Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

The Taoist Cangsong's expression was uncertain; he opened his mouth several times as if to speak, but then closed it again, and the silence in the stone hall continued.

Chen Yuan looked at the Taoist Cangsong quietly, his heart calm and undisturbed.

He seemed somewhat indecisive in doing so. He was clearly worried that Daoist Cangsong would reveal the secrets of his cultivation technique, yet he didn't want to kill him directly to silence him. He was extremely hesitant.

However, Chen Yuan was not a demonic cultivator after all. Although he killed people without hesitation, he would not turn his back on them and be ruthless, showing no regard for morality.

Those he killed were either his enemies or demons, not of his kind, and their hearts were surely different.

The Cangsong Daoist had helped him achieve the Divine Transformation stage. The two traveled through the Three Realms, joining forces to fight enemies. They had gone through life and death together, and then directly attacked Chen Yuan, whose Dao heart was flawed.

That's why he gave Daoist Cangsong a chance. If Daoist Cangsong wanted to live, he should know how to make a choice.

After a long while, Daoist Cangsong finally calmed down and gave a bitter smile: "I know I can't convince you that I won't reveal this matter in the future. It seems I have no choice but to ask you to plant the Zhuyan True Fire in my body as a restraint."

"But in doing so, my life and death will be in your hands. If you use this to enslave me, how should I respond?"

This was exactly the answer Chen Yuan wanted to hear. He smiled slightly and said, "Fellow Daoist, rest assured, I am not such a despicable person."

"The True Fire of the Vermilion Flame is no ordinary spiritual fire. The mark left by me will only seal this thought."

"As long as you don't reveal the secrets of my cultivation technique to others, there will be no problem."

"Of course, you must not be my enemy again in the future, otherwise, if the true fire erupts, you will not be able to escape death."

Daoist Cangsong was caught in a struggle again, his eyes filled with hesitation. After a long while, he sighed and said, "That's enough. I have no other choice. I only hope that you will keep your word and merely suppress this thought, instead of using it to enslave me."

Chen Yuan said, "Please open your dantian and do not resist."

Daoist Cangsong nodded and slowly closed his eyes.

Chen Yuan's black hair slowly turned snow-white, his aura overflowed and gradually rose, and a ball of Zhu Yan True Fire rose from the palm of his right hand.

Daoist Cangsong is a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. To leave a Fire Lotus imprint in his body, Chen Yuan must fully activate the Vermilion Flame.

With a thought, the Zhu Yan True Fire surged into the dantian of the Cangsong Daoist, following that mysterious connection in the darkness.

In the boundless void, the sea of ​​true essence spread out, but it was only two or three tenths of the sea of ​​true essence in Chen Yuan's dantian, and the seawater formed by the condensation of true essence was also much thinner.

Above the vast ocean of true essence, a small and exquisite primordial spirit sat cross-legged, looking exactly like the Daoist Cangsong. It was as radiant as the sun, with several magical treasures swirling around it, breathing in and out the pure energy of the primordial spirit.

The Zhu Yan True Fire appeared not far in front of the primordial spirit. The primordial spirit opened its eyes and looked at the illusory and lively white spiritual fire, its eyes revealing a hint of tension.

Under the watchful gaze of the primordial spirit, the Zhu Yan True Fire condensed into a lifelike fire lotus and slowly flew over.

As the scorching heat grew clearer, Daoist Cangsong resisted the urge to unleash his divine soul power to engulf it, allowing the fire lotus to fly to his primordial spirit's forehead and slowly merge into it.

A burning sensation, accompanied by a slight pain, spread throughout his primordial spirit before disappearing completely.

Daoist Cangsong was startled. He focused his divine sense on his primordial spirit and scanned it inch by inch, but found nothing unusual.

The exquisite fire lotus seemed to have vanished without a trace, remaining within his primordial spirit. He withdrew his divine sense, opened his eyes, and looked at Chen Yuan with surprise and uncertainty: "Fellow Daoist has already planted the Vermilion Flame?"

