Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Chen Yuan nodded slightly: "The methods of the demon race are indeed cruel, but even if this Blood Silk Gu can control life and death, it should not be as effective as the Soul Restriction."

"I have heard that in ancient times, all of humanity had divine soul restrictions implanted within their bodies."

"Afterwards, for some unknown reason, he broke free from the soul restriction. Fellow Daoist, do you know the inside story?"

A hint of surprise flashed in Zhang Xuancang's eyes: "Fellow Daoist Chen is indeed focused on cultivation and oblivious to the affairs outside the mountain."

"The soul restriction is so strong that it is naturally impossible for humans to break free with their own strength alone. There must be another reason behind it."

"However, this matter is still a secret for low-level cultivators."

"But most of the demon generals at the Nascent Soul stage are very clear about this."

Chen Yuan's eyes flashed: "I am ignorant and ill-informed, please enlighten me, fellow Daoist."

Zhang Xuancang glanced at Liu Kaiyang casually, and seeing that Chen Yuan had no reaction, he said, "Fellow Daoist should know that although our human race has been oppressed by the demon race for tens of thousands of years, we are naturally full of spirituality, far surpassing that of the demon race."

"Although the demon race is strong, it relies on the power of its bloodline."

“Our human cultivators, however, master supernatural powers through cultivation techniques. Even those with poor talent can condense a nascent soul and rival royal demon generals.”

"Not to mention that humans are born with human bodies, are skillful and have extraordinary souls, and are able to learn all kinds of cultivation arts, far surpassing the clumsy and stupid demon beasts that have not yet taken human form."

"This is also why the demon race, despite ruling this world, did not exterminate the human race, but instead placed a restriction on their souls."

"The eight royal families have long been accustomed to human servants refining pills and crafting weapons for them, drawing talismans and setting up arrays, not to mention taking beautiful cultivators as concubines and male lovers for pleasure."

"Therefore, the demon race wanted to use the soul-binding restrictions to enslave the human race generation after generation..."

Zhang Xuancang's voice carried a hint of coldness, and a trace of mockery flashed in his eyes: "But even spirit beasts with soul-binding restrictions are unable to transform into human form."

"Humans are born with the Dao, how could they submit to these beasts with fur and horns?"

"If a human cultivator who has been placed under a soul restriction gives birth to offspring, their spirituality will be weakened and their aptitude will also deteriorate."

"Over several hundred years, they will become mentally impaired, devoid of spiritual energy, and no different from ordinary people."

"Let alone embarking on the path of cultivation and learning the various arts of cultivation, even serving the demon race is difficult because they cannot read between the lines."

"The Kun fish clan was the first to discover this matter, and the children born to human servants were no longer subject to the divine soul restriction."

"Several hundred years later, the humans under the Kunyu clan regained their spirituality, and people with spiritual roots reappeared, achieving success in cultivation, and high-level alchemists, weapon refiners, talisman makers, array masters, and so on emerged."

"Other demon races do not have such courage. They still plant soul restrictions in the bodies of human slaves, resulting in fewer and fewer cultivators. Most of them are foolish mortals who can only become food for humans."

"The Kunyu clan greatly increased its strength by using pills, magic weapons, talismans and formations refined by human slaves, far surpassing other royal clans. They conquered everywhere, successively destroying three royal clans and once dominating this realm."

Chen Yuan frowned: "If the Kunyu clan no longer places soul-binding restrictions on human slaves, how will they govern them? Aren't they afraid of their slaves rebelling?"

Zhang Xuancang sighed softly: "At that time, other royal families placed soul-binding restrictions on their slaves, but only the slaves who were attached to the Kunyu clan were able to escape this calamity."

"Moreover, the Kunyu clan needs human cultivators to refine pills and weapons, and to fight and compete with other royal clans, so they intend to win over human cultivators."

“Especially Nascent Soul cultivators, who are treated well and are often treacherous, would they possibly rebel.”

