Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

With a thought in mind, Chen Yuan increased his speed and flew forward.

Now that Ruyi's clone has shattered, Qin Wuyai has likely met with an accident, or may even have died.

Entering the spirit world is not something that can be done overnight.

Before that, he must find a foothold and, ideally, raise his cultivation to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

Although staying in the Demon Burning Realm was dangerous, it was a rare opportunity for Chen Yuan.

According to Qin Wuyai, cultivators from the Spirit Realm who wish to enter other demon realms invariably have to pay a heavy price, and the success rate is extremely low.

There is a type of Nascent Soul cultivator who specializes in infiltrating other demon realms to gather information. They are called "Shadow Spy Cultivators." Only those with formidable strength, quick wit, and skill in disguise can be qualified for this role, and they are all among the best of their level.

Chen Yuan ascended to this realm silently, something those shadow spy cultivators dreamed of.

The secret technique of the Demon Essence Pill, which has long been lost in the human realm, is widely circulated in the spirit realm.

In the spirit realm, the value of a demon core is no less than that of a rare spiritual herb.

If Chen Yuan were to ascend directly into the Spirit Realm, it would take an unknown amount of time to cultivate to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, or even to reach the peak of the Nascent Soul realm.

However, in the Demon Burning Realm, as long as you can hunt down enough demon generals, you can quickly improve your cultivation level.

Moreover, both the Kunyu Demon King and the Zhuyan Demon King descended to the Myriad Demon Continent from the Burning Demon Realm, so there must be other true spirit descendants in this realm.

Chen Yuan can take this opportunity to refine the fourth type of True Spirit Blood, which will greatly reduce the bottleneck when he breaks through to the Void Refinement Realm in the future.

Whether it's hunting down demon generals, refining elixirs, improving cultivation, or searching for the descendants of true spirits, one needs to integrate into the Demon Burning Realm in order to gradually achieve their goals.

In order to integrate into the Demon Burning Realm, Chen Yuan needed to have his own territory.

In the Demon Realm, wild demons like this rough and uncouth man, who are rootless, baseless, and of mediocre bloodline, can at most survive the Transformation Tribulation by their own power.

To advance to the rank of Demon General and rule over at least a million miles of land, one needs either a powerful bloodline or a profound background, and most people have both.

There are indeed wandering demon generals, but they are extremely rare.

Chen Yuan is now a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. After wearing the Yin-Yang Ring, he transformed into a mid-level demon general, possessing considerable cultivation.

Demon generals with such cultivation levels either cultivate in the caves of demon kings or demon saints, or rule over a territory on their own.

If Chen Yuan continues to travel around, he will become too conspicuous. Not only will he be unable to hunt down demon generals, but he will also inevitably expose his weaknesses over time.

He was, after all, a human cultivator, and his understanding of the Demon Burning Realm was extremely superficial. Only by ruling over a territory himself could he act freely.

This matter still rests with the Thunder Mountain Demon King, but the Refining Void Demon King is high above, and an outsider demon general cannot rashly visit him. The only way is to seek his help indirectly through the Iron Wing Demon General.

Chen Yuan had already made up his mind. He fled eastward, and the grass on the ground gradually became sparse. The gales that occasionally rose in the sky also gradually disappeared.

Two hours later, Chen Yuan flew out of the desolate grassland and arrived in a barren Gobi desert covered with sand and gravel.

The earth was a deep red, parched and cracked, with wind-eroded rock pillars scattered across the Gobi Desert, their strange shapes and precarious forms suggesting they were about to collapse.

A hawk soared high in the sky, its wingspan reaching over ten feet, its sharp eyes scanning the ground below, searching for prey.

Under the cover of the wind-eroded rock pillars, low-level demonic beasts stealthily passed by, their eyes revealing ferocity and savagery. When they encountered each other, they immediately pounced on each other and fought until one of them was killed or killed before they separated.

This Gobi Desert may seem desolate, but it is actually full of life, in no way inferior to the barren grassland, and even surpasses it.

The eagle saw Chen Yuan flying overhead and its eyes flashed with a fierce light, but after hesitating for a moment, it still did not pounce on this strange monster that, although it did not sense any demonic energy, was incredibly fast.

Chen Yuan ignored the level-two eagle and continued flying forward.

He continued deep into the Gobi Desert for thousands of miles before finally slowing down his escape.

A towering stone mountain, hundreds of feet high, rises abruptly from the ground in front of us, standing majestically in the Gobi Desert, making the surrounding wind-eroded rock pillars appear as thin needles.

However, under the erosion of wind and sand over the long years, the surface of the rocky mountain has been covered with holes of all sizes, and some parts of the mountain have twisted and collapsed, making it look extremely ferocious.

A veil of light enveloped the mountaintop, shimmering with a blood-red glow under the setting sun.

Through this faint light, you can vaguely see two somewhat rough stone doors on a mountain wall.

