Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-360-30041322

As Lu Ping entered the place of inheritance, the light door closed and disappeared.

Xuan-Dian stood beside Xuan-Yan, but neither one spoke.

A few moments later, a middle-aged man walked down the stairs to the basement. Seeing them, he greeted, "Elder Senior Brother, Fourth Junior Brother!"

Xuan-Yan nodded softly, while Xuan-Dian smiled. "Third Senior Brother, you’re here."

Xuan-Yan said scornfully, "He was here all along!"

The third senior martial brother smiled awkwardly, while Xuan-Dian quickly changed the topic, "Senior Brother, will it be alright?"

Xuan-Yan was disdainful. "What else can happen? It’s an Earth-class Heritage Token, we can’t lower the heritage class."

Xuan-Dian smiled. "Of course it’s not about that. Senior Brother, the spatial dimension you’ve opened has nothing good inside it. If Liu Tian-Ling were to pursue this matter, it will be troublesome."

Xuan-Yan gave Xuan-Dian a strange look, then said, "Little fourth, since when were you so meek? Is it because Liu Tian-Ling is now a Great Ancestor, that’s why you’re intimidated by her?"

The third senior martial brother nodded. "That’s right, Little Fourth. We alchemists are respected by the sect, since when do we need to care about anyone else, let alone someone like Liu Tian-Ling!"

Before Xuan-Dian could say anything, Xuan-Yan flared up and rebuked, "Xuan-Jing, shut your damn mouth! Let me be clear, the Pavilion of Alchemy belongs to the sect, it’s not the property of our tutelage. We may be a lineage of Zhen Ling Sect and Liu Tian-Ling is your martial sibling, but don’t you ever say anything like that in public anymore!"

Xuan-Jing was taken aback, not knowing why Xuan-Yan would be so furious all of a sudden. He looked at Xuan-Dian for an explanation.

Naturally, Xuan-Dian knew it was Lu Ping’s statement that had enraged Xuan-Yan, hence he quickly changed the topic. "Elder Senior Brother, even Teacher doesn’t speak much of the past. Teacher may not like Jiang Tian-Lin and Liu Tian-Ling, but he never made things difficult for them. Senior Brother, I’m afraid our actions will not appear justified if anyone were to find out."

Xuan-Yan glared fiercely at Xuan-Jing, then said to Xuan-Dian, "Why do you think there’s nothing good inside the spatial dimension? There is one, but it’s up to him if he can get it. We can’t be blamed for his own inability."

Xuan-Dian still said hesitantly, "What if he insists on subduing the wonder fire? He’s also a Master Alchemist; the wonder fire would be extremely attractive to him too. And if he doesn’t understand the wonder fire and ends up hurt, not only will Liu Tian-Ling come looking for us, the entire sect will rise up in arms. Now that Liu Tian-Ling is a Great Ancestor, no one will be able to stop her this time."

The three Enlightened Masters suddenly turned silent when they recalled Liu Tian-Ling’s actions back then.

After a long time, Xuan-Yan said with a trace of regret, "I hope he knows his limits and doesn’t push it."

A moment later, Xuan-Jing suddenly realized what they were talking about and he exclaimed in shock, "Wait, you opened the spatial dimension of the Spirit Fueled Mystical Heavenly Fire? What if he actually subdues it? What about me then? I was planning to fuse it for my Late Core Forging Realm breakthrough!"

For some reason, Xuan-Yan wasn’t happy with the sight of Xuan-Jing at all, and he admonished, "What are you blabbering about? How many years have you delayed your cultivation for this wonder fire, and how many more do you wish to waste? At this rate, you’ll even lose your chance to break through. Now it’s too late to fix your neglected cultivation foundation, so even if you push for it, the wonder fire will just burn you to ashes."

Xuan-Jing fell silent, and only after a moment he said, "Elder Senior Brother, if I don’t fuse this mid-grade Earth-class wonder fire, I won’t be able to forge a seventh grade Golden Core. Reaching the Avatar Realm will be even more unlikely and it will all end in the Core Forging Realm."

