Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Sixty million miles north of the Mad Rhinoceros Cave, a vast mountain range lies across the land, stretching for thousands of miles.

Within the mountains, green grass and trees grow everywhere, and as far as the eye can see, the forest stretches out like a vast sea, lush and verdant.

The trees deep in the mountains are dozens of feet tall, forming an extremely vast forest that shelters palaces built of spirit wood, entwined with green vines and leaves, blending seamlessly with the forest.

In the heart of the forest, a colossal tree, hundreds of feet tall, stands out from the crowd, like a mountain peak, towering majestically with its broad canopy blocking out the sun.

This is the location of the Wood Erosion Cave. Unlike other demon kings, the Wood Erosion Demon King's true form is a strange tree that, by chance, developed sentience.

After a long period of time, he finally cultivated to the level of a demon king, with an exceptionally long lifespan, even surpassing that of ordinary demon saints. He lived for countless tens of thousands of years and mastered many strange and powerful supernatural abilities.

This towering tree is said to be the true form of the Wood-Eating Demon King, but some say it is just a strange tree that the Wood-Eating Demon King obtained by chance, possessing immense power.

Beneath the giant tree, within a grand hall of spirit wood, a voice filled with deep anger echoed out.

"How many demon generals have been assassinated now?"

A middle-aged man sat on a throne made of intertwined green vines on a high platform. He was dressed in a dark green outfit embroidered with green leaf patterns.

His face was sallow and his expression was somewhat stiff, giving him an eerie, puppet-like appearance.

This person was the Wood-Eating Demon King, whose cultivation was at the late stage of the Void Refinement Realm. Among the dozens of demon kings under the Blood Tooth Demon Saint, he was extraordinary.

His strength is extremely formidable; with his profound demonic power and his mastery of wood-attribute supernatural abilities, he is rarely matched.

Unfortunately, the Shimu Cave and the Leishan Cave are right next to each other.

Whether it was intentional on the part of the Bloodtooth Demon Saint or not, these two renowned demon kings clashed repeatedly and developed a deep grudge.

Below the high platform, the three demon generals stood with their hands clasped, bowing their heads deeply upon hearing this.

The white-haired demon general at the head of the group said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, this is the fourth in the past two years."

"Were any clues left behind?"

"Not yet...discovered."

"waste!"

The three demon generals trembled and hurriedly clasped their hands in apology, filled with fear and trepidation.

The middle-aged man flicked his sleeve, a hint of fierceness appearing on his wooden face: "Four mid-level demon generals, all died under the power of thunder magic, and killed in one blow. Apart from Lei Shan's subordinates, where else can you find such powerful thunder magic demon generals?"

The white-haired demon general said cautiously, "Your Majesty, the man in black is wearing a mask, and no one has seen his face."

"Everyone knows that the Great King and the Thunder Mountain Demon King are at odds. If he wanted to attack the Great King, he wouldn't have used such an obvious method, and he certainly wouldn't have sent only a mid-level demon general."

Another demon general in yellow robes said, "More than six hundred years later, it will be the turn of the Thunder Mountain Demon King to enter Tyrant Turtle Island."

"He has already issued an edict forbidding his demon generals from fighting amongst themselves, so he shouldn't offend the king again at this crucial moment..."

The middle-aged man frowned: "Beasts with lightning power in their bloodline are extremely rare. If that man in black is not under Lei Shan's command, then where did he come from?"

The three demon generals fell silent. If they had known the man in black's origins, they would have come to him long ago and would never have allowed this man to attack and kill the demon generals of the Corroded Wood Cave.

Three years ago, the Mad Rhinoceros Demon Commander under the Wood Erosion Demon King was suddenly killed by a man in black wearing a gold-threaded openwork mask.

According to the demon generals under the Mad Rhino Demon Commander, the man in black suddenly appeared and moved at an extremely fast speed, like a meteor streaking across the sky, and rushed into the Mad Rhino Mountain Range.

Just as the Mad Rhinoceros Demon General left his cave, the man in black gathered a sky full of dark clouds and unleashed a dazzling bolt of lightning, killing the Mad Rhinoceros Demon General instantly without any chance to fight back.

After killing the Mad Rhinoceros Demon General, the man in black cut off his horn, took his demon core and mustard seed ring, and left without harming the other demon generals or low-level demon beasts.

The Mad Rhinoceros Demon General had already left his natal lamp in the Corrosion Wood Cave. When it suddenly went out, it was immediately noticed by the Demon General in charge of the Lamp Hall in the Corrosion Wood Cave, who reported it to the White-Haired Demon General.

The white-haired demon general is a confidant of the Wood-Eroding Demon King. Not only is his cultivation profound, but he also advanced to the rank of high-level demon general thousands of years ago, making him a rare rival among demon generals of the same rank.

He was extremely loyal to the Wood-Eroding Demon King, and during the King's seclusion for cultivation, he managed all affairs of the Wood-Eroding Cave.

