Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Chen Yuan waited for about half an hour, and Zhuge Qi returned, presenting a storage bag with both hands: "This is all the top-grade spiritual materials in the sect's treasury, as well as 1,736 top-grade spiritual stones after deducting the consumption of the formation and the elders' offerings. Please have a look, Grand Elder."

Chen Yuan took the storage bag in his hand, and under Zhuge Qi's reluctant gaze, he probed into it with his spiritual sense, checked it, and nodded.

The spiritual stones and materials in the storage bag were exactly as Zhuge Qi had described.

Although these seven kinds of high-quality spiritual materials are relatively common, they are numerous. If you take out a few more high-quality spiritual stones, they are equivalent to top-quality spiritual stones.

Chen Yuan put away the storage bag and said with a smile: "During this trip to the White Crane Sect, I met Fellow Daoist He."

Upon hearing this, Zhuge Qi no longer cared about the spiritual materials and stones that Chen Yuan had taken away. He clasped his fists and bowed, and said anxiously, "Excuse me, Grand Elder, where is our Master now? When can he return to the sect?"

Chen Yuan said in a gentle voice: "Don't worry, Elder Zhuge. Just wait patiently for a while, and the headmaster will be able to return to the sect. However, this matter involves a lot of things, and the specific situation cannot be disclosed for the time being."

Zhuge Qi's expression eased a little, but there was still worry in his eyes. He forced a smile and said, "Zhuge understands."

He was obviously not reassured, but Chen Yuan could not tell anyone about the Demon Realm. If it were leaked, it would only cause chaos for the Lingyun Sect.

He ordered: "Elder Zhuge, please send all the five hundred and eight hundred year old spiritual herbs in the sect to the Alchemy Pavilion. I will start refining the elixir tomorrow."

Zhuge Qi's eyes lit up, he immediately agreed, turned around and left.

After Chen Yuan returned to the sect, he learned in detail about Chen Yuan's past experiences in Lingyun Sect from Jin Luoheng and other elders.

He knew that Chen Yuan had passed the Alchemy Pavilion's alchemy assessment and, after building his foundation, had refined pills for other disciples. His alchemy skills were quite extraordinary.

The next day, Chen Yuan went to Jiangzhen Peak to meet Jin Luoheng and asked about the situation of the disciples of the sect.

Jin Luoheng said: "Senior Brother Zhuge is very concerned about this matter. Now all the halls and pavilions dare not discriminate against the disciples of the loose cultivator lineage openly."

“Whether it’s practicing the hundred arts of cultivation, exchanging for elixirs and spiritual tools, or accepting sect missions, everything has improved a lot compared to before.”

"But these old customs will not disappear overnight."

"But you have already issued the decree. With Elder Zhuge pushing it from behind and me supervising, no one dares to complain. One day, you will be able to treat everyone equally."

Chen Yuan felt relieved and gave Jin Luoheng a mustard seed ring. He then came to the Alchemy Pavilion. The elder in charge of the Alchemy Pavilion had been waiting for him all night.

The Lingyun sect has a complete inheritance. Although it cannot be said to be extremely profound, there is also a master of alchemy in the sect, named Zuo Heng, who is able to refine elixirs for the late stage of the Jindan stage, but his success rate is mediocre.

He handed a storage bag to Chen Yuan and led him to a stone chamber in the deepest part of the Earth Fire Palace, where he also prepared an alchemy furnace of excellent quality.

Chen Yuan returned the alchemy furnace to him and took out his usual alchemy furnace.

He got this alchemy furnace from Master Duan Fang, and its original quality was very ordinary.

But it has been with Chen Yuan for nearly two hundred years and has refined hundreds of furnaces of elixirs. Under the nourishment of the elixir energy, its quality has greatly improved, which is rare in the world.

Chen Yuan took out the spiritual herbs prepared by Zhuge Qi from the storage bag. There were twenty-five eight hundred year old spiritual herbs and forty-nine five hundred year old spiritual herbs.

This is the accumulation of Lingyun Sect over the years, which can be put together to make eighteen furnaces of elixirs.

Chen Yuan raised his hand and lifted the lid of the furnace. Four spiritual herbs flew into the furnace together and began to purify four kinds of spiritual liquids at the same time.

