Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-356-30041322

Jiang Xuan-Xuan’s eyes lit up in a flash of silver light, and she said happily, "You’re Ninth Senior Brother’s little Luan! You’ve advanced to the Core Forging Realm and taken on a full human form!"

Clearly, the silver light was also a type of divine ability, allowing her to see through Lu Qin’s identity.

Lu Qin tilted her head softly and hummed, as if it was only natural that she advanced to Core Forging Realm.

"Come, come, let’s play! Tian Ling Mountain is so boring andI have no friends here. You’ll be my best friend! Father has a fruit tree and it’s already bearing fruits, so let’s go steal some. I promise no one will be able to catch us."

In just a few moments, the two girls had become close and happily left together to play. Lu Ping shook his head and continued walking forward.

In the back hall, Great Ancestor Liu Tian-Ling was already waiting for him.

Lu Ping greeted his teacher, who looked at him and said, "You’ve improved a lot in these three years. I was still worrying that you’d lose yourself amidst your fast cultivation progress. It seems that I’ve worried too much."

Lu Ping thanked the teacher for her concern, and she suddenly asked, "Here for the sect’s rewards?"

Lu Ping was taken aback, not expecting his teacher to raise the topic first, He continued to smile and answered straightforwardly, "Yes, Teacher’s foresight is divine."

Great Ancestor Liu Tian-Ling smiled. "I’m not divine, it’s you who are being calculative. You may be generous to others, but I know you won’t let yourself be wronged. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have waited three years to take your rewards!"

Lu Ping knew the teacher had seen through his little plan. With an awkward smile and a red face, he said, "Teacher is perceptive, so surely my trivial little trick couldn’t deceive you."

Great Ancestor Liu Tian-Ling casually waved her hand, the empty space in front of him rippled and a metal token flew out from within. Lu Ping carefully received the token while the rippling space returned to normal immediately.

The teacher said, "Your wait wasn’t wasted. Your name and deeds have spread across the North Ocean these past three years; the sect has noticed your influence and accounted it towards your compensation. It’s your turn now, so prove your worth and be rewarded accordingly."

After leaving Chong Hua Palace, Lu Ping was still puzzled; did this mean the sect hadn’t finalized his rewards yet?

Lu Ping crossed the lake and upon arriving at the shore, saw Second Senior Sister Li Xuan-Ru standing patiently waiting for him. Surprised, Lu Ping quickly greeted her.

Li Xuan-Ru met him with a smile. "Junior Brother, are you heading to receive the sect’s reward?"

"Senior Sister, how did you know?"

Li Xuan-Ru chuckled happily at seeing his awkward smile. "I’ve heard Teacher talking about it before. Junior Brother, may I ask where you plan to use the token?"

"The sect notified me beforehand, and Teacher gave me a token," Lu Ping answered while taking it out. "One side is engraved with the word "Pellet" and the other with "Smith". I suppose I can choose to use it for either the Pavilion of Alchemy or Pavilion of Smithery."

Li Xuan-Ru saw the token and nodded softly as if this was within expectations. "This is the Heritage Token, forged personally out of void energy by the Great Ancestors. They are the pass keys to access the sect’s most important places of inheritance. Each side of the token is engraved with its corresponding place of inheritance, and they can be used once each. After both sides are used, the token will return to the void on its own."

"The places of inheritance?" Lu Ping was surprised and overjoyed. "The sect gave me two chances to enter them?"

Li Xuan-Ru saw Lu Ping’s excited expression and laughed. "Junior Brother, as one of the only five Master Alchemists in the sect, your status is even greater than those ordinary Late Core Forging Realm martial siblings. Surely the sect will allow you entrance. In fact, every disciple is given one chance to enter a place of inheritance after their advancement to the Core Forging Realm."

Quickly, Li Xuan-Ru noticed Lu Ping’s surprised gaze and she hesitated in asking, "Junior Brother, you… didn’t know about this?"

Lu Ping nodded dumbfoundedly, while Li Xuan-Ru laughed loudly. "My dear little brother, just how little do you know about our sect’s rules and customs?"

After another round of pleasantries, Lu Ping waved goodbye to Li Xuan-Ru and headed for the Pavilion of Smithery. Li Xuan-Ru suddenly called out to him again.

"The Pavilion of Smithery has a place of inheritance, watched personally by Great Ancestor Tian-Lu, who is also the sect’s only Grandmaster Smith. But in recent years, the duty has been passed down to his eldest disciple, Master Smith Xuan-Yan. Enlightened Master Xuan-Yan and Enlightened Master Xuan-Jing are martial siblings. When you’re there, just show the token and you will be granted access to the place of inheritance. Use it wisely, you only get to enter once."

