Nine Transformations of the True Spirit

The young scholar looked at the masked monk suspiciously after hearing this: "Are you kidding, fellow Daoist?"

Since this man knew that he had a broken stele in his hand, he must have seen the conflict between him and the stall owner just now. Would he buy this useless broken stele?

The masked monk was naturally Chen Yuan. He didn't say much. He took out a high-grade spirit stone from the mustard seed ring and threw it to the young scholar: "I am willing to pay a high-grade spirit stone to buy the broken stele in your hand."

The young scholar caught the spirit stone and felt the abundant spiritual energy in the spirit stone. He was stunned.

A high-grade spirit stone can be exchanged for 120 to 30 medium-grade spirit stones, which is enough to buy a top-grade spiritual weapon, and there is still some left.

That useless broken stele can be sold at such a high price?

The young scholar could not help but feel a little greedy, and said seriously: "This broken stele is extremely hard, and even the true fire cannot melt it. There is something strange. A top-grade spirit stone may not be enough... Uh!"

Before he finished speaking, Chen Yuan exuded his aura and said lightly: "Fellow Daoist, are you asking for too much?"

The young cultivator opened his eyes wide, feeling the huge pressure that surged like a tide, slightly opened his mouth, blushed, but could not say a word.

Chen Yuan restrained his aura, and the young scholar bowed deeply: "Senior, please forgive me, I dare not, I am willing to present this broken stele to you!"

He hurriedly took out the broken stele from the storage bag, together with the top-grade spirit stone, and presented it to Chen Yuan with both hands.

This person turned out to be a cultivator in the late stage of Jindan, which immediately dispelled all his greed and hurriedly changed his words.

It is strictly forbidden for cultivators to fight privately in Chongde Market, but the person in front of him killed him casually and destroyed the body. Who can find out?

Haoran Sect would not waste too much time on a cultivator in the early stage of foundation building, and would not offend a cultivator in the late stage of Jindan for a low-level cultivator like him!

Chen Yuan did not take the spirit stone, but just took the broken stele and looked down at the stele.

After a while, he put the broken stele into the mustard seed ring, turned around and left without saying a word.

The young scholar let out a long breath, looked at Chen Yuan's back with lingering fear, put the spirit stone into the storage bag, and left in a hurry.

He didn't know what secrets this broken stele had that could be favored by a cultivator in the late stage of Jindan, but that was not something he, a cultivator in the early stage of foundation building, could participate in.

He bought something with ten middle-grade spirit stones and sold it for one high-grade spirit stone, which was already a huge profit.

Now he didn't have to refine spirit tools by himself, he could go directly to the Treasure Pavilion and gather three middle-grade spirit tools for attack, defense, and flight. Even if he met a cultivator in the middle stage of foundation building, he would not be afraid at all.

The young scholar was delighted, sighing at his luck today, and walked quickly to the most prosperous place in Chongde Market.

…

Chen Yuan followed the road he came from, returned to the middle-aged monk's stall, and stopped.

The middle-aged monk greeted him warmly: "Does this Taoist friend have a treasure he likes?"

Chen Yuan looked down and saw a few common hundred-year-old spiritual herbs, several low-grade spiritual materials, and four top-grade magic tools on the brand-new table.

With the support of Haoran Sect, which has a huge spiritual vein, spiritual herbs in Chongde Market are not rare, and even in the hands of casual cultivators, there is no shortage of hundred-year-old spiritual herbs.

Chen Yuan whispered, "Do you still have the broken stele you sold before?"

The middle-aged cultivator's face sank, and he looked at Chen Yuan up and down, with a vigilant look in his eyes: "What do you mean, fellow Daoist? I don't understand."

Chen Yuan said lightly: "I'm not here to cause trouble to you. If you still have that kind of broken stele, I am willing to buy them all at the price of one top-grade spirit stone and one broken stele."

As he spoke, he took out a few top-grade spirit stones from the mustard ring, and the aura emanated from them, all condensed on the middle-aged cultivator.

The middle-aged cultivator felt that he was carrying a thousand-foot mountain on his shoulders, and the coldness like a needle penetrated into his bones, as if he had fallen into a ten-thousand-year-old ice cave. His mind was blank and he couldn't say a word.

Chen Yuan killed too many cultivators and monsters, and condensed a huge evil spirit. At this moment, as the pressure was released, the strong evil spirit almost broke the middle-aged cultivator's mind.

After a while, he restrained his evil spirit and pressure, and looked at the middle-aged monk quietly. His eyes, hidden under the silver mask, were like a deep pool, deep and unfathomable.

The middle-aged monk was sweating profusely, and did not dare to have any thoughts. He said in a trembling voice: "Senior, please understand. I only have that broken stele in my hand, and I have sold it."

Chen Yuan said lightly: "Take out your storage bag."

The expression on the middle-aged monk's face changed, but he did not dare to refuse after all. He took off the storage bag from his waist and presented it to Chen Yuan with both hands.

