Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

The blue-skinned man's eyes flashed coldly: "You're courting death!"

He neither dodged nor avoided, but raised his hand to block. His gaze did not even look at Chen Yuan, but instead fell on the strange fish dharma image behind Chen Yuan, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.

The strange fish's form spread its wings. Although it was not large, only about ten feet long, it looked like a cloud hanging from the sky, vast and majestic, covering thousands of miles!

Chen Yuan's expression turned icy as a thick layer of black blades suddenly emerged from his arms, covering the halberd in his hand.

A violent spatial fluctuation emanated, and an extremely deep black light enveloped the halberd, obscuring all the sharpness of the two crescent blades and even swallowing the light itself.

A sharp, ethereal cry suddenly rang out, so loud that even the desolate lament of the strange fish's Dharma form could not drown it out.

A phantom roc wrapped around the halberd, its bright eyes filled with untamed arrogance, yet deep within them lurked a hint of cunning.

The roc flapped its wings, its sharp beak positioned precisely on the halberd's blade, and fiercely pecked at the blue-skinned man.

Upon seeing the illusory roc, the blue-skinned man's indifferent and wooden eyes finally flashed with a hint of surprise: "A Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure! Something's not right..."

Before he finished speaking, the halberd had already fallen, severing the hand that was hard enough to withstand a first-grade spiritual weapon!

The power of spatial destruction surged and raged, pouring into the blue-skinned man's body. The complex restrictive runes on the surface of his body suddenly lit up, then shattered and broke, causing his energy to plummet.

After severing the hand, the Cangming Halberd landed on the blue-skinned man's chest. The remaining spatial destruction power surged out, leaving a deep wound that revealed the complex and intricate puppet components within his body.

However, the blue-skinned man remained motionless, while Chen Yuan was sent flying backward by the enormous recoil, almost losing his grip on the Cangming Halberd.

The blue-skinned man was too powerful, completely surpassing the high-ranking demon general. Even though Chen Yuan cut off one of his hands, he was still at a disadvantage.

A hint of anger flashed across the stiff face of the blue-skinned man. He opened his mouth and spat out a short black blade, which transformed into a black streak of light and headed straight for Chen Yuan.

At the same time, a powerful sealing force spread out, locking this place in place. Even those with the bloodline of the Kun fish could no longer use the teleportation technique.

The black streak of light moved with incredible speed, gleaming with a ghostly green light, and instantly arrived in front of Chen Yuan, aiming straight for his vital dantian.

He had no time to dodge, let alone use the Cangming Halberd in his hand to defend himself.

Just as Chen Yuan was about to be pierced by the black short blade soaked in the wood-corroding poison, a set of ancient armor suddenly appeared around him and was put on his body.

The armor was entirely black, covered with tiny scratches and cracks. On each shoulder was a long, menacing beast head, with a crack extending from the left shoulder to the right chest, as if it might shatter at any moment.

However, around the armor, there were thousands of ferocious demonic energies. After Chen Yuan put it on, it was as if a demon god had descended to earth, and he was extremely vicious!
The black dagger pierced the armor with a pleasant clinking sound, but Chen Yuan was struck as if by a heavy blow. His body flew backward, streaking across the sky like a meteor, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

However, there was only a very small wound on the armor; the black dagger hadn't even penetrated the armor.

The eerie green, wood-corroding poison landed on the black armor, attempting to seep into Chen Yuan's body, but was devoured by the ferocious demonic energy, leaving no trace.

The blue-skinned man's expression changed, and a hint of fervor appeared in his dull eyes: "Heavenly Demon Armor?"

He flashed and disappeared from his original spot, instantly teleporting to Chen Yuan, who had already flown over a thousand feet away.

As soon as the blue-skinned man appeared, the strange fish dharma image behind Chen Yuan let out a long cry, and his figure disappeared immediately, appearing ten thousand feet away. He actually escaped from this world locked up by the blue-skinned man!

