Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

After seeing Qin Lian off, Chen Yuan meditated and practiced in the cave, waiting for him to bring the spiritual herbs and magic pills to complete the transaction.

Qin Lian did not let him wait too long. The next day, he gave the Wood-Horn Rhinoceros, the Broken Star Flower and a ninth-level demon pill to Chen Yuan and took the nine magic weapons away.

Three days later, Chen Yuan was meditating and practicing when Qin Lian came to visit him again, accompanied by a middle-aged cultivator.

Chen Yuan welcomed the two into the cave and sat down as host and guest.

Qin Lian introduced: "This is Brother Lu Ting, the head of the Jingzhou Heshan Sect."

The middle-aged monk clasped his fists and bowed, smiling, "Fellow Daoist Chen, I am honored to meet you."

"From what Fellow Daoist Qin said, Fellow Daoist wants to exchange a bottle of Nascent Soul Early Stage elixir for a thousand-year-old body-tempering spiritual herb."

"Lu happens to have a Earth Heart Lotus in his hand, and I'd like to exchange it with you."

Chen Yuan had never heard of the Heshan Sect, but when his spiritual sense swept over the middle-aged cultivator, he discovered that he was only at the early Nascent Soul stage.

This Heshan Sect seems to be just an ordinary medium-sized sect.

Chen Yuan bowed in return: "Fellow Daoist, please let me take a look at that Earth Heart Lotus?"

"Please take a look, fellow Daoist." The middle-aged monk took out a wooden box, removed the spirit-sealing talisman, and opened the lid.

A green lotus comes into view, with petals blooming layer upon layer.

Chen Yuan's consciousness carefully scanned the green lotus and nodded slightly: "This earth-heart lotus should be more than 1,400 years old, and it is better than the ordinary thousand-year-old body-tempering spiritual herbs..."

The middle-aged cultivator sighed and said, "To be honest, this Earth Heart Lotus has been growing in our sect's spiritual medicine garden for more than 600 years. It has absorbed a lot of spiritual energy. If it were other spiritual herbs, it would have been refined into elixirs long ago..."

Chen Yuan smiled, took out a jade bottle, and handed it to the middle-aged cultivator: "Please accept this bottle of elixir, fellow Taoist."

The middle-aged monk's eyes lit up. He reached out to take the jade bottle, opened the stopper, tilted it slightly, poured out a pill, placed it in his palm, and examined it carefully.

After a while, a smile appeared on his face, and he poured out the other pills one by one, checking them all carefully.

A full quarter of an hour later, he put all the pills back into the jade bottle and said with a smile: "Although I cannot recognize this kind of pill, it has sufficient spiritual energy, enough to exchange for this earth heart lotus."

"Then this bottle of medicine will belong to you, fellow Taoist." Chen Yuan raised his sleeve and flicked the wooden box, closing it again and putting it into the mustard seed ring.

The middle-aged monk immediately put away the jade bottle and said with a smile: "Daoyou, you are so straightforward!"

The transaction was completed and everyone was happy. The three of them exchanged greetings and shared their cultivation experiences. A day later, the middle-aged cultivator said goodbye and left.

This was just the beginning. Cultivation elixirs and top-grade spirit stones were both hard currency. After Qin Lian released the news, Nascent Soul cultivators came one after another with body-tempering spirit herbs and ninth-level demon pills to trade with Chen Yuan.

Although body-tempering spiritual herbs are rare, Jingzhou is located in the center of Jiuxianzhou. It is rich and prosperous, and there is no giant sect in it. Since ancient times, it has been a place where dragons and crouching tigers are hidden, and the number of Nascent Soul cultivators has always been among the best.

The remaining two bottles of Nascent Soul Early Stage elixir were exchanged for a thousand-year-old body-tempering spiritual herb and a ninth-level demon pill by two Nascent Soul Early Stage cultivators within a month.

Two months later, the seventy spirit stones were exchanged for two ninth-level demon pills by a Nascent Soul elder of the Jiuli Sect.

Chen Yuan obtained a total of four body-tempering spiritual herbs, but except for the Earth Heart Lotus, the other three spiritual herbs were very ordinary, and their body-tempering effects were not as good as those of the Iron Wire Grass Spirit Liquid.

Chen Yuan was worried that these four body-tempering spiritual herbs would still not be able to help his body break through the bottleneck. After weighing the pros and cons, he took out a top-grade spiritual stone and exchanged it for a thousand-year-old body-tempering spiritual herb.

In addition, he also took out two top-grade spiritual materials, wanting to exchange them for two more level nine demon pills.

He obtained a total of five top-grade spiritual materials from Kun Hai, Elder Gu, Patriarch Yun Tian and others, but in fact none of them was space spiritual materials, and they were all unusable.

When Qin Lian saw Chen Yuan take out thirty top-grade spirit stones and two top-grade spirit materials again, he felt a little numb.

As a well-known weapon refining grandmaster throughout the Jiuxian Continent, his wealth is extremely substantial, even surpassing that of many mid-Nascent Soul cultivators.

But in front of Chen Yuan, he could only admit defeat.

