Nine Transformations of the True Spirit

When the auction ended, it was already late at night.

After Chen Yuan returned to the cave, he took out the Lingyun pendant and injected a trace of mana into it.

The two words "Lingyun" on the jade pendant shone brightly, and wisps of white mist rose from the surface, condensing into the shape of a white cloud.

He had never connected the Lingyun pendant with the Ascension Order before, and had kept it in the storage bag until it saw the light of day again today.

Chen Yuan withdrew his mana, put the Lingyun pendant away again, and a smile appeared on his face.

With this Ascension Order, he could save a lot of spirit stones.

Chen Yuan had already planned to participate in the Ascension Conference, which was the most reliable way to obtain the Foundation Establishment Pill.

It was just that his cultivation was still shallow before, and he had no time to care about other things. He put all his energy on refining pills and practicing.

But now that the Xuepo Pill is in hand and the Ascension Order is ready, he only needs to break through the bottleneck of the late stage and raise his cultivation to the tenth level of Qi Refining, and then he can go to the Ascension Conference.

After all, there is no bottleneck between the seventh and tenth levels of Qi Refining.

…

The next day, Chen Yuan came to the office of Manager He of Huanyue Pavilion, paid 35 spirit stones, and rented a Class A cave, with only 30 spirit stones left.

With the help of spirit veins, the chance of breaking through the bottleneck is one point higher.

In order to break through the late stage of Qi Refining, Chen Yuan spared no expense.

Class A caves are much simpler than Class D caves, but there is a spirit gathering array engraved in the training room, and the spiritual energy is rich.

With Chen Yuan's sixth-level Qi Refining cultivation, one year of hard practice in a Class A cave can be equivalent to two years in a Class D cave, which is more cost-effective than taking pills.

However, this requires absorbing spiritual energy day and night, and casual cultivators need to earn spirit stones, which is impossible.

This is also the reason why the rent of Class A caves is only 40 spirit stones a year.

After Chen Yuan moved to the Class A cave, he did not rush to take the Xuepo Pill, but first meditated to regulate his breath, concentrate his mind and calm his breath, and clear his distracting thoughts.

Gradually, Chen Yuan's state of mind became pure and peaceful, with a sense of unity between man and nature. He just took the Snow Soul Pill and broke through the bottleneck of the late stage of Qi Refining.

But only an hour later, Chen Yuan opened his eyes again, his face livid.

After the Snow Soul Pill entered his mouth, it immediately turned into a huge stream of pure spiritual energy and rushed into his meridians.

He immediately guided this pure spiritual energy according to the method recorded in the "Red Flame Art" to break through the bottleneck.

But no matter how hard he tried, the bottleneck of the late stage of Qi Refining was unbreakable, and there was not even a trace of looseness until the spiritual power transformed by the Snow Soul Pill disappeared.

The pill bought with 410 spirit stones only made the spiritual power in Chen Yuan's body purer.

Not to mention increasing the probability by 30%, even the hope of breaking through the bottleneck by 10% was not seen.

Could it be that this Snow Soul Pill was fake?

Or is the bottleneck faced by the five spiritual roots cultivators really so difficult that even the Snow Soul Pill can't play a role?

Chen Yuan's mind was churning, and he had no intention of continuing to practice. He stood up and walked out of the cave, and came to a shop selling jade slips and books.

There were not many such shops in the market, and they mainly sold basic exercises, maps of the Huanyue Mountains, and incomplete inheritances of the hundred arts of cultivation, but there were also some miscellaneous jade slips and ancient books.

Chen Yuan spent ten spirit stones to buy more than a dozen jade slips, returned to the cave, and carefully read them.

These jade slips were not expensive, and they all recorded the historical legends of the Qi Kingdom's cultivation world.

A day later, Chen Yuan slowly put down the last jade slip, his face was very ugly.

These jade slips recorded many legendary deeds such as the battle between good and evil, the battle between Yuanying, and the riot of the beast tide, but only two jade slips mentioned the foundation-building cultivators with five spiritual roots.

And these two people were figures from three or four thousand years ago, and they were able to break through the foundation-building period by accidentally taking the legendary elixir.

It is also extremely rare to see a cultivator with five spiritual roots who breaks through the late stage of Qi Refining. All of them have received great opportunities. In thousands of years, there are only a dozen people.

In the past five hundred years, no cultivator with five spiritual roots can break through the bottleneck of the late stage of Qi Refining.

"The road to immortal cultivation is indeed against the will of heaven..."

Chen Yuan sat down dejectedly and smiled bitterly.

The stone chamber fell into a dead silence.

Chen Yuan's expression was gloomy, and his eyes were confused.

Is his path going to end here?

Under the scorching sun, he followed his parents to plow the fields.

In the Chimang Mountains, he killed Wu Dong with three moves and confronted Li Guanshi.

Ambush the Black Wind Village, kill Jiang Feng, and find Xie Quan's treasure.

Fight the tiger monster, suffer thousands of cuts, and finally obtain the skills and embark on the road to immortality.

Fighting to the death with Master Duan Fang, trapped in a desperate situation, the blood soul accidentally exploded...

All kinds of memories of the past floated to Chen Yuan's mind.

He slowly calmed down, reached into his arms, and took out an exquisite brocade bag.

After opening it, there was a delicate and warm jade inside, which was emitting a faint light under the illumination of the night pearl on the top of the stone chamber.

Chen Yuan gently stroked the jade, and his eyes became firm again.

