Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Chapter 162 Tribulation Cultivator
After Chen Yuan said goodbye to Ren Man and Cao Xianji, he walked slowly all the way to the outside of Huanyue Market.

He could still vividly remember the scenes of his discussions on metaphysics and Taoism with Cao You and Ren Man twenty years ago, and the exchanges of their cultivation experiences, as if it had happened yesterday, and he felt quite sad.

Things in this world are unpredictable. Cao You is dead and Ren Man has aged. If she cannot successfully build her foundation, she will turn into a pile of bones in a few decades.

Chen Yuan couldn't bear to see his old friend's journey interrupted, so he gave her a foundation-building pill to help her build her foundation.

After leaving the secret realm of Dongxu Mountain and receiving the reward from the sect, he had a total of eight Foundation Establishment Pills in his hands. He sold two to the Huang family, gave one to Nie Ruyue in exchange, and gave one to Ren Man, leaving four.

When Chen Yuan bought the Silver Gang Stone, he only had 25 medium-grade spirit stones in his hand. He could have used the low-grade spirit stones he got from Huang Sipei to offset it, but he did not do so.

Nie Ruyue is a businessman. If he uses low-grade spirit stones for transactions, he will inevitably be looked down upon.

Although the Foundation Establishment Pill is precious, it is useless to Chen Yuan. Using it to pay for the prize can make Nie Ruyue owe him a favor and also leave her with the impression that he is carrying a treasure.

In this way, whether it is to upgrade the grade of the Silver Gang Sword or to ask Nie Ruyue to help search for the Phantom Yin Stone, she will do her best.

However, Chen Yuan gave away another Foundation Establishment Pill this time. The number of Foundation Establishment Pills in his hand was getting less and less, so he had to get some mid-grade spirit stones as soon as possible. Otherwise, it would be a bit embarrassing for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to only have low-grade spirit stones.

When trading with other foundation-building cultivators, or purchasing spiritual herbs, spiritual materials, elixirs, and spiritual tools, some shops only accept mid-grade spiritual stones, and low-grade spiritual stones are simply not acceptable.

Thinking of this, Chen Yuan stopped, identified the path, and turned to Guiyuan Pavilion.

Although Guiyuan Pavilion contains the word "Pavilion" in its name, it is actually a large hall covering a vast area.

This is also the most popular place in Huanyue Market. There are more than a dozen guests in the hall, including two foundation-building monks.

After Chen Yuan entered the hall, a female cultivator came up to greet him. She could tell at a glance that he was a cultivator of foundation building, so she immediately bowed and asked respectfully, "Excuse me, what can I do for you, senior?"

Chen Yuan said calmly: "I have some low-grade spirit stones in my hand, and I want to exchange them for medium-grade spirit stones."

The female cultivator said respectfully, "Senior, please follow me."

Chen Yuan followed her to the back of the hall, passed through a small green-painted door, and entered a large courtyard.

The two of them walked through a door with hanging flowers, passed the corridor, the small bridge and the stone path, came to a side courtyard and stopped.

The wooden door of the courtyard was tightly closed, with a flash of light on it, which was a sign that there was a ban.

The female cultivator raised her hand and injected a trace of magic power into the door. Her lips moved slightly and she said something silently.

After a while, the gate dimmed and opened silently. A deep voice came out: "Fellow Daoist, please come in."

The female cultivator bowed to Chen Yuan and stepped aside to wait.

Chen Yuan stepped into the courtyard and saw that the door of the main hall was open. A middle-aged monk with an ordinary appearance was sitting at the table, facing the gate.

This person was wearing a long green robe with a "Yuan" character embroidered on the cuffs. It was exactly the same clothing as the one worn by the Guiyuan Sect's formation master that Chen Yuan saw before he entered the Dongxu Mountain secret realm ten years ago. It was the standard robe worn by the sect's foundation-building cultivators.

When the middle-aged monk saw Chen Yuan walking into the courtyard, he raised his hand and closed the gate, then stood up to greet him, showing a gentle smile and bowing, "I am Li Ju, the steward of Guiyuan Pavilion. What is your name?"

