Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Chapter 724 Returning to the Clan
Li Qingshan was startled, stared intently at the figure, and then bowed deeply.

The person who arrived was none other than Senior Lu, the legendary Nascent Soul cultivator who commanded the utmost respect even from five great cultivators.

Chen Yuan also clasped his hands in a bow: "Before you, senior, I dare not utter a single falsehood."

Lu Wangquan examined the ancient teleportation array and smiled slightly: "I didn't expect that an ancient teleportation array would still be preserved in this desolate land."

"I never expected that you would be from Donghua Continent."

"Of the three continents in this world, Huangliang Continent is in ruins, and Jiuxian Continent has ten major sects standing together. I wonder what the Donghua Continent is like?"

Li Qingshan suddenly raised his head and blurted out, "Master is a cultivator from Donghua Continent?"

Lu Wangquan glanced at him and smiled, "Young friend Li, are you still unaware of this matter?"

Chen Yuan turned around and said solemnly, "That's right. I am actually from the Lingyun Sect of Donghua Continent, not a rogue cultivator. I only came to Jiuxian Continent because of this ancient teleportation array."

"I am returning to the sect today to invite your grandmaster to my dual cultivation ceremony, which is also to guide you into the sect. Are you willing?"

Li Qingshan replied without hesitation, "This disciple is willing!"

But after he agreed, a hint of hesitation flashed in his eyes: "May I ask, Master, after I join the Lingyun Sect, will I be able to return to the Nine Immortal Continent?"

Chen Yuan smiled and said, "Are you worried that you'll never see Liu Ye again?"

Li Qingshan stammered, "This disciple will naturally obey Master's arrangements, but this disciple has never left Jiuxianzhou before and is worried that I will not be used to the customs and culture of Donghuazhou..."

Chen Yuan frowned: "The customs of the mortal world may be completely different, but the cultivation worlds of the two continents are largely the same."

"Renzhou and Ningzhou are more than 200,000 li apart. Are there any differences between them in the cultivation world?"

Li Qingshan was speechless for a moment: "Disciple, disciple..."

Chen Yuan shook his head and chuckled: "Since I promised you, how could I go back on my word?"

Li Qingshan breathed a sigh of relief, but Chen Yuan said seriously, "But you need to stay in Donghua Continent for sixty years before you can return to Jiuxian Continent. Can you do that?"

Li Qingshan was full of doubts, but he knew this was not the time to bargain, so he quickly agreed: "Disciple obeys!"

Chen Yuan nodded, turned around and bowed to Lu Wangquan with clasped hands: "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, senior. I will activate the formation now."

Lu Wangquan looked at Li Qingshan and smiled slightly: "It's alright. Young friend Li is a man of strong character, which reminds me of my youth."

"Since he and Liu Ye are in love, why should young friend Chen interfere? Sixty years is too long. It would be better to let him and Liu Ye become Daoist partners sooner rather than later."

Upon hearing this, Li Qingshan showed gratitude, but with Chen Yuan beside him, he dared not express his thanks.

Chen Yuan laughed and said, "That depends on his fate."

After saying that, he flipped his hand and took out eight high-grade spirit stones, threw them into the eight grooves around the formation, and then took out the Great Teleportation Token and said to Lu Wangquan, "Please move over, senior."

Lu Wangquan lightly touched the ground with his feet and floated onto the stone platform.

Chen Yuan stepped onto the stone platform, and Li Qingshan, seeing this, quickly followed.

Chen Yuan raised his hand and formed a hand seal, pouring true essence into the Great Shift Command.

The cloud pattern on the back of the teleportation command lit up rapidly, and the eight high-grade spirit stones exploded open. The eight black lines connecting the grooves were dyed with eight colors: gold, green, red, blue, yellow, white, cyan, and silver, and quickly extended towards the center of the formation.

A moment later, the entire formation was stained with eight colors, which mixed together to form a slightly dark, silvery-white color, which was extremely strange.

hum!
The teleportation array emitted a buzzing sound, and beams of silvery-white light rapidly rose from the edge of the array, forming a pillar of light that shot into the sky.

