Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit Chapter 348 – Monster Invasion

Unless Ouyang Wei-Jian could pull out another great divine ability, the outcome of the battle was determinative. Although Lu Ping's great sword divine ability only lasted for a split second, it was still enough to secure his victory.

While the surrounding cultivators were shocked, the Enlightened Masters from the top sects wore different expressions. Among the Zhen Ling Sect's Enlightened Masters, the martial siblings were surprised and excited, with even Great Ancestor Liu Tian-Ling smiling happily.

Xuan-Tian turned to Li Xuan-Ru, and asked, "Junior sister, since when has Junior Brother Xuan-Ping cultivated a great divine ability? What a great surprise; an Early Core Forging Realm Enlightened Master that has attained a great sword divine ability, no wonder he challenged Li Xuan-Liang. It looks like the North Ocean Prodigies have to be revised again. Even I can't defeat him anymore."

Li Xuan-Ru laughed, "Elder brother, you must be joking. Little ninth is the best at hiding things up his sleeves. I think even teacher didn’t know about this, let alone me. But, if you say that even eldest brother can't defeat him, that would be overestimating him too much."

Xuan-Tian said seriously, "I’m not joking. Great divine abilities aren’t just related to a cultivator's prowess, they’re also often related to a cultivator's potential at achieving the Avatar Realm. Both our teachers are the best out of their peers; they cultivated great divine abilities in the Mid Core Forging Realm and they later smoothly advanced to the Avatar Realm. It isn’t known how many great divine abilities they have cultivated and to what extent they have mastered them, but they definitely played a role in their advancements to the Avatar Realm.

"As for me, I only grasped my first great divine ability when I advanced to the Late Core Forging Realm, and have only now just started to grasp a second great divine ability. But little junior brother already grasped his first great divine ability whilst still in the Early Core Forging Realm. How embarrassing of me!"

Wang Xuan-Jing murmured, "Elder brother isn’t making sense. At least you’re cultivating a second great divine ability. I haven't even grasped my first yet! If I compare myself with little ninth I'd better find a hole to bury myself in!"

Second Senior Brother Xuan-Guo, who usually didn’t talk much, suddenly said, "The teachers and little ninth are all prominent talents of their generation. We shouldn't compare ourselves with them and should just focus on ourselves."

The martial siblings stopped talking and calmed their hearts and minds down, discarding their negative thoughts and emotions.

"Brother Ouyang, thank you for the swordplay."

Lu Ping put away the Golden Scale Sword, clasped his hands, and spoke with a smile.

Ouyang Wei-Jian was worthy of being one of Xuan Ling Sect's leading young talents and quickly got rid of his desperate and resentful emotions. Although his face still looked pale, his expression had recovered. He clasped his hands back and forced out a smile, "Brother Lu's swordsmanship is admirable, I've learned a lot."

Ouyang Wei-Jian's quick recovery made Lu Ping look at him differently, This Ouyang Wei-Jian isn't a stubborn blockhead. After all, time doesn't stop for anyone; whilst I’m improving so are others. If not for my preliminary mastery of the great sword divine ability, I would be no match for Ouyang Wei-Jian in pure swordsmanship. Unless…

Lu Ping thought of his Water Specter Sword that was currently getting upgraded to a mystic treasure. If he had the invisible sword to fight stealthily, together with the Golden Scale Sword to fight out in the open as the vanguard, this perfect pairing might just allow him to defeat Ouyang Wei-Jian without the use of the great sword divine ability.

But this was all just in the context of swordsmanship. In a real fight, Lu Ping wouldn't be dumb enough to restrict his full strength and just solely on swordsmanship.

When the duo returned to the hall, they bowed to Great Ancestor Liu Tian-Ling, and then sat back on their seats.

Lin Xu-Qing said, "Junior Nephew Lu sure is talented to comprehend a great sword divine ability in the Early Core Forging Realm. I don't seem to recall the North Ocean ever having a precedent before this. In time, you will be the number one cultivator of your generation. Your potential is limitless and you will be carrying the sect's future on your shoulders!"

