Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Chen Yuan stopped in front of the three people, with black wings and white hair, like a demon descended to the earth.

He glanced at Elder Gu and Yang Liqian and smiled slightly: "You two fellow Taoists are quite patient."

Elder Gu stared at him and said slowly, "Fellow Daoist Chen is only in the middle stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, but he can unleash the full power of a top-level magic weapon, comparable to a great cultivator. His true essence is so pure and powerful that it is unheard of."

"However, after the battle with Kunhai and Yuntian, I'm afraid there isn't much true energy left in your body. Can you still defeat Gu?"

Chen Yuan's eyes flashed, and feeling most of the true energy in his body being consumed, he flipped his hand and took out a jade bottle.

He opened the bottle stopper, tilted it slightly, and poured out two drops of milky white spiritual liquid.

The spiritual liquid was suspended in the air, and the spiritual energy was dense, forming a thin layer of spiritual mist.

When Elder Gu saw this, his pupils shrank: "Thousand-year spiritual milk?"

Chen Yuan said calmly, "Yes, fellow Daoist Gu has good eyesight. Top-level magic weapons consume so much energy. If I didn't have this item, wouldn't I really be walking into a trap?"

Elder Gu stared at the two drops of thousand-year-old spiritual milk in front of Chen Yuan, then glanced at the jade bottle, and suddenly smiled: "Gu knew that since you dared to step into the trap, you must have a backup plan, so you didn't act rashly, otherwise you wouldn't even be able to maintain this last bit of dignity."

Yang Liqian looked at the two drops of thousand-year-old spiritual milk, and the last glimmer of hope in his heart quietly shattered.

Top-level magic weapons are extremely powerful, but they also consume a lot of true energy. If the true energy is not pure enough, it cannot exert its full power.

In the hands of a person in the middle stage of the Nascent Soul, a top-level magic weapon is just like a chicken rib. Its power is not much stronger than that of a high-level magic weapon, and it also consumes a lot of true energy.

This is also why Du Qing did not carry the Zixu Sword with him when he entered the Demon Realm, but stayed in the Ziyang Mountains.

In this way, even if Du Qing and Du Kun encountered an accident, relying on the sect protection formation and with the sacrifice of soul and body by the late Jindan cultivators, they could barely control the Zixu Sword, which was enough to deal with ordinary Yuanying cultivators and preserve the sect's inheritance.

However, Chen Yuan mastered the art of teleportation and easily sneaked into Zi Yang Sect, which made Du Qing's painstaking efforts come to nothing.

The reason why Chen Yuan was able to unleash the full power of the Purple Void Sword was entirely due to the fact that after refining the blood of two kinds of true spirits, his true essence became extremely pure, far surpassing that of cultivators of the same level, and was almost the same as that of great cultivators.

The Haoran Sect has been passed down for tens of thousands of years and has no shortage of top-level magic weapons, but except for Sect Leader Yue, the other middle-Nascent Soul elders only have high-level magic weapons in their hands, which are not as good as Chen Yuan.

However, Chen Yuan’s cultivation was still low, and his true essence was far less powerful than that of a great cultivator. After beheading ancestors Kunhai and Yuntian, he had consumed 70% of his true essence.

But the seven drops of thousand-year-old spiritual milk obtained from the secret realm of Dongxu Mountain are his greatest confidence.

Just taking one drop could restore at least 80% of his true energy. He also mastered the art of teleportation and could come and go freely.

Even if a few more mid-Nascent Soul cultivators came, they would not be his match before the thousand-year spiritual milk was exhausted.

Chen Yuan put away the Millennium Spiritual Milk and said, "My two Taoist friends are so considerate. It saves me a lot of trouble."

Elder Gu said calmly: "I am willing to accept the loss, why bother struggling to death?"

Chen Yuan's eyes flashed: "I heard this sentence from Brother Zong not long ago."

Elder Gu said calmly: "Such a treacherous villain is not worthy of being mentioned in the same breath with Gu."

