Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

The Green Mantis King suddenly turned his head and stared at the Saki Rock Demon General: "Where did you come from?"

It also uses a human language, but it is quite stiff and awkward.

Qi Yan, the Demon General, sneered: "It seems you are not so ignorant after all. Now that you have seen the 'Supreme Saint,' why don't you pay your respects?"

The Green Mantis King's gaze slowly swept over the group: "Although you resemble the Supreme Saint, you are definitely not the Supreme Saint."

“A true sage can control spiritual energy, but the aura on your bodies is incompatible with spiritual energy. What exactly is your intention in impersonating sages?”

A glint flashed in the eyes of the demon general: "It seems you know a lot about the 'Supreme Saint'. You're right, we are indeed not the Supreme Saint who sent down the test back then."

"But that doesn't matter. Compared to the Supreme Saint of yesteryear, we are no weaker, only stronger."

"If you are willing to surrender, you will still be the Green Mantis King and lead the Green Mantis Clan."

"If you remain stubborn, replacing the Green Mantis King is not a difficult task."

The Green Mantis King looked at the door of the egg house and said in a stiff voice, "There are 100,000 Green Mantises in the royal city. As long as I give the order..."

Qi Yan Yao Shuai said calmly, "You are welcome to try. This place is already isolated from the outside world. Even if we kill you, it will not make a sound."

The Green Mantis King fell silent, his compound eyes blinking rapidly. After a long while, he finally spoke: "Alright, I agree."

Upon hearing this, everyone was somewhat surprised. They had originally planned to forcibly subdue the Green Mantis King, which was why the Demon General Qiyan had set up the formation. They never expected the Green Mantis King to be so pragmatic.

Qi Yan, the Demon General, frowned and said, "If you are planning to feign weakness and then turn against us once the formation is removed, you are courting death."

The Green Mantis King's voice was somewhat helpless: "The aura emanating from you is so terrifying, no less than mine, and with five of you working together, I am no match for you. Why should I continue to resist?"

"Since you have chosen to spare my life, I will certainly be of use to you. As long as you promise me that you will not lose your throne and will not slaughter the Green Mantis Clan, I am willing to follow your arrangements."

This Green Mantis King's strength is comparable to that of a mid-level demon general, and his control over death energy far surpasses that of Qu Wutong. Although he has no divine sense, he can still roughly discern the strength of Chen Yuan and his group of five.

The group exchanged glances and nodded. Qi Yan, the Demon General, smiled slightly: "A wise man submits to circumstances. Your wisdom is truly commendable. I will remove the formation now. Do not make a mistake, or don't blame us for unleashing a massacre."

As he spoke, he pointed at the array plate with his fingers. With a hum, the array flags swayed gently, the spiritual light faded, the array curtain dissipated, and the array flags flew back into the hands of the Demon General Qiyan, where he put them away.

The formation has dissipated, and now is the best time for the Green Mantis King to launch an attack.

But the Green Mantis King did not make any move. Instead, he raised his two sword arms and, like Qu Wutong, awkwardly clasped his hands in a bow: "I, King Aqingna, have yet to ask your names."

After pondering for a moment, Qi Yan bowed and said, "Although you are a member of the Green Mantis Clan, your cultivation is comparable to ours. You may address me as a fellow Daoist. My name is Qi Yan."

Chen Yuan and the others also stated their names and bowed with clasped hands.

The Green Mantis King asked in confusion, "Cultivation level? Fellow Daoist?"

The demon general explained, "The spiritual energy in this fragment of heaven and earth is what we call death energy. Fellow Daoist, the death energy in your body is so pure and abundant, your cultivation is quite remarkable."

"Fellow Daoist is what we call someone of similar cultivation level. As the Green Mantis King, Fellow Daoist's cultivation is no less than ours, and he deserves the title of Fellow Daoist."

"However, Fellow Daoist's use of death energy is extremely crude, far inferior to ours. Although his cultivation is comparable to ours, he is far from being our match."