Chen Yuan stopped a hundred feet before the rocky mountain.

He made no attempt to conceal his presence, rushing in from afar. Just as he stopped, a long howl echoed from a cave halfway up the mountain.

The next moment, a monster slowly emerged from the cave. It resembled a jackal, was several meters tall, and had a spiral-shaped black horn on its head.

It exudes a strong demonic aura, having reached the peak of a level seven demonic beast, and is ready to undergo the tribulation of transformation at any time.

The one-horned jackal raised its head high, its deep brown pupils fixed on Chen Yuan in the sky, and let out a low growl, conveying a strong sense of threat.

Chen Yuan glanced at the one-horned jackal, his expression indifferent. He flicked his finger, and a golden light shot out, arriving in an instant and piercing its skull before stopping abruptly.

Only then could it be seen that the golden light was actually a short golden blade about a foot long, which blurred for a moment before slowly dissipating into the air.

This is a golden blade technique that can be learned by cultivators in the Qi Refining stage, but when a cultivator in the Qi Refining stage uses it, he can only condense a three-inch-long golden blade.

But in Chen Yuan's hands, not only was a peak level seven demonic beast instantly killed, but its power had not even dissipated.

The murderous intent in the unicorn jackal's eyes had not yet dissipated when it froze completely. Its body swayed and it fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The death of the unicorn jackal seemed to awaken the sleeping Stone Mountain, and more than a dozen level-seven demonic beasts ran out from other caves, roaring fiercely at Chen Yuan in the sky.

Most of these level-seven demonic beasts were giant red-haired rats, about ten feet in size, with fur that shimmered with a hard luster and a mouthful of fangs.

They stood in front of the other level seven demonic beasts, staring intently at Chen Yuan in the air, squeaking and screeching as if they were extremely angry.

A giant rat with deep red fur came to the front, raised its front paws, and the other red-furred giant rats all shut their mouths, just staring angrily at Chen Yuan.

The giant red-haired rat raised its forepaws, standing upright like a human. Its slightly cloudy eyes gazed at Chen Yuan in the air, its expression solemn. It opened its massive maw of fangs and actually emitted an extremely old, high-pitched voice, tinged with respect but also with a hint of questioning: "Why did you kill the demon beasts of my Crimson Blood Gobi without cause, Demon General?"

Chen Yuan's eyes flashed, and with a flick of his finger, another golden short blade flew out, piercing through the giant rat's head.

The crimson giant rat fell to the ground, and the remaining red giant rats became even more enraged. Several of them became ferocious and pounced directly at Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan snorted coldly, then flicked his finger again, sending out a fireball the size of a walnut that transformed into a firebird the size of a palm.

The firebird gently flapped its wings, its speed seemingly slow, but in the blink of an eye it could fly more than ten feet away, crashing into a giant red rat that couldn't dodge in time, instantly burning it to ashes.

The other giant red rats were terrified at the sight. Although they had not yet transformed into human form, they were already quite intelligent and hurriedly turned to flee for their lives.

But the firebird was extremely fast. In just a few breaths, it circled in the air and burned all the giant red rats that dared to pounce on Chen Yuan to ashes, which then fell to the ground with the wind.

The giant red rat and other level-seven demonic beasts left on the rocky mountain stopped roaring at the sight.

They watched in terror as the firebird gradually disappeared, their bodies involuntarily collapsing to the ground, shrinking back into the cave, but not daring to completely retreat, trembling uncontrollably.

Just then, a furious roar came from the array on the mountaintop: "You're courting death! How dare you kill my clansmen!"

The stone door to the cave on the mountaintop opened, the array dissipated, and a figure rushed out, only to suddenly stop.

A surge of demonic energy emanated from Chen Yuan's body, soaring straight into the sky.

As the mid-level demon general's imposing aura pressed down, the level seven demon beasts that were already lying on the ground completely collapsed, letting out low whimpers and moans. Two wolf-like demon beasts even wagged their tails and begged for mercy.

Chen Yuan sized up the thin man with red hair and a terrified expression in front of him and said calmly, "I only killed a few blind beasts blocking my way, and you dare to say that I'm courting death?"

The red-haired man's expression shifted, then he suddenly clasped his hands and bowed, his face full of fawning smiles: "They dared to block your path, sir, they deserved to die, good riddance! I failed to discipline them properly and offended you, sir, please forgive me!"

Chen Yuan remained unmoved and coldly said, "They blocked my path. You say I'm courting death? You deserve to die too!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the red-haired man's expression changed, and his body suddenly turned into a red light, flying away into the distance at an incredible speed, covering a hundred feet in the blink of an eye.

Chen Yuan sneered, and a pair of black wings suddenly stretched out from his back. With a flap, he instantly teleported to the front of the red light.

He raised his hand and grabbed, and the red light shattered instantly, piercing the red-haired man's vital point in his heart, and pulled out his demon core!

