Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Ding Yu had never seen Donghua City so prosperous. The number of flying carriages and cloud boats shuttling between the magnificent buildings had doubled, and the dazzling light from the lanterns and banners in front of the shops illuminated the night sky as if it were daytime.

Ding Yu was treated to a feast for the eyes by a variety of rare and exotic animals. It was common for cultivators in the spirit world to raise spirit beasts, and the monsters and exotic beasts collected from various other worlds had all sorts of strange and wonderful appearances.

Whether majestic or ferocious, magnificent or bizarre, they are all extremely eye-catching. But at this moment, they are either used as mounts or pulling flying chariots and cloud boats, making people marvel at the extravagance of their owners.

The sudden increase in the number of cultivators pouring into Donghua City also led to a surge in conflicts and disputes within the city.

The Tai Xuan Sect had no choice but to temporarily issue sect missions and send more people to maintain order in Donghua City, using iron-fisted methods to deter those unruly cultivators.

Cultivators are never like docile spirit beasts. Even under the rule of Mahayana sects, there are those who dare to challenge the rules. Only magic treasures and supernatural powers can make them obediently bow their heads.

Ding Yu had accepted a mission from the sect, which is why he temporarily interrupted his cultivation to come to Donghua City to maintain order.

He wore a light blue long robe embroidered with flowing cloud patterns, and a very conspicuous "Xuan" character on his chest, with sharp strokes that could be seen from afar.

This is the standard robe that every disciple of the Tai Xuan Sect has. The color and material vary depending on the level of cultivation.

Normally, no disciple would wear the standard robes; they would only be used to intimidate other cultivators on special occasions.

Some cultivators might have originally intended to take action, but upon seeing disciples dressed in the standard robes of the Tai Xuan Sect flying in, they would often back down and leave in a huff.

However, Ding Yu wasn't always so imposing. Sometimes, when he encountered Core Formation cultivators or even Nascent Soul cultivators, the Tai Xuan Sect's standard robes were useless, and he would have to clasp his hands in a salute.

In the cultivation world, cultivation level is ultimately paramount. Even Foundation Establishment disciples of Mahayana sects must bow down before Core Formation cultivators and dare not act presumptuously.

Of course, Ding Yu would not be obsequious. He had a Mahayana sect behind him, and he could not disgrace the sect's prestige.

If a Core Formation cultivator were to violate the rules of Donghua City, he would not hesitate to speak out and stop them.

It's not that no cultivators in Donghua City have died tragically, but no one has dared to lay a hand on the disciples of the Tai Xuan Sect.

After a month, Ding Yu began to miss his cultivation days.

Cultivation may be a bit tedious, but the feeling of steadily improving one's cultivation level is far better than dealing with numerous trivial matters and stopping conflicts between low-level cultivators every day.

However, considering the generous spirit stone reward, Ding Yu had no choice but to continue to endure it.

These days won't last much longer; in three days, the Donghua Auction will officially begin.

The auction will last for half a month. After the auction ends, the cultivators who flocked to Donghua City will disperse, Donghua City will return to peace, and he will be able to return to Tongtian Island to cultivate in peace.

Ding Yu still can't forget the mixed poison body tempering seven years ago. That half-hour test was so long. The intense pain brought by the mixed poison elixir swept through his entire body, and the violent killing intent that surged from the bottom of his heart almost turned him into a ferocious beast that only knew how to kill.

That feeling was so unforgettable, so deeply imprinted in his heart, that it would never fade.

But the half-hour of suffering brought a rich reward. Ding Yu's gamble paid off. Elder Chen bestowed upon him a body cultivation technique and a body-tempering elixir, clearing away the fog ahead on his path and bringing a ray of light to his body.

The Sutra Repository at the foot of Lingyun Peak was quite simple, with only two floors, but the thousands of body cultivation techniques it contained left the thirteen inner disciples dumbfounded and reluctant to leave.

From the Core Formation stage to the Body Integration stage, it encompasses both physical cultivation and spiritual practice, including the Five Elements and all things in the universe.