In Qin Lian's eyes, the mustard seed ring on Chen Yuan's right wrist was a treasure pot. Even if he took out a top-level magic weapon the next moment, Qin Lian would not be surprised at all.

Even compared with some great monks, Chen Yuan's wealth is not inferior.

But he did not get what he wanted. He waited at Wanling Peak for three months, but no one offered to exchange the ninth-grade demon pill for the top-grade spiritual material.

Unlike Donghua Continent, Jiuxian Continent is much richer and top-grade spiritual materials are not scarce.

On the contrary, the ninth-level demon pill needs to be obtained from the ninth-level demon king, which is extremely rare.

Nascent Soul cultivators are willing to exchange ninth-grade demon pills for elixirs or top-grade spirit stones that can improve their cultivation, but are unwilling to exchange them for top-grade spirit materials that can only be used to refine magic weapons.

Chen Yuan gained nothing and did not waste any more time. He bid farewell to Qin Lian and returned to Renzhou.

After he returned to the cave, Li Qingshan happened to come out of retreat and asked him for advice on the difficulties in his cultivation.

Chen Yuan gave Li Qingshan some pointers, then sealed the cave and began to refine the elixir.

A year later, Chen Yuan successfully refined thirty body-tempering elixirs and twenty-four ninth-level demon essence pills. His alchemy skills also improved a lot, and he was almost at the threshold of a 70% success rate.

There is almost no alchemy grandmaster who has as many opportunities to refine pills as Chen Yuan. Even the alchemists from the ten major sects are far from being able to do so.

While refining the elixir, Chen Yuan never forgot to infuse his body with starlight, and his body slowly approached the bottleneck of level ten.

He put away the alchemy furnace, stood up and went to the practice room, took out a pill made from the Earth Lotus, and swallowed it.

The Earth Lotus Pill transformed into a violent green spiritual energy that rushed into the meridians like a rushing river.

Chen Yuan was not in a hurry. He calmed his mind and practiced his skills. His strong meridians were like a river bank, firmly binding the spiritual energy.

After circulating for thirty-six cycles, it transformed into strands of extremely pure spiritual energy that penetrated into his limbs and bones, forcing out the impurities hidden deep within and strengthening his body.

I have been practicing for countless years, and there are no years in the mountains.

In the blink of an eye, five years have passed.

Chen Yuan refined all fifty-four pills and finally achieved his wish, breaking through the bottleneck in his physical body.

From then on, his physical body was comparable to that of a tenth-level demon king, enough to dominate this world.

And after refining twenty-four ninth-level demon essence pills, his cultivation level also improved by leaps and bounds, and he was already approaching the late Nascent Soul stage.

Just need to refine two more bottles of pills to reach the bottleneck in the later stage.

But unfortunately, Chen Yuan no longer had the ninth-level demon pill, let alone the thousand-year-old spiritual herb.

He had previously used Qin Lian to exchange for spiritual herbs and demon pills, and had already exhausted Qin Lian's network of contacts.

Even if he asked Qin Lian for help again, he would not be able to find a Nascent Soul cultivator who could produce ninth-level demon pills and thousand-year-old spiritual herbs.

Helplessly, Chen Yuan could only stop practicing and took out the Green Ox Demon Pill. He stared at this seemingly ordinary Level 10 Demon Pill that was far from being comparable to the Ice Phoenix, Black Turtle, and Golden Dragon, but he couldn't help but think of the scroll of the Kun Fish Skin.

The brilliance is restrained, and the divine objects are obscured.

Chen Yuan took a deep breath, put away the demon pill again, stood up and walked out of the training room.

There was no sound transmission talisman left by Li Qingshan in the stone hall. Chen Yuan raised his sleeve and the door of the cave that had been closed for several years slowly opened.

The sunlight fell on Chen Yuan's shoulders. He walked out of the cave and came to the edge of the cliff.

It was deep winter at the moment and the cold wind was howling, but it could not blow Chen Yuan's sleeves.

Looking around, the mountains are undulating, covered in silver, with occasional spots of withered yellow leaves dotted in between, making them look even more desolate.

The sky was clear, like a piece of transparent blue crystal. There was not a single cloud in the sky; all of them had turned into snowflakes and were falling to the ground.

Chen Yuan's somewhat dull and lonely state of mind due to years of meditation came back to life.

He smiled slightly, stepped out, stepped on the void, and headed towards the county town in the distance.

Chen Yuan’s cave residence was less than a hundred miles away from the county town. After a while, he arrived above the county town and descended with a light of escape.

The cold wind was blocked by the Fengyuan Mountains, and the sky above the county town was shrouded in hazy smoke. That was the smoke from the cooking stoves of every household, interweaving together to guard this peaceful place in the winter.

Chen Yuan landed on a street. People were walking hurriedly and no one noticed his figure.

The doors of shops on the street were closed, and every household had posted blessing characters and couplets, such as "The three yangs begin, the four seasons start", "A peaceful festival every year, a happy spring every year", etc., with the strokes of the pen moving quickly and the ink marks deep.

The sound of firecrackers continued in the ears, and a few bloated children wearing thick cotton-padded clothes stumbled out from the alley.