The red-haired man froze, a hint of terror remaining in his eyes. He transformed into a giant red-haired rat several meters in size and plummeted down, crashing down a hillside.

Chen Yuan released his divine soul power to imprison the demon soul within the demon core, and used the Soul Searching Technique to examine the red-haired man's memories.

This red-haired man was, in the wild man's memory, the most powerful mid-level demon general near the Wild Wind Grassland. His original form was a Crimson Blood Rat, and after transforming, he was known as Crimson Blood.

Like the rough and burly man, he was born as a wild demon.

However, this Crimson Blood Demon General was skilled in escape techniques and was also quick-witted and extremely good at flattery, which won him the favor of the Iron Wing Demon Commander.

He had delivered letters for the Iron-Winged Demon General for hundreds of years and received many rewards in return.

After advancing to the mid-level Demon General in the Iron Wing Cave, the Crimson Blood Demon General was granted this Crimson Blood Gobi Desert, spanning over 20,000 square miles, where he cultivated from then on.

This Gobi Desert may seem desolate, but it is the most fertile land within a radius of 100,000 miles.

Besides a miniature spiritual vein, there are also many spiritual material veins and spiritual lands in the Gobi Desert, and even a miniature spiritual stone vein.

The Crimson Blood Demon General could easily handle the offerings he paid to the Iron Wing Demon Commander, and there was still a considerable amount left over, which he could use for cultivation.

For this reason, the Crimson Blood Demon General only secluded himself in his cave to cultivate diligently and never fought with other demon generals.

Other mid-level demon generals also knew about the connection between Crimson Blood Demon General and Iron Wing Demon Commander, so they wouldn't attack Crimson Blood Demon General. For hundreds of years, Crimson Blood Gobi remained peaceful.

Because the Wilderness Grassland and the Crimson Blood Gobi are adjacent, the burly man greatly envied the Crimson Blood Demon General and had always coveted this Gobi Desert. However, his strength was far inferior to that of the Crimson Blood Demon General, and he never dared to take action to seize it.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Chen Yuan had thoroughly examined all of the Crimson Blood Demon General's memories. They were largely similar to those of the burly man, but there were also many things related to the Iron Wing Demon General, as well as his observations of other demon generals' territories.

However, it was from the memories of the Crimson Blood Demon General that Chen Yuan learned that many demon generals and commanders in the Burning Demon Realm had restrictions placed on their souls to prevent cultivators from the Spirit Realm from searching their souls. Once their souls were searched, they would self-destruct their demon souls.

All the demon generals and other trusted demon generals of the Iron Wing Demon General's clan were placed under this restriction by him.

However, the Crimson Blood Demon General and the burly man were wild demons, without roots or foundations, and had not been placed with such a restriction, which is why Chen Yuan was able to successfully search their souls.

Compared to the Crimson Blood Demon General, the burly man's knowledge was indeed shallow; he didn't even know such a thing.

Chen Yuan shook his head slightly, withdrew his divine sense, released a wisp of true essence, shattered the Crimson Blood Demon General's demon soul, and stored his demon core in his mustard seed ring.

He looked down at the stone mountain below. The giant red-haired rats and level-seven demonic beasts were still lying on the ground, trembling, their eyes filled with fear, but not a single one of them got up and fled.

At this moment, Chen Yuan had already activated the Kunpeng True Blood and was emitting the aura of a mid-level demon general.

Under the dual pressure of bloodline and qi, these low-level demonic beasts even lost the courage to escape and could only stay in place to wait for death.

However, Chen Yuan did not kill these low-level demonic beasts, who were like ants. Instead, he concealed his aura, folded his black wings, and coldly said, "Get lost!"

The oppressive aura suddenly disappeared, and the giant red-haired rats and the level-seven demonic beasts were stunned. But upon hearing these words, they were overjoyed and immediately scattered and fled down the stone mountain, not daring to linger for even a moment.

They are quite intelligent and can understand demonic language.

This is the common language of several demon realms near the Spirit Realm. Qin Wuyai taught it to Chen Yuan and the other two before they entered the ascension passage, and they quickly mastered it.

Watching the level seven demonic beasts flee into the distance, Chen Yuan withdrew his gaze, descended in his escape light, and stepped into the cave.

This cave is extremely spacious, with more than a dozen stone chambers built inside, but the walls are quite rough.

In most of the stone chamber, Chen Yuan found seven or eight human women lying dead on the ground. Their cultivation levels ranged from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation. They were all fair-skinned and beautiful, but almost naked, and their bodies were covered with bruises and wounds.

Chen Yuan examined them and found that all of these women had been placed under a soul restriction. Once the Crimson Blood Demon General died, they would also be doomed.

Chen Yuan sighed inwardly. He buried the women's bodies in the Gobi Desert, then returned to his cave. In the most exquisitely furnished stone chamber, he sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing. (End of Chapter)