Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Lin Huai fought the two demon generals for half an hour, or rather, he struggled to hold on for half an hour. He was covered in wounds and was on the verge of losing his life.

His cultivation was far inferior to that of the two demon generals, and even with the help of the dragon sparrow, it was of no use.

The dragon sparrow wields the power of wind and rain, its fierce and powerful winds and ever-changing water dragons are enough to put it to a fight even against a late-stage Cloud Ascension Realm cultivator.

However, the handsome young man had twelve pairs of transparent membrane wings, was extremely fast, and his long sword was exceptionally sharp, forcing the dragon sparrow into a very sorry state, with no power to fight back.

The dragon sparrow activated its bloodline, greatly increasing its physical strength, but it was still easily manipulated by the handsome young man using his escape techniques.

Lin Huai was in an even more miserable state. The burly man held a longbow, and golden arrows rained down, each one equivalent to a strike from a late-stage Cloud-Soaring Realm cultivator.

Unfortunately, Lin Huai used the Dragon Transformation Technique, causing his body to grow more than ten times its original size. He was enveloped by the golden arrows and had nowhere to hide, so he could only block them head-on.

However, his cultivation level was already inferior, his pale spiritual fire was not hot enough, and his dragon scales were not tough enough. He was easily pierced by the golden arrows and could only block a few with his spear. His wounds continued to accumulate.

Fortunately, apart from using divine weapons and magical treasures, the two demon generals did not use any other supernatural powers and did not immediately take Lin Huai's life.

The handsome young man deliberately slowed down his offensive, trying to persuade Lin Huai to surrender and probing his true intentions, including whether he had any contact with human cultivators. He also spoke highly of the cultivators from the spirit realm.

Lin Huai naturally wouldn't reveal everything, and flatly denied it, only saying that he sincerely invited the two to visit Tielin City and had no ill intentions.

The two exchanged pleasantries for a while, and half an hour slowly passed, but Lin Huai still showed no intention of surrendering.

The burly man finally lost his patience, flipped his hand and took out a dark bone arrow, nocked it on his bow, and slowly drew back the bowstring.

Lin Huai's heart sank, knowing that he was still doomed and would not be able to wait for Fellow Daoist Chen or the Supreme Elder to come to his aid.

But perhaps it was his destiny to survive. At that moment, the handsome young man suddenly changed his expression, retreated rapidly, and slowed his attack on the dragon sparrow.

He suddenly turned his head to look eastward, gazing at the horizon with a solemn expression. His lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.

But the burly man's face darkened, and he looked in the direction of his gaze, his eyes revealing fear.

Lin Huai's heart stirred, and taking advantage of the moment when the two slowed their attacks, he also spread his divine sense and extended it eastward.

In order to deal with the golden arrows shot by the burly man, he dared not be distracted in the slightest, and had no time to use his divine sense to explore his surroundings.

Lin Huai's divine sense spread out and saw several extremely dim streaks of light flying towards them from hundreds of miles away.

However, they were shrouded in a barrier of divine sense, and Lin Huai was unable to see their faces with his divine sense.

Lin Huai was startled, wondering who these people were and what their intentions were.

The burly man suddenly turned around and put away the dark bone arrow.

A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes. He slapped his chest with his right hand, spitting out a wisp of golden light mixed with blood. It landed in his palm and transformed into a long golden arrow, containing a thread of blood inside.

The burly man forcefully drew back the bowstring, and the arrow flew straight towards Lin Huai.

After shooting the arrow, the burly man and the handsome young man turned and fled without hesitation.

At the same time, an urgent voice rang in Lin Huai's ears: "Fellow Daoist Lin, I am Qi Xuan. Hold these two demon generals back and do not let them escape!"

Lin Huai was shocked, but he couldn't stop the two demon generals.

His dragon energy surged wildly around him, and the spear in his hand was wrapped in a layer of blazing white spiritual fire, transforming into a flaming spear that pierced towards the golden arrow.