The Green Mantis King blinked and said, "Thank you for your explanation, fellow Daoist. I have never left the Sin Realm. Although my ancestors left behind many books, I know very little about the outside world. Would you be willing to exchange ideas with you fellow Daoists?"

Qi Yan Demon General's eyes flashed: "It seems that Fellow Daoist A knows of the existence of the myriad worlds?"

The Green Mantis King said, "That's natural. If there were no other realms, where would my Green Mantis clan have come from?"

Qi Yan, the demon general, said, "Very well, then we will spar with Fellow Daoist A and see the Green Mantis King's methods."

The Green Mantis King immediately raised a blade-like arm: "Fellow Daoists, please."

The group followed the Green Mantis King and left the Egg House.

They never intended to take the Green Mantis King's life, as doing so could easily cause unrest and resistance in the Green Mantis City, delaying their search for the Bone Beast and the peculiar green mantises.

Subduing the Green Mantis King is the best strategy. Once we have complete control over this fragment of the interface, the mere Green Mantis race can be easily manipulated.

The Green Mantis guards on patrol were taken aback when they saw Chen Yuan and his group. They immediately surrounded them, but were reprimanded by the Green Mantis King and had no choice but to retreat, looking at them with suspicion and uncertainty.

The group flew for a quarter of an hour, arriving at a forest quite far from the royal city, before finally stopping.

The Green Mantis King was not worried that Chen Yuan and the others would harm it, otherwise it would not have needed to remove the formation in the egg house.

It clasped its hands in a respectful bow to the Demon General Qiyan: "Please enlighten me, Fellow Daoist Qiyan."

Qi Yan, the Demon General, returned the greeting with clasped hands, then flipped his hand and took out the Mountain-Splitting Cudgel. The Green Mantis King stared at the magical weapon in his hand and asked, "May I ask if Fellow Daoist Qi Yan has hidden this treasure in a mustard seed ring, so that you can take it out at will?"

Qi Yan, the Demon General, had a glint in his eyes and nodded: "Indeed, Fellow Daoist, you have seen the Mustard Seed Ring before?"

Green Mantis King said, "There is a record in the ancient books left by our ancestors that the Supreme Saint once bestowed a Mustard Seed Ring, but thousands of years have passed and this treasure has long been lost in the Sin Realm."

“Several thousand years…” The demon general Guixiao stroked his beard slowly, “It seems that those saints haven’t been away from the Sin Realm for very long.”

Green Mantis King said, "After the sparring session, I will naturally hand over the ancestral scriptures to you fellow Daoists for a look."

Everyone nodded and stepped aside. Chen Yuan remained silent, looking thoughtfully at the Green Mantis King.

Its battle with the Qiyan Demon General naturally ended in defeat. The Qiyan Demon General possessed royal blood and a magical weapon that perfectly matched his innate divine power. His demonic power was abundant and powerful.

The Green Mantis King, relying solely on its two sharp blade arms, employed extremely crude techniques of death energy, falling short of the Bone Dragon and the White Bone Giant Bear. Although its cultivation was equivalent to a mid-level demon general, it was defeated after only a few rounds.

It then fought against Chen Yuan and the other three in turn, and was quickly defeated each time, offering no resistance whatsoever.

The Green Mantis King, having suffered repeated defeats, seemed to have been greatly affected, standing there stunned and silent.

After a while, it came to its senses and spoke with much more respect: "Fellow Daoists, please follow me. Our ancestors left behind many classic texts, including many records about 'Supreme Saints,' which should be of some use to you."

The group followed him back to the royal city. The Green Mantis King asked a few questions along the way and only then did he learn about Qu Wutong's identity.

More and more Green Mantis nobles gathered around the tallest giant tree. When they saw the Green Mantis King and Chen Yuan and the others return, they immediately surrounded them.

Before these green mantises, the Green Mantis King regained his authority, sternly rebuking them and ordering them to return to their respective egg chambers and not to disturb the honored guest.