Lu Ping had seen Lin Xu-Qing before, but perhaps because of Feng Xu-Dao's dominance, Lin Xu-Qing didn’t leave any impressions on him. As a result, he had wrongly assumed that Lin Xu-Qing was a boring gentleman. Now, he had learned that Lin Xu-Qing was in fact a nefarious schemer.

When word got out, every cultivator in his generation would be hostile to him. Although Lu Ping was at the top of his generation, he was still far from being the number one cultivator. Hence, there would be many people who would question his eligibility to own the title. Even if he was indeed the number one cultivator, there would still be many challengers after his position.

Even though Zhen Ling Sect's influence would scare away many cultivators from challenging him, that wouldn't stop some schemers from plotting against him. Lu Ping definitely didn't want to constantly live in caution for the rest of his life, worrying that he might get backstabbed at any location and time.

Furthermore, the prestige of any well-established sect didn’t rely on a single cultivator, but rather it was built upon the names and sacrifices of countless cultivators that ensured its continuation.

Lin Xu-Qing's subtle implication that Lu Ping would take over Zhen Ling Sect's power was likely to arouse the hostility of some people. Although Lu Ping was backed by Great Ancestor Liu Tian-Ling, there would always be many ways for them to obstruct him within the sect.

After Lin Xu-Qing finished speaking, the hall turned silent. Not even Fei Yu Sect's leading Enlightened Master said anything to support Lin Xu-Qing. This was because these words were very dangerous; potentially leading to Lu Ping's death in the worst case consequently making Zhen Ling Sect backtrack to this event and take revenge for Lu Ping.

Xuan Ling Sect had a long rivalry with Zhen Ling Sect. As the number one sect, it naturally wasn't afraid of Zhen Ling Sect, but at the same time Fei Yu Sect didn't think that it could resist Zhen Ling Sect's revenge.

After noticing Lin Xu-Qing's scheme, Lu Ping replied, "Senior Lin has overestimated me. The cultivation world is full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Many of them are far superior to me. After all, not everyone is Great Ancestor Dao-Sheng; standing tall as the one and only pillar supporting Xuan Ling Sect for hundreds of years. No one has ever truly come close to the Great Ancestor's reputation!"

Lu Ping was actually insinuating that Xuan Ling Sect had no other notable figures besides Great Ancestor Dao-Sheng, implying that Xuan Ling Sect's next generations were disappointing and not up to standard.

Even so, this still wouldn't change Lu Ping's current situation.

After all, Great Ancestor Dao-Sheng represented the summit of all North Ocean cultivators, monsters and humans. There was no one stronger than him in strength. On the other hand, Lu Ping was just a rising star. He was far from being able to protect himself from all the hidden dangers.

After Lu Ping and Ouyang Wei-Jian, a few more sparring sessions took place, but none were as exciting as the duo's swordplay. Most of them were reserved and stopped after briefly expressing their moves. The less insightful cultivators were bored, but the more insightful ones were satisfied as they had each learned something.

These cultivators were all discerning and could often draw useful insights from the tiny details that were often overlooked by others. Lu Ping wasn’t the most observant, but he was still pretty good thanks to his [Tri-Pristine True Vision] which allowed him to see things clearer. From time to time, he would carefully ponder the details of the cultivators' sparring and felt that he had benefited a lot.

After the sparring sessions, the main agenda, Great Ancestor Liu Tian-Ling's personal forum, started. This was also the most important event of the forum, and the gift returned to the guests in attendance.

Although Great Ancestor Liu Tian-Ling would only be sharing general details of her breakthrough experience instead of going into every detail, the experience was still extremely precious because of the scarcity of Great Ancestors. Furthermore, Great Ancestor Liu Tian-Ling had just broken through; her experience was still fresh and profound, making her experience even more precious to the Enlightened Masters, especially those in the Late Core Forging Realm.

