Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Chapter 1129 Facing the Battle

Inside a rather cramped hall, the Thunder Mountain Demon King frowned as he looked at the hundred or so demon generals huddled together below.

Luo Du Holy City has been built for many years and covers a vast area, so it naturally has no shortage of palaces and buildings. As a demon king, he should occupy a more spacious palace.

But at this moment, due to the spatial rift, a total of five Great Saints have gathered in the Holy City of Luo Du.

The four Great Sages also came to assist in the battle with their respective Demon Saints, Demon Kings, and Demon Clan armies. In addition, there were several Demon Saints under the command of the Great Sage of the Sea and his army.

The massive army of millions of demon beasts swarmed into Luo Du Holy City, and none of the other thirty-six holy cities could accommodate so many demons.

Many low-level demon beasts were forced to huddle together, and demon generals and commanders could only get a small hut. Only demon saints received the same treatment.

Even with his perfected Void Refinement cultivation, the Thunder Mountain Demon King could only temporarily reside in a rather cramped courtyard, and convene his demon generals for discussions in the main hall that was once used by the demon generals.

The hall was completely silent. All the demon generals knew that ever since the Bloodtooth Demon Saint issued the decree to march on Tyrant Turtle Island and participate in the war between the two realms ahead of schedule, the Thunder Mountain Demon King had become much more irritable.

In recent years, his expression has been as cold and hard as iron. He often severely punishes his subordinates, not even sparing his most trusted demon generals. All the demon generals are silent and afraid of angering him.

Suppressing his displeasure, the Demon King of Leishan coldly said, "The Demon Saint has issued an edict that three days from now, we will march out of the city to attack the army of cultivators from the Spirit Realm. This battle is one of victory and no defeat is permitted."

"The Demon Saint also received news that Bei Ming is among this army of cultivators. This is the time for my Thunder Mountain Cave to avenge itself!"

"All demon generals, listen to my command! The first priority in this battle is to deal with this scoundrel Bei Ming, but we must not kill him. I will personally take action, capture this scoundrel alive, and present him to the Demon Saint to avenge our humiliation!"

The demon generals stood solemnly and bowed in unison: "We will obey Your Majesty's decree and help Your Majesty capture Beiming alive to avenge our past humiliation!"

Three days later, the Heavenly Pillar Demon Saint, the Cold Shadow Demon Saint, and the Blood Tooth Demon Saint led their 100,000 troops aboard 30 giant ships and left Luo Du Holy City, heading straight for the southwest.

Unlike the human race in the spirit realm, the demon race is not proficient in all arts of cultivation and cannot forge a giant ship hundreds of feet long that can accommodate tens of thousands of people.

These giant ships, forged from replicas of the Flying Boat, were each only thirty or forty feet long and could only accommodate four or five thousand people.

The demon race is also large, and a giant ship can only accommodate two or three thousand low-level demons at most.

If it's just about building giant ships, the demon race can also build ships that are hundreds or even thousands of feet long, capable of carrying 100,000 people.

However, since the giant ship was intended for military use, it had to be able to withstand various dangerous places such as dark areas. The spiritual materials and refining methods required could not be used arbitrarily. The demon race racked their brains and could only refine such a large giant ship.

The demon race also had to forge giant ships, as teleportation arrays could not be used on Tyrant Turtle Island, and the area was extremely vast.

If lower-ranking demons are allowed to travel on their own, the demon birds will be better off, but those demons who are not good at flying will not be able to keep up, which will greatly slow down the march.

Although this giant ship is slower than the human race's airship, it is still better than the chaotic demon army. After all, even a demon saint cannot make those low-level demon beasts, who live in the wilderness and forests and are naturally ignorant of laws and regulations, obey orders.

While the 100,000-strong army flew out of Luo Du Holy City, another army of demonic beasts also left the city on giant ships, but in much smaller numbers, consisting of only twelve giant ships.

The five Great Saints gathered in Luo Du Holy City, and their million-strong army arrived together. Of course, they were not just waiting to be trapped.

Several years ago, Luo Du Holy City had already dispatched several thousand demon generals and scouts to delve into the area where the spatial rift might exist, to investigate the movements of the human army.