With his current alchemy skills, he could easily refine pills for the Jindan stage. In ten days, he had refined the first batch of pills with a success rate of up to 90%.

In the following six months, apart from drawing starlight into his body every month, Chen Yuan spent all his time refining pills.

He made light work of refining all eighteen furnaces of pills, with a success rate of 90% for each, and obtained a total of 162 pills.

After he left the Earth Fire Palace, he called Zuo Heng, took out the pill recipes he had collected over the years, and asked him to put them in the Alchemy Pavilion. As long as he did enough good deeds, the alchemists in the sect could exchange them for them.

In addition, Chen Yuan also gave Zuo Heng some advice on alchemy, and finally said: "Elder Zuo, the Alchemy Pavilion is in charge of the sect's spiritual herbs and elixirs, and is responsible for training alchemists for the sect. It is extremely important. We must be fair and just, and treat everyone equally. Do you understand?"

Upon hearing this, Zuo Heng thought that starting this year, Zhuge Qi suddenly began to test the spiritual consciousness of new disciples. Regardless of their aptitude and background, as long as they were different from ordinary people, they could practice the hundred arts of cultivation. Thinking of the background of this supreme elder, he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.

He clasped his fists and bowed, saying solemnly: "I will follow the order of the Supreme Elder. The Alchemy Pavilion did have some old rules and bad habits in the past, but I promise that in the future, the Alchemy Pavilion will never be partial to anyone!"

Chen Yuan smiled and nodded, then left the Alchemy Pavilion with Zuo Heng seeing him off.

Zuo Heng is not young. He has been a member of Lingyun Sect for more than 400 years, which makes him one generation older than Jin Luoheng and Zhuge Qi.

But Chen Yuan gave him the elixir recipe and taught him the art of alchemy, which benefited him a lot. There was nothing wrong with treating him as a disciple.

Chen Yuan returned to the cave, called Zhuge Qi, gave most of the pills to him, and only kept two bottles of early stage pills.

Chen Yuan looked solemn and warned, "There may be major changes in Donghua Continent in the future. We must be prepared. Distribute these pills to the elders in the sect and tell them to practice diligently and not slack off."

Zhuge Qi took the pills and thought of the fact that Xuan Yuanzi had not returned yet. His expression changed slightly and his joy at seeing so many pills was diluted a lot.

Chen Yuan didn't explain too much, and changed the subject: "How are the sect competition and the Ascension Conference going?"

Zhuge Qi replied, "Everything went very smoothly. According to the instructions of the Grand Elder, the Good Merit Hall has suspended the exchange of Foundation Establishment Pills. The number of Qi Refining disciples signing up for the competition has increased sharply, and the competition is very fierce."

"The same is true for the Ascension Conference. Our sect no longer needs Ascension Orders, so the number of places has doubled. Other sects did not hold Ascension Conferences, so the number of participants is ten times the usual number."

"After the competition method was changed, even those who were unlucky would have a second chance. The disciples and independent cultivators who won in the end were all very powerful people."

Chen Yuan warned, “Remember to keep an eye on the new independent cultivators. There must be spies from other sects among them, but you must not treat them differently in public, to discourage them.”

Zhuge Qi said: "I have ordered the foundation-building disciples of the Law Enforcement Pavilion to secretly monitor these independent cultivators and not let them notice."

Chen Yuan nodded slightly: "I will be away from the sect for a while, and all matters of the sect will still be handled by Elder Zhuge."

"Elder Sun is leaving the sect with me, and his return date is uncertain. What is his current position?"

Zhuge Qi replied: "Elder Sun is currently in charge of guarding Lingyun Market. I will send someone to invite him back to the sect."

Chen Yuan smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Elder Zhuge."

There is only one Elder Sun in Lingyun Sect, and that is Sun Congyao.

Zhuge Qi put him in charge of guarding Lingyun Market, and he could share the spirit stones handed in by various shops. This was obviously a way of repaying Chen Yuan for not taking back the power.

……

The next day, Sun Congyao came to Chen Yuan's cave. Chen Yuan went out to greet him personally, calling him "Senior Brother" without any airs of a supreme elder.

