Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit

Since the human-monster war had started, this was the second largest victory that the Zhen Ling Sect had against the monster race.

The largest victory was the counter attack by Guo Xuan-Shan, Liang Xuan-Feng, Li Xuan-Yin, and Qu Xuan-Cheng during Liu Xuan-Ling's Avatar Forum.

However, even though it wasn’t disclosed, cultivators with a high-level of seniority like Xuan-Cang learnt about Lu Ping's involvement in the battle. He had killed at least two monster Enlightened Masters, one of whom was in the Mid Core Forging Realm.

The sect didn't want to thrust Lu Ping into the spotlight as that would make him a target to both monsters and cultivators with ill-intent. At the same time, the monster race naturally wouldn't spread the news that their Enlightened Masters were killed by a young human Enlightened Master.

Hence, Lu Ping's achievement wasn’t known to many.

Guo Xuan-Shan and the others were the strongest cultivators in the Zhen Ling Sect beneath the Great Ancestors. Hence, it was only natural that they could secure such a huge victory.

In comparison, Lu Ping, Chen Lian, and Hu Lili were only three third-generation cultivators that had just advanced to the Core Forging Realm not long ago. How on earth did they win a battle that was ranked as the second largest victory for the sect?

This couldn't help but make the second-generation cultivators, and the other long-time Enlightened Masters, look at them with dread, especially the young man that wore a warm and gentle smile on his face.

The eight bodies were Lu Ping's answer to Xuan-Qing's suggestion. He was showing them that if he was capable of handling eleven Enlightened Masters, even killing eight of them, why did he need two more Mid Core Forging Realm Enlightened Masters?

In any case, if even he couldn't handle a situation, having two additional Mid Core Forging Realm Enlightened Masters wouldn't change things by much.

Xuan-Qing and Xuan-He, who were both in the Sixth Layer Core Forging Realm, exchanged a glance and saw the same lack of confidence in each others’ eyes. They knew that if the two of them were together and were in Lu Ping's position, they wouldn't have been able to do any better.

Xuan-Qing and Xuan-He finally realized that they had never actually been able to see through Lu Ping's cultivation base. They exchanged another look again, while Xuan-Cang, who had been silent from the beginning, asked in a solemn tone, "Junior Lu, you’ve broken through to the Mid Core Forging Realm?"

Indeed, he was worthy of being a Late Core Forging Realm Enlightened Master; he could tell that Lu Ping's cultivation base had improved, but even still, he wasn't sure.

Lu Ping smiled, neither admitting or denying Xuan-Cang's guess.

Just as the atmosphere was turning awkward, Lu Ping and Xuan-Cang both suddenly looked at the cave-dwelling's entrance, while the other Enlightened Masters were puzzled.

A few moments later, a loud laughter was heard as a bearded man with a red face strode into the cave-dwelling. Lu Ping, Hu Lili, and Chen Lian bowed, and greeted, "Greetings to Uncle Qu!"

The Enlightened Masters also greeted, "Senior Qu!" 24062

Qu Xuan-Cheng looked at Lu Ping, and then smiled approvingly, "Hoho, Little Lu, you've broken through to the Mid Core Forging Realm! Why is it that you feel so weird? Hmm, how fascinating, what a strange boy!"

Right away, the disparity between Qu Xuan-Cheng and Xuan-Cang was displayed. Although both of them were in the Late Core Forging Realm, Qu Xuan-Cheng was at a different level compared to Xuan-Cang. He could tell with just a glance that Lu Ping had not only broken through, but that he had also improved tremendously.

After that, Qu Xuan-Cheng looked at the eight bodies, and asked, "You killed all of them?"

Lu Ping waved his hands, and answered, "No, of course not. I was helped greatly by Senior Sister Hu and Senior Brother Chen."

Xuan-Qing squinted his eyes unhappily. Lu Ping had clearly been arrogantly showing off his prowess to them just now. However, all of a sudden, he acted humble and modest in front of Qu Xuan-Cheng, even sharing the credit with his friends.

As one of the leading figures in the Zhen Ling Sect, Qu Xuan-Cheng was naturally good at reading the situation. He looked around, already guessing the situation and the true intentions of the Enlightened Masters.

However, he didn't expose anyone, and just said, "The monsters have made their move, now it's our turn. They have lost eight of their twelve Enlightened Masters, so they’re at their weakest right now. Cattleshit Mo must be very worried and in a hurry to ask for help from the monster race, but it will take some time before this help arrives. Junior brothers, since you are already here, let's not put your traveling time and energy to waste. I intend to strike back, right in Cattleshit Mo's cave-dwelling. With your help, especially with Junior Brother Xuan-Cang, we might just be able to slay Cattleshit Mo today!"

