Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit

Chapter 410: Confusion

Whilst Wave Listening Palace’s protective formation remained unactivated, Lu Ping had laid down all sorts of traps in the cave. Inside the training chamber of the cave, Lu Ping sat beside an anxious Hu Lili. Standing before him were three little kids, who all wore innocent-looking expressions.

However, despite their advancement into the Core Forging Realm, Lu Ping was not the slightest bit pleased when he looked at them. His dark expression caused the three little ones to lower their heads in fear.

“Tell me. Who gave you the guts to murder someone in our sect’s territory? The person you murdered was your father’s senior sister. She’s someone you would address as senior martial aunty!”

Hu Lili’s expression paled at Lu Ping’s anger, and she hurriedly said, “This is all my fault. I learned that Senior Sister Xuan-Ying tried to plot against Lu Qin’er and that she teamed up with Xuan-You and Xuan-Xiang to challenge you to a fight. I more or less know what kind of a person this senior martial sister of ours is. She’s definitely not a person who is brave enough to plot against you, which meant that there had to have been a mastermind. I used the opportunity of shepherding the violet bees in Tian Ling Mountain to spy on Senior Sister Xuan-Ying. I merely wanted to find out the culprit behind all of this.”

Seeing how Lu Ping’s expression remained gloomy even after hearing her reasons, Hu Lili started to feel more regret. However, she was also slightly aggrieved at Lu Ping’s reaction. After all, she was just trying to help him.

After making such a grave mistake, Hu Lili had no other option but to clarify herself, so she continued, “Senior Sister Xuan-Ying cut off all contact with everyone and stayed in her cultivation dwelling ever since you departed to Ice Frost Island. She hadn’t stepped out of her residence ever since, let alone contact someone else. Yesterday, however, she abruptly left Tian Ling Mountain after receiving an invitation from someone. As a result, I sent out the snake trio to spy on her. I never expected this to happen!”

“Hmph! There was no need to bring them along with you if you were only going to command the bees.” Lu Ping shot a glare at Hu Lili before pointing his finger toward the three little ones. “I suppose these three little fools let their emotions get the better of them. They couldn’t resist the urge to pick a fight with someone to test their skills after advancing to the Core Forging Realm.”

Seeing Lu Ping precisely expose their thoughts caused the snake trio to shudder and lower their heads even further.

After sternly reprimanding them, Lu Ping finally managed to calm down a little. What was done was done, and the actions couldn’t be changed. The main point was not to lash out at them, but rather to get over the problem unscathed. While Guo Xuan-Shan appeared calm and gentle, he was an attentive person. The snake trio might have entered the Core Forging Realm, but they were awfully inexperienced, and their mindset was no different from a child’s. Whatever they pulled off, they were bound to leave behind clues and traces, which could then be exploited by Guo Xuan-Shan during his investigation.

Despite not being a part of this incident, because he was still on Ice Frost Island when it occurred, Hu Lili wouldn’t be able to walk away unharmed. Even if murdering Senior Sister Xuan-Ying was not her desire, she was still her senior sister. No matter how much they despised each other, just the fact that she spied on Xuan-Ying was more than enough to make her be isolated by everyone in the sect. It would also be hard for her to clear her name when she was the one that sent the snake trio.

As for the snake trio, they were brought up by Lu Ping himself. Lu Ping used all his energy to nurture the three spirit snakes’ eggs and bring them back to life. As a result, the snake trio were more like younger brothers and sisters to him. When a thorough investigation into Xuan-Ying’s murder was conducted, he might only be affected slightly, but that wouldn’t be the case for the snake trio. Additionally, their identities as Emerald Sea Spirit Snakes were extremely sensitive. If it was exposed, it might stir up chaos across the region or even bring about harm to the sect. Lu Ping still remembered the slaughter of the East Ocean’s Shangguan Clan committed by the Emerald Sea Spirit Snakes.

Although he was still figuring out how to deal with this problem, his tone sounded authoritative, “Qing’er, why did you kill Xuan-Ying?”

He felt that he needed to be stricter with them after realizing that he had spoiled the little ones by showering them with too much love. This wasn’t an issue when they were still in the Blood Condensation Realm, but given that they were now in the Core Forging Realm and how they looked like little kids, they would be the center of attraction wherever they went. As a result, they were bound to be targeted by human cultivators.

As the eldest among the snake trio, Lu Qing broke the silence first, and said, “Aunty Hu mentioned that someone tried to hurt Sister Qin’er and that the same person may hurt you in the future, so she sent us to stalk this person. She wanted us to know where she went and who she talked to, but we figured that if she was a bad person, we might as well kill her right away. She can’t hurt anyone if she’s dead.”

Lu Ping scoffed. “You’re really brave, aren’t you? Did you ever consider the possibility of being killed instead?”

Hearing that, Lu Qing’er stood up straight and replied proudly, “We were able to defeat Core Forging Realm’s cultivator before we entered the Core Forging Realm. Now that we’ve made our breakthrough, we no longer have to worry about them. She’s just a bad person in the first level of the Core Forging Realm. She’s no match for us!”

“Fools!” Lu Ping reprimanded angrily. “You think you’re unstoppable after defeating two useless Core Forging Realm cultivators? No one in the cultivation world can guarantee that they are invincible amongst those at the same level. There is an abundance of great talents lurking in areas unknown to us. Even if you’re almost unrivaled when working together, how could you be certain that they wouldn’t team up against you? What if you ran into cultivators in the middle or even peak stage of the Core Forging Realm? What about the Avatar Realm? Do you not realize that you’re only going to get yourselves killed when that happens? Are you aware of the identity of the person you murdered and the place where you murdered her? This is my sect, and the person you murdered is a senior sister to me. This sect is also your sect, so Xuan-Ying is your senior aunty. Yet, here you are, murdering her as you please?”

