Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-84

In the midst of the war between humans and monsters, three loud noises rumbled in the ears of every cultivator and captured their attention.

The giant images of three mystic instruments appeared above the water dome. They were a sword, a mirror, and a book.

The sword slashed down on the dome; the mirror released a giant beam of white light; the book flipped its pages and dozens of powerful spells were cast out. The mystic instruments attacked the water dome all at the same time.

Lu Ping immediately realized their situation and hurriedly led the others to retreat in the direction of Xuan Qi Island. The other cultivators in the southern waters also realized what was happening and quickly backed away from the battlefield.

When the attacks struck the water dome, flashes of bright light rippled out from the insides of the water dome. It was as if the Enlightened Masters inside and outside of the water dome had coordinated together to attack the protective shield.

The water dome trembled heavily under the attacks and moments later, it shattered. The seawater furiously cascaded down like a torrentious waterfall from the skies.

The aftershock from the Enlightened Masters’ attacks swept across the entire battlefield. Both human and monster cultivators caught unprepared were hit by the shock waves and slammed into the water.

Many of them never made it out to the surface, and only the strong ones survived, but even so, they were all severely wounded.

Lu Ping, and all those who were quick to react, had already fled the battlefield from the beginning. They were dumbfounded after seeing the outcome, and grateful that they had escaped in time.

Several deafening roars of anger soon filled the sky, followed by a loud and enraged outcry. It seemed like both sides had suffered losses and were infuriated.

All of a sudden, both human and monster cultivators stopped fighting. A strange atmosphere overtook the battlefield, and it felt like the calm before the storm.

Zhen Ling Sect’s disciples gathered together to one side. In the midst of the crowd, Lu Ping saw that almost one-third of their cultivators had fallen, and the remaining half were injured. He estimated that Xuan Ling Sect’s casualties would be almost the same as them. On the other hand, since the monster race’s invasion was an unexpected event, their casualties would most likely be lower.

Even when the Zhen Ling Sect had gathered together a few hundred Blood Condensation disciples, they were still overwhelmed by the auras of the Core Forging Enlightened Masters in the sky. The air was stuffy and it was uncomfortable to breathe.

Above Xuan Qi Island, the clouds darkened, the sky turned overcast, and the clear weather suddenly started snowing. A gush of cold wind swept across the battlefield and Lu Ping abruptly shivered from the drop in temperature. He glanced around and saw the same puzzled expression on the other cultivators.

The dark sky, the snow, and the cold; they formed a spectacle on the sea that was spreading east towards the monster race’s place of assembly. As it spread, even the raging tides started to freeze.

When the monsters saw the wind and snow coming towards them, they immediately knew a master expert from the human race had arrived. Naturally, they started to panic.

It was at that moment, a deafening roar rose up from the eastern sea. A huge jet of water spouted up from the surface and a behemoth surfaced from underwater. Its body was as huge as an island, and its appearance caused a turbulence in the seawater. The tides crested at a staggering height and blocked the incoming wind and snow from reaching the monster cultivators.

A loud and deep voice resonated from the behemoth only a few miles away, “Immortals of Wind and Snow, how did you know we were coming?”

A faintly discernible and gentle voice replied, “How is that possible? This is nothing but a coincidence! If we had known Daoist Kong Jing was coming, we would definitely warm up a cup of tea to welcome you.”

After this short exchange, both sides stopped talking, as if they were waiting for something, or someone.

The war involved the North Ocean’s monster race, Zhen Ling Sect, and Xuan Ling Sect. But only Xuan Ling Sect’s disciples were causing a commotion. Clearly, the arrival of master experts from the monster race and Zhen Ling Sect had left them uneasy, making them look inferior in this situation. But suddenly, the ruckus died down as a certain piece of news spread among them.

It was then Lu Ping noticed that Xuan Ling Sect had fewer surviving cultivators than Zhen Ling Sect. Did this mean Xuan Ling Sect’s casualties were higher?

Lu Ping couldn’t help recalling the information he had Hu Lili report to the sect. It was obvious now that the sect had taken this report seriously and thus, secretly prepared for this outcome.

