Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Jin Luoheng smiled slightly: "Brother Wu, there is no need to be polite. Did your trip go smoothly?"

Wu Zexian stood up, looking a little ashamed: "On this trip to the secret realm, only seventeen disciples survived, and the spiritual herbs we obtained were one-third less than the last time the secret realm was opened."

"I have failed to do my job well and I am ashamed of the trust placed in me by the Sect Master. I beg the Sect Master to punish me..."

He was quite worried, but Jin Luoheng didn't seem surprised at all. Instead, he comforted him, "You don't have to blame yourself. Since the number of disciples entering the Dongxu Mountain Secret Realm has been reduced, the amount of spiritual herbs obtained will inevitably decrease."

"As for the injuries of the disciples, there is no need to worry. True gold is not afraid of fire. After going through the trials of life and death, these disciples can go further on the path of cultivating immortals."

Wu Zexian secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but then he felt even more guilty, and gritted his teeth and said, "Master, during this trip to the secret realm, in addition to the dispute between the Tiangang Sword Sect and our disciples, the Guiyuan Sect and the Mingyin Valley also seemed to be interfering. Although there is no evidence, our disciples cannot just die in vain!"

A cold light flashed in Jin Luoheng's eyes: "It seems that in the past ten years, our sect has made some big moves, which has made Bai Yanji and Wan Shihun feel wary. Before the Tiangang Sword Sect falls, they are worried that our sect will be wiped out."

Chen Yuan suddenly spoke up: "Master, Bai Yanji is quite well behaved, and he once saved Elder Zhou's life. We shouldn't act rashly. We might as well use Mingyin Valley as a warning to others."

Jin Luoheng frowned slightly: "The Wanshi soul failed to attack the Nascent Soul, and the power of Mingyin Valley has declined. It is not difficult to deal with it, but if the Guiyuan Sect is afraid and turns to the Tiangang Sword Sect, it will be a loss."

Chen Yuan smiled and said, "This is easy to handle. If Guiyuan Sect doesn't know what's good for them, we can take this opportunity to solve it all at once."

Jin Luoheng was startled for a moment, then smiled and said, "According to what you said, should we proceed slowly or strike with thunder?"

Chen Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "This time, I will be away from the sect and won't be back for a few years, so it's better to resolve it quickly."

Jin Luoheng nodded slightly: "Junior Brother Wu, I will write a letter now. Tomorrow you will take this letter to Mingyin Valley and give it to Master Wanhun. Reprimand the casualties of our disciples. Use harsh words and ask for compensation."

"Yes." Wu Zexian nodded in response, but there was still a hint of surprise on his face.

He originally thought that this matter would have to wait until the sect and the Tiangang Sword Sect decided the winner before dealing with it, but he didn't expect that Chen Yuanchou would immediately cause trouble for the Mingyin Valley without delay.

But he still had some concerns in his heart: "Master, will this alert the enemy and cause Mingyin Valley to transfer the sect's elite disciples and cultivation resources in advance?"

"Moreover, the secret realm of Dongxu Mountain never follows rules. If a disciple is injured, they will never be held accountable..."

Jin Luoheng said: "Just do it with confidence. Our sect has been very popular in recent years. If you keep silent about it, it will arouse suspicion."

"We have to show our domineering side so that Mingyin Valley will think that our sect will not make any bigger moves."

Wu Zexian suddenly realized: "I understand."

Jin Luoheng took out a jade slip from the mustard seed ring, left the imprint of his spiritual consciousness and the seal of the leader, and gave it to Wu Zexian.

Wu Zexian took the order and left. Jin Luoheng looked a little serious as he looked at Chen Yuan: "Although there are no Nascent Soul cultivators in Mingyin Valley, they are secretly connected with Zhiyuan Sect. Otherwise, they would never dare to attack our disciples in the secret realm of Dongxu Mountain. If they lead Zhiyuan Sect to this, it will be difficult."

Chen Yuan smiled and said, "Master, don't worry. This time when I entered the secret realm of Dongxu Mountain, I didn't just pick so many spiritual herbs..."

As he spoke, he slightly released his breath, and the pressure from the middle stage of the Nascent Soul slowly dissipated.

Jin Luoheng was stunned for a long time before he spoke: "You...you have broken through the bottleneck in the middle stage?"

More than a hundred years ago, Chen Yuan was just a foundation-building cultivator.

It has been less than thirty years since he returned to the sect and held the Nascent Soul Ceremony.

Now, he has actually broken through the mid-term bottleneck and caught up with Xuan Yuanzi, Du Qing and Master Shen.

How many years did it take them to cultivate to the middle stage of Nascent Soul?

Jin Luoheng remembered it very clearly: Xuan Yuanzi was in the 734th year, Du Qing was in the 709th year, and Sect Leader Shen was in the 715th year.

No matter how high his hopes were for Chen Yuan, he only hoped that Chen Yuan could break through to the middle stage of the Nascent Soul in two hundred years. Three hundred years was not too long, and four hundred years was barely acceptable.

But in just thirty years, Chen Yuan had crossed this gap, and it took him more than seven hundred years to reach the late Nascent Soul stage.