Such a stern lecture from Lu Ping was a first. As such, tears welled up in their eyes. Seeing that, Hu Lili felt even more guilty. Unable to control herself, she wrapped her arms around them, and said, “This is all my fault. You can’t just blame them. I’ll take full responsibility, including the sect’s retaliation!”

“Hmph!” Lu Ping sneered and said nothing else. Aside from the anger he felt, Lu Ping wanted the kids to learn a lesson. After all, they were monster cultivators that were wild and unrestrained in nature. They couldn’t be bothered with anything else besides Lu Ping. Hence, they preferred to deal with unwanted variables before they could threaten Lu Ping.

The snake trio was destined to become a great assistance to him. In the future, their identity would no longer remain a secret, so they had to be educated properly. They would incur hostility among the cultivators in the world and doom themselves if they maintained such a mindset.

Lu Ping found himself softening up as he glanced at the three little ones shivering in Hu Lili’s arms. However, he maintained his stern tone, and said, “From now onwards, you’re not allowed to reveal yourselves in public without my permission.”

Xuan-Ying’s death seemingly didn’t cause much turbulence in the sect. Lu Ping guessed that the sect had concealed the incident to avoid causing fear and chaos in the sect and the public. After all, monsters showing up within the heart of the Zhen Ling Sect’s territory was not a matter to be taken lightly. With how the situation had developed, the situation was just like the calm before the storm, causing Lu Ping to become even more cautious.

Three days later, Hu Lili returned to Huang Li Island with the violet bees, while Lu Ping headed to Chong Hua Palace, which was still open despite the absence of Liu Tian-Ling. As an official disciple, Lu Ping had been granted access to his master’s residence. There, he found a couple of jade scrolls in his master’s collection and left shortly after.

The next day, a massive shockwave spread across the surrounding area of Tian Ling Mountain, startling Lu Ping. He immediately realized that someone was engaged in a life-or-death battle.

He hurriedly left his residence and headed towards the shockwaves. The fight had garnered the attention of almost all the Core Forging Realm cultivators on Tian Ling Mountain, as they all flew towards the battleground immediately.

When Lu Ping arrived, the battle was already over. He was welcomed to the scene of Xuan-Bo, a cultivator in the early stages of the Core Forging Realm, being arrested and taken away by Guo Xuan-Shan and a couple others right in front of his residence. Xuan-Bo appeared to be unconscious, but it did not seem like he had been knocked out. Instead, it looked like he had been sealed after being caught alive.

Guo Xuan-Shan then turned around, and scoffed, “Scatter!”

The reason why he arrested Xuan-Bo remained a mystery, as Guo Xuan-Shan left no explanation, leaving Lu Ping with no choice but to ask around for Xuan-Bo’s information. However, it turned out that Xuan-Bo was a person who lived a hermit-like life, only focusing on his cultivation.

For some reason, Lu Ping had a gut feeling that this was related to Xuan-Ying’s death, but he could not fathom why Xuan-Bo had been dragged into it.

Two days later, another shocking piece of news surfaced. This time, Xuan-Yun, a cultivator in the middle stages of the Core Forging Realm, had betrayed the sect.

The Zhen Ling Sect immediately declared him a traitor and placed a bounty on him within the entire Northern Ocean.

However, Xuan-Yun disappeared, fleeing towards the Xuan Ling Sects direction. The Zhen Ling Sect reprimanded the Xuan Ling Sect for sheltering a traitor, labeling Xuan-Yun as a spy from the Xuan Ling Sect.

However, the Xuan Ling Sect denied all claims, accusing the Zhen Ling Sect of defamation. Without solid evidence, there was nothing that the Zhen Ling Sect could do, so the matter ended up being brushed under the mat, and Xuan-Yun was not seen again.

Lu Ping knew who Xuan-Yun was, but he wasn’t particularly fond of him. Back when he returned from the Eastern Ocean and made an example out of the Li Clan, it was Xuan-Yun who stopped him. Along with the Core Forging Realm cultivators from the Yuan Clan and Lin Clan, Xuan-Yun stood up for Li Xuan-Liang when he was on the verge of being defeated by Lu Ping. Lu Ping was caught completely off guard after Xuan-Yun was declared a traitor. He felt complicated, and even more confused.

However, that was not the end. Amongst the many intermediate-sized islands spread across the region controlled by the Zhen Ling Sect, three solitary Core Forging Realm cultivators were seized by the sect. One of them was even killed on the spot by a Zhen Ling Sect cultivator after he resisted arrest. The explanation given by Guo Xuan-Shan was that these cultivators weren’t ordinary human cultivators, but rather human pets of the monster race. It was said that the monster race had implanted seals into the minds of these cultivators, controlling their thoughts and actions. Guo Xuan-Shan then invited many factions and a couple of reputed solitary cultivators to take a look at the cultivators, convincing them that he was telling the truth and dissolving their suspicions.

On the other hand, the sect continued suppressing the news of the death of Xuan Ying. However, Lu Ping’s gut feeling told him that whatever Guo Xuan-Shan had done was closely related to Xuan-Ying’s death, albeit in the wrong direction.