Although the cultivation techniques in the Scripture Pavilion only had very brief introductions, Ding Yu was still overwhelmed by them and spent a whole day before finally choosing a Nascent Soul stage cultivation technique.

He initially set his sights on a metal-element cultivation technique for the Integration Stage, since he possessed the three spiritual roots of metal, wood, and earth, making him capable of cultivating this technique.

But Ding Yu remembered his father's instructions before he left. After much hesitation, he changed to a Void Refining stage cultivation technique, but still felt it was inappropriate, so he changed it to this late-stage Nascent Soul stage cultivation technique.

Father is right. One must be down-to-earth and not let mysterious techniques blind him.

He was just an ordinary low-level cultivator. Even if he were to be granted a special opportunity to join Lingyun Peak and have no shortage of cultivation resources, he should not be overly ambitious.

The Void Refinement stage is too far away. The vast Tai Xuan Sect only has a few dozen Void Refinement Protectors, while there are thousands of true disciples in the Divine Transformation stage. Very few of them have advanced to the Void Refinement stage.

Cultivators are divided into three major realms: Qi Refining, Foundation Building, and Core Formation are the lower realms; Nascent Soul and Spirit Transformation are the middle realms; and Void Refining, Body Integration, and Mahayana are the upper realms.

Ding Yu naturally wanted to achieve Mahayana enlightenment, ascend to immortality, and live forever.

But the most valuable quality in a person is self-awareness; he dared not ask for too much, only daring to aim for the transformation into a god.

It's not too late to look forward to refining the void when one day truly cultivates to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

Higher-level cultivation techniques have a higher ceiling, but they are also more difficult to cultivate, with extremely demanding requirements. This will greatly slow down the cultivation speed and consume more cultivation resources.

That metal element body-refining technique, which leads to the perfect integration of the body, requires absorbing the essence of nine kinds of high-grade metal element spiritual materials or tempering the body with the blood essence of nine kinds of fifth-level metal element demonic beasts during the foundation-building stage. It is not something that ordinary people can cultivate.

After Ding Yu chose his cultivation method, Senior Brother Zhang bestowed upon him ten bottles of Body Tempering Pills, enough to elevate his physical body to a level comparable to a fourth-grade royal beast.

Ding Yu dared not be negligent in the slightest. Upon returning to his cave, he secluded himself for arduous cultivation and did not step out of the cave for seven years.

His cultivation level didn't improve much, but his physical body continued to strengthen, breaking through bottlenecks one after another. Now he was comparable to a level three demon beast, only one step away from becoming a level four demon beast, and he only had four bottles of body tempering pills left.

Ding Yu wanted to continue cultivating, but after receiving a message from Senior Brother Zhang, he came out of seclusion to receive a sect mission and patrol Donghua City with other inner disciples.

Although this task is somewhat tedious, it is not difficult and the rewards are extremely generous. It was issued by Yanheng Peak, which is in charge of Duobao Pavilion. Disciples of each peak have priority to receive it, and then it will be the turn of those inner disciples who have not joined any peak.

Disciples from other peaks compete with each other, but Lingyun Peak has few disciples. In the past seven years, only eight inner disciples have joined Lingyun Peak, bringing the total to only twenty-one.

Every Lingyun Peak disciple received a task, and there were still many spots left, which were taken by inner disciples who had not passed the Lingyun Peak assessment.

Over the past month, Ding Yu has been patrolling Donghua City. He witnessed two Foundation Establishment cultivators fighting over a few mid-grade spirit stones, a group of Qi Refining cultivators hurling insults at each other for the chance to be a guide for a Core Formation cultivator, and a grand scene where a Void Refining cultivator walked out of a teleportation array and everyone stepped back to pay their respects.

Since Qi Refining cultivators cannot fly, and in order to protect lower-level disciples, Ding Yu had almost never left Tongtian Island before he reached Foundation Establishment.

The sect missions he received all involved cultivating spiritual herbs, guarding halls, feeding spirit beasts, and transporting spirit ores, all of which could be completed on Tongtian Island. The other disciples did the same. After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, Ding Yu joined Lingyun Peak for secluded cultivation, refining his body and tempering his spirit. This was his first time leaving Tongtian Island and witnessing the myriad aspects of the cultivation world.

