Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-440

The number of visitors to Huang Li Island was increasing each day. Due to Jiang Tian-Lin’s presence, Core-Forging Realm cultivators started visiting the island in droves. However, most of these visiting Core-Forging Realm cultivators were from the Zhen Ling Sect or factions related to them.

Hu Lili was inundated with official work. With Lu Ping away from the island most of the time and Jiang Tian-Lin not getting involved, Hu Lili took charge of everything.

When Lu Ping returned to the island, he was met with a lively and bustling environment. Under Hu Lili’s command, the Zheng Ling Sect’s Blood Condensation Realm disciples had organized every material and ingredient properly. They also planted seals and formations all over the island in preparation for Guo Xuan-Shan to expand the island.

Zeng Wu and his companions were also under Hu Lili’s command. They were tasked with planting the seals and formations on one side of the island, which surprised Lu Ping. After all, only Zhen Ling Sect disciples were allowed to take part in the island’s expansion, and Zeng Wu and his companions were not a part of the sect.

A few days ago, Lu Ping extracted another basic spirit vein from Qing Jian’s cave and transferred it to Huang Li Island. With the addition of a new spirit vein, the island reached its maximum capacity. As a result, Lu Ping was in a hurry to get Guo Xuan-Shan to expand the island. The island’s size had become its largest obstacle to its expansion.

Lu Ping returned to his residence and placed the Golden House back into the spirit veins. The lone mountain within the Golden House possessed a unique ability, allowing it to concentrate spiritual energy around it. Even without the continuous supply from the spirit veins, the lone mountain could provide a sufficient supply of spiritual energy within the Golden House for dozens of days.

With the Spirit Gathering Pearl he received from Tian-Xue in his hands, Lu Ping buried it right underneath the spirit veins. With that, the appearance of a fifth basic spirit vein on the island was guaranteed. All that was left was to wait for time to pass. There were also three miniature Spirit Gathering Pearls which he had acquired in Qing Jian’s residence. After giving it a thought, Lu Ping placed them all within the spirit veins. If there were a few more additions to the spirit veins on the island, Huang Li Island would be able to possess a sixth basic spirit vein.

Such a large number of spirit veins in one place surpassed many intermediate-sized islands that the Zhen Ling Sect had developed for years.

Just as Lu Ping finished arranging everything in the cave, Chen Lian arrived at his residence. Chen Lian chuckled, and said, “I heard that you made quite the appearance on Nucleus Island. Apparently, a grandmaster alchemist was humiliated by you. Word of this has spread all over the region.”

“You’re quick with news, aren’t you?”

Lu Ping turned around and retrieved twenty-two of the twenty-four corals he found in Qing Jian’s cave. Chen Lian’s eyes lit up in excitement as he smiled, “How wonderful. These corals take thousands of years to take shape. Whilst they might be a mixture of many spiritual materials, extraction of these materials is incredibly easy.”

Lu Ping smiled before revealing the two remaining corals. The mutated corals caused Chen Lia’s jaw to drop. A moment later, Chen Lian returned to his senses, and exclaimed, “Oh my god! They’re great! Look at them! They contain plenty of different materials. Simply incredible!”

He paused for a while, and said, “You’re giving them to me as well?”

“On one condition,” Lu Ping replied.

“Tell me!” Chen Lian nodded.

Lu Ping smiled. “There are several extraordinary spiritual materials in my collection. I want you to do your best and use these materials to make four pieces of equipment for me. You better put your full effort into making them because they’re for the little ones. I don’t care what you do, but you must guarantee three Mystical Inscriptions on each piece of equipment. They can’t be repeated, and they each need to be able to be upgraded into a Spirit Emerging Mystic Treasure in the future.”

Chen Lian smiled, and replied, “I knew it. Bah. I’ll do what I can. I have some good stuff collected over the years. I’ll put them all to good use and deliver what you want.”

The reason that Chen Lian could excel in smithing was tied to Lu Ping’s support. As a result, the two of them were very close to each other. Their strong friendship over a long period allowed them to converse with each other in a friendly and easy-going manner.

Lu Ping put the Golden Scale Sword onto the table along with the two other mutated materials he had gathered some time ago. He then said, “With these two materials, you should be able to engrave a fifth Mystical Inscription onto the sword. I suppose it won’t be a very difficult task with your current skill, right?”

After examining them, Chen Lian dwelled in his thoughts, before replying, “I can refine the sword and increase its tier with these two materials, but putting a fifth Mystical Inscription on this is beyond my ability. Even my master probably couldn’t do so either. I guess you’ll have to try and ask Great Ancestor Tian-Jiang. Your request would probably be fulfilled given your importance in the sect.”