This arrow was twice as fast as the previous one, carrying the sound of wind and thunder, and struck the tip of the flaming spear, exploding with a bang.

An immense force emanated from the slender arrow, sending Lin Huai's spear flying.

The streak of blood in the golden arrow, like a long, thin needle, pierced through the blazing white spiritual fire without being damaged, and went straight for Lin Huai's vital heart.

Lin Huai was hit by a tremendous backlash, his body trembling. He had no time to dodge and could only circulate his demonic power to condense a blazing white spiritual fire to protect his heart.

Dragonmen are similar to demons, valuing their physical bodies above all else. Very few of them are skilled in using defensive magic weapons; they mostly rely on their hard dragon scales to withstand attacks, and at most, they use some supernatural powers to weaken their opponents' offensive.

However, the blazing white spiritual fire was useless against the blood-red needles. The needles only slowed down slightly before reaching Lin Huai's chest.

But in that brief moment of respite, the dragon sparrow let out a long cry, flapped its wings, and shrank considerably in size, transforming into a streak of light. It took the initiative to meet the fine needle and knocked it away with a single claw.

The blood-red needle suddenly bent down, like a snake, and coiled around the dragon sparrow's claws.

The crimson serpent tightened its grip, as if crushing a dead tree, snapping the incredibly hard dragon claw in two, and continued to burrow into the dragon sparrow's body.

The dragon sparrow let out a painful howl, but a ruthless glint flashed in its golden dragon eyes.

With a flap of its wings, countless water droplets condensed into tiny blades, completely shattering the slender, blood-red serpent.

But the remaining crimson light spots, as if possessing a spirit, all surged from the wound into the dragon sparrow's body.

The dragon sparrow's body stiffened, and it began to fall.

Lin Huai's expression changed, and he immediately shrunk his body. He didn't bother to retract his spear, but instead used his escape light to support the dragon sparrow and probed its body with his divine sense.

However, he did not find any trace of those blood-red spots. The dragon sparrow was not injured, but its dragon energy was greatly depleted, leaving it listless.

After a while, the dragon sparrow let out a soft cry, telling Lin Huai that it was alright, which put Lin Huai at ease.

He took out a healing pill and gave it to the dragon sparrow. The severed dragon claw slowly recovered under the nourishment of the dragon energy, but the process was extremely slow.

A faint layer of bloody light, like a leech, clung to the dragon sparrow's wound, continuously consuming its dragon energy.

Seeing that Long Queguo was unharmed, Lin Huai released his hands, raised his hand to recall the flaming spear, and once again used the Dragon Transformation Technique, his body growing larger as he chased after the two demon generals.

Lin Huai was filled with rage, his eyes flashing with murderous intent. These two demon generals had severed one of the dragon sparrow's claws; he absolutely could not let it escape.

Although Lin Huai didn't know the identities of those few streaks of light, he recognized Qi Xuan and they had a close relationship.

Since Qi Xuan had ordered him to hold off these two demon generals, he must be confident in taking their lives.

The fact that these two demon generals escaped clearly showed that they knew they were no match for him, which gave Lin Huai even more confidence.

Lin Huai tried his best to catch up, but he couldn't keep up with the purple lightning bolt that flew from afar. In just a few dozen breaths, it overtook Lin Huai and headed straight for the two demon generals.

In a fleeting glance, Lin Huai vaguely saw a cultivator dressed in purple robes enveloped in purple lightning, but could not make out his face.

The two demon generals were extremely fast, especially the wisp of smoke that the handsome young man had transformed into, which was several times faster than Lin Huai's.

However, compared to this purple lightning bolt, it paled in comparison and fell short.

A quarter of an hour later, the purple lightning caught up with the two demon generals, while Lin Huai was still more than three hundred miles behind.

The streaks of light behind him were even more distant, over 600 miles away.