By now, Lu Ping had already guessed that his teacher had sent Second Senior Sister Li Xuan-Ru to have this talk. The purpose was to warn him about his trip to the Pavilion of Smithery.

Back during the disciple acceptance ceremony, Lu Ping already sensed the disharmony between Chong Hua Palace and Pavilion of Smithery through Enlightened Master Xuan-Jing’s unfriendliness. It seemed like he would have to be more cautious.

Yet, Lu Ping wasn’t worried. He had the Heritage Token with him after all. There was no way the Pavilion of Smithery could stop him from entering the place of inheritance. Unless, Great Ancestor Tian-Lu personally interfered to make things difficult for him. But from Second Senior Sister Li Xuan-Ru’s respectful expression when she mentioned the Great Ancestor, it seemed likely that this Great Ancestor was someone kind and fair.

At first, Lu Ping initially planned to go to the Pavilion of Smithery first, but he suddenly remembered the sect’s offer to every new Core Forging Realm Enlightened Master. He hadn’t known of such a thing before and had yet to redeem it—he should still be eligible for it, right?

Hence, Lu Ping decided to go to Tian Ling Hall first.

Years had passed since his last visit, and the manager of the hall was still Enlightened Master Xuan-Miao. When Lu Ping arrived, he was reading a book and looked puzzled to see him. Usually, only Blood Condensation Realm disciples and newly-advanced Core Forging Realm Enlightened Masters would be here; the rest of the Enlightened Masters only came during emergencies like the previous monster invasion.

Lu Ping walked up and stated his intention, Xuan-Miao listened carefully, then asked in surprise, "You are the ninth disciple of Senior Sister Tian-Ling, the Master Alchemist Lu Xuan-Ping? How come you haven’t entered the place of inheritance yet?"

Lu Ping said awkwardly, "I haven’t been in the sect these past few years, and after coming back, my cultivation reached the present level. As a result, I never knew there was such a rule in the sect. My friends probably thought that I already took up the offer, so they didn’t remind me."

After hearing Lu Ping’s explanation, Xuan-Miao laughed and said, "What a strange situation. Come, I will need your disciple token."

Lu Ping handed over his disciple token, which Xuan-Miao inspected with his divine revelation. A moment later, he said, "According to the records, it’s true that you have never redeemed the offer to enter the place of inheritance before. Now, follow me."

The two of them walked to the back hall and into a secret room. Xuan-Miao cast a few spells onto the floor, and the darkened room suddenly lit up as a teleportation formation activated.

Xiao-Miao turned to explain to Lu Ping, "Through this teleportation formation, you will arrive at the sect’s Flying Cloud Minor World. There, you will find the legacies of our predecessors, including but not limited to cultivation methods, spells, skills, books, scriptures, and even divine abilities. You have one month to explore the minor world; it’s up to you on what you’ll gain from the legacies. You can take my advice with a pinch of salt, but don’t bite off more than you can chew. There are no better gains, only suitable ones."

With a slight bow, Lu Ping said sincerely, "Thank you for your guidance!"

Xuan-Miao nodded in approval, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "I heard you’ve mastered several kinds of powerful mini divine abilities of the sword arts?"

Lu Ping was about to walk towards the teleportation formation when he heard this question. He froze for a moment, not expecting his feats to be so popular among the sects, but he still answered, "I have indeed mastered several mini sword divine abilities. What guidance does Junior Uncle have for me?"

Xuan-Miao smiled and said, "If you wish to extend your stay for one more month, you can leave behind the heritage for a mini divine ability within the place of inheritance. This is also a method for the sect to accumulate heritages and ensure its continuation. Of course, the choice is entirely in your hands—the sect will not force it upon you."

Lu Ping nodded, walking to the center of the teleportation formation. Xuan-Miao triggered the formation and Lu Ping instantly disappeared from the secret room.

Flying Cloud Minor World was set inside a cave, with an extremely vast space but a low ceiling height. The topography of the cave was craggy and sloped, the paths were remote and winding like a maze. It certainly lent an air of mystery, like a map laden with treasures. It was no small wonder that the Zhen Ling Sect had shaped it into a place of inheritance.

Lu Ping was teleported to the top of a small hill. As he looked around the spacious but low cave, he felt quite unaccustomed to the scene. His divine revelation relayed multiple locations protected by sealing formations within his vicinity.

It would appear that each and every one of these formations represented a heritage left behind by the sect’s predecessors. Unfortunately, these formations concealed the heritages they contained, so Lu Ping couldn’t tell what they were and whether they were suitable for him.

Furthermore, the sealing formations were not easy to decipher and disable. It would be a waste of time if he disabled one of them only to find that the heritage it contained didn’t suit him.

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