Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit

Everyone could tell how important Lu Ping was to Tian-Hu and the Zhen Ling Sect; a rising star who had achieved the Mid Core Forging Realm and who was also a master alchemist at the same time.

What Liao Run-Jia sought was simple. He was betting on Lu Ping emerging as a person of authority in the Zhen Ling Sect and eventually becoming a prominent figure in the region. If he were correct, he would make a great profit.

Deep down, Lu Ping knew what Liao Run-Jia was after because this was not the first time. The way Lu Ping had dealt with these situations before was to simply accept their offer. After all, it was a win-win situation.

Liao Run-Jia delivered a jade scroll to Lu Ping. After scanning it with his divine revelation, Lu Ping understood what goods Liao Run-Jia had brought with him to be traded. The items consisted of various spirit herbs, recipes, and many other things.

After giving it a thought, Lu Ping asked, “May I know if the recipes for the Spirit Anchoring Pellet, Rejuvenation Pellet, Essence Recuperating Pellet, and Spirit Nurturing Pellet are up for trade?”

“Wise choice, my young friend.” Liao Run-Jia was surprised by Lu Ping’s question. “These are all pellets that can often come in handy, and are all very compatible with your current level. Hmmm… The recipes for the Spirit Anchoring Pellet, Rejuvenation Pellet, Essence Recuperating Pellet, and Spirit Nurturing Pellet can be traded, but you’d have to trade recipes of equivalent value for them; we won’t accept any recipe that we already own. There are also a couple of recipes not up for trade because they’re strictly kept within our family. However, you can trade a couple of pellets with spirit herbs if you would like to.”

Pellets were something that Lu Ping needed to focus on if he wanted to keep up with cultivators of the same level. However, if he relied too much on a single type of pellet, his body’s drug resistance would eventually become a hindrance, lowering the efficacy of the pellets. Consequently, cultivators had to continuously rely on different types of pellets.

As a master alchemist, Lu Ping was not too affected by this problem, even if spirit herbs were scarce. However, the foundation he had built and the techniques he cultivated required enormous effort and time. As a result, Lu Ping had no choice other than to consume far greater numbers of pellets compared to those in his cultivation level. With this in mind, Lu Ping had started collecting the recipes of various pellets he could put to good use at his cultivation level, trying his best to prepare himself for his future arduous cultivation.

After becoming a master alchemist, especially after being able to concoct late Core Forging Realm pellets, the Zhen Ling Sect had already granted Lu Ping access to every recipe they owned besides those needed in the Law Avatar Realm. The Zhen Ling Sect had been around for thousands of years, and during that time, they had acquired various Core Forging Realm pellet recipes. Hence, Lu Ping became fastidious about his choices. Firstly, he needed pellets compatible with the water-type technique he cultivated. Secondly, he looked at whether these pellets could purify the dragon’s blood in a cultivator. Following this, he was left with barely any choices.

The Liao Family lived up to their name as a famous alchemy family that had existed for millennia. Lu Ping noticed a couple of recipes he had never seen before in the Zhen Ling Sect’s possession.

The recipes he set his eyes on were incredibly compatible with the technique he cultivated, but a few were the secret recipes of the Liao Family.

Lu Ping delivered four recipes to Liao Run-Jia. Liao Run-Jia’s eyes flashed with happiness when he identified the recipes, “You’ve earned my admiration, young friend. These recipes are of equal value to my recipes, but the Liao Family already has two of them, leaving us with two recipes to trade. What do you need, my young friend?”

The recipes Lu Ping had brought along belonged to the sect. Tian-Hu had given him permission to trade these recipes during the conference. Plenty of recipes in the sect of differing values were capable of influencing Liao Run-Jia’s decision. However, these recipes were the same as the ones Liao Run-Jia owned. The recipes were all secret recipes of the sect and were never meant to be revealed to outsiders.

“I want the Spirit Anchoring Pellet and Spirit Nurturing Pellet’s recipes!”

After the trade with Liao Run-Jia, Lu Ping then traded 150 thousand-year-old spirit herbs. In exchange, he received a bottle of Wave Anchoring Pellets, Meteorite Spirit Pellets and Mindless Dawnation Pellets. Previously, he wanted to trade three bottles each, but Liao Run-Jia turned down his request, explaining that he didn’t have enough pellets with him.

Deep down, Lu Ping knew this was nothing more than just an excuse. Liao Run-Jia had more, but he wouldn’t allow Lu Ping to take all the portions for himself. After all, there were more than twenty alchemists present.

Shaking his head remorsefully, Lu Ping continued perusing the jade scroll he received from Liao Run-Jia. This time, an unfamiliar pellet at the end of the jade scroll caught his attention.

