Nine Transformations of the True Spirit

The next morning, Chen Yuan was meditating with his eyes closed when the gate of the courtyard was knocked by the Qi-refining cultivator from yesterday, who said that the head of the Yuan family was waiting for him and Zhang Wushan in the welcoming pavilion.

The two followed the Qi-refining cultivator and walked along the stone steps to the top of the mountain, and went straight to the third floor of the welcoming pavilion.

A middle-aged cultivator was sitting on the main seat, and Yuan Shiying was sitting next to him. When he saw the two people coming up, he immediately stood up to greet them.

He smiled and said, "My two Taoist friends, this is the head of my Yuan family. I came out of retreat today and came to visit you two."

"Junior Chen Yuan, I greet you." Chen Yuan clasped his fists and bowed.

"Meet the head of the Yuan family." Zhang Wushan followed suit, but his attitude was much more casual.

Yuan Xiang smiled and said, "Please sit down, my two friends. I was not able to come to greet you yesterday. Please forgive me for my impoliteness."

Chen Yuan sat below Yuan Shiying and smiled, "No problem. I am here to participate in the fight. I am flattered to have you come to greet me."

Zhang Wushan sat opposite Yuan Shiying and said lightly, "I am here on the orders of my master and I am here with Brother Chen. I cannot participate in the fight and I dare not trouble you."

"Haha, both of you are honored guests..." Yuan Xiang stroked his beard and smiled, saying lightly.

He turned to look at Chen Yuan, "Do you know that according to the agreement between the Yuan family and the Cangjian Palace and Shifeng Mountain, you must join the Yuan family and serve as a guest elder to help our Yuan family?"

Chen Yuan nodded, "Of course."

"That's good. Please accept this guest token." A jade token appeared out of thin air in Yuan Xiang's hand and flew over slowly.

Chen Yuan took the jade token, and Yuan Xiang raised his sleeves and flicked them. A small pile of colorful spiritual stones and a white iron block the size of a human head appeared out of thin air in front of him, flashing dazzling white light. Looking at it, there was a faint stinging feeling.

Yuan Xiang said: "This is a piece of evil gold iron and three hundred pieces of top-grade spiritual stones. As an offering to you as a guest elder of the Yuan family, please accept them together."

Yuan Shiying echoed: "The head of the family neglected Chen Daoyou because of his retreat yesterday. He specially ordered me to go to the treasure house of the clan and select this piece of evil gold iron to give to Chen Daoyou as a small compensation. Please don't blame Chen Daoyou."

Zhang Wushan finally looked better when he saw this scene.

Chen Yuan borrowed the spirit vein of Haoran Sect to form a baby, and it was Qingliu Layman who guaranteed it. The Yuan family valued Chen Yuan, which meant they valued Qingliu Layman.

Until this moment, Zhang Wushan's unhappiness caused by the Yuan family's impoliteness yesterday finally dissipated.

Chen Yuan looked at the evil gold iron and spirit stone flying in front of him, smiled slightly, and said with a bow: "Thank you for the generous gift, senior. I will be disrespectful to refuse it." After that, he raised his sleeves and flicked them, and put all the evil gold iron and three hundred high-grade spirit stones into the mustard ring. Yuan Xiang was slightly startled, and then smiled and said: "From today on, Chen Xiaoyou is the guest elder of the Yuan family." He paused, turned his head and looked at Yuan Shiying: "Thank you, the elder, to invite Taoist Liu and the third elder to meet Chen Xiaoyou." "I'll go now." Yuan Shiying agreed, but his eyes never left Chen Yuan, and a trace of annoyance flashed in the depths of his eyes. The offering that Yuan Xiang took out was a heavy gift. As the elder of the Yuan family, he was in charge of the family's treasure house, and he was a little unhappy about it. This fight was bound to lose, and Chen Yuan was just here to make up the numbers, but he didn't refuse at all and accepted it directly, which made him even more dissatisfied. If Zhang Wushan had not been there, why would the Yuan family have given such a valuable gift to a rootless and casual cultivator?

Moreover, this casual cultivator would not be able to form a fetus for at least thirty years. Even if he could borrow a spiritual vein in the future, it would be as difficult as ascending to heaven to form a fetus.

But this was Yuan Xiang's decision, and Yuan Shiying could not disobey it. He could only suppress his dissatisfaction in his heart, thinking that he was just trying to make friends with Qingliu Layman and avoid disaster by spending money.

