Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Halfway up the mountain, milky white mist was like a flowing ribbon, wrapping around the mountain peak, gently brushing over the eaves of an attic, and flowing into the distance.

Looking around, everything is hazy, as if you are in a fairyland.

A wide stone staircase, carved with fairy birds and auspicious beasts, is looming, winding up into the depths of the mist.

Three figures came closer and closer, running up the stone steps. In the blink of an eye, they arrived in front of the attic and stopped suddenly.

The leader was dressed in white, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and a free and easy temperament. At this moment, he frowned slightly and looked at the three-story attic in front of him. It was Chen Yuan.

Zhang Wushan and Ye Wendi followed behind him, also looking at the attic with slightly solemn expressions.

The attic was built on a flat ground on the edge of a cliff. All the spiritual woods were delicate and tough, immortal for tens of thousands of years. They sparkled with a faint spiritual light in the mist, exquisite and elegant.

One side of the attic is adjacent to a thousand-foot cliff, surrounded by clouds and mist, making it impossible to see the scenery below clearly.

If it was just an attic, no matter how exquisite it was, Chen Yuan would not stop there.

But in front of the attic door, there was a skeleton lying there.

Chen Yuan pondered for a moment, then walked up to the skeleton, spread out his spiritual sense, and looked down to examine it carefully.

The flesh and blood on this skeleton had long since decayed away under the erosion of time, leaving only a few pieces of tattered cloth hanging on the bones.

His bones were a pale golden color and seemed very tough. Even after tens of thousands of years, there was no sign of decay.

One of its legs was stretched back and hung on the threshold of the attic, while the other leg was kneeling on the ground. Its left hand was holding its head, with its five fingers deeply embedded in the skull.

Its right hand was stretched towards the sky with five fingers spread out, as if trying to grab something.

Its mouth was wide open, and even after thousands of years, one could seem to hear its scream before death.

The two empty eye sockets stared fixedly at the direction of the mountain top, revealing a deep sense of despair.

In front of it was a mustard seed ring broken into two pieces, dull and covered with a layer of dust. It was obvious that its spiritual energy had long since dissipated, and the space inside it had collapsed and been destroyed.

There were three spirit beast bags next to it, which were also badly damaged, and the spirit beast spaces inside them had already collapsed.

But Chen Yuan still spread out his spiritual sense, swept it over the mustard seed ring, and then retracted it.

Zhang Wushan and Ye Wendi had been following Chen Yuan, looking at the tragic state of the skeleton with solemn expressions.

Zhang Wushan frowned and said, "This is the third skeleton we have found along the way. They all appear to be in extremely painful postures, as if they were tortured before death."

"Tens of thousands of years ago, when the secret realm was closed, something must have happened here, causing the monks of the Yuling Sect to die tragically..."

Ye Wendi nodded slightly: "It's a pity that these three skeletons have no flesh and blood, and it is impossible to tell what injuries they suffered before death, and what caused their death..."

Chen Yuan's eyes flashed, and he said calmly: "Are these three skeletons definitely from the Yuling Sect cultivators?"

Both of them were stunned. Zhang Wushan's expression changed slightly: "Brother Chen, are you saying that the three skeletons we encountered were left by the enemies of the Yuling Sect?"

Chen Yuan shook his head: "Tens of thousands of years have passed, and no one knows what happened here in the first place."

“But it is a bit hasty to conclude that they are monks of the Yuling Sect based on just three skeletons.”

"The formation in this core area is fully activated. There must have been a big change in this secret realm back then."

"But an accident did happen, so the monks of Yuling Sect evacuated on their own."

"Or maybe it was an invasion by foreign enemies that forced us to seal off the secret realm. We don't know yet."

Zhang Wushan said: "Brother Chen is right. I was too arbitrary."

"It's a pity that the mustard seed rings of these three people have all decayed. If there were jade tokens left behind, we could guess their identities when they were alive."

Chen Yuan showed a bit of helplessness on his face. Time is ruthless and can erase all traces.

After the three of them stepped onto the stone steps, Chen Yuan was in front, and Zhang Wushan and Ye Wendi were behind. They used the light body technique to climb up.

Chen Yuan was very cautious. He spread out his spiritual sense and explored the surrounding situation.

However, the restrictions here not only prohibit cultivators from flying, but also restrict their spiritual consciousness.

Chen Yuan's spiritual awareness, comparable to that of a great cultivator, could only extend to a hundred feet away.

Zhang Wushan and Ye Wendi were even more miserable. Their spiritual awareness could only cover a distance of thirty feet around them, which was not even as good as that of a cultivator in the late stage of Qi Refining.

The layer of milky white mist covering the mountain was condensed from pure spiritual energy. No one knew what kind of formation was set up within it, and spiritual consciousness could not break through it at all.

