Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

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

Two massive, tattered skeletons, with only a few remnants of flesh and blood remaining, were neatly arranged together. Their surfaces were pitted and corroded, their colors dull and tinged with a green hue.

Two demon generals stood beside the skeleton, their hands hanging down and their heads slightly bowed.

The Thunder Mountain Demon King sat in the main seat, his gaze sweeping over the two skeletons. His eyes flashed with cold light as he said coldly, "The Demon Generals of Mojiao, Jinzha, and the Corroded Wood Cave have been fighting for nearly ten years and are still unharmed."

"As a result, not long after returning to his cave, he was ambushed and killed by a corrosive poison, and it was related to a human cultivator..."

"Where did this human cultivator come from, daring to assassinate a high-ranking demon general and succeed so easily?"

A demon general raised his head and said angrily, "It must be the demon general of the Erosion Wood Cave who, with the strange poison bestowed by the Erosion Wood Demon King, disguised himself as a human cultivator and infiltrated my Thunder Mountain Cave. He took advantage of the moment when fellow Daoists Mo Jiao and Jin Zha were off guard and suddenly attacked."

Another demon general said, "They must have brought human slaves with them. Over the past year, the demon generals of Mojiao Cave have been repeatedly attacked and killed by human Nascent Soul cultivators. Many low-level demon beasts witnessed this firsthand, so it shouldn't be a lie."

"Human Nascent Soul cultivators only appeared in the Golden Clan Cave after the death of the Ink Horn Demon General, and this only lasted for a little over a month."

"It was only because Fellow Daoist Jinzha was careless and disobeyed the King's orders, leaving the cave to personally pursue and kill that human Nascent Soul cultivator that he perished."

"This must be because the Wood-Eroding Cave is seeing that the battle is going badly and my Thunder Mountain Cave is gaining the upper hand, so they resorted to such despicable means to weaken the strength of my Thunder Mountain Cave!"

The Thunder Mountain Demon King glanced at the two demon generals, a hint of disappointment flashing in his eyes.

These two demon generals have followed him for at least several thousand years and are quite loyal, but they are still far inferior to Youji, Xiangqing, Tianhou, and others.

He shook his head slightly: "That late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator was undoubtedly a human slave, used to lure out Mo Jiao and Jin Zha, but the person who did it was definitely not a demon general under Shi Mu's command."

"Before the war began, Shi Mu had nine mid-level demon generals under his command who died at the hands of that man in black, and Tian Luo was also ambushed and killed by You Ji and his men, greatly weakening his strength."

"He persisted for twenty years, but gradually fell into a disadvantageous position. If he continued to fight, he would surely lose."

"Now that I am willing to cease hostilities, he is even more unwilling to lose any more demon generals and has already taken the initiative to retreat."

"Shimu would not send a demon general to infiltrate Leishan Cave at this time to assassinate me, the demon general, and add fuel to the fire."

"Otherwise, I will retaliate in kind, and this battle will truly be a fight to the death, with no end in sight."

"Moreover, the beginning of this battle was rather suspicious. The person who started it must have had ulterior motives, wanting me and Shimu to continue fighting so that he could reap the benefits."

"It remains to be seen what benefit this king will gain from fighting with Shi Mu..."

Thunder Mountain Demon King frowned. Although Blood Tooth Demon Saint was wary of him and Wood Erosion Saint, he would never use such methods to provoke a battle between the two and weaken his own strength.

Other demon kings also have enemies, but he is far inferior to Erosion Wood, and would not go to such great lengths just to provoke this great war.

Could these demon generals be the target of the person behind them? But what use are a few demon generals?

After a long pause, the Thunder Mountain Demon King finally spoke: "Issue my decree that all demon generals in the Thunder Mountain Cave must be on high alert and must not leave the cave at will, lest they be attacked and killed."

"I will go to the border today to meet with Shi Mu and temporarily cease hostilities."

"I will find the person behind this and will not allow them to cause trouble again!"

……

Three months later, on North Sea Island.

As night deepened, Daoist Cangsong arrived outside Chen Yuan's cave. He descended with his escape light and was about to speak when the stone door slowly opened, revealing a long passage.

Daoist Cangsong smiled nonchalantly, stepped inside, and entered the stone hall. Chen Yuan rose to greet him.
He stepped forward quickly and bowed: "I was summoned by you, fellow Daoist, and came to pay my respects immediately. May I ask what your instructions are? Is there anything else I can do to help you?" Chen Yuan returned the greeting with clasped hands, gestured for Cangsong Daoist to sit down, and shook his head slightly: "I just received an order from the Thunder Mountain Demon King. He has already ceased hostilities with the Wood-Eating Demon King."

