Mo Fan originally planned to carve a cave dwelling near the cliff by the spring pool, but the pool’s depth was unfathomable, and none of the four small demons were adept in water. So, he settled for the next best option: a spot with relatively hard rock near the pool’s edge to carve his cave.
He chose harder stone to ensure his future dwelling would be sturdy, unlike mud burrows that risked collapsing in heavy rain.
“You ugly thing sure know how to pick a spot. Carving a cave in this bluestone is ten times harder than my tree hollow!” the dog demon Lai Fu grumbled discontentedly.
“Enough chatter. Lai Bao promised us future benefits, so we’ve got to put in some effort,” the ox demon Da Li said.
He dismissed the other demons on him, his body radiating demonic energy, transforming instantly into a demon over a zhang tall.
Mo Fan noticed that even in his spirit body, Da Li still resembled an ox, somewhat like the Bull Demon King from movies in his past life. A pair of black horns protruded from his human head, his black hair thick and wild, his nose larger than average. Though his body stood upright, his upper half was covered in long black fur, like an uncivilized savage.
His robust upper body sat atop slightly bent ox legs, with a tail dangling behind.
Overall, Da Li’s spirit body transformation was the most advanced among the small demons, brimming with potent demonic energy.
With Da Li leading, the rabbit demon Red Eyes, sparrow demon Zha Zha, and dog demon Lai Fu also manifested their spirit bodies.
“Let’s get to it!” Da Li roared.
Lai Fu opened his mouth, and a pair of fangs shot out, landing in his hands. He then spat a cloud of black demonic energy into them, causing the finger-length fangs to grow instantly into half-meter-long blades, resembling two white curved knives.
Swish—
Lai Fu swung his “dual blades” frantically at the stone wall. The hard bluestone turned soft as mud under his fangs, stone chips flying as he quickly carved the rough shape of a cave entrance.
“Impressive!” Mo Fan was stunned, not expecting the unremarkable dog demon to be so fierce.
“What’s that? When it comes to digging, I’m an expert!” Red Eyes scoffed.
Even in his spirit body, his eyes remained blood-red, similar to the female rabbit demon Mo Fan had saved earlier, though Red Eyes was male.
After a short while, Lai Fu, panting, retreated, cursing, “I’m exhausted, I’m done! You guys take over!”
“I’ll do it!”
As Red Eyes stepped forward, Da Li moved first, turning to him, “You’re good at fine work. Leave the rough shaping to me, and you handle the details later.”
“Fine!” Red Eyes nodded.
Da Li said no more, touching the horns on his head. To Mo Fan’s amazement, the horns detached, and with a surge of demonic energy, they transformed into sharp weapons.
This astonishing display left Mo Fan in awe.
“Brother Slag Slag, that move of Brother Da Li’s is incredible. Is it his awakened divine ability?” Mo Fan asked, turning to the sparrow demon back on his shoulder.
“Divine ability, my foot! You think divine abilities are as common as cabbages?”
Zha Zha rolled its eyes, “That’s no divine ability, just basic detachment technique.”
“Detachment technique?” Mo Fan’s eyes lit up, “What kind of technique is that? Can I learn it?”
“It’s sort of a technique. You could learn it, but with your dull talent, it’d probably take years.
It took me a full year to barely master it.
Even that mutt, with the master’s direct guidance, took months.
As for you… I’d say it’s unlikely!” Zha Zha glanced at Mo Fan, shaking its head.
In its mind, this toad was quite dim-witted.
“You jerk, who’re you looking down on?” Mo Fan cursed inwardly but smiled outwardly, “No worries, as long as you’re willing to teach, I’ll study hard!”
Zha Zha was pleased with his attitude, chuckling, “To learn detachment technique, you first need to refine demonic energy. Only demonic energy can nurture the treasures on our bodies, creating a connection to detach them for a time.
With long nurturing, like Da Li and Lai Fu, you can even turn body parts into weapon treasures.”
Demonic energy?
Mo Fan frowned. He’d learned earlier from Zha Zha that demonic energy required refining through moonlight essence.
“You mentioned absorbing moonlight essence before, but you haven’t explained how,” Mo Fan said.
“That’s because it’s useless to tell you now. Absorbing moonlight essence only works on a full moon night, and there’s only one such night a month—around the fifteenth.”
“So, we can only cultivate one night a month?”
Mo Fan was dumbfounded. He hadn’t expected demon cultivation to be so tough.
He’d thought demons could absorb sun and moon essence anytime, like in folklore novels. The gap was huge!
“Don’t listen to Zha Zha’s nonsense. Demon cultivation isn’t that bad,” Da Li said, emerging from the cave he was carving. He smiled at Mo Fan, “It’s just hard at the start. Small demons like us have weak demonic energy, making it hard to sense moonlight essence, so we rely on full moon nights when it’s stronger and easier to detect.
But for stronger demons like Ding Mu, Generals, or Demon Kings, they don’t need full moons. They can absorb moonlight essence every night to refine demonic energy!”
Mo Fan felt relieved by Da Li’s explanation, finding it more credible.
If demon cultivation were that hard, Black Wind Mountain would’ve been wiped out by human cultivators long ago.
“I’ll teach you how to absorb moonlight essence on the next full moon, Lai Bao,” Da Li said with a smile.
“Thank you, Brother Da Li!” Mo Fan was delighted.
“Your cave’s almost done. Come check if anything needs tweaking. Don’t hold back, just say it, and I’ll fix it all at once,” Da Li said.
“Great!”
Mo Fan nodded and followed Da Li into the newly carved stone cave. It was two zhang square, spacious enough for him to live in.
But Mo Fan wasn’t fully satisfied. Emboldened by Da Li’s offer, he didn’t hold back, requesting a three-room, one-hall setup with a kitchen and bathroom.
Da Li and the others exchanged glances, but having made the promise, they couldn’t back out.
So, Da Li resumed carving, and Red Eyes joined in.
Red Eyes didn’t use detachment technique, but his front claws, enhanced by demonic energy, were as sharp as blades, slicing through the hard bluestone like tofu.
Soon, a complete cave was carved, and Da Li even added a back door leading directly to the spring pool, where fish could be seen from the entrance.
“This cave of Lai Bao’s is cozy, so spacious. I’ve decided, I’m moving in with you,” Lai Fu said enviously, his own one-zhang dog burrow paling in comparison.
“If Brother wants to share, I’d be thrilled!” Mo Fan laughed, then said to Da Li and the others, “You’re all welcome to live here too. It’s big enough!”
“No thanks, I can’t stand the dampness in your cave. Why do small demons like us need such a big place? A spot to shelter from wind and rain is enough. Don’t get your priorities mixed up, Lai Bao. Our focus should be on cultivation!
Only through constant cultivation can we live long. Otherwise, in a hundred years, we small demons become old demons, useless to Grandpa Demon King.
Then, we’d likely end up on the table as a fragrant feast,” Da Li shook his head, reminding him.
“I understand, thank you for the advice, Brother Da Li!”