Qing Liu Jushi sneered, "Does Junior Brother Gu also look down on Zong Lvfang? You betrayed the sect rules, openly colluded with the demon clan, and killed your fellow disciples. Isn't that also the behavior of a villain?"

"I originally thought that you were just secretly colluding with Kun Hai to let him attack Fellow Daoist Chen, but you openly conspired with Kun Hai. Where did you disregard the sect rules?"

"Aren't you afraid that if you fail, I will return to the sect, report to Senior Brother Yue, and punish you severely!"

Elder Gu stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the horizon, a trace of regret flashed in his eyes: "Brother, what you said is wrong. As long as you are left in Jueling Island, who will know that I have joined forces with Kunhai?"

"Unfortunately, I thought I had made thorough preparations, and even took out a Haoran Pill to win over Zong Lvfang, but I still underestimated Fellow Daoist Chen's strength."

“Who would have thought that Fellow Daoist Chen, who had just formed his infant stage more than thirty years ago, has now broken through the bottleneck of the middle stage and has a top-level flying sword in his hand.”

"The only thing I regret now is that I didn't do it myself and get rid of Daoist Chen before he formed his infant. Otherwise, this wouldn't have happened today..."

Qing Liu Jushi said angrily, "You are so crazy that you even implicated Junior Brother Yang. In order to seize the opportunity, have you really disregarded our friendship?"

Elder Gu lowered his head, looked at Mr. Qingliu, and smiled softly: "I didn't expect that after so many years, Brother is still so naive."

"My senior brother was too kindhearted back then. He shared the opportunity with me out of consideration for our fellow disciples. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been stuck in the early stage of Nascent Soul after practicing Taoism for more than 700 years, one step behind me."

"We cultivate Taoism to live a carefree and long life. To achieve this, we must put cultivation first. For this, we can abandon any rules and constraints."

"Brother, you want to snatch the Qingfeng Bamboo from me. I once blocked Daoist Chen's path to the Tao, and my disciple died because of him. We have a great grudge. How can I sit back and watch you leave Jueling Island alive?"

Qing Liu's expression froze, he took a deep breath, and said coldly: "I am blind and have no vision. I have brought this upon myself."

"But I am definitely not naive. The road to becoming an immortal is long and arduous. Only by supporting each other can we go far."

"The Confucian tradition has also been passed down from generation to generation, which is why our sect has the momentum it has today."

"If you are always selfish, you will never achieve anything."

"Let's not talk about anything else. If it weren't for the friendship between fellow disciples, why would Junior Brother Yang follow you into Jueling Island?"

Elder Gu shook his head and laughed: "Brother is still so old-fashioned... You might as well ask Junior Brother Yang, is he entering Jueling Island this time because he is worried that Fellow Daoist Chen will seek revenge on him in the future, or is he doing it to help me?"

"Back then, he prevented Fellow Daoist Chen from borrowing meridians to form a fetus. Was it for the sake of the Millennium Thunder, or for the sake of fellow disciples' feelings?"

Mr. Qingliu looked at Yang Liqian, who opened his mouth, then closed it dejectedly and remained silent.

Elder Gu turned his gaze to Chen Yuan and said with a smile: "If Fellow Daoist Chen had not taken action, this place today would be where Senior Brother would be buried. Although Senior Brother won, it was just luck."

Qing Liu said coldly: "No matter how you argue, it is useless. Those who are righteous have many supporters, while those who are unrighteous have few supporters. The teachings of the ancient sages are still fresh in my mind."

"When I saved Fellow Daoist Chen, he was only in the middle stage of Jindan. When I helped him to form a baby through borrowing meridians, I didn't know that thirty years later, he would become a cultivator in the middle stage of Yuanying."

"You teamed up with Kunhai and Yuntian, but you all had your own agenda. Zong Lu Fang is also a fickle person. You are a loose group of people, and you have no support. That is why you are defeated today."

Elder Gu was stunned and remained silent.

After a long while, he suddenly sighed, "Brother, you are right. I colluded with the demon clan and murdered my fellow disciples. I have committed a grave sin. I am willing to tie my hands, seal my Dantian, and return to the sect with you, waiting for Brother Yue to deal with me."

