Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

The white-haired old man followed lightly, his expression solemn, and said, "Master is worried that the deaths of Ao Lin and She Mo will attract the revenge of the Flood Dragon and Blood Serpent clans?"

Looking down at the myriad lights below, Zhang Xuancang said in a deep voice, "The royal demon general has a noble status, and Ao Lin is the most powerful Azure Dragon lineage among the dragon clans."

"These two were merely gambling for fun, yet they died beneath the walls of the small city of Ping Le. How could the two royal families let this go so easily?"

"Once they find out the truth, it will take at least one or two years, or at most three or four years, before the next beast tide arrives."

"And it will definitely be much more intense than this time, so we must make plans early."

The white-haired old man said, "With Senior Chen here, even if the beast tide comes, it shouldn't be difficult to resist..."

Zhang Xuancang asked, "Huaizhong, did you meditate and cultivate today?"

The white-haired old man paused for a moment: "Disciple has been dealing with the aftermath of the beast tide and only now has time to report to Master. I have not been meditating or cultivating."

Zhang Xuancang said calmly, "Just now, when I circulated my cultivation technique, I found that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in Ping Le City has returned to normal."

A hint of joy flashed in the white-haired old man's eyes, but he was immediately stunned: "Master, are you saying that the halving of spiritual energy concentration is related to Senior Chen?"

Zhang Xuancang nodded slightly: "Indeed, Fellow Daoist Chen has awakened today, and the concentration of spiritual energy has returned to normal."

“And a little over a month ago, when you reported this matter to your master, it was the very day that Deacon Liu brought Fellow Daoist Chen back to the city.”

"The reason why the concentration of spiritual energy in the city was halved before was mostly because Fellow Daoist Chen absorbed spiritual energy to recover from his injuries, while we did not notice it at all."

The white-haired old man's expression changed slightly: "How is this possible? Senior Chen was unconscious, yet he was able to absorb spiritual energy on his own to recover from his injuries, and he didn't even leave a trace. No one could detect him. What kind of amazing skill is this?"

Zhang Xuancang said calmly, "Ordinary cultivators naturally do not have such methods, but Fellow Daoist Chen is unfathomable. Even though his injuries have not healed, he still easily killed Ao Lin and the other three."

"Even if it were Master Yuan Ting or Master Jiu Yuan, they would be no better than this."

"Compared to that, what is merely absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth on its own?"

The white-haired old man's eyes showed a hint of doubt: "Senior Chen has mastered the art of teleportation, so he must be a great cultivator without a doubt."

"But there are only five great cultivators among our human race, and none of them are surnamed Chen. I wonder where this Senior Chen comes from?"

"Moreover, when he made his move, he resembled a demon general, fighting with his physical strength, and even magical treasures could not harm him in the slightest."

"If I am not mistaken, the magic weapon in Xing Qianyue's hand is made from Snow Ridge Shells."

"Judging from its size, it must have grown for thousands of years on the seabed of the East China Sea, which is thousands of feet deep. Its defensive capabilities are comparable to high-level magic treasures, but it was broken by Senior Chen with one blow, as fragile as withered wood."

"Senior Chen's physical body is so powerful that even a high-level demon general might not be able to match it. Could he be a body cultivator, a legendary art that has long been extinct?"

Zhang Xuancang nodded slightly, his brows furrowing: "You're right, Fellow Daoist Chen should be a body cultivator."

"Only body cultivators can possess such a powerful physical body."

"However, body cultivation is difficult, and Fellow Daoist Chen is so strong, he shouldn't be unknown."

"But in the past few hundred years, I have never heard any rumors about him, which is rather strange..."

The white-haired old man lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then suddenly raised his head, took two steps forward, and leaned close to Zhang Xuancang, whispering, "Master, could this Senior Chen be a half-human, half-demon?"

Zhang Xuancang was taken aback: "What do you mean by that?"

The white-haired old man said, "Senior Chen's physical body is so strong that it surpasses even the royal demon general."

"When he finally unleashed that strange divine power and killed all the demonic beasts in one fell swoop, a phantom image appeared behind him."

"Although the features are blurry, it can be vaguely seen that it is a white ape."

"Just now, I personally examined the corpses of many demonic beasts, ranging from level one to level seven, as well as the corpses of those Dragon Demon Cult cultivators."

"But no injuries were found; only the soul had vanished, which was extremely strange."

"If a human cultivator were to unleash such a powerful divine ability, there would surely be all sorts of strange and wondrous phenomena. How could it not leave any trace? Senior Chen is very likely a human-demon hybrid."

"The supernatural power he used comes from the bloodline of the demon race, which is why it is so strange."