Li Qingshan was enveloped in white light, and felt a powerful squeezing force coming from him, almost crushing him.

Just as Li Qingshan was about to give up, a beam of black light suddenly shot out from the Great Shift Token in Chen Yuan's hand and entered his body.

The pressure had lessened considerably, but it still made Li Qingshan extremely uncomfortable.

Suddenly, everything went black before his eyes, and he was plunged into a dizzying spin.

He didn't know how much time had passed—perhaps a year, perhaps a breath—when Li Qingshan came to his senses, he felt a splitting headache and his whole body was sore and weak.

Chen Yuan's voice reached Li Qingshan's ears: "Since this is your first time using the ancient teleportation array, it's natural that you're having trouble adapting. Just take a moment to adjust your breathing."

Li Qingshan did as instructed, sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes slightly, and circulated his true energy.

Chen Yuan withdrew his gaze, looked at the familiar stone hall before him, and a smile appeared on his lips.

A layer of array curtain shrouded the teleportation array, and the top of the stone platform stretched straight to the sky, like a deep well, from which one could see a patch of azure sky.

This is an illusion array that Chen Yuan set up himself back then, which even Nascent Soul cultivators cannot see through.

Just then, a figure rushed into the stone hall, his face beaming with joy.

But upon seeing Lu Wangquan and Li Qingshan, he immediately stopped and his expression changed drastically.

But when he saw Chen Yuan, he relaxed and said, "Junior Brother Chen, this is..."

The newcomer was none other than Sun Congyao, who guarded the ancient teleportation array. Chen Yuan's figure flickered and he floated down: "Senior Brother Sun, this is Senior Lu Wangquan, whom I specially invited to Donghua Continent."

"This is my personally trained disciple, Li Qingshan."

He gestured and introduced Lu Wangquan and Li Qingshan to Sun Congyao.

Senior Sun looked Lu Wangquan up and down, a hint of surprise in his eyes, but still bowed and said, "Junior Sun Congyao greets Senior Lu."

Lu Wangquan smiled slightly and stepped down from the stone platform: "Young friend Sun has a solid foundation, but his aura is a bit restless. It seems that he has been stuck at his current level for quite some time."

Chen Yuan glanced at Sun Congyao and sighed softly, "Senior has keen insight. Senior Brother Sun touched the bottleneck of the late Core Formation stage thirty years ago, but he has not yet broken through it."

Sun Congyao was stunned, his eyes filled with disbelief as he looked at Lu Wangquan.

This Senior Lu actually calls Junior Brother Chen "senior"?

He had assumed that Chen Yuan's use of "senior" was a reminder that this was a Nascent Soul cultivator, and that he should address him as a senior.

Although Chen Yuan was already a great cultivator, he still addressed him as a senior.

Just what is the cultivation level of this Senior Lu?
Under Sun Congyao's dazed gaze, Lu Wangquan stepped towards the passage and smiled, "Young friend, you should return to your mountain gate first. I will take my leave first and will appear when the ceremony begins."

Chen Yuan bowed respectfully behind him, saying, "This junior awaits your arrival, senior."

Only after Lu Wangquan's figure disappeared did he straighten up, his mind recalling the scene of visiting Lu Wangquan before leaving the Tai Ming Sect, and he felt a little regretful.

After learning from Li Qingshan that Jing Shuhan was upset, Chen Yuan felt quite guilty.

He had already made a promise, but due to the pressure of the hundred-year deadline for Nascent Soul cultivation, he was busy with cultivation and neglected his duties, causing Jing Shuhan to wait for more than twenty years.

With things having come to this, he could only rush to Tianji Island as soon as possible to become a Daoist couple with Jing Shuhan.

However, the Void Water Condensing Spirit Pill that Qin Wuyai took out made Chen Yuan less anxious. He first visited Lu Wangquan and went to Tianji Island with him.