Lu Ping nodded without replying. After all, he was a master alchemist with knowledge of concocting various unique and exclusive pellets. His Wonder Water Nurturing Pellets were not only a strategic resource in the sect but were also greatly sought after in the entire region. Lu Ping was considered the best alchemist in the sect, besides Tian-Hu.

Factoring in everything, Lu Ping was bound to receive a Mystical Inscription from the sect if he asked for one. In fact, his request would be very welcomed, as the sect wanted to strengthen their ties. After all, the sect would be useless and shunned in the long run if Lu Ping had to deal with everything alone.

Lu Ping stretched his left hand out, seemingly holding onto something and unsheathed a ghostly pale long sword.

He said, “The Water Specter Sword only has two Mystical Inscriptions, but it can possess a third one. What a shame.”

Although the Water Specter Sword had served Lu Ping well, as a sword with only two Mystical Inscriptions and the ability to conceal itself, it slowly fell behind as Lu Ping grew stronger and encountered tougher foes.

Chen Lian sighed, “It can’t be helped. The sword is made from rare and unique materials, and Mystical Inscriptions are hard to come by. Our sect only had one, which was passed down from the Fei Ling Sect. The other Mystical Inscription on the sword was something you found. All we can do is leave everything to fate and see if we can find a third Mystical Inscription.”

Chen Lian took away the Golden Scale Sword. In the meantime, Lu Ping was thinking of sorting out his gains and converting them into his strength. While his adventures and explorations did not stall his cultivation, he still needed to spend more time on cultivation, especially after cultivating relatively slowly once he advanced into the mid-Core Forging Ream.

After leaving Hu Lili a message and arranging everything with her, Lu Ping shut himself in and started his cultivation.

The Spirit Gathering Pearls were still far from evolving into spirit veins, but the spiritual energy in the cave was more than enough for cultivation. However, Lu Ping wanted more. Using thirty-six top-tier spirit stones, he created a Spirit Gathering Formation. Consequently, Lu Ping was able to gather spiritual energy and increase the quality of the surrounding spiritual energy. He then placed the Golden House right at the center of the spiritual energy so that it could absorb the spiritual energy.

In reality, Lu Ping did not require such a formation to aid his cultivation because the lone mountain was a specifically designed spiritual gathering formation. It was even stronger than the Spirit Gathering Formation created by cultivators that excelled in the formation, such as Lu Ping and Hu Lili.

Additionally, the technique Lu Ping cultivated required a massive amount of spiritual energy. The technique itself could provide the same function as a Spirit Gathering Formation, freeing him from the hassle of gathering spiritual energy himself. If he was to cultivate here, the surrounding spiritual energy was far from enough.

Like that, half a year passed. In a grand palace at the peak of the lone mountain in the Golden House, Luan Yu looked around in awe, and said, “This palace is a decent spatial item. It's not as big as the Golden House, but it's still something made by a Law Avatar Realm cultivator. The only thing is that it's not decorated at all. It looks empty.”

Sitting opposite Luan Yu was Lu Ping. He was toying around with a black stone, attempting to identify something. A moment later, he put the stone onto the table, and asked, “What is the secret hidden in this Dark Nephrite that you risked being exposed in the alchemy convention back in the North Ocean Palace? It may be an earth-element Mystic-Class item, but it wasn’t worth the risk. Don’t tell me you’re preparing it for Da Bao’s advancement. We both know that the lazy Da Bao still needs decades to advance to the next level.”

Hearing that, Luan Yu chuckled. “It is undoubtedly something precious. I didn’t think we'd run into it in the North Ocean. It seems like this region is not as poor as everyone says.”

Lu Ping responded with a smile. “You’re happy with just a piece of Dark Nephrite? The North Region is poor; we all know it. It’s a fact.”

Luan Yu disagreed. “Maybe not. They say this region’s resources are scarce, but that’s because they have yet to discover what is truly hidden underneath it.”

Luan Yu continued, “The Ice Frozen Island is a great example. Who would’ve thought that hidden beneath the ancient ice was a massive spirit vein? It was hidden and left undiscovered for countless years. I know the Ice Frozen Island’s resources are nothing compared to the bigger picture, but who knows what remains to be discovered?”

Lu Ping kept quiet. After giving it a thought, he smiled, “Okay. Fine. Now, will you tell me what is hidden in the Dark Nephrite?”

Luan Yu smiled mysteriously.