Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit - Chapter 306
Chapter 306 – Situation in East Ocean
Just as Lu Ping said that, Zhu Xuan-Meng and Chu Ting whipped up and stared at his back, their faces filled with disbelief and eyes wide with shock.
Liang Xuan-Feng looked dazedly at Lu Ping, then roared with laughter. “Stunning, I didn’t expect you’d really do it!”
Lu Ping laughed but didn’t say anything; he’d seen the hint of awe in Liang Xuan-Feng’s eyes.
“Come, come, come, let’s take a look at this first.”
Liang Xuan-Feng put the Health Prosper Pellet aside, then handed Lu Ping a jade scroll and said, “Read through this first!”
Lu Ping could see that Liang Xuan-Feng was very serious about giving him the jade scroll, so he didn’t urge him to consume the Health Prosper Pellet for now. Lu Ping held the jade scroll in his hand and checked its contents.
As soon as his divine revelation scanned the contents inside the jade scroll, Lu Ping’s heart thudded in astonishment. He looked up right away at Liang Xuan-Feng, and saw him nodding back. He eagerly continued to read through.
After some time, Lu Ping solemnly looked up at Liang Xuan-Feng. “Who would expect Junior Uncle would find such a jade scroll? With it, our sect will have our sixth true heritage cultivation method.”
Liang Xuan-Feng laughed at his reply. “It’s not so simple. Not only must the cultivation method be completed up to the Avatar Realm, it must be proven by a cultivator who successfully reaches the Late Avatar Realm with the cultivation method.”
Zhen Ling Sect’s [Sea Coast Wave Listening Scripture] was an incomplete cultivation method obtained from the annihilated Fei Ling Sect. Since then, the Zhen Ling Sect predecessors have attempted to perfect this technique, but were only able to complete it up to the Mid Avatar Realm. Hence, it was only just one of many heritage cultivation methods, instead of a true heritage cultivation method.
At this time, although Lu Ping looked calm on the surface, he was actually overjoyed and excited in his heart. This jade scroll contained none other than the complete [Sea Coast Wave Listening Scripture]!
It was one of several jade scrolls that Liang Xuan-Feng seized from Chong Xuan’s dojo. Because of his wind-element cultivation method, he was much faster than the other cultivators, allowing him to seize the jade scrolls before the others could.
Liang Xuan-Feng continued, “Fei Ling Sect was said to have two water-element true heritage cultivation methods. The [Sea Coast Wave Listening Scripture] was the first and most commonly seen, the second was seldom cultivated due to its violent attribute, making it difficult to practice.”
Lu Ping pretended to be extremely interested and asked, “Junior Uncle, what is the name of this cultivation method and why was it difficult?”
Liang Xuan-Feng shook his head and said, “That I do not know, but since the Fei Ling Sect’s destruction, its more renowned cultivation methods were either lost or divided among the North Ocean sects. Despite its fame, this water-element true heritage cultivation method was one of the few that were lost—no one has seen or discovered it before.”
Lu Ping was a little disappointed while Liang Xuan-Feng continued, “With the [Sea Coast Wave Listening Scripture] now completed, I believe it is only a matter of time before it becomes the sixth true heritage of our sect. Perhaps your teacher will be the one to prove the cultivation method.”
Liang Xuan-Feng always seemed unwilling to discuss sect matters in front of Zhu Xuan-Meng, and even more reluctant to do so after meeting Chu Ting. So Lu Ping wondered why he would mention his teacher so suddenly, but he still smiled and replied, “Junior Uncle, you suggested I prepare a congratulatory gift for Teacher’s advancement. Has my teacher advanced to the Avatar Realm already?”
Behind them, Zhu Xuan-Meng’s eyelids twitched, but she remained silent. Chu Ting was surprised to hear that Lu Ping had a teacher who was about to advance to the Avatar Realm.
Liang Xuan-Feng discreetly glanced over at Zhu Xuan-Meng which Lu Ping was quick to pick up on. “Your teacher has fused the third heaven-and-earth wonder item and forged a high-rank Golden Core. Her advancement to the Avatar Realm is guaranteed; the sect will have our ninth Great Ancestor in the near future.”
…
Liang Xuan-Feng soon entered closed-door cultivation to recover his injuries with the Health Prosper Pellet. Before shutting himself away, he handed Lu Ping a jade scroll which contained the [Dissolute Delightful 18 Swords] that he’d asked from him before.
