Nine Transformations of the True Spirit

After the beast tide struck, the mountain gate of Guanlan Sect in the north of Shuofeng City was shrouded in a layer of formations. Monks patrolled it every day and were heavily guarded.

When the casual cultivators and monks from various sects who live outside Shuofengfang City see the appearance of Guanlan Sect, they won't show anything on their faces, but there will be a flash of sarcasm in their eyes.

Xiong Lie's words reached the ears of all the monks, and even mortals could hear them clearly.

They knew, and the Guanlan Sect also knew that this beast wave was entirely caused by Tang Daozhou.

The monks on the city wall are guarding against attacks by monsters. Who are the monks patrolling around the gate of Guanlan Sect guarding against?

This kind of move by Guanlan Sect made people in the city even more unstable.

Resisting the beast tide is indeed the great mission of the monks in Hanzhou, but for Tang Daozhou's own selfishness, fighting with the beasts to the death is not what the monks want.

But Guanlan Sect couldn't care less about this. Tang Daozhou was seriously injured and monsters besieged the city. This was a critical moment of life and death, and no flaws were allowed to be exposed.

To the north of the city is a mountain range that is tens of miles long. Spiritual veins are mostly attached to the earth's veins, so they often exist in the mountains. The Guanlan Sect's mountain gate is also built here.

In a valley, where the Guanlan Sect's aura is strongest, a ray of light fell from the sky, revealing the figure of the monk surnamed Han.

He cupped his fists and bowed to the two stone doors on the mountain wall, and said loudly: "Disciple Han Chengzong, pay your respects to the master."

About a quarter of an hour later, the stone door opened, and Tang Daozhou's slightly weak voice came from the cave: "Come in and talk."

Han Chengzong stepped in, walked through a passage, and came to the main hall.

Tang Daozhou was sitting on the main seat, his face was a little pale, his energy was still fluctuating, and his injuries were obviously not fully recovered.

He frowned: "What's the matter? But the monster comes to attack the city again?"

Han Chengzong murmured twice and shook his head: "Master, the monster has not attacked the city. This disciple has something important to report to the master."

There was a trace of displeasure in Tang Daozhou's voice: "Since I have entrusted all the power of the sect to you, you can concentrate on resisting the beast tide, while I have to recuperate and have no time to distract myself."

Han Chengzong gritted his teeth and said: "Master, this beast wave attack is extremely crazy. In just two attacks, our sect has four Danjie Elders, 37 Foundation Establishment Deacons, and 195 Qi Refiners. The disciples died in the battle, and countless others were injured. The monks recruited also suffered heavy casualties. "

"Xiong Lie really wants to fight us to the death this time. If the beast tide continues, our sect will definitely be severely damaged, and even breaking the city is not impossible. Those outside monks will not die for our sect. !”

Tang Daozhou's voice turned cold: "Are you blaming me for attracting a tide of beasts?"

Han Chengzong hurriedly bowed down: "I don't dare! Disciple... I just want to say that Master might as well return the cold locust grass to Xiong Lie to relieve Shuofeng's crisis."

Having said this, he seemed to have some courage. He raised his head and said in a sincere tone: "Master, that Xiong Lie has gone crazy. He even ignores the casualties of his monster beasts and must fight with us to the death."

"If he doesn't break Shuofeng City this time or get back the cold grass, he will definitely not give up..."

"Shut up!" Tang Daozhou shouted sternly, "It's not your turn to teach me how to behave!"

Han Chengzong trembled all over and bowed deeply: "Disciple, please be punished by Master if you speak inappropriately."

Tang Daozhou stared at Han Chengzong, sighed, and his tone became softer again: "Chengzong, I know that you care about the sect and you have lived up to the name I gave you. Otherwise, I would not have known the sect." The power of the gate is entrusted to you.”

"But you must not forget that monsters are savage and ferocious in nature, and Xiong Lie is even more cunning. How can you believe it?"

"As a teacher, I don't believe it. Xiong Lie would give up all the demon beasts under his command for a cold grass. There are more demon kings who want to kill him than Nascent Soul cultivators."

"You also know that I have been stuck in the mid-term bottleneck for more than two hundred years."

"As long as we survive this beast wave, wait until the cold locust grass matures and refine the elixir, I can break through the bottleneck. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity must not be missed."

"When the time comes, my master will behead Xiong Lie and pay homage to the monks who were killed and wounded in the sect. This sect will also become the second largest sect in Hanzhou under the Ice Spirit Sect!"

"But that's cold grass..." Han Chengzong showed hesitation on his face.

What Tang Daozhou said seemed to make sense, but the cold grass was a treasure for both ice-attribute monsters and monks. He didn't believe that Xiong Lie was just bluffing.

Tang Daozhou frowned: "Why, do you want to question your decision to become a teacher?"