The cultivation world was far more cruel than he had imagined. In the past, he thought that completing sect missions to earn sect contributions and then exchanging them for spirit stones and pills was hard enough, but small and medium-sized sects and independent cultivators had it a hundred times harder than him.

He has the protection of a Mahayana sect, and the sect's missions are reviewed by the Tianyuan Hall. Although there are private personal relationships and abuse of power, at most he will receive slightly worse missions, but the rewards will not be reduced by the slightest.

Other sects and independent cultivators, having no one to rely on, have to exert all their efforts for scarce cultivation resources, and they may not even live as comfortably as ordinary people.

Whenever this happens, Ding Yu can't help but feel grateful that he survived that treacherous mountain path when he was thirteen, and that he survived that half-hour of mixed poison tempering seven years ago. Otherwise, he would be one of these rogue cultivators today, or even worse than them.

Three days passed quickly, and the day of the Donghua Auction finally arrived. Ding Yu's task today was to guard the short-distance teleportation array connecting to Tongtian Island.

Ding Yu was somewhat disappointed. He wanted to witness the grand occasion of the Donghua Auction, and even if he couldn't enter the auction venue on the 82nd floor of the Treasure Pavilion, he could still take advantage of his patrol to catch a glimpse of the high-level cultivators participating in the auction.

Moreover, since today is the auction, the number of Tai Xuan Sect cultivators who came from Tongtian Island to Donghua City to participate in the auction has increased significantly.

Ding Yu spent the entire morning busy registering the names of those who walked out of the teleportation array.

Most of them were Nascent Soul cultivators, as well as true disciples and Void Refinement protectors in the Divine Transformation stage. There were even Elder Su from Lanyue Peak and Elder Yuan from Huayu Peak, which was quite alarming.

Ding Yu had just memorized the name of a protector from Luosong Peak when a flash of white light appeared in the teleportation array. Ding Yu habitually stepped forward, and upon recognizing the person, he quickly stopped and bowed deeply: "Ding Yu, disciple of Lingyun Peak, greets Elder Chen!"

The newcomer was Chen Yuan. He glanced at Ding Yu and said, "Not bad, your foundation is quite solid."

Ding Yu felt a surge of warmth in his heart and respectfully said, "This disciple will follow the elder's teachings and will not slacken in my cultivation, nor will I dare to be overly ambitious."

Chen Yuan nodded slightly. He remembered Ding Yu, who was the only one among the thirteen inner disciples to choose the Nascent Soul cultivation method. He seemed to be a down-to-earth person and worth cultivating.

He pondered for a moment and said, "I am attending the Donghua Auction and I need someone to accompany me. You will come with me."

Zhang Yanwei wanted to accompany Chen Yuan, but Chen Yuan smiled and said, "You now have the cultivation of a Nascent Soul cultivator and a lot of spirit stones. You can participate in the Donghua Auction. How can I let you come along and leave Jin Yue to participate in the auction all alone?"

Zhang Yanwei was extremely anxious: "How dare this disciple fail in his duty because of personal matters? He should serve Master at his side..."

Chen Yuan comforted him gently, asking him to accompany Yun Jinyue to the auction and to stroll around Donghua City. Zhang Yanwei then agreed.

"Disciple obeys. Please wait a moment, Elder, while I inform you." Ding Yu was overjoyed and immediately agreed, turning to leave.

Although leaving halfway through will result in the loss of some sect mission rewards, what a great opportunity it is to be able to participate in the Donghua Auction with Elder Chen and witness those rare treasures in person.

A moment later, Ding Yu turned around, accompanied by a Core Formation cultivator.

After bowing respectfully to Chen Yuan, the Core Formation cultivator turned and ordered Ding Yu to follow Chen Yuan, stating that the reward would not be reduced in the slightest.

After thanking Chen Yuan, Ding Yu followed him out of the teleportation array hall, and with a flash of light, they flew into the sky.

