Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-369-30041322

Great Ancestor Tian-Jiang impatiently waved his hand, and said, "Take this cauldron and leave yours behind. We’ll see if we can upgrade it. Say what you need, and then get your face out of here before I smack your butt!"

Lu Ping smiled awkwardly, "This junior has just obtained natural pellets for the Blood Condensing Pellets. I heard from teacher that the sect will be assigning the task of concocting Blood Condensing Pellets to me. Although a high-grade cauldron will work, it's not as helpful as a top-grade cauldron. Additionally, Junior Uncle Guo Xuan-Shan has instructed me to concoct some Spirit Water Vein Nourishment Pellets for the sect as well… So…"

Great Ancestor Tian-Lu laughed loudly, pointed his finger at Lu Ping, and said, "You cheeky little…"

The Great Ancestor waved his hand and a huge cauldron appeared in front of Lu Ping, "This is the By-Lake Cauldron. Although it has lost all hope of being upgraded into a mystic treasure, it’s still a top-grade cauldron on par with the one you have in your hands. Among the remaining two top-grade cauldron’s, the Triad Yang Cauldron is with me, and I believe you have learned about the Violet Whisker Cauldron's condition as well. You are not to use it unless it is absolutely necessary."

Lu Ping kept the high-grade cauldron and By-Lake Cauldron away with a smile, while Great Ancestor Tian-Lu threw an interspatial pouch to him, "You are correct, the sect has tasked you with most of the alchemy for Blood Condensing Pellets. Here are twenty cauldrons of spirit herbs to get you started, your target is at least 200 pellets."

Lu Ping immediately turned sullen, "That's too much! This means I have to guarantee a full success rate for every cauldron. That's not possible every time, so I will have to try and make natural pellets happen in every cauldron to ensure I hit the target. It's not reasonable at all!"

Great Ancestor Tian-Jiang's face turned gloomy, "Are you really dumb or just faking being dumb? The spirit herbs for Blood Condensing Pellets are not easy to gather, as an alchemist you should know that very well. Even the sect had to spend three years gathering these pellets, that's longer than gathering the spirit herbs for twenty cauldrons of Core Forging Realm pellets."

Great Ancestor Tian-Lu nodded, "No need to hurry, you have three years to get the pellets done. This way, you can space out the frequency of your alchemy and rest well in between. In the event that you don’t hit the target, you will be responsible for the difference. Similarly, in the event that you concoct more pellets than the target, you will be allowed to exchange them for the thousand-year spirit herbs in the sect's garden."

Lu Ping's eyes brightened up, "I can freely access the sect's herb garden?"

Great Ancestor Tian-Jiang hummed unhappily again, "What nonsense are you saying, if even the Master Alchemists can’t access the herb garden, who can?"

On the other hand, Great Ancestor Tian-Lu understood Lu Ping's meaning, and smiled, "He is planning ahead for his Amethyst Bees. With the sect's spirit herb garden now accessible to him, the swarm will see a Core Forging Realm queen bee in less than a hundred years! Ever since the swarm's appearance in Little Tian-Ling's Avatar Forum, the whole North Ocean thought I was the one who owned the bees. They came to trade many treasures for the eggs, but sadly I don't own the bees and had to decline all of them."

"So many treasures." Great Ancestor Tian-Jiang murmured softly, "Kid, you've gotten the most out of your calculations, shouldn't you leave something behind too? The Royal Jelly is a waste in your alchemy, you can leave them for Tian-Lu, and I will have your Amethyst Bee Honey to make tea."

Although Great Ancestor Tian-Lu didn't admit that the Amethyst Bees belonged to him, he also didn't refuse the claims either. Lu Ping knew this was because the Great Ancestor was trying to protect him from others.

Hence, Lu Ping gratefully took out two jade bottles in his left hand, and opened his right hand where an exquisite mini cauldron appeared in his palm. He waved his hand up and the exquisite cauldron enlarged, landing in the center of the room.

The two Great Ancestors' expressions changed slightly when they saw him storing the River Inclusion Cauldron in his heartspace, but they quickly forgot about it as they were completely focused on the cauldron.

"How marvelous!"