Lightning flashed, enveloping the two demon generals. The sound of thunder reverberated for miles around, shaking people's souls and causing Lin Huai to feel a sense of fear from the bottom of his heart.

The violent lightning completely enveloped the two demon generals, tearing apart Lin Huai's divine sense and preventing him from seeing the specific details of the battle between the purple-robed cultivator and the two demon generals. By the time he arrived near the battle, the purple lightning had finally slowly dissipated, and the turbulent dragon energy in the world gradually calmed down.

The purple-robed cultivator stood proudly, his expression cold, his robes fluttering, and several purple lightning arcs lingered around him, exuding immense power.

A bronze mirror hung high above his head, its surface crackling with lightning, seemingly containing a purple river of thunder that could burst forth at any moment.

Two demon generals stood a hundred feet away from the purple-robed cultivator. The handsome young man had twelve pairs of transparent membrane wings on his back, most of which were broken off. One arm and one leg had disappeared, and the wounds were charred black, with purple lightning crackling around them.

The bowstring of the burly man's powerful bow had broken, the dark bone shield in front of him was riddled with holes, and his right arm was severed at the elbow.

They stared intently at the purple-robed cultivator, their eyes filled with resentment and malice.

The purple-robed cultivator said calmly, "If you surrender, I, Yuan, will guarantee your survival."

The handsome young man sneered: "Wishful thinking! There are only demon generals who die in battle, not those who surrender!"

The burly man coldly replied, "Just do it, why waste words!"

"You humans have always been untrustworthy. If you think you can get information out of us and then kill demons to get their cores, you're dreaming."

The purple-robed cultivator narrowed his eyes: "In that case, I, Yuan, will grant your request."

He raised his hand and formed a hand seal. Purple lightning surged out from the bronze mirror, stirring up the wind and clouds, causing thunder to roar and its power to shake the heavens.

Lin Huai suppressed the slight fear in his heart, raised his flaming spear, and shouted, "Fellow Daoist, I'm here to help you!"

The streaks of light also approached, revealing several figures, including Qi Xuan, whom Lin Huai knew well. They all took out their divine weapons and magical treasures and surrounded him.

……

A quarter of an hour later, the two demon generals, outnumbered, were both killed.

They were no match for the purple-robed cultivators to begin with, and were severely injured by the thunderous divine power.

With the help of Lin Huai and others, the two demon generals were completely outmatched and had no chance to fight back.

Even on their deathbeds, they showed no sign of yielding, remaining silent and refusing to reveal their names.

The handsome young man's true form was a strange insect, slender and about three zhang long, pure white in color, covered with scales, with twelve pairs of broken wings on his back and six legs on his abdomen, most of which were broken off.

The burly man's true form was a deer, ten zhang in size, with two golden antlers on its head that shone brightly, like metal, heavy and enormous, and its body was covered with charred scars, with one leg broken off in the middle.

Only then did everyone put away their divine weapons and magical treasures. Lin Huai glanced at the bronze mirror in front of the purple-robed cultivator, a hint of awe flashing in his eyes. He then returned to normal and put away his flaming spear.

The dragon flew back to his side, and one of its claws had been restored to its original state.

Its small body landed on Lin Huai's shoulder, nuzzled Lin Huai's cheek, and barked a few times in a low voice, revealing a hint of grievance.

Lin Huai felt very sorry for the dragon sparrow and gently stroked it twice.

But this was not the time to comfort Long Que. He clasped his hands in a bow to the group, his face showing gratitude, and said in the human language, "Thank you all for your help. I am Lin Huai, an elder of Yingshan."

"May I ask if you fellow cultivators are human cultivators from the Spirit Realm?"

The aura emanating from the four purple-robed cultivators was exactly the same as that of Fellow Daoist Chen.

The burly man uttered the word "human race," which further convinced Lin Huai that these people were also human cultivators.

Qi Xuan looked surprised: "How did Fellow Daoist Lin know about this? Did you also encounter a fellow human?"

