Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit

Chapter 251

NETS – Chapter 251 – Mysterious Party

Lu Ping didn’t look surprised at all, and asked, “What happened six months ago?”

Hong Ying pondered for a moment before replying, “It was all a little unreal. Half a year ago, Chilian Ying rescued a cultivator who proclaimed himself to be a Wang Clan disciple. The cultivator said that Crystal Palace had seized a nameless island belonging to the Three Clans Alliance because there is a spirit stone mine on the island. Crystal Palace only worked with the Wang Clan for a legitimate excuse to enter the area.”

Initially, many people didn’t buy the news. Especially after the Wang Clan announced that the disciple was expelled from the clan. However, word spreads fast in the Fallen Rift, with even cultivators outside of the Fallen Rift having heard the news.

Despite Crystal Palace repeatedly denying the rumor, there were still cultivators who tried to enter the nameless island. They were quickly discovered and killed by Crystal Palace disciples. Whilst Crystal Palace’s ruthlessness was meant to deter the cultivators, it failed terribly as the strict measures imposed seemed to prove the rumor even further.

Not long after, Crystal Palace sent an Enlightened Master and a group of disciples to raid Chilian Ying’s Flying Rainbow Island, the main island, and four other subordinate islands under her control. However, the islands were already empty when they arrived, with Chilian Ying long gone. Crystal Palace quickly issued a warrant for Chilian Ying and her people across the East Ocean.

One of Crystal Palace’s Enlightened Masters heard news that Chilian Ying was hiding in the waters off Fallen Rift and quickly rushed over to capture her. Sure enough, Chilian Ying was hiding out there.

However, after a fight, the Enlightened Master was shocked to find that he couldn’t defeat the Peak Blood Condensation Realm Chilian Ying. Instead, she even managed to escape from his claws and disappear in the vast ocean.

The battle forged Chilian Ying’s fame in the Northern League and shattered Crystal Palace’s image of invincibility in the East Ocean.

At the same time, more cultivators were flocking to the Fallen Rift for the spirit stone mine on the nameless island. Furthermore, they were calling for the Northern League to take action.

After all, the nameless island was in the Three Clans Alliance’s territory, and the Three Clans Alliance was underneath the Northern League’s shelter. So, Crystal Palace’s interference on the nameless island had crossed a line. This was something the Northern League cultivators would not allow.

The Wang Clan finally realized the awkward situation it was in. Colluding with Crystal Palace was already a bold move, but now with the rumor about Crystal Palace plotting to seize the spirit stone mine, the Wang Clan had gotten extremely anxious.

If the rumor was true, the worst-case scenario for Crystal Palace would only be to give up the spirit stone mine and withdraw from the Northern League’s territory.

On the other hand, the Wang Clan would face a terrible fate. As the organization that brought Crystal Palace into the Northern League’s territory, the Wang Clan would have to face the anger of every Northern League cultivator.

As a result, the Wang Clan quickly sent Enlightened Master Wang Hua to question Crystal Palace’s Enlightened Master Kun Shan if the rumors were true, urging Crystal Palace to open up the island to clarify the rumor.

The Wang Clan’s actions removed themselves from the center of conflict, and showed their loyalty to the Northern League, proving that they were not involved in the Crystal Palace’s plot.

Crystal Palace didn’t see this coming, and was caught off-guard by the Wang Clan’s betrayal.

As the Wang Clang took the lead, the Zhang Clan and Li Clan also followed suit. They requested Crystal Palace to withdraw from the nameless island and stated that the Three Clans Alliance would investigate the island thoroughly on its own. The other parties under the Northern League also demanded Crystal Palace to withdraw from their territory.

Eventually, the Northern League also stepped in and officially demanded Crystal Palace to withdraw from its territory. It also said that it would send an Enlightened Master to the island and investigate the matter. The two giants of the East Ocean finally confronted each other head on.

Although Crystal Palace was stronger, this was the Northern League’s territory, so they had the home advantage. On top of that, other strong organizations in the East Ocean also sided with the Northern League and demanded Crystal Palace to withdraw.

Crystal Palace was placed under tremendous pressure by the forces and eventually backed down. It admitted the presence of the spirit stone mine but clarified that the discovery was accidental and not deliberately planned.

