Chapter 27: Trapping the Dragon Eel and the Second Transformation into a Demon

Mo Fan did not linger at the spring pool for long, as he soon heard Laifu calling for him. When Mo Fan surfaced, he found Laifu standing by the back door, watching him.

"Laibao, how long have you been back? Why didn't you call out to your brother?"

Laifu looked at Mo Fan, who was emerging from the water, and said with some dissatisfaction, "My stomach is growling with hunger. Hurry up and get me some fish! You promised me earlier!"

"Don't worry, brother. I understand. I'll catch some fish for you right away!"

Mo Fan was not angry; instead, he dove back into the spring pool and, after a short while, brought up a dozen or so fish to the bank.

"Why are there so few? This isn't even enough to fill the gaps between my teeth!"

Looking at the dozen fish, which were only an inch long, Laifu wore an expression of utter disdain.

"The spring water is too deep. The fish have become cunning after being caught so many times and are all hiding in the depths, unwilling to come up," Mo Fan apologized, though in reality, he had done so on purpose. He knew very well that he could not overfeed this mutt, lest it lead to endless trouble later on.

Seeing that Mo Fan did not seem to be lying, Laifu had to sigh helplessly. "Fine, fine. Even though there are few, they are just barely enough for me to have a meal."

"Don't you usually go hunting?" Mo Fan asked casually. "The fat deer and sheep in the forest must be much better than these fish in the spring pool, right?"

"What do you know? It's precisely because there are so many monsters on Blackwind Mountain that the surrounding prey has either been hunted to extinction or scared away. To really hunt, one would have to travel dozens of miles, and that's just too exhausting!"

"So that's how it is."

Mo Fan nodded and then added, "By the way, I heard Brother Dali mention that there is a type of silver loach in the nearby river that is quite extraordinary. Its meat contains spiritual energy, and consuming it can enhance our cultivation. I wonder if this is true or false? Have you heard of it, brother?"

"Silver loach... you must mean the Dragon Loach. I have heard the Master mention it before; it is indeed true. It is said that the Dragon Loach is a highly nourishing river delicacy, naturally capable of absorbing the free spiritual energy of the world. However, the truly precious ones are those in the third stage."

"Third stage?"

"You mean to say the Dragon Loach has several stages?" Mo Fan’s heart stirred, and he pressed for more information.

"That's right. I heard the Master say that a Dragon Loach goes through three stages in its life. The first stage is silver, containing spiritual energy. The second stage is gold, with meat containing even richer spiritual energy, almost comparable to low-grade spiritual herbs. The third stage is transparent, and the spiritual energy contained within its body is comparable to a Yellow-grade spiritual herb!"

"That powerful? If only we could catch a third-stage transparent Dragon Loach!"

Mo Fan was truly startled, and at the same time, a few schemes began to form in his mind.

"Give up on that thought!" Laifu huffed. "The Dragon Loach lives in the Blackwater River. The water there is extremely deep and the current is rapid. Let alone you, even powerful Demon Corporals like the Master wouldn't dare to enter that river easily. It is said that you can only lure them out with spiritual herbs, but that is not worth the cost. It is said that the Dragon Loach meat is delicious. Whenever Blackwind Mountain holds a grand event, the Great King sends his attendants to the Blackwater River to lure some with spiritual herbs for the banquet, but most are only of the first stage, and even then, they aren't guaranteed to catch any, often wasting quite a few spiritual herbs instead."

Hearing this, Mo Fan’s heart stirred. He knew of the Blackwater River; from chatting with these monsters over the past few days, he understood that the so-called Weishui River was located over a hundred miles behind Blackwind Mountain. It was the largest river in the entire Demon Spirit Mountain Range, and because the terrain was slightly lower, many streams from the mountain range eventually converged there.

*If the Dragon Loach is a specialty of the Blackwater River, does that not mean this spring pool is connected to it?* Mo Fan mused to himself. He felt this possibility was highly likely; after all, the spring pool was incredibly deep. Simultaneously, his heart raced. If this were true, did it mean he was sitting on a treasure trove? Could he use those spiritual stones to lure out second or even third-stage Dragon Loaches?

Thinking of this, Mo Fan felt a surge of excitement. Perhaps this was truly an opportunity for him to become strong quickly!

After chatting with Laifu for a while, the latter returned to his daydreaming. Mo Fan did not act rashly but waited until late at night before jumping back into the spring pool, using his spiritual stones to continue luring the Dragon Loaches from the depths.