Great Ancestor Tian-Jiang's eyes brightened.

"It's definitely good enough to be upgraded, but the cauldron Mystical Inscriptions the sect has gathered aren’t suitable for it!"

Great Ancestor Tian-Lu was happy and sad at the same time.

Great Ancestor Tian-Jiang had naturally already mastered all of the Mystical Inscriptions the sect had, so he instantly confirmed Great Ancestor Tian-Lu's statement with just a simple glance.

He didn't realize it at first because he was so enamored by the cauldron's magnificent quality.

Great Ancestor Tian-Lu looked closely at Great Ancestor Tian-Jiang's face which had now turned gloomy, and immediately knew that his worries were right. He sighed, and said, "This is the closest chance we've got, but even this won't work?"

Great Ancestor Tian-Jiang didn't answer but proceed to inspect the cauldron in detail, and said, "Cauldron Mystical Inscriptions have always been scarce, not to mention the legend that says that a cauldron needs to have its own specially tailored Mystical Inscription to upgrade it to a mystic treasure. Although none of the cauldron Mystical Inscriptions we have fit this cauldron, I believe that together we can create one specially for this cauldron, we still have hope."

Lu Ping listened quietly, not intending to disclose the fact that he actually had a cauldron Mystical Inscription that was suitable for the River Inclusion cauldron.

This was because cauldron Mystical Inscriptions were extremely rare; if it wasn't for the fact that upgrading a cauldron mystic treasure and using it to concoct pellets were the Great Ancestors' lifelong wishes, they wouldn't have invested so much time and effort into this pursuit.

If they learned that Lu Ping had a suitable cauldron Mystical Inscription, they would use it right away instead of trying to create one. As a result, the River Inclusion Cauldron would lose the opportunity to have an additional Mystical Inscription.

A few days later, Lu Ping and Hu Lili walked into the teleportation formation and arrived at Xuan Qi Island, the frontline of the human-monster war.

As soon as they arrived, they saw Chen Lian walking out from the teleportation formation as well. Chen Lian saw the pair, and teased them, "I'm earlier than you. How dare you be the last when you’re the one who organized the plan!"

Lu Ping smiled, "Great Ancestor Tian-Lu held me back, I've been concocting Blood Condensing Pellets nonstop for the past few days. How is everything?"

Chen Lian smiled, "Everything is mostly ready to go, but we have to hurry. The gathering crowd of Enlightened Masters will alert the monster race soon. Before that, you need to make a trip to Senior Uncle Qu's place first, he is waiting to reward you for your help."

Lu Ping was puzzled at first, before remembering the time that he helped free Enlightened Master Qu Xuan-Cheng from the monster's array formation. Back then Qu Xuan-Cheng had mentioned that he would repay Lu Ping for his help, but he had never taken it seriously.

After hearing that Qu Xuan-Cheng was really going to reward him, Lu Ping happily made his way to see him. Meanwhile, Hu Lili and Chen Lian left to meet the others.

When Qu Xuan-Cheng saw Lu Ping, he laughed heartily and said, "Kid, I heard you made a scene again?"

Lu Ping smiled back awkwardly, "I didn't mean to, it just happened."

Qu Xuan-Cheng pointed at Lu Ping while laughing, "Show-off. I heard the junior uncles took away your top-grade cauldron? Don't take it personally. You’re strong, I’ll give you that, but you’re still not strong enough to protect a top-grade cauldron."

Lu Ping suddenly understood why the sect only mentioned that his top-grade cauldron was taken away by the Great Ancestors and not anything about the top-grade cauldron that he exchanged it for. The Great Ancestors knew the true value of a top-grade cauldron and its associated risks better than he did, which was why they didn't think he was strong enough to have one yet.

Now that he understood this, Lu Ping naturally wouldn't go around telling others that he had another top-grade cauldron with him. So, he smiled back, and said, "The junior granduncles didn't take advantage of me, they gave me many good benefits in return."

Qu Xuan-Cheng was happy to see that Lu Ping held no grudges in this matter, and nodded approvingly, "You helped me a lot last time, I said I'd reward you for that and I mean it. Come with me!"

Weekly Chapters (2/5)