A year ago, four other Great Sages arrived with their armies and immediately dispatched Demon Saints to search for the spatial rift.

Nearly half of the demon saints, based on the reports from these scouts, led their demon beast armies to conquer the cultivator army and prevent the spirit realm from searching for the spatial rift.

The Flame Cloud Demon Saint led his army on an expedition two months ago, and this army of demon beasts was the same.

Because the three demon saints gave urgent orders, the giant ship flew away at top speed after leaving Luo Du Holy City, day and night without stopping.

When encountering dark places or various dangerous locations, they would avoid them if possible, and would frequently send out thousands of demon generals to scout ahead.

The Thunder Mountain Demon King wished he could rush to Bei Ming the next day, capture him alive, and torture him in every way.

But now he could only suppress his eagerness, meditate and regulate his breathing in the cultivation room to conserve his energy, while the anger in his heart continued to accumulate.

After marching for three months, the giant ship finally slowed down. The three demon saints sent out more than a hundred exceptionally talented demon generals to scout out the surrounding area and search for the traces of the cultivator army.

This place is about 2.8 million miles away from Luo Du Holy City. If what Mu Feng said is true, this army of cultivators is heading towards Luo Du Holy City and has set up a large array to carefully explore every dark place. After half a year, they should have arrived nearby.

During the previous march, the three demon saints sent out thousands of demon generals and scouts who only considered cultivation level and did not care about bloodline or innate supernatural abilities.

The hundred or so demon generals and scouts currently being dispatched are all exceptionally talented, like Mu Feng, possessing extraordinary divine sense, spiritual eyes, or an amazing sense of smell, enabling them to detect the movements of the cultivator army in advance.

All the demonic beasts that had been sleeping and resting in the cabins were awakened, and the demon king and demon general came to the deck, ready to engage in the great battle at any time.

There were two other demon kings on the giant ship where the Thunder Mountain Demon King was located. He had the highest cultivation level and was the leader on the deck.

Both demon kings stood behind the Thunder Mountain Demon King, gazing into the distance with slightly solemn expressions.

They were all long-lived and had followed the Bloodtooth Demon Saint into Tyrant Turtle Island in the past, fought against the cultivators of Frost Sword City, and even experienced a real war between the two worlds, but they had never seen a war of this scale before.

The five Great Sages gathered in one city. Although they did not bring all the demon saints under their command, there were still forty or fifty of them in total, more than a hundred demon kings, and countless demon generals and commanders.

The last time a spatial rift was created was in another area of ​​Turtle Island, far from the Mountain Moving Holy City. They did not participate, but only heard about the fierce battle for the spatial rift. Today, they were able to experience it firsthand.

In such a fierce battle, even the Demon King was not confident of survival, and the two couldn't help but feel secretly worried.

But the Thunder Mountain Demon King had no such thoughts; all he could think about was the urgent desire to kill Bei Ming.

He was deceived by a mere Nascent Soul cultivator, and this matter has now spread throughout the Bloodtooth Domain. All the demon kings know about it, and the Wood-Eating Demon King even mocked him in public, causing him to lose face and making his hatred for Bei Ming even deeper than it was three hundred years ago.

In addition, the Thunder Mountain Demon King also deeply regretted missing the opportunity.

If what the Wood-Eating Demon King said is true, Bei Ming may have more than one other treasure of the Heavenly Treasure level, which he missed due to his negligence.

Now that the Bloodtooth Demon Saint has issued a decree to capture Bei Ming alive, it is clear that he has his eye on the treasure in Bei Ming's possession.

The Demon Armor and the Fangtian Halberd, which was suspected to be a Heavenly Treasure, were destined to be out of reach of the Thunder Mountain Demon King. This resentment and regret transformed into a boundless hatred for Bei Ming.

The giant ship flew for several more days before entering a dark place, where its speed slowed down. The three demon saints sent out more demon generals and scouts to explore the way.

Because the dim place isolated divine senses and the sky was dark, all the giant ships shortened the distance between each other and responded to each other.

Suddenly, the Thunder Mountain Demon King saw an ugly demon general dressed in a dark green robe flying at incredible speed towards the giant ship where the three demon saints were located, carrying an unconscious human cultivator in his hand. The Thunder Mountain Demon King's eyes sharpened, and he immediately summoned a trusted demon general, ordering his demon army to prepare for battle.