Jin Luoheng suddenly remembered that just before Wu Zexian returned to the sect, Chen Yuan gave him more than three thousand spiritual herbs and twelve Nascent Soul early stage pills.

What kind of opportunity did he get in the secret realm of Dongxu Mountain?
Chen Yuan restrained his breath and said calmly: "The four great Xuan Sects certainly don't want to see our sect rise, but they dare not offend our disciples openly, so they can only use means secretly."

"The disciples are improving their cultivation, and they dare not interfere in the affairs of Qi."

"The Dark Yin Valley is just the beginning. After digesting the cultivation resources and Qi-refining disciples of the Dark Yin Valley, the next ones will be the Tiangang Sword Sect and the Guiyuan Sect. Within ten years, we will unify the Qi Kingdom's cultivation world."

Jin Luoheng breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes still unable to hide the shock: "Destroying three sects in ten years, isn't that a bit hasty?"

"In order to avoid more trouble later, it is better to act early."

Jin Luoheng no longer hesitated and said in a deep voice: "Master will invite Senior Brother Zhuge back to the mountain gate and summon the elders. We will take action against Mingyin Valley within a month at the latest."

The two discussed the details again, and Chen Yuan bowed and said goodbye. Jin Luoheng suddenly remembered something and said, "Master received news two years ago that Liu Fan successfully formed a Nascent Soul, and came out of retreat a year ago to hold the Nascent Soul Ceremony."

Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes: "Oh? Is this true?"

Jin Luoheng said: "After the master learned about this, he sent people to find out the news."

"Liu Fan is lucky. The Blood Spirit Sect suffered heavy casualties in the Demon Realm, and he has extraordinary talent. Yan Zhang gave him a spiritual object to form a baby."

"In the process of killing monsters, I absorbed a lot of pure demonic energy, which strengthened my foundation. The momentum of the infant formation was astonishing."

"But after he came out of seclusion, he lived in seclusion and rarely went out. He never left the mountain gate."

Chen Yuan smiled and said, "He is indeed cautious. He is trying to avoid me. However, an early Nascent Soul cultivator is not worth mentioning. The grudge between me and him will be settled later."

……

One month later, in the southwest of Qi State, Yinlong Mountains.

This mountain range is about 300 miles long, with high mountains and dense forests. Ferocious beasts often appear here, and there are endless legends of ghosts and monsters. People in the surrounding areas dare not enter the mountains.

Only some ginseng pickers who value money over their lives enter the Yinlong Mountains in late autumn every year for the precious wild ginseng, but less than 30% of them can come out alive.

In the autumn of that year, after the ginseng pickers had paid homage to the mountain god, they once again wore thick cotton clothes, carried bamboo baskets on their backs, and held sharp hoes in their hands, and walked into the mountains in groups.

They knew very well that they would most likely stay in this mountain range forever.

But a hundred-year-old wild ginseng can be sold for one hundred taels of silver. If you live frugally, it is enough to provide for a family for twenty years.

A thousand-year-old ginseng can be sold for one hundred taels of gold. Only princes, nobles, and wealthy businessmen can enjoy it. With that, they can buy one hundred acres of the best irrigated fields, build a few bluestone brick and tile houses, and live a life of luxury.

These ginseng pickers have already thrown their lives away the moment they enter the mountains, with hearts full of passion and seeking wealth and fame in danger.

But they did not dare to go too deep and only dared to look for ginseng on the periphery.

Deep in the Yinlong Mountains, there is a layer of dark fog. Some ginseng collectors have mistakenly entered it and never come out. The legend of the black fog has spread like wildfire. Some people say that it is the poisonous gas exhaled by monsters. If you touch it, you will rot and die.

Some people say that it is the negative energy left by ghosts, which connects to the underworld.

Over time, ginseng pickers became afraid of the black fog and no longer dared to approach it.

But this time, they had just entered the mountain when sharp-eyed ginseng pickers discovered that hundreds of meteors were flying across the sky and falling towards the Yinlong Mountains.

Through the meteors, you can vaguely see individual figures.

Some people suspected that they were dazzled, but at this moment, three meteors stopped, revealing three monks in white shirts with stern expressions.

"The Immortal... The Immortal has come to the world!"

Immediately, someone knelt down and kowtowed to the immortal in the sky.

Others followed suit and kowtowed, but some people hid behind big trees and rocks, looking at the monks in the sky vigilantly.

After all, ginseng pickers live on the edge of a knife and are more courageous than ordinary people. Some of them don't believe in ghosts or gods at all.

The three monks in the sky looked at the ginseng pickers in the forest with great interest. One of the middle-aged monks asked, "Brother Hong, how do we deal with these mortals?"

Standing next to him was a young cultivator, who was Hong Yi, who had been implanted with a demon pill by Chen Yuan and entered the secret realm of Dongxu Mountain.

He exuded a heavy aura and had the cultivation base of the initial stage of foundation building, which made him slightly better than the other two cultivators.

Hong Yi descended with his escaping light, looked at the ginseng pickers on the ground, and said calmly: "A monster will be born in the Yinlong Mountains. You should quickly leave the mountains and forests to save your lives."

