Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Chapter 167: Traces of the Demonic Cult
After leaving Leping County yesterday, Chen Yuan flew for a day and a night and only arrived in Changming County late last night.

A casual cultivator accidentally encountered a demon cultivator at the tenth level of Qi Refining preaching here, and reported it to the Tiangang Sword Sect, who then passed it on to the Lingyun Sect.

However, this person's strength is low, with only the seventh level of Qi Refining cultivation. He just happened to have a magic weapon that could conceal his aura, so he was able to escape unscathed after discovering this. He did not dare to investigate further.

According to the Lingyun Sect's rules, any matter involving demonic cultivation must be handled by the Foundation Establishment cultivators, and only then can Chen Yuan receive this simple sect mission.

According to the mission description, he only needs to eradicate the evil cult in Changming County and then return to the sect to report.

If there are foundation-building demon cultivators hiding behind the demon cult, Chen Yuan can kill them all and receive more rewards for good deeds, or he can investigate thoroughly and report to the sect.

Compared to other sect missions such as hunting down foundation-building demon cultivators and delivering fourth-level demon pills, this mission is extremely simple and most suitable for Chen Yuan.

He was not afraid of those foundation-building demon cultivators, but the one-year time limit required him to complete a sect mission first to avoid punishment, and then accept those more difficult missions to earn good merits.

However, the sect's mission this time is to eradicate the Demon Cult in Changming County, so they must find the Qi-refining Demon Cultivator who is preaching behind them without alerting the enemy.

So Chen Yuan first went to the home of a gentleman named Ke Xiu De outside the city, used the magic of bewitching, asked about the situation at his family, took out a sum of gold and silver, and disguised himself as a rich young man.

This morning, he took a horse-drawn carriage into Changming County and came to the Tianranju Teahouse to drink tea, listen to books, and inquire about the news.

The spiritual power of the foundation-building cultivators is restrained, and as long as they do not activate their true energy, they are no different from ordinary people.

If Chen Yuan was still at the Qi Refining stage, he wouldn't be able to do this disguise.

As soon as he sat down and spread his spiritual sense, he discovered something was wrong.

All the guests, waiters, servants, accountants, and even the storyteller on the first floor in the teahouse, although appearing normal on the surface, are actually suffering from blood and essence deficiency and severe loss of vitality. They will only have one or two years to live at most, and then will die a violent death.

A kind of magic was planted on their bodies to conceal their true physical condition, so even the best doctors in the mortal world would not be able to tell.

This kind of magic is so advanced that even Qi-refining cultivators cannot detect it. Only Foundation-building cultivators, whose souls have transformed and whose consciousness has become solid, can see through the truth.

Such a strange thing must be related to the evil cult.

After Chen Yuan found out about this, he was delighted, but then he remained calm, drank his tea, and continued to listen to the storyteller on the first floor.

It is still daytime and it is not convenient to act now. It will not be too late to wait until late at night when everyone is asleep and then follow the clues to investigate the true situation of the Demon Cult.

"The old Taoist priest chased the demon. They fought back and forth in the sky. On one side, the old Taoist priest thrust out a sword with the power to collapse the sky and split the earth. On the other side, the demon opened its bloody mouth, blocked half of the sky, and bit down..."

The more the storyteller spoke, the more bizarre the stories became, causing many of the guests to exclaim in surprise.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yuan shook his head and smiled, picked up the teacup and took a few sips.

Although Tianranju's fragrant tea does not contain spiritual energy, it tastes very good. Even Chen Yuan, who is not a tea lover, couldn't help but drink a few more cups.

A young man at the table next to him was so excited when he heard the exciting part. He caught a glimpse of Chen Yuan laughing, frowned, and asked, "Why are you laughing, brother? Do you think this is too fake?"

Chen Yuan put down the teacup, looked up at the man, and said calmly: "Although the world is so big that there are all kinds of strange things, the storyteller made it sound as if he had seen it with his own eyes, which is really hard to believe."