“Bone Fortification Pellet? Now that’s something new. Could it be…”

After carefully going through the description of the pellet, Lu Ping turned to Liao Run-Jia happily, and said, “Elder Liao, your family is extraordinary! You even have a pellet that strengthens the physical body!”

Just like the Golden Nut Pellet that could be consumed during the Blood Condensation Realm, the Bone Fortification Pellet was also a pellet that focused on strengthening the physical body. From its description, the pellet seemed much stronger than the Golden Nut Pellet, but it did come at a cost. The pellet could only be consumed three times; further consumption was futile. On the other hand, the Golden Nut Pellet could be consumed without limit.

Liao Run-Jia smiled, “This pellet is wonderful, so wonderful that even Law Avatar Realm cultivators are willing to pay a great fortune. I never thought you’d be interested in them.”

Confused, Lu Ping asked, “Such pellets are incredibly useful to the cultivation of Law Avatar Realm cultivators. These pellets should be extremely important, let alone the recipe for them. I can’t understand why you would put it up for trade.”

Liao Run-Jia smiled, and replied, “That’s because to concoct this pellet, an alchemist has to use a thousand-year-old spirit monster fruit!”

“A spirit monster fruit?” Lu Ping wore a confused expression, but inwardly he felt the opposite.

“That’s right.” Liao Run-Jia nodded. It seemed as if he was quite upset by the ingredient required for this pellet. Thinking that Lu Ping was unfamiliar with the fruit, Liao Run-Jia explained, “The spirit monster fruit is actually a type of monster, except they are usually types of grass, stones, or many other dead objects. After existing for many years, they eventually gain sentience and obtain a chance to cultivate and become true monsters. However, they are restricted in many ways. They can’t even move their body before achieving the Golden Core Realm, so they can be easily killed during this time. Additionally, the Heaven-Cleaving Seven Primes didn’t leave behind many cultivating techniques before his passing. As a result, even if the spirit monsters reach the Golden Core Realm, they are usually considerably weaker than other species in the same level.”

After seeing Lu Ping seriously paying attention to his explanation, Liao Run-Jia nodded and continued, “But these spirit monsters are incredibly precious to other cultivators. There are two ways for spirit monsters to gain sentience. They either consume the spiritual energy in their surroundings for thousands of years or are born from precious items in the world. Under the influence of precious items, even an ordinary stone can turn into a top-tier spirit stone. I suppose I don’t need to emphasize how valuable these precious items I mentioned just now are, do I?”

He continued, “As for the grass, also known as plant-type spirit monsters, they eventually have fruits growing on them. These fruits are actually the essence of the spirit monster and are a type of precious item. The fruits are also the main ingredient in making the Bone Fortification Pellet. The stronger the fruit, the stronger the efficacy of the pellets.”

Lu Ping hesitated slightly, before he said, “Elder Liao, where can I get these fruits? I’m very interested in the pellet recipe. Can I…”

“I knew it.” Liao Run-Jia thought. “I’ll have to warn you. There are barely any spirit monsters left in this world. Only a couple of them appear occasionally in areas that humans rarely go to. There haven’t been any in the North Ocean for thousands of years. Perhaps, there may be one or two of them in the powerful sects in the Central Plains.”

“Central Plains? Elder Liao, do you know of the Central Plains as well? Can you please tell me a little bit about it? I’ve always wanted to visit the Central Plains!” Lu Ping asked curiously after realizing that Liao Run-Jia was seemingly connected to the land.

To his surprise, Liao Run-Jia brushed it off casually, “I’m just making a guess. The powerful sects in the Central Plains have been around for a very long time, so long in fact that some of them can even be traced back to the era of the Heaven-Cleaving Seven Primes. That’s the basis of my guess.”

Realizing that Liao Run-Jia didn’t wish to talk about it, Lu Ping suppressed his curiosity, and replied, “What a pity. Anyway, I’d like the recipe for the Bone Fortification pellet. Maybe I’ll run into a spirit monster someday.”

Liao Run-Jia chuckled, “Maybe. You’re still young. In fact, you’re very young. With your cultivation level, you have a very long life span ahead of you, which none of these old dogs here have. I can tell that you’ll rise as a prominent star at some point in the future; you’ll enter a larger stage and achieve even more, increasing the chances of stumbling on a spirit monster fruit.”

Lu Ping disregarded the flattery. The recipe was expensive; Lu Ping had to pay 300 thousand-year-old spirit herbs and 30 three-thousand-year-old spirit herbs. When the deal was completed, Liao Run-Jia handed the recipe to a heartbroken Lu Ping.

Liao Run-Jia was unaware that Lu Ping was actually feeling very lucky and happy. Within the Golden House, there were eighteen head-sized spirit monster peaches. After consuming one for himself, gifting three to his master and one to Xuan-Cheng, there were still thirteen left!