Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Ironwing Demon General said, "Fellow Daoist Beiming is absolutely right. Let's put those skeletal beasts aside for now and find this group of green mantis traitors first."

Ghost Demon General and Saki Rock Demon General also agreed, so Yanhuang Demon General had to change his mind: "Then we will follow Fellow Daoist Beiming's words. However, if we obtain any treasures this time, we will have to rely on our own abilities."

Chen Yuan's eyes flashed, and he laughed, "I'm just guessing. This fragment of the interface is so small that even if there are Green Mantis traitors, they shouldn't have the means to destroy an entire interface."

"But we still have to give it a try."

Green Mantis King said, "I would be most grateful if you fellow Daoists would be willing to personally search for the whereabouts of those Green Mantis traitors."

"However, they left very few clues. Although their location has been roughly determined, it is still thousands of miles away, so it will probably take a lot of time."

The demon general said, "It's alright. Fellow Daoist, you don't know the wonders of divine sense. A few thousand miles is nothing. In just a few days, we will be able to find the traces of those Green Mantis traitors."

"However, I still have a question. Since you have roughly located their hiding place, why haven't they left? Why are they still staying in the same spot? Aren't they putting themselves in a dead end?"

Green Mantis King said, "I don't know either. It was only after we pinpointed their hiding place that we were able to capture several traitors."

"Perhaps those traitors have some reason why they can't leave that area."

Everyone nodded thoughtfully. The Green Mantis King then summoned his guards, arranged matters in the royal city, and personally led Chen Yuan and the others to find the group of Green Mantis traitors.

Their general hiding place was more than 40,000 li away from the royal city, and the Green Mantis King was not fast enough, so it took him several days to get there.

Under the orders of the Green Mantis King, hundreds of green mantises were scattered in the vicinity, carefully searching for traces of the traitors. This search had been going on for several years, with occasional successes, but they had never found their true hiding place.

The mountains here rise and fall, the ravines are deep, the forests are dense, and the deathly aura is extremely strong, making it no less impressive than the royal city.

The area was filled with ferocious beasts, including a skeletal divine beast. The Green Mantis King's Green Mantis guards dared not make a big show of themselves, which greatly slowed down the search for the traitors, and the casualties were quite heavy.

After Chen Yuan and the others arrived, they immediately dispersed, spreading their divine senses to scan the earth inch by inch.

After several days, they had thoroughly explored the area, but found nothing.

Everyone was puzzled. The group of Green Mantis rebels had no trace of death energy in their bodies and were completely out of place in this world. Logically speaking, they should have been extremely conspicuous, and a scan with their divine senses should have revealed their secrets.

They couldn't help but wonder if the Green Mantis King's judgment was wrong, and that the hiding place of the Green Mantis rebels was not in this area.

But the Green Mantis King was adamant, claiming that all the Green Mantis traitors it had captured came from this place, and there was absolutely no way it could be wrong.

The crowd was skeptical, but Chen Yuan finally spoke up: "Those Green Mantis rebels are able to avoid the corruption of death energy, perhaps they have some secret method to shield themselves from divine sense detection, who knows?"

"Since Fellow Daoist is certain that their hiding place is within a radius of several thousand miles and they have never left."

"We should send more people to intensify the search, and hopefully find their traces within a month."

The Green Mantis King seemed somewhat troubled: "This place is teeming with ferocious spirit beasts and has a complex terrain. It would take at least tens of thousands of Green Mantises to find their tracks within a month, as Fellow Daoist Beiming said."

"But this place is extremely far from the royal city, and sending Green Mantises here from the royal city would not be enough to supply them with spirit beast flesh and blood..."

Yanhuang Demon General narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "So, Fellow Daoist, you're unwilling to put in any effort?"

"Fellow Daoist, do not forget that you have already agreed to cooperate with us, which is why we spared your life. Do you intend to go back on your word?"

