Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Chapter 217 Booby trap
People were coming and going in Huanyue Market. Chen Yuan restrained his energy and walked slowly among the crowd.

He walked all the way to the foot of the thousand-foot-high peak that stood at the end of the valley, walked past the jade archway with the words "Fantasy Moon Cave" inscribed on it, and followed the mountain path up.

The mountains are shaded by bamboo forests, with waterfalls and springs, and elegant and beautiful courtyards scattered among them.

Chen Yuan came to a courtyard and stopped.

The four characters "Ding Er Qi Jiu" are engraved on the gate of this courtyard, which is the cave where Ren Man and Cao Xianji lived.

Chen Yuan said in a clear voice: "Is Daoist Fellow Ren in the mansion? Chen Yuan is here to visit."

After he finished speaking, he waited for a while, but there was no response from the courtyard.

Chen Yuan frowned, and used a secret technique he learned from the memory of Master Qing You, spreading his spiritual awareness and exploring the courtyard.

The formation and restrictions of the T-shaped cave are extremely simple, but if you force your spiritual consciousness into it, it will leave traces.

This secret technique is useless, but it can penetrate into the spiritual consciousness without destroying the formation. It just requires the spiritual consciousness of the person performing the technique to be much stronger than the level of the formation, which is exactly what is used here.

Chen Yuan's spiritual sense penetrated into the formation. He did not spy on the rooms, but only entered the main hall. He saw half a pot of spiritual tea on the table, and the tea cups were placed quite messily.

He withdrew his spiritual sense, stood with his hands behind his back, looked out at the market town at the foot of the mountain, and waited quietly.

This house is still inhabited, but I don’t know if the tenant has changed. We can only find out when the owner returns.

The wait lasted for three days and three nights. Chen Yuan did not show any sign of fatigue. He stood outside the gate with a calm expression.

Finally, at dusk on this day, a figure appeared at the end of the mountain path. After seeing Chen Yuan, he showed joy on his face and walked up to him quickly: "Fellow Daoist Chen!"

The person who came was Ren Man, whom Chen Yuan had been waiting for for three days. She was dressed in light green clothes, and her figure was much fuller than four years ago. The wrinkles on her face seemed to be lighter, and she looked radiant and radiant.

She came to Chen Yuan and bowed to him: "When did you come, Fellow Daoist Chen? I happened to be in the mountains hunting monsters these days and was not in the market. I am sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time."

Chen Yuan spread out his spiritual sense and faintly sensed the aura that Ren Man was trying hard to restrain. A smile appeared on his face and he replied, "It's okay. Chen has only been waiting for three days. Congratulations to Ren Daoyou for successfully building his foundation and making great progress in his cultivation!"

His spiritual awareness was too strong, and even if Ren Man concealed her aura, she could not hide her cultivation level in front of him.

Ren Man was surprised: "Fellow Daoist Chen can actually see my cultivation level?"

She restrained her aura and her cultivation was not obvious. She looked no different from an ordinary person, but Chen Yuan saw through her. She was extremely surprised.

Chen Yuan would not reveal his true colors, and said calmly: "I once learned a secret technique that allows me to detect other people's cultivation."

Ren Man's surprise faded away, and she bowed again: "Thanks to the foundation-building pill given by fellow Daoist, I have achieved my current level of cultivation."

Chen Yuan said: "Fellow Daoist Ren, there is no need to be polite. One foundation-building pill is nothing. Only if you have a solid foundation can you succeed in building the foundation."

The casual cultivators are all pseudo-spiritual root cultivators with poor aptitude. In order to successfully build a foundation with a foundation-building pill, they must have a solid foundation, a strong mind, and a bit of luck to have a 30% chance of successfully building a foundation.

If you want to increase the success rate of foundation building, you need to take a few more foundation building pills.

But for a casual cultivator to get a foundation-building pill is already a great fortune, so how dare he have such delusion? He can only practice diligently, build a solid foundation, and fight for that glimmer of opportunity.

