Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit

Chapter 323: Ice and Fire

Divine abilities manifest from one’s cultivation base, knowledge, and attainments; they originate directly from the cultivators themselves. As such, each divine ability is special and unique.

However, over time, mini divine abilities were introduced. These were formed from skills or spells enhanced with heaven-and-earth peculiar items, up to a stage just a line weaker than actual divine abilities.

Then, in recent centuries, the concept of mini divine abilities was no longer limited to skills or spells enhanced by peculiar items, but applied to all skills or spells in the same level of prowess. For instance, the peak of any kind of State of Intent.

In the case of Sword Intent, its three pillars were Sword Complexity, Sword Spirituality, and Sword Simplicity. Once a cultivator masters all three to the peak, he or she would be said to have attained a sword mini divine ability.

Hence, when Lu Ping revealed that he had actually mastered the Sword Intent, and attained the sword mini divine ability, those knowledgeable Enlightened Masters like Wang Hua, Zhang Feng, and Li Mao-Lin were all shocked.

They never expected to see a sword divine mini ability attained by a mere Second Layer Core Forging Realm Enlightened Master. One must know, even the Sky Cleaving Sword Sect, which specialized in sword arts, didn’t have many talents who could accomplish this.

Furthermore, not only was Sword Intent classified as a sword mini divine ability, it was also the prerequisite to attaining the actual sword divine ability. Hence, if Lu Ping could reach this step this early, there was a high chance he could master a sword divine ability before the Avatar Realm.

In the cultivation world, only a small number of talents possessed a divine ability during the Core Forging Realm, and they were all leaders of strong powers, with some having become Great Ancestors in their lifetime.

Lu Ping cast the [True Origin One Essence Sword Art] with his Sword Intent, unleashing the full power of the sword mini divine ability. Sword practitioners were known for their powerful attacks, and though they may not be the strongest among their peers, they were usually the first when it came to destructive might. Thus the Sky Cleaving Sword Sect was firmly ranked among the top five East Ocean sects. Even the Crystal Palace wasn’t willing to provoke them.

Lu Ping’s prowess caught Wang Hua by surprise; he didn’t expect such strength from the other.. Even after casting a mini divine ability, the [All Forest], with two mystic treasures, he still couldn’t defend himself.

The [True Origin One Essence Sword Art] cut through the [All Forest] with ease, which immediately deepened the cracks on the Mystical Wooden Ruler. Then, Lu Ping slashed sideways at the green light curtain with the Golden Scale Sword.

Caught by surprise, Wang Hua quickly dismissed the green light curtain, retrieving the Mystical Wooden Shield to avoid further damage.

Among the four, Luan Yu was the least suppressed by Wang Hua, but because the [Fire of Wood] was cultivated from two heaven-and-earth peculiar fires and one alchemy fire, its power couldn’t compare, so he could only use it to defend himself from the [All Forest].

However, as Lu Ping broke the [All Forest], Luan Yu quickly recovered his composure and resumed his attacks, quickly following up with his [Fire of Wood].

At this time, Wang Hua’s nascent weapon, had been severely damaged, and he had suffered from the backlash; his divine revelation and true energy had taken a heavy blow. When he saw the incoming [Fire of Wood], he had no choice but to cast out his Mystical Wooden Shield to defend from the attack.

The [Fire of Wood] burned the Mystical Wooden Shield, but before Wang Hua could eradicate the flames, Qiao Wei-Ying suddenly appeared from behind and attacked with his daggers.

Wang Hua cast his aegis energy mini divine ability, the [Wall of All Forest], to block the strike. Suddenly, his features twisted in sudden realization, and he hurried to escape from the spot.

But it was too late. His aegis energy, weakened by Qiao Wei-Ying’s daggers, was suddenly torn apart, and a huge wound appeared on his waist, while the faint, fleeting shape of a flying sword disappeared before him.

"An invisible sword?"

Wang Hua looked shocked, and even Zhang Feng and Li Mao-Lin watched the battlefield with their mouths agape. They knew Lu Jiu must’ve had something up his sleeves, but they didn’t expect to witness such a surprising scene.

Lu Ping shook his head softly with regret. Although Water Specter Sword was enhanced by the Shapeless Water and cast with the [Shapeless Sword Art], it was still just a top-grade mystic instrument. If it had been a mystic treasure, he was confident that the previous attack would have easily left Wang Hua with severe wounds.

