Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Chapter 1112 Heart Poison

"Master, these are the inner disciples who have passed this assessment. Please take a look."

"Greetings, Elder Chen!"

Ding Yu clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, speaking in a hoarse voice, his whole body trembling slightly.

Standing beside Ding Yu were thirteen inner disciples, all with lifeless eyes and exhausted faces, swaying precariously.

Chen Yuan's gaze swept over the group, and he said calmly, "You have endured half an hour of the mixed poison tempering, and passed this test. Would you like to join Lingyun Peak?"

"We are willing to become members of Lingyun Peak!"

Ding Yu answered without hesitation, and the other twelve inner disciples also spoke up in unison, their weak voices filled with determination.

They endured so much suffering, spending half an hour in that terrifying, toxic spiritual liquid, almost losing their lives, and finally passed the test with great difficulty, all for this chance to embark on a path of body refinement.

Chen Yuan said, "Your perseverance is commendable, and you also have some talent for body tempering. Since you are disciples of my Lingyun Peak, I will not be stingy with your talents."

"I have ordered Yanwei to establish the Scripture Pavilion, located at the foot of Lingyun Peak. It contains a thousand body cultivation techniques, and you may choose any one to practice."

"Yanwei, bestow ten bottles of body-tempering elixirs upon each of them to help them elevate their physical bodies to the level of a fourth-grade royal beast."

"Thank you for your generous gift, Elder Chen!"

Thirteen inner disciples bowed down in unison. Ding Yu was overjoyed, as the poison tempering process seemed less painful now.

He had thought that the experience of being tempered by poison would be extremely painful, but he hadn't expected it to be this painful.

Ding Yu and the others arrived at the foot of Lingyun Peak from Tianyuan Hall. A magnificent hall stood there, but the walls were somewhat rough, as if it had just been built.

The main hall was simply furnished, with the most eye-catching items being the large urns placed throughout the hall.

The dark purple liquid in the jar swayed gently, shimmering with an eerie glow under the light of the luminous pearl and candlelight. It looked chilling and instilled a nameless fear in people, as if they were facing a cold, venomous snake.

Elder Chen's personal disciple, Zhang Yanwei, was in the hall. He asked Ding Yu and the others to wait a while, and only after all thirty-six people had gathered were they allowed to enter the urn together.

Zhang Yanwei lit an incense stick in front of everyone, which would go out after half an hour.

More inner disciples rushed to Lingyun Peak. Although most people dared not take the risk, the Tai Xuan Sect had tens of thousands of disciples, and there were thousands of inner disciples who had joined the various peaks. In the end, they could still pick out a few dozen people like Ding Yu who sought wealth and honor in danger.

Ding Yu regretted it as soon as he entered the urn. The deadly poison quickly invaded his body, as fierce as a flash flood.

The intense heat of the poison was mixed with icy cold, and a stinging pain like thousands of ants gnawing at his bones came from every part of his body. In an instant, he was overwhelmed by several kinds of torture, and it was slowly intensifying, seemingly without end.

The pain caused by the deadly poison could drive a person mad, and an uncontrollable surge of savagery rose in Ding Yu's heart.

His eyes turned bloodshot, and he wanted to destroy everything in front of him, to kill Zhang Yanwei, who stood calmly in front of the urn, and let him feel the torment he was enduring.

But a sliver of clarity in his mind forced Ding Yu to suppress the impulse and killing intent. He did not forget the requirements of the assessment: he had to stay in the mixed poison liquid for half an hour before he could join Lingyun Peak.

He cannot fail, otherwise he will have to wait another twenty years to join another peak. During these twenty years, he will not even be able to cultivate, and his cultivation will stagnate at the initial stage of Foundation Establishment.

This was something Ding Yu absolutely could not accept. He was of mediocre talent and barely met the requirements to join the Tai Xuan Sect. It took him eighty years to successfully establish his foundation.

He has wasted twenty years of his life, and perhaps his last remaining hope of forming his core will be extinguished.