Throughout the entire night, Mo Fan successfully lured over twenty Dragon Loaches. Although they were all first-stage, he fed them with spiritual stones to maximize the intake of spiritual energy. After losing a dozen spiritual stones, Mo Fan’s cultivation finally reached a major breakthrough, touching the bottleneck of his second transformation, which left him ecstatic.

Such remarkable success in a single night greatly boosted Mo Fan's confidence. He felt that if he continued like this, it might not be impossible for him to reach the Demon Corporal realm within a month! He also formed a bold plan: he intended to feed the Dragon Loaches with spiritual stones to see if he could induce them to evolve!

However, to feed them, he could not let the other monsters on the mountain know; he needed a net to keep the Dragon Loaches trapped underwater. Therefore, the next day, after the monsters paid their respects to Demon Corporal Heizi, Mo Fan approached several of them and requested a net. Naturally, facing their confusion, he told them it was easier to catch fish with a net, and if anyone wanted fish, they would have to help him get one.

The group of monsters had long had their eyes on the fish in the spring pool. They were tired of eating wild game and wanted a change of flavor, but they lacked the ability to swim or the thick skin of Laifu to ask Laibao for favors. Now that Laibao had brought it up himself, the monsters were delighted and did not stand on ceremony.

Blackwind Mountain was home to rough monsters, so there were no fishing nets. Dali took the lead, bringing Red-Eye and Zhazha to gather bamboo from the mountain, weaving several large bamboo baskets on the spot. Although the baskets were far inferior to fishing nets, for Mo Fan, they were better than nothing; he even wove a lid for one himself. After making promises to the three monsters, Mo Fan took the baskets back to his cave dwelling.

"Brother Laifu, do you want to go catch fish with me?" Mo Fan took the initiative to invite him.

Laifu glanced at the bottomless spring pool, shook his head like a rattle, and chuckled, "No, go catch them yourself. I'm going to sleep for a while. Just make sure to bring back a few more fish for me to eat."

"Understood!"

Mo Fan nodded. Seeing Laifu wander off to a room nearby, he took the baskets and jumped into the spring pool. At the same protruding rock wall as before, he opened the basket with the lid, placed it in front of him, and took out two hundred spiritual stones at once, tossing them into the basket, which occupied more than half of its space. Looking at the heavy basket, Mo Fan was still not entirely at ease, so he used a rope to secure it to the rock wall to ensure it would not sink into the deeper parts of the pool.

"I hope there will be a good harvest this time!"

Mo Fan took a deep breath, ignored the basket, and took the other baskets toward the upper waters to catch the common fish. He knew the importance of putting on a good show; since he had made promises to Dali and the others, he had to follow through to avoid suspicion.

About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Mo Fan had filled the other baskets and swam back down. Returning to the rock wall, he was stunned to see a massive school of silver Dragon Loaches surrounding the opening of the basket, trying to squeeze inside.

"So many?" Mo Fan was dumbfounded. There were at least several hundred silver Dragon Loaches in front of him! And that was just what he could see outside the basket; there were at least dozens more inside!

"I've struck gold! I've really struck gold!"

Mo Fan’s joy was written all over his face. He immediately opened his mouth and unleashed his "Heaven-Swallowing" divine ability upon the school of Dragon Loaches!

In an instant, a terrifying suction force erupted from his mouth, engulfing the school. Although a dozen or so were startled and managed to escape, most were caught in one fell swoop, all drawn into his internal space. Mo Fan had intended to release and eat them one by one to replenish himself, but to his surprise, he found that as soon as the Dragon Loaches entered his internal space, they were rapidly broken down by an inexplicable force.

In a few short moments, all the Dragon Loaches vanished into nothingness, not even a fishbone remaining, and a surging, boundless amount of spiritual energy erupted within Mo Fan's body!

"This... this is..."

Mo Fan was shocked. He had never imagined his Heaven-Swallowing ability was so heaven-defying that it could decompose living creatures to leave behind spiritual energy for his own use. The unexpected surprise invigorated him, and he felt two terrifying streams of energy surge from his lower abdomen directly into his arms, followed by an agonizing, tearing pain. It felt as if his arms were being smashed to pieces inch by inch and then reassembled.

When the pain subsided, Mo Fan discovered that his hands had manifested into a spiritual form, no different from human hands!

This left Mo Fan in a state of ecstatic wonder. He had not expected to complete his second transformation just like that!