Chapter 5 Bronze Mirror

Lu Ping slowly withdrew his power and let out a light red breath which was the poison residue of the blood purifying elixir. He threw the discarded spiritual stone aside. Feeling the power of Bloodline that was about to reach the late stage of the seventh level, Lu Ping was slightly excited. In yesterday's competition with Li Cheng, Lu Ping found Li Cheng’s flaw at the 22nd move, then counterattacked in one fell swoop, gained the upper hand, attacked Li Cheng with eight moves in a row. He locked Li Cheng's spear at the 30th move and cut his wrist with a stroke, forcing him to drop his spear and admit defeat. Li Cheng, who looked invincible, was defeated in an instant. The disciples who were applauding Li Cheng were dumbfounded. Even the top-ranked disciples and Immortal Senior Liu's deputies were also surprised. A few disciples who were at the same level as Lu Ping looked at Lu Ping even more vigilantly. Lu Ping couldn't help smiling bitterly. He was probably showing off in their eyes. If it was before, Lu Ping would have made Li Cheng suffer a bit and injured him slightly. However, Lu Ping had seen Immortal Senior Liu's worried look that Li Cheng didn't see when Li Cheng challenged him. Therefore, he didn't give Li Cheng a fatal blow. Sure enough, neither Lu Ping nor Li Cheng was badly injured, so the seventh team's strength would not be affected in the Grand Competition. Immortal Senior Liu, who was looking at Lu Ping, suddenly looked softer and kinder. According to past practice, Immortal Senior Liu needed to keep Lu Ping and stayed with him alone for personal coaching after the morning cultivation was over. Even the first disciple and the second disciple showed envious expressions. Personal coaching, a special favor! Several seniors got such a special favor after they reached the eighth level. When the first disciple and the second disciple reached the ninth level, Immortal Senior Liu was overjoyed and gave them another personal coaching separately. The fourth disciple also got two such special favors because of her family friendship with Immortal Senior Liu. Lu Ping quietly meditated on the content that Immortal Senior Liu had told to him. The purpose of cultivation, in the eyes of most cultivators, was naturally to prolong lifespan and even reach longevity. However, having a long life did not mean that a cultivator could live peacefully until the end of his life. To protect the cultivator from accidents in the pursuit of longevity, various magic methods had come into being. After cultivators' long practice and development, these skills of gaining longevity were divided into four realms, Fa, Shu, Shi, and Yi. Beginners learned all kinds of magic methods in accordance with the requirements of the instructors, and they only roughly understood what they learned, which was called Fa Realm. After that, the cultivators would practice magic methods diligently, gradually mastered them, and made them suitable for themselves, which was called Shu Realm. Immortal Senior Liu's cultivation at the Blood Dissolving stage was only at Shu Realm. Then, the cultivators found the principles of using magic methods. Magic methods would combine with Cultivation Methods they practiced. They mutually supported each other. When the cultivators launched their attacks, they could maximize the power of Cultivation Methods they had cultivated through magic methods, and even made the power of Cultivation Methods surpass that of magic methods. The cultivators at this stage were invincible and unstoppable, and this was Shi Realm. As for the strongest Yi Realm, Immortal Senior Liu only heard about it and didn't know what it exactly was. Immortal Senior Liu told Lu Ping about the four realms and patiently explained to him about his experience of reaching Shu Realm, and then answered some cultivation questions. Two hours later, Lu Ping returned to his house under envy gazes, and it was the same for the next two days. Lu Ping concentrated on cultivation, so time went by very quickly. In a blink of an eye, it was the end of the month. The advanced assessment for the third level disciples was on the next day, and the year-end Grand Competition for the second level disciples would begin in three days. Lu Ping sold out the Magic Figures he made this month in the market as usual. He weighed the bag that contained the spiritual stones with a satisfied smile. The assessment was just to check their cultivation development. Three days were enough, but the Grand Competition was different. It was a five-year Promotion Grand Competition. Not only did the disciples roused their enthusiasm to contend for first place, but Immortal Seniors also participated in it overtly and secretly for their own interests. Moreover, it was said that True Spirit Sect would increase its rewards to the winners in this competition. That was why Lu Ping's Magic Figures business became more prosperous. He immediately raised his Magic Figures' price, but the supply was still behind the requirement. Looking at a dozen more spiritual stones in his hand, Lu Ping fell into thought. After deducting the spiritual stones that he needed for his cultivation, he could buy another magic weapon with the remaining spiritual stones! Another reason for this idea was that Lu Ping's cultivation had reached the late stage of the seventh level. He owed to Immortal Senior Liu's personal coaching, and of course it was also related to Lu Ping's extravagant cultivation for more than three months. As usual, Lu Ping prepared all he needed for his next month's cultivation at the market and bought five strength restoring elixirs and five wound healing elixirs. When he was about to walk towards Treasure Attic, he suddenly heard a chattering sound ahead. After a few quick steps, he saw a dozen people gathering there and talking. Out of curiosity, Lu Ping stepped forward and saw that it was a third-level female disciple from the academy who was selling a magic weapon. This magic weapon was a bronze mirror with an insignia of True Spirit Sect on its edge. It was obviously produced by True Spirit Sect, and this often meant that this magic weapon was not weak even if it was not top-grade. Lu Ping stepped forward and asked, "Excuse me, how much is it?" When the female disciple heard this, she glanced at Lu Ping. Seeing that Lu Ping was wearing the mask from the market, she couldn't help but curl her lips, as if she didn't approve of Lu Ping's caution, "Fifty-five spiritual stones!" Most defensive weapons were expensive, but Lu Ping still thought he needed to bargain with her. After all, this was not a top-grade magic weapon. "It's too expensive. This magic weapon is just the sect's products in batches. It's not that good. Besides, you have used it for a long time, right? Forty spiritual stones. What do you say?" The female cultivator glared at Lu Ping and said, "Forty spiritual stones? Why don't I sell it directly to Treasure Attic? Fifty spiritual stones. Don't haggle over the price. If I'm not in urgent need of spiritual stones, how could I sell it at such a low price? I saved up my allowance for a year to get it!" Lu Ping smiled and said, "Then how about forty-five spiritual stones?" The female disciple hesitated for a while and said, "Forty-eight spiritual stones. That's the lowest price, otherwise I will sell it to others." Lu Ping turned his head and saw a few people in the distance rushing here. They probably had heard that there was a senior female disciple selling a magic weapon in the market. Most of them were the second level disciples and the sixth disciple of the seventh team was also among them. Lu Ping said, "Okay, deal." The female cultivator took Lu Ping's spiritual stones and said fiercely, "If I'm not afraid someone would buy the medium-grade magic weapon that I want, and I'm in urgent need of spiritual stones, I wouldn't sell it to you at such a low price!" After saying that, she ran in the direction of Treasure Attic in the center of the market without looking back. Lu Ping put away the magic weapon, looked back at the several people who came behind him, hurriedly jostled his way through the crowd, and left the market.