Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Along the coast, the Beichen Mountains stretch out like a giant dragon.

The Xuanhuang dragon energy enveloped the entire mountain range, with undercurrents surging and exuding a vast and boundless aura.

At the foot of the mountains, a giant city nestles against the mountains and faces the sea, its towering walls standing majestically, silently guarding the prosperous city.

At this moment, the city gates were tightly closed, and the city walls were filled with soldiers of the Dragon Warriors, holding weapons and looking nervously at the sky.

Their cultivation levels were all below the Cloud Soaring Realm, so they could not fly away, nor could they use the Dragon Transformation Technique to enhance their strength like cultivators in the Manifestation Realm.

Even the Manifestation Realm cultivators in the tribe, whose bodies grew ten times larger and exhibited some characteristics of a true dragon, with dragon energy surging around them, could only helplessly gaze at the sky, their eyes filled with fear and confusion.

A sea of ​​fire spread across the sky, covering an area of ​​hundreds of miles.

The entire Qianwei City was enveloped within, the sea of ​​fire slowly pressing down, the crimson waves of fire surging and casting a blazing red light that reflected an eerie glow onto the scales of the dragon-men on the city walls.

The dragon energy surging from all sides of the sea of ​​fire was completely swallowed up and continued to expand.

The terrifying power contained within the sea of ​​fire terrified every dragonman, who feared it would immediately descend and burn everything in Qianwei City to the ground.

Countless low-ranking dragonkin gathered around the towering dragon statue in the city, praying softly to the dragon, but the panic on their faces became increasingly obvious, and the oppressive atmosphere quickly spread.

The only reason these dragonmen haven't completely collapsed is because above the Beichen Mountains, there are several giant dragonmen who have transformed into dragons and are fighting fiercely against several ferocious beasts.

Qianwei City is a city built by the Yingqian tribe. It is a giant city famous throughout the Xuanli Realm and has always been extremely prosperous, gathering 100,000 dragon people.

The Yingqian tribe is one of the five most powerful tribes in the entire Xuanli Realm. It has not been attacked by other tribes for tens of thousands of years. Even the dragon beast tide rarely comes to the foot of Qianwei City and is easily wiped out.

But this city, which has not experienced the ravages of war for a long time, is now facing the danger of destruction.

These strangely-looking dragon-people suddenly descended from the sky, making no attempt to conceal their presence, and intended to enter the Beichen Mountains.

The cultivators from the Yingqian tribe guarding the Beichen Mountains naturally wouldn't allow it and immediately stepped forward to stop them, but they were killed by him without hesitation.

These dragon-men went on a killing spree, making no attempt to conceal their astonishing aura, comparable to cultivators at the Cloud Ascension Realm, which quickly alarmed the entire Qianwei City.

Since the Supreme Elder Chu Weicai advanced to the Dragon Transformation Realm, no one has ever dared to provoke Ying Qian's tribe like this.

Enraged, several elders at the Cloud Transformation Realm went to meet the challenge.

Even the clan leader Chu Ming, who had been in seclusion for many years, broke out of his seclusion and took action personally.

But what shocked the dragon people of Qianwei City was that even the renowned Elder Yingqian was no match for these uninvited guests.

Even the strange dragon-man at the head of the group directly condensed a sea of ​​fire, with a power that could almost overturn the heavens and the earth. It could also devour dragon energy and spread continuously, threatening to engulf Qianwei City at any moment.

At first, the dragon people in the city didn't take it seriously, and were even furious, cursing loudly, completely disregarding the sea of ​​fire.

With a cultivator at the Dragon Transformation Realm in charge, suppressing a few dragon people would be a piece of cake for Ying Qianbu.

But as the sea of ​​fire continued to descend, the dragon people in the city, even those thousands of feet apart, could feel the intense heat of the flames. The legendary dragon-transformation realm expert still hadn't shown up, causing them to panic.

Some dragon people used their supernatural powers to attack the sea of ​​fire, but to no avail; they were all swallowed up by the fire.

This futile effort was quickly stopped by the cultivators of the Yingqian tribe, for fear of angering the strange dragon-man and causing him to unleash a sea of ​​fire, which would lead to the utter destruction of the entire Qianwei City.

