Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit

"What? Two small spirit veins?"

"What a waste! Two small spirit veins are more than enough to satisfy the daily cultivation of four Enlightened Masters!"

"That's right. Furthermore, given Huang Li Island's perilous location, wouldn't the spirit veins be as good as gone if the monsters take the island?"

"I heard that the Li Clan lost their spirit veins a few years ago when Huang Li Island was reclaimed. Junior Nephew Lu and the Li Clan… could it really be him as the Li Clan have purported?"

Xuan-Qing furtively looked back at Xuan-Cang and heaved a sigh of relief after seeing the latter nod back softly in satisfaction.

Then, Xuan-Qing decided to give the final push, and said, "Junior Nephew Lu has invested a lot in the island; the island's protective formation is even stronger than the one on Xuan Qi Island. Without a spirit vein, it would take at least fifty thousand spirit stones to keep it operational. Yet, I heard that Junior Nephew Lu pays for everything himself without the sect's help. Perhaps only Senior Sister Tian-Ling's disciple can do this."

Most of the Enlightened Masters present were either from the same faction as Xuan-Qing and Xuan-Cang, or from friendly factions of the same side. So, apart from a few exceptions who had lowered their heads quietly, the rest looked closely at Xuan-Qing who smiled gently back.

In Zhen Ling Sect, the faction Xuan-Qing and Xuan-Cang belonged to was being overwhelmed by Liu Tian-Ling and Jiang Tian-Lin's faction. The other higher-ups like Qu Xuan-Cheng and Guo Xuan-Shan, were also close to Liu Tian-Ling and Jiang Tian-Lin, so it wasn’t a surprise that they were a dominant faction.

As a result, most of them would restrain themselves from publicly expressing their thoughts on their political stance. This was also why they were surprised to hear Xuan-Qing's blatant words.

Xuan-Qing looked around, and continued, "Junior Nephew Lu tries to display his independence, yet almost everything he has achieved is because the sect has helped him one way or the other. For instance, where were Mo Wei's other subordinates when Junior Nephew Lu reclaimed Huang Li Island? They were held back by the other martial siblings, that's why his mission was a success!"

Xuan-Qing's words made many of the Enlightened Masters nod in agreement, one of them even said out loud, "I think Junior Nephew Lu only wants Huang Li Island for himself!"

Xuan-Qing was overjoyed, this was exactly what he had been waiting for someone to say, so he quickly added, "That's right! Junior Nephew Lu is taking advantage of the sect for his own agenda and for his own reputation! This is unacceptable!"

In fact, most of the Enlightened Masters present hadn’t achieved much and were narrow-minded. They were always jealous of others who did better than them, especially juniors like Lu Ping. So, it was not a surprise they were easily swayed by Xuan-Qings speech.

Xuan-Cang finally spoke, "I think all of you make sense. However, Junior Nephew Lu is still Senior Sister Tian-Ling's disciple, so he won’t leave the sect and be independent. That being said, him taking advantage of the sect is unacceptable.

"Huang Li Island is a long distance away from the sect's main forces; on top of its strategic location, it's not appropriate to pile so many resources on the island, especially the spirit veins. Additionally, Junior Nephew Lu is just an Early Core Forging Realm Enlightened Master and a young junior. He isn’t the right candidate to be in charge of Huang Li Island."

Xuan-Qing and a few others concurred verbally.

Then, Xuan-Cang smiled, and said, "Given the situation, I suggest we have one Mid Core Forging Realm and four Early Core Forging Realm junior siblings to replace Junior Nephew Lu. This way, the island's defense will be strengthened, and Junior Nephew Lu can also return to Tian Ling Mountain where he will be safer and can focus on his cultivation. After all, we need to preserve talents like him for the future of the sect."

Everyone could now tell that everything Xuan-Qing had done was just to prepare the stage for Xuan-Cang. The two of them had planned and orchestrated this talk so that their faction could take Huang Li Island from Lu Ping's hands.

But because they would also benefit from this, they kept quiet and gladly played along.