This young man was dressed in a dark blue gown and had a handsome appearance. Two servants stood behind him. Like the others, his blood and energy were severely depleted and he would not live long.

The young man shook his head and said, "Brother, you don't know. My family has several shops in Lingyang County, and more than a dozen servants witnessed this incident with their own eyes. At that time, there were indeed blood clouds covering the sky and blood raining from the sky. There were heavy casualties in Lingyang County. Then an old Taoist suddenly appeared, split the blood cloud with a sword, and fled away following a streak of blood. The storyteller may have exaggerated a little, but it is generally true."

Chen Yuan showed a surprised look on his face and said with a folded hand: "Thank you for telling me, brother. I have just come to your place and have never heard of this matter. I thought it was made up by a storyteller. I am sorry to have made a fool of myself."

Seeing Chen Yuan so readily admitting his mistakes and his extraordinary demeanor, the young man couldn't help but feel a liking for him. He stood up and walked to Chen Yuan's table, bowed and said, "My name is Qiu Xingcong. May I have a cup of tea with you?"

Chen Yuan's eyes flashed, and he stood up to return the greeting: "Brother Qiu, please sit down. I am Wei Wuding, from Yuzhou, and I came to Dingzhou to visit my aunt."

Qiu Xingcong lifted his gown and sat down opposite Chen Yuan.

The two servants brought over the teapot, teacups, fruits and snacks, and placed them on the table quietly. They bowed to Chen Yuan, then stepped back behind Qiu Xingcong and stood with their hands hanging down.

Chen Yuan saw that although these two men were servants, they behaved politely. Qiu Xingcong had just said that his family owned a shop in Lingyang County, so they must be from a wealthy family. If he made friends with them, he should be able to find out the details of the Demon Cult more quickly.

Whenever a cult is involved, whether it is a legitimate or evil cult, it will definitely attract wealthy families.

Such people have a wide influence. As long as they are brought into the church, preaching will be twice as effective with half the effort. They often hold high positions in the sect and have access to secret matters.

Qiu Xingcong asked with a smile, "I wonder which family Brother Wei's aunt belongs to? Maybe she knows my mother."

Chen Yuan knew that this was a common practice among the sons of gentry, asking about one's background in order to establish a relationship with him.

He could choose not to answer, or to gloss over the matter, but Qiu Xingcong would certainly not become close friends with someone without a background, and would never have any dealings with him again.

All the guests in the teahouse were weak in essence and blood, and the Demon Cult must have a deep control over the Changming Cult. In order to avoid alerting the enemy, Chen Yuan did not dare to cast spells at will. If he wanted to make friends with Qiu Xingcong, he had to gain his trust.

Fortunately, Chen Yuan was cautious by nature and did not act recklessly just because he was a foundation-building cultivator. He had made preparations before entering Changming County.

Chen Yuan replied: "Aunt Wei married into the Ke family."

Qiu Xingcong was startled for a moment, then suddenly realized, "Brother Wei, are you talking about Uncle Ke Xiude who used to be the chief clerk of Changming County and now lives in Enji Village outside the city?"

Chen Yuan was surprised and said, "That's right, Brother Qiu also knows my uncle?"

Qiu Xingcong smiled and said, "My father and Uncle Ke have been good friends for many years. I went to the Ke residence once four years ago. However, I have been busy with my studies in recent years and have not been out of the city for a long time. I wonder if Uncle Ke is in good health?"

Chen Yuan said, "Thank you for your concern, Brother Qiu. My uncle is in good health. But he bought a precious horse called Wuyun Treading Snow last month. When he was riding, he accidentally fell off the horse and injured his left leg. He has recovered almost completely now."

Hearing this, Qiu Xingcong smiled even more: "I have also heard about this from my father. He also said that Uncle Ke's horsemanship is not good and his BMW has been tarnished. If it were him, he would definitely tame that Dark Cloud Stepping Snow Horse."

Chen Yuan's heart moved, and he said with a smile: "Since your father is willing to help your uncle train the horse, I will go back and inform your uncle about this matter, and personally deliver the precious horse Wuyun Treading Snow to your house."