The hard work he did as a child and the tenacity he cultivated through eighty years of silent self-cultivation enabled Ding Yu to endure the pain caused by the deadly poison.

And the violent killing intent that kept assaulting his mind was like a surging tide, wave after wave, each wave more ferocious than the last, but Ding Yu managed to block it.

But not everyone has the same unwavering will as Ding Yu. Soon, someone couldn't hold back any longer. With a roar, he jumped out of the large urn and rushed towards Zhang Yanwei. Heavy, sticky, dark purple venom clung to his body like greedy leeches.

Zhang Yanwei easily subdued the inner disciples who lunged at him. The blazing white fire snakes circled their bodies, incinerating the dark purple venom into nothingness without harming them in the slightest, only rendering them unconscious.

Some inner disciples, who had barely managed to endure it, were also unable to suppress their killing intent under the instigation of these people. They rushed out of the large urn and fell in front of Zhang Yanwei.

Ding Yu found it even harder to suppress the killing intent in his heart. A vague voice seemed to appear in his mind, questioning why he was forcibly enduring it. Wasn't the purpose of cultivating immortality to achieve carefree longevity?

This "mixed poison tempering" is a deception. Elder Chen wants to refine him into a spiritual material, leaving him in the urn only to suffer endless pain and torment.

He couldn't take it anymore. He should rebel against all of this. He should kill Zhang Yanwei. Even if he wasn't Zhang Yanwei's match, he should vent this pain rather than be manipulated by others.

Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!

Ding Yu's killing intent grew stronger with each passing moment. Just as he was about to completely lose his mind, he suddenly remembered a sentence his father had said when he left home.

“Xiaoyu, even if you become an immortal, don’t forget your duty. Farming requires patience. No matter if it’s hot or cold, tiring or hungry, we have to endure it like an old ox and work hard. If we don’t work, we won’t have enough to eat and we’ll starve to death.”

"It's the same for you when you cultivate immortality. You have to endure whatever happens. We farmers are not afraid of hardship or fatigue, but we are afraid of death. No matter what, we must live. As long as we live, there is hope!"

Ding Yu took a deep breath, ignoring the immense pain he was enduring, and silently recited the basic cultivation techniques, forcefully suppressing the increasingly intense killing intent within him.

Dad is right. No matter what, we have to live. As long as we live, there is hope.

No matter how difficult the tempering of his body with mixed poison is, he must endure it. Only by joining Lingyun Peak can he hope to form a core and a nascent soul, or even break through to the Nascent Soul stage and the Void Refinement stage, becoming a true great cultivator, roaming freely between heaven and earth, to see the scenery of the spirit world, the scenery of all the heavens and myriad worlds, and the scenery of the immortal world!

With this stubborn will, Ding Yu endured the excruciating pain throughout his body and suppressed the violent killing intent in his heart.

But time seemed to pass so slowly. The assessment should have only taken half an hour, but Ding Yu felt as if several days and nights had passed.

Several times the thought of giving up welled up in his heart, and he was almost overwhelmed by the violent killing intent. Each time he resisted, it became more and more difficult.

Just as Ding Yu was about to give up, the excruciating pain suddenly stopped, and the violent killing intent also disappeared.

Ding Yu opened his eyes blankly. The purplish-red venom in the jar had turned transparent, looking like water. The incense stick that Zhang Yanwei had lit had gone out.

Ding Yu looked around and saw that there were only three people left in the urn. The others were all lying on the ground in front of Zhang Yanwei, their hands and feet folded together, unconscious.

Zhang Yanwei glanced at the three people and smiled slightly: "Half an hour has passed. You three have passed the test. Follow me."

He led Ding Yu and the other two to a small building next to the main hall to help them adjust their breathing. Ding Yu waited there for seven days, and then ten more people came to the building.

Ding Yu was astonished to find that although he had spent half an hour in that terrifying mixed poisonous liquid, he was completely unharmed. His meridians, bones, and flesh were all intact, as if the torture-like torment had been nothing but an illusion. However, the aftereffects of the assessment were real. In the past few days, he had been able to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to replenish his true essence through meditation and cultivation, but he could no longer improve his cultivation level.

