Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-82

Inside the interspatial pouch, there were a few dozen jade scrolls. Each jade scroll contained a divine sense secret technique. Most of them were about as powerful as the one in [Sheng Tao's Book of Alchemy] with only a few superior ones which Lu Ping wasn’t too satisfied with. In the end, he could only choose the best three among them.

The first one was [Divine Furtherance Technique]. It was a detailed and first-rate secret technique with minimal side effects. Cultivators only had to practice the technique as instructed and it would strengthen their divine sense by a third.

The second one was called [Divine Augmentation Technique]. This required the aid of special medicinal pellets known as Divine Augmentation Pellets. In the Blood Condensation Realm, this secret technique could strengthen the cultivators’ divine sense by at least a third or up to one-half of their present power.

The third one had the frightening name of [Divine Separation Technique]. It was an adaptation of a mysterious secret technique that recovered one’s divine sense.

The original secret technique was used to heal the cultivators’ damaged divine sense in a short time. Then at some point in history, a genius cultivator improvised and created a cultivation technique based on the original.

In this secret technique, the cultivators would separate and store away a small portion of their divine sense and then recover their damaged divine sense. They would have to repeat the process until the separated divine sense was at least half of the cultivator’s original divine sense. Then, by fusing both halves, the cultivator’s divine sense would be strengthened by at least one-half and up to three-quarters.

However, there were two difficulties to overcome in this cultivation secret technique. The first was the immense pain that came with each separation of the divine sense. The second was finding a mid-grade, Mystic-class, ‘heaven and earth’ spirit item—the Soul Nurturing Wood—to store the separated divine sense.

Because the fusion wouldn’t happen until the end of the Blood Condensation Realm, the secret technique’s effect wouldn’t be seen until then. This meant that cultivators would spend the entire Blood Condensation Realm preparing for the final moment.

Truth be told, Lu Ping wished he could use all three of these secret techniques. Unfortunately, the other two techniques had requirements to practice them. Especially the Soul Nurturing Wood, which was also attractive to Core Forging Enlightened Masters, let alone Blood Condensation cultivators.

Therefore, Lu Ping’s best choice was to select the first secret technique and only come back to the other two when he could meet the requirements. After making up his mind, Lu Ping didn’t hesitate and chose the [Divine Furtherance Technique].

With this choice, Lu Ping had already selected two rewards, leaving him with one last item to take.

In fact, there were many items in the vault that were considered precious, even to Late Blood Condensation disciples. However, most of them weren’t suitable for Lu Ping yet. He could only choose an item that fit his current condition to improve himself and perhaps earn another chance to come back in the future.

For example, there were many top-grade mystic instruments, but only Late Blood Condensation cultivators could freely wield them and unleash their full potential. Even though Lu Ping’s arcane energy was extraordinarily stronger than the rest, he still needed to be in the Fifth or even Sixth Layer Blood Condensation Realm before he could do the same.

Therefore, Lu Ping was stuck on what to take for his last and final item. He had three choices in mind.

The first was a book on charm-crafting in the Blood Condensation Realm.

The second was a book on alchemy for its insights as well as the recipes.

The third choice was to get a mystic instrument. The Flying Swallow Sword and Yan Ling Swords were all wind-water mystic instruments; they weren’t very compatible with his pure water cultivation method. In addition, the Flying Swallow Sword was a light and agile flying sword, and thus was not suitable for fierce fighting sword arts like the [Disarrayed Rocks Puncturing Sword Art]. He also happened to lack a good defensive mystic instrument.

Lu Ping felt a headache at the thought of all the items he lacked. He didn’t know which to choose as they all felt important to him.

After some serious consideration, Lu Ping eventually decided to get a pure water-element flying sword.

He gave up on the charm-crafting book because he didn’t really need one yet. He’d only just learned to craft Blood Condensation charms and his success rate was still low. He could wait a little longer to improve this skill.

He’d also made a request to Master Immortal Li to provide some insights and recipes in alchemy, and he believed he would get back to him soon. Furthermore, he still lacked practice when it came to alchemy—there was no need to rush now.

He was initially hesitant between getting a pure water flying sword or a defensive mystic instrument. In the end, Lu Ping couldn’t resist the temptation in his heart because of his recent advancement in swordsmanship. He chose the flying sword.

Lu Ping followed the classifications listed in the mystic instrument section, from flying sword, then top-grade, and lastly pure water element. He opened the interspatial pouch and finally chose a pair of dual swords.

The power of the [Stormy Waves Crashing Shore Sword Art] would be greatly enhanced with these dual swords. The primary sword was also slightly larger in size, making it suitable to cast the [Disarrayed Rocks Puncturing Sword Art] when wielded independently.

The only issue was his current cultivation base. He still had difficulty wielding the swords with any ease. He estimated that he could only unleash their full potential once he reached the Fourth Layer Blood Condensation Realm.

After selecting his rewards, Lu Ping could finally relax and take a closer look at the various items in the treasure vault.

Every Zhen Ling disciple would be allowed to enter the cultivation world and carry out sect missions after entering the eighth layer of the Blood Refining Realm. The Master Immortals in charge would then pass them two jade scrolls.

The first jade scroll recorded the experience and knowledge of their senior disciples in the cultivation world; the second scroll explained all the different kinds of cultivation resources, the places they were commonly found, the methods for harvesting these cultivation resources, and more.

It was only normal that most young and fresh disciples only learned about those cultivation resources from the jade scroll. So should there come an opportunity to see and touch the real thing here in the treasure vault, it was only natural Lu Ping wouldn’t let the chance slip.

Lu Ping first went to the spirit pet sector and looked at the various spirit pet eggs. When he didn’t find the eggs of the Emerald Sea Spirit Snake anywhere, he was somewhat satisfied that he had something that even the sect lacked. However, it didn’t occur to him that even if the sect possessed Emerald Sea Spirit Snake’s eggs, they wouldn’t be placed in the Blood Condensation Treasure Vault.

Lu Ping moved to the spirit herb section to learn more about the various spirit herbs. He was excited to see that each label had a brief description about each type—he tried studying as much as he could.

He didn’t have much time left after that. He quickly hurried to the medicinal pellet section and briefly memorized the different types of medicinal pellets and their uses. Not long later, the treasure vault was opened and the vault guard rushed Lu Ping to leave.

He reluctantly left the Blood Condensation Treasure Vault and went to register his three chosen items. Then, he hurriedly returned to Xuan Qi Island.

At this time, Xuan Ling Sect and Zhen Ling Sect were still having tense confrontations on the sea border. Everyday, the Blood Condensation disciples from both sects were engaged in combat.

However, they were mostly Mid and Late Blood Condensation disciples. In battles like these, Early Blood Condensation disciples were nothing more than livestock.

Hence, Lu Ping’s life returned to a consistent routine of cultivation, practicing charm-crafting, alchemy, and sword skills, getting familiar with the [Divine Furtherance Technique] and the rest of the [Wave Listening Eight Ultimates], playing with Dabao, and nurturing the Emerald Sea Spirit Snake eggs.

These were comfortable, regular, and fulfilling days.