The Green Mantis King suddenly turned his head to stare at the Fiery Demon General, his voice turning cold: "This king will naturally not go back on his word."

"But the reason I agreed to cooperate with you fellow Daoists is not only to save my own life, but also to protect the 100,000 people in the royal city."

"My Green Mantis royal family has been worshipped by our people for generations. Although we have resorted to deception in the past in order to maintain our royal status, we still have some backbone and will not let our people die in vain."

Yanhuang Demon General's expression changed drastically: "Fellow Daoist, do you really think we dare not kill anyone?"

The Green Mantis King said, "The strength of you fellow Daoists far surpasses that of this king. Killing me is as easy as turning your hand."

"But I assure you, after my death, the royal city will immediately descend into chaos."

"Fellow Daoists can only spend time and effort to personally search for the traces of those Green Mantis traitors."

"And what about those skeletal divine beasts? You fellow Daoists have come to the Sin Realm, surely for the Black Crystal as well?"

"Besides myself, there are no other Green Mantises in the royal city who know the location of these Bone Beasts."

"Of course, the Sin Realm shouldn't be considered very vast for you fellow cultivators."

"But it will take you fellow Daoists a lot of time to search for it yourselves. Are you prepared for that?"

Yanhuang Demon General's face darkened, and he was about to speak when Chen Yuan raised his hand to stop him.

He flipped his hand and took out the black crystal he had obtained from the white bone giant bear. He looked at the Green Mantis King and smiled, "Fellow Daoist, you are overthinking it. Fellow Daoist Yanhuang is a bit impatient. If there is anything offensive in his words, I hope you will not take it to heart."

"We will certainly not let Fellow Daoist exert his efforts for nothing. Please accept this spirit crystal. It should be enough for you to send tens of thousands of Green Mantises to search for the traces of these Green Mantis traitors."

"Moreover, we once found a sentence in the temporary residence of a Green Mantis traitor: 'When will the days end? I will perish with you.'"

"It is clear that these Green Mantis traitors hate you to the bone, fellow Daoist, and are irreconcilable enemies."

"Fellow Daoist, finding their traces as soon as possible will also eliminate a potential threat. Why not do it?"

The Green Mantis King stared intently at the deathly black crystal with its two compound eyes, and its voice softened: "Fellow Daoist Beiming is absolutely right. I was also concerned about my people and misspoke. I hope Fellow Daoist Yanhuang will forgive me."

As it spoke, it clasped its hands in a respectful bow to the Demon General Yanhuang, who snorted coldly but said nothing more.

Chen Yuan gave it a gentle push, and the black crystal slowly flew toward the Green Mantis King. It reached out and took it, saying, "Fellow Daoist Beiming, rest assured, after returning to the royal city, I will send 30,000, no, 40,000 clansmen to travel day and night to this place."

"We will definitely find the whereabouts of those green mantis traitors within a month!"

Chen Yuan smiled slightly: "In that case, I'll have to trouble you, Fellow Daoist. We'll await your good news."

"In the meantime, please inform us of the location of those skeletal divine beasts."

“We will certainly take action on your behalf and kill them all, thus eliminating a few threats to the Green Mantis Clan.”

The Green Mantis King paused for a moment, then said, "That's natural."

The group did not linger and turned back to fly towards the royal city.

A few days later, the group returned to the royal city. The Green Mantis King acted swiftly and immediately summoned the Green Mantis nobles in the royal city.

It ordered its men to kill several thousand spirit beasts, and then took out dozens of black crystals from its treasure vault, gathering an army of 30,000 green mantises to march toward the hiding place of the green mantis traitors.

The black crystals inside the giant white-boned bear's body are enough to sustain the death energy within him for another thirty years, which means his lifespan will be extended by thirty years.

In comparison, the lives of tens of thousands of green mantises are truly insignificant.

The green mantises reproduce very easily; a single mating can produce more than a dozen eggs.

