Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Li Qingshan flew all the way, changed direction several times, and made a big circle before returning to Qingshan Village.

After seven years, he is no longer the simple boy from the mountain village. He has the indomitable spirit of a sword cultivator, but has also learned the caution and carefulness that a cultivator should have.

Qingshan Village is still as quiet and peaceful as before. Seven years have passed without any change. Time seems to have stopped in this village.

The Li family was still the same as before, with blue brick and stone walls and a few brick and tile houses. They looked like the well-off families in Qingshan Village, and did not look like a wealthy family at all.

Li Qingshan wanted to build the most luxurious house in Yunrui County for his parents, but was rejected by Li Dalong and his wife.

Compared to wealth and glory, they prefer this kind of plain and quiet happiness.

When Li Qingshan lowered his escape light in the yard, it was dusk and Li Dalong and his wife were having dinner.

Still under the big locust tree, the two of them sat at a square table with several dishes on the table, both meat and vegetables. They held the porcelain bowls and chewed slowly.

This may be the only change they have experienced. Li Dalong no longer needs to go into the mountains to hunt, and Li Mi no longer needs to work on weaving, and their appetites have decreased a lot.

Nearly twenty years have passed since Chen Yuan accepted Li Qingshan as his apprentice.

Both of them are over 60 years old, but they still have black hair, few wrinkles on their faces, smooth skin, bright eyes, and strong spirits. They look much younger than before and only about 40 years old.

Li Qingshan knew that it was thanks to the two pills bestowed by his master that his parents were immune to all diseases, healthy and lived a long life.

He was very grateful to his master, not only for his teachings, but also because under his protection, he could stay at home to practice without worries, accompany his parents, and fulfill his filial piety, without having to run around for a few meager spirit stones like other casual cultivators.

Before building his foundation, he hardly ever left Qingshan Village. Every day he just meditated and practiced sword-flying, and comprehended the magical power of splitting light and transforming it into shadows.

The storage bag that his master left for him contained more than sixty low-grade spirit stones, two high-grade magic tools, and several bottles of late-stage Qi Refining elixirs.

When he was short of elixirs, he would use spirit stones to buy them. When the spirit stones were used up, he would sell his top-grade magic tools in exchange for spirit stones, which he would then sell for elixirs. This was enough for him to cultivate to the peak of the tenth level of Qi Refining.

He also didn't need to worry about the foundation-building pill. His master left him one. With his spiritual roots, building the foundation was a natural process and he succeeded in one go.

If it were an ordinary cultivator, there would be no such abundant resources for cultivation and he would have left home long ago.

……

Li Dalong and his wife were very surprised to see Li Qingshan coming back. Li Mi stood up and said, "Tiezhu is back. Mother will go get you a bowl."

Li Dalong smiled and pointed to the stool opposite the square table: "Tiezhu, sit down quickly!"

Li Qingshan had already stopped fasting, but he still sat down, took the bowl and chopsticks handed to him by Li Mi, picked up a piece of greasy bacon, put it in his mouth, and took a mouthful of rice, all with familiar tastes.

"Tiezhu, how come you came back so soon after going into the mountains this time? Are you safe?" Li Qingshan started to eat heartily, but Li Dalong put down his bowl and chopsticks and asked with concern.

In the past, it would take Li Qingshan several months to come back after he entered the Qingkang Mountains, but this time he was only gone for less than a month, which inevitably made him worried.

There was also a hint of worry in Li Mi's eyes. She and Li Dalong both knew that Li Qingshan was going to the mountains to hunt monsters.

The legend of the monster in the Qingkang Mountains has been circulating for thousands of years, to the point where it can stop children from crying at night. Even though Li Qingshan is a cultivator, the two are still very worried.

Li Qingshan swallowed a mouthful of food and said with a smile: "Dad, Mom, it's okay. I hunted a tiger monster this time, so I came back early. Come and eat."

The two of them then felt relieved and continued to eat. The family chatted and their laughter floated in the lazy evening air, drifting farther and farther away until it disappeared in the magnificent sunset.

After finishing his meal, Li Qingshan returned to his room, where he meditated and practiced to restore his true energy.

He planned to go to a market four hundred miles away tomorrow to exchange the materials for the demon pills in his hands for spirit stones, and then buy pills for cultivation.

The next morning, when the sky was dim, Li Qingshan's true energy was fully restored and he quietly walked out of the room.

Li Dalong and his wife were still sleeping soundly. He didn't intend to disturb them, so he flew into the air with a flash of light.

But just as he flew a hundred feet, he heard a loud shout in his ear: "Daoyou, please stay!"

