Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit

Chapter 300: Hidden Treasure

The ground of the dojo was protected by the dojo’s main array formation, hence, Dabao couldn’t pierce through and dive underground with his [Earth Escape].

So, Lu Ping moved to a remote corner, looked around to make sure no one was nearby, then cast a few spells at the ground. With a burst of noise, a hole appeared and Dabao scurried into it.

After that, Lu Ping quickly left the area, then came back pretending to be one of the cultivators inspecting the area. After all, attacking and gouging a hole on the dojo’s main array formation would inevitably cause a ruckus.

At this time, four Crystal Palace cultivators had entered the area. They walked as if they owned the place and unrestrainedly released their auras at all the cultivators in the vicinity, despite not being the strongest in power.

In fact, among the four, only two were Mid Enlightened Masters. The other pair were in the Early range, with one being almost as strong as Lu Ping. However, the reputation of Crystal Palace was so renowned that the surrounding cultivators had no intention of messing with them and they quickly left to other places.

Lu Ping also pretended to leave as well, then immediately cast a stealth spell and silently returned. After all, Dabao was still underground here. The reason why he chose this area was because he’d made a half-hearted sweep with [Enigmatic Clear Vision]. This place had the second most concentrated spiritual energy other than the main hall, and he was betting on his luck hoping that the Spirit Gathering Pearl was here underground.

After everyone had left the area, the strongest among the four Crystal Palace cultivators, the Sixth Layer Core Forging Realm Enlightened Master said, "Quickly, before the Sky Cleaving Sword Sect idiots find out. The other senior brothers are holding them up, those fools. They’d never expect another place as important as the main hall, storage vault, and smith room."

They quickly placed a formation chassis in four corners and laid the spirit materials in an organized pattern on the floor. Lu Ping was not good with array formations, so he couldn’t tell what they were setting up.

The weakest one among them asked, "Senior Brother Mu, is this where the spirit vein passes through? I’m still not convinced."

"There’s no mistake, this is the place. The jade scroll from the North Ocean Fei Ling Sect said so," Senior Brother Mu replied; this was the Enlightened Master at the Sixth Layer.

The other Mid Core Forging Realm cultivator added, "Senior Brother Mu is well-versed in the art of array formations, his judgment will not be wrong. Whether we gain anything will be up to fate."

The other Early Core Forging Realm Enlightened Master asked curiously, "Senior Brother Mu, Senior Brother Gao, what treasure are we looking for exactly? Did Great Ancestor Chong Xuan hide something inside the spirit vein?"

Both Senior Brothers looked at each other, then Senior Brother Gao answered, "Junior Brother Zhang, Junior Brother Wan, didn’t you notice that something is missing from a dojo with two medium-sized spirit veins?"

"Now that you mention it… something doesn’t feel right," Junior Brother Wan, the weakest one among them, said hesitantly. With a sudden nod, he cried out, "Oh, I know! A spirit herb garden!"

Junior Brother Zhang answered carefully, "Great Ancestor Chong Xuan is a smith, not an alchemist. What does it matter if he lacks a spirit herb garden?"

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Senior Brother Mu shook his head and explained, "Junior Brother Zhang comes from a famous cultivation clan, and you’ve been showered with all kinds of resources from an early age. It’s not surprising that you failed to recognize the value of a spirit herb garden. Resources in the cultivation world are always short in supply, so it’s only natural to grow spirit herbs in as much space as possible in one’s cave-dwelling. That’s just common sense. Junior Brother Zhang, you are now an Enlightened Master, and qualified to establish your own cave-dwelling within the sect. Don’t forget to cultivate a spirit herb garden for yourself."

Junior Brother Zhang flushed red and said, "Thank you for the lesson and guidance."

Junior Brother Wan heard his guess confirmed, and wondered, "How did this Great Ancestor Chong Xuan open up a spirit herb garden underground?"

The senior brothers looked at each other with a smile, but this time it was Junior Brother Zhang who spoke first, "Did he use a spatial mystic instrument? Great Ancestor Chong Xuan hid the spatial mystic instrument in the ground, which would conceal and make full use of the spirit vein’s power."

Senior Brother Gao praised, "Junior Brother Zhang is quite astute."

As they spoke, the four finished setting up the array formation, and Senior Brother Mu said, "I’ll start the array formation, which will make a hole in the dojo’s main array formation on the ground. It won’t make any noise, but you’ll still need to pay attention to your surroundings in case someone is sneaking around."

After the two junior brothers agreed, Senior Brother Mu cast several hand signs, and the array formation was activated. A large crack formed on the main array formation covering the ground. But unlike Lu Ping’s previous actions, no trace of a sound or movement could be detected at all.

After seeing the crack, Senior Brother Gao hastened to shake the spirit pet pouch at his waist, and a thirty-feet-tall pangolin landed on the ground. Senior Brother Gao pointed towards the crack, and the pangolin immediately disappeared underground.

Lu Ping listened to the entire conversation—no wonder he felt that there was something strange about the dojo, especially after he let Dabao go searching for Spirit Gathering Pearls. The dojo covered a wide area and was magnificently established, but there was not a single spirit herb garden around.

Then Lu Ping felt worried. That pangolin monster was clearly controlled by Senior Brother Gao with a taming secret technique, and its cultivation base had reached the Late Blood Condensation Realm. If it met Dabao underground, the little mouse definitely wouldn’t be a match for the pangolin monster, and Senior Brother Gao would also learn that there were other cultivators coveting the hidden treasures in the spirit vein as well. It didn’t matter that Lu Ping wasn’t after the same thing as them.

There was nothing he could do now. He had always seen Dabao as a brother, so he never bound him with a taming secret technique. He could only hope that Dabao would be smart enough to detect the pangolin and avoid an encounter. Fortunately, [Earth Escape] was Dabao’s natural talent, so he was still better than the pangolin with its higher cultivation base.