Ren Man was extremely lucky to be able to successfully build her foundation, but she knew in her heart that without the foundation-building pill given by Chen Yuan, she would never be able to succeed in building her foundation.

But she did not express her gratitude. She just smiled, kept the favor deeply in her heart, and invited Chen Yuan into the courtyard.

The two of them came to the main hall and sat down. Ren Man brewed a new pot of spiritual tea and poured it for him.

Chen Yuan picked up the teacup, took a sip, and asked, "My nephew Cao didn't go with Taoist Ren?"

Ren Man frowned, "In order not to burden me, Xian Ji went to the Huanyue Mountains with two good friends to hunt monsters. He should be back in a few days."

Chen Yuan put down the teacup in his hand and praised: "Nephew Cao is independent and strong, and has inherited the style of fellow Daoist Cao. He will definitely achieve something in the future."

Ren Man sighed softly, with a look of regret on her face: "After I was lucky enough to build my foundation, the harvest from hunting monsters in the mountains was enough to support Xian Ji's cultivation."

"But Xianji is too ambitious and doesn't want to sit back and enjoy the fruits of his labor. He only wants to go into the mountains to hunt monsters and hone his character."

"Now the demon cultivators are rampant, and traces of foundation-building demon cultivators have appeared in the Huanyue Mountains, but he insists on doing it his own way. I am really afraid that he will meet with an accident one day..."

At this point, she paused, her eyes dim, "But I also know that casual cultivators like me don't have good aptitude. If we sit in the market, meditate and practice, without experiencing the trials of life and death, our foundation is not solid, and our mentality is fragile, how can we succeed in building a foundation?"

"It's a pity that I'm just an independent cultivator and can't get a few foundation-building pills for Xianji. Otherwise, he wouldn't have to take such a big risk and go into the mountains to hunt monsters."

This is the tragedy of independent cultivators. Without sufficient resources for cultivation, they can only constantly hone their foundation, temper their mind, and seek a glimmer of opportunity to achieve enlightenment.

This is not a useless move. Cultivation is not about piling up resources. Even if a cultivator has natural or earthly spiritual roots, if his mind is impetuous and his foundation is shallow, he cannot expect to cultivate to a high level.

When Chen Yuan entered the secret realm of Dongxu Mountain, except for the Tiangang Sword Sect which had been sending all its disciples, the other five major sects all sent out their elite disciples with excellent qualifications. Not only did they want to collect more spiritual herbs before the invasion of the demon cultivators, but they also wanted to temper the disciples' character so that they could go further on the road of cultivation.

However, as a mother, Ren Man did not want Cao Xianji to take risks, but due to the situation, she could only bury this pain in her heart. She only expressed it to Chen Yuan when she met him today.

But she was strong-willed and did not take the opportunity to beg Chen Yuan for help. Instead, she changed the subject and asked, "Fellow Daoist Chen is a senior disciple of the Lingyun Sect. He should have been to the Demon-Slaying Desert. I wonder how the battle is going now?"

Chen Yuan briefly recounted what he knew, and then took the initiative to exchange his cultivation experience with Ren Man.

Not long after Ren Man established his foundation, he encountered difficulties and had no one to guide him. He accumulated many questions and asked them all at once.

Chen Yuan's cultivation was far higher than Ren Man's, and he also gained the cultivation experience of Master Qing You. With a bird's-eye view, he could solve her doubts in just a few words.

After half an hour, all of Ren Man's doubts were resolved, she gained a lot of insights, and she respected Chen Yuan more and more.

She couldn't see through Chen Yuan's cultivation level, but she had seen a cultivator in the middle stage of foundation building from Guiyuan Sect. This person's knowledge of cultivation was far inferior to Chen Yuan's.

The two chatted for a while, and Chen Yuan finally got to the point: "Fellow Daoist Ren, I came here this time because I have something I would like to ask for your help."