Yang Liqian's eyes widened: "Brother Gu, murdering a fellow disciple is a serious crime!"

Elder Gu smiled bitterly, shook his head, and said nothing more.

Yang Liqian hesitated for a moment, then clasped his fists and bowed to Qingliu, "I am also willing to follow my senior brother's orders."

Both of them admitted their mistakes, but Chen Yuan frowned and looked at Mr. Qingliu.

Lay Buddhist Qingliu slowly scanned the faces of the two men and said, "Since both of you have admitted your mistakes, I, on behalf of Senior Brother Yue, will execute you two on the spot according to the sect rules as a warning to others!"

Hearing this, Yang Liqian took a few steps back, looking terrified: "Senior Brother Qingliu, we are the elders of the sect, and Senior Brother Yue will judge the right and wrong, merits and demerits. How can you punish us privately!"

Elder Gu's expression changed slightly: "Brother Qingliu, what do you mean?"

Mr. Qingliu raised his hand to stroke his beard and said slowly: "Although I strictly abide by the sect's rules and traditions, I am not ignorant of the way of compromise."

"Although Junior Brother Gu is paranoid and almost falling into the devil's way, one thing he said is true. In the world of immortal cultivation, strength is respected, and cultivation is the most important. Any rules and constraints can be thrown away."

“Although the two junior brothers have committed serious mistakes, they are elders of the sect and Nascent Soul cultivators. I don’t know how Senior Brother Yue will deal with them, but he will most likely not take their lives.”

"If the two junior brothers only want to murder me, then that's fine. Since there is internal fighting in the sect, we can still let them off."

"But Fellow Daoist Chen was also dragged into this. If the lives of my two junior brothers are not taken care of, how can I explain this to him?"

Yang Liqian was speechless: "This... this is against the sect rules!"

Elder Qingliu said calmly, "Don't worry, Junior Brother Yang. I know this violates the sect rules. After returning to the sect, I will report the whole matter to Senior Brother Yue. No matter what the punishment is, I will bear it myself."

"If you two junior brothers are dissatisfied, you can take action now."

"But I will not ask how Fellow Daoist Chen dealt with you. Even if Senior Brother Yue asked, I would just say I don't know."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Yuan took a step forward, took out the jade bottle containing the thousand-year-old spiritual milk, and said coldly: "I just want to experience the righteousness of the great Dao, please teach me."

Yang Liqian looked ashen. Even ancestors Kunhai and Yuntian died under Chen Yuan's sword. How could he be Chen Yuan's opponent?

Elder Gu remained silent, his expression changing from gloomy to calm. He no longer looked calm.

Suddenly, he smiled bitterly: "Brother Qingliu, can you let me end my life on my own and let my soul be reborn?"

Qingliu looked at Chen Yuan, pleading: "Fellow Daoist Chen..."

Chen Yuan's eyes flashed, and he said calmly: "How can I be such an unkind person? Although I have deep grievances with Daoist Gu, I will never let Daoist Gu's soul be destroyed."

Lay Buddhist Qingliu heaved a sigh of relief and looked at Elder Gu with a complicated expression: "Junior Brother Gu...you can go on your own."

Elder Gu clasped his fists and bowed to Mr. Qingliu: "I'm going now. The scenery of the immortal road is extremely dangerous and magnificent. Please take a look for me, brother."

Yang Liqian was very anxious: "Senior Brother Gu, you..."

Elder Gu advised: "Junior Brother Yang, your life is over, so why not go to the afterlife? In the next life, you still have a chance to achieve enlightenment, and you can also leave behind a bit of dignity."

After that, he ignored Yang Liqian, sat cross-legged, took off the mustard seed ring on his right wrist, and threw it to Qingliu Lay Buddhist: "I will leave my life's accumulation to you, Senior Brother."

After saying that, he slowly closed his eyes and his breath gradually became weaker.

