Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit - Chapter 114
Chapter 114 – Breaking the Array Formation
The three Mid Blood Condensation Realm cultivators in the Cosmic Trinity Slaughtering Array attacked Lu Ping from three directions. But Lu Ping was prepared, as he suddenly flew towards the cultivator on the right.
With a flip of his left hand, a blue crystal shield suddenly appeared in the air and enlarged, becoming one foot tall.
“Dong!”
With a loud sound, the left cultivator’s flying triangular dagger was blocked by the crystal shield. No matter how the cultivator changed the direction of the mystic instrument, Lu Ping was always able to block his attacks by controlling the shield with his divine sense.
Lu Dagui, who had been acting as Lu Ping’s ride, let out a strange cry and swiftly flew up from the sea with its limbs and head retracted into its shell. A ball of seawater was extracted from the ocean, condensed into ice, and turned into a series of nine ice shields in front of the turtle shell.
The mystic instrument that came from behind shattered the nine ice shields, but its power was also greatly weakened. When the attack hit the turtle shell, Dagui’s huge body wobbled back and forth several times, but Dagui eventually held its ground.
Lu Ping charged directly at the cultivator on the right. The Soaring Wing Swords twirled around each other and generated a huge wave, which transformed into a water Jiao. With the swords as the water Jiao’s wings, it pounced towards the cultivator.
This was the [Green Jiao Sea Haunting Art] in the [North Ocean Twelve Ultimates], a sword art that was fused together with spells. He had found this sword art from the [Flying Spirit Ocean Treading Scripture] he obtained from Fei Ling Island!
Lu Ping’s actions didn’t have the slightest effect on the enemy cultivator as he was confident that he could deal with a mere Early Blood Condensation Realm.
Furthermore, the opposing cultivator thought that even in the worst case scenario, where the Early Blood Condensation Realm cultivator was a genius, he was still confident in being able to delay the battle long enough until his two accomplices came to support him
The good news was, this spirit pet monster turtle’s resistance was already faltering.
But when their mystic instruments collided together, the cultivator finally knew that he had miscalculated badly.
His own mid-grade flying sword was like a sapling on the shore that was swept away by a tsunami. The flying sword instantly broke away from the control of his arcane energy, and lost contact with his divine sense.
His mid-grade flying sword was shredded into pieces in front of his eyes by this Early Blood Condensation Realm’s pair of flying swords.
But in times like this, the cultivator couldn’t care less about the damage to his divine sense and arcane energy caused by the destruction of his flying sword, and hurriedly activated his arcane energy.
The robe on the cultivator’s body transformed into a colored smoke, shrouding two feet of his body. The cultivator’s figure became indistinct and hidden behind the smoke. It turned out that the cultivator’s robe was actually a mid-grade defensive mystic instrument.
But it was too late.
When the cultivator had just turned his robe into a cloud of smoke, Lu Ping’s water Jiao had already rushed straight into the smoke.
In the blink of an eye, the smoke was scattered as the water Jiao rained down on it. After the rain, the smoke had disappeared along with the water Jiao.
The cultivator, who was now missing his robe, was shocked and angry. He hadn’t expected Lu Ping’s spell to be so powerful. Even without the support of the pair of flying swords, the water Jiao still had such power that it easily tore his defensive mystic instrument to pieces.
After the Soaring Wing Swords crushed the flying sword, it followed close behind the water Jiao and slashed at the Fourth Layer Blood Condensation Realm cultivator. The cultivator who had lost his last protection, was minced into a mist of blood which slowly settled on the surface of the sea.
In just three moves, Lu Ping had killed one of the cultivators, whilst being in the midst of a three-man siege and having to focus on two battlefields at once.
With the support of his abnormally strong divine sense and profound arcane energy, he was casting the Water Avoidance Shield to defend from the attacks of the cultivator on the left side, who was constantly trying to break through Lu Ping’s defenses.
Lu Dagui, who was assisted by the nine Ice Shield Charms Lu Ping had attached to its shell, covered the rear. In addition to its durable turtle shell, Dagui tried its best to keep the cultivator attacking from behind, away from Lu Ping.
Lu Ping looked at the remaining two cultivators who hadn’t retreated, and smiled contemptuously.
The Soaring Wing Swords rushed towards the cultivator at the back, casting Lu Ping’s best sword art, the [Stormy Waves Crashing Shore Sword Art].
The cultivator saw that Lu Ping, who had killed his companion with only three moves, was now coming towards him; while his companion on the left side was unable to break through the crystal shield to come and assist him.
His heart couldn’t help but tremble in fear. He hastily abandoned the monster turtle in front of him, even though he was about to break through its shell and kill it. He quickly stepped back and raised his triangular dagger up in front of him, in a defensive stance.
At the same time, he also threw a mystic instrument that looked like a bamboo curtain in the air. The bamboo curtain formed an illusory bamboo forest around him, making him appear like a hermit in the mountains.
Lu Dagui, who had already spent almost all of its arcane energy to defend in this short period of time, was finally freed.
The monster turtle had originally used its arcane energy to raise itself three feet up in the air, but as it could no longer maintain its arcane energy, it fell straight down into water below.
Baduum—
A loud thud could be heard as Lu Dagui crashed onto the water surface, creating a huge splash.
Lu Ping was only able to kill the first cultivator so swiftly and cleanly, because he had the element of surprise. The opponent had underestimated Lu Ping, who was a “mere” Third Layer Blood Condensation Realm cultivator.
Now that the enemy cultivator was obviously ready, Lu Ping had lost the opportunity to kill him quickly by overwhelming him.
Therefore, Lu Ping started with the sword art he was most proficient in.