The two entered the cave, sat down as host and guest, and exchanged greetings for a while. Chen Yuan took out two jade bottles and handed them to Sun Congyao: "Brother, please accept these two bottles of Ningzhen Pills."

Sun Congyao did not refuse and said with a smile, "Thank you, Junior Brother."

Ningzhen Dan is an elixir for the early stage of Jindan, which can improve cultivation. It is very precious to him, but to Chen Yuan, a Nascent Soul cultivator, it is nothing.

Sun Congyao didn't even check, and directly put the two jade bottles into the storage bag, and said with a smile: "Elder Zhuge sent someone to call me back to the sect, saying that my junior brother wanted to see me for something. My cultivation is low, so I wonder what I can do for my junior brother?"

Chen Yuan smiled slightly: "Senior Brother will know later."

The two left the sect and flew all the way to Huanyue Market, then flew south for more than a thousand miles and stopped over a barren mountain. Sun Congyao looked at the bare barren mountain under his feet, spread his spiritual sense, but found nothing, and a trace of doubt flashed in his eyes.

Chen Yuan raised his sleeve and flicked it. The air on the surface of the barren mountain rippled like water waves. A layer of transparent curtain slowly emerged, revealing a cave halfway up the mountain.

Sun Congyao was stunned: "Junior brother, did you set up this illusion array? It's really ingenious."

Chen Yuan said seriously: "There is a half-destroyed formation in this cave. I would like to ask you to stay here to prevent others from entering and destroying the formation."

"A half-destroyed formation?" Sun Congyao was puzzled.

Chen Yuan said: "This is a long story, I will tell you in detail later, but this formation is very important, I don't trust others, I can only ask you to guard this place, I hope you can agree."

After saying that, he clasped his fists and bowed to Sun Congyao.

Sun Congyao raised his hand to support him and said sternly, "Brother, what are you doing? Since you have spoken, it is my duty as a brother."

"From today on, I will open a cave here and will never let anyone else enter the cave."

Chen Yuan smiled and said, "Thank you, Senior Brother. This place is very remote and rarely visited by cultivators. But perhaps there will be cultivators from the Blood Spirit Sect coming here to check it out. Although the chance is not high, Senior Brother, you must be careful and on guard."

Sun Congyao frowned and his expression became serious: "I understand."

Twenty years ago, when the Demon Sect retreated, it made an agreement with the six sects that it would never enter Qi again.

It seems that the formation in the cave is indeed extremely important, and it actually allowed the Blood Spirit Sect cultivator to violate the agreement and sneak in quietly.

Chen Yuan took out the array plate and told the method of controlling the magic array truthfully.

Sun Congyao opened the illusion array and created a cave on the top of the barren mountain.

Chen Yuan handed him a low-level magic weapon that he had obtained from some unknown cultivator, and gave him some careful instructions before saying goodbye and leaving, flying south.

After learning about the Demon Realm, the importance of the ancient teleportation array in his mind rose to a new level. Just in case, someone still had to guard it.

Originally, the best candidate in Chen Yuan's mind was Jin Luoheng. He had a deep cultivation base and was very powerful. As long as the Nascent Soul cultivator did not take action, the teleportation array would be fine.

But he was a cultivator in the late Jindan stage, and his every move was being watched by all sects, so he was too conspicuous.

After much deliberation, Chen Yuan decided to ask Sun Congyao to guard the teleportation array.

Sun Congyao has a steady personality and has reached the Jindan stage. He can stay here and drive away low-level cultivators who have mistakenly entered the mountains.

……

After leaving the barren mountain, Chen Yuan flew all the way, passed through several countries, and arrived at the Shaoyue Mountains in the Chu State.

This place is the mountain gate of Tianxuan Sect. Tianxuan Market at the foot of Shaoyue Mountains is known as the number one market in Donghua Continent. It gathers tens of thousands of cultivators and is extremely prosperous.

Chen Yuan came to the Yingke Peak outside the mountain gate of Tianxuan Sect, revealed his Nascent Soul cultivation, and took out the last letter given to him by Master He.

The person in charge of the Jindan stage on Yingke Peak was extremely respectful and immediately sent a foundation-building disciple back to the mountain gate to report to the elders.

Chen Yuan waited for less than an hour before the foundation-building disciple led a refined cultivator back to the Yingke Peak.

