Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit

"Brother Lv Hai, have you delivered the item?"

"Yes, brother Mo. To be frank, I’m still not convinced, it should be yours. How can the Great Ancestors be so biased and give it to someone else. With your talent, you would definitely beat Qu Xuan-Cheng if you had it!"

"Brother Lv, be careful with your words! How can you talk bad about the Great Ancestors behind their backs! It's shameful to say, but it may be difficult for me to use it in my cultivation. Although he made no contribution at all, his talent is beyond mine. Furthermore, my failure in protecting Huang Li Island has made me a laughingstock in the North Ocean, I have no face to use it for myself."

"Brother Mo need not be so downhearted. I believe you have heard the recent rumors among the underlings, what do you think about it?"

"Someone is clearly plotting something, we don't need to pay any attention to it."

"Brother Mo, while I was on my way back, I heard the same rumor in the southern region, and it's even more widespread there than here."

"Oh? Is that so? How can Huang Li Island's situation be spread so far to even the southern region?"

"I had the same question which led me to investigate the matter. Guess what, I found an underling that was actively spreading the rumors around. Not only that, it was a monster pet enslaved by humans."

"Hmph, these damned humans! How dare they enslave our kind! Damn these weak-minded underlings who would rather be slaves than die honorably!"

"It can't be helped, some of them will really do everything just to stay alive. Not just monsters, but humans too. Don't we have human pets as well, some are even in the Core Forging Realm. Heh."

"That said, the mastermind is from within the human race… Have you found out who they are?"

"No. The monster pets have been planted with divine revelation mind seals, the seals will immediately kill the monster pets the instant we try to search their souls."

"Then, Brother Lv Hai, what do you have in mind?"

"The cultivation world has always viewed us monsters as cruel beings, where the strong have everything and the weak suffer in pain and agony. But in reality, humans are not any better. Calculations, schemes, infighting, backstabbing, they excel in all of them! Zhen Ling Sect's rise to power must have caused the other sects to worry, so it's not surprising that they are scheming against Zhen Ling Sect."

"Brother Lv Hai, are you sure about the rumor?"

"Let's find out, it's not difficult. Brother Mo, don't forget about the human pets we have, we can send them to gather information for us in the human race! "

"Great plan! If the rumor is true, we will launch an attack to take down Huang Li Island and make Zhen Ling Sect have a taste of defeat!"

"But just to be cautious, Brother Mo, we have to plan carefully and use the human pets on the island. As long as we swiftly take over Huang Li Island with its protective formation, we will be able to deal with any schemes with ease."

"Well said!"

…

"Senior Sister Hu, where is Little Qin'er? The island is so quiet without her."

"Junior Sister Xuan-Xuan invited her to play on Tian Ling Mountain, so she left."

"No matter what, Little Qin'er is still a monster and Junior Brother Lu didn't implant any divine revelation mind seals inside her. In other words, she is a free monster with no clear identification to prove herself. Aren't you worried that certain cultivators on Tian Ling Mountain would do something to her if they see a monster in the sect's home base?"

"Many people on Tian Ling Mountain know that Little Qin'er is Lu Ping's pet. Furthermore, I'm sure no one would dare to harm her when Junior Sister Xuan-Xuan is with her."

"That's true. Speaking of which, we’re the only two Enlightened Masters left on the island, this has weakened our defenses so we need to raise our guard. Especially with so many different cultivators on the island now."

"There's nothing much we can do, the others have their own duties, they can't be here for long. Senior Uncle Qu is nearby on Xuan Qi Island, but he also has to remain on guard against Mo Wei. Hmm… we can ask for Di Kun Island's assistance. As one of the 36 medium islands in Zhen Ling Sect, they should be able to send some help, at least an Enlightened Master or two."

"That's worth a try. I heard that Enlightened Master Xuan-Hui, who was previously in charge of Di Kun Island, has returned to Tian Ling Mountain due to cultivation issues. He has been replaced by Enlightened Master Xuan-Cang who is also in the Late Core Forging Realm. Even though none of us are close to him, he should still answer our call for help, right?" 24062

…

It had been three years since Wang Qi and the other disciples had been dispatched to Huang Li Island. In these last three years, whilst he was still stuck in the Ninth Layer Blood Refining Realm, he didn't seem to worry about his cultivation progress at all and was still patiently consolidating his cultivation foundation and honing his swordsmanship.

Under his careful supervision, the two spiritual fields that Hu Lili had assigned to him had been upgraded into a spiritual crop field and a spirit herb garden. Compared to ordinary spiritual fields, these spiritual fields were far superior, and were twice as large, due to the thick spiritual energy on the island.

Following the fruitful harvests from the spiritual fields under his care, Wang Qi was assigned another spiritual field which he then used to grow a medium-grade spirit material, the Hemp Fragrant Wood.

The other seven disciples who had witnessed Lu Ping's sword practice at Zhao Yang Summit had also reached the Ninth Layer Blood Refining Realm, just one step away from becoming inner disciples of Zhen Ling Sect.

When they first arrived at Huang Li Island, they had all come with high hopes, thinking that this was their chance to become Enlightened Master Lu Xuan-Ping's disciples. Yet, as time passed, they never saw Enlightened Master Lu Xuan-Ping on the island. Not only that, they had only seen Enlightened Master Hu Lili once, which was when they first arrived on the island and were assigned their duties.

Over the years, they received the same treatment as the other Blood Refining Realm disciples were supervised by the Blood Condensation Realm Master Immortal Fang Tao, who was in charge of the island's affairs.

In the first year, the seven disciples all did their part, diligently carrying out their duties, patiently cultivating, and honing their skills.

In the second year, when they heard that some of their peers had started to advance to the Blood Condensation Realm and become inner disciples, some of them started to become impatient. In all honesty, their cultivation progression was initially faster due to the enlightenment they had received from Lu Ping's sword practice.

Although they had missed the side hall competition because they had passed out after seeing Lu Ping's sword practice, they believed that the enlightenment from the sword practice would help them excel in cultivation.

Most of all, many people in the sect, including themselves, had already thought they had obtained the ticket to becoming Enlightened Master Lu Xuan-Ping's disciples by being the only ones who had seen his sword practice. Not to mention that the dean, Enlightened Master Xuan-Yuan, had sent them to Huang Li Island where Enlightened Master Lu Xuan-Ping was stationed.

However, two years passed and nothing happened. Naturally, some of the youngsters started to raise doubts and questions, growing impatient and anxious after seeing their peers surpass them.

After the first person left, the others followed. During the third year, only Wang Qi and one other disciple remained on Huang Li Island, the other five had lost patience.

Wang Qi had never thought that Han Xu would be the last one to stay with him. Han Xu was the weakest and most timid amongst the seven of them. He was also the one who had been intimidated from stepping further forwards under Lu Ping's immense pressure during the sword practice. Hence, he was often looked down upon and left out by the others.

Other than the two disciples that were still holding on, the actions of the other five were equivalent to renouncing their chance to become Enlightened Master Lu Xuan-Ping's disciples.

Even so, because of their far superior strength, they received their own fortunes in other places. Except for one of them who had unfortunately been killed in a monster trap, two of the disciples had already advanced to the Blood Condensation Realm, while the other two were in the process of doing so.