Lin Huai nodded, about to tell the truth, but then remembered Chen Daoyou's instructions before he left, hesitated for a moment, and shut his mouth.

Fellow Daoist Chen once said that the number of spiritual cultivators who entered the Xuanli Realm was no less than that of the hundred demon generals, and they came from different sects.

The cultivators in the spirit realm are not a monolithic group. Just like the dragon people are divided into different tribes, they are also divided into sects and families, and the internal struggles are quite fierce.

If they encounter other cultivators from the spirit realm, unless they are also disciples of the Tai Xuan Sect, they must not reveal Chen Yuan's sect affiliation, otherwise it may cause trouble for the Ying Shan tribe.

Lin Huai had just been in dire straits, then was rescued by the purple-robed cultivator, and Long Que had been injured by the burly man. Overwhelmed by grief and joy, his mind was in turmoil, and for a moment, he almost forgot about the incident.

He composed himself and said, "I have indeed met a fellow human. May I ask which sect or school you fellow cultivators belong to?"

The purple-robed cultivator was not surprised at all; if he could subdue Qi Xuan, then other cultivators could naturally join forces with the dragon people as well.

It is unknown whether this person is a cultivator from the Chonghua Sect, Xuanji Sect, or Wei Family, or a disciple from Lanyue Peak or Yujian Peak.

Regardless of this person's identity, they can join forces with him to fight against the demon race.

The purple-robed cultivator returned the greeting with clasped hands: "I am Yuan Shuheng, and these are my three senior brothers, all of whom are true disciples of the Tai Xuan Sect in the Spirit Realm."

"I wonder which sect or school the fellow Daoist Lin encountered came from?"

Lin Huai's expression brightened: "Fellow Daoist Yuan is also a disciple of the Tai Xuan Sect?"

Yuan Shuheng was somewhat surprised: "Could it be that fellow Daoist is my fellow disciple?"

Lin Huai said, "That's right. That fellow Daoist's surname is Chen and his given name is Yuan. He was ordered by your sect's elders to secretly infiltrate the Burning Demon Realm to investigate the True Dragon Cave. By chance, he met our sect's Supreme Elder..."

He recounted Chen Yuan's story in detail, and a great weight was lifted from his heart.

Previously, Ying Shan's troops had only heard Chen Yuan's side of the story.

There are still some doubts about the Tai Xuan Sect behind him.

Now that disciples of the Tai Xuan Sect have indeed entered the Xuan Li Realm, Lin Huai finally confirmed that what Chen Yuan said was true.

He laughed and said, "I came here on Fellow Daoist Chen's advice to find the whereabouts of the Demon Generals, but unfortunately I gave myself away and got entangled by these two Demon Generals."

"Thanks to the help of my fellow Daoists, I was able to save my life."

"Fellow Daoist Chen once said that there would be more cultivators from the Spirit Realm entering the Xuanli Realm, but it would be some time later."

"I never expected to meet you fellow Daoists today. In this way, we can definitely stop the Demon General from breaking the Xuanli Realm Formation and attracting the Demon Saint to descend."

"Lin sent a message to Fellow Daoist Chen a day ago. He should arrive here soon to meet with all of you fellow Daoists."

As he finished speaking, he noticed the strange expressions on the faces of the four Tai Xuan Sect disciples. Senior Brother Song frowned and said, "Junior Brother Yuan..."

Yuan Shuheng waved his hand, stared at Lin Huai, and said, word by word, "Is what Fellow Daoist Lin said true?"

Lin Huai sensed something amiss, his smile vanished, and he frowned, saying, "Everything I've said is true. Could it be that Fellow Daoist Chen has an unusual identity?"

Yuan Shuheng smiled slightly: "Senior Brother Chen is also a true disciple of our sect. I have a very close personal relationship with him, but we have been separated for a long time. I was quite surprised to hear news about him today."

"I, Yuan, will wait here to reminisce with Senior Brother Chen." (End of Chapter)