Over the next few days, Mo Fan stayed inside his cave dwelling, focusing on healing his injuries and occasionally checking on the dragon loach cultivation in the spring pool.
Overall, the dragon loaches were evolving steadily, now in the phase of devouring each other.
Mo Fan didn’t interfere, but a bold idea surfaced in his mind.
Were there really only three stages for dragon loaches?
If the transparent dragon loaches were further nurtured, could there be a fourth stage?
This would need time to verify.
The days allowed Mo Fan’s injuries to fully heal, and his spirit, previously drained by sword intent, was restored.
To his delight, after enduring the sword intent’s torment twice, his mind seemed clearer, as if his entire demonic spirit had grown stronger than before.
After careful thought, he concluded that the sword intent’s torment had refined his spirit, making it purer and more resilient, like a tempering process.
As long as his spirit didn’t collapse entirely, the restored spirit would be more refined and solid!
This unexpected discovery thrilled Mo Fan, though he didn’t dare attempt to study the sword intent again. The pain was too horrific, still vivid in his memory, and he wasn’t eager to try it again.
During this time, Mo Fan announced Mr. Pig’s existence to his subordinate demons, taking the opportunity to appoint Mr. Pig, Red Eyes, and Da Li as his personal attendants, while Spider Demon Old Eight, Beetle Demon Old Six, and Crab Demon Old Three were relegated to ordinary demons.
Among the demons, Sparrow Chirp was the most indignant. Being the first to encounter Mo Fan, he was unhappy about not being chosen as an attendant.
Mo Fan didn’t say much, only instructing him to challenge the three new attendants. If he defeated one, he could take their place.
The outcome was obvious. Red Eyes and Da Li, seasoned demons who had undergone four demon transformations, were far beyond Sparrow Chirp’s abilities.
Even Mr. Pig subdued Sparrow Chirp with a single move.
Though Mr. Pig lacked knowledge of demon techniques or supernatural powers, his cultivation far surpassed Sparrow Chirp’s, and his demonic aura was unmatched. He conjured a black hand from his demonic aura, easily capturing Sparrow Chirp, who couldn’t break free.
In the end, Sparrow Chirp conceded, though still grumbling, and had to accept it.
Afterwards, Mo Fan tasked Da Li and Red Eyes with teaching Mr. Pig the rules of Black Wind Mountain and the most common demon techniques.
He noticed Mr. Pig, a self-taught demon, knew how to absorb moonlight to refine demonic aura but lacked any demon techniques or awakened supernatural powers.
Thus, everything in Ding Camp proceeded smoothly, and Mo Fan began practicing a fist manual he’d bought from the market—*Little Thunder Sound Fist*.
The manual wasn’t particularly profound, but its unique approach to force exertion was novel, something Mo Fan had never encountered.
He found that practicing this fist technique greatly improved his control over his strength.
However, after days of practice, Mo Fan had only grasped the basics, far from mastery.
*Little Thunder Sound Fist* had three levels:
The first level, Fist Form, focused on shape, known as “Fist Technique Minor Achievement.”
The second level, Fist Strength, trained power. Described as “Fist Technique Major Achievement,” it had three stages, each doubling the fist’s explosive force!
The third level, Fist Intent, cultivated a state of mind. When one’s intent aligned with the fist’s intent, it could unleash a thunderous phenomenon, overwhelming in presence, called the “Realm of Creation”!
Mo Fan hadn’t even reached Minor Achievement, merely touching the surface.
He wasn’t anxious, knowing cultivation wasn’t an overnight feat but required time and effort.
One day, Mo Fan had Mr. Pig teach him to read.
Halfway through, he spotted Lu Tantan sneaking around his cave, peeking inside.
“Hey! You sneaking around like a thief?”
Mo Fan rolled his eyes.
“Hehe… I didn’t want to disturb you!”
Caught, Lu Tantan scratched his head awkwardly, stepping out from the shadows to Mo Fan’s side. Seeing the crooked writing on the ground, he asked, “What’re you doing?”
“Greetings, Lord Ding Mu!”
Mr. Pig hurriedly bowed to Lu Tantan before saying, “The lord asked me to teach him to read.”
“Reading? Human writing?”
Lu Tantan frowned, losing interest, and scoffed, “What’s the point of learning human writing? We demon cultivators don’t need it!”
“Who says? You seem pretty handy with human artifacts, Lu!” Mo Fan chuckled.
“Cough… that’s different. When it comes to crafting artifacts or refining pills, humans are indeed better than us demons. But for techniques and supernatural powers, our demon arts surpass human cultivators!
The Third General once said human techniques and powers were learned from us demons, even their cultivation methods. So I see no point in learning from humans!” Lu Tantan declared.
Human techniques learned from demons?
This was news to Mo Fan, but he soon frowned. Demons transformed into spiritual bodies, which were like human bodies.
So who was learning from whom?
Such grand mysteries were beyond Mo Fan’s understanding, and he didn’t bother dwelling on them.
Looking at Lu Tantan, he noticed that after some rest, the demon’s skin had regained its luster, even fairer than before, with all injuries healed.
“Are you a cockroach or something? Such heavy injuries, and you’ve recovered this fast!” Mo Fan said, a bit envious.
“Hehe, that’s my little secret!”
Lu Tantan grinned, circling Mo Fan, eyeing him closely.
“What’s with you?”
“Did the last fight knock something loose in your head?”
Mo Fan gave him a strange look.
“Your head’s the one with a problem!”
Lu Tantan rolled his eyes, stopping to say, “How did I not see how fierce you were before?”
“I’ve got plenty of fierce tricks you haven’t seen!” Mo Fan smirked.
“Damn it, you’re not modest at all!”
Lu Tantan grumbled, then said, “Those guys last time were clearly after you. Poor old Lu got beaten up for nothing, nearly done for!”
“And?”
Mo Fan, sensing more to his words, blinked.
“Cough… you took down so many human cultivators single-handedly. Their stuff must’ve ended up with you. You’re not heartless enough to keep it all to yourself, are you, leaving nothing for old Lu?”
Lu Tantan coughed, rubbing his hands with a pitiful look, “You’re fiercer than me, so I’ll admit it. But you’re eating the meat—can’t you at least leave some broth for old Lu?”
“Speaking of that, where’s the monkey wine from last time?”
Mo Fan gave him a fake smile.
On the way back to the mountain, they’d eaten roasted venison and drunk monkey wine.
They hadn’t drunk much, but Mo Fan’s few remaining gourds of monkey wine had vanished, swiped by this whining deer demon.
At the time, seeing Lu Tantan’s sorry state, Mo Fan hadn’t said much.
Now this guy was asking for a share—how shameless!
“Cough… I don’t quite remember. Brother Lai Bao, didn’t I get hit in the head saving you, losing some memories?” Lu Tantan rubbed his head, feigning distress.
“Enough! You’re getting worse, even pulling out trendy excuses like amnesia. That’s quite a feat!”
Mo Fan rolled his eyes, then spat out two items: a metal flying sword and a storage bag.
“Here!”
“I had these ready for you. You really helped me out this time. How could I let you just have broth?”
“As my friend, you’ve got to have some meat!”