These Green Mantis nobles dared not disobey the Green Mantis King's orders. They secretly observed Chen Yuan and the others with their compound eyes before scattering away. The Green Mantis King led everyone to an egg-shaped chamber specifically for storing scriptures, and retrieved all the scriptures related to the 'Supreme Saint' from the Green Mantis royal family.

The group read through the books one by one; they were much more detailed than the records in Quling Village, especially the descriptions of the high saints.

However, the main content was to praise the magnanimity of the Supreme Saint, to vigorously promote gratitude to the Supreme Saint, and to instruct the Green Mantis Clan to serve the Supreme Saint for generations, which was not of much use.

However, the ancestors of the Green Mantis royal family also knew that the Sin Realm had been shattered, and the current Sin Realm was less than one percent of the original Sin Realm.

The shattering of the Sin Realm was caused by a group of rebellious Green Mantis traitors who disregarded the Emperor's benevolence and kindness, and actually rebelled against the Emperor, using some despicable means to cause the vast Sin Realm to break apart.

These Green Mantis rebels who defied the Supreme Being had no death energy within them; they were sinners of the entire Green Mantis clan and enemies of every Green Mantis.

It was because of the existence of these green mantises that the Supreme Saint abandoned the entire green mantis clan after the Sin Realm shattered, and did not appear for thousands of years.

The ancient texts also record that death energy is a test sent down by the Supreme Being. The Green Mantis Clan committed a great sin, which is why they could not fully control death energy and would be eroded by it and die.

However, if one can hunt strange beasts and absorb death energy, making the death energy in one's body more and more refined, and raising one's strength to a certain level, then one can pass the test of the Supreme Saint, leave the Sin Realm, enter the Saint Realm, be taught the true secret techniques, and completely control the death energy.

However, after the Sin Realm shattered, the Supreme Saint was furious and stopped guiding Green Mantis Clan members who had passed the test into the Holy Realm. Even those who passed the test could only remain in the current Sin Realm.

Only by annihilating all the Green Mantises who rebelled against the Supreme Being can the Green Mantis clan be cleansed of its sins and freed from its status as a sinner.

At that time, the magnanimous Supreme Saint will descend upon the Sin Realm again, leading the Green Mantis Clan away from the Sin Realm, so that they will no longer have to worry about being corrupted by the death energy in the world, and will be ranked alongside the Supreme Saint.

After everyone finished reading, they fell into deep thought. The Green Mantis King looked over, his voice filled with anticipation: "Fellow Daoists, you use the same language as those Supreme Saints. Do you know where the Holy Realm is, and where my Green Mantis Clan comes from?"

Qi Yan Yao Shuai pondered for a moment and said, "There are many interfaces that use this language, and I cannot be sure which interface these 'Supreme Saints' are in."

"However, according to the records in the ancient books, the Green Mantis Clan was able to leave the Sin Realm and enter the Holy Realm, where they were taught by those 'Supreme Saints' the secret method to completely control the death energy, and were no longer afraid of the death energy's erosion."

"In that case, the Holy Realm should be filled with this deathly aura, just like the Sin Realm."

"But I have never heard of any interface that looks like this."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and the Ghost Demon General said, "This deathly aura is very peculiar; I have never heard of it before."

The Green Mantis King was somewhat disappointed: "Could it be that the Green Mantis Clan will never be able to escape the death aura?"

Iron-Winged Demon General asked, "Fellow Daoist once sent a special envoy to Quling Village to search for the traces of those green mantises that are not afraid of death energy. Did you want to exterminate these green mantises, cleanse your sins, and enter the Holy Realm?"

King Green Mantis said, "To be honest, these were just fabrications made up by our ancestors to appease people and keep the Green Mantis clan under the royal family's control."

“Those Supreme Saints haven’t appeared for thousands of years. Even if all these Green Mantises that rebel against the Supreme Saints are wiped out, they will not be able to descend upon the Sin Realm again.”

"I just want to find a way to avoid being corrupted by the death aura from those green mantises..."

As expected, the Green Mantis King was far stronger than Qu Wutong, but its need for black crystals was also far greater than Qu Wutong's.