Chen Yuan nodded slightly: "Fellow Daoist, you can try to reveal the secret of my cultivation technique."

Daoist Cangsong tentatively asked, "Can the cultivation technique you practice be refined..."

Before he could finish speaking, his expression changed drastically, two illusory white flames flickered in his eyes, and his features twisted in pain.

Suddenly, a fire lotus mark appeared on the forehead of the primordial spirit. Illusory and eerie white spiritual fire surged out from the primordial spirit's body, enveloping the entire body and burning fiercely, with scorching pain spreading throughout the body.

He quickly stopped, suppressed the thought, and the white spiritual fire went out. The fire lotus mark flashed a few times and disappeared.

Daoist Cangsong scanned the primordial spirit with his divine sense again and again, but still found nothing. Helpless, he had no choice but to withdraw his divine sense.

The intense pain from the burning of his soul still lingered, and his face was quite pale. He forced a smile and said, "Fellow Daoist, you have skillful methods. As expected of the True Spirit Fire, it was clearly within my primordial spirit, yet there was no trace of it."

Chen Yuan's white hair returned to normal, and his aura became more restrained. He said, "I only left a wisp of Zhu Yan True Fire in your body, which has merged with your primordial spirit. Naturally, you cannot detect it."

"With your divine soul power as fuel, if you try to reveal the secrets of my cultivation technique, your primordial spirit will be burned and you will die in agony."

Daoist Cangsong's expression grew increasingly grim, while Chen Yuan smiled slightly: "However, fellow Daoist, rest assured, as long as you do not have such thoughts, this wisp of Zhuyan True Fire will not do you any harm."

"On the contrary, when you are fighting with someone, if your opponent uses a supernatural technique that targets the soul, the Zhu Yan True Fire will appear to protect your soul. It is a top-notch defensive supernatural power."

"To be honest, even with my current strength, I cannot separate out even a few strands of such pure Zhu Yan True Fire. Fellow Daoist, obtaining this ability out of thin air is a blessing rather than a curse."

Daoist Cangsong's expression softened somewhat. He was relieved that Chen Yuan hadn't turned against him after planting the Fire Lotus Mark.

But with his life and death in someone else's hands, he was in a bad mood. He forced a smile and said, "In that case, I must thank you, fellow Daoist. I wonder if you are at ease now?"

Chen Yuan smiled slightly: "Fellow Daoist and I are both cultivators in the human realm and have gone through life and death together. With this Fire Lotus Mark, our relationship has been further strengthened. In the future, when we enter the Spirit Realm, we should support each other."

After saying this, he got up to take his leave, and Daoist Cangsong did not try to stop him, but personally saw him out of the cave.

Chen Yuan rode his escape light and flew out of the valley. Looking at the illusion array slowly closing below, a smile appeared on his lips. He then turned and flew back to his cave.

The next day, Chen Yuan summoned Zhang Yanwei and Yun Jinyue, and sent a message to invite Daoist Cangsong to a meeting. He was very polite and did not show any disrespect for the Fire Lotus Mark he had planted.

Before long, the three of them arrived at Chen Yuan's cave.

Chen Yuan told Zhang Yanwei and Yun Jinyue that Cangsong Daoren had promised to protect them. Zhang Yanwei and Yun Jinyue were overjoyed and immediately bowed to Cangsong Daoren to express their gratitude.

Daoist Cangsong was both delighted to learn the method to enter the spirit realm and quite agitated by the fire lotus mark, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

He casually offered a few words of encouragement to the two, promising to protect them, before getting up to take his leave, saying he was leaving Beiming Island to find a hiding place.

Chen Yuan readily agreed and ordered Zhang Yanwei to escort the Taoist Cangsong out of the cave.

He offered Yun Jinyue a few more words of encouragement, then dismissed her. He rose and went to the herb garden, took out a huge stone, sat cross-legged, and waited for the spatial secret realm to open three years later. (End of Chapter)