Seven days later, Zhang Yanwei reappeared and led Ding Yu and the thirteen others to the top of Lingyun Peak to pay their respects to Elder Chen.

Only thirteen people passed the test; the others couldn't even last half an hour in that dark purple venom.

……

Chen Yuan glanced at the thirteen inner disciples in front of him, whose faces were filled with ecstasy, and said indifferently, "Lingyun Peak has few disciples. As long as you cultivate diligently and complete the sect's tasks, I will not be stingy with rewards. However, I will only bestow body-tempering pills. As for cultivation pills, you will have to work hard on your own."

The crowd bowed again to express their gratitude. Body cultivators prioritized their physical bodies; with stronger bodies, their overall strength would increase, making it much easier to complete sect missions and obtain cultivation pills.

From the perspective of cultivation, physical cultivation is actually much easier than magical cultivation, especially when one's cultivation level is low.

However, body cultivators consume several times, or even ten times, the cultivation resources required for magic cultivators, so most sects do not intentionally cultivate body cultivators.

The Tianman Sect, which focuses on physical cultivation, has far fewer disciples than other Mahayana sects.

Moreover, humans are not demons after all. Although their paths of cultivation lead to the same goal, once they reach the Void Refining Realm and begin to come into contact with the power of laws, it becomes more difficult for human body cultivators to advance their realm than for magic cultivators.

The demon race is limited by its bloodline, so even its physical body cannot be continuously improved. For the human race, breaking through the shackles is even more difficult, and the cultivation resources required are even more terrifying.

Otherwise, the spirit world would have been filled with physical cultivators long ago, leaving no room for magical cultivators.

Chen Yuan waved his hand, signaling Zhang Yanwei to lead them down.

An inner disciple mustered his courage and asked, "Elder, we've been soaking in the poisonous liquid for half an hour and are unable to cultivate..."

Chen Yuan said calmly, "I have already eliminated any future troubles for you, so there is no need to worry."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and followed Zhang Yanwei out of the cave.

Several hours later, Zhang Yanwei returned to report: "Reporting to Master, the thirteen inner disciples have chosen their cultivation methods, opened their cave dwellings, and I have bestowed upon them body-tempering elixirs."

Chen Yuan asked, "What kind of cultivation method did they choose?"

Zhang Yanwei said, "Nine people chose the Void Refining Technique, three chose the Body Integration Technique, and only one chose the Spirit Transformation Technique. All of them have set up soul restrictions to prevent leakage."

Chen Yuan nodded slightly: "No need to interfere. Let them cultivate on their own. How are those disciples who didn't pass the test doing now?"

The cultivation techniques in the Sutra Repository were all obtained from the memories of the Great Sage Xuanli, as well as body cultivation techniques obtained from places like the Secret Realm of the Spirit Control Sect in the past. There were more than a thousand kinds, ranging from Nascent Soul to Integration Body.

Zhang Yanwei said, "I told them that they could take the Lingyun Peak assessment again in twenty years. Nineteen people have clearly stated that they will participate, but the others have not yet given a reply."

Chen Yuan smiled and said, "The body tempering with mixed poison is too painful, and very few people are willing to endure it a second time. Nineteen people is already quite a lot."

Zhang Yanwei said, "Yes, disciple will follow Master's instructions and secretly take care of these nineteen inner disciples, giving them sect missions and rewarding them with body-tempering elixirs."

Chen Yuan nodded slightly: "You did well. The assessment should continue. You can spread the word about the difficulty of tempering the body with mixed poison within the sect, so that those with weak Dao hearts will give up in the face of difficulties."

"Disciple understands." Zhang Yanwei clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, then withdrew.

Chen Yuan got up and went to the alchemy room. In the middle of the room, a deep well was embedded in the earth fire array, and an alchemy furnace stood above the well. The stone room was filled with the fragrance of pills.