After Yuan Shiying left, Yuan Xiang took the initiative to ask whether the two were satisfied with their residence, and introduced the scenery in the Fengyuan Mountains. He did not have the airs of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

But nine out of ten of his sentences were talking to Zhang Wushan, and his words were full of respect for Qingliu Layman, but he was quite perfunctory to Chen Yuan, a casual cultivator.

Chen Yuan was also very tactful. He just listened quietly, smiled and said nothing, and occasionally took a sip of tea.

About two quarters of an hour later, Yuan Shiying led the two cultivators back to the third floor.

One of them was a man in his thirties, with a similar look to Yuan Shiying.

The other was dressed in a Taoist robe, with white hair and beard, two white eyebrows drooping, a kind face, and a look of immortality.

Yuan Shiying said: "Master, I have invited Taoist Master Liu and the second elder."

Yuan Xiang smiled and said: "Sit down and talk."

The two men bowed and sat down on the left and right, looking at Chen Yuan and Zhang Wushan.

Yuan Xiang glanced at Yuan Shiying, who understood. He raised his hand and pointed at the two people, saying with a smile, "This is Taoist Master Liu Ruyuan. He once defeated two deacons of the Yuezhou Chongyue Sect alone. He has profound cultivation and a far-reaching reputation. I believe you two Taoist friends have heard of him."

Taoist Master Liu smiled slightly and bowed his hands to salute, "Old Taoist Master Liu Ruyuan, you two Taoist friends are polite."

Chen Yuan raised his hand to return the greeting and said lightly, "I have heard of you for a long time. I am Chen Yuan, a casual cultivator."

Zhang Wushan also bowed his hands and said, "I am Zhang Wushan, I have heard of your great name for a long time."

The two said they had heard of you for a long time, but their expressions were very calm, obviously just being polite.

Taoist Master Liu kept smiling, but his eyes narrowed slightly, flashing a hint of displeasure.

On the way here, Yuan Shiying had already told him the identities of Zhang Wushan and Chen Yuan. One was a true disciple of Haoran Sect, and the other was a fake infant cultivator with profound cultivation.

But Taoist Liu was originally invited by the Haoran Sect to help the Yuan family.

Although he was a casual cultivator, he had a good reputation in Renzhou and had numerous defeats under his command.

The Zhongyue Sect was one of the ten major sects, and even if two of its sect's two alchemy monks joined forces, they were no match for him.

He was just a true disciple of the Haoran Sect, he couldn't afford to offend him.

Chen Yuan was just a casual cultivator, but his cultivation was deeper, and his reaction was so bland. It seemed that he didn't take him seriously at all, which made Taoist Liu, who was used to being sought after and flattered, very dissatisfied.

But in front of Yuan Xiang and Zhang Wushan, Liu Daoren didn't want to get angry. He just looked at Chen Yuan deeply, then picked up the tea cup and lowered his head to sip.

"This is the third elder of my Yuan family, Yuan Shixiong, participating in the battle with Taoist priest Liu and fellow Taoist Chen." Yuan Shiying said again.

Yuan Shixiong, a man in his thirties, cupped his fists and bowed, and said in a muffled voice: "Yuan is so polite."

Chen Yuan and Zhang Wushan returned the favor one after another.

After Yuan Shiying finished his introduction, Yuan Xiang said with a smile: "Little friend Chen arrived today, and he just happened to invite Daoist Liu and the third elder to discuss the matter of fighting."

"According to the agreement between the three families, for this fight, there will be three members from my Yuan family, and a total of three members from Shifeng Mountain and Hidden Sword Palace. The arena will be set up, and both sides will take turns playing."

"The loser will be beaten, the winner will be defended, and the one who persists until the end will have his spiritual veins."

"Have the three of you decided who will take the lead, who will be in the middle, and who will guard the tail?"

Yuan Shixiong said in a deep voice: "Everything depends on the instructions of the family master."

Taoist Liu glanced at Chen Yuan and said with a smile: "I will follow the arrangements of the Yuan family master."

"The same goes for Chen." Chen Yuan said calmly.

Yuan Xiang said casually: "In that case, how about the three elders taking the lead, Taoist priest Liu second, and Chen Xiaoyou taking the lead?"

Yuan Shixiong and Liu Daoren immediately agreed, and Hidden Sword Palace sent two true disciples. This fight was bound to fail, and it was just a formality. The order of the battle was meaningless.