Even the layer of formation covering the entire mountain hundreds of feet away could not be checked with spiritual sense, let alone seen.

This mountain is like an exquisite cage. Once you enter here, you will never be able to leave.

They tried many methods but were unable to break through this limitation. They could only sigh that the Yuling Sect was worthy of being an ancient sect.

He is obviously proficient in the art of taming beasts, but the formation he set up is so extraordinary that it is far superior to the top ten sects today.

Since their spiritual awareness couldn't reach far, the three of them could only slow down and be more cautious.

But surprisingly, they climbed up the stone steps for hundreds of feet, passed many attics and palaces, but did not encounter any formations or restrictions.

Seeing this, the three of them were very surprised. In this core area, the Yuling Sect actually had no defenses at all?
But then he thought again, the formations covering the six peaks are extremely tough, and this formation would require Chen Yuan to use his thunder magic with a hint of thunder to break it, so he felt relieved.

With such a solid formation guarding it, what other restrictions are needed?
Moreover, the spiritual energy here is so rich. Before the secret realm was closed, it was most likely the cave where high-level monks of the Yuling Sect lived, or a place for meetings. It is even more impossible to set up any killing formations or restrictions here.

As for the restrictions that forbid flying and isolate spiritual consciousness, they should force low-level cultivators to walk up the mountain so as not to disturb the teachers and elders in the sect and to demonstrate the order of hierarchy.

The three of them felt a little relieved. Although they still didn't dare to let their guard down, they no longer treated every step as if they were facing a great enemy, and they also increased their speed as they ran on the stone steps.

But after climbing only three hundred feet up the stone steps, they found a skeleton.

The skeleton was lying on its back on the stone steps. It was already rotten, but one could vaguely see its wide-open mouth and its hands tightly holding its head, as if it had suffered great pain before death.

Next to the bones, there was a broken storage bag and two spirit beast bags. The space inside had long since collapsed, leaving nothing behind.

After a careful look, the three found nothing and continued on their way.

They continued to climb the stone steps for more than 400 feet and found another skeleton in a hall.

The second skeleton was better, only half decayed, but still relatively intact.

It was sitting cross-legged on the ground, and seemed to be meditating before it died. Suddenly, it suffered great pain, covering its chest with one hand and hugging its head with the other hand. Its mouth was also wide open, and its upper body leaned forward, almost falling to the ground.

After the three of them investigated, they found that there were three broken ribs in the chest of the skeleton. It must have been seriously injured before it died, but they didn't know if it was related to its death. There was a mustard seed ring on the right wrist of the skeleton, but after tens of thousands of years, the spiritual energy had dissipated and it was broken into two pieces.

The treasures stored in it were destroyed when the space collapsed, and nothing valuable was left to prove its identity.

The skeleton in front of the attic was the third one the three had found, and it also did not leave any traces.

Everything he had in his life quietly disappeared with the passage of time.

……

After checking the bones, the three of them entered the attic again and searched carefully, and finally made some discoveries.

The gauze curtains hanging on the four windows on the third floor of the attic had long since turned to ashes, but the desk made of the spiritual wood had been preserved.

There was a jade slip on it, but because it was not protected by an array, after tens of thousands of years, its surface had turned yellow and mottled and was on the verge of decay.

But it was not damaged after all. Chen Yuan gently picked up the jade slip, probed into it with his spiritual sense, took it back after a moment, and handed the jade slip to Ye Wendi beside him.

After Ye Wendi checked the jade slip, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, and he handed it to Zhang Wushan.

Zhang Wushan looked at it with disgust, "This technique is quite exquisite. It can be cultivated to the middle stage of the Nascent Soul in 200 years. Among the cultivators of the same level, it can be said to be extremely powerful."

"However, this method requires symbiosis with the spirit beast's soul. If one prospers, all prosper, and if one suffers, all suffer. It consumes lifespan every moment, and is full of evil spirits. It is definitely not the right way."

Chen Yuan said in a deep voice: "This technique is the first thing we have gained since entering this peak. Although it is a little bit evil, it is after all a legacy of an ancient sect and is quite exquisite. We should all make a copy."

Zhang Wushan nodded and returned the jade slip to Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan flipped his hand and took out a blank jade slip, put it tightly against the mottled jade slip, injected his true energy into it, and after a while, separated the two jade slips.

Afterwards, Zhang Wushan and Ye Wendi also copied the skills one by one, but Chen Yuan's spiritual consciousness probed into the jade slip he had just copied and fell into deep thought.

After the two of them finished copying, Chen Yuan withdrew his consciousness and said thoughtfully: "There are more than a dozen difficult points marked in this technique, and the last one is disconnected, so it is not complete."

"Its owner seems to have just obtained this technique. He hasn't started practicing yet."

