Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-72

There were nearly 4,000 spirit stones in the interspatial pouches of the Xuan Ling disciples, as well as a few low-grade and mid-grade mystic instruments.

Lu Ping didn’t care for any of them except for the pair of Yan Ling Swords the Xuan Ling disciple used. There was a dual-sword art among the [Wave Listening Eight Ultimates] that he could cast with these swords.

Lu Ping was also surprised to find a bottle of Thousand Ginseng Pellets. He wasn’t lacking in Blood Condensation pellets though—he still had the four bottles of medicinal pellets he found in Sheng Tao’s cave-dwelling.

Among the four bottles, two were high-grade pellets for the Early Blood Condensation Realm, and the other two were ordinary pellets for the Mid Blood Condensation Realm. They were all valuable to Lu Ping so he happily stored them away.

It wasn’t safe to stay at Huang Li Island anymore. It wouldn’t take long for Xuan Ling Sect to notice the deaths of the two Blood Condensation disciples. This would definitely alert Xuan Ling Sect and more disciples would be dispatched to the island. Lu Ping had to leave now.

Moreover, Lu Ping now knew that Xuan Qi Island was Xuan Ling Sect’s main target, which meant it was most likely under siege now. Going back to Xuan Qi Island would be no different than jumping straight into the enemy’s clutches.

Xuan Hua Island, the island closest to Xuan Qi Island, was also not an option. Since Xuan Ling Sect planned to besiege Xuan Qi Island, it would definitely obstruct Xuan Hua Island from sending reinforcements. The island was almost certainly under attack right now.

Lu Ping considered his options and realized that he suddenly had nowhere to go. He was like an abandoned child who couldn’t return home!

While Xuan Ling Sect attacked Xuan Qi Island, it dispatched its disciples to raid the sixteen neighbouring islands under Zhen Ling Sect’s control. It appeared that Xuan Ling Sect was well-informed on the Zhen Ling island disciples and their capabilities. They sent out disciples who were just a little stronger than the island disciples.

In the end, who would’ve expected the Huang Li Island’s disciple to be a freak like Lu Ping, someone who could easily handle cultivators stronger than him? Perhaps Lu Ping could return the favor by using Xuan Ling Sect’s strategy?

He planned to intercept the incoming Xuan Ling disciples and kill them off, then gather together his fellow disciples.

In that case, he had to act as fast as possible in order to prevent Xuan Ling Sect from raiding all the surrounding islands. The island disciples could have also escaped and he wouldn’t be able to round them up. In any case, his plan would fail if he didn’t act quickly.

Lu Ping put away his belongings and left. Before leaving Huang Li Island, he slashed at the cliff above the cave-dwelling, causing rocks to fall and cover the entrance. The cave-dwelling now appeared wrecked from battle.

Then, he turned and headed towards Huang Yu Island, the island nearest to his Huang Li Island.

As soon as he left, Lu Ping noticed he was being followed. However, his tracker didn’t know his divine sense was extraordinarily strong. They assumed it was safe to hide underwater since it could reduce the effectiveness of a cultivator’s divine sense.

Unfortunately, the one being followed was Lu Ping. He quickly noticed the follower and with a flick of his hand, he bound the enemy in a water cage. The follower rammed against the water cage in an attempt to escape but to no avail.

Lu Ping moved closer and noticed that the follower was actually a Blood Refining monster shrimp. He pondered for a split second and then waved his hands—the monster shrimp quivered for a second before dying. Lu Ping sent its body into his monster spatial pouch for Dabao to eat.

It seemed like the war between Zhen Ling Sect and Xuan Ling Sect had also attracted the North Ocean monster race’s attention!

Huang Yu Island was calm and peaceful when Lu Ping arrived. Ever since Lin Sheng was robbed by Lu Ping, he became the laughingstock of the entire side hall. For the past two years, he had secluded himself on Huang Yu Island and focused on cultivation. The last Lu Ping heard, Lin Sheng’s cultivation had actually progressed a lot and was already on the verge of entering the Blood Condensation Realm.