The blue-skinned man's face darkened, and he was about to use his teleportation technique to catch up, but Chen Yuan immediately used his teleportation technique again. After several flashes, his figure had disappeared into the horizon.

The blue-skinned man sneered, "I'd like to see just how much demonic power you have to perform teleportation!"

He was about to continue chasing after them when the spatial destruction power raging within his body suddenly erupted.

The blue-skinned man's left arm was severed at the root, and the extremely hard spirit wood became broken and tattered, as if it had been slashed by thousands of sharp blades. All the restrictive spirit patterns engraved on it were erased.

The blue-skinned man's energy suddenly dropped. Although he could not feel any pain, a hint of anger still appeared on his stiff face, and he stopped.

He stretched out his undamaged left hand and caught his falling right arm, whispering, "Luckily, it wasn't completely destroyed. With some refining and repairs, it can be restored to its original state..."

The black short blade flew back, its eerie green color dimming. A few strands of hair-thin demonic energy coiled around it, slowly corroded by the wood-corroding poison, but it still resisted stubbornly. After a long while, it was finally erased with great reluctance.

The blue-skinned man frowned, opened his mouth, and swallowed the black dagger.

He looked up at the direction where Chen Yuan's figure had disappeared, a flicker of fervor flashing in his dull eyes, and a stiff smile appeared on his lips: "Interesting..."

……

Chen Yuan unleashed the full power of the Kunpeng True Blood, and the Kunpeng Dharma Image behind him never dissipated. The sea of ​​true essence in his dantian surged wildly and rapidly declined.

He used teleportation techniques repeatedly, escaping more than 3,000 miles in just a quarter of an hour. Only when he had 10% of his true essence left did he stop, and with a flash of light, he fled into the distance.

Chen Yuan fled tens of thousands of miles in one breath until his true essence was exhausted, but the spirit wood puppet never chased after him.

He descended with his escape light, avoiding the low-level demonic beasts that were wandering around, guarding against a surprise attack from the Thunder Mountain Cave army, and arrived at a desolate mountain range.

Chen Yuan found a secluded mountain cave, set up an illusion array, then took two healing pills, took out two top-grade spirit stones, sat down cross-legged, and meditated to regulate his breathing.

The devouring power of the Kunpeng True Blood took effect; the pure demonic power of the pill and the aura of spiritual energy from the top-grade spirit stone rapidly surged into his body, restoring his injuries and true essence. Chen Yuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, a trace of lingering fear appearing on his pale face.

He underestimated the spirit wood puppet. It might not be much among demon kings, but a demon general would definitely not be able to defeat it.

The gap between a Demon King and a Demon General is as vast as an insurmountable chasm. Although the Spirit Wood Puppet's aura is only slightly higher than that of the Netherworld Demon General, making it the weakest Demon King, it is still a Demon King after all and can crush all Demon Generals.

Chen Yuan had refined three kinds of true spirit blood and was confident that he was unmatched among the demon generals, but he was still at a disadvantage against this spirit wood puppet.

Unless he refines a fourth type of true spirit blood and encounters the spirit wood puppet again, he might be able to defeat it.

In this battle, Chen Yuan unleashed the full power of the Kunpeng True Blood and summoned the Cangming Halberd, unleashing a trace of spatial destruction power containing the laws of space. With the spirit wood puppet completely unprepared, he only managed to sever one of its hands.

The black short blade spat out by the spirit wood puppet was blocked by the Xuan Yin Armor, and the wood-corroding poison was also devoured by demonic energy.

However, the immense force contained within the short blade still surged into his body, tearing through his flesh and meridians, leaving him severely injured.

Fortunately, Chen Yuan had mastered the Divine Power of the Undying Body, and his physical injuries quickly recovered.

However, delicate and fragile meridians are not so easy to recover; they must be carefully nurtured to prevent any hidden dangers.