The cultivator was secretly happy. What he feared most was Lu Ping coming at him forcefully. Since even if he managed to block Lu Ping’s attacks, he would still be left seriously wounded.
But looking at the sword art that Lu Ping was casting, it was obviously a sword art that focused more on defenses, to wear down opponents via attrition.
In that case, wouldn’t his cultivation base of Mid Blood Condensation Realm be more advantageous than this brat who was just in the Third Blood Condensation Realm?
As long as he could delay the battle long enough until his companion broke through the crystal shield mystic instrument, they could pin this brat in the middle and kill him for sure.
But little did he know that Lu Ping was playing the same game.
Lu Ping had the intention to bring the battle to a deadlock because he was afraid that the cultivator would be frightened away by his sudden burst of power. At that time, he wouldn’t be able to kill or capture the two remaining cultivators anymore.
As long as the situation turned into a stalemate, they would definitely be confident in using their advantage, of higher cultivation bases and numbers, to kill him.
With this in mind, they wouldn’t choose to retreat. As a result, they wouldn’t be able to escape.
Additionally, Lu Ping had been practicing the [North Ocean Wave Listening Scripture] for a long time and wanted to test it out to see what his arcane energy was capable of.
As soon as the cultivator clashed with Lu Ping, the cultivator’s initial joy soon turned into panic.
Lu Ping’s two flying swords attacked one after the other, alternating in their attacks. The sword art was like waves surging up from the sea, one wave after another, they crashed onto the cultivator endlessly. The cultivator had no chance to catch his breath, not to mention turning around to escape, and could only resist with all his might.
However, what was more alarming to the cultivator was the arcane energy of this young cultivator. It seemed like a huge river that stretched without end. On the contrary, the cultivator’s arcane energy was like a container with holes, and was draining quickly every second.
After a while, Lu Ping noticed that the cultivator’s resistance faltered. The cultivator was clearly at the end of his rope.
If Lu Ping continued to attack like this, he could definitely kill the cultivator via exhaustion. However, by prolonging the battle, the cultivator being entangled by his crystal shield, would understand the danger of the situation, and wouldn’t hesitate to escape.
Lu Ping made up his mind. The Soaring Wing Swords swirled rapidly and transformed into a giant wave that lunged towards the cultivator. It was the [Disarrayed Rocks Puncturing Sword Art].
All of a sudden, the situation for the opposing cultivator had become very precarious.
At the same time, Lu Ping discretely waved his hand and shot three tiny flying needles into the sea. A moment later, the tiny mystic instruments silently shot out from the water under the cultivator’s feet.
The flying needles formed a straight line and pierced straight through the cultivator’s bamboo forest. In the midst of the cultivator’s shock, the needles pierced into the soles of the cultivator’s feet.
While the cultivator was injured and distracted by the flying needles, Lu Ping seized the opportunity. The swirling Soaring Wing Swords immediately broke through the cultivator’s defenses, and beheaded the cultivator like a huge pair of scissors.
The final cultivator, who was blocked by Lu Ping’s Water Avoidance Shield, saw his two companions fall one after another, and hurriedly fled.
At that moment, the seawater in front of him suddenly erupted, lifting a huge monster turtle that blocked his escape path.
The cultivator knocked Dagui over with his triangular dagger, but at the same time he had missed the opportunity to escape.
The sea around the cultivator suddenly flew out in tiny streams, and wrapped around the cultivator’s body like transparent garottes. It was the [Water Manipulation Art] of the [North Ocean Twelve Ultimates]!
The cultivator activated his defensive mystic instrument to protect himself, and waved his triangular dagger in the air to cut off the water ropes. However, Lu Ping’s arcane energy was endless so the cultivator couldn’t cut the ropes faster than Lu Ping could generate them.
When the cultivator looked back, Lu Ping was already in front of him.
Lu Ping’s Soaring Wing Swords easily knocked the cultivator’s defensive mystic instrument away, and a water rope wrapped around the cultivator’s body, completely imprisoning his cultivation.
Lu Ping looked at the cultivator in front of him and said, “You should know why I have captured you.”
The ordinary-looking cultivator gave Lu Ping an expressionless look and then looked into the distance. Lu Ping watched him quietly. The cultivator made up his mind, and his body suddenly burst into flames in the blink of an eye.
Lu Ping quietly sighed while the cultivator’s face was calm as if he was just taking a short nap.
As the cultivator self-destructed his Condensed Blood Beads, his heartspace collapsed along with his shattered heart and he died instantly right on the spot!
A cultivators’ divine sense was something that was born in the cultivators’ mind, but cast based on the cultivators’ arcane energy. Whilst arcane energy was sourced from Condensed Blood Beads.
Therefore, while a cultivator’s arcane energy could be sealed after being captured, their divine sense would remain active and couldn’t be sealed.
Being unable to seal a cultivator’s divine sense meant that they would be able to commit suicide by erupting the Condensed Blood Beads with their divine sense.
This was something that simply couldn’t be prevented.
Unless the one who captured a cultivator had a much higher cultivation base which could then be used to suppress the imprisoned cultivator’s divine sense. Or, if the capturer had learned some kind of secret technique that allowed him to seal the imprisoned cultivator’s divine sense.
Lu Ping naturally didn’t satisfy either of the two requirements, and so could only watch quietly as the cultivator in front of him committed suicide.
Lu Ping stored the three cultivator’s interspatial pouches and burned the other two bodies. Then, he kept his spirit pets hiding in the sea back into his spirit pet pouch.
With a snap of his thumb and ring finger, a white cloud floated beneath his feet and carried him towards the sky.