Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit

Chapter 73 – Returning the Favor (2)

Lu Ping opened the sack and was surprised to find Hu Lili, who he’d met three times before.

The first time they met was at the trade fair for side-hall disciples, where he exchanged some charms for her Blood Solidifying Pellets.

The second time was on the nameless island. Lu Ping stayed hidden and watched Hu Lili and her friends search for Sheng Tao’s cave-dwelling. At the time, Hu Lili’s profound knowledge and understanding of array formations left a deep impression in Lu Ping’s mind.

The third time was at the auction on Di Kun Island. Lu Ping had a room to himself while Hu Lili was among the crowd on the floor. Although Hu Lili suspected that Lu Ping was also at the auction, she never found him. It didn’t cross her mind that Lu Ping would have his own room.

The Xuan Ling disciple might be in the Second Layer Blood Condensation Realm, but he was already wounded which greatly reduced his movements. So long as Lu Ping went all out to prevent his escape, he would definitely put down Hu Lili first to reduce the burden of carrying her.

By then, Hu Lili could get out of the sack and help Lu Ping defeat him, or they could both escape together. At least, that was what she’d initially planned.

However, she never expected Lu Ping to be this strong. In less than fifteen minutes, he’d toyed the Xuan Ling disciple into exhaustion.

Lu Ping’s attacks held a mysterious aura that she couldn’t understand. Perhaps, this was the state of Technique?

Hu Lili was curious. As far as she knew, not many had attained the state of Technique, including those in the Late Blood Condensation Realm.

Watching Lu Ping as he cleaned up the battlefield and collected the Xuan Ling Sect disciple’s interspatial pouch, Hu Lili said, “Junior Martial… Master Immortal Lu, thank you for saving Hu Lili’s life.”

Lu Ping was in a good mood after seeing 2,900 spirit stones and a bottle of Thousand Ginseng Pellets in the Xuan Ling disciple’s interspatial pouch. Grinning, he replied, “Senior Martial Sister Hu, please just address me as usual. I’m not comfortable hearing you call me Master Immortal.”

Hu Lili chuckled and didn’t insist. She then relayed what happened.

After failing to find Sheng Tao’s cave-dwelling, Hu Lili stayed on Xuan Qi Island. Since she was preparing to break through to the Blood Condensation Realm, she requested Xuan Qi Island’s Enlightened Master Qu for a sect mission.

Coincidentally, one of the island disciples had an emergency and had to return to Zhen Ling Side Hall. Hence, Hu Lili was tasked with replacing the island disciple.

Afterward, when Xuan Ling Sect launched their attack, Hu Lili swiftly retreated from the island. She also deduced the predicament Xuan Qi Island was facing, so she decided to fly towards Huang Cheng Island where Yao Yong was stationed.

This was only because Yao Yong was a Blood Condensation cultivator and so, she would naturally want to group up with him for safety.

But before she could reach Huang Cheng Island, Hu Lili bumped into Yao Yong who was also in the middle of retreating. Clearly, Xuan Ling Sect had given Yao Yong the same treatment as Lu Ping.

Left with no choice, the two grouped together and flew towards Du Feng’s Huang Lin Island. However, Du Feng was also caught in the same situation. By then, they found themselves surrounded by four Xuan Ling Blood Condensation disciples.

After a fierce battle, Hu Lili was captured. The Xuan Ling disciple who captured her was a pervert, and while distracted by Hu Lili’s beauty, he unintentionally let his guard down for a moment.

Du Feng seized this chance and expended his full power to kill him. But the disciple managed to survive the attacks, albeit deeply wounded. Du Feng paid the heavier price from the encounter, his injuries were far more severe.

Yao Yong was also quick to take action. The attack had left an opening in the disciple’s defenses, so he hurriedly dragged away the badly injured Du Feng and broke through the encirclement.

Due to the Xuan Ling disciple’s wounds, and in addition to him being a pervert who couldn’t wait to enjoy the captured beauty, he decided to return to Xuan Ling Sect. Even if he left, the remaining three Xuan Ling disciples were still capable of handling Yao Yong and Du Feng, who was also sustaining heavy injuries of his own. The remaining disciples decided to continue the chase.

After that, the Xuan Ling disciple stuffed Hu Lili in a sack and carried her back to Xuan Ling Sect. But midway on his journey, he bumped into Lu Ping who was looking for Du Feng.

Lu Ping quickly took care of him and saved Hu Lili.