He then went to the Xuan Yang Sect and the Shao Xuan Sect to seek an audience with Old Demon Ren and Daoist Cang Song, and told them that he was about to become Daoist partners with Jing Shuhan, and that Qin Wuyai had sent him a congratulatory gift.

As expected, both Old Demon Ren and Daoist Cangsong sent congratulatory gifts, the value of which was no less than that of the Void Water Condensing Spirit Pill.

However, the two were clearly displeased with Chen Yuan's act of coming to ask for congratulatory gifts. The Cangsong Daoist did not even see Chen Yuan, but simply handed the white-haired old Daoist a Wanmu Senluo Talisman and sent him away.

Chen Yuan didn't care at all. As long as Old Demon Ren and Daoist Cangsong still wanted to ascend to the Spirit Realm, they wouldn't turn against him over such a trivial matter.

They had already taken out the demon cores and spiritual herbs treasured in their sect, and were also collecting a massive amount of the five elements' essence to help Chen Yuan break through to the Nascent Soul stage. These two mere treasures were really nothing.

Chen Yuan, on the other hand, was so burdened with debt that he had no worries. In a few decades, regardless of whether he achieved the Nascent Soul stage, he was destined to take a trip through the spatial passage.

It would be better to acquire more treasures, so that Jing Shuhan's future cultivation path would be smoother.

However, Chen Yuan did not ask Lu Wangquan for the treasure, but instead wanted to ask him to propose marriage to the Tianji Sect.

After this incident, he and Lu Wangquan became closer, and with the intervention of a Nascent Soul cultivator, Jing Shuhan's anger subsided considerably.

Based on Chen Yuan's experience from his previous life, women are all very concerned about their image.

Although Jing Shuhan is a cultivator, there shouldn't be much difference between them.

But to his surprise, Jing Shuhan was different from the women he had met in his previous life, and he almost made a mess of things.

However, Lu Wangquan did not agree at first, as he was not very interested in Chen Yuan's dual cultivation ceremony.

Chen Yuan had prepared in advance, and he told Lu Wangquan about the ancient teleportation array, inviting him to visit Donghua Continent.

Lu Wangquan immediately changed his mind and agreed to propose marriage for Chen Yuan. Lu Wangquan had been a Nascent Soul cultivator for over a thousand years, single-mindedly seeking ascension, and had little interest in anything in the world.

Only another continent, isolated for tens of thousands of years, could pique his interest.

Chen Yuan was not worried that the ancient teleportation array would be exposed. After the Lu family was destroyed, Lu Wangquan was all alone, with no disciples or relatives.

Even if he knew the location of the ancient teleportation array, he would not spread it, and he had no desire to covet Donghua Continent.

On the contrary, the Lingyun Sect might be able to take this opportunity to establish a relationship with Lu Wangquan.

Unfortunately, Lu Wangquan had no such intention; he only wanted to travel around Donghua Continent, so Chen Yuan had no choice but to give up.

……

Sun Congyao watched Lu Wangquan walk into the passage, then suddenly realized what was happening and turned around: "Junior Brother Chen, could this Senior Lu be...?"

Chen Yuan nodded: "That's right, this Senior Lu is a Nascent Soul cultivator."

Sun Congyao was stunned. After a long while, he came to his senses and said in disbelief, "Are there really Nascent Soul cultivators in this world?"

Chen Yuan laughed and said, "Senior brother, you've read the classics of the Nine Immortal Continent and know the rumors about the Nascent Soul demon cultivators in the Southern Continent. How come our human race has no Nascent Soul cultivators?"

"But……"

Chen Yuan waved his hand: "This is not the place to talk. Senior brother, come back to the sect with me, and I will tell you the truth."

"My senior brother has guarded the ancient teleportation array for over a hundred years, and has been stuck at the bottleneck of the later stage for thirty years. He can no longer go into seclusion for arduous cultivation."

"I should travel around and explore to find a breakthrough opportunity."

Sun Congyao was taken aback, nodded, and remained silent.

After a period of rest and recuperation, Li Qingshan had largely recovered and stood up.