Over the years, all of the side hall’s Grade 3 disciples who entered the Late Blood Refining Realm had been dispatched to Xuan Qi Island and the nearby mini islands to carry out their missions. Sixteen of them were stationed to the sixteen mini islands as the island disciples.

Among the sixteen disciples, five of them had successfully entered the Blood Condensation Realm. This included Group 7’s Yao Yong, Du Feng, and Lu Ping.

Lu Ping was fairly familiar with Huang Yu Island and went straight to Lin Sheng’s courtyard, but he found no one around. There were no traces of a battle anywhere on the island. It appeared that Lin Sheng found out matters had gone sideways and escaped a long time ago.

Lu Ping soon came across three Xuan Ling Ninth Layer Blood Refining disciples at the island’s spirit stone mine. The Xuan Ling disciples were still furious that Lin Sheng had escaped. But as soon as they saw Lu Ping, their faces immediately turned sour and started begging for mercy.

Naturally, Lu Ping wouldn’t show any mercy to them. They weren’t anomalies like Lu Ping who could contend with Blood Condensation cultivators in their Ninth Layer Blood Refining Realm. Lu Ping casually launched a few attacks and easily killed them on the spot, claiming their interspatial pouches as well as the spirit stones excavated from the mine.

After asking the miners, Lu Ping learned that Lin Sheng had already escaped the moment the Xuan Ling disciples arrived.

Lu Ping left Huang Yu Island and re-considered his plan. It wasn’t cost-effective nor efficient to kill these Blood Refining disciples. The three disciples only netted him about 700 spirit stones and less than five low-grade mystic instruments. No wonder Lin Sheng could escape from their claws.

It was better to head for the islands under the care of his four Blood Condensation seniors.

Lu Ping flew west. Roughly 200 miles from Huang Yu Island was Huang Lin Island, which was under Du Feng’s care.

Lu Ping rushed towards Huang Lin Island but found no one on the island again. He asked the islanders and learned that two hours ago, there were sounds of explosions from the island center. Then, they saw the island Master Immortal fly north while being chased by two other Master Immortals.

This told him that Du Feng was still alive, but he was also not a match for the Xuan Ling disciples. Lu Ping quickly flew north in order to catch up and help Du Feng out of his predicament.

After flying for a few dozen miles, he bumped into a Xuan Ling disciple.

The other party was surprised to see a Zhen Ling disciple, but quickly heaved a breath of relief when his divine sense told him Lu Ping was just a First Layer Blood Condensation cultivator.

Suddenly, a lady’s voice could be heard coming from behind the Xuan Ling disciple, “Junior Martial Brother Lu, please save me!”

Lu Ping was stunned. Then he saw a sack on the back of the Xuan Ling disciple. Something was moving nonstop inside; clearly, someone had been captured. The lady’s voice sounded familiar too. She was clearly someone he knew, but he couldn’t recall who it could be.

The Xuan Ling disciple’s face changed drastically at the lady’s distressed plea. Without a word, he directly cast out a foot-long metal wheel surrounded with sharp blades. A loud, sharp noise rang out as it spun and flew towards Lu Ping.

Lu Ping’s divine sense was on par with the Xuan Ling disciple—the other party was in the Second Layer Blood Condensation Realm. But looking at his pale face, it was clear that he was wounded.

Knowing this, Lu Ping didn’t hold back. Among the [Wave Listening Eight Ultimates], he was only familiar with the [Disarrayed Rocks Puncturing Sword Art] and the [Water Manipulation Art]. Although he practiced the other six arts, he never used them in battle before. But now, there was a perfect test subject in front of him to test.

Lu Ping waved his hands and cast out the recently looted pair of Yan Ling Swords. He then initiated the [Stormy Waves Crashing Shore Sword Art]—the two swords shot out back to back and morphed into two giant tidal waves. The back wave pushed against the front wave as they crashed onto the Xuan Ling disciple.

Lu Ping had honed his mastery in the [Stormy Waves Crashing Shore Sword Art] with the help of his state of Technique. The Xuan Ling disciple was already on the verge of dying. And in the end, he eventually died from a depletion of arcane energy.