Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

At the foot of Leishan Mountain, inside the main hall.

Xiangqing, Youji, Tianhou, and several other trusted demon generals of the Thunder Mountain Demon King stood below the steps, their heads slightly bowed, while only Youji stood with his head held high.

The hall was completely silent, as if a thunderstorm was brewing. Lightning flashed and arcs of electricity flew everywhere, creating a heavy and oppressive atmosphere.

Beside the demon generals was a huge, broken skeleton, stained with a layer of green, exuding a somewhat sinister feeling.

The Thunder Mountain Demon King sat high on the main seat, staring at the skeleton, his face ashen, and he remained silent.

Behind him stood two beautiful Nascent Soul maidens, their faces still bearing gentle and submissive smiles, but at this moment, they appeared exceptionally strange.

boom!
Suddenly, the Thunder Mountain Demon King slammed his hand heavily on the armrest. The wide stone chair, made of top-grade spiritual materials, could not withstand the Demon King's angry blow and immediately collapsed.

Pebbles littered the ground, rolling down the jade steps with a crisp sound that echoed through the empty hall.

"Erosion Wood has gone too far, poisoning my demon general. It seems he's determined to fight me. Well then, I'll grant his wish!"

The Thunder Mountain Demon King's voice was as cold and sharp as a gust of wind. He turned to look at the demon generals and said, "Youji, you must go to the Corroded Wood Cave immediately and deliver a challenge on my behalf!"

The Demon General Youji seemed to have been waiting for the Thunder Mountain Demon King's order, and immediately clasped his hands in response: "I will obey Your Majesty's decree!"

The Thunder Mountain Demon King then looked at Demon General Xiang Qing: "Quickly issue an edict instructing all demon generals to gather their demon generals and beasts as soon as they are ready to fight the Erosion Wood, and then assemble at the edge of the cave."

A hint of worry flashed in Xiangqing Demon General's eyes as he cautiously advised, "The Wood-Eating Demon King established his domain earlier than the Great King, and he commands far more demon generals than my Thunder Mountain Cave. Starting a war now would be exactly what he wants..."

The Thunder Mountain Demon King frowned: "The Wood-Eating Tree is going too far. Even if it means sacrificing some of my strength, I cannot let him run rampant!"

"Although Shi Mu has many demon generals under his command, they are all mediocre and not worth fearing."

"Your bloodlines contain the power of thunder, and you have been carefully nurtured by me and refined with the Thunder Mountain Tempering Crystal. Your strength is rarely matched among demon generals of the same rank."

"I also have a Saint Clan demon general like Kunfeng under my command. If we really think about it, we are not weaker than the Corrosion Cave."

"You do not seek victory, but only to avoid defeat. I will take action."

"As long as the Wood-Eating King is defeated by me, this battle will be won."

"This time, I will seize at least ten million miles of territory from the Wood Erosion!"

The Demon General Youji proclaimed loudly, "Your Majesty is wise! The Wood-Eating Demon has been at the Demon King level for two hundred thousand years, and has not even left its cave dwelling in recent years. It has lost all its vigor."

"And with the King's bravery and progress, and the help of the Thunder Mountain tempering crystal, he is only a step away from becoming a Demon Saint."

"The Thunder Dao Divine Power is also effective against Wood Erosion, so why not just take its life and eliminate the threat forever!"

The Thunder Mountain Demon King shook his head: "It is not difficult for me to defeat the Corrupting Wood, but after all, it is a spirit wood in human form. Its body is too huge and its demonic power is too strong. It is not easy to kill it."

"Moreover, the Demon Saint has few late-stage Void Refinement Demon Kings under his command. I can seize all the territory of the Corrosion Wood Cave, but I cannot take his life."

"This battle is to teach Shi Mu a lesson, seize some treasures, and make him dare not plot against me again."

The Heavenly Hou Demon General said solemnly, "My Thunder Mountain Cave has not participated in the war between the two realms for many years, and the demon generals and demon commanders have become somewhat rusty in battle."

"This battle has come at the perfect time. Only through fierce fighting can an elite army of demonic beasts be forged."

The Thunder Mountain Demon King nodded slightly: "Tianhou is right. You all hurry up and prepare. This time, we must fight against the Corrosion Wood Cave!"