The only reason there are only 100,000 Green Mantises in the royal city is because there isn't enough flesh and blood from the exotic beasts, and the reproduction of the Green Mantises is strictly limited. Even if all 30,000 Green Mantises were to die, it could be easily made up for.

The 30,000-strong Green Mantis army had no worries about consuming their death energy. They flapped their wings and soared into the sky, a vast expanse of black, to search for the Green Mantis traitors.

Chen Yuan and his four companions followed the Green Mantis King away from the royal city to hunt down those exceptionally ferocious skeletal beasts.

These strange beasts are scattered over tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of miles around the royal city. They are the result of the Green Mantis King's persistent search for divine beasts over the past hundred years, with his guards and special envoys constantly being dispatched.

One of the skeletal beasts was extremely ferocious, comparable to a bone dragon, and the Green Mantis King dared not make a move against it.

The other skeletal beasts were comparable in strength to high-ranking demon generals. The Green Mantis King had once organized a Green Mantis army to attack them, but the campaign ended in failure.

With Chen Yuan and his group of five taking action, the skeletal beasts that had rendered the Green Mantis King helpless could only await their doom. The two dark ghostly flames in their eyes were extinguished one after another, and the black crystals inside their bodies were divided up among the five.

The bone crocodile, whose strength was comparable to that of a bone dragon, was the most difficult to deal with. Chen Yuan contributed the most, and the black crystal inside its body also belonged to Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan gave the black crystal inside the White Bone Giant Bear to the Green Mantis King in exchange for the king dispatching the Green Mantis army to search for the hiding place of the Green Mantis traitors.

Therefore, he single-handedly killed a giant skeletal eagle with the strength of a mid-level demon general and took away a piece of black crystal.

The other few skeletal beasts were killed by the four demon generals working together, and the black crystals and the hardest bone materials inside their bodies were divided up.

The Green Mantis King also intended to make a move, but was politely refused by the group. It was quite sensible and did not persist.

However, while the group was secretly communicating, they had already decided on its death date.

Although its cultivation level was equivalent to that of a mid-level demon general, its use of death energy was extremely crude, and it had no treasures in its hands, making it no match for the group.

However, it was unruly in front of everyone, and only agreed to send out the Green Mantis army after Chen Yuan took out a piece of black crystal.

Now everyone still needs the Green Mantis King's help. Once they find the trail of those Green Mantis traitors, figure out the origins of those 'Supreme Saints,' eliminate the hidden dangers, and completely control this interface fragment, then it will be its death.

……

Chen Yuan and his four companions, along with the Green Mantis King, slew all the skeletal beasts and returned to the royal city in just over twenty days.

Before the Green Mantis army could send back any news, the Green Mantis King presented five egg-shaped houses, each as large as a palace, as their dwellings.

Because this fragment of the interface was filled with death energy, the five of them could only use top-grade spirit stones to restore their true essence.

A few days later, the one-month deadline arrived, and everyone's true energy had fully recovered, but the Green Mantis army still hadn't sent back any news.

The five did not stay in the royal city to wait, but went with the Green Mantis King to the hiding place of the Green Mantis rebels.

They met with the Green Mantis noble who was in charge of this large army, and only after inquiring did they learn the truth.

Because this area is several thousand miles wide and the terrain is extremely complex, more than two thousand green mantises have died or been injured in the past month.

However, even after narrowing the search area to a thousand miles, they still couldn't find any trace of the Green Mantis rebels, and most of the beast's flesh and blood had been consumed.

The Green Mantis King was furious and beheaded two negligent Green Mantis leaders, ordering them to find the group of Green Mantis traitors within half a month.

The remaining 27,000 green mantises dared not relax their vigilance for a moment. Regardless of casualties, they flew over the mountains and forests, leaving no suspicious place unchecked.

Chen Yuan and the other four also stayed behind, spreading their divine senses to carefully observe anything unusual.

