Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-349-30041322

"I wonder how many monster infiltrators there will be? And how many clans have taken action?" Liang Xuan-Feng turned around to ask.

Guo Xuan-Shan sneered coldly, "Of course they will, they have no choice. The monster invasion is just a cover for the monster infiltrators—the real goal is to ruin the Avatar Forum and crush Zhen Ling Sect’s morale to the ground. Best if they can kill one or two important figures, that will surely bring down their reputation. But that’s the most they can do. This is a suicidal mission, they’ll need to do more than this to destroy the Zhen Ling Sect. Great Ancestors are kept in check by their peers and we cannot interfere directly, but we are not easy targets that can be trifled with."

Liang Xuan-Feng smiled. "Well said. Let’s head out, we’ll be the last line of defense should the clans fail to stop the infiltrators."

A soft breeze swept across the hall and Liang Xuan-Feng was already outside. Guo Xuan-Shan nodded at Li Xuan-Yin, then sunk into the floor and disappeared. If Dabao was here, he would be amazed to see someone else who was much more proficient than him in [Earth Escape].

Meanwhile, Li Xuan-Yin had also disappeared like a ghost, as if he had never been there in the first place.

Lu Ping walked out of the hall and reached the teleportation formation. He noticed that in his team, there was also a group of side hall disciples led by two Blood Condensation Realm disciples, and about twenty Blood Condensation Realm disciples from the sect’s subordinate clans and rogue cultivators.

When they saw Lu Ping, they all respectfully stepped aside and left the center spot for him. Lu Ping smiled back gently at them, then walked to the center.

Then, the crowd was teleported away amidst the roar of the teleportation formation. This time, Lu Ping didn’t feel dizzy, instead surrounding himself with his divine revelation and indulging in the fantastical experience of teleportation.

Following a beam of bright white light that descended on the teleportation formation, they landed on an island. Before they could regain their bearings, they could already hear numerous battle cries and spiritual energies chaotically rampaging around the island.

The side hall disciples, who were new to actual battlefields, were excited and anxious at the same time, while the Blood Condensation Realm disciples were much calmer, showing that they were experienced combatants.

Lu Ping spread out his divine revelation which could encompass more than half of the island, then quickly frowned when he couldn’t find Qu Xuan-Cheng presence. Shortly after, he picked up two familiar auras. Overjoyed, he hurriedly flew towards the center of the island.

The Blood Condensation Realm disciples that came with him also scattered from the island in different directions to support the others. Led by their two Blood Condensation Realm Master Immortals, the side hall disciples formed two parties and assembled in the Three Essence Five Element Formation. They steadily marched to the battlefield to the northeast and southeast.

At the top of the mountain, inside Qu Xuan-Cheng’s cave-dwelling, Chen Lian noticed Lu Ping’s arrival. From afar, he could be heard laughingly say, "Junior Brother, who would’ve thought you’d be the one to come!"

Lu Ping replied, "Perhaps it’s because I’m familiar with this area. Where is Junior Uncle Qu?"

Chen Lian said helplessly, "Senior Uncle Qu’s irritable temperament predetermined that he would leave the island, so he already went off to fight. I’m left behind to safeguard the area."

Lu Ping frowned. "You and Junior Uncle Qu are the island’s only two Enlightened Masters?"

Chen Lian nodded. "How many more do you want? The frontline is stretched from north to south across thirty-seven small islands. Each of these islands is stationed with at least one Enlightened Master. Xuan Qi Island has two because of its southernmost position and rich island resources that will surely attract the heaviest attack from the monster race. We’re already the most defensive and well-equipped island out here."

Lu Ping nodded in understanding. "What’s the situation now?"

Turning serious, Chen Lian said, "The invasion came quick and fierce, but the island is still holding up. Otherwise, Senior Uncle Qu wouldn’t have left the island. With reinforcements arriving, things will quickly improve. However, the island’s protective formation is greatly exhausted. Junior Sister Hu and a few others have been maintaining the protective formation’s operation. You can go and have a look first, I’ll head down and help those outside the island. I predict that some monster Enlightened Masters will soon arrive, and we’ll be too busy to help at that time."

As Chen Lian walked out of the cave-dwelling, he suddenly turned to throw three items back at Lu Ping. "The mystic treasures I’ve upgraded for you. You’ll probably need them later."

Lu Ping happily inspected them. They were Landslide, Water Specter Sword, and the Spirit Mediate Pendant.