Sure enough, a few moments later, Senior Brother Gao suddenly exclaimed, "Oh no, there’s another monster beast down there, it’s a… Spirit Seeking Mouse. Hmph, it ran away too fast. Check if there are any cultivators nearby."

Junior Brother Zhang and Junior Brother Wan hurriedly looked around, while Senior Brother Mu frowned and said, "How is it down there?"

"I haven’t found anything yet, but we got two Spirit Gathering Pearls, one was snatched from the Spirit Seeking Mouse. That slippery little thing ran away as soon as it saw that it was no match for Tie Shan."

"Ah!"

"Brother, help!"

At this time, two screams suddenly came from the distance. Alarmed, Senior Brother Mu and Senior Brother Gao quickly cast up their mystic treasures and rushed to their aid.

However, just as the two moved, they spotted three female cultivators surrounding them from the east, south, and north sides. A moment later, twin cries of death came from the west, then three more female cultivators walked towards that direction.

Lu Ping recognized two of them—they were Zhu Xuan-Meng and Chu Ting. The one in the middle was a Late Core Forging Realm Enlightened Master whom Lu Ping didn’t know.

"Who are you people? How dare you kill our disciples, are you not afraid of Crystal Palace’s revenge?!"

Senior Brother Mu shouted sternly without a trace of fear, looking exactly the same as the Crystal Palace Enlightened Master who had died at the hands of Liang Xuan-Feng, Zhu Xuan-Meng, and Lu Ping.

"Crystal Palace’s dominance is as strong as ever, and still so overbearing even when faced with death!"

The middle-aged female cultivator in the middle sneered, her words filled with sarcasm. Chu Ting frowned and coldly said, "Junior Aunt Jiang, we should hurry up and clear the field, a long delay is prone to trouble!"

Junior Aunt Jiang snorted coldly at Chu Ting’s tone, seemingly very dissatisfied, but still reined in her temper. She cast up a golden sabre and slashed at the two Crystal Palace Enlightened Masters.

At the same time, the other four cultivators also launched a siege together. Senior Brother Mu and Senior Brother Gao were outnumbered and outpowered, and just moments after releasing a distress charm, both men were killed by the five.

Chu Ting approached the array formation, melted a medicinal pellet and spread the liquid evenly around the crack. Immediately, a strong aroma arose from the ground, and she cast a spell to make the liquid seep deeper underground.

Lu Ping looked at the medicinal pellet and his face turned gloomy. Raising the Golden Scale Sword in his hand, he readied himself to strike.

At this time, Junior Aunt Jiang urged, "Little girl, are you done? These dead bodies have already called for backup. If the Chong Xuan Main Hall hadn’t just been breached, the Crystal Palace cultivators would have rushed to the rescue already. That place should be full of cultivators fighting for treasures. That Mei Qin is growing much too arrogant lately, how can she send a little girl at the First Layer Core Forging Realm on such an important operation?"

Chu Ting was focused on the matter at hand, and ignored Junior Aunt Jiang’s taunts. Zhu Xuan-Meng chillingly spoke up, "These are just small matters that do not require Teacher’s attention. Teacher will only take matters into her hands for major events that Junior Aunt Jiang is unable to handle. For now, her main focus is breaking through to the Avatar Realm."

Zhu Xuan-Meng’s words implied that Junior Aunt Jiang wasn’t as smart as Enlightened Master Mei. Junior Aunt Jiang was just about to retort, but then held back after hearing that Enlightened Master Mei was about to break through. She coldly sneered.

The other three Mid Core Forging Realm female cultivators stood quietly like statues, ignoring the verbal exchange between the two women.

At this time, a hole suddenly opened up on the ground. Lu Ping’s heart missed a beat, then he quickly sighed in relief when he saw the pangolin emerging from underground.

The pangolin was bound to Senior Brother Gao through the taming secret technique, so when its master died, the pangolin was also severely wounded. It had lost its sanity and its life force was quickly dwindling. Normally, it would wander randomly underground until it died, but Chu Ting had lured it out with the medicinal pellet from earlier.

As an alchemist, Lu Ping naturally knew that medicinal pellet was extremely attractive to monster beasts, which was why he worried that Dabao might be lured out instead.

Chu Ting tapped on the pangolin’s head—it opened its mouth and spat out one large pearl and four smaller ones. After that, the pangolin’s life force was depleted, and it dropped dead on the ground.

Chu Ting put the five pearls away. "A pity it didn’t find the spatial mystic instrument in the spirit vein, but it’s not bad to have five Spirit Gathering Peals. This big one is apparently enough to grow a small spirit vein."

"Who dares kill my Crystal Palace disciples!"

Just as Chu Ting spoke, a roar bellowed out preceding the person’s arrival, his aura spreading over in an instant.

"Not good, it’s a Peak Core Forging Realm Enlightened Master! Damn, those intelligence-gathering cultivators are utterly worthless, how could they miss out on something so important!"

Junior Aunt Jiang cursed, reaching out to shatter the formation chassis laid down by the Crystal Palace cultivators. The crack on the ground immediately recovered.

Just then, a figure charged towards their group from the direction of the Chong Xuan Main Hall.

"Leave now!"

Junior Aunt Jiang shouted, and the six Core Forging Realm cultivators from the Maiden Pavilion quickly fled from the scene.

The Crystal Palace’s Enlightened Master roared in anger and chased after them, followed by five other Crystal Palace Enlightened Masters of Mid and Late range. They rushed towards the array formation. The group briefly inspected the scene, then got up and followed the tracks of the Peak Core Forging Realm Enlightened Master.

Editor: MilkBiscuit