Chen Yuan bowed and said, "I am Zhao Shan, a casual cultivator. I am here to exchange for some mid-grade spirit stones. I hope Deacon Li can help me."

Li Ju raised his hand and said, "This matter is easy to discuss. Brother Zhao, please sit down and talk."

Chen Yuan did not want to waste time, so he sat down opposite Li Ju and got straight to the point: "May I ask what is the exchange rate of low-grade spirit stones for medium-grade spirit stones?"

Li Ju raised his hand and the white porcelain teapot in front of him flew up by itself, pouring spiritual tea for Chen Yuan, and said, "That depends on how many low-grade spiritual stones you can take out. If you only have a few hundred, then the ratio is 130 to 1. If you have a thousand, then the ratio is 120 to 1. If you have several thousand, then the ratio is 110 to 1. If you have tens of thousands, then the ratio is 100 to 1... This tea is our sect's unique Mist Hidden Tea, and it has a unique flavor. You may as well try it."

He raised the teacup to signal, inviting Chen Yuan warmly. Chen Yuan could not refuse the kindness, so he raised the teacup, took a sip, and praised casually, "Good tea."

Then, he put down the teacup and said, "I have four thousand low-grade spirit stones in my hand. According to what Deacon Li said, I can exchange them for thirty-six medium-grade spirit stones, right?"

Li Ju's eyes lit up and he put down the teacup: "Not bad."

Chen Yuan touched his storage bag, and a pile of spirit stones appeared on the table out of thin air. He said, "These are four thousand low-grade spirit stones. Fellow Daoist Li, please take a look."

Li Ju saw the exquisite storage bag on Chen Yuan's waist, and his smile became even more intense. He scanned the pile of spirit stones with his spiritual sense and nodded, "It's just the right number."

He touched the storage bag, and thirty-six mid-grade spirit stones appeared on the table out of thin air. He smiled and said, "Please keep them, Brother Zhao."

Chen Yuan scanned the number with his spiritual sense and confirmed that it was correct. He raised his sleeve and put it into the storage bag. He bowed and said, "Zhao has something else to do. I will take my leave now."

Li Ju did not try to persuade him to stay, but returned the greeting, saying, "Fellow Daoist Zhao, take care."

He raised his hand and waved, the gate opened, Chen Yuan stood up and walked out of the courtyard, followed the female cultivator, and walked towards Guiyuan Hall along the same path.

Behind Chen Yuan, Li Ju watched his back disappear into the distance, his eyes narrowed, and the smile on his face suddenly disappeared. He raised his hand and waved, closing the courtyard door, then stroked his storage bag, took out a silver sound transmission talisman, looked at it reluctantly, and then raised his hand to inject a trace of true energy, his lips moved slightly, and he said a few words silently.

Then he raised his hand and threw it. The sound transmission note turned into a silver stream of light and flew into the sky at a speed far exceeding that of an ordinary sound transmission note. After a moment, it disappeared.

……

After Chen Yuan walked out of Guiyuan Hall, he did not waste any more time. He walked quickly out of Huanyue Market, boarded the Duyun Boat, and fled south.

Just like before, in order to avoid attracting attention, he did not use the full speed of the Duyunzhou under normal conditions, but only kept pace with the speed of a peak cultivator in the middle stage of foundation building.

Chen Yuan flew in the sky for a quarter of an hour, then suddenly frowned and activated his true energy. The speed of the Duyun Boat increased, comparable to that of a cultivator in the late foundation building stage, and he continued to move forward.

He was cautious by nature, and even when flying at high altitudes, he would always spread out his spiritual sense to investigate the surrounding situation.

After he broke through the middle stage, his spiritual awareness, which was already different from that of ordinary people, had expanded to three hundred feet, comparable to that of a cultivator in the late stage of foundation building.

Just now, two dark lights suddenly appeared in the range of his spiritual sense and chased after him from behind.

