Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

The other demon generals couldn't withstand the bone dragon's attack, and Chen Yuan couldn't fight it head-on either; he could only try his best to maneuver around it.

However, after activating the Kunpeng True Blood, his physical body became much stronger than that of the other demon generals. Although he was still at a disadvantage, he was able to block the Bone Dragon's attack, leaving it with no energy to attack the other demon generals.

Although the Bone Dragon possessed immense strength, its supernatural abilities were rather unremarkable. It could only condense death energy to attack its enemies, and its skeletal body was not particularly tough, unable to withstand spiritual treasures and divine weapons.

With Chen Yuan holding him back, the Bone Dragon was subjected to a fierce attack by the other four demon generals, and its skeletal body shattered piece by piece.

A roar filled with pain emanated from its empty body, making it look extremely eerie.

Chen Yuan and his four companions were in a very sorry state, seemingly at a disadvantage, but in reality, their lives were not in danger.

Chen Yuan bore almost all the pressure of the bone dragon, while the most threatening death energy was easily neutralized by the Devouring Technique.

The bone dragon's immense strength, comparable to that of a demon king, could cause Chen Yuan's body to tremble and his meridians to tear, but with the flow of true essence, he could easily recover without any serious harm.

However, Chen Yuan did not use any other supernatural powers. He pretended to be extremely exhausted and it took him a full hour to finally shatter most of the skeletal dragon's body.

This seemed to have reached a critical point. The two dark ghostly flames in the bone dragon's eye sockets went out, and its body crashed heavily onto the ground, stirring up sand and creating a deep crater.

Everyone was somewhat surprised and did not immediately step forward to investigate. They first used their divine sense to scan the bone dragon several times, and only when they found that the bone dragon still had no energy left did they feel relieved.

As everyone slowly descended, the Demon General Qiyan examined the battered and broken bone dragon and bowed to Chen Yuan, saying, "Thanks to Fellow Daoist Beiming's strong support, we were able to easily kill this beast."

"When Fellow Daoist Tieyi and I fought it, the eerie death aura was all-pervasive and extremely difficult to resist. In addition, the beast was incredibly strong, and we were in great danger. We had no choice but to flee in panic."

Yanhuang Demon General glanced at the Bone Dragon, then looked at Chen Yuan, his eyes showing a hint of admiration: "Fellow Daoist Beiming, your methods are excellent. This death aura is so troublesome. If I were to face this beast alone, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to hold out for long."

The black stone staff in his hand was extremely useful when dealing with the bone dragon.

The deep red magma contained within is exceptionally hot; if it touches the bone dragon, it can burn several bones to ashes, and even the armor formed from death energy cannot stop it.

However, the scorching magma could not be formed at will. After a great battle, the demon general Yanhuang's aura had weakened considerably, and his demonic power had obviously been greatly depleted.

Even with Chen Yuan restraining the Bone Dragon and three other demon generals joining forces to attack, if he were to face the Bone Dragon alone, he would have no chance of winning and would only be able to flee in defeat.

The demon general was filled with fear, his brows furrowed: "This death energy can actually corrode my vengeful spirit. If I hadn't withdrawn it in time, it would probably have been taken away by this beast."

"If there were a few more skeletal beasts as powerful as this one in the fragments of this interface, we would have to rely on you fellow Daoists."

Chen Yuan said, "Fellow Daoist Gui Xiao, do not underestimate yourselves. This fragment of the interface is only a million miles in size. Even if such a powerful beast exists, it should not be found everywhere."

"The vengeful spirit that the human cultivator in your hand can still play a significant role."

The Demon General Gui Xiao's expression softened a bit: "In any case, we will still have to rely on Fellow Daoist Bei Ming for this trip. However, I will do my best to lend you a hand."

Although his innate supernatural power allowed him to manipulate ghosts, and he went to great lengths to refine a giant python of mid-level demon general and a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator into vengeful ghosts, his strength was still incomparable to that of his former self.

The giant python dared not approach, leaving only the human scholar who still had the will to resist. He needed to be nourished with essence blood to suppress his own spirituality, and the supernatural powers he displayed were even weaker.

However, the Demon General Guixiao had long been aware of the flaws in his innate supernatural powers, which is why he crafted that emerald green banner.

This is a very famous ghost-related magical artifact of the human race in the spirit world, called the "Soul-Summoning Banner," which is specifically used to raise ghosts.

The Demon General Guixiao traded the method for crafting the Soul-Summoning Banner from the dark market of Silver Tide City and asked a weapon refiner to forge a Soul-Summoning Banner. For this, he did not even forge spiritual treasures or divine weapons like other demon generals.

Over the next few thousand years, he devoted his life essence to nurturing the Soul-Summoning Banner, gradually elevating it to the level of a spiritual treasure. He refined hundreds of fierce ghosts before finally incorporating the giant python and the human scholar into the banner.

The vengeful spirits raised by the Soul-Summoning Banner are much stronger than those he controls simply by using his innate supernatural powers. Among demon generals of the same rank, he has become a top figure, with few able to match him.