"We should not act rashly, lest we reveal our weakness."

Daoist Cangsong lifted his robe and sat down opposite Chen Yuan, frowning as he said, "The Thunder Mountain Demon King is so decisive and swift?"

"The two cave dwellings have been locked in a fierce battle for twenty years, with each side losing more than a dozen demon generals and countless low-level demon beasts killed or wounded. Yet the ceasefire was brought so easily."

Chen Yuan said, "It should be that our attack on the high-ranking demon general of Leishan Cave aroused his suspicion."

"The battle situation has eased, but Mo Jiao and Jin Hou died from the corrosive poison. Just as you said, it was too deliberate."

Daoist Cangsong stroked his beard and nodded slightly: "That's probably the case. However, the Demon King of Leishan has long intended to cease hostilities. Even if we don't intervene, this great battle won't continue."

"Before this, we killed two high-level demon generals, so we finally got something."

"However, now that the Thunder Mountain Demon King has become suspicious, he will likely join forces with the Wood-Eating Demon King to search for our whereabouts with all his might. I wonder what methods he will use..."

A hint of worry flashed in his eyes, but Chen Yuan remained calm: "The Leishan Cave is so vast, and we have been extremely cautious in our actions, that we have not left any clues."

"Even if the Thunder Mountain Demon King and the Wood Erosion Demon King personally intervened, it would be to no avail."

"Moreover, before the war began, Chen had attacked and killed the demon generals of two major caves, which greatly angered the Wood-Eating Demon King."

"He went so far as to ask other demon kings for help, gathering dozens of high-ranking demon generals to lay a trap, yet he still couldn't find out that it was Chen who did it. What other methods could he possibly have?"

After Chen Yuan rushed back to Beiming Island from the Leishan Mountains, he took a few drops of essence blood from a Core Formation cultivator. Then, with the help of Daoist Cangsong, he attacked and killed three demon generals, lured out the Demon Commander Mojiao, killed him, and seized his demon core.

The two then used the same method to lure and kill the Golden Crow Demon General. The Golden Crow Demon General was slightly weaker than the Ink Horn Demon General, and he died at their hands after only a few rounds. His accompanying demon generals were also killed.

Chen Yuan acted with extreme caution. After killing two high-ranking demon generals in succession, he immediately stopped and rushed back to Beiming Island, ceasing all his efforts.

Shortly thereafter, the Demon King of Leishan issued an edict, stating that a demon general was secretly lurking, and ordered his demon generals to be on guard and not to leave their caves without permission, lest they fall into danger.

Chen Yuan observed the situation calmly, then handed Cangsong Daoist a bottle of Demon Essence Pills, and then started refining the pills in the furnace.

Daoist Cangsong was overjoyed. The two had made an agreement that if he successfully hunted down the Demon General, Chen Yuan would give him a portion of the pills.

However, he felt that he had not contributed much. He had only killed a few demon generals. When dealing with high-level demon commanders, Chen Yuan was the main force, and he was just watching from the sidelines.

Chen Yuan, however, took out a bottle of pills, which surprised him greatly.

Chen Yuan said that although what Cangsong Daoren did was easy, it was indispensable.

It was precisely because Daoist Cangsong attacked and killed the demon general of Mojiao Cave before he entered the interface fragment that when he returned to the Burning Demon Realm and truly took action against the demon general of Mojiao, it did not arouse the suspicion of the Demon King of Leishan.

The Northern Darkness Cave Mansion had only been established for a short time, and Chen Yuan did not yet have any Nascent Soul human slaves under his command.

The human cultivator who attacked and killed the demon general of Mojiao Cave had a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivation level, which immediately excluded Chen Yuan.

Daoist Cangsong left satisfied to refine the elixir, while Chen Yuan started refining the elixir until King Leishan issued an edict announcing a ceasefire, at which point he was invited back to discuss the matter.

Daoist Cangsong was relieved: "What you say is absolutely right. If the two demon kings had any tricks up their sleeves, they would have already used them. Why would they wait until now?"

Chen Yuan said, "However, the Demon King is furious, so we must be on guard. Please do not go out casually in the future, so as not to reveal your presence."

Daoist Cangsong laughed and said, "Fellow Daoist, rest assured, this humble Daoist will never leave Beiming Island even a single step." (End of this chapter)