Han Chengzong hurriedly bowed down: "Disciple doesn't dare, disciple just..."

"Okay, go ahead and arrange the defense of the city. We must not let the beast tide attack Shuofeng City. We have the formation to rely on. When the monster beasts suffer too many casualties, Xiong Lie will retreat." Tang Daozhou interrupted him. Then, his tone became colder again.

Han Chengzong sighed secretly in his heart and responded: "Yes, disciple, I will obey."

After that, he turned around and walked out of the cave, his steps a little heavy.

Tang Daozhou looked at Han Chengzong's leaving back, with a trace of hesitation in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared and became cold again.

Although he did not show up, he had been observing the development of the beast tide with his spiritual consciousness. How could he not know that the Guanlan Sect monks suffered heavy casualties.

But he has been stuck in the early stage of Nascent Soul for too long, and he is willing to pay any price as long as he can break through the mid-term bottleneck.

…

After Han Chengzong left his master's cave, he buried all his thoughts in his heart and focused on resisting the beast tide.

Although he felt that his master's actions were somewhat inappropriate, as a disciple, how could he disobey his master's orders.

The monsters continued to attack, and the monks continued to resist.

Death and slaughter enveloped Shuofeng City. No matter how cold the wind was, it could not blow away the thick smell of blood over Shuofeng City.

Tang Daozhou was right. With the support of the formation, the casualties of the monsters were greater than those of the monks in the city.

But no matter how intelligent the monsters were, they were still monsters after all. There was a fierce nature in their blood, especially those low-level monsters with low intelligence.

Under Xiong Lie's gaze and the pressure of the demon king, every monster was fearless and almost crazy.

They were afraid of death, or they dared not to be afraid of death.

There was still a way to survive if they fought to the death to attack the city, but as long as they dared to retreat, Xiong Lie would never spare them.

The monks were far from the determination of the monsters. They practiced hard, not to fight to the death to resist the beast tide, but to live forever.

Even the monks of Guanlan Sect put saving their lives first and killing monsters second, not to mention the recruited monks, who gradually became restrained in front of the crazy monsters.

On the battlefield, the less afraid of death, the less likely you are to die, and the more you want to save your life, the less likely you are to save your life. This is true for mortals and monks.

Two more beast tides have passed, and in half a month, the casualties of the monks in Shuofeng City have become more and more severe.

Nearly half of the more than 200 foundation-building monks of Guanlan Sect died on the battlefield.

More than 500 Qi-refining monks were killed or injured, accounting for one-third of the Qi-refining disciples in the sect.

Eight of the 23 Jindan elders died, and two of them were in the late Jindan stage, which was a serious injury to their vitality.

The mortal soldiers were replaced in batches, and half of them were innate warriors. The other half of the soldiers only had the strength of Huajin and Gangjin. They were very struggling in front of the first-level lower-level monsters. Even some old warriors who had retired were re-armed.

Among the four walls, the beast tide on the north wall was the most violent, and the defense line was almost breached twice.

It was only until Han Chengzong ordered his men to use all their strength to activate the formation and used two powerful talismans left over from ancient times that they were able to stop it.

The human race suffered heavy casualties, and the monsters suffered even more casualties. Tens of thousands of monsters had already died, and most of them were dead.

But Xiong Lie had no intention of retreating. He would never give up until Shuofeng City was breached.

Each attack of the beast tide lasted for three days. When the fourth beast tide receded, Xiong Lie's thunderous voice spread throughout the city again: "This time, I only want to get back the Hanchi grass. After breaking the city, I will only kill the monks of Guanlan Sect."

"The rest of you can leave. I will never pursue you. If anyone destroys the formation flag and helps me break the city, I will reward you heavily!"

When the monks in the city heard this, their expressions changed, regardless of whether they were monks of Guanlan Sect or not.

Tang Daozhou, who had been recuperating in the cave, finally showed up.

He flew into the sky, facing Xiong Lie from a distance, and said coldly: "My Hanzhou cultivators and the demon clan are mortal enemies. How could we believe such a clumsy provocation."

"Since ancient times, after the beast tide broke through the city, there have been very few survivors. Fellow Taoists, only by working together can we survive this disaster!"

Xiong Lie laughed and turned away. The monsters also retreated like a tide, leaving corpses all over the ground.

Of course, he knew that the cultivators in the city would not easily believe his words.

But as long as he could make the people in Shuofeng City more uneasy, and put their lives first when fighting, leaving some spare strength, the chance of breaking the city would be a little greater.

The beast tide receded, and the cultivator dragged his tired body and left the city wall in silence.

The mortals climbed the city wall, cleaned the battlefield, and carried the corpses, their expressions were numb.

There was only the humming sound of the cold wind in the air, like the cry of ghosts.