……

Beneath the towering trees of the Corroded Wood Cave, in the grand hall built of spirit wood, the Corroded Wood Demon King sat high on the main seat, holding a jade slip in his hand and examining it intently.

Several trusted demon generals, including the white-haired demon general and the yellow-robed demon general, stood below the steps, surrounding the Netherworld Demon General.

The Demon General Youji stood tall, his expression a mixture of respect and arrogance.

After a while, the Wood-Eating Demon King slowly raised his head, and a rare hint of anger appeared on his stiff face.

He stared at the Demon General Youji and said, word by word, "Four of my demon generals died under the power of thunder magic. Before I even issued a challenge, Leishan turned around and declared war on me first. How outrageous!"

A sense of oppressive power emanated from him, pressing down on the Demon General Youji, heavy and imposing.

Despite the Demon King's oppressive aura, the Demon General Youji remained upright, though several arcs of lightning suddenly surged around him, crackling loudly. The demon generals on either side quietly retreated a few steps.

He clasped his hands in a respectful bow and said, neither humble nor arrogant, "In the Burning Demon Realm, it is not only the demon generals of Thunder Mountain Cave who possess the divine power of thunder. The deaths of those four demon generals have nothing to do with my Thunder Mountain Cave."

"But corrosive poison is extremely rare. Under the Bloodtooth Demon Saint's command, it seems that only the Demon King's Wood-Eating Poison has such an effect..."

"Insolence!" the white-haired demon general interrupted sharply. "Are you saying that my king secretly attacked the demon general of Thunder Mountain Cave?"

The Demon General Youji coldly replied, "I had no such intention. The Demon King would never bully the weak."

"But the Wood-Eating Poison can be given to one of your demon generals, such as Fellow Daoist Tianluo or Fellow Daoist Qihun..."

Before he could finish speaking, he felt the pressure on him intensify, his whole body trembled, and he was forced to swallow the rest of his words.

A stream of blood trickled down from the corner of the Demon General Youji's mouth, his face was deathly pale, and his bones made a slight creaking sound, as if he was about to break apart under the strain.

The Wood-Eating Demon King was known for his powerful demonic energy and was only one step away from becoming a Demon Saint. Even a wisp of his aura was enough to make even a high-ranking Demon General unable to withstand it.

However, since the Demon General Youji was an envoy who came with a letter from the Demon King of Thunder Mountain, the Demon King of Corrosion Wood would not actually kill him. After giving him a slight punishment, he withdrew his oppressive aura.

The Demon General Youji breathed a long sigh of relief, completely suppressing his arrogance and no longer daring to be presumptuous.

The Wood-Eating Demon King coldly said, "Even if I have a grudge against Leishan, I would not use such clumsy and despicable means to deal with two mere mid-level demon generals."

“But since he insists that it was done by me, I am not one to back down from a fight.”

“Go back and tell Lei Shan that if we want to fight, let’s fight. There’s no need to wait three years. After one year, we can each rely on our own methods to decide who is stronger.”

"More than six hundred years later, I will not need to enter Turtle Island. That Cheng Ying Flower is destined to be out of his reach!"

……

Beiming Island.

Chen Yuan was refining pills in the cultivation room converted from the spirit herb garden when a sound transmission talisman flew in quietly through the array and stopped beside him.

Chen Yuan ignored him, his eyes slightly closed, his divine sense filling every corner of the alchemy furnace. He carefully controlled the true fire, gathering several balls of pure spiritual liquid together to condense the pill into a form.

Five days later, the furnace lid suddenly opened, and five bright pills flew out of the furnace and landed in the jade bottle that Chen Yuan had prepared in advance.

Chen Yuan slowly opened his eyes, put away his true fire, let out a long breath, raised his hand to capture the communication talisman, and crushed it in one swift motion.

Zhang Yanwei's respectful voice rang in his ears. After a while, Chen Yuan smiled slightly, stood up, and with a flick of his sleeve, the jade bottle and alchemy furnace disappeared completely. He waited for two months before the Thunder Mountain Demon King finally issued an edict, announcing war against the Corroded Wood Cave.