Upon learning of this, he did not take it to heart, but simply dispatched a mid-level demon general to investigate.

The Mad Rhinoceros Demon General did not clash with other demon generals, but the Burning Demon Realm contained many dangerous places with rare and precious treasures. Demon generals often entered to search for treasures, and even demon kings and demon saints appeared there.

Around the Wood-Eroding Cave, there are three extremely dangerous places that pose a great risk to the Demon General.

The white-haired demon general believed that the mad rhinoceros demon general had most likely died in some dangerous place.

However, a month later, the mid-level demon general brought back several demon generals under the command of the Mad Rhino Demon General.

Only then did the white-haired demon general realize that the Mad Rhino Demon General had been ambushed and killed by a mysterious mid-level demon general.

The white-haired demon general was furious. Who was so arrogant as to attack and kill a demon general in public? This violated the rules set by the Great Sages and was a desecration of the majesty of the Wood-Eroding Demon King!

The white-haired demon general immediately reported the matter to the Wood-Eating Demon King, who disregarded it and ordered him to issue a warrant for arrest, and dispatched several black-clad demon generals to search for the black-clad demon general's whereabouts.

Such things happen often; the demon race will never lack unruly individuals, and even the great saints cannot restrain everyone.

The Wood-Eating Demon King wouldn't care about the life or death of a mid-level demon general. It was only because the man in black publicly attacked and killed the Mad Rhinoceros Demon General that he issued a warrant for his arrest.

However, the demon generals under the Wood-Eating Demon King were quite worried. The man in black was so crazy and extremely powerful that he had struck the Mad Rhinoceros Demon General dead with lightning in broad daylight.

If they were to be targeted as well, they had no confidence in blocking that bolt of heavenly lightning.

But after killing the Mad Rhinoceros Demon Commander, the man in black went quiet and did not show up for several months.

The demon generals under the Wood-Eating Demon King were relieved. It seemed that the Mad Rhinoceros Demon General had offended another demon general, and the man in black had come seeking revenge, and had nothing to do with the other demon generals.

After issuing the arrest warrant, the Wood-Eating Demon King put the matter out of his mind and continued his secluded cultivation.

He had hundreds of demon generals under his command, and they fought fiercely among themselves for treasures and territories, with demon generals losing their lives from time to time.

The Mad Rhinoceros Demon General's death was merely a bit bizarre, and the Wood-Eating Demon King wouldn't care at all.

The white-haired demon general, who was in charge of the Corrosion Cave, was extremely busy with many affairs to handle and also had to go into seclusion to cultivate. The man in black had not been heard from for a long time and gradually stopped paying attention to the matter.

Only the Mad Rhinoceros clan was filled with grief. There was no second demon general in the Mad Rhinoceros clan; after the Mad Rhinoceros Demon General's death, his million-mile territory was reclaimed by the Wood-Eating Demon King, and the Mad Rhinoceros Cave was erased from the list. The Wood-Eating Demon King bestowed this territory upon a mid-level demon general who had followed him for many years, and the Mad Rhinoceros clan was forced to relocate to another territory spanning ten thousand miles, their situation plummeting.

But just seven months after the death of the Mad Rhino Demon General, when the man in black was almost forgotten, he reappeared, summoned heavenly lightning, and struck down another mid-level demon general.

This mid-level demon general is named Jiu Hu. His cave is 30 million miles away from the Mad Rhinoceros Cave and he has no connection with the Mad Rhinoceros Demon General.

According to the demon general who witnessed the incident, Demon General Jiuhu wanted to visit another demon general. Just as he left his cave, the man in black suddenly appeared and summoned heavenly lightning, but Demon General Jiuhu blocked it with his magical weapon.

The Mad Rhinoceros Demon General has a shallow foundation and meager wealth. He has no magical treasures or divine weapons and relies solely on his immense strength to defend against enemies.

However, the Jiuhu clan has a profound heritage, having ruled the Jiuhu Cave for over 200,000 years. The lineage of the Demon General has never been interrupted, and they have even forged a spiritual treasure weapon.

Each patriarch of the Jiuhu clan is known as the Jiuhu Demon General. With his magical treasures and divine weapons, as well as his fire-attribute supernatural abilities, his strength is not weak among demon generals of the same rank.

After the lightning summoned by the man in black was blocked, he took out a purple-gold war drum and a drumstick, and summoned an even more dazzling silver lightning bolt. The thunderous power contained within it made the demon generals, who were hundreds of miles away, tremble with fear.

The magical weapon in the hands of the Tiger Demon General is a weapon of slaughter, but not good at defense.

He tried his best to resist, but still couldn't withstand the heavenly lightning and died on the spot.

The demon core, the magical weapon, the mustard seed ring, and the long fire crystal tail were all taken by the man in black.

However, he did not harm the Jiuhu clan or the demon generals under the Jiuhu Demon Commander. After they escaped, they immediately came to visit the Shimu Cave and report the matter.

This incident shocked the entire Erosion Cave.