Zhang Xuancang pondered for a moment, then shook his head: "Your guess makes some sense, but it's too far-fetched."

“If Fellow Daoist Chen were a half-human, half-demon, with his strength, he would surely hold a high position and great power in the demon race. Why would he target Ao Lin and She Mo?”

The white-haired old man said, "Master, you are mistaken. After demon generals take human form, they often reject members of their own race but take beautiful and powerful human women as concubines, resulting in many mixed-race children."

"Moreover, because these offspring are born with human bodies, they are far more intelligent and agile than their unformed kin, and are favored by the demon generals."

"Although most of these mixed-race people identify as demons, there are also those who consider themselves human cultivators and despise demons."

"The city lord of Golden Scale City, True Man Ao Feng, is a hybrid of a golden dragon and a human."

"Influenced by his birth mother, he began to practice human martial arts from a young age."

"Later, he even betrayed the dragon clan, established Golden Scale City, and fought against the demon clan. Now he has the cultivation of the mid-Nascent Soul stage and is highly respected."

"Perhaps Senior Chen was the same. Maybe the injuries on his body were left from betraying the demon race and being chased by the demon generals."

Zhang Xuancang frowned and shook his head slightly: "It's still a bit far-fetched. Even if Fellow Daoist Chen is a half-human, half-demon, there are only about thirty high-ranking demon generals in the demon race."

"His strength is so formidable that he can wipe out a beast tide all by himself. He should have some reputation."

"Moreover, none of the eight royal families are ape-like demonic beasts, so how could they possess such powerful innate abilities?"

The white-haired old man lowered his head and pondered for a moment before saying, "The eight royal clans do not currently have any ape-like demon beasts."

"But Master, do not forget that there was once a royal family called the Xuanpo Snow Ape, which was destroyed by the Frost Bear and the Flood Dragon clans three thousand years ago."

"According to the records, the Xuanpo Snow Ape clan is entirely white, which is quite similar to the Dharma form summoned by Senior Chen."

"Senior Chen is very likely to possess the bloodline of the Xuanpo Snow Ape, but he is afraid of being hunted down by the Jiaolong and Frost Bear clans, so he hides his identity and dares not reveal it."

Zhang Xuancang was taken aback: "The Xuanpo Snow Ape... does indeed have some similarities, but if what you say is true, Fellow Daoist Chen's background is a bit too bizarre."

"And if he has been hiding his identity all along, why did he use his supernatural powers to save Ping Le City today?"

The white-haired old man said helplessly, "This disciple is only guessing. Perhaps Senior Chen was filled with compassion and could not bear to see the cultivators and mortals of Ping Le City being slaughtered by demonic beasts. In a fit of anger, he took action to save them. Perhaps there is another hidden reason."

"In short, Senior Chen's strength is so great that he couldn't have just fallen from the sky; he must have some kind of background."

Zhang Xuancang fell silent, looking down at Ping Le City, which was gradually quieting down in the night, and slowly said: "No matter what Fellow Daoist Chen's background is, whether he is a half-human, half-demon or a reclusive ascetic, it has nothing to do with us."

"It is enough to know that he saved the entire city and also saved our lives."

"Now that Ao Lin and She Mo are dead, the Flood Dragon and Blood Serpent clans will certainly not let this go. The most urgent task is to protect Ping Le City in the next beast tide."

“Fellow Daoist Chen can save Ping Le City for a time, but he cannot protect it forever. With such abilities, he certainly will not stay here for long.”

"What we need to consider is how to stop the beast tide after Fellow Daoist Chen leaves."

The white-haired old man frowned, pondered for a long time, and his expression became more and more solemn: "If Ao Lin and She Mo make a bet, Ping Le City will find it difficult to resist."

"If the two royal families were to join forces to unleash a beast tide and destroy Ping Le City in retaliation, it would be as easy as turning one's hand."

"In my opinion, it is extremely difficult to stop the beast tide. If we want to save the lives of everyone in the city, we must abandon the city and move to another city."

Zhang Xuancang froze, standing silently on the edge of the cliff, looking down at the peaceful city below, his clothes fluttering in the night wind.

After a long silence, he sighed softly, "That's all we can do..."

……

The next day, Chen Yuan, who was in meditation, was awakened by Liu Kaiyang, who said that the elders of Ping Le City, Zhou Huaizhong, a direct disciple of Zhang Xuancang, and Elder Shi had come to visit together.

Chen Yuan got up and walked out of the cultivation room to meet the two people.

Zhou Huaizhong was the white-haired old man who followed Zhang Xuancang. He respectfully presented the mustard seed rings of Ao Lin and the other three, as well as the corpses of the three demon generals.