In order to maintain the purity of the death energy within its body and avoid being devoured by it, it must constantly lead the Green Mantis Nobles into the mountains to hunt down strange beasts and seize the Black Crystal.

However, as the death energy within the Green Mantis King became increasingly pure and its strength increased, only the black crystal within the White Bone Beast could satisfy its needs.

Therefore, he sent special envoys to various green mantis villages to search for traces of the skeletal beast and the peculiar green mantises.

The Bone Beast, though its body is nothing but bones, is not dead. Its control over death energy far surpasses that of the Green Mantis Clan. In the eyes of the Green Mantis Clan, it is no different from a divine beast, and many Green Mantises even worship it as a god.

However, the death energy contained in the black crystals within these "divine beasts" was exceptionally pure, and in order to save his own life, the Green Mantis King had no choice but to attack these "divine beasts".

However, the skeletal beast is enormous and can summon an endless amount of death energy, making it extremely difficult to deal with.

Over the past hundred years, the Green Mantis King has only hunted down two skeletal beasts. He also found traces of four other skeletal beasts and led a large number of Green Mantis nobles to them, but they were no match for them and suffered heavy casualties.

Fortunately, although these skeletal beasts are powerful, they are not very intelligent and usually just sleep silently, absorbing the death energy in the world.

After the Green Mantis King retreated, the Bone Beast did not pursue it, otherwise it would have already died in the mouths of these "divine beasts".

Twenty-six years have passed since the Green Mantis King last successfully hunted down the Bone Beast.

A piece of the black crystal from the white bone beast can only keep it alive for thirty years, and that's only if it deliberately doesn't increase its strength and only maintains the death energy within its body.

In the past, the Green Mantis Royal Family had produced several exceptionally talented Green Mantis Kings with similar strength. However, they ultimately died from the backlash of death energy because they no longer had the Black Crystal and were no match for those divine beasts.

However, these skeletal beasts would reappear every few decades or centuries, and it wasn't until the generation of the Green Mantis King that there were no divine beasts left to hunt.

But like the other Green Mantis Kings, it could only deal with weaker divine beasts. However, it was no match for those exceptionally powerful divine beasts and its death seemed imminent.

In order to save his life, the Green Mantis King tirelessly searched for the traces of that group of strange green mantises, hoping to obtain from them a way to avoid being corrupted by death energy.

Chen Yuan asked, "Fellow Daoist, have you found any trace of them?"

The Green Mantis King hesitated for a moment before saying, "These green mantises are extremely secretive, but in the last hundred years, they have frequently appeared, wandering through various green mantis villages, persuading the green mantises in these villages not to rely on the death energy, and leaving behind many clues."

"I have roughly located their position and sent out guards to search for them. We found a few green mantises and asked them for a way to avoid being corrupted by the death aura."

"But they refused to hand them over, so I had no choice but to kill them."

Chen Yuan said, "Where are those green mantises roughly located? If we go there ourselves, we should be able to find something."

Yanhuang Demon General frowned: "Why is Fellow Daoist Beiming in such a hurry to find the traces of those green mantises? Why not hunt down a few skeletal beasts first and obtain a few pieces of black crystal?"

“Fellow Daoist already has two black crystals, while we have gained nothing. These green mantises are nothing but traitors.”

"Let's kill those beasts first, then we can look for their whereabouts."

Chen Yuan shook his head slightly: "The skeletal beast is right there, and we will kill it sooner or later."

"But these Green Mantises rebelled against the Supreme Saint back then, causing the Sin Realm to shatter. They should know the origins of the Supreme Saint and why the Green Mantis Clan became sinners."

"None of these ancient texts record what heinous crimes the Green Mantis Clan committed or how they came to be in the Sin Realm. There must be something fishy about this."

"Perhaps it hides some treasure, which is definitely more valuable than a few pieces of black crystal."

"Those green mantises used some unknown method to shatter a realm. If we could obtain such a method, it might be the greatest gain of this trip." (End of Chapter)