Five months ago, Chen Yuan quietly left Beiming Island and waited patiently for three months outside the cave of a mid-level demon general, which was tens of millions of miles away from Beiming Cave. Finally, he waited for Chen Yuan to leave the cave.

The demon general had just left his cave a thousand miles away when Chen Yuan suddenly attacked and killed him. He then used the sap of the Corrupting Willow Tree to destroy the body and leave only a corroded and broken skeleton.

Two demon generals accompanied this demon general on his journey, and Chen Yuan killed them both.

Since he didn't have to worry about leaving any traces, Chen Yuan used all his skills, and even though the demon general had a third-grade spiritual treasure weapon, he couldn't withstand more than a few rounds.

This was only because Chen Yuan showed mercy, deliberately making a big fuss to attract the attention of his demon generals.

In order to avoid revealing any flaws in rescuing Zhang Yanwei and the others, Chen Yuan followed the same method afterward, destroying the demon general's cave, which would further enrage the Thunder Mountain Demon King.

The only regrettable thing is that, in order to finish the battle quickly, Chen Yuan used the Cangming Halberd, destroying the third-grade spiritual treasure weapon in the hands of the demon general. He only obtained a hundred or so top-grade spirit stones and some spiritual materials and herbs from him.

The Fierce Mane Demon General possessed quite a few treasures, but they were not of high value. They might be of some use to ordinary demon generals, but they were unlikely to catch Chen Yuan's eye.

Only one hundred top-grade spirit stones and two kinds of top-grade spiritual materials were of some small help, and the two Heavenly Demon Blood Purification Pills were returned to their rightful owner.

After completing this task, Chen Yuan traveled day and night back to Beiming Island without alerting anyone.

While patiently waiting, he refined pills. Just as he finished refining a batch of Demon Essence Pills, he received an order from the Thunder Mountain Demon King, who commanded his demon generals to gather their beast tide army for battle.

This was precisely the situation Chen Yuan had deliberately created. Only in the midst of chaos could he seize the opportunity to hunt down more demon generals and refine more demon essence pills.

If the Thunder Mountain Demon King still makes no move, he will seek another opportunity to assassinate the next mid-level demon general, until the two demon kings start fighting.

Now, the Demon General Lie Zong's demon core has been transformed into a pill, and he only has one mid-level demon general demon core left in his hand.

There are still a few five-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs, but they are all rare spiritual herbs used to refine pills for the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm. They need to be combined with other five-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs, making it difficult to gather enough for a batch of pills.

This is also the reason why Chen Yuan painstakingly provoked the great battle between the Thunder Mountain Demon King and the Wood Erosion Demon King.

Whether they are cultivators or demons, they all need spiritual herbs to improve their cultivation. The more precious the spiritual herb, the rarer it is. Five thousand years is a watershed moment for spiritual herbs.

Spiritual herbs less than 5,000 years old are relatively common and not difficult for the long-lived demon race to cultivate; thousand-year-old spiritual herbs are even more ubiquitous.

But five thousand years is an extremely long period of time for a demon general, and very few demon generals are willing to spend it.

Chen Yuan obtained mid-stage Nascent Soul pills at the trade fair in Iron Wing Cave. He brought out the Heavenly Demon Blood Purification Pill, which helped the Demon General break through his bottleneck. Ordinary treasures simply could not be exchanged for so many pills.

Moreover, those demon generals' cultivation levels had already reached their limit, which is why they offered cultivation pills for trade.

They only manage to produce one or two bottles after accumulating them for hundreds or thousands of years; they are extremely rare and hard to come by.

Demon cores are even rarer than spirit herbs. Most demon generals do not have the strength of Chen Yuan, who dares to secretly assassinate demon generals of the same level without leaving a trace.

Even in the dark market of Silver Tide City, the price of demon cores is extremely high, and often they cannot be exchanged for spirit stones.

If Chen Yuan wants to obtain the demon core, refine pills, and improve his cultivation, he has no choice but to do it himself.

No matter how strong he is, the fact that he has secretly assassinated too many demon generals will surely enrage the demon king, who may even go to great lengths to deal with him.

Chen Yuan successively attacked and killed four mid-level demon generals from the Corrosion Wood Cave. The Corrosion Wood Demon King then persuaded several demon kings to help him and invited dozens of high-level demon generals to set up a trap.

