Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Chapter 169 Cross-examination
Chen Yuan could see clearly that each of the black pills in the cloth bag contained a thin layer of spiritual energy.

Although this pill is far inferior to the pills in the early stages of Qi Refining, one hundred and sixty-four pills combined would consume several low-level spiritual herbs, and all of them would be used on mortals. This demon cult is really generous.

However, the evil cult had great ambitions. After the people in the Qiu Mansion took the black pill, what they vomited out was not filth, but blood.

This black pill is the culprit that caused their deficiency of essence and blood.

The jade bowl was an extremely crude magical instrument, not even as good as a low-grade magical instrument. The man in black robe was just a mortal without any magical power.

After all 164 people in the Qiu Mansion had spat out their essence and blood, the man in black robe held the jade bowl and walked onto the carriage. Qiu Zhuorui and Qiu Xingcong bowed to see him off, extremely respectful.

The carriage slowly drove away from the Qiu Mansion. Those who had donated their blood and essence in the mansion all had rosy faces and looked energetic, as if they had taken some tonic.

But this was just an illusion. They lost a drop of essence and blood, their bodies became weaker, and they were one step closer to death, but it was concealed by the spell and did not show up.

This concealing spell comes from the black pill they swallowed, which creates the illusion of being full of energy and makes the people who take the pills immersed in it.

At this time, Qiu Zhuorui and Qiu Xingcong felt that they were strong and capable of doing anything. They immediately embraced their favorite concubines and went back to their rooms to have sex.

Chen Yuan shook his head. Considering his friendship with Qiu Zhuorui and Qiu Xingcong in the past half month, he swept his spiritual sense over them, shocking their minds. The two men and their concubines all fainted on the bed.

After the loss of essence and blood, having sex again will make the body more deficient.

Afterwards, he drove a light and quietly followed the carriage under the cover of night.

……

After the carriage drove out of the Qiu Mansion, it came to the next house and used the same method to collect the blood and essence of the people in the house.

It was not until the hour of Mao that the carriage had visited all the wealthy families in the area, and more than two thousand red beads had accumulated in the jade bowl before it drove out of Ronglifang.

At the same time, horse-drawn carriages drove out from various residential areas in Changming County.

Chen Yuan probed into the carriage with his spiritual sense and saw people in black robes sitting in the carriage, holding jade bowls filled with red beads in their hands.

These people are the "messengers" of the Demon Cult, responsible for collecting the blood and essence of the people in Changming County.

Finally, a total of twenty-three carriages were lined up and drove towards the county government office in the city.

If we assume that one man in black robe collected the essence and blood of more than 2,000 people, these 23 people collected the essence and blood of more than 46,000 mortals in total.

Two years later, anyone who donated their blood and essence will die a violent death.

By then, Changming County will become a dead city and a ghost town.

Twenty-three horse-drawn carriages slowly arrived outside the county government office. The men in black robes got off the carriages and walked towards a small courtyard with two entrances behind the government office.

Chen Yuan's eyes flashed, and he came to the top of the courtyard. He swept his spiritual sense and found that there was a low-level magic circle set up around the courtyard, which could block the spiritual sense from prying eyes.

This formation could not stop him, but if he tried to break through it by force, it would alert the people inside.

Chen Yuan pondered for a moment and did not take action immediately. Instead, he stood in the air above the courtyard with his hands behind his back, waiting quietly.

Under the pitch-black night, twenty-three men in black robes walked into the courtyard one after another, then left empty-handed, got back on the carriage, and slowly drove away.

After the last man in black robe left, Chen Yuan waited for a moment, snapped his fingers, and a fire crow flew out, breaking the formation, and his spiritual sense probed into the courtyard.

In the bedroom in the backyard, a middle-aged monk wearing a black robe and with a sinister face was sitting cross-legged in meditation.

When the formation was broken, he suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a look of shock and anger.

But then, Chen Yuan's spiritual sense swept over without any concealment, and a powerful foundation-building pressure came. The middle-aged cultivator's face changed drastically, and he immediately rushed out of the room, taking out a maple leaf-shaped magic weapon, trying to fly away for his life.

Chen Yuan had a blank expression on his face. He raised his right hand and three fire crows condensed in his palm. Then he waved his hand lightly and the fire crows flew into the courtyard and circled around the middle-aged monk.

The middle-aged monk froze in place, feeling the rolling heat wave coming towards him. He had no doubt that if he took another step, he would be burned to ashes.

Although he has reached the peak of the tenth level of Qi Refining, the Fire Crow Technique is a high-level spell that can threaten cultivators in the late stage of Qi Refining. Three Fire Crows gathered together are enough to burn him to death easily.

Chen Yuan landed in the courtyard and said calmly, "Do you want to die or live?"

He did not hide his cultivation level, and released all the spiritual pressure of the middle stage of foundation building. The middle-aged cultivator trembled all over, and quickly put away the maple leaf magic weapon, and shouted: "Junior wants to live!"

Chen Yuan nodded, raised his hand and pointed, and the three fire crows slowly dissipated.

He walked into the room and said calmly, "If you want to live, then come in. I have a few questions. If you can answer them honestly, I may spare your life."

The middle-aged monk looked at Chen Yuan's back with a changing expression. He touched the storage bag with his right hand several times, then let go several times. Finally, he sighed silently and walked into the room obediently.

He originally wanted to take the opportunity to escape, but when he thought that he was facing a cultivator in the middle stage of foundation building, even if he seemed unprepared, he could easily crush him to death, so he finally gave up the idea.