The other two demon kings also saw the demon general and hurriedly summoned their demon commanders, issuing orders.

Upon arriving at Luo Du Holy City, the demon king Lei Shan's army of demon beasts was composed entirely of elites. Level two demon beasts were quite rare, and at least level three demon beasts were present, numbering only a little over a thousand. The other demon kings were similar.

A quarter of an hour later, dozens of demon generals flew out of the giant ship and came to the front of each giant ship to convey the Demon Saint's decree.

The edict stated that a demon general scout captured a human cultivator and learned from him the whereabouts of the demon army, which was located on the edge of a dark land tens of thousands of miles ahead. The three demon saints then ordered the demon kings to prepare for battle.

The Thunder Mountain Demon King's eyes gleamed brightly as he accepted the jade slip containing a trace of the Blood Tooth Demon Saint's divine consciousness and bowed in acceptance of the order.

The giant ships adjusted their course and suddenly increased their speed, smashing through the raging wind and rain, heading straight for the camp of the cultivator army!

……

"go with!"

Zhang Yanwei changed his hand seals, and a dark blue spiritual fire surged out, condensing into several ropes that firmly bound the giant purple bat.

The purple bat was several meters long, ferocious and menacing, with sharp barbs covering its wings and claws as sharp as knives.

But at this moment he was on the verge of death, half of his body was charred black, with wisps of crimson spiritual fire still remaining, one bat wing was completely gone, and his yellowish eyes were filled with pain.

The azure spirit fire coiled around the purple bat, condensing into strands of ice, leaving a trail of white frost around it. The purple bat's body stiffened, unable to move.

"You lowly human bastard, if you have the guts, kill me..."

Zi Fu shouted curses, but Zhang Yanwei ignored him, his expression indifferent.

He approached the purple bat, took its demon core into his hand, extracted its listless demon soul, and used his soul-searching technique.

Nearly two years after leaving the camp, the army set up formations in every dark place they reached to search for spatial fragments.

Zhang Yanwei would also follow his master's orders to scatter with other Nascent Soul and Core Formation cultivators to investigate signs of the demon army.

For two years, Zhang Yanwei had gained nothing, but today he had finally captured this Purple Bat Demon General. How could he kill it so easily?

It's said that this Purple Bat Demon General was courting death. Zhang Yanwei was not good at using supernatural powers of detection; he was only ordered by his master to act as a scout, searching for demons with his naked eyes. However, this demon relied on his mid-stage demon general cultivation and took the initiative to attack Zhang Yanwei.

Little did he know that after Zhang Yanwei entered the Spirit Realm and joined the Tai Xuan Sect, he changed his cultivation method. He no longer cultivated the "Flame Soul True Scripture" bestowed upon him by his master in the Burning Demon Realm, but instead switched to cultivating the "Two Elements Cold Flame True Scripture," which directly leads to the mid-stage of the Integration Realm, greatly increasing his strength.

The "Flame Soul True Scripture" is merely a cultivation technique passed down by the Spirit Control Sect in the human realm. This sect focuses on the inheritance of beast control, and its other techniques are rather mediocre. This technique is not particularly exquisite among the Nascent Soul cultivation techniques.

However, the "Two Elements Cold Flame True Scripture" is a top-tier cultivation method that directly targets the mid-stage of the Integration Realm. It is a legitimate and orthodox Xuanmen technique, and the supernatural powers it contains are extremely profound.

Zhang Yanwei cultivates both Frost Flame and Crimson Flame simultaneously. After advancing to the Fusion stage, he can refine them into Solar True Fire and Lunar True Fire. When the two true fires emerge together, they can burn mountains and boil seas, possessing boundless power.

He currently only has the cultivation level of the early Nascent Soul stage, and he has only just begun to understand the Two Elements Cold Flame True Scripture. However, he has a solid foundation and is not lacking in spirit stones and pills after becoming a Daoist partner with Yun Jinyue.

Zhang Yanwei cultivated diligently day and night, his true essence was pure, and he was well-versed in the wonders of supernatural powers. He wielded high-level magic treasures such as the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Fan and the Xuan Yang Fire Cover, as well as a top-level magic treasure, the Demon Refining Furnace, as his trump card. How could this Purple Bat Demon be a match for him? He captured it alive.