The three demon general corpses had been carefully cleaned, the blood wiped away, but the demon beast materials on their bodies were all intact and neatly arranged in the valley.

Elder Shi was filled with fear and trepidation. His burly body shrank into a ball, and he repeatedly bowed and apologized, his face full of remorse.

Standing to the side, Liu Kaiyang saw Elder Shi, who used to be decisive and dignified in front of the Foundation Establishment deacons, become like this today. A smile flashed in his eyes, and he lowered his head slightly to hide it.

Elder Shi did not notice the change in Liu Kaiyang's expression, nor did he have time to concern himself with the matter.

They all possess the ability to remember everything they see, but the memory of a Core Formation cultivator far surpasses that of an ordinary cultivator.

When Chen Yuan suddenly appeared and killed Ao Lin, She Mo, and three others in succession, Elder Shi recognized him at a glance as the consumptive ghost whom he had once thought was about to die and had ordered Liu Kaiyang to be buried in the nameless tomb.

After Chen Yuan used the Zhu Yan True Fire to slaughter the beast tide, Elder Shi was overjoyed but also filled with regret and fear.

The city lord summoned him soon enough, but made it clear that this Senior Chen did not intend to pursue the matter.

Elder Shi was relieved and accompanied the white-haired old man to Senior Chen's cave to apologize.

He was not only afraid of Chen Yuan's anger, but also grateful for Chen Yuan's life-saving grace, and he had great respect for Chen Yuan for his casual slaughter of the beast tide.

Chen Yuan comforted Elder Shi with a few words, then turned to the white-haired old man and said, "Fellow Daoist Zhang's kindness is too much for me to refuse."

"Please ask Young Friend Zhou to tell Fellow Daoist Zhang that I need to recuperate for a few more days before I can pay another visit and meet with Fellow Daoist Zhang."

The white-haired old man respectfully agreed, bid farewell to Elder Shi, and left.

Chen Yuan and the two men arrived in the valley together, with Liu Kaiyang following behind.

He removed the demon beast materials from the three demon generals and had the white-haired old man take the corpses back. The white-haired old man was extremely grateful.

The corpse of a demon general is nothing to a Nascent Soul cultivator, but it is an extremely precious treasure to low-level cultivators. It can be used to refine pills and weapons, restore formations, and increase the foundation of Ping Le City by 20% to 30%.

In reality, the demon beast materials on the three demon generals were hardly worth Chen Yuan's attention.

However, his current identity is that of a great cultivator, and he cannot openly disregard it. Chen Yuan had Liu Kaiyang escort the two out of the valley, then returned to his cultivation room to continue meditating and absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Half a month later, he finally recovered 20% of his true energy.

Chen Yuan's meridians were severely damaged, greatly reducing his ability to absorb spiritual energy.

Pingluo City has only one medium-sized spiritual vein, and its spiritual energy is far thinner than that of Dongxu Mountain.

Since Chen Yuan was not the master of this place, he could not absorb all the spiritual energy. Just like when he was unconscious before, he withdrew half of it. It took him half a month to recover 20% of his true essence.

Late that night, Chen Yuan got up, left his cave, and went into the valley.

The night sky was clear, with stars stretching across the sky. Chen Yuan looked up and saw that it was largely the same as the starry sky in the human world, but there were some subtle differences.

With a thought, he took out the jade pendant from his inner space. A blue light shone, and all the stars in the sky flashed and gathered into a dazzling silver pillar of light, which descended from the sky and enveloped him.

Feeling the familiar hot and tingling sensation, Chen Yuan finally felt relieved.

After arriving in this realm, the jade pendant did not lose its power and could still draw starlight into the body.

Strands of the supremely yang and powerful energy of the stars seeped into Chen Yuan's body, and his nearly depleted primordial essence thirstily absorbed the energy of the stars.

The severely damaged meridian barriers were also slowly repaired under the influence of the power of the stars in the heavens.

Sixty breaths later, the blue light subsided, the starlight dissipated, and everything returned to normal.

However, the sea of ​​true essence in Chen Yuan's dantian, which had just recovered to 20%, was depleted again.

The nearly depleted essence and blood were restored by a full ten percent.

Chen Yuan's dry skin gained some luster, and his sallow face, which had looked like that of a tuberculosis patient, finally showed some color.

The injuries to the meridians have improved significantly; apart from the twelve regular meridians and the eight extraordinary meridians, the injuries to the other meridians have all fully recovered.

Chen Yuan let out a soft sigh, put away the jade pendant, and gently clenched his fist, but his strength did not increase in the slightest.