Seven days later, Iron-Winged Demon General finally made a discovery.

Three green mantises entered a cave, suddenly lost all their energy, and never came out again, disappearing silently.

Such things are not uncommon. The various strange beasts in this fragment of the interface are bizarre and varied. Some can completely merge into the death energy without revealing a trace of their own energy, and even the demon general's divine sense cannot detect them.

Ironwing Demon General ignored them. The Green Mantis Commander, to whom the three Green Mantises belonged, dispatched more than a dozen Green Mantises into the cave to search for the whereabouts of the three missing Green Mantises.

But once they entered the cave, they also lost their life force.

Finally, the Green Mantis Commander, comparable to a level six demonic beast, personally entered the cave and disappeared without a trace, never to emerge again.

This dark cave was like a gaping maw that could devour everything. All the green mantises that fell into it were instantly crushed to pieces and died on the spot.

This caught the attention of the Iron-Winged Demon General. He descended his escape light and came to the top of the cave. He probed inside with his divine sense, but was blocked by an invisible barrier and could not get any closer.

What forms this barrier is actually spiritual energy that has never appeared in this fragment of the interface before.

Ironwing Demon Commander immediately transmitted his voice to the others, and a quarter of an hour later, the five of them gathered above the cave, and Green Mantis King also came along.

The hundreds of green mantises that had been aimlessly searching around stopped and, at the command of the Green Mantis King, remained in place, each on guard.

Looking at the cave, the Green Mantis King wondered, "There doesn't seem to be anything strange about this place..."

Qi Yan Yao Shuai’s eyes flashed with a sharp light as he looked into the cave and said, “This barrier is formed by spiritual energy. Fellow Daoist’s body is filled with death energy, so naturally you cannot see it.”

"Moreover, this barrier is neither a formation nor a formation; it seems to be naturally formed and is extremely difficult to discern."

"Unless one directly injects their divine sense into it, it is extremely difficult to sense anything. It is mysterious and truly amazing."

"Only by breaking it can we get a glimpse of what's inside the cave."

Yanhuang Demon General laughed heartily: "Even Fellow Daoist Qiyan praised this spiritual energy barrier highly. There must be a treasure behind it. I will break it now."

He appeared rugged, but he was quite cautious in his actions. He did not step forward himself, but instead took out a black stone stick, raised his hand, and was about to smash it down.

Just then, an old and harsh voice came from the cave: "If you don't want to die, stop now, or don't blame me for taking you all down with me!"

Yanhuang Demon General paused, and the invisible barrier at the cave entrance slowly dissipated, allowing a green mantis to fly out.

This green mantis was entirely emerald green, untouched by any trace of death. As soon as it appeared, the deathly energy that had been roaming the world surged forth, rushing into its body in a frenzy.

In its left hand it held a peculiar, multicolored stone, about the size of a fist, its colors constantly changing.

A spiritual aura emanated from this multicolored stone, as clear as spiritual milk and as heavy as the earth, condensing into a thin, multicolored light curtain that blocked out all death energy.

Behind this green mantis, hundreds of green mantises emerged from the cave in succession. They were all emerald green and had a pure aura, completely different from those green mantises whose bodies were filled with death energy.

They gathered behind the leading green mantis, and the spiritual energy emanating from the peculiar stone became even more concentrated, forming a barrier that slowly expanded, sheltering all the green mantises within.

The surrounding death energy surged wildly, trying to devour the hundreds of green mantises, but they were helpless in the face of this seemingly fragile light barrier and could only drift away unwillingly.

The green mantis, holding a five-colored stone, has two huge compound eyes that are also emerald green, as pure as two pieces of jade.

It stared intently at the Fiery Demon General, its mandibles opening and closing, its voice filled with endless resentment and sorrow: "Thousands of years have passed... The Green Mantis Realm has long been shattered, yet you demons still insist on exterminating us! Then my Green Mantis Clan will perish with you!" (End of Chapter)