But it wasn’t that the Water Specter Sword couldn’t be upgraded, Lu Ping was just unable to find a suitable Grade 2 water-element spirit material.

"You… you lot…! I must admit, I’ve underestimated you all, but it’ll take more than that to kill me!"

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Wang Hua swiped his hand across the wound on his waist, and it immediately stopped bleeding. He then focused on defending himself from the trio’s attacks, all while staring them down as if they were dead men.

Hong Ying and Chilian Ying were resting on the side, they were both not fit to fight anymore.

Hong Ying’s cultivation base was now heavily impaired. If not for the medicinal pellets prepared by Yue Jiang-Rui and Lu Ping, he might have dropped back into the Blood Condensation Realm.

Chilian Ying was also heavily injured by the attack. Although not as severely as Hong Ying, she couldn’t continue to fight anymore.

Lu Ping, Luan Yu, and Qiao Wei-Ying worked together to battle Wang Hua. At first, Wang Hua was not afraid—his cultivation base was higher than theirs, so he thought they would be exhausted first.

However, after some time, when Luan Yu and Qiao Wei-Ying were beginning to run out of true energy, he suddenly saw them consuming medicinal pellets to recover. At that instant, he remembered that Lu Ping was a Master Alchemist, so of course he and his people would have enough pellet supplies.

Even though Wang Hua had his own share of medicinal pellets, he always saved them for critical moments. He wouldn’t consume them as casually.

But what Wang Hua didn’t know was that Luan Yu was also a Master Alchemist. After all, the Luan Yu he knew from the Alchemy Conference was still in the Blood Condensation Realm’s half-human form rather than the current Core Forging Realm’s full human form. He didn’t recognize Luan Yu at all.

As the battle continued, Wang Hua grew more anxious. He knew he would be exhausted before them at this rate. Furthermore, the three of them were exceptional talents with extraordinary powers, especially Lu Jiu, who took on most of his attacks and also delivered the most blows. It felt like Lu Jiu was just as powerful as him!

Even though Wang Hua refused to believe that, his intuition told him that Lu Jiu was not even displaying his full prowess; he still had something more up his sleeves. This scared Wang Hua even more, and he even considered escaping!

Hmph, I’ll just take my leave first, but this isn’t the end. I’ll be back with the Wang Clan’s three Mid Core Forging Realm Enlightened Masters! And those two… the Zhang Clan and Li Clan, you’ll pay for your involvement! The Crystal Palace won’t let you off the hook so easily!

As Wang Hua made up his mind, he enlarged the Mystical Wooden Shield for protection while rushing towards Qiao Wei-Ying. The Mystical Wooden Ruler attacked the three with its full power, forcing Qiao Wei-Ying backwards, while Lu Ping and Luan Yu worked together to defend.

It was at this moment that Wang Hua, who seemed ready to launch an all out attack, suddenly pulled back and flew away like a bolt of lightning.

"He’s making a run for it!"

Qiao Wei-Ying immediately threw his daggers out like boomerangs; they flew out in arcs and intercepted Wang Hua’s escape path, hindering his escape for a brief moment.

Then, two jade rings flew out of Lu Ping’s hands which expanded and tried to trap Wang Hua inside them.

Wang Hua cast the Mystical Wooden Shield above him while pointing the Mystical Wooden Ruler downward. A sea of trees miraculously appeared on the sea surface and Wang Hua disappeared into the woods.

Lu Ping pointed his hand at the forest, the Fire Ring extended even more to cover the entire forest, then set fire to the trees with dark flames.

Luan Yu immediately identified the fire and he murmured enviously, "Black Prison Poison Fire?"

At this time, a green light flashed out of the burning forest, but Lu Ping sneered coldly and cast up the Ice Ring to form an ice wall in front of the green light. Wang Hua rammed through the ice wall, and was slowed down, while the Fire Ring directed its flames at him.

Wang Hua cast up his aegis energy and shattered the frozen ice on his body, but Lu Ping didn’t falter—ice shackles formed on his feet once again.

Ice spreading from below and fire blasting from above, the contrasting elements met each other and sparked off a vigorous explosion.

Wang Hua staggered away moments later, his aegis energy broken and his defenses stripped away, while the Fire-Ice Dual Rings flew over to restrain him.

Editor: MilkBiscuit