Chen Yuan did not reveal his cultivation level, but simply moved forward slowly in the flowing light of his escape. However, the cultivators he encountered along the way retreated to the side when they saw Ding Yu following behind him.

Ding Yu was still wearing the light blue standard robe of the Tai Xuan Sect. Although everyone knew that he was only a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he was still a disciple of the Tai Xuan Sect.

Ding Yu then deliberately landed behind Chen Yuan, behaving with utmost respect. In their eyes, this white-robed cultivator, who revealed no trace of his aura, immediately became unfathomable, and they dared not obstruct him.

The two arrived at the Treasure Pavilion without any obstacles. The place was even more prosperous, with the magnificent building surrounded by light, and flying boats and cloud carriages parked outside the terraces, blocking the way completely.

Not only cultivators from the Xuanling Domain attended the Donghua Auction, but also cultivators from other spiritual domains and even other continents, making the Duobao Pavilion the most eye-catching focus in Donghua City.

Not all cultivators are qualified to participate in the auction, but during the auction, the number of treasures sold by the Treasure Pavilion will increase significantly, including many rare treasures that people would otherwise scramble to buy.

Ding Yu had been patrolling and guarding Donghua City for the past month, and his information network was quite extensive. He heard from other inner disciples that Elder Ling had specially taken this item from the sect's treasury, intending to take advantage of the gathering of cultivators from various spiritual realms in Donghua City to sell it for a high price.

Today marks the start of the Donghua Auction. Cultivators participating in the auction have gathered at the Treasure Pavilion, making the scene even grander than in the previous days.

The standard robes Ding Yu wore were useless in the Treasure Pavilion. At this time, the cultivators who came to the Treasure Pavilion were either from sects or families with deep foundations, or had high cultivation and wealth. In front of them, the mere Foundation Establishment disciples of the Tai Xuan Sect were no different from rogue cultivators.

When Chen Yuan arrived near the Treasure Pavilion, his escape light suddenly rose upwards, heading straight for the seventy-eighth floor, avoiding the crowd in front of him.

The cultivators sitting comfortably in the cloud chariots and flying boats all showed surprise. Everyone knew that the seventy-eighth floor of the Treasure Pavilion only received cultivators at the Integration stage. This white-robed cultivator had no aura and was accompanied by only one follower. He didn't look like a Integration stage expert at all.

Someone recognized the standard dharma robes Ding Yu was wearing, and a hint of mockery flashed in their eyes.

Every elder of the Tai Xuan Sect is renowned. This white-robed cultivator in front of me has an impressive aura, but he is not any of these elders. If I rashly go to the seventy-eighth floor, I will definitely run into trouble.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Chen Yuan arrived at the terrace on the seventy-eighth floor, where a beautiful woman, also dressed in the light blue uniform of the Tai Xuan Sect, was waiting for him.

When the woman saw Chen Yuan, she was about to ask him a question when Chen Yuan revealed the Tai Xuan Token.

Upon seeing the Tai Xuan Token, the woman's expression immediately became respectful, and she bowed gracefully: "Elder Chen, this way please."

She turned and walked towards the door. Chen Yuan walked slowly, his white robes fluttering, looking otherworldly, like a banished immortal descending to earth. Ding Yu hurriedly followed.

Everyone was astonished to see the unfamiliar white-robed cultivator enter the seventy-eighth floor without any hindrance. Those who had harbored sarcasm were especially shocked and began to communicate with their acquaintances, asking about the man's identity.

Suddenly, someone opened his eyes wide and murmured, "More than eighty years ago, the Tai Xuan Sect suddenly had an elder named Chen Yuan who founded Lingyun Peak. Could it be this person?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it didn't escape the notice of the highly skilled cultivators around him, and Chen Yuan's name quickly spread.

The mysterious Elder Chen has finally made his appearance in the cultivation world, in an unexpected way.

Many female cultivators gazed at the empty seventy-eighth-floor terrace of the Treasure Pavilion, their beautiful eyes gleaming with admiration, and they etched the name Chen Yuan deep into their hearts. (End of Chapter)