Chen Yuan's spiritual sense went in and found that there were only two spiritual tools, some medium-grade spiritual stones, cultivation pills and other things, but no second broken stele.

He frowned and returned the storage bag to the middle-aged monk.

Monks usually carry all their belongings with them. There is no broken stele in the storage bag, so the middle-aged monk should not be lying.

"Where did you get the broken stele?" Chen Yuan asked.

The middle-aged cultivator took back the storage bag and was obviously relieved. Hearing this, he quickly replied: "I bought that broken stele from a cultivator in the late stage of Qi Refining for twenty low-grade spirit stones."

"That broken stele is very hard. I originally wanted to refine it into a defensive spirit weapon, but who knew it was just a showpiece. It couldn't be infused with spiritual energy, and it couldn't be melted by true fire. So... I sold it at a high price."

As he spoke, he secretly observed Chen Yuan's expression, fearing that he would be dissatisfied with this answer.

But Chen Yuan's expression was covered by the silver mask, and he couldn't see the change, which made him even more nervous.

Chen Yuan asked: "Where is that late Qi Refining cultivator now?"

The middle-aged cultivator shook his head: "I don't know either. I bought it from a stall three months ago."

"Later, I found that the broken stele was useless. I was very angry and went to ask for punishment, but I didn't find that person again."

"That person's cultivation is low, only the seventh level of Qi Refining. Maybe he usually cultivates spiritual herbs or mines spiritual stones for Haoran Sect. He didn't go out to the stall that day and just missed it."

"Do you remember what that person looks like?"

"I remember, I remember."

"Imprint that person's portrait in this jade slip." Chen Yuan took out a blank jade slip from the mustard seed ring and handed it over.

"Yes." The middle-aged cultivator quickly agreed, took the jade slip, closed his eyes, and probed into it with his spiritual consciousness.

After a while, he retracted his spiritual consciousness, bowed slightly, and handed the jade slip back to Chen Yuan with both hands.

Chen Yuan took back the jade slip and used his spiritual sense to explore it. Inside was a cultivator in his thirties, with a dark complexion and ordinary appearance. There was nothing special about him.

He memorized the man's face, put away the jade slip, took out a high-grade spirit stone, and said lightly: "It's best not to let others know about what happened today. If it causes trouble, don't blame me for not reminding you."

"Don't worry, senior, I will never dare to talk nonsense!" When the middle-aged cultivator saw the spirit stone that Chen Yuan took out, he breathed quickly, his eyes lit up, and made promises.

Chen Yuan nodded slightly, handed the spirit stone to the middle-aged cultivator, and turned to leave.

After Chen Yuan left, the middle-aged cultivator looked around and found that no one was paying attention to him. He immediately raised his sleeves and put all the things on the table into the storage bag and left quickly.

He had made up his mind not to go out to the stall for the next month and avoid the limelight first.

The broken stele must have hidden a big secret to attract the attention of the late Jindan cultivator. This matter must be kept in mind and must not be revealed to anyone.

The middle-aged cultivator was in a hurry and did not notice that Chen Yuan's consciousness passed through the crowd and locked him firmly, following him all the way to the west of Chongde City.

There are tens of thousands of houses scattered here, covering a vast area, just like a prosperous county town in the mortal world.

These are the cheapest yellow-level caves in the city. There is no spirit gathering array, and the annual rent is only thirty low-grade spirit stones.

But as the caves of immortal cultivators, the materials used in these small courtyards are still very particular. They are built with spirit wood over thirty years old, and the courtyard walls are also made of fine bluestone, which is extremely hard.

Moreover, a formation that can resist the prying of spiritual consciousness is set up, which is difficult for cultivators in the early stage of foundation building to break.

The middle-aged monk walked around and walked into a remote courtyard. Chen Yuan followed him slowly. After waiting for a while, he quietly broke through the crude formation around the courtyard wall and walked in.

The middle-aged monk had already entered the house and was meditating. Chen Yuan walked in front of him, but he was still unaware.

His consciousness was far weaker than Chen Yuan's, and he could not detect Chen Yuan's existence at all.

"Ahem." Chen Yuan coughed twice.

"Who?" The middle-aged monk suddenly opened his eyes, retreated violently, and stuck to the wall, his face full of shock and anger.

But when he saw that it was Chen Yuan, he could not help but stand there, the anger on his face disappeared without a trace, and he forced a smile: "Senior, everything I said is true, and there is no falsehood!"

Chen Yuan said lightly. "I am still a little worried about the origin of the broken stele. You should make a foreign demon oath."

The middle-aged monk breathed a sigh of relief and immediately swore a foreign demon oath, saying that what he said before was absolutely true and would not be revealed to anyone, otherwise he would immediately go into the devil and die.

Chen Yuan was relieved and left.

After this incident, the middle-aged monk did not dare to stay in Chongde City, and did not care about wasting half a year's cave rent, so he fled thousands of miles away that night.

In the next few days, Chen Yuan strolled in the western part of Chongde Market, paying close attention to every stall, but he still could not find the Qi-refining monk who sold the broken stele to the middle-aged monk, so he could only give up for the time being.