However, a vengeful ghost is still a vengeful ghost, and it's impossible for it to be exactly the same as it was in life.

The Demon General Gui Xiao spared no expense, enlisting the help of several friends on Turtle Island to refine the human scholar into the banner, all because he coveted the ice-attribute cultivation technique the scholar practiced.

Even though its power is somewhat diminished after death, it can still restrict the opponent's movement and evasion, and when combined with the giant python, its strength increases even more.

Now that the giant python is restrained by the deathly aura, the human scholar does not need to fight in close combat. He uses several ice-attribute divine abilities to significantly limit the bone dragon, which can be described as having a long-term vision.

Ironwing Demon General is skilled in escape techniques. With the other demon generals holding him back, he focused on attacking the bone dragon's vitals, making a significant contribution.

He laughed and said, "What you fellow Daoists say is absolutely right. If it weren't for Fellow Daoist Beiming restraining us, we wouldn't have been able to kill this giant bone lizard so easily."

"This beast is nothing but bones, yet it is no different from a living being. It can still manipulate death energy to attack enemies, so there must be something strange about its body."

"If you find anything, Fellow Daoist Beiming may make the first selection, how about that?"

Qi Yan Demon General nodded and said, "That's only right. Before we set off, we had already agreed to first gather enough death energy for Fellow Daoist Bei Ming, starting with this beast. Fellow Daoist Bei Ming, please."

Chen Yuan looked at Yan Huang Demon General and Gui Xiao Demon General. After this battle, they had already acknowledged Chen Yuan's strength and naturally had no objections, so they all expressed their agreement.

Seeing this, Chen Yuan smiled slightly and said, "Then I, Kun, will respectfully comply."

He moved swiftly and arrived in front of the bone dragon. He probed the broken and skeletal body with his divine sense, scanning it inch by inch. Suddenly, he let out a soft exclamation and descended.

The group quickly followed, burrowing into the bone dragon's body. Amidst the putrid smell, they continued until they reached its chest cavity before stopping.

A black crystal with sharp edges was embedded in a white bone, filled with a deathly aura and exuding a strong sense of desolation.

Iron-Winged Demon General exclaimed in surprise, "What kind of black crystal containing death energy is this? It actually formed inside the skeletal beast?"

Qi Yan Yao Shuai said thoughtfully, "No wonder I also found a black crystal when I discovered the giant bird skeleton in the spatial passage."

"I thought this black crystal was naturally formed from a fragment of the interface, and just happened to end up in the void along with the giant bird's skeleton. It turns out it was originally one with the giant bird's skeleton..."

"However, there is still a life feather on the skeleton of that giant bird, which is also condensed with death energy. This white bone giant lizard is only white bones all over its body, but I don't know why."

At the invitation of Demon General Qiyan, Demon General Yanhuang and Demon General Guixiao were exploring this interface fragment together. They already knew about the giant bird skeleton, and upon hearing this, they were quite puzzled and looked doubtful.

Chen Yuan raised his hand and took off the black crystal. Looking at the death energy slowly flowing inside the crystal, he pondered for a moment and said, "According to Fellow Daoist Qiyan, the giant bird skeleton's energy is extremely weak, which should be due to the wear and tear caused by the spatial storm."

"But it can also be seen that at its peak, its strength was only equivalent to that of an ordinary demon general, far inferior to that of the white bone giant lizard. Perhaps this is why it still has a feather."

"The death aura exudes a strong sense of deathly stillness; the more thoroughly one dies, the stronger one becomes."

"This giant skeletal lizard is nothing but bones, clearly having been dead longer than that giant bird, or perhaps having absorbed more death energy, making it even stronger. Aside from its skeleton and this black crystal, nothing else remains." Qi Yan Demon General slowly nodded: "That makes sense. I wonder what the origin of this death energy is, that it can make a skeleton appear no different from its life state, even capable of feeling pain and anger..."

Chen Yuan laughed and said, "In all the myriad realms, there are countless wonders. Perhaps this realm is based on death energy."

“Even we were wrong just now. It’s not impossible that these strange beasts were born looking like this, and that they didn’t transform after death.”

"However, one thing is certain: this death energy is of great use, but we have not yet discovered the hidden mysteries within it."

"I, Kun, will accept this black crystal for now."

"According to Kun's estimation, just two more black crystals containing such a high amount of pure death energy would greatly increase the power of the Fiend-Slaying Blade in Kun's hand. No more than that would be too much for him to handle."

"If we obtain more black crystals later, we will share them with you fellow cultivators, how about that?"

Yanhuang Demon General laughed heartily: "We have only just entered this interface fragment when we encountered this giant skeletal lizard."

"And endless death energy still roams the world, so there must be many skeletal beasts like these. It seems we can all gain quite a lot."

Qi Yan, the demon general, said, "We should not delay. Let's set off now. This fragment of the interface is only a million miles in size. It will take several months to search it thoroughly."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Chen Yuan said, "Wait a minute. This beast's skeleton is quite sturdy, so it has some value."

"I am already satisfied with this black crystal, but there may be other treasures inside it. Fellow Daoists, you may wish to take another look."