Zhang Yanwei reached out and enveloped the purple bat demon soul, which had shrunk a hundredfold. He closed his eyes slightly and scanned the purple bat demon soul's memories with his divine sense.

A moment later, Zhang Yanwei suddenly opened his eyes, his expression changed drastically, took out a jade bottle, put the Purple Bat Demon Soul into it, and put it away.

He then put the purple bat's corpse into his mustard seed ring, turned around, and his speed increased dramatically. He swept across the land and flew more than two thousand miles in one breath, returning to the army's camp.

The mysterious and complex array still emitted a hazy spiritual light, and thousands of cultivators stood guard around it.

The fact that nothing had happened for two years had made everyone lower their guard. Although no one dared to slack off under the watchful eyes of two Nascent Soul cultivators and an elder of the Tai Xuan Sect, their expressions had become noticeably more relaxed.

As Chen Yuan's only true disciple, Zhang Yanwei frequently went out as a scout to investigate, and many cultivators in the army recognized him.

Especially the Green Mantis and Dragon People races, everyone knew this disciple of Elder Chen. Seeing his urgent escape and solemn expression, they all made way for him.

However, Zhang Yanwei still abided by the army's rules, took the initiative to show his identity token, held it in his hand, and infused it with his true essence and divine sense. The aura of a true disciple of the Tai Xuan Sect emanated, and the crowd retreated even faster.

He arrived at the side of the formation, beneath the giant ship. Surrounded by Chu Weicai, Zhou Lang, Fu Luohai, and others, Chen Yuan stood suspended in mid-air, guarding the formation.

Zhang Yanwei dared not offend his master, so he slowed down his escape speed a thousand feet away and stopped in front of his master.

Chen Yuan frowned: "What's wrong? Why are you in such a panic?"

Zhang Yanwei glanced at the people behind Chen Yuan, took a deep breath, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, lowering his voice: "Reporting to Master, I have captured a demon general scout. Through soul searching, I have learned that the three demon saints of the demon race, Tianzhu, Xuechi, and Hanying, have led an army of 100,000 into this dark land and are heading this way!"

"The three demon saints issued an edict, which included... a portrait of Master. They strictly ordered all demon generals and scouts to keep an eye out for Master's whereabouts. Once they found him, they were to report back immediately. The first to do so would be richly rewarded. Master must not be allowed to escape!"

His voice was low and filled with anxiety. Upon hearing this, Chu Weicai, Zhou Lang, and the others all changed their expressions and looked at Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan remained calm, raised an eyebrow, and smiled slightly: "The presence of three demon saints shows that you think highly of your master."

"You have captured the demon general scout, which is a merit. Go and find the cultivators of the Cleansing Heart Hall to report your merit. You will be rewarded after you return to the camp."

Zhang Yanwei was taken aback, clasped his hands in agreement, and went to find the cultivator from the Cleansing Heart Hall, though his eyes still showed worry.

Chu Weicai leaned forward and whispered, "Elder Chen, the demon army of 100,000 is coming in a fierce manner. Those three demon saints also have a grudge against you, Elder. Should we take a break for the time being?"

Chen Yuan gazed into the distance, where lightning flashed and thunder roared in the depths of the dark land, accompanied by a violent storm. Spatial rifts in the sky flickered on and off, seemingly threatening to devour this world.

Chen Yuan's eyes were deep, reflecting the flashes of lightning. He spoke calmly, "To retreat without a fight is not the way of me. Let this matter rest. Give the order to prepare for battle."

As soon as he finished speaking, he took off in a flash of light and flew towards Elder Yuan and Wei Wushang in the sky.

Chu Weicai and the others exchanged glances. Fu Luohai's compound eyes flashed, and he said, "I, Fu, will obey Elder Chen's orders without hesitation, even unto death!"

Zhou Lang glanced at him sideways: "When have we, the Dragon People, ever feared war!"

Chu Weicai flicked his sleeve: "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and prepare! These three demon saints hate Elder Chen to the bone, and they will never let my dragon-human race go!" (End of this chapter)