Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Chen Yuan slightly raised his right hand, revealing the Yin-Yang Ring, and said calmly, "As long as I do not remove this ring, I will not be in any danger in the Demon Realm as a Demon General."

Qin Wuyai glanced at the Yin-Yang Ring and chuckled, "It seems that you don't know much about this Yin-Yang Ring. Ordinary demon generals naturally can't see through the disguise of this treasure, but there are more than just demon generals in the demon realm."

Chen Yuan frowned: "What do you mean by that, fellow Daoist?"

Qin Wuyai stared into his eyes and slowly said, "No need for high cultivation level, as long as you are a demon king or a Void Refinement cultivator, you can see through the disguise of this Yin-Yang Ring."

"In the demon realm, demon kings are everywhere. Unless you find a remote place, secluded and cultivate in seclusion, never to leave again, you can preserve your life."

"If you wish to further improve your cultivation, or even return to the Spirit Realm, you will inevitably have to deal with the demon race."

"As soon as you encounter a demon king, your identity will be exposed and you will die without a burial place!"

Chen Yuan's heart sank, and he lowered his head to examine the Yin-Yang Ring.

After obtaining the ring from Kun Tong, Chen Yuan examined it countless times, but its internal restrictions were extremely complex and mysterious, and the material was something he had never seen before, so he remained completely unaware of its true nature.

Even the name of the Yin-Yang Ring was heard from Kun Song.

Whether Qin Wuyai's words were true or false was unknown, but Kun Tong was only an eighth-level demon beast, yet he was able to wield this treasure and was not taken into the Kun Yang clan, which showed that the Yin Yang Ring was not some extraordinary magic weapon.

With a thought, Chen Yuan slowly removed the Yin-Yang Ring and stored it in the Mustard Seed Ring, his demonic aura transforming back into pure and righteous spiritual energy.

He raised his head and said calmly, "If the demon realm is truly as dangerous as you say, why did you take such a gamble and come to this realm?"

"Even if we join forces and enter the ascension passage, once we reach the demon realm, a group of human cultivators gathered together will attract far more attention than me, Chen, disguised as a demon general. We will only die faster."

Qin Wuyai watched Chen Yuan put away the Yin-Yang Ring, let out a soft breath, and smiled, "The Demon Realm is indeed dangerous, but I am confident that I can return to the Spirit Realm and will not stay in the Demon Realm for too long."

Chen Yuan's eyes narrowed: "Is this true?"

Qin Wuyai's expression turned serious: "How could I, Qin, joke with my own life?"

Chen Yuan pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head: "The lessons of the past are still fresh in my mind, and I find it difficult to believe your words, fellow Daoist."

Qin Wuyai looked helpless and sighed, "It was indeed my fault regarding the spatial passage; I shouldn't have deceived you, fellow Daoist."

"But without my help, Fellow Daoist, I don't know how many more years you would have to wait before you have a chance to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, and you would not be able to escape the prison of the human realm. I wonder if you agree?"

Chen Yuan pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly.

A hint of joy flashed in Qin Wuyai's eyes: "Although that spatial passage does not lead to the Spirit Realm, I, Qin, entered it together with you and experienced life and death together."

"At most, it can be said that there was some concealment, but it cannot be said that you harmed fellow Daoist. Do you agree?"

Chen Yuan nodded again, and Qin Wuyai smiled: "This ascension to the Demon Realm is a matter of life and death for me."

"Moreover, I, Qin, will join forces with you, fellow Daoist, to deal with those five demon generals and enter the ascension passage."

"I would never risk my life to harm you, fellow Daoist. Do you agree?"

Chen Yuan lowered his head and pondered for a moment, his cold expression finally softening.

Qin Wuyai laughed and said, "However, I have deceived you after all. How about this, I have a demon core of a low-level demon general in my hand, which I will give to you today."

"Fellow Daoist, refining it into a Demon Essence Pill will greatly improve your cultivation. Consider this my apology to you."

As he spoke, he flipped his hand and took out a wooden box with a spirit-sealing talisman attached.

With another flick of the fingers, the sealing talisman peeled off on its own, and the box lid slowly opened, revealing a fist-sized, dark blue demon core that shimmered with a cold luster.