Upon seeing this, the Jindan master bowed deeply and said, "Disciple, Ruan Li, the master of Yingke Peak, greets Elder Lu."

The elegant monk nodded slightly, looked at Chen Yuan, and bowed: "Is this Brother Chen Yuan? I am sorry for not coming to greet you."

Chen Yuan stood up and returned the greeting: "I am Chen Yuan from Lingyun Sect, nice to meet you, Fellow Daoist Lu."

The elegant cultivator is named Lu Hong, who is in the early Nascent Soul stage and has a close relationship with Master He.

Lu Hong turned around and told the person in charge of the Jindan: "You go down first."

"Yes." The person in charge of the Jindan stage bowed to Lu Hong and Chen Yuan respectively, then bowed and left.

Lu Hong came to the main seat and gestured, "Fellow Daoist Chen, please take a seat."

The two sat down, and Lu Hong looked apologetic: "Fellow Daoist Chen came from Fellow Daoist He, so he should have known about the Demon Realm."

"Our sect has previously sent several elders into the Demon Realm. The sect leader has issued an order that the mountain gate is on high alert. We are unable to invite Fellow Daoist Chen to enter the mountain gate for a chat. I hope you will forgive me."

Chen Yuan said solemnly: "Containing the expansion of the Demon Realm is related to the safety of Donghuazhou. Your clan has made the greatest contribution, and I admire you very much."

Lu Hong smiled and said, "How are you these days, Daoist He?"

The two exchanged pleasantries for a while before Chen Yuan got to the point: "I need some high-quality spiritual materials, but I haven't had a baby for long, so I don't know many like-minded people."

"Fellow Daoist He once told me that Fellow Daoist Lu has profound cultivation and a wide range of friends, so I have the audacity to ask for a letter. I hope that Fellow Daoist Lu can help me, and I will definitely reward you generously."

Lu Hong looked a little embarrassed: "What kind of spiritual materials do you need, fellow Daoist?"

Chen Yuan pondered for a moment and said the names of seven spiritual materials, one of which was a top-grade spiritual material.

Lu Hong frowned and said, "This matter is somewhat difficult. Our sect has been entrusted by various sects to set up a large formation, which requires a lot of spiritual materials. The elders in the sect have taken out a lot of spiritual materials, but I am afraid it is difficult to meet the needs of fellow Taoists."

Chen Yuan smiled and said, "Even if it's just one kind of spiritual material, I will be grateful. However, I don't have top-grade spiritual stones, so I can only use high-grade spiritual stones and spiritual materials to offset it. Will the elders of your sect accept it?"

Lu Hong's expression eased a little: "It's okay, I'll give it a try, and please stay for a few days."

After saying that, he stood up and said goodbye. Chen Yuan sent him out and moved him into a cave arranged by the person in charge of the Jindan realm.

Three days later, Lu Hong came again and apologized, "I visited the six elders who stayed in the sect and only found two kinds of spiritual materials that you need."

He took out two high-quality spiritual materials. Chen Yuan sighed inwardly, but smiled broadly: "Thank you, fellow Daoist."

The price Lu Hong mentioned was exactly the market price of these two spiritual materials, not a cent more.

Chen Yuan took out a thousand high-grade spirit stones and three ordinary high-grade spirit materials and bought these two kinds of spirit materials.

In Jiuxianzhou, one thousand high-grade spirit stones can only be exchanged for two top-grade spirit stones at most.

However, the number of Nascent Soul cultivators in Donghua Continent is far less than that in Jiuxian Continent. It only takes more than 300 high-quality spirit stones to exchange for one top-quality spirit stone.

Chen Yuan gave Lu Hong another top-grade spirit stone as a reward, and Lu Hong did not refuse.

There was no friendship between him and Chen Yuan, so it was naturally impossible for him to help him for no reason.

But after all, he only found two kinds of top-grade spiritual materials, so a piece of top-grade spiritual stone was just the right reward.

After the transaction was completed, the atmosphere became much more harmonious. Lu Hong smiled and said, "In another four years, it will be the Tianxuan Auction held every twenty years. By then, many Yuanying fellows will come to participate."

"The spiritual materials you need are quite rare. You may be able to find some at the auction." (End of this chapter)