Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit - Chapter 354
Chapter 354 – Flaws
The monster scholar was forced to stop. The seawater beneath him swirled up and formed a giant water ball, protecting him and the other monster Enlightened Masters inside.
Although Qu Xuan-Cheng’s fire rain was powerful, the water ball was strong enough to defend against it.
A large amount of steam was released after the fire came into contact with the water. A moment later, the monster scholar dismissed the water ball and looked around only to find that Qu Xuan-Cheng was long gone.
The monster scholar immediately understood the situation, “Damn it, he fooled us! The formation has exhausted his true energy; he isn’t fit to fight anymore. We can’t let him run away, give chase!”
The monster scholar bolted out like a nocked arrow that had been let loose. He couldn’t afford to let Qu Xuan-Cheng escape. Otherwise, he would become a laughingstock in the monster race for wasting so much manpower and effort, including the death of a Mid Core Forging Realm Cave Master, for nothing in return.
Worse yet, the Monster Kings might even punish him for his failure. Naturally, he wanted to prevent that from happening.
Among the twelve monster Enlightened Masters that followed him here, one was killed by Qu Xuan-Cheng, one was severely injured by Lu Ping, and one more stayed behind to take care of the wounded Enlightened Master, so only nine were following him in pursuit.
…
A few miles away from the battlefield, an injured sea turtle with a cracked shell was undulating helplessly with the waves. On its back, there was another exhausted and powerless young man gasping for breath.
Although the monster scholar’s attack wasn’t aiming for Lu Dagui, the killing intent and aftermath of the attack was not something that Dagui could withstand. Hence, Lu Ping, who was hiding in the water underneath Dagui’s stomach, had to inject Dagui with his last stream of true energy.
With his help, Dagui was able to cast a secret technique to flee from the scene. But the price paid was heavy; Lu Ping was suffering from a heavy concussion and was left with almost no true energy, while Dagui’s shell was cracked and he was unconscious.
Lu Ping struggled to keep Dagui back in the spirit pet pouch in order for him to recover. Suddenly, a fiery light swiped across the sky with a trail of light behind it. When it flew above Lu Ping, a giant fire hand reached out and scooped him out of the water.
Lu Ping didn’t resist at all. Even if he wanted to, he didn’t have any true energy left.
“Bold kid, not bad at all!”
The loud and hearty voice, the fiery true energy, who else could it be other than Qu Xuan-Cheng.
Lu Ping replied in a weak voice, “Junior uncle, you flatter me. I almost died!”
Qu Xuan-Cheng laughed heartily, “Kid, don’t worry, you’ll soon know that it was all worth it!”
Lu Ping noticed that Qu Xuan-Cheng wasn’t slowing down, so he looked back while frowning, “Junior uncle, are they still after us?”
“Son of bitc…” Qu Xuan-Cheng’s exploded with profanities, “Those scumbags, tricksters! They don’t dare to fight me squarely and only dare to take advantage of the situation. I swear they will pay for this one day!”
Qu Xuan-Cheng’s straightforward and unreserved character stunned Lu Ping, and he didn’t know what to say.
Fortunately, he didn’t have to answer as Qu Xuan-Cheng smirked and continued speaking, “But that cuttleshit Mo Wei didn’t gain anything from his plan. One Enlightened Master died to lure me into the trap, one more died after I escaped, and one was crippled by you; the formation chassis weren’t cheap either, their destruction will cost a fortune to repair and remake.
“Kid, did you come from Xuan Qi Island? How’s the island now? Has it fallen already? I know this cuttleshit well, he will surely take advantage of my absence and send his shitty subordinates to seize the island. Damn it, cuttleshit leader and his shitty subordinates. The whole of the North Ocean, even the martial brothers and sisters, are going to laugh at me now. ”
After that, he released two deep breaths to calm himself down.
Lu Ping didn’t know how to react or what emotions to have, the only thing he could do was to remain respectful to Qu Xuan-Cheng, one of the legendary Seven Sages of Zhen Ling Sect. So, he politely said in a weak voice, “The island was well when I left it, reinforcements should have arrived by now.”
“What?!”
Qu Xuan-Cheng was overjoyed. The giant fire hand that was holding onto Lu Ping even shook in excitement. Lu Ping jolted in shock, fearing that his unreserved junior martial uncle would accidentally drop him from such a great height into the sea.
If Lu Ping had any true energy left in him, he wouldn’t have been worried at all, but now he was as weak as a mortal, dropping him from this height would definitely severely injure him. The only guarantee was that his physical body was durable enough to keep him alive.
“What happened? Quickly tell me!”
Before Lu Ping could answer, several waves of spiritual energy rippled from a few miles behind.
“Hmph, these idiots sure run fast. If not for my energy depletion, I would show them what charred monsters smell like. Argh, we’re both depleted, it won’t be easy for us… I hope we make it back to the island before they catch us.”