As Chen Yuan scanned the area with his divine sense, a massive amount of demonic power solidified within the demon core, far surpassing any demon core he had ever seen.

The demonic aura emanating from the demon core was quite eerie; Chen Yuan had never seen such a demonic beast before.

However, the methods of refining Demon Essence Pills all lead to the same goal. Chen Yuan had refined hundreds of Demon Essence Pills and had already realized that the essence of this method was to convert demon power into spiritual energy that cultivators could absorb.

The types of monsters affected are somewhat, but it's not a major problem.

This demon core is clearly a water-element demon core. As Chen Yuan's thoughts raced, he had already come up with several pill formulas. After examining it more closely, he would be able to confirm the formulas and begin refining the pills.

He raised his head and looked deeply at Qin Wuyai: "As far as I know, Sun Yuan is not a water-type demon beast. Fellow Daoist, you are able to produce such a demon core. The foundation of Taiming Sect is indeed profound."

Qin Wuyai smiled without saying anything, and Chen Yuan did not press the matter further.

He shook his head slightly: "One demon core is not enough."

Upon hearing this, Qin Wuyai's smile slowly faded, and he frowned, saying, "Fellow Daoist, you have only recently reached the Nascent Soul stage and are in need of improving your cultivation."

"This demon core only needs a few thousand-year-old spiritual herbs to be refined into a pill, saving you a hundred years of hard work. Its value is comparable to a five-thousand-year-old spiritual herb."

"Besides Qin, no one else can produce a demon general's core to give to you, fellow Daoist. It is best to accept this offer while you still can."

Chen Yuan said calmly, "Fellow Daoist Qin is joking. For an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator, a demon core from a low-level demon general is naturally priceless."

“But the Tai Ming Sect has a profound foundation, and you, fellow Daoist, are even more unfathomable. You possess spiritual treasures, know ancient secrets, and are even clear about the situation in the Upper Realm.”

"A mere demon core is really nothing..."

Qin Wuyai's expression darkened, but Chen Yuan then changed the subject: "However, I still need to join forces with you to deal with the Demon General and seek a way to ascend, so I will not force you too much."

"Besides this demon core, all the demon cores and thousand-year-old spiritual herbs obtained from dealing with those five demon generals must belong to me, Chen."

"If you can agree to this, all previous matters will be wiped clean. What do you say?"

Qin Wuyai was quite surprised. He had thought Chen Yuan would make an exorbitant demand, but it turned out he was only asking for demon cores and spirit herbs. He didn't need a low-level demon general's demon core in the first place; otherwise, he wouldn't have given it to Chen Yuan as an apology.

Although the spiritual herbs of the eight royal families are precious, they are nothing compared to ascending to the upper realm.

Moreover, these spiritual herbs and demon cores are still in the hands of the demon race. It is unknown whether they can successfully kill those five demon generals, or how much they will gain.

Agreeing now is merely a way to pass off someone else's success as a favor.

Most importantly, to deal with those five demon generals, we must rely on Chen Yuan's power.

As long as we can reach the demon realm...

Qin Wuyai no longer hesitated and said, "I will follow your advice, fellow Daoist. After killing those five demon generals, I will not take a single spirit herb or demon core obtained."

"In addition, I, Qin, can also persuade the other three fellow Daoists to give up their spiritual herbs and demon cores."

Chen Yuan's eyes flashed, and he added, "I almost forgot that if we capture any divine weapons, they should belong to me."

Qin Wuyai frowned: "Fellow Daoist, please don't push your luck."

Chen Yuan said calmly, "Fellow Daoist Qin is not a body cultivator, so leaving behind the divine weapon would be useless to you. You might as well give it to me."

"When I arrive in the demon realm, I will be able to kill more demon generals, and I will be more confident in returning to the spirit realm."

Qin Wuyai's brows relaxed: "Fellow Daoist is quite confident. Having just entered the Nascent Soul stage, you don't even take the Demon General seriously."

Chen Yuan said proudly, "If I can't even deal with a few demon generals, wouldn't I have wasted my time refining the True Spirit Blood?"

Qin Wuyai gave him a deep look and nodded slightly: "I can give up the demon core, divine weapon and even spiritual herbs, but if the other three fellow Daoists have any objections, you will need to persuade them personally."