Han Chengzong struggled for three days and three nights under the white violent bear, and his true energy was mostly depleted and he was exhausted.

But he still held on to his spirit, flew to Tang Daozhou, clasped his fists and bowed, with a sad look on his face: "Master, Elder Qi and Elder Liu unfortunately passed away..."

Tang Daozhou raised his hand to stop him: "No need to say, I know everything."

His face was also very ugly. Elder Qi and Elder Liu were both Jindan cultivators, and Elder Liu was in the late Jindan stage. This time he died in the mouth of the monster. When the next beast tide comes, the situation in Shuofeng City will be even more critical.

He pondered for a moment and said, "Chengzong, you will double the spiritual stones that the participating cultivators receive every day. How many Jindan cultivators in the market have not participated in the war?"

Han Chengzong thought for a while and replied, "There are still five Jindan cultivators who have not participated in the war. One of them is in the late Jindan period. His name is Chen Yuan. He is a casual cultivator from Renzhou. It seems that he is going to the ice field to hunt monsters."

"Chen Yuan... Where is this person now?"

"The second cave of Tianzi."

Tang Daozhou frowned: "A casual cultivator from Renzhou wants to stay out of it? I will go to invite him in person!"

He left with a wave of his sleeves and came to the courtyard where Chen Yuan lived. He dropped his escape light and said lightly: "Is young friend Chen in the mansion? I, Tang Daozhou, have come to visit you!"

Shuofeng City has a large area, and there are many mountains and rivers in the city. The caves rented out are located on a hilly hill.

The Tianzi cave occupies a hill dozens of feet high, with formations set up. It is warm like spring, planted with green trees, and beautiful and quiet.

Tang Daozhou was angry because of Xiong Lie's words, but after all, he came to ask for help, so he still maintained some courtesy and did not directly use his spiritual sense to spy on Chen Yuan.

As soon as he finished speaking, the gate of the courtyard slowly opened, and a plain voice came out: "Please come in."

Tang Daozhou narrowed his eyes, and the anger that he had suppressed in his heart rose again.

A mere Jindan casual cultivator dared to act so arrogantly, could it be that he really regarded Hanzhou as a poor and remote place?

He flicked his sleeves and strode into the courtyard, heading straight to the main hall.

When Tang Daozhou entered the main hall, he saw a young monk sitting on the main seat without getting up to greet him, and his anger became more intense.

His eyes turned cold, and Yuanying's aura slowly emerged: "Are you Chen Yuan?"

Chen Yuan looked at Tang Daozhou with anger in his eyes, feeling the pressure of the Nascent Soul coming towards him, as if the spring breeze was blowing.

He smiled slightly and bowed his hands: "Yes, please forgive me for not being able to greet you from far away. Fellow Taoist Tang, please take a seat."

As soon as these words came out, Tang Daozhou, who was about to get angry, was immediately stunned.

How can a loose cultivator who forms alchemy dare to call himself a Taoist friend?

He suppressed his anger, dispersed his consciousness, and looked towards Chen Yuan, feeling horrified in his heart.

Chen Yuan was sitting in front of him, but he couldn't detect anything.

In Tang Daozhou's spiritual perception, Chen Yuan was like an ordinary mortal without any cultivation.

But under the pressure of the Nascent Soul cultivator, he remained as stable as a mountain, chatting and laughing as usual, and seemed not to be affected at all.

There is only one explanation for this, Chen Yuan's cultivation level is higher than him!

Tang Daozhou stirred up a storm in his heart, squeezed out a smile, and bowed with his fists clasped: "My little disciple has shallow eyesight and does not know the identity of fellow Taoist Chen. Please forgive me. After Tang returns, I will punish him and ask him to come to your Taoist friend's house to bear a thorn and plead guilty."

Chen Yuan smiled slightly, stretched out his hand and said: "It doesn't matter, Chen has not revealed his identity, and there is no disrespect in any way. Fellow Taoist Tang does not have to do this."

"Haha, that's good. My disciple usually behaves quite thoughtfully..." Tang Daozhou sat down on the left side and looked at Chen Yuan in surprise, "Fellow Daoist Chen has a high level of cultivation, but Tang can't see the slightest difference. I'm really ashamed. "

Since Chen Yuan is a Nascent Soul cultivator, his identity as a casual cultivator in Renzhou may also be fake.

Tang Daozhou didn't know Chen Yuan's origin, and he didn't even know whether he was a monk in the middle stage of Nascent Soul or a great monk. He was quite uneasy and wanted to find out Chen Yuan's identity and cultivation first.

Chen Yuan smiled and said: "Fellow Taoist Tang is ridiculous. I only have some extraordinary abilities in spiritual consciousness, but my cultivation is much inferior to that of fellow Taoist Tang."