They deliberately stepped on the snow, making a creaking sound, and held windmills and rattles in their hands, raising their hands high, carefree. Their laughter was crisp, mixed with the sound of drums, but it was not noisy and was very pleasant to the ears.

At the end of the street, several young Confucian scholars in plain clothes were walking towards this side, congratulating each other, chatting and laughing, with excited eyes.

When they saw the children running over, they laughed and tried to get out of the way.

A horse-drawn carriage was approaching slowly from the other side. The old driver had a smile on his face. He held the reins in one hand and the whip in the other. He gave a light whip and uttered a long shout, as if he was singing a song, driving the horses pulling the carriage.

Thick cotton cloth was hung on the windows in front and on both sides of the carriage to keep the cold air out.

As the young Confucian scholars passed by, the cotton cloth on one side of the window was lifted, revealing a pretty face wearing a soft hat.

She looked at the tall and handsome young scholar among them, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

Suddenly, the young Confucian scholars looked over here. The girl blushed and quickly put down the cotton cloth. The carriage slowly drove away.

Several Confucian scholars immediately started to make a noise, surrounding the heroic scholar in the middle and teasing him non-stop.

The handsome scholar's face flushed and he was speechless, not knowing how to refute, but he kept stealing glances at the receding carriage, with a bit of admiration in his eyes.

Chen Yuan came out of seclusion today, which happened to be the New Year's Day.

On the first day of the first lunar month, everyone, whether rich ladies or ordinary people, were celebrating the New Year, and the atmosphere of joy filled the entire county.

Chen Yuan strolled on the street with a smile on his face, watching everything. He did not deliberately disperse his spiritual sense, as if he had become a mortal again.

He couldn't remember how long it had been since he last celebrated the Chinese New Year.

Every day he was either refining elixirs, meditating and practicing, or fighting with others, and he never stopped for a single day.

Since you have entered the world of cultivating immortals, you must fight for your lifespan. There will never be a moment of peace, and you cannot relax even a little.

Chen Yuan silently savored the festive atmosphere in the county town. The New Year's Festival marks the end of the old year and the beginning of the new year.

No matter how much pain, troubles, and sorrow I had in the past year, they were all thrown aside and I enjoyed a few rare days of happiness.

The sounds of laughter and firecrackers quietly fell into Chen Yuan's silent heart, stirring up ripples.

Unconsciously, he had walked through most of the county and came to a dilapidated land temple in the southeast corner of the county.

A young man with disheveled hair and wearing a tattered cotton jacket huddled in a corner of the main hall of the dilapidated temple, avoiding the cold wind and lighting a pile of firewood.

In his hand, he held a dry branch with a skinny duck skewered on it, put it in the fire, and kept turning it over and over. A happy smile appeared on his face, which was covered with wood ash.

Chen Yuan stopped, stood beside the young man, and watched him roast the duck silently.

The boy obviously rarely eats such delicacies, and he didn't control the cooking time well, so the skin has become a little burnt and gives off a faint burnt smell.

But the boy didn't care. After roasting the duck for a while, he put it to his mouth and took a big bite of the limited meat.

He was so burned that he kept opening his mouth to breathe out, but he was reluctant to spit out the meat in his mouth. He chewed it hard a few times and swallowed it with great effort.

The boy ate voraciously and soon finished the duck, chewing all the bones carefully.

He chewed up everything that could be chewed and swallowed it, even the oil on his hands was not spared and he licked it all clean.

After eating the duck, the boy stood up and walked behind the dilapidated altar of the land god statue, and took out a pile of hay and a dirty quilt with cotton wool exposed in several places.

He spread the hay carefully on the edge of the fire, smoothed it out carefully with his hands, and gathered the edges and corners carefully, then covered it with a quilt and curled up.

Through the broken roof of the main hall of the dilapidated temple, the young man looked up at the setting sun in the sky.

He licked his lips with satisfaction, closed his eyes and fell asleep, with a smile on his lips that could not be concealed by the darkest or thickest gray.

Chen Yuan looked at the boy lying on the haystack and remembered himself when he had not yet left Chenjia Village and could only sleep on a dirt bed with his little sister.

He sighed softly, and spread out his spiritual sense, sweeping over the young man.

The boy has no spiritual roots, he is just an ordinary mortal.

Chen Yuan shook his head and pointed a spot. A stream of light shot out and flew into the boy's body.

The boy frowned and seemed to be in some pain, but he did not wake up.

Chen Yuan temporarily compiled a volume of martial arts skills that can rival the top martial arts skills in the mortal world. Regardless of the boy's aptitude, as long as he practiced successfully, he could become a congenital warrior.

But as a beggar, how he could find enough meat to refine his essence into energy and make up for the consumption of martial arts training depended on his own ability.

Chen Yuan turned around and walked out of the ruined temple, and flew into the sky with a flash of light.

In less than a quarter of an hour, he returned to the cave and came to the training room. He sat cross-legged, took out the spiritual jade pendant that Jing Shuhan gave him, stared at it, and slowly stroked it.

After a long time, Chen Yuan put away the jade pendant, his expression became serious, and he took out the Green Ox Demon Pill. (End of this chapter)