The dragon people in the city can only pray that the Cloud-Soaring Realm cultivators of the Yingqian tribe can hold them off, or that the Supreme Elder of the Yingqian tribe, whose name is renowned throughout the Xuanli Realm, can turn the tide and save the 100,000 dragon people in the city.

……

Above the Beichen Mountains, Chu Ming stared intently at the burly man before him, desperately suppressing the bone-chilling cold rising in his heart, his face extremely grim.

The twelve elders of the Yingqian tribe were joining forces to resist the six giant beasts of the enemy, but they were still at a disadvantage and could only hold on, and it looked like they were about to be defeated.

The burly man opposite him was covered in crimson scales, and his fiery red hair danced wildly in the wind. The aura he exuded was not dragon aura, but the dragon might contained within it was even stronger than that of Chu Ming, who was at the peak of the Cloud Soaring Realm.

He crossed his arms, his golden dragon eyes gazing at Qianwei City with great interest, completely ignoring Chu Ming and the twelve elders of the Yingqian Clan, as if he were anticipating something.

But as time went on, the expectation in the burly man's eyes slowly faded, revealing a hint of disappointment.

He looked at Chu Ming, frowned, and said, "Where is Chu Weicai? Quickly bring him out to fight."

Upon hearing this, Chu Ming forcibly suppressed the humiliation he hadn't felt in a long time and said, word by word, "You are merely a high-ranking demon general, yet you dare to provoke the Supreme Elder. Are you truly not afraid of losing your life here?"

The burly man laughed heartily, a hint of mockery on his face: "If you were a Void Refining Demon King, I would naturally give way, but for a mere Dragonman to try and take my life is nothing but wishful thinking."

“I have been waiting for two hours, but Chu Wei has not shown up yet. It seems that he is not in Qianwei City. In that case, I will not hold back.”

He slowly raised his right hand, which transformed into a dragon claw. The dragon's might emanating from his body intensified, causing Chu Ming to feel a sense of fear from the bottom of his heart.

The burly man grinned menacingly and swung his dragon claws heavily. The slowly surging sea of ​​fire suddenly stopped, then boiled violently. Fireballs the size of houses rained down from the sky, covering the entire Qianwei City.

Upon seeing this, the dragon people in the city immediately took action to resist, and Elder Yingqian, who remained in the city, activated the defensive formation to protect the clan's territory.

However, these meteor showers completely ignore supernatural powers below the Manifestation Realm. Even cultivators at the Manifestation Realm can only block one or two fireballs, which is far from enough.

The city's defensive array was not destroyed by the meteor shower, but it shook violently and showed signs of collapse.

In an instant, Qianwei City was transformed into a hellish landscape, with buildings collapsing, charred corpses strewn everywhere, and the wails of the dragon people echoing across the land, while billowing black smoke rose straight into the sky.

Chu Ming's expression changed drastically. The burly man single-handedly ignored the Yingqian Formation and suppressed 100,000 dragon people. Such power was no less than that of a cultivator in the Dragon Transformation Realm.

A sense of despair rose in his heart. Dragon energy surged within him, and his body swelled to more than ten times its original size. A thick dragon tail grew from his back, his hands transformed into dragon claws, and dragon scales spread to his cheeks, transforming him into a half-dragon, half-human form.

However, the dragon aura emanating from him was still not as pure and intense as that of the burly man.

Chu Ming had no time to worry about this matter at the moment. His face was full of grief and indignation. He looked up to the sky and roared, "Ying Qian tribe cultivators, listen to my command! Fight to the death and never retreat!"

"I have already sent a message to the Supreme Elder. He will return soon and will surely tear these demons to pieces to avenge us!"

Upon hearing this, the cultivators at the Cloud Realm who were fighting the demonic beasts all revealed a resolute look in their eyes. They no longer cared about the consumption of dragon energy and attacked desperately, becoming extremely frenzied.

The six demonic beasts were caught off guard and were in a rather disheveled state for a moment.

Dragonmen possess formidable physical strength, in no way inferior to demons of the same rank, and even slightly superior after transforming into dragons.

The divine power unleashed with dragon energy is extremely domineering and powerful, even surpassing the innate divine power of royal beasts.