Li Qingshan's heart trembled, and he looked back, only to see two beams of light flying from a distance at a fast speed, stopping a hundred feet away, revealing two figures.

Both men were dressed as Confucian scholars. He did not recognize one of them, but the other was Feng Yongyan, who had competed with him for the Tiger Demon Pill yesterday.

Feng Yongyan held a sable in his left hand, which lay lazily on his arm. Its fur was thick and fine, and its thick tail was swaying gently. Its dark eyes were looking at Li Qingshan curiously.

"You ran quite fast and changed direction on purpose, causing my brother and I to spend a lot of effort. But even if you run to the ends of the earth, you can't escape the nose of this sable!" Feng Yongyan stroked the sable lovingly, staring at Li Qingshan and sneering.

Li Qingshan's mind flashed back to the inexplicable light pink fragrance from yesterday, and his face darkened: "Is there something strange about that fragrance?"

Feng Yongyan said proudly: "Let me teach you a lesson. That's called Beauty's Fragrance. Once you are stained with the scent of Beauty's Fragrance, it will not fade away for three days. If Diao smells it again, I guarantee that you will not be able to escape!"

Another young scholar shouted, "Why do you insult our Bailu Academy?"

This man has a square appearance and is full of spiritual energy. Like Feng Yongyan, he is also a cultivator in the middle stage of foundation building. He is upright and outstanding.

Seeing that the two people came with bad intentions, Li Qingshan's expression turned cold. "I have never insulted the White Deer Academy. It is this Fellow Daoist Feng who wants to use ten low-grade spirit stones to force me to buy the third-level demon pill."

The young scholar was stunned, turned to look at Feng Yongyan, frowned and said: "Junior Brother Feng, is what this Taoist friend said true?"

Feng Yongyan stroked the sable and chuckled, "This man is slandering me. Senior Brother Cheng must not be deceived by him. I have no shortage of spirit stones. How could I only offer ten low-grade spirit stones for a level three demon pill?"

The young scholar nodded, then turned back and said in a deep voice, "Yes, Junior Brother Feng may be a bit of a playboy, but he has plenty of spirit stones, so he won't rob you of your demon pill."

"Fellow Daoist, you must give me an explanation today. My White Deer Academy will never allow anyone to insult me!"

Li Qingshan saw that this person was aggressive and must be the same as Feng Yongyan. He sneered and said, "What if I don't want to explain?"

The young scholar said calmly, "That's hard to say. Cheng can only punish them!" He stroked his storage bag, took out a brush, raised his hand, made a gesture, and shouted, "Go!"

The brush repeatedly passed through the air, and dozens of ink-colored sharp blades flew out and slashed towards Li Qingshan.

This brush glows with spiritual light, and like Feng Yongyan's sheep-hair brush, it is a top-grade spiritual weapon.

"Senior Brother Cheng, this person is very difficult to deal with. Let me lend you a hand!" Feng Yongyan flicked the storage bag with his right hand, took out the sheep-hair brush, and pointed it at Li Qingshan.

Li Qingshan's heart sank. Both of them had higher cultivation levels than him, and they attacked together. It was feared that today would not be a peaceful end.

But he was a sword cultivator, who specialized in sword cultivation and moved forward courageously. Even when facing a dangerous situation, he was not afraid at all. He immediately summoned his flying sword, raised his hand and made a gesture, splitting it into three sword shadows, a total of four flying swords, to meet the attack.

The young scholar's face darkened. "Three sword shadows? Their methods are quite strong. No wonder they dare to insult our Bailu Academy!"

The magic gesture in his hand changed, and the brush swelled in the wind, becoming a foot long and shaped like a dagger. He waved the brush repeatedly, like a scholar writing cursive script. The strokes of the brush were unrestrained, and countless ink blades flew out, covering the sky and the earth.

With Senior Brother Cheng by his side, Feng Yongyan felt courageous and shot the goat-hair brush at Li Qingshan at an extremely fast speed, like a flying sword.

But when the brush flew in front of Li Qingshan, it was blocked by the flying sword itself, and the two became entangled, inseparable.

Feng Yongyan did not practice any magical powers or spells, and had never nurtured any spiritual weapons. The goat-hair brush was rigid and stiff, and although it was a top-grade spiritual weapon, it was unable to break through the flying sword's blockade.

The other three sword shadows crisscrossed, weaving a large net of sword light, destroying all the flying ink blades.

Li Qingshan was surrounded by two people and could only defend himself, unable to fight back.

Although he was a sword cultivator, he had only just entered the foundation-building stage. His cultivation was low, and the flying sword in his hand was only a low-grade spiritual weapon. It was not easy for him to remain undefeated under the siege of two cultivators in the middle stage of the foundation-building stage.