Sure enough, not long later on the south side, a bright red light suddenly appeared behind the Xuan Ling disciples. The light resembled the evening sunset, half of the south sky was dyed red.

Then, an angry voice said, “You’re all quite early! It looks like Xuan Ling Sect is the last to arrive!”

The voice wasn’t just angry, it also carried a slight trace of fear and resentment.

Then, a soft chuckle came from Zhen Ling Sect, but this time, it was a lady’s voice. “Senior Martial Brother Qiu has arrived at the right time. The little ones can now leave.”

Enlightened Master Qu suddenly appeared in the sky and ordered the Zhen Ling disciples, “Kids, there’s nothing more for you to do here. All of you, get your asses back to Xuan Qi Island right now.”

The Zhen Ling disciples had long been uncomfortable under this suppressive atmosphere. As soon as Enlightened Master Qu gave the order, they all hurriedly left the battlefield and returned to Xuan Qi Island. The same situation was happening to the Xuan Ling disciples and the monster cultivators.

On their return journey to Xuan Qi Island, Lu Ping and his group were excitedly discussing and guessing the identity of these master experts—were they Avatar Realm Grand Ancestors?

When bringing up the Core Forging Enlightened Masters, they were also amazed and admiring of their sheer strength.

Lu Ping himself was shocked by how formidable those experts were. Other than Enlightened Master Qu that appeared at the end to order them to return, they didn’t see any Enlightened Masters in the battlefield at all. Yet, they could feel their presence the entire time. It was as if they had taken control over heaven and earth, and manipulated the battle from above.

The war between Zhen Ling Sect and Xuan Ling Sect had temporarily ceased due to the monster race’s invasion. And so, the cultivators on Xuan Qi Island waited for orders from the higher-ups. They were all guessing the fate of the war.

Lu Ping only listened to their conjectures but never joined in, instead spending this period of time working on his own things.

This time, Master Immortal Liu had been severely injured in battle. He was initially in closed-door cultivation in order to break through but when the monster invasion occurred, he headed off to join the battlefield.

All of Group 7’s disciples went to visit him.

In his cultivation room, Master Immortal Liu’s face was still pale, but his condition had stabilized. It was clear that he was given high-quality healing pellets for his injuries. After all, he was a core disciple in the sect.

During the visit, the group disciples asked Master Immortal Liu about the monster invasion and the current situation in the North Ocean.

Master Immortal Liu didn’t conceal anything and told them what he knew.

Zhen Ling Sect had indeed been prepared for the monster invasion, but the sect had to pretend to be uninformed in public. Hence, The Immortals of Wind and Snow were invited as guests to visit their student, Enlightened Master Xuan-Yu who was stationed on Di Kun Island. Coincidentally, the monster race launched an invasion in the waters of Xuan Qi Island. Since they were nearby, they had rushed to the battlefield.

As for the three Enlightened Masters that attacked and destroyed the Mystic Water Firmament Melding Array from the outside, the sect had dispatched an expedition to the deep sea to explore some recently discovered historical remains. While on their journey, they had“coincidentally” passed by the battlefield.

However, the Mystic Water Firmament Melding Array was only destroyed because the Enlightened Masters had simultaneously attacked together from the inside and outside. If they weren’t coordinated and made plans beforehand, they wouldn’t be able to destroy the water dome.

After that, Master Immortal Liu sighed deeply as he continued to talk about the casualties. Enlightened Master Xuan-Yong and another First Layer Enlightened Master had fallen. Two more Enlightened Masters were severely wounded.

However, Xuan Ling Sect’s casualties were heavier. It lost four Enlightened Masters, including one at the Mid Core Forging Realm. Three more Enlightened Masters were severely wounded. Their losses were truly great—a Mid Core Forging Enlightened Master alone was equivalent to three at the Early Core Forging Realm.

On the other hand, the monster race didn’t manage to reap many benefits from their invasion. Zhen Ling Sect killed two palace masters, including one at the Mid Core Forging Realm, and severely injured another two. Xuan Ling Sect also killed one and severely wounded three palace masters.

In terms of casualties, it seemed like Zhen Ling Sect’s losses were the lightest. However, from a broader view, the North Ocean human race had suffered a harsher blow than the North Ocean monster race.