However, one cultivator still voiced his concerns, "It's not going to be that easy. It's still a fact that Junior Nephew Lu is the one who reclaimed Huang Li Island. We can't force him to submit the island if he isn't willing to do so. If we push him too far, we will give Senior Sister Tian-Ling an excuse to step in. I believe everyone here knows how dominant she once was. Now that she’s become a Great Ancestor herself, the other senior Great Ancestors won't be able to stop her easily like before."

Xuan-Cang frowned slightly, but his smile quickly recovered as he had already thought about this, "Then, we will tune it down a little. We can have a Mid Core Forging Realm and two Early Core Forging Realm juniors assist Junior Nephew Lu on Huang Li Island. After all, Huang Li Island's defense is lacking, it urgently needs to increase its defensive power."

Xuan-Cang's plan bestirred the Enlightened Masters. Even though Lu Ping wasn't replaced in this plan, he wouldn't be able to lead the island anymore with a Mid Core Forging Realm senior around. In time, the ownership of the island would naturally shift.

The Enlightened Master who had spoken before said, "Even so, we’ll be criticized if we send in our men without reason. The island has done well against the monster attacks in the past three years under his leadership."

Xuan-Qing finally couldn't hold it this time, and quickly said, "Senior Brother Xuan-He, you’re too cautious. It'd be too late if we wait until Junior Nephew fails to protect the island and loses the spirit veins!"

Xuan-He didn't answer, but he clearly wasn't convinced.

Suddenly, a disciple hurriedly entered the cave-dwelling and whispered something into Xuan-Cang's ears. Xuan-Cang's face turned solemn and he dismissed the disciple. Then, he smiled at the Enlightened Masters, and said, "Perfect timing, our chance has arrived. Xuan Qi Island just reported that the monster race is besieging Huang Li Island again, it’s the fiercest attack of all time. I don't think Huang Li Island will hold out on its own."

The Enlightened Masters were overjoyed, and Xuan-Qing said happily, "We shouldn't wait any longer, let's go now!"

Only Xuan-He remained calm, as he asked with confusion, "Strange, Huang Li Island has a teleportation formation. Why would the message come from Xuan Qi Island instead?"

Right away, Xuan-Qing and Xuan-Cang's expression changed drastically and they furtively exchanged a look. Xuan-Cang waved his hand, and said decisively, "To the teleportation formation!"

The dozen other Enlightened Masters followed him as they made their way to Di Kun Island's teleportation formation to check out the situation.

"What? Huang Li Island's teleportation formation isn't linking? Is it because it's broken? What about Xuan Qi Island?"

"What? The spatial transmission is jammed by some kind of array formation?"

The Enlightened Masters were shocked, they couldn’t believe that the attack was so well-planned this time. Not only had they destroyed Huang Li Island's teleportation formation, they had also blocked Xuan Qi Island's teleportation formation.

Without the teleportation formation to cut short the journey, they would have to travel more than 1,500 miles to get from Di Kun Island to Huang Li Island. This would take a long time and Huang Li Island would have already fallen by the time they could arrive.

Xuan-Cang and Xuan-Qing looked at each other again and they both saw a look of panic. The plan had gone astray and out of their control! 24062

…

"Miss Hu, I'm Lu Ping's close friend."

The young teenager tried to de-escalate the situation by raising his empty hands in the air and giving his best smile.

However, sparks of lighting were still zapping out from the exquisite formation chassis in Hu Lili's hand; her eyes glowed with an emerald-green light, and she said solemnly, "A monster?"

The young teenager smiled helplessly, while three little children with snake bodies slithered out from behind him. One of the children said, "Aunty Hu, he really is my father's friend."

Seeing that the snake trio confirmed his identity, Hu Lili also started to believe him, but she still looked at Lu Bi, and asked, "Why haven't I seen him before, your father never told me about him either. Who is he exactly?"

Before Lu Bi could answer her, the young teenager explained himself, "Miss Hu, my name is Luan Yu. I've never been mentioned because I've specially requested Brother Lu to not tell anyone about my existence as it could bring trouble to our doorsteps. This is why you've never heard of me before."