Chen Yuan said, "Qingshan, I and Senior Brother Sun are from the same school. I have always respected him greatly. From now on, you shall address him as Senior Uncle."

Upon hearing this, Li Qingshan bowed deeply and said, "Disciple Li Qingshan greets Senior Uncle Sun."

Sun Congyao smiled and said, "Nephew Li, there's no need for such formalities. It's our first meeting, so your senior uncle should give you a small gift."

“But our cultivation levels are similar, and you have become a disciple of Junior Brother Chen, so ordinary treasures should not catch your eye.”

"The only thing my senior uncle can offer is four hundred high-grade spirit stones. It may be a bit vulgar, but I hope you won't find it offensive."

As he spoke, he flicked his sleeve, and a pile of high-grade spirit stones appeared out of thin air in front of him. Illuminated by the night-shining pearl, they shimmered and slowly flew towards Li Qingshan.
Li Qingshan hesitated for a moment and looked at Chen Yuan.

Looking at the densely packed spirit stones, Chen Yuan was deeply moved; this must be all the wealth he had ever possessed.

Chen Yuan sighed softly, "Since it's a gift from your senior uncle, you should accept it."

Li Qingshan then accepted the spirit stone, stored it in his mustard seed ring, and bowed with clasped hands, saying, "Thank you for the gift, Uncle-Master Sun."

Sun Congyao laughed heartily: "Your master has always taken care of my senior uncle, so a few spirit stones are nothing."

He turned to look at Chen Yuan, his smile undiminished: "Thanks to the inheritance of the Yuling Sect that Junior Brother brought back, our sect is now extremely prosperous. Our disciples below the Core Formation stage are no less than those of the Four Great Mystic Sects."

“Master is very concerned about you and often talks about when we can hold a grand ceremony to announce to Donghua that our sect has a great cultivator.”

"Master will surely be overjoyed to see his junior brother return to the sect today."

Chen Yuan shook his head slightly: "I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint Master. I only have seven days to return to the sect this time, so there won't be enough time to hold a grand ceremony."

Sun Congyao frowned: "Junior brother has already become a great cultivator, what could possibly hold him back?"

Chen Yuan said, "It's a long story, let's go back to the sect first."

The three left the cave, mounted their escape lights, and flew towards the Lingyun Mountains.

Besides Chen Yuan, only three Nascent Soul cultivators and Sun Congyao knew the location of the teleportation array. They had been safe and sound all these years, and leaving for a few days would not cause any problems.

As the three of them flew away, Li Qingshan looked around with a strange expression, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Seeing this, Chen Yuan said, "Speak your mind."

Li Qingshan hesitated for a moment, glanced at Sun Congyao, and shook his head: "This disciple has been disrespectful, please forgive me, Master."

Sun Congyao said, "Nephew Li, there's no need to hide it. Do you think Donghua Continent is too barren?"

Li Qingshan was taken aback, then nodded: "This junior did not expect that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in Donghua Continent is so thin. I am not used to it."

Sun Congyao sighed: "Although I have never been to Jiuxianzhou, I have heard Junior Brother Chen and Master talk about it. Jiuxianzhou is rich in spiritual energy, and even the remote Yuqing Sea is better than Donghuazhou."

"Although Donghua Continent has four major Xuan Sects and five major Demon Sects, it has no giant spiritual veins and has not produced a Nascent Soul cultivator for tens of thousands of years. It has long been a stagnant pool."

"After the calamity of the Demon Realm, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in Donghua Continent has weakened even more, and the gap between it and Jiuxian Continent has widened even further."

Li Qingshan asked in confusion, "The Calamity of the Demon Realm?"

Sun Congyao laughed and said, "It seems that Junior Brother Chen did not tell his nephew about this matter. More than a hundred years ago, the Demon Realm sealed by the ancient cultivators reappeared, and the spiritual energy of Donghua Continent declined..."

He briefly recounted the calamity of the Demon Realm, and Li Qingshan was extremely surprised: "Master even fought against the Demon Lord who was a remnant soul of the Void Refining Realm?"