A loud and angry voice shouted from the back, “Qu Xuan-Cheng, there’s no way you can run from me! Just die today!”
Lu Ping turned back and saw a flash of black light chasing behind them, closing the distance with great speed.
“It looks like he’s really anxious, even using a flying divine ability just to chase us. Well, it’s not looking good for us both. Damn it, why is my true energy depleted at a time like this! Damn it! All thanks to this cuttleshit and his shitty subordinates and shitty trap!”
Lu Ping automatically filtered Qu Xuan-Cheng’s foul language and thought to himself.
Energy depletion… Junior uncle definitely has some pellets of his own and has already consumed them, but he’s still lacking true energy since the pellets need time to digest. We need something that replenishes energy instantly and sufficiently… Wait a second….
Lu Ping looked down and searched his interspatial ring for something, then he looked back up at Qu Xuan-Cheng with a peach the size of a baby in his hand.
Qu Xuan-Cheng saw the peach and was taken back, “What’s this… a customary peach resembling longevity?”
“Spirit monster peach, for true energy!”
Lu Ping sighed and answered. Given Qu Xuan-Cheng’s unreserved and seemingly unreliable character, he almost couldn’t see Qu Xuan-Cheng as a respected senior and junior martial uncle anymore.
“This is a spirit monster’s peach?”
Qu Xuan-Cheng looked at Lu Ping in disbelief, and then looked at the peach again. He didn’t wait for Lu Ping to answer and picked up the spirit peach in his hands.
Immediately, Qu Xuan-Cheng felt the massive spiritual energy in the peach through his hands, and said joyfully, “It really is a spirit monster peach!”
Immediately, Qu Xuan-Cheng took a big bite of the peach like a glutton, while Lu Ping watched on as the spirit peach deflated like a balloon, leaving only the skin and seed behind.
Qu Xuan-Cheng slurped, and said, “What a waste, eating it just like that!”
Lu Ping finally lost control of his expression and rolled his eyes.
This was a spirit monster peach that could be used to concoct a cauldron of Avatar Realm pellets. Of course it was a waste to just directly consume it only to recover some true energy. That true energy was nothing compared to Avatar Realm pellets!
But what triggered Lu Ping the most was that Qu Xuan-Cheng didn’t seem to be regretting wasting the spirit peach pellet. In fact, it seemed more like Qu Xuan-Cheng was whining that there was only one spirit peach to enjoy.
Qu Xuan-Cheng casually threw the peach skin and seed away, but Lu Ping quickly mustered the little stream of true energy he had recovered to swiftly pick up the peach skin and seed.
Qu Xuan-Cheng looked at Lu Ping in disgust for picking up the leftovers. He checked his true energy and was overjoyed after discovering that one-third of his true energy had been recovered.
“Good stuff, do you have more? It recovered one-third of my true energy, there’s no way cuttleshit can catch up to us now!”
Qu Xuan-Cheng also used a flying divine ability, and in just a few moments, Xuan Qi Island was already in sight!
Qu Xuan-Cheng suddenly stopped and looked in front of him. Lu Ping was puzzled and quickly turned vigilant.
Suddenly, in the empty space in front of them, a silhouette miraculously appeared like a ghost materializing in daylight.
Lu Ping was shocked. He quickly greeted the newcomer happily, “Junior uncle!”
Xuan-Yin nodded at Lu Ping, and then said to Qu Xuan-Cheng, “Kill?”
Qu Xuan-Cheng laughed ruthlessly, smiling ear to ear, “Yes! You deal with the cuttleshit, I will vent my anger out on the weaker ones.”
After that, he tossed Lu Ping to the sea, tucked some pellets in his mouth, and said, “Kid, go back by yourself, I’m going to have some fun! Don’t say I didn’t warn you; continuous depletion of true energy is starting to affect your foundation so you need to heal before any permanent damage is done.”
Then, the two Ninth Layer Core Forging Realm Enlightened Masters disappeared in an instant. Less than a second later, two loud explosions were heard from the horizon, followed by shouts of anger and shrieks of death.
Lu Ping looked over and saw that a portion of the sky was painted dark with black ink. It was still expanding as if claiming ownership over the area.
He smiled bitterly. There was nothing he could do now other than to wait patiently for help to arrive. Fortunately, his physical body had been previously enhanced by Golden Nut Pellets, and his foundation was firm and consolidated. Otherwise, his cultivation foundation would have definitely been permanently impaired right now.
A short while later, the patrolling island disciples noticed Lu Ping. As the Enlightened Master who protected the island and fought off the monster Enlightened Masters, the disciples naturally recognized him.
Immediately, they hurriedly brought him back to Xuan Qi Island. As soon as they returned, Hu Lili and Chen Lian went to check up on him.
After that, three other Enlightened Masters, who had come to reinforce the island and had heard about his meritorious deeds, came to visit. However, they didn’t get to meet him as Lu Ping was in closed-door cultivation to recover from his injuries.