This is the alchemy room that Chen Yuan specially carved out when he opened his cave. When the Nine Palaces set up the Spirit Gathering Array on Lingyun Peak, Chen Yuan also had the array masters of the Nine Palaces set up this Earth Fire Array and moved an Earth Fire Vein from the Pill Cauldron Hall for his alchemy purposes.

The Tai Xuan Sect has two large earth fire veins, five medium-sized earth fire veins, and thirteen small earth fire veins, which are used by thousands of alchemists, but all of them are located in the Dan Ding Hall.

Only two medium-sized earth fire veins are not located in the Pill Cauldron Hall. One is on Qiwu Peak, which is under the jurisdiction of Elder Huangfu, and the other is on Lingyun Peak.

Chen Yuan sat down cross-legged, took out the spiritual herb that Jing Wuji had given him, and put one into the alchemy furnace.

He raised his hand and formed a hand seal, igniting the earth fire. His divine sense enveloped the alchemy furnace, and with his eyes slightly closed, he began to purify the spiritual herbs and refine the pills.

He was refining pills before Zhang Yanwei arrived. The recruitment of disciples at Lingyun Peak was just an interlude, and it was progressing quite smoothly. He could continue refining pills with peace of mind and prepare for the Donghua Auction to be held seven years later.

Other peaks recruit disciples based on aptitude, Dao heart, and strength, but Chen Yuan doesn't look at any of those things; he only looks at Dao heart.

Physical cultivation prioritizes the physical body, unlike magical cultivation which places more emphasis on aptitude.

It doesn't matter if he is a little weaker. Chen Yuan will bestow upon him cultivation techniques and pills to help him improve his cultivation. With dual cultivation of body and mind, his strength will definitely not be weak among cultivators of the same level.

What Chen Yuan values ​​most is the Dao heart. Without the Dao heart, one's path to cultivation is destined to be short, and one is not worthy of his bestowal of cultivation resources.

He didn't have time to wait for his recruited disciples to grow up slowly, so this time he only recruited body cultivators. As long as there were enough cultivation resources, they could quickly improve their cultivation level.

But even if a large number of Core Formation or Nascent Soul cultivators were cultivated, it would be of no use to Chen Yuan. What he really needed were Deity Transformation cultivators, and he had to test the Dao heart of these inner disciples.

That jar of dark purple mixed poison liquid was prepared by Chen Yuan based on the "Secret Technique of Mixed Poison Body Refining". Compared with the real mixed poison liquid, its toxicity and body tempering effect were reduced by countless times, and even a cultivator in the early stage of Foundation Establishment could withstand it. Although it was still extremely painful, there were no aftereffects.

Chen Yuan then added a wisp of Zhu Yan True Fire to the mixed poison liquid, scorching the inner disciples' souls, amplifying the pain a hundredfold, and disturbing their souls. Only those with extremely resilient Dao hearts could endure it.

Not only that, Chen Yuan also had the crimson snake exhale a wisp of time essence, which was then incorporated into the mixed poison liquid.

These inner disciples had only been soaking for half an hour, but it felt like several days and nights had passed. They couldn't waver in their resolve, or they would definitely give up halfway.

The inner disciples selected in this way are willing to risk losing twenty years of cultivation time in order to improve their realm, and can endure days and nights of torture and the impact of the Zhu Yan True Fire on their souls. Their Dao hearts are extremely resilient, which is why they are worthy of Chen Yuan bestowing cultivation techniques and pills upon them.

When the thirteen inner disciples paid their respects to Chen Yuan, the sleeping crimson snake withdrew the traces of time energy remaining on their bodies, so their cultivation would not be affected.

Chen Yuan would not give up on those inner disciples who did not pass the test. They understood the principle that fortune favors the bold, and although their resolve might not be strong, Chen Yuan was willing to give them a second chance.

Lingyun Peak has too few disciples. Even if they don't pursue their cultivation paths for long, they can still handle some miscellaneous tasks. When Chen Yuan conquers other worlds in the future, he won't be without low-level cultivators. (End of Chapter)