"But after the Kunyu clan destroyed another royal clan, the other royal clans were afraid of following in their footsteps, so they also followed the Kunyu clan's example, no longer placing soul restrictions on human slaves, and focused on cultivating human cultivators."

"However, it takes time for the human race's spirituality to recover. Several hundred years have passed, and the Kunyu race has wiped out two more royal families in succession." "The remaining ten royal families have cultivated a number of human cultivators, and with their combined efforts, they have barely managed to curb the expansion of the Kunyu race."

Chen Yuan asked, "How did the Kun fish clan discover that planting a soul restriction within a human would weaken their spirituality?"

Zhang Xuancang shook his head: "This is an ancient matter, from a very long time ago, and I am not clear about it."

"However, it is said that the ancestors of the Kun fish clan descended from the upper realm."

"For tens of thousands of years, the Kunyu clan has maintained close ties with the upper realm, perhaps learning about this from the demons of the upper realm."

Chen Yuan's heart stirred, and he couldn't help but think of the Kun Fish Demon King mentioned by the White Ape Demon King.

Just like the human world, this realm also has the existence of Kun fish, and the existence of such legends is probably not a coincidence.

Could it be that the Kun fish clan in both realms are descendants of this Kun fish demon king?
But he quickly suppressed that thought, and was more concerned about another sentence from Zhang Xuancang.

"Fellow Daoist, could you elaborate on how the Kun fish clan has such close ties with the human realm? Could it be that they possess the passage to ascend to the upper realm?"

Zhang Xuancang said, "The ascension passage has existed since ancient times, but its exact location and which royal family controls it are the most important secrets of the demon race."

"I have no idea, and the demon race will not allow any human cultivator to know."

A glint flashed in Chen Yuan's eyes; this realm indeed had a passage to ascend to the upper realm.

No wonder level eight demonic beasts are called demon generals. The demons of this realm must know that only those who have reached the Void Refinement stage can be called demon kings, which is why they dare not overstep their bounds.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although he failed to smuggle himself into the spirit world, even ascending to the demon realm was better than being trapped and dying in the human realm.

However, Zhang Xuancang knew little about this matter, so Chen Yuan could only make a note of it for now. He then changed the subject: "There are only eight royal families in this world now. I wonder how the other three royal families disappeared?"

Zhang Xuancang sneered: "Although the major royal families no longer plant soul restrictions in the human race, their bullying and oppression of the human race has not lessened in the slightest."

"The Kunpeng clan, which originally treated human cultivators well, became increasingly harsh and unkind after it could no longer expand."

"Human cultivators, lacking both divine soul restraints and subjected to the bullying and enslavement of the demon race, could not tolerate it and immediately rose up in resistance."

At this point, Zhang Xuancang's eyes revealed a hint of pleasure: "Although a long time has passed, the deeds of many sages from that time have been passed down."

"Among them is a body cultivator named Venerable Zhenyue. Like you, he is also a body cultivator and a great cultivator."

"This Venerable Zhenyue possesses immense strength, surpassing even high-ranking demon generals of the same level. Wielding a three-pointed, double-edged spear, he slays demon generals as easily as slaughtering chickens and dogs. At least thirty demon generals have died at his hands."

Chen Yuan nodded slowly and said, "Those three royal families were destroyed by the sages of my human race?"

Zhang Xuancang's eyes dimmed, and he gently shook his head: "At that time, there were quite a few great cultivators among the human race, but unfortunately, they were suppressed by the demon race for many years, and their strength was far inferior to that of the major royal families. There was not a single Nascent Soul cultivator, let alone any spiritual treasures or divine weapons to suppress their foundation."

"Moreover, the demon race is powerful, and not all human cultivators have the courage to resist them."

"Many traitors are loyal to the demon race, and when it comes to suppressing human cultivators, they are even more diligent than the demon race. The human race is outnumbered and outmatched, how can they be a match for the royal family?"

"However, the human ancestors were tenacious and unyielding, and still caused considerable losses to the various royal families."

"After all the rebellious human cultivators were killed by the demon race, the various royal families, in order to appease the human race, restrained themselves somewhat." (End of Chapter)