Ren Man put away her smile and said seriously, "Please tell me, Daoist friend. As long as I can help, I will never refuse."

She had received Chen Yuan's foundation-building pill and had long wanted to repay him, but she had not found an opportunity. Now that Chen Yuan had spoken, she naturally had no choice but to do it. Chen Yuan asked, "Does Fellow Daoist Ren know Li Ju from Guiyuan Pavilion?"

Ren Man nodded and said, "Of course, this person is responsible for exchanging spirit stones. I have exchanged a few medium-grade spirit stones with him before. Most of the independent cultivators in Huanyue Market have had contact with him before."

Chen Yuan said slowly: "I have some hatred with this man and want to take his life. But he is hiding in the market, so I can't do it. I have met him before, so I want to ask Ren Daoyou to come forward and lure him out of the market."

Ren Man was surprised and said, "Li Ju had already reached the middle stage of foundation building more than ten years ago. Fellow Daoist Chen wants to attack him?"

Chen Yuan nodded, Ren Man said in embarrassment: "But Li Ju rarely leaves the market, and I am not close to him. If I lure him to leave the market, I am afraid that he will be exposed."

Chen Yuan said calmly: "Then just lure him to the cave."

Ren Man looked hesitant and her eyes struggled, and she didn't answer for a long time.

She wanted to repay Chen Yuan for his kindness, but Li Ju was a cultivator from the Guiyuan Sect. Regardless of whether Chen Yuan succeeded or not, she and Cao Xianji could no longer stay in the Huanyue Market.

But Ren Man hesitated for a long time, and finally could not forget Chen Yuan's kindness in giving her the elixir, so she agreed: "Leave this to me."

Chen Yuan saw Ren Man's expression and guessed what she was thinking. He smiled and said, "I will not let you work in vain. I will definitely reward you after the success."

Ren Man shook her head and said, "I was able to successfully build my foundation because of the elixir given to me by my Taoist friend. Now I finally have the opportunity to repay you. I am not greedy for any reward from you."

Seeing that she was determined to refuse, Chen Yuan stopped talking and asked, "Fellow Daoist Ren, have you thought of a reason to lure Li Ju here?"

Ren Man said: "Fellow Daoist Chen should know that according to the exchange rate of Guiyuan Pavilion, if you can only take out a few hundred low-grade spirit stones, it is 130 to 1, a thousand is 120 to 1, several thousand is 110 to 1, and tens of thousands is 100 to 1..."

"We are poor independent cultivators, and we can only take out a few hundred low-grade spirit stones. Li Ju privately exchanges them for us at a ratio of 120 to 1, and then uses his identity as a cultivator of Guiyuan Pavilion to exchange these low-grade spirit stones for medium-grade spirit stones at a ratio of 100 to 1. As a result, we make a lot of money."

"As long as I use this as evidence, I can lure him here by saying that there is a casual cultivator who wants to exchange spirit stones with him but does not want to enter Guiyuan Pavilion to trade. There have been precedents of this before."

Chen Yuan nodded slightly and asked, "When are you going to look for Li Ju, Fellow Daoist Ren?"

Ren Man said, "After Li Ju's death, Guiyuan Sect will definitely notice it. After Xian Ji comes back, I will go find Li Ju, lure him here, hand him over to you, and then leave Huanyue Market with Xian Ji."

After the two men agreed on the matter, Chen Yuan got up and said goodbye, rented a T-shaped house, meditated and practiced, patiently waiting for Cao Xianji to return.

At noon that day, he received a sound transmission note from Ren Man, and came to the "Ding Erqijiu" residence and met Cao Xianji.

Cao Xianji was extremely respectful and bowed to Chen Yuanshen: "Nephew Cao Xianji, hello to uncle!"

Chen Yuan tried to say a few words, and Cao Xianji stepped aside and stood by with his hands hanging down.