Xuan-Yan sighed. "The Avatar Realm… it’s not that easy. Furthermore, even if you succeed with this mid-grade Earth-class wonder fire and reach the Late Core Forging Realm, do you think you can succeed again with a Heaven-class wonder fire to reach the Peak Core Forging Realm? Because if you can’t, you’ll still fail to forge a seventh grade Golden Core. Even if you do, it doesn’t necessarily lead to advancement to the Avatar Realm."

Speaking of this matter, even Xuan-Dian fell silent, and only after a while did he say with a sigh, "Not everyone can be like Jiang Tian-Lin or Liu Tian-Ling!"

Xuan-Dian’s words undoubtedly made the atmosphere even moodier. After a moment, Xuan-Jing suddenly said, "If all else fails, Teacher has a Core Forging Pellet!"

This time, Xuan-Dian quickly stepped in before Xuan-Yan could explode with anger. "Third Brother, you mustn’t. That pellet is for Teacher’s study. Furthermore, you borrowed it from Liu Tian-Ling—if you used it, how badly would the sect view us in the future?"

Xuan-Yan immediately launched into another tirade. "Don’t you dare think about it. It’s a waste to use it for a Late Core Forging Realm breakthrough, especially with a mid-grade Earth-class spirit item. Not only will the sect look down on you, even Teacher’s reputation will be affected."

Perhaps Xuan-Yan thought his words were too heavy this time, he paused for a moment, then continued, "Little Third, you can go for a combination of low-grade Earth-class wonder fire for the Late Core Forging Realm breakthrough and a high-grade Earth-class wonder fire for the Peak Core Forging Realm breakthrough. This way, you can forge a sixth grade Golden Core, and you’ll still have a chance to advance to the Avatar Realm. Your overall prowess might be weaker, but the lifespan extension will still be the same. With your alchemy, you can become a Grandmaster Alchemist, and you’ll still be respected within and outside of the sect."

The trio fell into silence for a long time, until they heard footsteps storming down into the basement.

A young Enlightened Master walked in and was surprised to see the three of them together, but still quickly called out anxiously, "Elder Senior Uncle, Teacher, Fourth Junior Uncle! Senior Uncle Xuan-Sen was ambushed by monsters and seriously wounded—the Great Ancestor has summoned you!"

The atmosphere immediately turned grave, and the three middle-aged men hurriedly left the basement. Xuan-Yan seemed to value the young man highly, and he spoke in a calmer tone, "Xuan-Fang, what happened? Senior Brother Xuan-Sen is in the Late Core Forging Realm and as powerful as me, how was he ambushed to this state…"

As Xuan-Jing’s disciple, it was apparent that this young man was Tao Zi-Fang who Lu Ping had met during the disciple acceptance ceremony. He was also in the Core Forging Realm and known as Tao Xuan-Fang.

…

Meanwhile, Lu Ping found himself in a desolate and humid place. He spread out his divine revelation, but couldn’t detect any signs of life signs, nor was there any spiritual energy. It was as if this was a dead zone.

Lu Ping wasn’t afraid of the authenticity of this spatial dimension. The Heritage Token was an official reward from the sect, so Xuan-Yan wouldn’t dare to defy the sect. The most he could do was put Lu Ping inside an inferior or a more difficult spatial dimension to minimize his harvest.

Having that said, the bizarre condition of his surroundings proved that this must be one of the more difficult and challenging spatial dimensions. Perhaps, it might just be the most formidable one available.

After all, Xuan-Yan surely didn’t want Lu Ping to walk away with any sort of harvest, so giving him the most difficult one was the best choice. That way, Lu Ping couldn’t blame anyone for his own inabilities.

Lu Ping sneered coldly. No matter how difficult this place ended up, he would never think of turning back. The spatial dimension was so vast that there was no point in determining his location.

He randomly chose a direction and flew out. After a few moments, he noticed that the ground below gradually looked more desolate and dried up, while the ambient temperature was slowly rising.

After flying a few more miles, the ground below appeared to be going through desertification. Lu Ping looked towards the horizon, and sure enough, the land ahead had developed into a desert.

At this time, Lu Ping knew he had chosen the right direction and was close to the target now. He slowed down and checked his surroundings more carefully.

Suddenly, he stopped in mid-air, and his true energy began to quickly deplete as if it had been set on fire.

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