Everyone felt that this made sense, so they immediately spread their divine senses and carefully examined the area. Sure enough, they found three white bones that were as clear as jade.

It could withstand a third-grade spiritual treasure without suffering any damage, comparable to the finest spiritual materials. So they divided it up among themselves, with only the Ghost Demon General, who contributed the least in this battle, receiving nothing.

The five then left the place without separating, randomly choosing a direction and flying forward.

Exploring the interface fragments in a scattered manner will save a lot of time, but it will be difficult to withstand if you encounter a ferocious skeletal beast.

Moreover, this fragment of the interface is filled with death energy, and there may be even more powerful ferocious beasts than the white bone giant lizard.

Teaming up is the safest approach, and there's no need to worry about others discovering rare treasures on their own and keeping them to themselves.

The land was desolate, with only a few sporadic, grotesque plants stubbornly growing.

Chen Yuan and his group of five had been so focused on dealing with the bone dragon that they had overlooked their surroundings. Only now did they realize that these plants had been absorbing the death energy that was floating in the world and were growing rapidly, growing an inch taller every day.

Everyone became even more certain that this fragment of the interface was based on death energy, which was very different from the Spirit Realm and the Demon Burning Realm, which were based on spiritual energy.

Their divine senses were also restricted within this fragment of the interface.

Chen Yuan's cultivation level has been raised to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, and his divine sense has expanded to four thousand miles. However, it has now been compressed by half, and can only cover two thousand miles around him, making him no different from a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

The other four mid-level demon generals could only extend their divine senses a thousand miles, greatly slowing down their efficiency in exploring this realm.

After they flew thousands of miles forward, the deathly aura in the world gradually became denser, and in addition to the increasingly lush and ferocious plants, other creatures began to appear on the earth.

The group slowed their escape and reached out to grab a strange beast that was devouring thorns, examining it closely.

This strange beast has two spiral horns on its head, resembling a goat, but its appearance is extremely ferocious.

Its two eyes were dark red, its mouth was full of fangs and sharp teeth, and its body was covered with short, thick, sharp, light gray hair, almost blending into the gray death aura of heaven and earth.

None of Chen Yuan and his group of five revealed their auras, but the strange beast seemed to sense their power. It trembled, curled up into a ball, and let out a sharp, mournful cry, as if begging for mercy, showing a remarkable intelligence.

Like the Bone Dragon, this goat-like beast was also surrounded by deathly aura, but it was ten thousand times thinner than the Bone Dragon's, and was only similar to a mid-level first-grade demon beast.

Qi Yan, the demon general, looked the goat-like beast up and down and said, "It seems that this world is not only home to skeleton beasts. Although this beast also possesses death energy, it is a living being just like us."

Ghost Demon General stroked his beard, a glint of light flashing in his eyes: "We might as well kill this beast. If there are black crystals inside its body, then we can be sure that the black crystals are something like demon cores or demon energies."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Qi Yan Yao Shuai casually tore the goat beast in half and carefully examined it with his divine sense, but he did not find the black crystal.

Ironwing Demon General frowned and said, "It seems that the black crystal can only be produced inside the body of the white bone beast. Although these living beasts also absorb death energy, they cannot form black crystals."

Ghost Demon General shook his head slightly: "Not entirely. I once saw a kind of alien race that looked like an ape in a fragment of an interface."

"An inner core will condense within its body, similar to a demon core, but it contains pure spiritual energy."

"When those alien races are weak, they cannot condense an inner core. They must at least raise their strength to the equivalent of a level five demon beast before they can condense one."

"The strange beast in this fragment of the interface might also be like that."

Yanhuang Demon General agreed, "Fellow Daoist Guixiao is absolutely right. Human cultivators in the Spirit Realm can only condense their Golden Core when they reach the Core Formation stage. Perhaps the creatures of this realm are the same as humans."

"Let's wait until we capture more exotic beasts before making a final decision."

Qiyan Demon General abandoned the goat beast's corpse, and the five continued on their way. They encountered more and more beasts, and their strength increased. Some of them even had the strength of a level four demon beast.

The group dissected the bodies of these strange beasts but still found no black crystals, so they had no choice but to continue forward.

The deathly aura in the world grew increasingly dense, turning from light gray to dark gray. Without divine sense, the people could only see a thousand feet away.

Their consciousness was further compressed, but only by a few dozen miles, so it was not a big problem.

The vegetation on the ground grew increasingly lush, and the sharp, hard grasses formed a grassland. Trees began to appear, and in the distance, the mountains rose and fell, no longer an endless wasteland.

Suddenly, Chen Yuan paused, slowed his escape, and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Seeing this, everyone slowed down.

Chen Yuan had the highest cultivation level and his divine sense was also more powerful than theirs. He was the first to make discoveries along the way.

The Demon General Yanhuang asked impatiently, "Fellow Daoist Beiming, have you made any discoveries? Could it be that kind of skeletal beast?"

Chen Yuan shook his head, a smile appearing on his lips: "They are not skeletal beasts, but they are more valuable than skeletal beasts. They seem to be a group of intelligent alien races." (End of Chapter)