"And there is no second skeleton here. It should be left by the person who fled the attic in a hurry."

"It seems that Brother Zhang is right. This person was probably a cultivator of the Yuling Sect. Before he died, he was trying to figure out this technique and marking the difficult parts."

"But at this moment, something unexpected happened in the secret realm, causing him to suffer great pain."

"This person didn't even have time to put the jade slip away before escaping, but he didn't surge out. He died just after escaping from the attic."

Upon hearing this, the two of them immediately reviewed the technique carefully again.

Zhang Wushan frowned and said, "From the dozen or so questions he has marked, it seems that his understanding of the way of cultivation is still relatively shallow, but he still has some unique insights. His cultivation should be above the stage of forming a pill, but not yet the stage of forming an infant."

"After a cultivator has established his foundation, he will determine his main cultivation method. Unless it is absolutely necessary, he will not change it easily. Otherwise, he will have to cultivate his true essence all over again, which is a waste of time."

"This person studied this technique so carefully before he died. It seems that he wanted to change his practice to this technique."

“But after this method is perfected, one will need to bear the burden of the soul of a ninth-level spirit beast. For this, one will have to pay the price of losing one’s lifespan. Isn’t this courting death?”

Ye Wendi pondered for a moment and said, "Perhaps the technique this person originally practiced was too superficial, so in order to improve his cultivation, he had to change to this technique."

Chen Yuan shook his head: "Absolutely impossible."

Ye Wendi was stunned: "What do you think, Fellow Daoist Chen?"

Chen Yuan said in a deep voice: "This person has been dead for tens of thousands of years, but his body has not shown any signs of decay."

"From this, it can be seen that this person may have had a special physique and talents that were different from ordinary people."

"Perhaps the cultivation technique must be of a high grade, so the bones become extremely tough and show strange phenomena after death."

"Moreover, this is the core area of ​​the secret realm. Ordinary disciples of the Yuling Sect are definitely unable to enter this place."

"This person was able to study the technique in this attic. His status in the Yuling Sect must have been quite high. The technique he practiced must not be worse than this one."

When the two thought of the pale golden corpse, they both showed a look of enlightenment, but then more doubts arose.

Zhang Wushan was puzzled and asked, "Since the technique he originally practiced was of a high grade, why did he choose to practice this evil technique?"

Chen Yuan suddenly remembered the battle mentioned by the green robed formation spirit, and his heart moved. He said, "If it were you two Taoist friends, under what circumstances would you practice this evil method that can be mastered quickly and has great power?"

Ye Wendi hesitated for a moment, then said firmly: "It is naturally a matter of life and death."

Chen Yuan nodded and said slowly: "Yes, in my opinion, a major change may have occurred in the Yuling Sect back then, forcing its talented disciples to practice this evil technique in order to quickly improve their strength."

Zhang Wushan's expression changed slightly. He looked down at the mottled jade slip in Chen Yuan's hand and said solemnly, "What kind of incident could have caused a disciple of an ancient sect to cut off his own path and practice this evil method?"

Chen Yuan was silent for a moment, put away the mottled jade slip, turned and walked towards the stairs, and said lightly: "The Yuling Sect has disappeared, and what happened in the past has nothing to do with us."

Ye Wendi nodded slightly, with an indifferent expression, and followed.

Zhang Wushan was stunned for a moment, looked around, and through the rosewood window, he saw the white mist flowing quietly around the mountain, seemingly unchanging forever. He sighed softly and followed.

The three of them walked out of the attic. Chen Yuan snapped his fingers and a firebird flew out, burning the skeleton and the damaged mustard seed ring and spirit beast bag next to it into ashes, which then dispersed in the wind.

No matter how tough this skeleton is, it is only left by a Jindan cultivator and will ultimately be unable to withstand the magic cast by Chen Yuan.

The three of them used the light body technique again, with Chen Yuan in front and the other two following behind, climbing up the stone steps.

This mountain is about 1,700 feet high, and this place is still more than 700 feet away from the top.

With their speed, if there are no forbidden formations blocking the way, they will arrive in just a quarter of an hour.

But the three had just run a few dozen feet when a loud noise suddenly came from the distance.

The white mist covering the mountain suddenly accelerated a lot.

Chen Yuan's face changed and he stopped immediately. He turned his head to look in the direction where the loud noise came from, but he could not see anything.

The loud noise did not come from the mountain, but came from the spiritual mist in the west.

The other two also stopped and looked towards the spiritual mist in the west.

Zhang Wushan murmured: "Could it be..."

Chen Yuan looked solemn as he said word by word, "Brother Zhang's guess was correct. It should be that the Divine Demon Cultivator and the Jiuli Sect cultivator who broke through the formation and caught up with us!" (End of this chapter)