However, these six demonic beasts were all at the peak of the high-level demon general realm, while Elder Yingqian's cultivation was much inferior, with very few even reaching the late stage of the Cloud Ascension Realm, which is why he was at a disadvantage.

But now they are all fighting for their lives, exchanging injuries for injuries, and the demon race has temporarily fallen into a disadvantageous position.

Chu Ming also flipped his hand and took out a long sword, which grew to ten zhang in length. Surrounded by Xuanhuang dragon energy, his huge body swayed and he charged forward. He had only confronted the burly man earlier because the burly man hadn't immediately unleashed the sea of ​​fire, thus buying time.

Now that the burly man has finally made his move, even though Chu Ming knows he is probably no match for him, he will not back down from the fight.

The burly man sneered, a chilling murderous intent flashing in his eyes: "Since you know my identity, why resist so stubbornly?"

"The same applies to the Canghai tribe. You dragon people are neither human nor demon. I, Ao, have shown you great mercy and will spare your lives."

"You could have saved your entire clan simply by submitting to me, Ao, but you are ungrateful. I will grant your wish!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure blurred, and he rushed upwards with a whoosh, his body growing to more than twice its normal size, becoming two zhang tall.

The burly man didn't take out any magical weapons; he simply raised a dragon claw to meet the long sword that Chu Ming swung.

Chu Ming was overjoyed and exhaled another breath of pure dragon energy, which condensed into a snow-white dragon that bared its fangs and claws and charged towards the burly man.

The dragon energy within his body surged wildly, and the long sword in his hand faintly emitted a roar. The dragon energy swirling around the blade condensed into a giant crocodile with wings, which, along with the demon dragon, attacked the burly man from the left and right.

Each Ruyi Divine Weapon is crafted from several rare spiritual materials, making it incomparably sharp.

It is infused with the essence and blood of dragon beasts, and imbued with their spirit, containing their supernatural powers from their lifetime. Even dragons of the same rank dare not directly confront it.

The longsword in Chu Ming's hand was infused with a giant crocodile dragon beast at the late stage of the Cloud Soaring Realm. Its dragon aura was extremely dense, and its ice-attribute divine abilities were incredibly troublesome, making it a perfect match for Chu Ming.

After this longsword was forged, it was carefully nurtured by Chu Ming for thousands of years, greatly increasing its power. It drank the blood of dragon beasts of the same level and defeated two dragonmen in the late stage of the Cloud Ascension Realm.

The burly man was so arrogant, trying to use his bare body to fight against the Ruyi Divine Weapon. Chu Ming was determined to take this opportunity to severely injure him!
The long sword fell with the power to shatter mountains and split peaks, its momentum astonishing.

The burly man merely raised one of the dragon's claws, yet he steadily blocked it. Although his body fell several feet, the dragon scales remained intact where the blade struck.

The two demons, a giant dragon and a giant crocodile, pounded on the door, freezing the air and leaving a path of sharp ice spikes.

The burly man did not dodge at all. His body was engulfed in raging flames that shot into the sky, burning away all the attacking dragons and crocodiles. Only a little frost remained on the burly man's body, but it quickly melted away in the flames.

Chu Ming's pupils contracted. He held nothing back and went all out. Even a dragon-man who was also at the peak of the Cloud Ascension Realm would be severely injured by this strike.

But the burly man easily blocked the attack, and Chu Ming could even feel the immense power contained in that dragon claw, which was much smaller than the long sword.

The moment the giant crocodile came into contact with the raging fire, it melted away as quickly as ice and snow under the scorching sun.

The spiritual fire surging from the burly man's body reminded Chu Ming of the Crimson Heaven True Fire in the Myriad Flames Mountains, a spiritual fire that even the Supreme Elders feared greatly.

Although the power of this spiritual fire is far inferior to that of the Crimson Sky True Fire, its aura is exactly the same, and its origin is identical, completely surpassing the divine power used by Chu Ming.

After the burly man blocked the attack, he suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a stream of mysterious yellow dragon energy, which condensed into a fire dragon that rushed towards Chu Ming and slashed down with its claw.

Frost rose from Chu Ming's dragon scales, but he was powerless against the fire dragon, leaving three deep, bone-revealing wounds on his chest and abdomen.