If he continues to defy the law, who knows what other tricks the Wood-Eating Demon King will use.

Chen Yuan also considered wandering around, killing only two or three demon generals under a demon king's command, so that the situation wouldn't become too big.

However, the Demon Realm is too vast, with the territory of a single Demon King often spanning hundreds of millions of miles.

The journey takes too long, and we have to wait outside the demon general's cave until he leaves the formation's range, which will waste even more time. It's not worth it for just two or three demon cores.

After much deliberation, Chen Yuan decided to instigate a conflict between the Thunder Mountain Demon King and the Wood Erosion Demon King, and then, by virtue of his identity as the Northern Underworld Demon Commander, openly and legitimately profit from it.

Neither of the two demon kings would suspect him; how could a mere Kun fish demon general unleash such astonishingly powerful thunder magic?

He learned from other demon generals that the Wood-Eating Demon King's innate supernatural power, the Wood-Eating Poison, was renowned. So he spent a high price to buy the Heart-Corroding Willow Tree Sap and disguised himself as the Wood-Eating Demon King to make his move.

Chen Yuan also knew that this plan was very rudimentary and its intent to sow discord was too obvious.

However, the Wood-Eating Demon King and the Thunder Mountain Demon King had a deep-seated grudge and were constantly fighting. If the Thunder Mountain Demon King hadn't wanted to participate in the war between the two realms, the two sides might have already started fighting each other.

With just a little provocation, and given that his thunderous divine powers and corrosive poison are extremely rare techniques, it shouldn't be difficult for him to provoke the two demon kings' wrath.

This was an inevitable trend, and Chen Yuan merely guided it, giving both sides an excuse to go to war.

Even if the two sides could put aside their old and new grudges, it would be impossible for them to join forces to find Chen Yuan's whereabouts, and the risk would not be too high.

However, the fact that the Wood-Eating Demon King had invited dozens of high-ranking demon generals to wait for Chen Yuan to walk into his trap still surprised him greatly.

If it weren't for the warning from the Blazing Blood Hall's Kong Lie, he was still planning to continue targeting the Demon General of the Corroded Wood Cave and might have fallen into a trap.

However, secretly plotting against a demon king in the late stage of the Void Refinement realm inevitably involves some risks.

Even if surrounded by several high-ranking demon generals, Chen Yuan could still escape safely thanks to his strength.

His worst-case scenario was that his identity would be exposed, and he would no longer be able to use the title of Northern Darkness Demon General. He would escape from Thunder Mountain Cave without any loss.

As Chen Yuan's thoughts raced, he stepped out of his cave, sent out a communication talisman, summoned the demon generals on the island, and arrived at the council hall.

He looked around and saw that the demon generals all looked solemn. He said, "You should already know that the King has issued a decree and has challenged the Wood-Eating Demon King. A great battle is now inevitable."

"I am highly valued by the King and have been able to open up the Northern Darkness Cave. Naturally, I must share the King's burdens."

"I will travel to the Leishan Mountains tomorrow to meet the King and offer myself as the vanguard."

The expressions of the demon generals changed slightly. Chen Yuan instructed Jiangzhu: "You will issue an edict later, ordering all the demon generals under the jurisdiction of Beiming Cave to gather all their level 5 and above demon beasts on Beiming Island."

"The Wood-Eating Demon King has a deep grudge against the Great King. He shouldn't wait three years to accept the challenge. This battle will begin soon, so we must prepare in advance."

Jiangzhu stepped forward from the crowd, gave a graceful bow, and respectfully replied, "This servant obeys."

Chen Yuan then looked at the demon generals and said solemnly, "This battle will definitely be extremely fierce. Even I, the commander, am in danger of losing my life. You must not be careless in the slightest. Otherwise, if you die at the hands of the demon generals in the Wood Erosion Cave, you will not be able to blame me."

"But those who make contributions in this battle will be richly rewarded."

"Anyone who slays a demon general of the same rank will be rewarded with a bottle of cultivation pills!"

The demon generals, their faces beaming with joy, roared in agreement: "Thank you for your generous reward, Lord! We will fight to the death!" (End of Chapter)