Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-457

With the Splendiferous Jade Dew in his possession, Lu Ping no longer felt down because of how zealous Da Bao was toward the spirit stones. After all, the Splendiferous Jade Dew alone had made the entire trip worthwhile.

Although Lu Ping was no longer disappointed in Da Bao, he still decided to teach him some common knowledge in the cultivation world, especially about identifying certain treasures. However, it seemed that Lu Ping would have to wait until Da Bao advanced into the Core Forging Realm to continue with his plans.

Lu Ping summoned the snake trio and took out the Ice Wyrm Bead he extracted from Ao Wu-Shuang's body. When Lu Ling'er saw the Ice Wyrm Bead in Lu Ping's hand, her big and cute eyes showed a keen interest.

Lu Ping chuckled and said, "Ling'er, it seems like you know a lot about the Ice Wyrm Bead?"

All of Lu Ling'er's attention was drawn to the Ice Wyrm Bead. She nodded when she heard Lu Ping's question, but her eyes still wandered over to the Ice Wyrm Bead as she said, "Father, I’m not the only one that knows about it. We all know about the bead. This is knowledge inherited by us through the Emerald Sea Spirit Snake bloodline flowing in us. Unfortunately, the Ice Wyrm Clan has always practiced ice-elemental techniques, and the Ice Wyrm Bead is a unique inheritance of the Ice Wyrm Clan. Therefore, this Ice Wyrm Bead can only benefit Ling'er because I practice ice-elemental techniques."

"Oh," Lu Ping handed the Ice Wyrm Bead to Lu Ling'er, looking quite interested as he asked, "Is there more to it? Can you tell me more about how the inheritance of the Ice Wyrm Clan works and how a little guy like you from the Emerald Sea Spirit Snake can inherit it?"

Lu Ling'er took the Ice Wyrm Bead over carefully, and with a girly laugh, she plunged her divine revelation into the bead. Lu Ping couldn't help but find Lu Ling'er's eagerness amusing. Nonetheless, Lu Qing shook his head speechlessly and explained, "Father, do you know that the Ice Wyrm Clan, like the Emerald Sea Spirit Snake, is also a descendant of the dragon bloodline?"

Lu Ping naturally knew that the Ice Wyrm bloodline was related to the BiHai Spirit Snake bloodline. However, Lu Qing's next words surprised him: "But Father may not know that although the Ice Wyrm Clan inherited the dragon bloodline, they are not descendants of theJiao Prime."

This was a secret that Lu Ping was unaware of, and in confusion, he asked, "How is that possible? Aren't all creatures in this world descendants of the Heaven Cleaving Seven Primes? How is the Ice Wyrm Clan an exception? Were there other 老祖 apart from the 七祖 during the birth of this world?”

In fact, according to the legend, when cultivators advanced to the , and after achieving the , they could create an inheritance in their bloodline and pass it down to their direct descendants through their bloodline. However, this kind of bloodline inheritance rarely could last beyond three generations, as it would be lost due to the thinning of the bloodline. The bloodline inheritance could only be extended for another few more generations when a descendant managed to reach the True Spirit. Otherwise, the inheritance would be lost eternally once no one managed to achieve True Spirit within three generations.

Such was the inheritance of the many top-tiered Monster races like the Emerald Sea Spirit Snake, the Tyrant Turtles, and many more. The fact that they were top-tiered Monster races meant that these Monsters were all descendants of the Heaven Cleaving Seven Primes, which also made it almost impossible for their inheritance to be lost due to the thinning of the bloodline.

Yet, there was another unique race that was different from the top-tiered Monster races. They were neither the descendants of the Heaven Cleaving Seven Primes nor their bloodline inheritance lost. They were the Ice Wyrm Clan.

Seemingly understanding something, Lu Ping nodded in comprehension. This was the moment he learned that there was such a thing behind the bloodline of the Heaven Cleaving Seven Primes’s descendants. “So the inheritance of the Ice Wyrm Clan lies within their Ice Wyrm Bead?” he mumbled.

At the same time, Lu Ling’er retracted her divine revelation from the bead and smiled. “You’re right, Father. In fact, the bead is only one of the methods the Ice Wyrm Clan used to preserve their bloodline inheritance. After all, apart from the techniques and skills, what mattered the most in the bloodline inheritance was the bloodline itself. In other words, you can refer to it as innate talents. The ancestor of the Ice Wyrm Clan was once a loyal follower of the Jiao Prime, who had the fortune to be personally taught by Jiao Prime how to pass down the Ice Wyrm Clan’s innate talents to the descendants. The method taught to them by Jiao Prime, however, had one flaw. It could not pass down the techniques and skills of their clan. Yet, the ancestor of the Ice Wyrm Clan was a talented one. He figured out a way to fix the flaw and preserve their race’s techniques alongside their innate talent, allowing the Ice Wyrm Clan to be part of the ranks of the top-tiered Monster races.”

Lu Ping realized something finally, and he guessed, “Although the Ice Wyrm Bead solved their awkward situation, the Ice Wyrm Bead is still not as efficient as the bloodline inheritance of the other top-tiered Monster races. It also appeared that the Ice Wyrm Bead was also targetted by the other Monster races, and that might be the reason why the Ice Wyrm Clan’s members consisted of only Ao Yu and Ao Wu-Shuang.”