The two demon generals died one after another at the hands of that mysterious man in black. Despite their equal cultivation levels, they couldn't even last a few rounds.

Even the Demon General Jiuhu, who possessed a magical weapon, could only withstand a single bolt of heavenly lightning.

Moreover, he had no dealings with the Mad Rhinoceros Demon General, so the man in black was definitely not there to seek revenge, but rather to target the Corrosion Cave!
For a time, almost everyone under the Wood-Eating Demon King's command, except for the high-ranking demon generals, was in danger.

Those low-ranking demon generals, in particular, dared not even step out of their caves, fearing that if they left the great formation, they would die at the hands of the man in black.

The Wood-Eating Demon King was also enraged and dispatched three of his demon generals, who were skilled in tracking techniques, to search for the man in black.

The demon race has countless bloodlines, resulting in an endless array of innate talents and supernatural abilities.

The talents and supernatural abilities of these three demon generals were extremely strange. One of the mid-level demon generals was originally a hyena, and his strength was mediocre.

But it can track targets within 100,000 miles based on a faint, almost imperceptible scent.

There is also a low-ranking demon general who can remember the aura left behind by others and recognize them immediately upon encountering them again.

The last high-ranking demon general was originally a golden rat, a creature skilled in treasure hunting.

The innate supernatural power is the ability to track the spiritual energy left behind by magical treasures and divine weapons. Even if it is collected into the mustard seed ring, it cannot block its detection.

To ensure everything went smoothly, the Wood-Eating Demon King also dispatched two high-ranking demon generals to accompany him in pursuit of the man in black.

But after their efforts, they returned empty-handed.

The Golden Rat Demon General discerned the unique thunderous spiritual energy of the Purple-Gold War Drum, but its range was extremely small, existing only within the Tiger-Slaying Cave.

It seemed to appear out of thin air and then disappear just as suddenly; it wasn't something the man in black took out of the mustard seed ring, so it was impossible to track down.

The hyena demon followed the scent of the man in black and found a volcano emitting billowing black smoke.

Its interior was filled with fiery poison, but this still could not stop the hyena demon general from tracking it.

But the man in black went a thousand feet into the lava lake, where the rich earth fire spiritual energy completely erased all traces of his scent.

The low-ranking demon general did remember the black-clad man's aura, but since neither of the two demon generals could find the man's approximate location, he was rendered useless.

Left with no other choice, the Wood-Eating Demon King ordered his demon generals to be extra careful and to send more men to continue searching for the man in black.

However, his territory spans hundreds of millions of miles, and a blind search would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, utterly futile.

After half a year, the man in black was nowhere to be found, and another demon general died at his hands.

This demon general was originally a wild demon, but his bloodline mutated, making him quite powerful. He cultivated all the way to the mid-level demon general, and his experience was quite legendary. He was quite famous under the command of the Wood-Eating Demon King.

However, he lacked a solid foundation and possessed no magical treasures or divine weapons. Like the Mad Rhinoceros Demon General, he couldn't even withstand a single bolt of heavenly lightning.

The deaths of three demon generals in succession thoroughly enraged the Wood-Eating Demon King.

However, his three most skilled demon generals and commanders were unable to find the man in black, and no matter how angry he was, he was powerless to do anything about it.

The mid-level demon generals under the Wood-Eating Demon King were all on the verge of tears.

They didn't provoke the man in black, so why target them?

The weaker, lower-ranking demon generals breathed a sigh of relief. The men in black seemed to look down on the lower-ranking demon generals, and for the first time, they felt fortunate because of their low cultivation level.

Another six months passed, and seven days ago, the fourth mid-level demon general died at the hands of the man in black. The Wood-Eating Demon King was furious but also somewhat helpless, and even said that it was the work of a demon general under the Thunder Mountain Demon King.

But he also knew that if the Thunder Mountain Demon King really wanted to take action, he would never use such a clumsy method.

Moreover, they will not initiate a conflict with him before the war between the two worlds.

The Wood-Eating Demon King suppressed his anger and said coldly, "In your opinion, if it wasn't Lei Shan who did it, who would specifically target my demon general?"

The white-haired demon general lowered his head and pondered for a moment before saying, "Your Majesty is wise. The man in black is elusive. Apart from knowing that he can summon heavenly lightning and possesses a purple-gold war drum magic weapon, there are no other clues to be found. We have no way of knowing his identity."

The yellow-robed demon general said, "This man in black only targets mid-level demon generals. Could he be a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator from the Spirit Realm, trying to refine a Demon Essence Pill?"

The last demon general shook his head: "Absolutely impossible. Any shadow spy cultivator from the Spirit Realm who wants to enter the Burning Demon Realm has to pay a huge price, specifically to gather important information."

"Why would they willingly reveal their identity for a few demon cores of a mid-level demon general?"

The Wood-Eating Demon King frowned, then suddenly sneered, "Regardless of this man in black's origins, since he has used his thunderous divine power, I cannot allow Thunder Mountain to remain uninvolved!" (End of Chapter)