Yang Liqian stared at Elder Gu in a daze. A shadow of his soul slowly floated out from the bottom to the top, turned into specks of light, and slowly dissipated.

Lay Buddhist Qingliu raised his hand to catch the mustard seed ring, sighed softly, and bowed to Elder Gu: "Goodbye, Junior Brother."

Finally, Elder Gu's spirit and soul completely dissipated, leaving only his body, whose aura had dissipated, hanging in the air.

Lay Buddhist Qingliu took the mustard seed ring and looked at Yang Liqian with a much colder expression: "Junior Brother Yang, do you want to end your life on your own, or do you want me to send you off in person?" Yang Liqian said nothing, and suddenly bowed to Lay Buddhist Qingliu: "I have been practicing Taoism for hundreds of years, and there are not many things I worry about. The only thing I am worried about is my son."

"Although Yang Zhao succeeded in forming a baby by chance, he took the Tribulation Thunder Pill and is not as strong as others. I beg you, Senior Brother, to take care of him."

Mr. Qingliu nodded slightly and said, "For the sake of our friendship, I will take good care of Yang Zhao."

Yang Liqian's expression eased a little, and he bowed to Chen Yuan again, with a sincere expression: "In the past, Yang has offended many Taoist friends for his own selfish reasons, but it has nothing to do with Yang Zhao."

"He has taken the Tribulation Thunder Pill, and his path forward is blocked. He is no longer a threat to you, fellow Taoist. I beg you to spare his life. Yang will be grateful."

Chen Yuan said calmly: "Fellow Daoist Yang, go ahead and rest assured. I will agree to it."

"Please accept this mustard seed ring as a token of my gratitude." Yang Liqian showed a look of gratitude. He took the mustard seed ring from his right wrist, raised his hand and pushed it towards Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan raised his hand to take the mustard seed ring. Yang Liqian sat cross-legged like Elder Gu. His breath became weaker, and a soul floated out and disintegrated, leaving only the body.

Lay Buddhist Qingliu sighed, turned around, and handed Elder Gu's mustard seed ring to Chen Yuan: "Daoyou Chen, this victory was entirely due to your strength. The treasure left by Junior Brother Gu should also belong to you."

Chen Yuan was startled, then shook his head and declined: "This is a relic of your sect's cultivators, how can I touch it..."

Lay Buddhist Qingliu said sternly, "Fellow Daoist Chen, please don't refuse. Junior Brother Gu disregarded the sect rules and openly colluded with Kunhai. If you were not by my side, I would have turned into a pile of bones."

"Just now, I was just a fox taking advantage of the tiger's power, borrowing the power of fellow Taoist to force Junior Brother Gu and Junior Brother Yang to end their lives. How can I accept the treasure again?"

Seeing this, Chen Yuan no longer insisted and reached out to take the mustard ring.

Mr. Qingliu hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I am so shameless. If there are any items related to the secrets and inheritance of our sect among the relics left by the two junior brothers, could you please return them?"

"Of course, if there are too many things involved, I can make additional compensation and will never let you suffer any loss..."

Chen Yuan smiled and said, "You are too polite, fellow Daoist. Why don't you check it out first and take away the items related to your sect's inheritance? As for compensation, it's too polite."

He handed the two mustard seed rings back to Mr. Qingliu, who did not refuse. He took the mustard seed rings back, probed his spiritual sense into them, and examined them carefully.

After a quarter of an hour, he took out several jade slips, two bamboo slips and a jade bottle from the mustard seed ring, and handed the two mustard seed rings to Chen Yuan.

"These jade and bamboo slips record the skills and magical powers of our sect. I need to take them back. The rest will all belong to you, fellow Taoist."

Chen Yuan took the mustard seed ring, scanned it with his spiritual sense, and found many treasures inside, which made him very satisfied.

Mr. Qingliu put away the jade and bamboo slips, but still kept the jade bottle in his hand.

He opened the bottle stopper, tilted it slightly, and poured out a white pill the size of a longan.

