Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-443

Four altars were set up around the island, each corresponding to a different island. The first island was where Sheng Tao's Residence was located. The process required Guo Xuan-Shan to swing his whip eighteen times to successfully complete the Gargantuan Alteration Spell.

The other three islands required different levels of effort. Even with his Seventh Grade Golden Core and powerful cultivation base, which was only a step away from reaching the Law Avatar Realm, the entire process took seven days.

With each successful attempt, Lu Ping would use a basic spirit vein to anchor the islands by placing the spirit vein at the formations’ core, replacing Guo Xuan-Shan as the energy source. This method maintained the Gargantuan Alteration Spell and sped up the connection between the islands.

Lu Ping delivered another two bottles of pellets to Guo Xuan-Shan as a token of appreciation. He also gave Guo Xuan-Shan dozens of bottles containing various pellets for him to bring back to the sect.

Half a month later, the vague outline of the first island could be seen. After another month, the island was finally connected to Huang Li Island and the ley line. Following this, the spirit vein functioning as an energy source was placed back into Lu Ping’s residence. A cultivator named Tian Yue found the first spirit-gathering land on the new ground of Huang Li Island. This was the first discovery of a spirit-gathering land since the island had reached capacity.

Soon after, the other three islands fully merged with Huang Li Island. A year later, under the support of many high-tier spirit stones, a couple of spirit veins, and numerous pellets, Lu Ping finally reached the peak of his current level. As for when he would enter the next level, Lu Ping had no idea.

After witnessing Guo Xuan-Shan’s Winged Peak, Lu Ping had an idea. He requested a Mystical Inscription from Guo Xuan-Shan, which he used to complete the third Mystical Inscription of Landslide. Guo Xuan-Shan cultivated earth-element techniques. As a result, most of the Mystical Inscriptions he had were incompatible with Lu Ping. Out of the many Mystical Inscriptions, only one possessed water and earth-element that could be used.

With Landslide’s quality, unless Lu Ping found another spiritual material of higher quality, it would be difficult to raise it to the next level.

Inside a palace at the peak of Tian Ling Mountain, Tian-Fan, Tian-Jiang, Tian-Hu, and Tian-Lin sat together.

Tian-Fan stole a glance at Tian-Lin before taking out a jade scroll from his pocket, “This is the Core Forging Pellet recipe Xuan-Qin acquired in the East Ocean. It was found in Zhong Xuan’s cave by a Crystal Palace cultivator. Xuan-Qin passed the recipe to Senior Brother Tian-Xiang so that he could bring it back. As expected, the recipe only contains the necessary materials to concoct the pellet. The concoction method is not recorded, but the recipe is still very valuable.”

He passed the recipe around so the others could take a look. After going through it, Tian-Fan delivered it to Tian-Hu, and said, “It’s better that you take charge of it. The Pavillion of Alchemy can start making preparations so that if we ever stumble upon the method to produce the pellet in the future, we can get a head start.”

Tian-Hu smiled. “I suppose the Xuan Ling Sect’s Dao-Li was bragging about the same recipe during the North Ocean Palace conference. The Crystal Palace merely gave them a useless recipe, yet they’re so happy about it.”

Tian-Lin replied, “That’s not the same. As we all know, the East Ocean’s sects are using the alliance with us to fend off the Monsters as an excuse. What they want is to make the North Ocean their expandable pawns. As for the Xuan Ling Sect and our sect, the East Ocean wants us to lead the sects around us into becoming their pawns. However, the Xuan Ling Sect also appears to possess more weight than us. Despite being able to harvest more gains from the East Ocean sects, we’re clearly not as important as the Xuan Ling Sect because we didn’t receive the recipe they did.”

“That’s good in a way. Although this region treats both the Xuan Ling Sect and our sect as the leader, Law Avatar Realm cultivators still exist in the other sects. The gap between the sects is not big enough for us to underestimate them. On the surface, they treat us like the head of all sects, but we don’t know what they’re thinking inwardly. We can align our opinions because there isn’t much profit involved. However, when the profits are too great, many sects will have different opinions, resulting in a chaotic situation that will inevitably benefit the East Ocean. We can let the Xuan Ling Sect be the ones to start a war while we stay to the side and strengthen ourselves.”

“So, how’s Xuan-Qin doing?” Tian Hu asked after glancing at Tian-Lin.

“You’re her master, so you should know her better than us. She’s now in the Law Avatar Realm and will be addressed as Great Ancestor Tian-Qin upon her return. She’s in a faction called the Grace Council. It appears this faction is very reputable in the East Ocean, and was specifically built to fight against the Crystal Palace under the support of powerful high-level cultivators. With her identity as a grandmaster alchemist, Xuan-Qin is bound to be given top-class treatment. Why do you think the Core Forging Pellet recipe the Crystal Palace acquired is in her possession?”

“Hmmm… With powerful high-level cultivators supporting them… That means the faction is much stronger than our sect, and Xuan-Qin is a talent. Will she still be willing to return to our sect after enjoying the treatment she’s received in such a powerful sect?” Tian-Jiang anxiously asked.

Tian-Jiang’s words were exactly what the cultivators present were worried about. Silence descended in an instant. A moment later, Tian-Fan said, “Xuan-Qin is a disciple of our sect. She may have left out of anger, but this place is still where she was raised. This is where her roots are. I’m sure she’ll come around.”

However, his words lacked confidence. Realizing this, he added, “Besides, Senior Brother Tian-Xiang is still in the Fallen Rift. Now that I think about it, he’s stationed there for two reasons. Apart from trying to control the secret realm for the sect, he’s also stationed there to welcome Xuan-Qin back home. I also think it’s clear that Xuan-Qin’s mind is still with us by constantly sending news about the East Ocean and the recipe she just delivered.”