Sun Congyao laughed and said, "Even the remnant soul of the Refining Void Demon Lord couldn't do anything to Junior Brother Chen. After returning from the Demon Realm, Junior Brother Chen made a bold move and wiped out the five major sects of Qi Kingdom in one fell swoop. He led his sect to unify the cultivation world of Qi Kingdom and occupied six medium-sized spiritual veins."

"From then on, our sect has shown signs of becoming the fifth great Xuanzong, second only to the four great Xuanzong."

"Now that Junior Brother Chen has become a Great Cultivator, our sect is only missing a large spiritual vein to become the fifth great Xuan Sect, which is in no way inferior to the large sects of the Nine Immortal Continent."

Li Qingshan was filled with admiration and bowed with clasped hands: "Disciple is ashamed, I did not know that Master had such a great feat."

Chen Yuan smiled slightly: "A sect without a Nascent Soul cultivator in charge is not even as good as a revitalized sect. It is not difficult to destroy it."

"The swordsmanship I passed on to you comes from a swordsmanship sect called the Heavenly Gang Sword Sect."

A hint of surprise flashed across Sun Congyao's eyes: "Junior nephew is a sword cultivator?"

Li Qingshan nodded, and Sun Congyao carefully examined him: "Junior nephew must be exceptionally talented to be accepted into Junior Brother Chen's sect. It seems that our sect's sword cultivator lineage has a worthy successor."

Chen Yuan smiled slightly: "Qingshan does have some talent, but he still needs more experience."

Sun Congyao nodded slightly, but the appreciation in his eyes was impossible to hide.

Seeing how much this Senior Uncle Sun valued him, Li Qingshan felt a greater sense of belonging to the Lingyun Sect, which he had never met before.

……

The three of them flew all the way and arrived at the Lingyun Mountains in less than a day.

Li Qingshan was startled when he saw the vast cloud wall that enveloped the Lingyun Sect's mountain gate.

Once inside, he discovered that the towering cloud wall seemed to be nothing more than a facade, with mediocre defensive capabilities.

However, compared to the Tai Ming Sect, Cang Jian Palace, and Hao Ran Sect that Li Qingshan had visited, the defensive capabilities of the Ten Thousand Zhang Cloud Wall are already quite impressive among large sects.

The three of them arrived quietly at Baiyun Peak, where Jin Luoheng was, without making a big fuss, and then descended into the distance.

Sun Congyao called out loudly for an audience, and the stone door of the cave opened, allowing the three of them to enter.

Jin Luoheng was overjoyed to see Chen Yuan.

He had heard Chen Yuan mention Li Qingshan and knew that Li Qingshan was a sword cultivator. He ordered Sun Congyao to take out a high-grade spiritual material for refining flying swords from the Lingyun Sect's treasury and reward him with it.

Chen Yuan then took Li Qingshan to Lingyun Peak to pay homage to the ancestor Lingyunzi and left his natal lamp in the Yuandeng Hall.

Jin Luoheng and Li Qingshan were included in the list of true disciples. From then on, he was a true disciple of the Lingyun Sect and could receive a large supply of cultivation resources from the sect.

After Li Qingshan became Chen Yuan's disciple, he never lacked spirit stones and pills.

However, any independent cultivator, walking alone in the world of cultivation, will more or less envy the cultivators of sects.

Jin Luoheng valued him so much, treating him not at all like a cultivator from another continent. Li Qingshan was very grateful, and the faint sense of distance he felt quietly dissipated.

Jin Luoheng then ordered someone to arrange a cave dwelling for Li Qingshan and summoned Zhuge Qi and Bai Yanji, who were guarding the Ziyang Mountains and Jianling Mountains, back to the mountain gate.

Facing the three cultivators from the Lingyun Sect, Chen Yuan finally revealed his purpose: "I have returned to the sect this time to invite my master and two junior brothers to participate in my dual cultivation ceremony."

(End of this chapter)