As he spoke, he let go of his Qi, and the early stage of Nascent Soul's cultivation was clearly revealed.

Tang Daozhou breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't see Chen Yuan's cultivation just now, and he was a little flustered. He even forgot that his spiritual consciousness could isolate him from detection.

But then he felt a shiver in his heart. He had cultivated to the peak of the early stage of Yuanying more than two hundred years ago, but he couldn't see Chen Yuan's cultivation at all. Doesn't this mean that Chen Yuan's spiritual consciousness is comparable to A monk in the middle stage of Nascent Soul?

This is even more terrifying than when his cultivation reaches the middle stage of Nascent Soul!

Although Chen Yuan's cultivation level didn't seem to be too high, it was only equivalent to entering Yuanying for the first time, but Tang Daozhou still didn't dare to look down upon him in the slightest.

Chen Yuan asked: "Fellow Taoist Tang is here today. What's the important matter?"

Tang Daozhou changed his mind, stood up, and bowed with clasped fists: "The tide of beasts has been attacking the city for a long time, and the monks in the city suffered heavy casualties. An elder of our sect in the late stage of pill formation unfortunately died in battle today."

"I originally wanted to invite Fellow Daoist Chen to fight against the seventh-level monster. I didn't expect that Fellow Daoist Chen was actually a Nascent Soul cultivator. God helps me."

"I also ask fellow Taoists to join forces with me to repel Xiong Lie and relieve the danger of Shuofeng City. I am grateful!"

What he said was extremely sincere, but Chen Yuan remained calm and said calmly: "Since Fellow Taoist Tang is concerned about the safety of the monks in the city, why don't you return the cold grass to Xiong Lie?"

"This..." Tang Daozhou's old face showed a look of embarrassment, "Fellow Daoist Chen is joking. How can you trust the words of monsters?"

Chen Yuan said: "Chen has heard someone say that Xiong Lie may seem rough and reckless, but he is actually extremely shrewd. If there is no profit to be made, the lives of the monsters under his command will not be wasted in vain."

"I think fellow Taoist Tang might as well give it a try, and Xiong Lie should retreat."

Tang Daozhou's expression changed, and he suddenly sighed: "To be honest with you fellow Taoist, I have been trapped in the mid-term bottleneck for more than two hundred years."

"I accidentally learned that Xiong Lie had a cold grass in his hand. I sneaked into the ice field several times and worked hard to finally get what I wanted."

"This is my only hope to break through the bottleneck, and the beast tide has attacked the city several times, causing heavy casualties among the monks of our sect. I am really unwilling to ask me to return the cold grass."

Chen Yuan nodded slightly: "Fellow Taoist Tang is very determined in seeking the truth, and Chen admires it. It's not impossible for me to take action, but I'm afraid it's a bit inappropriate to offend a demon king in disguise for nothing."

Tang Daozhou's face was filled with joy: "If you have any conditions, Fellow Daoist Chen, just ask!"

Chen Yuan smiled slightly: "Do you have the Nascent Soul stage elixir in your hands, fellow Taoist Tang?"

Tang Daozhou frowned: "I have been trapped in the mid-term bottleneck for many years. I have no need to practice elixirs for a long time, and I have no accumulation in my hands."

"Let's see. I'm willing to give you three thousand-year-old spiritual grass as a reward for asking fellow Taoist to take action. What do you think, fellow Taoist?"

Chen Yuan smiled and said: "Thousand-year-old spiritual grass is also available, but the two plants are missing. Tang Daoyou is the master of a sect, and the Guanlan Sect has controlled Shuofeng City for more than three thousand years. There should be no shortage of thousand-year spiritual grass. As long as we take out ten , I will help you immediately.”

Tang Dao was stunned on Monday, his expression gradually darkened, and he stared at Chen Yuan: "Could Fellow Daoist Chen be joking? Ten thousand-year-old spiritual grasses, and only one Fellow Daoist will help once?"

He was very angry in his heart. If he hadn't seen that Chen Yuan had great spiritual knowledge and unknown origin, he would have walked away.

Ten thousand-year-old spiritual grass is enough to refine half a bottle of Nascent Soul elixir. In the barren Hanzhou, this is enough to invite Nascent Soul monks to kill people.

He just asked Chen Yuan to help, not to let Chen Yuan fight Xiong Lie to death. He actually asked for such a high price, which was really taking advantage of the situation.

Chen Yuan smiled and said, "Tang Daoyou, please be patient. I am not a person who would take advantage of others. As long as Daoyou takes out ten thousand-year-old spiritual herbs, I will defeat Xiong Lie without you having to do anything."

"By then, Shuofeng City and Hanchi Grass can be saved, Daoyou will have a chance to break through the bottleneck. In comparison, ten thousand-year-old spiritual herbs are nothing."