He returned to his residence, took out the broken stele, and looked at it carefully, with a solemn expression.

The broken stele is about one foot long, half a foot wide, and weighs about 100 kilograms. The surface is extremely rough, as if it is a rock that has been weathered for thousands of years. There are several cracks of varying thicknesses. One of the thickest cracks runs through the entire broken stele and is several inches deep.

Above the broken stele is an extremely smooth section, as if it was cut off by some extremely sharp magic weapon.

There is a fragmentary inscription on the stele, which has been mostly destroyed by cracks and weathering. The strokes are complicated and obscure.

And it was this inscription that made Chen Yuan buy this broken stele, and he spent several days to trace the origin of the broken stele.

This inscription is exactly the same as the ancient text on the map of the secret realm of Dongxu Mountain that he got from Xie Quan's treasure chest, and the inscription on the broken stele that he saw from Old Man Geng.

"...work together to wipe out the demonic atmosphere...100,000 demons were killed in this battle, including 34 transformed demon cultivators and 270 royal demon cultivators...Ten thousand cultivators came to congratulate us, to promote the prestige of our Taixuan Sect...a special monument is erected..."

The inscription is incomplete, but it mentions "Taixuan Sect".

This mysterious ancient sect has not left a single word, and is not found in any classics. It only exists in the map of the secret realm of Dongxu Mountain and this inconspicuous broken monument.

Chen Yuan took out the map from the mustard seed ring, unfolded it, and injected true energy, but the map did not react at all.

He injected his spiritual consciousness into the map, but it was useless. This map, which looked like silk, but not silk, and was as delicate as ancient jade, seemed to have no special features.

He injected his true essence spiritual consciousness into the broken stele, but the broken stele also had no reaction, as if it was just a stone stele carved from ordinary rocks.

Chen Yuan frowned, and many speculations arose in his mind.

The broken stele of Taixuan Sect appeared in both Donghuazhou and Jiuxianzhou. Where is this sect located?

According to the broken stele, Taixuan Sect once destroyed 100,000 monsters in one battle, including 34 transformed monster kings. After the war, there were "Ten Thousand Cultivators to Congratulate". The ten major sects did not have such terrifying strength.

The secret realm of Dongxu Mountain, which has a large spiritual vein, is enough to be the foundation of a large sect, but it is only the spiritual medicine garden of Taixuan Sect.

Why did such a powerful sect lose its inheritance, and why did it leave no records in the world of immortal cultivation?

Chen Yuan's mind was flowing, staring at the inscriptions on the broken stele.

The rough and worn surface of the stele was a trace left by the years.

He suddenly raised his hand and pinched a corner of the broken stele. He exerted force suddenly, and a huge force surged out of his palm, but the broken stele was intact.

Chen Yuan was shocked, and stimulated Zhu Yan's true blood. His black hair turned snow-white. He exerted force again, but the broken stele did not move at all.

Chen Yuan slowly released his hand, and there was not even a trace left on the stele.

He took a deep breath, and his white hair turned back to black, staring at this inconspicuous broken stele.

After he stimulated the blood of the true spirit, his physical body was greatly enhanced, even close to the transformed demon king, enough to break the river and destroy the mountain, but he had no way to deal with this inconspicuous broken stele.

He became ruthless and stimulated Kunpeng's true blood. A pair of black wings appeared behind him, and his hands were covered with a layer of black light, extending to his forearms, and he grabbed the broken stele!

The dark light, which was like a crack in space, touched the severely weathered stele surface, but it still failed. The pattern on the stele was intact, and not even a trace of stone chips was cut off.

Chen Yuan retracted his hand, and the black wings behind him slowly retracted into his spine, with a flash of shock in his eyes.

Even the power of the true spirit could not damage the stele in the slightest. What kind of material was this stele made of?

What kind of powerful magic weapon must have cut off the stele, and what kind of changes did the stele experience to "weather" into this state?

Chen Yuan had many questions in his mind, but he could not get answers.

The secret realm of Dongxu Mountain, the broken stele of Taixuan Sect that appeared in Donghuazhou and Jiuxianzhou respectively, and the ancient sect whose inheritance was cut off...

He could only put the map and the stele into the mustard seed ring, bury these doubts deep in his heart, and then slowly look for answers.

After this incident, Chen Yuan would spend several hours every day wandering around the stalls in the western part of the market, looking for the Qi-refining monk who sold the broken stele to the middle-aged monk, but he never found anything.

A month later, Chen Yuan returned to the courtyard where he lived from the western part of the market, but found that the door was open and a monk was sitting in the main hall. He looked closely and found that it was Zhang Wushan, whom he had been waiting for for a long time.

He walked forward quickly, clasped his fists and bowed with a smile: "Chen has been looking forward to it day and night, and finally he has waited for Brother Zhang to return to the sect."

Zhang Wushan stood up to greet him, returned the greeting, and laughed: "After decades of not seeing each other, Brother Chen is still as charming as ever. Sit down and talk." (End of this chapter)