The power of the stars was used entirely to heal injuries and replenish essence and blood, without exerting its effect of tempering the physical body.

However, Chen Yuan was already satisfied. Having come to this realm, he could still draw upon starlight to infuse his body, and the effect had not diminished in the slightest. This gave him the most solid foundation for his cultivation path.

However, after reaching the Divine Transformation stage, the interval between the starlight infusions on his body was extended to a full year.

Based on the estimated effects of this Starlight Infusion, even if the recovery speed is faster later, it will still require at least seven or eight more Starlight Infusions, which is seven or eight years.

In this realm, the demon race reigns supreme, and he has offended two major royal families as soon as he awakens.

Chen Yuan also wants to find a way to ascend to the upper realm in this world, which will inevitably lead to conflict with the eight royal families.

As for Qin Wuyai and the other three, it's unclear whether they successfully entered the Spirit Realm, ended up in other realms, or, like him, came to this realm.

The whereabouts of these four people are related to the hidden secrets behind the spatial passage.

We need to determine as soon as possible whether they have arrived in this world and find their whereabouts.

Eight years is too long; Chen Yuan must recover from his injuries and regain his strength as soon as possible.

Chen Yuan returned to the cultivation room, sat down cross-legged, and with a flick of his sleeve, dozens of jade slips appeared out of thin air in front of him.

He raised his hand, picked one up, and probed it with his divine sense to examine it carefully.

These were all pill formulas that he had collected on his own, obtained from Qin Wuyai, and found in the Yuling Sect's inheritance.

After refining the mysterious blood bead containing the true blood of the Kunpeng, the space inside Chen Yuan's body expanded to a size of several tens of feet.

It was large enough to hold all the inheritance jade slips of the Yuling Sect and all the things in his possession. Even if he put in the corpses of Ao Lin, She Mo, and Lang Mou, it wouldn't take up much space.

An hour later, Chen Yuan carefully examined all the dozens of jade slips and finally found six kinds of pills that could help him recover from his injuries, including three pills for the Nascent Soul stage and three pills for the late Nascent Soul stage.

Among these three types of Nascent Soul stage pills, there is one called "Heavenly Lotus Pill," which requires a five-thousand-year-old Heavenly Origin Lotus as the main ingredient to refine, and is enough to restore Chen Yuan's injuries to their original state in an instant.

However, the Heavenly Lotus is extremely precious. Legend has it that it can grow for up to 100,000 years. It is a sacred healing object passed down from the Immortal Realm and is extremely rare. It is impossible to find it in the mortal world.

The other two types of Nascent Soul stage pills require four or five kinds of three-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs to refine, one of which is an extremely precious three-thousand-year-old spiritual herb that is not easy to find.

Chen Yuan finally focused his attention on the three late-stage Nascent Soul pills. Each of these pills was made with a three-thousand-year-old spiritual herb as the main ingredient. Although they were quite rare, there was still hope of finding them.

Although these three pills cannot fully heal his injuries, the addition of starlight infusion can greatly shorten the recovery time.

Chen Yuan memorized the three pill formulas, then took out the mustard seed rings belonging to Ao Lin and the other three, and with a sweep of his divine sense, broke through the divine sense restriction to examine them.

The four had low cultivation levels and few treasures.

The most valuable items were the two octagonal dragon-patterned bright silver hammers in Ao Lin's hands. They were a set of mid-grade divine weapons, extremely hard, and capable of changing shape at will, with a maximum size of ten zhang.

However, compared to the two top-tier divine weapons in Chen Yuan's hands, they are still insignificant.

She Mo has three mid-level magic weapons, and Lang Mou and Xing Qianyue each have one mid-level magic weapon, but none of them are as good as those two octagonal dragon-patterned bright silver hammers.

Divine weapons and magical treasures each have their own merits, and there is no distinction between them in terms of superiority or inferiority.

However, these two octagonal dragon-patterned bright silver hammers are a set of divine weapons. They were forged using more spiritual materials and are therefore more valuable.

Ao Lin is just a low-level demon beast, yet he possesses a divine weapon. This place must have a method for forging divine weapons.

The azure spear and the black sword were both top-tier divine weapons, but they were unsuitable for Chen Yuan's use, and their grade was also somewhat low.

Chen Yuan has always wanted to forge a divine weapon that suits him, and it seems that while searching for spiritual herbs to refine pills in the future, he should also pay attention to this matter.

Besides that, there were no other decent treasures. Chen Yuan put everything into Ao Lin's mustard seed ring, which was the largest of the four mustard seed rings, about several feet in size, and was greenish-blue, like a jade bracelet.