"Even if it goes against the will of heaven, I will fight for a glimmer of life!"

...

In the cave house No. 279, Cao You was meditating and practicing.

Suddenly, a clear voice came from outside the courtyard:

"Brother Cao, are you in the house? Chen is here to visit."

Hearing this, Cao You immediately stopped practicing and stood up to greet him.

Outside the gate, Chen Yuan stood with his hands behind his back, waiting quietly.

The cave house was protected by a formation, and the spirit could not penetrate it, and it was impossible to transmit sound. He could only visit in this way.

After a while, the door opened, and Cao You had a smile on his face, raised his hand and invited:

"Brother Chen, please come in."

Chen Yuan bowed slightly and stepped in.

The two came to the main hall and sat down as host and guest.

Cao You checked the concentration of spiritual energy on Chen Yuan's body and asked:

"Brother Chen, haven't you taken the Xuepo Pill yet?"

Chen Yuan shook his head:

"I have taken the Xuepo Pill, but failed to break through the bottleneck."

Cao You showed surprise on his face, then hid it and smiled:

"It seems that this Xuepo Pill is not worthy of its name..."

Chen Yuan sighed lightly:

"Fellow Daoist Cao, there is no need to comfort me. Family members know their own affairs. Chen has made mistakes in his previous cultivation. His foundation is not solid. It is much more difficult for him to break through the bottleneck than ordinary cultivators. I came here today just to ask Fellow Daoist Cao, are there any pills in the market that can increase the chance of breaking through the bottleneck of the late stage of Qi Refining?"

Cao You was embarrassed when he heard this:

"As far as I know, there are two or three other pills that have this effect, but they are not as good as the Xuepo Pill. If the Xuepo Pill is useless, other pills may be even worse."

Chen Yuan nodded slightly, as if to This result was not unexpected, so he turned and asked:

"Besides the auction held by Guiyuan Sect, does Fellow Daoist Cao know of other trade fairs?"

Cao You was stunned:

"Brother Chen wants to find a way to break through the bottleneck at the trade fair?"

Chen Yuan nodded:

"That's right. Although there are many rare treasures at the auction, it is ultimately impossible to include all the secret techniques of elixirs. I want to try my luck and see if I can find a chance."

Cao You lowered his head and thought for a moment, then hesitated:

"I know a cultivator at the seventh level of Qi Refining. He is well-informed. I heard him mention an underground trade fair, but his words were a little vague and not very true. If Brother Chen is interested, I will introduce you to him."

Chen Yuan's eyes lit up:

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Cao. No matter what the result of this matter is, I will refine a furnace of elixirs for Fellow Daoist Cao!"

...

In the daytime, the streets of Huanyue Market are bustling with people.

Guiyuan Pavilion is always crowded with people. Several shops established by monk families also have monks coming in and out.

But a shop located in a remote corner of the street is deserted.

This is a two-story building. On the plaque, there are three words "Lanyuexuan". The door is open, but no one patronizes it.

An old woman lazily sits in a recliner, closing her eyes and resting her mind, with a peaceful look.

She has a strong spiritual energy and has the cultivation of the tenth level of Qi Refining, almost touching the threshold of foundation building.

A monk wearing a loose black robe and a black scarf on his face walked in, breaking the silence in the store.

The old woman did not open her eyes and said in a hoarse voice:

"There is nothing to sell in this store, please go back, fellow Taoist."

The black-robed monk said silently, stroked the storage bag, took out a copper plate and handed it over.

The old woman opened her eyes, slowly straightened up, took the copper plate, and looked at it carefully.

On one side of the copper plate was a golden toad, and on the other side was the word "Ling".

"Fellow Daoist, please follow me."

The old woman stood up from the recliner, handed back the copper plate, and walked into the inner room.

The black-robed monk put away the copper plate, followed her into the inner room.

The inner room was empty, and the old woman took out a formation plate, pinched the magic formula with her hands, and injected a trace of magic power into it.

The blue brick floor opened silently to both sides, revealing a stone staircase.

The old woman turned her head and raised her hand to invite:

"Fellow Daoist, please come in."

The black-robed monk walked down the stone steps, and behind him, the blue brick floor slowly closed.

The old woman put away the formation plate, sat back on the recliner, closed her eyes slightly, and waited for the next guest to arrive.

...

Chen Yuan walked on the stone steps, holding a golden armor talisman in his hand hidden under his black robe, with the magic power in his body ready to go, ready to activate the talisman at any time.

Three months ago, after Cao You introduced him, he learned about the existence of this underground trade fair from the seventh-level Qi Refining cultivator.

This underground trade fair is held once a month. Cultivators who want to participate must spend 100 spirit stones to buy a golden toad order, so it is also called the "Golden Toad Meeting".

The items traded at the Golden Toad Meeting are extraordinary, and there are even many things that cannot appear in public.

After hearing this news, Chen Yuan immediately returned to his mansion to refine pills and accumulate spirit stones.

In these three months, he refined 17 furnaces of Bailing Pills. Excluding the one used for the Starlight Infusion, he sold 65 pills in exchange for 240 spirit stones.

Three days ago, he bought a golden toad order to conceal his true appearance and came to participate in today's Golden Toad Meeting.

Perhaps the items at the Golden Toad Meeting will not be more precious than those at the Huanyue Auction.

But this kind of underground trade fair often has some strange spiritual objects and strange secrets, which may help him break through the bottleneck.