Chen Yuan smiled slightly: "Fellow Daoist, rest assured, I will not take a single penny from this."

"Given the wealth and resources of the eight royal families, they must have left behind a great many treasures."

"Even if we remove these things, it will be enough to satisfy you fellow Daoists."

He sneered inwardly. Qin Wuyai seemed troubled, but in reality, he didn't take these things seriously at all. It would be even easier for him to persuade Lu Wangquan, Ren Laomo, and Cangsong Daoren.

All four were cultivators of magic, so they had no need for divine weapons.

They had lingered in the human realm for over a thousand years, and their cultivation had long since reached the peak of the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm. However, due to the devastation of the human realm and the decline of spiritual energy, they found it difficult to break through the bottleneck.

The body-tempering herbs are useless to them. There are certainly not many three-thousand-year-old herbs, and even if they searched all eight royal clans, there would probably be very few five-thousand-year-old herbs. Even if they gave them up, the loss would not be much.

Of the four, only Qin Wuyai was an alchemist capable of refining demon cores into pills.

As long as he doesn't compete with Chen Yuan for the demon core, the other three won't have any objections.

However, if Chen Yuan doesn't seize this opportunity to make trouble today, Qin Wuyai certainly won't give up these treasures for no reason, and it will be even more difficult to persuade the other three.

Chen Yuan didn't actually want to keep these treasures all to himself, but his true essence was too pure and abundant. He needed at least ten bottles of early-stage Nascent Soul pills to raise his cultivation to the peak of the early-stage Nascent Soul realm.

The demon general's demon core and the three-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs are already extremely rare. He also needs to spend time searching for the blood of the true spirit, so he cannot let go of any spiritual herb or demon core.

After the matter was settled, the tense atmosphere finally eased.

Chen Yuan raised his hand and took the wooden box containing the demon core into his hand, and said with a smile, "Thank you for the gift, fellow Daoist."

Qin Wuyai smiled and said, "As long as you can calm down, everything is negotiable."

Chen Yuan looked apologetic: "I, Chen, am also a wanderer in this world, feeling lost and helpless. I was taken aback when I met you, fellow Daoist. I hope you will forgive me."

"Now that I think about it, what you said is absolutely right. Although I cannot ascend directly to the Spirit Realm, being able to escape the shackles of the Human Realm is ultimately a fortunate thing."

With that, he closed the box, affixed a new spirit-sealing talisman, and stored the demon core into his internal space.

Qin Wuyai's eyes flashed: "I haven't yet asked you, fellow Daoist, how did you discern that the spatial passage leads to this realm?"

"We were affected by the Void Cicada's influence. I personally witnessed you fall into a coma, so I should not know where you ended up."

Instead of answering, Chen Yuan asked, "I am also quite curious. What kind of strange beast is the Void Cicada? And why does Fellow Daoist Qin recognize the Yin-Yang Ring in my hand?"

Qin Wuyai was taken aback, then smiled and said, "Our sect has a long history and has left behind some classic texts that record the situation in the Spirit Realm."

"That Void Cicada is a strange beast that lives in the void, and it has at least the cultivation level of Void Refinement."

"As for the Yin-Yang Ring in your possession, it is a widely circulated magical artifact in the Upper Realm, and the Ancestor also recorded it."

Chen Yuan looked at Qin Wuyai with a meaningful gaze and slowly said, "Your sect's founder is truly knowledgeable and learned. No wonder you know the method to return from the demon realm to the spirit realm."

"After arriving in this world, Chen heard legends about the human realm from human cultivators, and based on various signs, he deduced that the spatial passage leads to this world."

"However, the key points involve my supernatural abilities, so I cannot elaborate. Please forgive me, fellow Daoist."

The two exchanged a glance, their expressions somewhat intriguing.

Chen Yuan concealed the mysterious drop of blood. He didn't know what Qin Wuyai was hiding, but this person's methods were unfathomable. He was well-versed in all sorts of mysterious techniques and knew a great deal about the affairs of the spirit world. He must have a great secret on him.

However, the two still need to join forces to deal with the demon race, and even though they know that the other party is hiding something, they will not expose it at this moment.

Chen Yuan changed the subject: "May I ask how long you have been waiting here, fellow Daoist? Have you discovered any other traces left by Fellow Daoist Ren?" (End of Chapter)