After hearing her account, Lu Ping said thoughtfully, “Senior Hu, I’m going to help the senior martial brothers. If it’s inconvenient for you, you can find a place to settle down for now, then return to Xuan Qi Island after the situation has calmed down.”

Hu Lili chortled. “I’m afraid Xuan Ling Sect has taken over the entire territory around Xuan Qi Island, so nowhere is safe. I’d rather follow a big expert like you to find Yao Yong, Du Feng, and the remaining island disciples. If we fight together, maybe then we’ll stand a chance to survive this situation.”

Lu Ping inwardly agreed. Together with Hu Lili, he flew towards the direction where Yao Yong and Du Feng fled.

Currently, the two disciples were in a terrible state. Because of Du Feng’s injuries, Yao Yong had to take care of him while also running for their lives. As a result, Yao Yong’s arcane energy was heavily depleted.

At this time, the three Xuan Ling disciples had almost caught up. Du Feng’s face remained as cold as ice as he said in his usual emotionless tone, “Senior, please go first. I’ll stay and slow them down. Otherwise, neither of us will make it out alive.”

Breathing heavily, Yao Yong tossed a Spirit Regenerating Pellet into his mouth and shouted back, “Shut up, don’t waste my arcane energy!”

Saying so, he increased his flying speed while dragging Du Feng along.

Du Feng knew Yao Yong was on the verge of collapse, but he also knew his senior was a loyal and true man. Otherwise, why would Yao Yong, who always cared for his big brother image in front of the other disciples, scold out loud when he said to abandon him?

The only thing Du Feng could do was to recover his wounds and arcane energy as much as possible. That way he could be of some help when their enemies caught up. Sadly, his injuries were too serious this time. It would take at least five months for him to recover without any high-quality healing pellets.

Suddenly, Yao Yong stopped fleeing. No matter what they did, they wouldn’t be able to escape from their pursuers. In that case, he would rather conserve some arcane energy, then go all out to fight for their lives.

When the Xuan Ling disciples saw that Yao Yong and Du Feng had stopped fleeing, they carefully surrounded them. The experience of their wounded comrade told them these two Zhen Ling disciples weren’t easy targets. They were capable enough to make higher level cultivators pay a heavy price to kill them.

Yao Yong and Du Feng stood back to back. Yao Yong cast out a brick-like mystic instrument while Du Feng wielded a flying sword. However, the sword swayed powerlessly while hovering in midair. Clearly, his injuries had greatly affected his power.

Meanwhile, Lu Ping and Hu Lili were hurrying to catch up. Lu Ping switched his usual flying mystic instrument to a mid-grade flying sword that he’d looted on Huang Li Island.

Hu Lili stood next to him on the flying sword. She looked at the scenery flashing past them, inwardly surprised by Lu Ping’s flying speed and profound arcane energy.

In less than fifteen minutes, Lu Ping distinctly heard the sounds of clashing spells and mystic instruments coming from the front.

He immediately whistled out loud. The flying sword accelerated, leaving a trail of white waves on the sea surface. Hu Lili quickly covered her ears, her pretty face frowning softly.

At this time, Du Feng had already fallen beside the exhausted Yao Yong, who panted heavily as he simultaneously defended from attacks while protecting Du Feng. He caught two more blows to the body, blood splashing on his face and soaking his clothes.

Suddenly, a loud and long whistle came from behind the Xuan Ling disciples. Yao Yong immediately recognized it as Lu Ping’s and was overjoyed.

One of the Xuan Ling disciples quickly flew to the back, preparing to welcome the uninvited guest with his mystic instrument.

Two miles away, two cultivators were flying towards them on a flying sword. Narrowing his eyes, he recognized one of them as the female Zhen Ling disciple who got captured by his fellow martial brother.

Before the Xuan Ling disciple could inform the others, a tiny projectile glowing in faint red light was shot towards his heart.

He only managed to block the projectile with his mystic instrument.

Dang—

A loud din could be heard, and an irresistible force struck him from the tiny projectile. It pushed him back and knocked the mystic instrument from his hands. The tiny projectile quickly changed direction and instead of hitting his heart, it hit his shoulder.

He looked at his shoulder—the tiny projectile was actually a flying needle. In the midst of the chaos, he couldn’t care about the pain anymore. Turning his head, he was just about to warn his fellow martial siblings when the flying needle quivered rapidly.

Boom—

The needle exploded, and half of the Xuan Ling disciple’s body disappeared in an instant.

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