The burly man lunged forward and threw a punch, sending Chu Ming flying thousands of feet away, spitting out blood before he could barely regain his footing.

The burly man sneered, "He's only absorbed some dragon energy, barely comparable to the Ice Dragon bloodline, yet he dares to attack me? He's courting death!"

Suddenly, several streaks of light flew in from the horizon, calling out loudly, "Brother Ao, we have come to help you!"

The burly man was about to give chase when he heard this and stopped, turning his head to look.

The light stopped, revealing several figures, all exuding demonic aura, their cultivation at the peak of high-level demon generals was unmistakable.

Several demon generals clasped their hands in salute. One of them, a gaunt demon general, had a fawning expression on his face and said with a smile, "I have successfully completed my mission and destroyed a Dragon Breath Platform. The dragon tribe put up a stubborn resistance, but I slaughtered them all."

Another burly man glanced at the battle and looked surprised: "The Yingqian tribe is so tenacious. We have wiped out several tribes and we are still able to make it to this battle."

The burly man said, “Fellow Daoists, you have come at the right time. The Yingqian tribe is ignorant of the times, and their Supreme Elder is not in the tribe. This is the perfect opportunity to slaughter them.”

Several demon generals immediately agreed, their figures flickered, they transformed into their true forms, and rushed towards the elders of the Yingqian clan.

These dragons are enormous; only by revealing their true forms can one easily engage them in combat.

The gaunt, demonic figure was actually a vulture, covered in black feathers but with bat wings and barbs on its tail, its eyes fierce and menacing.

The other demon generals also possessed extremely ferocious forms. To have cultivated to such a level and been favored by the demon king to enter the Xuanli Realm, their bloodlines were all exceptional.

Among them was a golden dragon, only ten zhang long, with golden dragon scales all over its body like knives and swords, and a pair of dragon eyes that shone brightly, with sword energy soaring into the sky all around it.

Elder Yingqian was completely plunged into despair. Chu Ming gave a bitter laugh. His aura was weak and his chest wound was charred black.

The remaining spiritual fire clung to the wound, stubbornly burning even under the cover of frost, and was difficult to erase.

The burly man struck him with a single blow, and he was severely injured. Several more demon generals came to his aid, making it even more difficult to stop him. Ying Qian's army was doomed to be destroyed today.

Chu Ming gripped his long sword tightly and said, word by word, "What is there to fear in death? Even if you slaughter the entire Yingqian tribe, the Supreme Elder will avenge us!"

The burly man sneered, "If Chu Weicai dares to seek revenge against me, I will send him to meet you..."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly stopped and turned to look into the distance.

Chu Ming was startled. Following his gaze, he saw two streaks of light appearing from the horizon, heading straight for Qianwei City from the direction from which the demon generals had come.

Chu Ming's heart sank. Could it be that the demon race had accomplices?

The two streaks of light moved extremely fast and quickly entered the range of Chu Ming's divine sense.

He saw the figures in the two streaks of light, and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.

A cold glint flashed in the burly man's eyes as he stared at the two streaks of light. His dragon tail swayed gently behind him, and the murderous aura emanating from his body grew even stronger.

Finally, the two streaks of light arrived in front of the two people and stopped, revealing two figures.

One of them stared intently at the vulture, then glanced at the other battle groups, his angry expression turning serious.

He raised his head, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed to Chu Ming: "Brother Chu, how have you been? I, Wang, have come to offer my assistance!"

Chu Ming was even more surprised and returned the greeting with clasped hands: "Brother Wang, how did you know that the Yingqian tribe would suffer such a calamity? And who is this gentleman...?"

The visitor was none other than Chu Ming's close friend, Wang Xuanyue, the chieftain of the Cangnan tribe.

However, the aura of the person beside him was very strange. It was neither dragon aura nor demon aura, but rather the peculiar spiritual energy beneath the Dragon Breath Platform.

Meeting Chu Ming's questioning gaze, the man clasped his hands in a respectful bow and smiled, saying, "My name is Chen Yuan, a human cultivator. I have come to offer my assistance at the invitation of Fellow Daoist Wang." (End of Chapter)