Tian-Hu took a closer look at the recipe, and said, “The materials listed are all extremely rare. We haven’t even heard about the Splendiferous Jade Dew for thousands of years. Even if we manage to get our hands on it and the River Inclusion Cauldron is upgraded, we still can’t mass produce the pellet. We’ll be lucky if we even end up with a batch.”

His words caused Tian-Fan to laugh bitterly. “You think I don’t know about that? Being able to acquire a portion of the recipe is already lucky. Don’t forget what happened to the Fei Ling Sect because every sect wanted the Core Forging Pellet. I suggest we keep quiet about the recipe and make sure no one besides us knows about its existence. Maybe also Xuan-Yan and Xuan-Yue, who can concoct late-Core Forging Realm pellets, but that’s it.”

Tian-Lin added, “You may not know, but Lu Ping, Tian-Ling’s disciple, can now do the same. He recently acquired the Liao Family’s Spirit Anchoring Pellet recipe and made three batches for Junior Brother Xuan-Shan.”

“That brat’s talent in alchemy is on par with Xuan-Qin!”

Tian-Fan waved his hand, and said, “If that’s the case, count that brat in.”

Meanwhile, in the North Ocean Palace on Nucleus Island, many cultivators from the East Ocean’s sects were having a meeting.

While there were about twenty cultivators in the palace, specifically built to house important guests, the only ones qualified to talk were a mid-Law Avatar Realm cultivator and five late-Core Forging Realm cultivators sitting behind him.

The person talking at the moment was Qin Xu, a cultivator from the Northeast Alliance and the cultivator Lu Ping encountered at the alchemy conference.

“From my point of view, the difference between the Xuan Ling Sect and Zhen Ling Sect is not that big. However, the Zhen Ling Sect is ahead of the Xuan Ling Sect in raising disciples of the younger generation. Be it their second or third-generation disciples, the Zhen Ling Sect is superior in every aspect. The competition between the disciples of our sects against the North Ocean is a good example. The gap between the two sects isn’t too big yet, but in the long run, the Zhen Ling Sect will eventually surpass the Xuan Ling Sect. I propose that our East Ocean supports the Zhen Ling Sect.”

Qin Xu’s words were reasonable, and the cultivators present found the logic in his explanation. The only one who was unhappy was Zhang Shi-Jie. After all, he had won nine out of the ten matches in the North Ocean. His only defeat was the fight with Lu Ping. This defeat tainted his honor and wiped out the praise he received from his win streak. He wanted to prove himself worthy of more attention in the Crystal Palace. However, instead of proving his value, he was defeated in a humiliating manner. Zhang Shi-Jie could already tell what would happen to him when he returned to the Crystal Palace.

Although Qin Xu’s argument received the acknowledgment of many cultivators, not everyone agreed to have the Zhen Ling Sect lead the North Region’s cultivation world.

Ming Shan opened his mouth, seemingly trying to say something, but he decided to keep quiet. He thought hard, only to find no convincing rebuttal to Qin Xu’s words. Left with no choice, he shifted his gaze toward the Law Avatar Realm cultivator.

The cultivator was Yuan Guang, a cultivator from the Crystal Palace and the head of the group from the East Ocean.

Catching Ming Shan’s gaze, Yuan Guang chuckled, and said, “What you said makes a lot of sense, but that’s exactly why we shouldn't support the Zhen Ling Sect.”

Despite being confused by Yuan Guang’s statement, Qin Xu didn’t dare to take it lightly, given his status and power. So, he asked politely, “I don’t understand, Great Ancestor.”

Yuan Guang nodded and calmly replied, “The Zhen Ling Sect is a sect striving to become stronger. Their disciples are all ambitious men and women. They are bound to become so strong one day that we’ll eventually lose control over them. The Xuan Ling Sect is different. With our help, they will definitely start a fight with the Zhen Ling Sect, stirring up chaos in the region. The more chaotic the situation is, the more beneficial it is to us. Only then will we be able to make the North Ocean our pawn. Hence, supporting the Xuan Ling Sect is a wiser choice.”

Qin Xu was still puzzled. He asked again, “But only by unifying will we be able to fend off the Monsters. The North Ocean is weak, but it shouldn’t be underestimated. They are a powerful force that can aid us in the fight against the Monsters. It will not do the human species any good if we’re always at war with each other.”

Yuan Guang nodded. “Correct. But I’ve lived for centuries longer than you. The situation is far more complicated than the war between the Humans and Monsters. What if a global disaster brings both Humans and Monsters together? We never know. The North Ocean is weak and is even weaker when considering the bigger picture. Remember, the North Ocean is deemed poor because there aren’t many resources that have been discovered in the region. We can’t guarantee that that’s all the resources in the region. Don’t forget that they already discovered a large-scale spirit vein on an island. Who knows if they’ll unearth another spirit vein in the region?”

He paused for a second, and added, “This is why I suggested we take control of the North Ocean. If we can also acquire the South Ocean, we will be able to turn the overseas cultivation world into a prosperous land on par with the Central Plains.”

Yuan Guang’s words caused the cultivators in the room to be very excited. Qin Xu felt something was off, but he couldn’t pinpoint why. Like his fellow cultivators, he was also looking forward to witnessing the situation described by Yuan Guang. As a result, he joined the others in discussing ways to maximize their gains from the alliance, ultimately disregarding the prosperity of the North Ocean cultivation world.