Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

“The Corroded Wood Cave…” Chen Yuan’s eyes flashed, and he smiled, “Thank you for the reminder, fellow Daoist. I’ll remember it.”

The Heavenly Hou Demon General downed the spirit wine in his cup in one gulp, slammed the cup on the table, and said, "I have handed over the token and the slaves to you, fellow Daoist. I still need to report back to the Great King, so I will take my leave now."

"The Northern Underworld Cave has just been established. Fellow Daoist, you still need to subdue your demon generals so that you can command them effectively on the battlefield of the war between the two realms."

Chen Yuan understood and said solemnly, "Please tell the King that before the war between the two realms begins, I, Kun, will only focus on cultivation and will never cause any trouble."

The Heavenly Hou Demon General smiled and said, "I will definitely report your words to the King."

Chen Yuan escorted the Heavenly Hou Demon General all the way out of the island, accompanied by several demon generals who were responsible for guarding the hundred human slaves along the way.

Although the Heavenly Hou Demon General did not rule an entire territory, he was not far off, with dozens of demon generals under his command. However, his territory was located within the Thunder Mountain Cave, and although it was nearly half the size, it was much more abundant.

Chen Yuan stood with his hands behind his back in the air, watching the figures of the Heavenly Hou Demon General and his accompanying demon generals disappear into the horizon before turning back to Beiming Island.

After he established his residence, the great lake remained called the Underworld Sea, but the giant island was renamed.

Chen Yuan arrived at the bluestone square, where the hundred slaves were still standing in the same spot.

Some people wailed, some wept uncontrollably, and others shouted curses at the two demon generals, their mouths full of foul language.

When had those two demon generals ever suffered such humiliation? They were being verbally abused by human slaves whose cultivation was far inferior to their own. Their anger flared up, their faces turned red, and they wished they could devour the cultivator who had spoken out against them.

But Chen Yuan had given them orders beforehand, so they dared not act rashly.

The rude demon general clenched his fists, his eyes wide open, his chest heaving, and he was breathing heavily through his nostrils.

He was about to teach the crowd a lesson, but was stopped by another demon general who gritted his teeth and said, "The commander has ordered that these slaves must not be harmed!"

Rudely swallowed the words that were already rising to his lips, staring intently at the young cultivator who had been cursing the most, his killing intent fully revealed.

His name was Tie Zong. He was originally a wild demon under the command of the Underworld Demon General. His original form was a wild boar. He was naturally savage and could not tolerate the insults from these cultivators.

But the young monk showed no fear and continued to curse.

The bewitching bell can bind their souls, preventing them from escaping or committing suicide, but it cannot control the thoughts in their minds.

He would rather die at the hands of these two demon generals than have his soul restricted by the Northern Underworld Demon Commander, thus becoming a slave and never being able to escape.

Seeing Chen Yuan flying in from afar, he immediately changed his tune and cursed Chen Yuan: "You beast with fur and horns..."

Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes, let out a cold snort, and the young cultivator's soul was struck as if by a heavy hammer, coming to an abrupt halt. He groaned, blood flowed from his seven orifices, and he collapsed limply to the ground.

The other slaves who had started shouting and cursing were also traumatized and stopped, collapsing to the ground.

The other cultivators cried out in alarm, but could only offer a few words of concern; they were powerless to help the fallen cultivator beside them up.

Bound by the bewitching bell, although their thoughts were not restricted and they could speak, every move they made required Chen Yuan's permission.

Seeing that these cultivators had been punished by Chen Yuan, the two demon generals' anger subsided somewhat, but they still couldn't quell their hatred.

Iron-Maned Demon General bowed to Chen Yuan and said, "These unruly slaves dared to insult the Commander-in-Chief; they must be severely punished..."

Chen Yuan glanced at him, snorted coldly, and the Iron-Maned Demon General screamed as his body swayed and fell from the sky, crashing heavily onto the square, creating a large crater and scattering gravel everywhere.

The other demon general's expression changed, and he quickly lowered his head to hide the anger on his face.

Iron-mane Demon General clutched his head, his face contorted in pain, and struggled to his feet from the pit.

Chen Yuan said calmly, "How to deal with these slaves is none of your business."

The Iron-Maned Demon General was terrified and staggered as he bowed to Chen Yuan: "I misspoke, please forgive me, Commander..."

Chen Yuan stared at him, flipped his hand and took out a jade bottle, flicked his finger and sent it flying toward the Iron-Maned Demon General.

The latter quickly reached out and caught the jade bottle, a look of confusion on his pained face, but dared not ask any more questions.

Chen Yuan said calmly, "This is a one-time exception. There is a Ruiyang Pill in the bottle, which is enough to heal your soul."

"Make sure this place is repaired properly. Be careful with your words and actions in the future, or I will punish you severely."

The Iron-Maned Demon General opened the bottle and poured out a longan-sized, orange-red pill, rich in spiritual energy and exuding a refreshing fragrance.

He only took a light sniff, and he felt the excruciating pain emanating from his soul lessen somewhat.

He was overjoyed. Although he had never heard of the Ruiyang Pill before, it was clearly an extremely precious healing elixir, a treasure even for a mid-level demon general, let alone for a low-level demon general like himself.

The resentment he felt from the injury to his soul vanished, replaced by awe. He carefully placed the pill back into the jade bottle and bowed deeply, saying, "Thank you, Commander, for the pill. I will never dare to offend you again!"

Chen Yuan ignored him, flipped his hand to take out the Bewitching Bell, poured in his true essence, and shook it gently.