Qu Xuan-Cheng's speech bestirred the Enlightened Masters into high spirits. After all, it had not been a good day for them. Not only had their plan gone awry, Lu Ping had even rubbed the island's victory in their faces.

Hence, after hearing Qu Xuan-Cheng, Xuan-Cang immediately raised his voice in support, "I'm yours to command!"

Xuan-Qing, Xuan-He, and the remaining Enlightened Masters also happily voiced their support. This would be an opportunity for them to contribute and gain something out of this trip. The monster race should be at its weakest now, making it the best time for a counter attack!

Lu Ping quietly looked at them and sighed. In just a few sentences, Qu Xuan-Cheng was able to change the atmosphere and situation. Not only did he stop the Enlightened Masters from troubling Lu Ping, he also gave the Enlightened Masters a chance to gain something from their trip.

"Alright, let's go!"

Qu Xuan-Cheng looked back at Lu Ping, and ordered, "Little Lu, you stay behind on the island. The island needs a break; you have to make sure it gets it. Also, be aware of people coming from Xuan Qi Island; something isn't right if the monsters can get to the teleportation formations."

Lu Ping grew more respectful, admiring Qu Xuan-Cheng even more. Then, he bowed and received his order, "As you wish, junior uncle!"

In fact, Qu Xuan-Cheng wasn't just talking to Lu Ping, he was also subtly hinting to the Enlightened Masters that he was aware of their actions. As a result, he gave them a warning to not cross the line.

Furthermore, asking Lu Ping to stay on the island not only gave him a break, but it also gave Lu Ping the chance to strengthen his authority on the island. Additionally, by letting the Enlightened Masters have the credit for the upcoming counter-attack, they wouldn't make too much noise later on as they would also benefit.

Most importantly, Qu Xuan-Cheng wanted the counter attack to be grand and a huge success. This way, all the attention would be placed on this event, reducing the exposure to Lu Ping and Huang Li Island's prowess.

Despite Qu Xuan-Cheng's typical unreserved and seemingly unreliable character, he displayed an impressive mastery with his words and an astute attention to detail. He was indeed worthy of being one of the leading figures in the Zhen Ling Sect.

After the Enlightened Masters left with Qu Xuan-Cheng, Lu Ping turned around and said with a smile, "Phew, what a long day, it's finally time to see our rewards!"

Among the eight bodies, five were Early Core Forging Realm Enlightened Masters, with two of them being human pets. As they were pets, they had almost no possessions besides a mystic treasure each, so Hu Lili and Chen Lian were given one each.

Then, Hu Lili, Chen Lian and Zheng Jie shared the gains from the remaining three Early Core Forging Realm Enlightened Masters.

Zheng Jie initially didn't expect to receive a share of the spoils, and said embarrassingly, "I only held a monster Enlightened Master back with Junior Brother's bee swarm, even sacrificing more than a hundred bees because of this. How can I ask for anything at all…"

Chen Lian smiled and comforted her, "If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn't have stood a chance against the two of them on my own."

Hu Lili also stepped in to convince her, "You are only a step away from the Core Forging Realm; the insights from this battle and the spoils from this monster Enlightened Master will definitely allow you to advance this time!"

Zheng Jie was finally convinced and excitedly kept the interspatial pouch of one of the Early Core Forging Realm monsters.

The biggest rewards were naturally in Lu Ping's hands, belonging to the three Mid Core Forging Realm monsters that he had killed. After searching through their interspatial mystic instruments, he only found six mystic treasures. Fortunately, one of them was a spirit emerging mystic treasure.

The boundary between an ordinary mystic treasure and a spirit emerging mystic treasure was huge. This wasn’t only due to the difficulty in finding the right Mystical Inscriptions, but also because of the quality of the mystic treasure itself.

Almost every Enlightened Master in the cultivation world had one or more mystic treasures, but only some would be able to own spirit emerging mystic treasures. Hence, they were rare even among Mid Core Forging Realm Enlightened Masters.

Therefore, being able to own a spirit emerging mystic treasure often also represented one's strength or high status.

Lu Ping looked at the spirit emerging mystic treasure in his hands; it was a whip that used to belong to Enlightened Master Ma, whom he had killed in one strike. Unfortunately, Lu Ping was not well versed in the ways of the whip, so it was of no use to him.

Speaking of Enlightened Master Ma, Lu Ping recalled how he had spoken about the North Ocean and how he could recognize the snake trio. A thought couldn't help but emerge in Lu Ping's mind, Is he not from the North Ocean? He didn’t sound or act like one… could he be from the East Ocean?