Chen Yuan was extremely fortunate. If it weren't for the Xuan Yin Armor, his injuries would have been at least ten times worse.

When he summoned the Xuan Yin Armor, the Wood-Eating Demon King uttered the words "Heavenly Demon Armor." Could this peculiar armor be related to the legendary Heavenly Demon?

Chen Yuan looked inward at himself and saw that the Xuan Yin Armor was surrounding his primordial spirit, together with the Peng bird transformed from the Cangming Halberd, breathing in and out the pure energy of his primordial spirit.

The ferocious demonic energy moved slowly, yet it exuded a sense of peace, creating an eerie feeling of harmony.

The Azure Sea Halberd was also forced to be exposed. The Wood-Eating Demon King knew that he possessed a divine weapon that was extremely close to a Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure. It was unknown how he would react...

Chen Yuan's thoughts raced, but he finally gathered his mind, calmed his spirit, and silently sat in meditation.

He spent three days absorbing the spiritual energy from twenty top-grade spirit stones, and his true essence was finally restored to half.

He dared not linger, fearing that the Wood-Eating Demon King's spirit wood puppet would catch up again, so he rode his escape light and flew towards the Thunder Mountain Cave.

Along the way, he avoided all the strategic locations and finally crossed the border into Leishan Cave.

Only then did Chen Yuan finally relax and slightly slow down his escape.

……

Leishan Cave, Xuanlin Mountain Range.

Inside the main hall, two figures stood before a massive array plate, gazing at the exquisitely detailed illusion array.

On one side of Leishan Cave, countless battle flags were planted on the mountains and wilderness, in an orderly and disciplined manner.

However, on one side of the Wood Erosion Cave, there was a blank space. Hundreds of array flags were gathered together and hung on the array plate, with the names of the demon generals of the Wood Erosion Cave drawn on them, but none of them fell down.

One of them spoke, his voice authoritative: "There's still no news of Youji and the others?"

This man was slightly thin, with a resolute appearance. He looked to be around forty years old, dressed in a blue outfit embroidered with lightning patterns. He stood with his hands behind his back; he was none other than the Thunder Mountain Demon King.

Beside him stood the aged-looking Demon General Xiangqing, respectfully bowing his head.

Upon hearing this, a hint of worry flashed in his eyes: "With Youji and the others wielding the Thousand-Eyed Pearl and the Demon Commander Wuxie acting as an inside agent, it wouldn't be difficult for them to ascertain the formation of the army in the Corroded Wood Cave."

"Logically speaking, they should have returned five days ago, but there is still no news of them. They must have encountered some accident."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Given Youji's strength, no one can stop him unless the Wood-Eating Demon King takes action himself."

"Even if he was extremely unlucky and actually encountered the Wood-Eating Demon King, at least one of the other four demon generals should have returned..."

Before he finished speaking, a glint of light flashed in the eyes of the Thunder Mountain Demon King, and he turned to look outside the hall.

General Xiangqing was taken aback and asked, "What does Your Majesty mean by this?"

The Thunder Mountain Demon King said calmly, "Tianhou has returned."

Xiangqing, the demon general, dared not spread his divine sense in front of Leishan Demon King. Upon hearing this, he was overjoyed and immediately turned around to look.

After a while, the Heavenly Hou Demon Commander entered the hall, but his expression was ashen, his eyes were dim, and his aura was weak, as if he was seriously injured.

Xiangqing Demon General was startled, but dared not say much in front of Leishan Demon King. He simply clasped his hands in a salute to Tianhou Demon General.

The Heavenly Hou Demon Commander was clearly surprised to find the Thunder Mountain Demon King in the hall. He paused for a moment before approaching the two men, clasping his hands in greeting and bowing: "Greetings, Your Majesty."

The Thunder Mountain Demon King waved his hand and said in a deep voice, "What happened? Why are you so badly injured?" (End of Chapter)