Was it really unplanned? Everyone clearly knew the truth in their hearts. However, regardless of the truth, the entire incident had come to a close.

What was left to settle was how to share the spirit stone mine. The Northern League naturally took the largest share, followed by Crystal Palace, and finally the other strong parties in the East Ocean.

With the Northern League’s intervention, the Spirit Vein Locking Formation was sped up and completed in just half a year.

However, no one knew that there was another cultivator hiding in the spirit stone mine all this time. It was only when the Spirit Vein Locking Formation was activated that the cultivator was forced out of the mine. But as the Enlightened Masters were busy controlling the array formation, they couldn’t capture the cultivator and let him escape.

Right now, cultivators in the Fallen Rift were most concerned about two things.

The first was whether or not Chilian Ying would be able to continue escaping from Crystal Palace’s pursuit; the other matter was how many spirit stones the mysterious cultivator mined from the spirit stone mine.

…

After listening to Hong Ying’s story, Lu Ping frowned and thought for a while. The entire incident gave Lu Ping a feeling that the Crystal Palace was schemed against by a mysterious party.

Chilian Ying was undoubtedly strong to be able to escape from an Enlightened Master’s pursuit, but to totally disappear from the Crystal Palace’s radar would require help from a strong organization to cover up her tracks.

On top of that, the rumor had spread too fast, someone was clearly behind this. But Lu Ping wondered how the mysterious party knew that there was a medium-sized spirit stone mine on the island? It couldn’t be from the Wang Clan disciple, he didn’t reach the tunnel, so he wouldn’t know that.

Another puzzling question was the mysterious party’s motive. Lu Ping didn’t think that the mysterious force would go to such lengths of sacrificing Chilian Ying’s islands, just so it could stop Crystal Palace from having the entire medium-sized spirit stone mine for itself.

Lu Ping suddenly remembered the Li Clan. There was a mysterious force behind the clan, the one that Chu Ting served. The mysterious party was also clearly hostile towards Crystal Palace.

“Young master,” Hong Ying saw Lu Ping deep in thought, and reminded, “After Chi Lian-Ying’s incident, the Three Clans Alliance has now strengthened its control over the 27 mini islands, especially the Wang Clan. Not only is the Wang Clan asking for more offerings, they are also lobbying the mini islands to join them.”

Lu Ping said, “The Wang Clan is afraid of the consequences. The Northern League isn’t pleased with its collusion with Crystal Palace, while Crystal Palace is offended by its betrayal. In the Three Clans Alliance, the Zhang Clan and Li Clan are also unhappy with its actions. The Wang Clan is in an awkward position now, and is in dire need of strength to fortify its position. One way to achieve that is by having the mini islands on its side. However, the other two clans won’t sit idly.”

Hong Ying added, “After Chilian Ying left, her five islands were vacated, causing many parties to fight for them, including some parties new to the Fallen Rift. The mini islands are in a turmoil now. Ye Bu-Qi and his brothers have started patrolling our three islands for security.”

Lu Ping’s eyes glared, “Did someone try to attack us?”

Hong Ying said hesitantly, “Not yet, but there are several cultivators that have been lurking near Wave Listening Island, Crimson Shadow Island and Twilight Island. I wish for peace, but their presence is unsettling, we must be careful.”

Lu Ping sneered coldly and didn’t say anything.

Hong Ying was a seasoned cultivator. The moment he saw Lu Ping’s sneer, he immediately felt a murderous intent brewing within the young man’s body!

Hong Ying’s heart trembled, he couldn’t help but think how many people would one have to kill to possess such a strong murderous intent?

At nightfall, Ye Bu-Qi returned from his patrol duty. Lu Ping asked him if there were any forces eyeing the islands. After Ye Bu-Qi gave him a definite answer, Lu Ping nodded and returned to his cave-dwelling without saying anything.

In the darkness of the night, one could vaguely hear some bird chirps and hissing noise around the islands. The next day, Ye Bu-Qi patrolled the islands again and quickly reported back to Lu Ping about the events of the day.

It turned out that there were monster beasts that ambushed five forces that had been lurking around the islands. The leaders of the forces were all killed. One of them had his head crushed by a talon, the other had his heart dug out, and another three were poisoned to death.

——