Although it was a wind-element sword art that was only perfected up to the State of Intent, it was still enough for Lu Ping to learn and apply its quintessence into his own swordsmanship.
As he busied himself studying the sword art, the situation in the East Ocean had changed significantly, and the confrontation between humans and monsters grew increasingly intense over time.
The monster ambush was just the beginning; the monster race’s biggest operation was to destroy the dojo’s great protective array formation. If not for a mysterious human cultivator that noticed the dojo’s imminent destruction and let out a distress call, it was possible that all of the dojo’s cultivators would die. Even so, the monster’s plan killed more than twenty Enlightened Masters and severely wounded a dozen more.
In the midst of the uproar, the Crystal Palace started a hunt for a group of mysterious cultivators known as the Maiden Pavilion. The Maiden Pavilion’s most significant feature was that they were all females. This immediately brought to mind the group of ladies who were caught in the monster ambush as well. At the same time, Crystal Palace also issued a warrant on a wind-element Late Core Forging Realm human male.
However, just after the hunt for the Maiden Pavilion had been announced, a rumor began to spread wildly in the East Ocean—the Maiden Pavilion had killed four of the Crystal Palace’s Enlightened Masters.
The East Ocean was shaken once again. The Crystal Palace had lost eight Enlightened Masters in the expedition, and half of them were killed by the Maiden Pavilion. No wonder the Crystal Palace was after them.
Meanwhile, another rumor cropped up, this time claiming that not only did the Crystal Palace secure the Chong Xuan Furnace, they also found the Earth-class Purple Garden Fire. Unluckily, the wonder fire was later robbed by the monsters during the ambush.
No one knew if the other two treasures had been found. The Sky Cleaving Sword Sect claimed that they only secured the wealth in the treasure vault which contained numerous spirit materials and equipment.
Just when the cultivators were blindly guessing who had obtained these two treasures, the Crystal Palace released another piece of news. Great Ancestor Chong Xuan had a spatial mystic instrument that was used as a spirit herb garden, and it also contained the remaining two treasures inside. The Crystal Palace had found the spatial mystic instrument, but it was then snatched by the Maiden Pavilion.
All of a sudden, every female cultivator within the East Ocean had become a suspect. They were attacked one after another and many more were reported missing. Although some of them were actual members of Maiden Pavilion, most were innocent and those cultivators were only taking advantage of the situation to satisfy their own ill intents.
While the East Ocean cultivators were busy looking for members of the Maiden Pavilion, the monster race struck again. The snake monsters attacked Shangguan Clan’s island and slaughtered everyone present; Shangguan Hao was the only survivor.
When the news arrived, the East Ocean went through another upheaval. There was no doubt that this was a deliberate act to provoke the humans. Enraged, the entire human race were intent on retaliation.
When Lu Ping heard the name Shangguan Hao, he suddenly remembered the masked Enlightened Master who attacked him in Quan Yuan City. He wondered, Could it be him?
After all, he single-handedly ruined the Shangguan Clan’s plot to replace the Li Clan, and even caused them to lose a spirit vein to the latter. This subsequently destroyed Shangguan Hao’s plan to marry Li Xiu-Zhu. Hence, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Shangguan Clan wanted to kill him.
But the snake monsters’ assault on Shangguan Clan’s Bell Drum Island, what purpose was that for?
Lu Ping’s heart suddenly thumped heavily. Could it be because of the snake trio?
But he quickly rejected this thought. Shangguan Hao clearly didn’t recognize the snake trio’s identities. Otherwise, everyone would know the snake trio were Emerald Sea Spirit Snake by now and the snake monsters would have come directly for him.
If the snake trio’s identities were exposed, then it must mean that someone else had been there at the time. But because of the array formation that sealed the street, and Lu Ping’s stealth skill that cloaked his presence, Shangguan Hao had been mistaken as the owner of the Emerald Sea Spirit Snakes instead.
As Lu Ping guessed the truth, he now worried that Shangguan Hao would also deduce the same thing and expose him instead. By then, the snake monsters would be coming for him!
To the side, Chu Ting saw that Lu Ping’s thoughts were elsewhere. She frowned and said, “The monster race’s intervention has put the East Ocean in chaos. It’s a good opportunity for us to execute our plan to eradicate and replace the Wang Clan.”