Chen Yuan's spiritual consciousness had been firmly locked on the middle-aged monk. He saw his struggle and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He deliberately left this gap, but the middle-aged monk did not risk escaping, which showed that he was already afraid. When he questioned him later, he would be able to gain something. However, although the middle-aged monk had given up the idea of ​​escaping, he was also afraid that Chen Yuan would destroy the bridge after crossing the river.

After he entered the room, he bowed to Chen Yuanshen, who was sitting at the square table, and asked, "If I answer your question, can you promise to spare my life?"

Chen Yuan said calmly: "Do you still have room for choice?"

The middle-aged monk said resolutely: "Then you should just kill me, since we are going to die anyway, so don't expect to get anything from me!"

Chen Yuan nodded, stroked his storage bag, took out a black bowl, placed it in his palm, looked up at the middle-aged monk, and said with a smile: "Since you are so stubborn, I will fulfill your wish. But before you die, I will let you suffer the pain of soul refining, and then disperse your soul, so that you will never have the chance to reincarnate."

The middle-aged monk's pupils shrank as he stared at the sinister bowl. Cold sweat continued to seep out of his forehead and his eyes were full of fear.

As a demon cultivator, although he does not practice the way of the soul, how could he not recognize the famous soul refining bowl.

When he thought about his own roar, his soul having to be put into it, undergoing the pain of soul refining, and finally being shattered with no chance of reincarnation, a feeling of chills welled up from the bottom of his heart.

Even the most severe torture in the world is not even a fraction as painful as soul refining.

The middle-aged monk had seen other people's souls being thrown into the soul refining bowl, and their screams were so shrill that it made people shudder.

At this moment, the soul-refining bowl in Chen Yuan's hand suddenly emitted a faint black light, and a shrill whistling sound was faintly heard, like a cold wind blowing from the Nine Nether Hell, or like the screams of the wronged souls who had died in the soul-refining bowl.

The middle-aged monk suddenly knelt on the ground, kowtowed to Chen Yuan repeatedly, and said loudly: "Junior will tell you everything, everything!"

Chen Yuan smiled slightly, placed the Soul Refining Bowl on the table, and said calmly: "Get up, I have no grudge against you. As long as you cooperate well and satisfy me, I don't have to kill you."

This sentence rekindled the middle-aged monk's desire to survive. He immediately got up from the ground and said respectfully, "Senior, please tell me everything I know!"

Chen Yuan nodded and asked, "Where did you get this magic skill from?"

The middle-aged cultivator replied, "I was originally a casual cultivator from Wu State. It was difficult for me to cultivate. Eight years ago, Wu State was destroyed by the Five Great Saints... the Demon Sect. I then turned to cultivating the Demonic Arts and received an order from the Demon Sect to sneak into Qi State and hunt down Qi State cultivators."

Chen Yuan said, "The sect that worships the spirit god in Changming County was taught by you?"

The middle-aged cultivator shook his head quickly: "Senior, you have misunderstood. I did not teach the Spirit God Sect. It was a foundation-building senior who ordered me to spread it."

Chen Yuan's eyes flashed: "The mortal blood essence collected by the black-robed man, was it also collected by the foundation-building cultivator?"

The middle-aged monk nodded and said, "That's right! I collect the blood essence of mortals once a month and send it to that senior. That senior will give me some rewards."

Chen Yuan said: "Tell me the whole story in detail."

The middle-aged cultivator replied, "Yes, three years ago, the Yu family in Dingzhou was destroyed, and the Blood Spirit Sect's Liu Fan issued an order to hunt down the remnants of the Yu family. I came to Dingzhou to try my luck. But as soon as I arrived in Dingzhou, I met that foundation-building senior. After he asked about my origins, he ordered me to spread the Spirit God Religion in Changming County and collect the essence and blood of mortals once a month."

Chen Yuan nodded slightly: "Did he also give you those black pills?"

The middle-aged cultivator said respectfully, "That's right. I go to get the elixir every month, and then send out divine messengers, that is, mortals controlled by me, to collect essence and blood in Changming County and send them to that senior."

A cold light flashed in Chen Yuan's eyes: "Where is that foundation-building cultivator now?"

The middle-aged cultivator looked embarrassed and said, "I don't know about this. I always go to Lingyang Mountain Range to get the elixir. The senior will wait in a valley and send the blood essence to the valley after collecting it."

Chen Yuan nodded and said, "Very good, you just need to help me do one last thing, and I will spare your life."

The middle-aged monk asked hurriedly: "What's the matter?"

Chen Yuan said: "You just need to send the collected mortal blood to that valley and give it to the foundation-building cultivator as usual."

The middle-aged cultivator was startled, and then realized that Chen Yuan wanted to plot against the foundation-building senior. He was overjoyed and said, "I will obey your orders!"

He has been preaching for that foundation-building senior for three years, doing his best to collect the essence and blood of mortals. If he could meet that foundation-building senior and tell him about this, that senior would definitely kill this man and save his life!
Chen Yuan smiled slightly: "Very good, don't panic, act as usual, I will follow you."

He raised his sleeve, put the soul refining bowl on the table into the storage bag, stood up and walked out.

The middle-aged monk bowed hurriedly and said, "Senior, take care!"

Chen Yuan did not stop, came to the courtyard, rode on the light of escape, fled away, and disappeared into the night.

The middle-aged monk escaped the disaster and breathed a sigh of relief. He hurriedly touched his storage bag and took out a few formation flags, wanting to set up a low-level magic formation.

But just as he took out the formation flag, he suddenly paused and put it back.

Of course, he was not really working for Chen Yuan, but Chen Yuan's last words before leaving made him dare not act rashly.

He sighed, but ended up doing nothing. He returned to his bed and closed his eyes to meditate.

The update time of the second chapter will be changed to 7 o'clock, and the update time of the third chapter will remain unchanged.

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(End of this chapter)