Qiu Xingcong said happily: "My father loves BMW the most, I'll have to trouble Brother Wei to take care of this matter!"

Chen Yuan smiled and said, "It's a small matter. Please wait for a moment, Brother Qiu. I will go and get the precious horse."

He bowed, stood up, walked down the stairs and left the teahouse.

Qiu Xingcong watched Chen Yuan walk out of the teahouse, the smile on his face slowly faded, he pondered for a moment, raised his hand to call a servant behind him, and ordered: "Go back to the mansion now and ask housekeeper Liu whether Uncle Ke's wife is surnamed Wei and where she is from."

The servant obeyed the order respectfully, turned around and left quickly.

Qiu Xingcong finally felt relieved, raised his cup to sip his tea, and continued to listen to the storyteller.

He had heard people say that some bad guys deliberately made friends with the children of wealthy families for ulterior motives, so they had to be on guard.

Although he had indeed heard his father talk about Ke Xiu De's fall from a horse, many people knew about it. To be cautious, he still had to investigate the identity of Wei Wuding.

……

When Qiu Xingcong gave orders to the servants, although Chen Yuan had already walked out of the teahouse, he heard everything clearly through his spiritual sense.

He smiled slightly, got on the carriage he had taken when he came here, and headed out of the city.

Before he entered Changming County, he asked about the situation of Ke Xiu De's family in detail. Except for his identity which was false, everything else he said was true.

It just so happened that Ke Xiu De's wife's surname was Wei and she was from Yuzhou, so he used the pseudonym Wei Wuding and was not afraid of Qiu Xingcong's investigation at all.

However, he originally just wanted to forge an identity to avoid attracting the attention of the people in the Demon Cult. Unexpectedly, he ran into Qiu Xingcong, who was acquainted with Ke Xiu De, and got the result without any effort.

An hour and a half later, the carriage drove into the Ke family manor in Enji Village. Chen Yuan got off the carriage and ordered the housekeeper to bring the Wuyuntadexue horse over.

The butler was suspicious, but dared not disobey and brought the BMW over himself.

He had never seen this young man before, but this morning, he suddenly came to visit and said he was the nephew of the mistress Wei.

The mistress and the master were extremely surprised, and they specifically ordered the servants in the manor that no matter what the young man ordered, they must do it, otherwise they would be severely punished.

This is the effect of the bewitching technique. With Chen Yuan's current level of cultivation, if it is used on a mortal, the effect can last for more than ten days.

The spell of bewitching would cause slight damage to the souls of mortals, but once the matter was settled, he would give elixirs to Ke Xiude and Wei as compensation.

Chen Yuan rode on the precious horse "Black Cloud Stepping on Snow". He released his Qi slightly, and this horse with a very fierce temper immediately became extremely docile.

The horse was very fast and returned to Tianranju in less than an hour.

A servant beside Qiu Xingcong was waiting outside the door. When he saw Chen Yuan coming back on his BMW, he immediately came up to greet him, bowed, and said respectfully, "Master Wei, my young master is waiting upstairs. I will go and invite him down. Please wait a moment."

Chen Yuan nodded, dismounted and waited. After a while, Qiu Xingcong quickly walked out of Tianranju Teahouse, followed by the two servants, and came to greet him.

Chen Yuan raised his hand and gently stroked the horse's head: "Brother Qiu, please look, this is the precious horse Black Cloud Treading Snow."

Qiu Xingcong walked around the BMW, his eyes sparkling, and laughed, "What a great horse! Brother Wei is indeed a trustworthy person. Please follow me to my house for a chat. When my father sees this BMW, he will definitely treat Brother Wei as a guest of honor!"

Chen Yuan's eyes flashed, and he said with a smile: "Then Wei will respectfully obey your command."

I had some things to do today, so the update is a little late. Sorry, the third chapter may not be written. Dear book friends, there is no need to wait.

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(End of this chapter)