The speed of these two beams of light is just the same as that of the Duyun Boat. Judging from the aura of the cultivators inside, they should be two cultivators in the early stage of foundation building.

Chen Yuan didn't want to cause any more trouble, so he sped up his escape, trying to avoid the two people.

After a moment, he shook off the two beams of light.

A quarter of an hour later, Chen Yuan slowed down his speed, allowing Du Yunzhou to continue flying at the speed of a cultivator at the peak of the middle stage of foundation building.

This way of escaping is not too slow, does not consume too much true energy, makes little noise, and will not attract attention. It is most suitable for long-term flying.

The Duyun boat continued to fly south for another quarter of an hour. Chen Yuan looked relaxed, overlooking the earth and admiring the scenery of the mountains, rivers and streams. It was a unique experience.

Suddenly, he frowned and the Duyun Boat slowly stopped.

The two dark lights appeared again within the range of his spiritual sense, and they caught up with him at a speed that was a little faster than before.

Chen Yuan stepped out of the Duyun Boat, raised his hand and shrunk the Duyun Boat to three inches in size, put it into the storage bag, stood with his hands behind his back, and waited quietly.

In just a moment, two dark beams of light passed through the clouds and suddenly stopped fifty feet away from Chen Yuan, revealing two figures.

The man on the left is skinny and pale, like a consumptive patient, and is wearing a black robe.

The man on the right is of medium build and appears to be in his forties. He is dressed in a spotless white gown and a square scarf on his head, looking like a scholar. He holds a folding fan in his hand and has a handsome, gentle and elegant appearance.

Chen Yuan said calmly: "My two Taoist friends have followed me all the way. I wonder if you have any advice for me?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the consumptive ghost started to curse: "Zhao, what kind of flying magic weapon did you use to escape so fast? You wasted so much of our time. I will definitely extract your soul and let you suffer the pain of soul refining!"

The middle-aged scholar smiled and bowed to Chen Yuan, saying in a very elegant manner: "Daoyou Zhao, we two have come to take your life. Please help us."

Chen Yuan's eyes flashed: "How do you know my last name is Zhao?"

The middle-aged scholar smiled and said, "It is inconvenient to tell you about this matter, I hope you can forgive me."

The consumptive ghost sneered: "Fellow Daoist Murong, there is no need to waste time talking to this man. Kill him quickly and divide his spirit stones. That is the real business!"

He touched his storage bag, took out a three-inch bone sword, threw it forward, and made some hand gestures.

The bone sword suddenly grew to two feet in length, with a skull embedded in the hilt of the sword. It turned into a stream of light and shot towards Chen Yuan.

The middle-aged scholar sighed: "What a pity, Murong is going to take another life. It's really against the harmony of nature..."

Although he said it was a pity, his hands moved quickly. He opened the folding fan in his hand and threw it forward.

Painted on the fan are ferocious demons with dark eyes, but they are wearing scholars' clothes, Taoist robes and official uniforms. They play the piano, drink tea, recite poems and paint. They have a serene look, as if they are immersed in it. It is out of place and extremely weird.

The middle-aged scholar raised his hand and made a gesture, and dozens of black demons flew out from the fan. Their clothes disappeared, their calm expressions disappeared, revealing their ferocious true faces, and pounced towards Chen Yuan.

The bone sword and the folding fan are both mid-grade spiritual weapons. Under the attack of the two, Chen Yuan was immediately put in danger.

But his expression did not change. He touched his storage bag and the Fire Cloud Gourd appeared out of thin air in front of him. He raised his hand, made a gesture, and shouted, "Go!"

The gourd mouth shone brightly, and three hundred and sixty grains of fire cloud sand gushed out, growing to the size of a fist. They spread out in an instant, surrounding the two of them, and then began to spin rapidly, releasing three hundred and sixty streams of red smoke, turning everything within a hundred feet into scarlet red!

There were several typos in Chapter 143, which have now been corrected. Chen Yuan sold two Foundation Establishment Pills to Huang, not just one.

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(End of this chapter)