Just as Lu Ping was ready to listen carefully to his teacher's experiences, he was gently touched from behind. He looked back and saw second senior martial sister gesturing at him. Although he was quite unwilling, he followed her out of the hall.

Outside, second senior martial sister wasn't the only one present, all the Core Forging Realm disciples in Chong Hua Palace and Liberal Palace were also there.

Lu Ping froze for a moment as he knew that something big had happened.

Sure enough, Elder Senior Martial Brother Xuan-Tian looked at the crowd with a serious face, and said, "The monsters have launched an attack on the outer islands of the sect. The higher-ups have ordered us to gather in Tian Ling Hall and prepare to reinforce the outer islands through the teleportation array to fight off the monster invasion."

Lu Ping was shocked, and quickly asked, "Senior brother, is the monster race advancing in full force, or is it just at the sect's border?"

Senior Martial Brother Xuan-Tian paused for a moment, and then said, "Only our sect. Junior brother, do you have any thoughts?"

Lu Ping shook his head, "I can't be sure. I just hope that the monster race isn’t taking advantage of teacher's Avatar Forum."

After the others heard his words their hearts tightened, but they didn't say anything. Then, they proceeded to Tian Ling Palace which was near Chong Hua Palace. By the time they arrived, around twenty Enlightened Masters had already gathered.

When the crowd saw the three Enlightened Masters giving out orders, their spirits were raised and they calmed down greatly. At the same time, they also realized that it was a serious situation because all three leaders had appeared together. Lu Ping was particularly surprised, causing the premonition in his heart to grow stronger.

Among the three leaders, Guo Xuan-Shan was in charge, assisted by Liang Xuan-Feng and Xuan-Yin.

They were all part of the Seven Sages of Zhen Ling Sect which consisted of:

The Earth Sage, Enlightened Master Guo Xuan-Shan;

The Wind Sage, Enlightened Master Liang Xuan-Feng;

The Shadow Sage, Enlightened Master Li Xuan-Yin;

Besides them, the other four sages were:

The Liberal Sage, Enlightened Master Jiang Xuan-Lin, who was now Great Ancestor Jiang Tian-Lin;

The Water Sage, Enlightened Master Liu Xuan-Ling, who was now Great Ancestor Liu Tian-Ling;

The Fire Sage, Enlightened Master Qu Xuan-Cheng, who was stationed in Xuan Qi Island at the frontlines of the battle with monster race;

Finally, there was an unknown sage that had never been mentioned to the new generation of disciples before.

After seeing that most people had already arrived, Guo Xuan-Shan decided to not wait any further, and said in his deep voice, "The monster invasion has hit us hard and fast. All the small islands in the eastern border are caught up in war at the same time, they all need help. Senior Sister Tian-Ling's Avatar Forum is happening on Tian Ling Mountain; we have many guests currently inside the sect so we mustn't lose a single island or we will be looked down upon."

The Enlightened Masters frowned as they quickly realized the seriousness of the problem.

Liang Xuan-Feng continued, "The monster invasion is only happening here, it is undoubtedly a scheme targeting our sect. We cannot mobilize the guardians and securities, so you all are the only available help we can get at this time. I want you to hurry to the small islands and fight off the monster invasion."

Lu Ping raised his eyebrows in concern as he watched the Enlightened Masters walk out of the hall and head towards the teleportation formation. He used his divine revelation to ask Liang Xuan-Feng, who he was most familiar with, "Junior uncle, are you not afraid that it's a trick to lure us away from the mountain?"

Liang Xuan-Feng glanced at him, and smirked smugly, "The three of us are here!"

Lu Ping was startled for a second, before he also smirked smugly and left towards the teleportation formation.

After Lu Ping left, Guo Xuan-Shan looked out of the hall and said, "So this is Senior Sister Tian-Ling's ninth disciple? He’s quite sharp and meticulous; able to guess that the monster race might sneak in to attack Tian Ling Mountain directly, and bold enough to speak out directly."