Chen Yuan also nodded in agreement with a calm expression.

Seeing his appearance, Zhang Wushan knew that Chen Yuan had no hope and had given up struggling.

He failed to borrow the spiritual vein this time, wasting thirty years of life, and also borrowed a millennium Lei Tan, causing heavy losses.

Zhang Wushan couldn't bear it and sighed secretly.

Yuan Xiang chatted with a few people for a while, and said with a smile: "The battle is about to begin, so Yuan will not disturb these breath adjustments. If Daoist Liu and Chen Xiaoyou need anything, just ask, and the Yuan family will try their best to satisfy them."

Taoist Liu said: "The Yuan family treated Pindao with great courtesy. Pindao is not very frightened. He just wants to fight in the morning as soon as possible."

He had already taken advantage of the Haoran Sect, but he was not sure that he would really win the fight, so his words were extremely polite.

Chen Yuan cupped his fists and bowed: "Chen just needs to meditate quietly."

Yuan Xiang was just trying to be polite, but when he saw that the two of them were so understanding, he felt very satisfied. After a few more words of encouragement, he stood up and left.

Yuan Shixiong and Liu Daoren walked down the stairs one after another. Yuan Shiying led Chen Yuan and Zhang Wushan out of the Yingbin Pavilion, followed the stone steps to their residence, and walked into the courtyard where Zhang Wushan lived.

Chen Yuan returned to the house, activated the formation, and meditated.

About half an hour later, the formation was triggered, and Zhang Wushan's voice came in.

He got up and came to the courtyard, opened the door, and welcomed Zhang Wushan in.

The two came to the main hall and sat down respectively. Zhang Wushan said: "Brother Chen, do you know what Yuan Shiying said to me?"

Chen Yuan shook his head, and Zhang Wushan sneered: "He gave me three hundred high-grade spiritual stones. He also said that he did not mean to despise the master. His neglect of Brother Chen was all because he listened to the alchemy deacon sent by Elder Gu. As I said, I think you are not on good terms with Master."

Chen Yuan smiled and said: "This great elder is quite astute."

Zhang Wushan sighed: "Only now do I know why Master asked me to follow Brother Chen. If Brother Chen comes here alone and Elder Gu sends someone to provoke him, Brother Chen will definitely encounter difficulties from the Yuan family."

Chen Yuan said seriously: "Senior Qingliu is far-sighted, and you and I are naturally far behind."

Zhang Wushan sighed again: "It's a pity that this fight is too difficult. Even if I follow Chen Yuan, it won't help. Even if I play in person, I don't know what my chances of winning are."

"The true disciples of Hidden Sword Palace, are they really that powerful?" Chen Yuan asked.

Zhang Wushan said: "I have never fought against the monks of the Hidden Sword Palace, but Master has traveled to Ningzhou several times, and it seems that he also has friendship with an elder of the Hidden Sword Palace."

"Since he said that the true disciples of Hidden Sword Palace are extraordinary, he must be telling the truth."

"Furthermore, sword cultivators are already stronger than monks of the same level. Even if I can participate in the fight, I won't be able to escape the end of defeat."

"Although Brother Chen is a physical practitioner, Hidden Sword Palace has sent two true disciples. It's normal for him to lose. Don't take it to heart."

Chen Yuan smiled: "Brother Zhang also thinks that this fight will definitely be defeated?"

Zhang Wushan and Chen Yuan could still laugh at this moment, knowing that he was still lucky and couldn't accept the result of the mission's failure, so he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

He consoled him: "Winning or losing is a common thing for military officers. When fighting with others, there is no way to always be victorious and invincible. When I compete with my fellow disciples, we always win or lose."

"Of course, Brother Chen's methods are extraordinary. This battle cannot be said to be a sure defeat, but the chance of victory is really not high."

"Sword cultivators have magical powers and are extremely powerful. Brother Chen should put his own protection first and never fight to the death with the true disciples of the Hidden Sword Palace."

Chen Yuan smiled and said, "Thank you for the reminder, Brother Zhang. It's just that unlike Brother Zhang, every fight between casual cultivators is a battle of life and death. You can only win, not lose. If you lose, there will be nothing."

Zhang Wushan was silent after hearing this. After a long time, he bowed with fists in his hands, got up and left. (End of chapter)