He picked up the jadeite mustard seed ring and put it on his right wrist to conceal the space inside his body, which complemented the blood jade bracelet on his left wrist.

Looking at the blood jade bracelet, Chen Yuan couldn't help but feel a sense of helplessness.

The crimson snake's aura was concealed, revealing nothing, but Chen Yuan had planted a soul-blood restriction within it, connecting their minds and allowing him to clearly sense its state.

The crimson snake was brimming with energy, already reaching the limit of a level seven demon beast. It was just waiting to pass through the tribulation of lightning to break through that bottleneck and become a level eight demon beast.

But it remained dormant and unaffected even by the impact of the Void Cicada.

Chen Yuan didn't know when it would wake up, but although the crimson snake's aura was enormous, it was extremely stable and deeply concealed, so it wouldn't attract lightning tribulation. Chen Yuan didn't need to be distracted by this.

He withdrew his gaze, concentrated his mind, circulated his cultivation technique, absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and slowly restored his true essence.

……

"I originally only intended to meditate for a few days, but I did not expect that after entering meditation, I would be so immersed in cultivation that I only came out of seclusion today. I apologize for keeping Fellow Daoist Zhang waiting."

In a stone hall, Zhang Xuancang and Chen Yuan sat facing each other, with Liu Kaiyang standing by their side.

Chen Yuan clasped his hands in a bow, his face full of apology.

Zhang Xuancang returned the greeting with a fist and a fist salute, and said with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Chen, you flatter me. Your injuries are serious, how can we take them lightly?"

"Just after the beast tide, Ping Le City is in dire need of reconstruction, and I have many miscellaneous matters to attend to."

"I've finally had some free time these past few days and was just about to pay a visit."

"I did not expect you to come here today. I was unable to greet you properly. I hope you will forgive my lack of hospitality."

He breathed a sigh of relief. More than a month had passed since the beast tide, and Chen Yuan had finally emerged from seclusion.

Over the past month, the concentration of spiritual energy in Ping Le City has decreased by half again.

This made him no longer doubt that the previous drop in spiritual energy concentration was caused by Chen Yuan.

However, many cultivators in Ping Le City died in the beast tide, and those who survived needed to go out to patrol and investigate the situation of the demon race. There were not many cultivators, and the spiritual energy was still relatively abundant.

However, if this continues, it will definitely affect the cultivation of the cultivators in the city.

Chen Yuan smiled and said, "To be honest, I have come here today to ask you a few questions. I hope you will be kind enough to enlighten me."

Zhang Xuancang's heart skipped a beat. He had been wanting to find out about Chen Yuan's background, so he immediately agreed: "Fellow Daoist, please speak. As long as it is something I know, I will tell you everything without reservation."

Chen Yuan pondered for a moment and then slowly said, "I was originally a hermit cultivator. Several months ago, I fought a fierce battle with several high-level demon generals and was seriously injured. I fled to the Iron Mist Mountain Range and fell into a coma. Fortunately, my friend Liu found me and brought me back to Ping Le City."

"Currently, Mr. Chen's injuries are quite severe, and he needs several rare spiritual herbs to refine into elixirs in order to recover."

"But Chen had always lived in seclusion and had entered the world hastily. He was not very familiar with the geography of the Myriad Demon Continent and knew very little about the situation of the demon race and the human race."

"Young friend Liu once told me a little about it, but he only had a vague understanding, so he would like to ask you to enlighten him."

Zhang Xuancang looked enlightened, recalling the white-haired old man's guess.

This fellow Daoist Chen is indeed a diligent cultivator. Perhaps, as Huai Zhong said, he is a half-human, half-demon hybrid, or even a descendant of the extinct Xuanpo Snow Ape...

As Zhang Xuancang's thoughts raced, a smile appeared on his face: "I dare not say that I have seen and known a great deal, but over the past few hundred years, I have traveled to many human cities and even infiltrated the territory of the demon cult. I have some experience."

"Now that you have inquired, I dare not conceal anything."

"However, there are many complicated matters, and I do not know where to begin. May I ask what you most wish to know, my friend?"

Chen Yuan pondered for a moment, then recalled Liu Kaiyang's words and casually asked, "Young friend Liu once said that all the elders of the Demon Sect must take the Blood Silk Gu. I wonder what this is?"

Zhang Xuancang said, "This is a kind of Gu worm. When the elder of the Demon Sect took it, he was still asleep."

"Every ten years thereafter, one must take a pill called 'Blood Coagulation Pill'."

"Otherwise, the Gu worms will awaken, devouring the heart and soul, and the demon sect elder will surely die." (End of Chapter)