Lu Ping nodded at the other then flew into the depths of the cave-dwelling. Chen Lian turned into a fiery blaze and flew towards the east.

Enlightened Master Qu Xuan-Cheng’s cave-dwelling had two sections; the inner section was his personal cultivation room, and the outer section consisted of the living room and also the chamber in which the island’s protective formation chassis was set up.

Xuan Qi Island’s formation chassis was twice as large as the one from the Li Clan’s Flying Lightning Island. Naturally, the chassis had more mystical patterns and they were also more intricate. Consequently, the protective formation required more spirit stones to operate.

More than two hundred mid-grade spirit stones were spread out on the outer rim of the chassis, with one high-grade spirit stone inlaid in the center surrounded by four other high-grade spirit stones. These spirit stones powered the protective formation through the chassis.

At present, Hu Lili and three other Late Blood Condensation Realm female disciples were looking after the chassis. From time to time, there would be spirit stones disintegrating to dust from depletion, which the disciples would then promptly replace with new ones.

Hu Lili saw Lu Ping enter the chamber and her face lit up, but the pair restrained themselves because of the others in the room. The disciples also noticed Lu Ping; they turned around to greet him but were quickly stopped by Lu Ping who gestured to them to spare the formalities and continue their duties.

Then, the female disciples realized he was here for Hu Lili. They chuckled teasingly and stepped aside to leave some space for the two.

Lu Ping looked at Hu Lili’s blushing red face, greeting softly in a gentle voice, "How’s the protective formation?"

Hu Lili frowned and also replied softly, "The monster invasion is attacking fiercely. The protective formation is still operational, but the spirit stones are depleting quickly."

Lu Ping nodded lightly, then asked, "Do you have enough spirit stones?"

Hu Lili calculated the possible scenarios, then answered, "At this rate, we’ll last about two days. This is considering that we have continuous reinforcements and the monster invasion doesn’t intensify."

Just as she spoke, a loud bang could be heard outside of the island. Immediately, half of the spirit stones on the chassis exploded into dust, including two of the five high-grade spirit stones.

Hu Lili exclaimed in shock and hurriedly replaced the spirit stones together with the other three female disciples, exclaiming to Lu Ping, "It’s a monster Enlightened Master!"

Lu Ping nodded quietly. He handed Hu Lili an interspatial pouch, then flew out of the island to the south where the loud noise had come from.

A second loud bang suddenly rang out and the ladies in the cave-dwelling rushed to replace another round of spirit stones.

Lu Ping’s divine revelation that covered more than half of the island quickly locked onto a monster Enlightened Master in the south, just outside of the protective formation.

The two consecutive attacks had succeeded in breaching the protective formation, but the backlash had stunned the monster Enlightened Master, stopping him from entering the island.

However, several Blood Condensation Realm monsters still managed to slip in through the opening in the split second before they recovered. These monsters were quickly intercepted by the Zhen Ling Sect disciples who were stationed on the island for a situation like this.

The monster Enlightened Master then noticed Lu Ping’s arrival—he stopped attacking and turned vigilant.

Meanwhile, Hu Lili opened the interspatial pouch Lu Ping had given her and breathed in sharply—there were a total of five thousand mid-grade spirit stones inside. They wouldn’t have to worry about the protective formation anymore.

When Lu Ping reached the shore, the island disciples had killed three of the Blood Condensation Realm monsters, trapped six others, but the remaining five were too powerful to restrain, and had even killed two of the disciples.

These five Blood Condensation Realm monsters pushed back the island disciples, then quickly turned back to attack the protective formation. The monsters outside were also attacking the same spot in an attempt to break the protective formation from both sides.

Suddenly, before the five Blood Condensation Realm monsters could attack, a murderous aura descended upon them and pressed them to the ground, while a golden light flashed past them and cut their bodies in half.

In contrast to the island disciples cheering loudly, the monster Enlightened Master let out an angry roar. Then, he spread out his divine revelation to taunt Lu Ping to come out of the protective formation and fight.

Lu Ping smirked coldly, then used his divine revelation to bash against the monster Enlightened Master’s divine revelation like a hammer.

Dong—

The monster Enlightened Master didn’t expect Lu Ping’s divine revelation to be this strong. He felt an intense pain in his head and let out a painful moan. The pain wasn’t enough to dull his thoughts, and he knew clearly that things wouldn’t go his way anymore.

In just a split second, Lu Ping’s Golden Scale Sword was already closing on his throat!

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Editor: MilkBiscuit