Lay Buddhist Qingliu said solemnly: "This is the Haoran Pill that is unique to our sect. It helps Yuanying cultivators break through bottlenecks."

"Fellow Daoist is already a cultivator in the middle stage of the Nascent Soul, but this pill can also help you break through the bottleneck in the late stage."

"Please accept this pill, it will be helpful when you strive to become a great cultivator in the future."

Chen Yuan looked at the plain white pill, a hint of curiosity flashed in his eyes: "It is said that Haoran Pill is only useful for other cultivators, but useless for cultivators of your sect. I wonder if this is true or false?"

Lay Buddhist Qingliu nodded and said, "Not only for the cultivators of our sect, but also for the Confucian and Taoist cultivators, Haoran Pills will have no effect."

"This pill is guided by the great righteousness, and it has the miraculous effect of breaking through bottlenecks."

“As long as a Confucian or Taoist cultivator forms a Nascent Soul, he or she will surely develop a righteous spirit, so this pill will naturally be useless.”

"If not for this, the Nascent Soul cultivators of our sect would be able to divide up this pill."

"There won't be so many elders stuck in the initial bottleneck, and Junior Brother Gu will not take it out to make a deal with Zong Lufang."

Chen Yuan suddenly realized: "Then I will be disrespectful to refuse it."

Although he could not use the Haoran Pill, this pill that helped to break through the bottleneck of the Nascent Soul stage was a rare treasure of great value to other Nascent Soul cultivators.

Mr. Qingliu put the Haoran Pill back into the jade bottle and handed it to Chen Yuan. He turned around and glanced at Elder Gu's body with a somewhat dim look in his eyes.

He murmured, "My mistake in thinking led to today's disaster. When cultivating immortals, are we cultivating immortals or demons?"

Chen Yuan took the jade bottle and put it into the mustard seed ring. He was moved and asked, "From what you said, it seems that you and Elder Gu had a very deep friendship in the past. Why did you turn against each other?"

Qing Liu Lay Buddhist laughed at himself and said, "At this point, I have nothing to hide from you, fellow Taoist."

"Before forming a baby, I went out to travel in search of spiritual objects for forming a baby. I accidentally found a cave of an ancient cultivator. I went inside to explore and gained a lot."

"This cave is actually a place of inheritance set up by an ancient Confucian and Taoist monk. It is divided into three floors. The treasures left on the first floor alone have benefited me a lot."

"After returning to the sect, before I went into seclusion to form a baby, I secretly told Junior Brother Gu about this matter. We agreed that after we came out of seclusion, we would go to the cave together to look for the treasure."

He paused for a moment and sighed softly, "At that time, Junior Brother Gu and I had the same level of cultivation. We experienced life and death together, read books and discussed the Dao, and our friendship was deep. But it was this cave that turned us against each other."

"Two years later, with the help of the treasures I got from the cave, I successfully formed a baby, stabilized my realm, and broke through the barrier."

"I was eager to get the treasure, so I went to look for Junior Brother Gu, but I found that he was in seclusion, trying to reach the Nascent Soul stage."

"I immediately went to the cave, but the treasure on the second floor of the cave had already been taken away."

"Only Junior Brother Gu and I know about this. I will return to the sect immediately and wait for Junior Brother Gu to come out of seclusion."

"Two years later, Junior Brother Gu successfully formed his infant and broke through the barrier. I questioned him about this, and he frankly admitted that he was the one who took the treasure from the second floor of the cave."

At this point, Qingliu Lay Buddhist gave a bitter smile and said, "Now that I think about it, it's not Junior Brother Gu's fault. With such a valuable treasure in front of him, who wouldn't be tempted?"

"I thought that my friendship with Junior Brother Gu was deep and that we would not be moved by external things. But it was just wishful thinking."

Chen Yuan comforted him, "You have good intentions, but Elder Gu is greedy. You can't blame me."

Mr. Qingliu shook his head: "The ancient sages have already made a judgment, and the human heart is unpredictable... Since then, Junior Brother Gu and I have become enemies."