But the simultaneous splitting into three sword shadows consumed too much of Li Qingshan's true energy. After a hundred breaths, Li Qingshan's true energy was almost exhausted.

The large net woven by the sword light shrank a lot, almost sticking to his body.

The three sword shadows began to become illusory and seemed likely to disappear at any time.

Sword cultivators are all about charging forward without hesitation and moving freely in all directions. They are not good at defense, and cannot endure long battles.

Even though Feng Yongyan had little experience in fighting, he could see that Li Qingshan was about to lose. He laughed and said, "So what if you are a sword cultivator? How dare you insult my White Deer Academy? I will make sure you die without a burial place today!"

He was very proud in his heart, and looked at Li Qingshan with contempt in his eyes.

Yesterday he was frightened away by Li Qingshan's flying sword. He was so ashamed and angry that he took out the beauty fragrance and let Li Qingshan be scented with the aroma.

This beauty fragrance is a rare thing, colorless and odorless, and extremely difficult to be detected by people. Feng Yongyan uses it specifically to track down beautiful female cultivators he likes, abduct them, and have sex with them.

After escaping from the valley, he told this matter to Senior Brother Cheng who was supervising him in hunting monsters in the mountains, and lied that Li Qingshan had spoken rudely and insulted the Bailu Academy, and asked Senior Brother Cheng to take action.

This Senior Brother Cheng adheres strictly to Confucianism, is upright and honest, and is full of integrity. That is why he was sent by Feng Yongyan's rival the dean to supervise him, but he was persuaded by Feng Yongyan instead.

Although Senior Brother Cheng felt disgusted with Feng Yongyan's past behavior, he also knew that he had no shortage of spirit stones and did not believe that he would force the demon pill to be purchased with ten low-grade spirit stones.

But he had no idea that a dandy like Feng Yongyan, who acted recklessly, was accustomed to bullying the weak and fearing the strong, and even took pleasure in bullying others.

When encountering a cultivator from a large sect whom you cannot afford to offend, you have to try your best to curry favor with him.

But if they meet a casual cultivator with no background, they will bully him to death without leaving any room for him.

Even if he had no shortage of spirit stones, he would still try to snatch the demon pills instead of giving them away for free to lowly cultivators.

Senior Brother Cheng frowned and said, "Junior Brother Feng, this man just spoke rudely, so you can just punish him. You don't have to kill him."

Feng Yongyan turned a deaf ear to him, flicked his storage bag, took out a golden arrow for pitching a pot, and threw it out!

He has already made an enemy of this sword cultivator, how could he let him go?

The golden arrow was also a top-grade spiritual weapon. It transformed into a stream of golden light and shot towards Li Qingshan at a speed no less than that of a flying sword.

Li Qingshan tried his best to resist the attacks of the two men, but he had no strength left to resist and could only watch the golden arrow fly towards him.

The images of his parents and sister flashed through his mind, as did his master's earnest teachings. His eyes were wide open, staring at the golden arrow, with a strong feeling of resentment and unwillingness welling up in his heart.

He must not die here, he still has to pursue the great way, he has to fly his sword above the nine heavens, to slay the dragons and Kun fish mentioned in his master's stories, to the strange and mysterious Jueling Island, and to travel all over Jiuxianzhou!

Li Qingshan changed the spell in his hand and shouted angrily: "Divide!"

The flying sword that was entangled with the sheep-hair brush flashed, and a sword shadow separated and slashed towards the golden arrow!

clang!
The sound of metal clashing was heard, and the sword flew backwards, while the golden arrow only slowed down slightly.

Li Qingshan's true energy was insufficient, and although he separated out a fourth sword shadow, it was of no avail.

Li Qingshan gave a bitter smile. He had tried his best, but in the end, two fists were no match for four hands.

But at this moment, a nimble fire crow descended from the sky and grabbed the golden arrow in its mouth.

"Bailu Academy? How dare you!" Along with a shout, a cultivator dropped from the sky and landed in front of Li Qingshan.

He raised his hand and waved it. A gust of wind blew past, dispersing all the thousands of ink blades. The three top-grade spiritual weapons flew back, their spiritual light dimmed, but Li Qingshan's flying sword was safe and sound.

A powerful pressure suddenly spread out, and Feng Yongyan and the young Confucian scholar both spat out blood, their faces turned pale, and they looked at the person who suddenly appeared in horror.

A Jindan cultivator, or a Jindan late stage cultivator!
When Li Qingshan heard this familiar voice and saw this familiar figure, he opened his eyes wide with a look of surprise on his face: "Master!" (End of this chapter)