As soon as he finished speaking, the expressions of those ginseng pickers who were bowing changed drastically: "We're leaving right now, right now!"

"We will remember your great kindness, Immortal Master!"

They got up and ran back, but some ginseng pickers looked hesitant and did not leave.

These people are often daring desperadoes who, every year when they collect ginseng, indulge in prostitution, gambling, eating, drinking and having fun. In less than a year, they can spend dozens or even hundreds of taels of silver.

The next year, when he was penniless, he would go to the Yinlong Mountains again to collect ginseng. He would work hard for two months, and in return he would have another year of drunkenness and dreams.

Until you are eaten by a big beast or a blind bear, or die in a woman's belly, your life will be worth it.

They have been accustomed to enjoying life. After going into the mountains with great difficulty, they retreated without picking any ginseng. How could they endure another year of hard life?

Seeing that someone didn't listen to his advice, Hong Yi ignored him and flew back into the sky, saying calmly, "Let's go. Elder Fang ordered the three of us to patrol the area within 20 miles. We must not let any cultivator from Mingyin Valley go."

The middle-aged monk looked at the ginseng pickers who had not left the ground, frowned, and whispered: "These mortals don't listen to advice, should we force them to leave?"

Hong Yi said coldly: "Don't pay attention to it. Although the master has strictly ordered the disciples not to kill mortals at will, these people don't listen to the advice and seek death. We can't do anything about it."

The middle-aged monk nodded, ignored him, followed Hong Yi, and flew away.

He is more than twenty years older than Hong Yi, but he built his foundation eight years later, and his cultivation strength is much weaker, so he can only obey Hong Yi's orders.

After Hong Yi and the other two left, the remaining brave ginseng pickers continued to go deeper into the mountains and forests.

The next day, after several people died on the road, they finally arrived at the ginseng collection site.

There are mountains over 300 feet high here, with sparse forests and light moisture, which is most suitable for the growth of wild ginseng.

Since many ginseng pickers have left the Yinlong Mountains, it has become easier for them to pick ginseng, and everyone has made a good harvest.

Just as these ginseng pickers were in high spirits, several monks in black clothes, holding a three-inch small flag, flew across the sky.

When they saw these ginseng pickers, they suddenly stopped, raised their hands and waved, and a few wisps of Yin energy flew down from the small flags, circled around the ginseng pickers, and then hooked up their souls.

The ginseng pickers fell to the ground, their bodies instantly turning into mummies. The few who had luckily survived were so frightened that they screamed and fled into the distance.

The monks wanted to continue releasing Yin Qi, but one of them frowned and said, "A few frightened mortals will not reveal our whereabouts, so ignore them."

"We will split up and go to Jianling Mountain to ask for help from the Tiangang Sword Sect!"

A few people responded, fled in all directions, and soon disappeared into the horizon.

……

The deepest part of the Yinlong Mountains, at the gate of the Mingyin Valley.

Outside the light grey formation curtain, there was black mist lingering, and the sound of collision between the magical weapons and the formation curtain resounded through the sky, without stopping.

Countless flags were hung in the air, the wind was howling, and the evil spirits were surging, covering the gate of Mingyin Valley with a layer of eerie and terrifying atmosphere.

Wan Shihun stood on the top of a thousand-foot mountain, looking up at the slightly trembling formation in the distance, his face looking very ugly.

Three days ago, six hundred foundation-building monks from the Lingyun Sect suddenly appeared in the Yinlong Mountains and surrounded the gate of the Mingyin Valley.

Lingyun Sect's leader Jin Luoheng, supreme elder Zhuge Qi, and twelve Jindan elders attacked together and continued to attack wildly.

Fortunately, since the death of Sect Leader Di, Mingyin Valley has been on high alert and activated the sect protection formation in time, so the mountain gate was not breached.

Even due to thorough preparation, even after three days of siege, the sect protection formation remained stable and was able to continue to hold out.

But Wan Shihun's mood did not improve at all. The four Jindan elders standing beside him all looked ashen.

With two Nascent Soul cultivators besieging them, the sect protection formation would be broken sooner or later.

The most important thing is that Chen Yuan, who has mastered the art of teleportation, has not appeared yet.

The Mingyin Valley is unable to purchase the no-fly formation, so as long as Chen Yuan takes action, they will be powerless to resist.

Wan Shihun took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Have all the disciples who asked for help from Tiangang Sword Sect been sent out?"

A Jindan elder replied, "Reporting to the master, one hundred foundation-building disciples have been divided into ten groups. Three secret passages have been activated, and the last group just set out half an hour ago."

Wan Shihun's expression eased a little, and he sighed, "The cunning rabbit is not dead yet, so the hunting dog will be cooked. Lingyun Sect suddenly took action, and Zhiyuan Sect is out of reach. We can only hope that Senior Shen can lend a helping hand..."

Another Jindan elder laughed bitterly: "What can Senior Shen do? Chen Yuan's strength is comparable to that of a great cultivator. How can he stop him?"

The souls of the Master Wan fell silent, and the top of the mountain was dead silent, with only the bitter cold wind of late autumn whistling past. (End of this chapter)