Lu Hai grinned. "Father is really amazing to be able to figure that out! But what's strange is that the Ice Wyrm Cla’s surname was originally Yin, and nobody knows why did they change their surname to Ao. The surname Ao is only possessed by the Primordial Crocodilian Clan. Likewise, we, as a member of the Emerald Sea Spirit Snake, should have taken the surname of our race, but we decided to take Father’s surname.”

At that, Lu Ping’s heart skipped a beat. He thought, “That’s exactly the surname of Xuan-Chu! So he really is Junior Martial Uncle Xuan-Yin’s biological son! I wonder if he knows about his true identity and his relationship with his father.”

As for the surname of the Emerald Sea Spirit Snake, Lu Ping had already known about it back in the East Ocean.

Lu Qing added, "Father's guess is correct. Although the Ice Wyrm Clan has entered the ranks of top-tier Monster races with the existence of the Ice Wyrm Bead, the Ice Wyrm Clan is not the direct bloodline of the Heaven Cleaving Seven Primes. Therefore, we, the descendants of the Heaven Cleaving Seven Primes, do not consider the Ice Wyrm Clan as the same kind as us. Ordinary monster races also isolate the Ice Wyrm Clan because they are among the ranks of the top-tiered Monster races despite not being the direct bloodline of the Heaven Cleaving Seven Primes. This makes the Ice Wyrm Clan's status among the monster races awkward. In addition, the inheritance of the Ice Wyrm Clan in the Ice Wyrm Bead can be obtained and cultivated by the Monster cultivators of the Jiao Dragon bloodline because of the ice-elemental techniques of the Ice Wyrm Clan. Therefore, the low-level cultivators of the Ice Wyrm Clan are often assassinated by other Monster races to seize the Ice Wyrm Bead and gain the Ice Wyrm Clan's inheritance. This situation has been continuing for tens of thousands of years. In our memory of inheritance, the Ice Wyrm Clan disappeared from the cultivation world thousands of years ago. It is actually quite surprising that there the Ice Wyrm Clan is discovered in the North Ocean. Seems like they have received the protection of the Primordial Crocodilian Clan. Hmph, the Primordial Crocodilian Clan must still be clinging onto the rumor among the Monster races that started tens of thousands of years."

Lu Ping curiously asked, "What rumor?"

Lu Hai scratched his head and said, "Legend has it that the Ice Wyrm Clan's ancestors knew a great secret about the Heaven Cleaving Seven Primes. In those days, both Human and Monster cultivators were eager to uncover this secret, and they all believed that the secret must be passed down from generation to generation in the Ice Wyrm Clan's Ice Wyrm Bead. Therefore, they launched a crazy hunt for the descendants of the Ice Wyrm Clan. However, they never found out the secret. As time went on, people began to think that it might just be a hoax, and the Ice Wyrm Clan gradually disappeared from the world of cultivation due to the temptation of the Ice Wyrm Bead."

At this point, Lu Ping's curiosity was aroused by the discussion between them, and he asked, "Oh, do you know which aspect of the Heaven Cleaving Seven Primes' secret is about?"

Lu Hai shook his little head like a rattle drum and said, "I don't know. Maybe we’ll find out more about it when we reach a higher level of cultivation and more seals on the inherited memories within our bloodline inheritance.”

Lu Ping nodded and then turned to Lu Ling'er and asked with a smile, "Linger, tell Father what inheritance you obtained from the Ice Wyrm Bead this time?"

Luling'er wrinkled her little nose and said discontentedly, "This Ao Wu-Shuang is really useless. It took him until the late-Core Forging Realm to unlock the seal in the Ice Wyrm Bead, and many of the secret arts and techniques of the Ice Wyrm Clan in the Core Forging Realm were still locked. Obviously, he was not strong enough. No wonder he was killed so easily.”

However, soon after, Lu Ling'er said happily, "But Ling'er found many useful things in the inheritance within the Ice Wyrm Bead, which will become a great help in my future cultivation, especially since the Ice Wyrm Bead itself is a treasure of the Ice Wyrm Clan's inheritance. It has accumulated the essence of cultivation for hundreds of years from Ao Wu-Shuang. Although it's not as good as his GoldenCcore, it is still very helpful for my cultivation."

Lu Ping nodded approvingly before he asked with some confusion, "The inheritance comes in different forms? Is it based on the strength of the cultivator?”

Lu Ling'er sniffed and said unhappily, "Of course, every top-tiered race cultivator's inheritance is unlocked based on their strength. Outsiders can't help with this unless a same-race cultivator who practices the same technique reveals the contents of those unopened inheritances, which often is very unlikely for the other cultivator to succeed in practicing it. Such is the magic of bloodline inheritance. The greater the ability, the greater the gain. There are only a few things that can be gained without effort. Therefore, top-tiered Monster cultivators work hard to unlock all the inheritances they can access. This is an important reason why top-tiered Monster cultivators can maintain their advantage among the ranks of the Monsters besides their innate talent."

Lu Ping nodded secretly but asked curiously again a moment later, "Ling'er, how about the three of you? I mean, your bloodline inheritances?"

Lu Hai proudly smiled and patted his chest, "Father, don't worry; our bloodline inheritance has already been unlocked up to the Core Forging Realm. Unlike that wasted Ao Wu-Shuang, we have also unlocked all the secret techniques and abilities we can access."

Lu Ping nodded in satisfaction, took out an inter-spacial pouch, and smiled, "Then let's see what treasures this last prince of the Ice Wyrm Clan has brought us.”