils shrunk in shock. He hastily cast up his nascent mystic treasure with a vortex of spiritual energy and launched it towards the incoming Sword Jiao.

In response, the Sword Jiao slightly lowered its head, angling its horn at Li Xuan-Liang’s mystic treasure.

Dinggg——

The mystic treasure was deflected away, while the Sword Jiao slowed down momentarily before it picked up speed and lunged again to shatter the mystic treasure.

Li Xuan-Liang quickly recalled the mystic treasure back to him while he strode forward. The sky suddenly darkened, followed by a flash of eerie blue light. The Kui Water Yin Lightning struck down on Li Xuan-Liang, who was still guarded by his mini protective divine ability.

Li Xuan-Liang’s expression changed. He didn’t think it was wise to take the brunt of the lightning attack, not to mention that such attacks were known for their destructive powers. Hence, Li Xuan-Ling slid to the side, while the lightning traveled past him and struck the ground.

Not good!

A look of alarm crossed his face, but it was too late now; the lightning had struck the island’s protective formation. At this time, Li Cheng was just in front of the Ancestral Hall, so there was no one looking after the formation yet. Not surprisingly, the lightning attack became the final stroke that broke the protective formation.

Right after the island’s protective formation was disabled, a fat mouse miraculously appeared from below a floor tile inside the hall. It skimmed the surroundings to make sure that no one was around.

Then, it spit out a mid-grade spirit stone on the floor, pressed on the spirit stone, cast out its dim yellow arcane energy, and sunk it into the ground without breaking the tiles.

The fat mouse scampered all around the hall, planting mid-grade spirit stones one after another into the ground without leaving any traces behind. Its movements were systematic and rhythmic, as if it had long been prepared for this already.

In the end, a total of 144 mid-grade spirit stones were planted in the Ancestral Hall, forming a hidden array formation in the hall.

The fat mouse vigilantly looked at the door, then it rushed back to where it entered, hopped up and dived down into the tile, then miraculously disappeared without a trace.

Right after it left, a man descended from the sky—it was Li Cheng who came to host the protective formation. Somehow, he instinctively noticed something strange about the hall, but nothing seemed to have changed at all. Everything was the same as when they left.

But quickly, he shook his head and left this thought behind; this was not the time to ponder. Their top priority was to restore the broken formation, so the rest can wait.

With the protective formation now broken, the aftershocks from the two Enlightened Masters fighting above the island could easily crush the island’s properties. The resulting damage could be significant, so the Li Clan naturally wanted to avoid this.

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Editor: MilkBiscuit