"In my spare time, I traveled around looking for the Three Thousand Years Qingfeng Bamboo, which is also necessary to open the third level of the cave."

"Junior Brother Gu obtained a treasure from the second level, which is more precious than the treasure from the first level. He has been practicing in seclusion in the sect ever since."

"But the 3,000-year-old Qingfeng Bamboo is too rare, and I haven't found any clues yet."

"Until a hundred years ago, Wushan suddenly received news in Chongde Market that there were three thousand years old Qingfeng bamboos on Jueling Island."

"Junior Brother Yan also learned about this, but Junior Brother Gu was in seclusion to break through the bottleneck in the middle stage and didn't know about it."

"I immediately set out and came to Yuqing Sea, bought a Tongtian Order, and entered Jueling Island."

"Unfortunately, I was no match for the ferocious beast in the secret realm and returned empty-handed. You all know what happened afterwards..."

Chen Yuan sighed softly: "Since ancient times, there has been a saying in the mortal world that money can move people's hearts. In the world of immortal cultivation, it is opportunity that can move people's hearts."

Lay Buddhist Qingliu nodded and said, "You are right, fellow Daoist. Junior Brother Gu is greedy, and so am I."

"After discovering this ancient cave, I never thought of offering it to the sect."

"Even though he and Junior Brother Gu later became enemies, he tacitly concealed the matter, and no third person knew about it until now."

"If this weren't a Confucian and Taoist inheritance, and if you weren't a physical practitioner, I wouldn't be so calm in front of you today..."

They were both silent. After a while, Chen Yuan spoke up, "I have consumed a lot of my true energy and need to meditate to recover. I'd like to trouble you to protect me for a while."

Mr. Qingliu smiled and said, "Don't worry, fellow Taoist, just leave it to me."

The two men lowered their escape lights, and Mr. Qingliu went a hundred feet away, closed his eyes and regulated his breathing, while at the same time spreading his spiritual awareness and being alert to his surroundings.

Chen Yuan took off the black wings and Kun fish skin from Kunhai's body and kept them well, then sat down cross-legged, took out the Taixuan Order, and injected a wisp of true energy into it.

The Taixuan Order glowed slightly, slowly flew up, and hovered in front of Chen Yuan's chest, condensing into a light shield around him.

Chen Yuan slowly closed his eyes and practiced his skills. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth slowly surged in. As it passed through the light shield, it became much more condensed and then entered Chen Yuan's meridians.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the Demonic Origin was extremely thin. Even after being condensed by the Taixuan Order, it became more refined, saving a lot of time in practicing the exercises, but the speed of absorbing spiritual energy was still as slow as a turtle.

Chen Yuan frowned, opened his eyes, took out a jade bottle from the space in his body, poured out two Huiling Pills, and swallowed them together.

A huge and pure spiritual energy suddenly burst out and poured into the dantian without any refining. The sea of ​​​​true essence increased visibly and recovered to 50%.

Chen Yuan smiled slightly, closed his eyes, and continued to meditate and practice.

He and Mr. Qingliu have already collected all the magic cores, so they don't have to worry about the trial.

But Chen Yuan still wanted to go deep into the Demonic Plain before the end of the trial to look for the 'Tongtian Tower' that might have been left over from ancient times, and he needed to recover his true energy as soon as possible.

Even when he was in a state of meditation, Chen Yuan did not forget to leave behind a wisp of spiritual consciousness, covering an area of ​​ten miles around him, to be on guard all around.

Even with Mr. Qingliu guarding him, he would not relax at all.

Seven days later, Chen Yuan's internal energy was finally restored, and the area within a radius of ten miles was peaceful and undisturbed.

A smile appeared on his lips and he slowly opened his eyes.

But the next moment, Chen Yuan's smile froze on his face, and a drop of cold sweat slowly flowed down his temple.

A green-robed monk was standing in front of him, but there was no one in his consciousness.

He looked at the Taixuan Order on Chen Yuan's chest, his eyes showing some sadness and bitterness, and whispered: "This Taixuan Order... where did you get it from?" (End of this chapter)