Four years later, his cultivation had reached the eighth level of Qi Refining. His progress was extremely fast, but his aura was quite strong and his foundation was solid.

Chen Yuan nodded secretly. This boy was indeed determined in his Taoism and had never slacked off. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for him to achieve such success.

Ren Man must have already informed Cao Xianji of the whole story, and she said to him without hesitation, "Fellow Daoist Chen, I will go and invite Li Ju over right away."

Chen Yuan nodded and turned to look at Cao Xianji: "Chen has rented Cave No. 347, nephew, you can go there to take shelter first."

As he spoke, he stroked his storage bag, took out a wooden sign, raised his hand and waved it, and sent it in front of Cao Xian's fuselage.

Cao Xianji bowed and took the token with both hands, responded respectfully, turned around and walked out.

Chen Yuan turned to look at Ren Man and warned him, "Fellow Daoist, be careful. If something is impossible, don't force it."

Ren Man nodded, then stood up and left.

After she left, Chen Yuan pondered for a moment, stood up and walked out of the house, stroked his storage bag, took out a few formation flags, raised his hand and threw them around the house.

Then he took out a formation plate about a foot in size and placed a medium-grade spirit stone into each of the five grooves. He held the formation plate in his left hand, made hand gestures with his right hand, and muttered something.

This is a low-level spiritual formation that Chen Yuan obtained from a demon cultivator. It has no other use but to conceal sounds and tracks and shield spiritual consciousness, but its effect is extraordinary.

Even a cultivator in the late stage of foundation building would not be able to spy on what is going on, and no sound from the formation would be able to be heard.

After setting up the formation, Chen Yuan returned to the courtyard, spread out his spiritual sense, covering the mountain path in front of the house, and waited silently.

The Huanyue Cave is a mixed crowd. There might be a cultivator in the late Foundation Establishment stage renting the cave. There is also a Jindan cultivator from the Guiyuan Sect in charge. His cave is right on the top of the mountain. Chen Yuan didn't dare to release all his spiritual sense to avoid attracting other people's attention.

About half an hour later, two figures appeared at the end of the mountain path and walked towards the house.

Ren Man was walking in front, and next to him was a middle-aged monk with an ordinary appearance. He was wearing a green robe with the word "Yuan" embroidered on the cuff. He had a gentle smile on his face and was talking in a low voice with Ren Man. It was Li Ju, whom Chen Yuan had met before.

He narrowed his eyes, stroked his storage bag, took out the gauze and put it on.

The next moment, Chen Yuan disappeared into the air.

After a while, Ren Man and Li Ju arrived in front of the house. Ren Man took out the wooden sign, opened the door, and walked in first.

Li Ju did not suspect anything and followed Ren Man in.

He had done countless transactions with these independent cultivators and never made any mistakes.

Moreover, there were Jindan cultivators in charge of the Huanyue Market, and there was also a large formation guarding the market, so no one dared to cause trouble in the market, and therefore he was not on guard at all.

But when he looked up, he saw that there was no one in the main hall, and he couldn't help but frowned: "Fellow Daoist Ren..."

Before Li Ju finished speaking, Chen Yuan put away Luo Yansha, and his figure appeared in front of him out of thin air, growing to about eight feet tall, his muscles bulging, his whole body glowing bronze, and he punched out!
Li Ju's face changed drastically and he quickly pulled back, but Chen Yuan was too close to him and he was completely unprepared. He did not mobilize his true energy in advance and was unable to dodge, so he was hit in the chest by Chen Yuan's punch.

Chen Yuan used all his strength in this punch. Under the tremendous force of 300,000 kilograms, Li Ju's robes could not withstand even a breath. His body was smashed to pieces and he died on the spot instantly.

Chen Yuan immediately dispersed the secret technique of the giant spirit body, raised his hand and took Li Ju's soul into his hand, then performed the soul-searching technique to explore Li Ju's memory.

(End of this chapter)