The hundred cultivators involuntarily took to their own flight paths and followed Chen Yuan, heading deeper into the North Sea Island.

The cultivators whose souls had been damaged by the insults were helped up by the cultivators beside them and followed along.

The group and two demon generals followed Chen Yuan to the mountainside of a towering peak on the island, where a vast hall stood.

This peak has been renamed Xuanming Peak, and this grand hall was built by the Demon General of the Underworld Sea, specifically for summoning his demon generals to discuss matters. Chen Yuan instructed two demon generals to stay outside the hall and, with the help of the bewitching bell, manipulate everyone into entering the hall.

He flicked his sleeve, closed the palace door, and set up a barrier of divine sense to prevent the divine senses outside the palace from spying on him.

Inside the main hall, Chen Yuan sat high above, while a hundred cultivators stood below, their cries echoing throughout the hall.

Those cultivators whose souls were injured could barely stand with the help of other cultivators, their expressions miserable.

In the end, they could not escape the fate of becoming slaves. From then on, they could only serve the Northern Darkness Demon General like puppets.

Chen Yuan's gaze swept over the crowd, and he slowly raised his right hand, a wisp of Zhu Yan True Fire rising up.

Everyone stared in surprise at the ethereal, eerie white flame.

Seeing this, the already extremely weak young cultivator's dim eyes suddenly flashed with a sharp light, and he said weakly, "You monster, if you have the guts, burn us all to death..."

However, some cultivators pleaded for mercy: "Demon General, spare our lives! This junior is willing to serve you as a human slave!"

Several female cultivators followed the example of the two demon generals, pleading, "General, if you would spare our lives, we would do anything you ask..."

"This servant would never dare to harbor any disloyal thoughts. I only beg the General not to plant a soul-binding restriction within me. Otherwise, my mind will be damaged, and I will be like a puppet on strings, preventing the General from enjoying himself in bed..."

The young cultivator's expression changed, and he turned his head with difficulty, cursing in a low voice, "You...you cowards who cling to life and fear death, I am ashamed to be associated with you..."

But he was seriously injured at the moment, and his weak curses were drowned out by his pleas for mercy, causing no ripples.

The other cultivators all hesitated. They hadn't uttered any curses in the square earlier because they still harbored a desire to live, and now they were even less likely to provoke this Northern Underworld Demon General.

But being enslaved, with one's life and death in the hands of others, might be more painful than death itself, leaving one in a dilemma.

However, most of the female cultivators expressed a desire for liberation. They had heard of the ferocity and brutality of the demon race, and that female cultivators often did not live long before being tortured to death.

The female cultivator, who had been silent until now and had delicate features, slowly closed her eyes, two lines of clear tears slowly flowing down her face, and a relieved smile appeared on her lips.

Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping over all the cultivators who were begging for mercy, memorizing their faces.

With a thought, he split the Vermilion Flame into a hundred strands, which, following the mysterious connection in the darkness, entered the soul space of the hundred cultivators and condensed into a delicate and exquisite fire lotus mark.

Everyone hurriedly examined their own bodies, but with the Bewitching Bell binding their souls, they had no power to resist and could only watch helplessly as the eerie fire lotus mark merged into their souls.

Chen Yuan exerted a slight force with his left hand, crushing the pink bell in his hand and releasing the binding force that the Bewitching Bell had placed on everyone's souls.

He said calmly, "I will not leave any soul restrictions in your bodies, but the effect of this white spiritual fire is no different from that of a soul restriction."

"If any of you harbor even the slightest dissent, you will suffer the torment of your souls being burned by spiritual fire. If you dare to make any move, your souls will be burned to death immediately."

As soon as Chen Yuan finished speaking, almost everyone in the hall clutched their heads, their expressions turning to unbearable pain, and they let out screams of agony.

However, more than a dozen cultivators were unharmed; they were all the ones who had begged for mercy earlier.

After a while, the screams in the hall finally stopped, and the eyes that looked at Chen Yuan were filled with fear.

The pain of having one's soul burned was far beyond their imagination, and no one wanted to experience it a second time.

However, a dozen or so cultivators looked puzzled, slightly opening their mouths as if they wanted to say something, but they couldn't say anything.

This included the young cultivator and the beautiful female cultivator who remained silent throughout.

Chen Yuan flicked his sleeve, dispelling the barrier of divine sense, and the two heavy palace doors slowly opened.

The sunlight streamed in, illuminating the dimly lit hall, but it cast a shadow over the hearts of the hundred cultivators who had been reduced to slavery.

Chen Yuan summoned two demon generals into the hall and asked them to settle everyone in the hall, but left behind more than a dozen cultivators.

Both demon generals were puzzled. They were used to the practice of placing soul-binding restrictions on slaves, so why did the commander-in-chief still close the palace doors?

But they only dared to mutter to themselves, not daring to question it in the slightest, and immediately accepted the order and left.

Among these people, many had just verbally abused the two demon generals in the square.

They have now been reduced to slaves, and without Chen Yuan's permission, the two demon generals dare not act rashly.

But the Iron-Maned Demon General's eyes were extremely hostile, and these people would likely suffer some physical pain after leaving the main hall.

Chen Yuan was fully aware of this, but he did not speak up to stop them. After the two demon generals led everyone away, he closed the palace door and set up a barrier of divine sense.

The dozen or so cultivators who remained in the hall looked even more puzzled.

Only now were they able to speak.

The young cultivator frowned and said weakly, "Why did this demonic fire stop burning after a while?"

"Burn me alive immediately! I will never become a slave and serve you, you monster!" (End of Chapter)