After walking a while with the Sparrow Demon, Mo Fan finally understood why it had such a unique name like "Zhazha."
Because throughout the journey, his ears were never at peace. The key was that Zhazha's words were quite disorganized and full of nonsense.
"By the way, Laibao, do you know my great name?" Zhazha suddenly asked.
"Brother, this is the third time you've asked that question..."
Mo Fan's face twitched slightly, feeling a bit speechless.
In his view, Zhazha was as talkative as the Tang Monk from the Moonlight Treasure Box, truly a chatterbox.
"Uh, really? I don't remember, but it's okay, just remember my great name again!"
The little sparrow tilted its head on Mo Fan's shoulder, raised one wing, and said smugly, "Listen up, my name is Zhazha! It was given by Grandpa Demon King, who said I was the most talkative in our Black Wind Mountain, so he gave me this incredibly nice name!"
"Got it memorized?"
Mo Fan resisted the urge to grab the little sparrow and give it a good beating, forcing a smile, "Got it, Trash."
"Mm, not bad, not bad!"
"By the way, where was I just now?"
Zhazha suddenly tilted its head, seemingly trying hard to recall what it had just said.
Seeing this, Mo Fan's heart stirred, and he said, "Just now, Brother Trash, you were talking about our demon cultivation."
"Oh, right, right, our demon cultivation is of utmost importance, let me tell you all about it..."
Zhazha, without any suspicion, said earnestly, "Our demon cultivation usually follows two paths."
"Which two?"
Mo Fan's heart instantly filled with excitement upon hearing this.
Why did he travel all the way to Black Wind Mountain?
Wasn't it just for the demon cultivation methods?
Now that he was about to find out, he was naturally in a great mood.
"One way is to consume spirit herbs, which you should already know, Laibao."
Mo Fan was taken aback by this and quickly asked, "What about the other way?"
"Don't rush, don't rush, let me explain it to you properly."
"Spirit herbs in this world are divided into different grades, generally categorized into Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow grades, with each grade further divided into upper, middle, and lower tiers.
Among the four types of spirit herbs, Heaven-grade is the best, while Yellow-grade is the lowest.
But even a Yellow-grade spirit herb is a rare treasure that we minor demons may never obtain in a lifetime.
I've heard from the lord that a complete Yellow-grade low-tier spirit herb is enough to allow us minor demons to transform into a spirit body and reach the Demon Minion Realm!
Of course, below Yellow-grade spirit herbs, there's a grade-less spirit herb, which is the most hopeful for us minor demons to find."
"Exactly, you should understand by now, Laibao.
Grade-less are the spirit herbs we minor demons consume during Demon Transformation.
Although they belong to the grade-less category among spirit herbs, they are far superior to ordinary herbs, containing some spiritual energy, which supplies what we need for Demon Transformation.
Oh, and every three years, we must hand over a grade-less spirit herb to Lord Heizi.
This is the rule of the entire Black Wind Mountain, said to be set by Grandpa Demon King, as a kind of protection fee," Zhazha said, tilting its little head.
Protection fee?
Mo Fan's eyes widened upon hearing this. Damn it, even as a demon, you have to pay a protection fee?
Indeed, the world is full of black-hearted crows!
In this world, not only are humans terrifying, but even the demon clan is so ruthless!
"What happens if, after three years, you can't hand over a grade-less spirit herb?" Mo Fan asked curiously.
"Hehe, it's simple. If you can't hand over a spirit herb, you must go to the Human Territory and capture a human to make up for it!" Zhazha laughed.
"That seems pretty easy!"
Mo Fan nodded upon hearing this. To him, demons eating humans seemed normal, and capturing a human as a demon should be a piece of cake, right?
"Easy?"
Zhazha chuckled mysteriously, "If given a choice, no demon in Black Wind Mountain would choose to capture a human."
"Why is that?" Mo Fan was puzzled.
"What a fool, do you know what the Human Race is?
They are a great race on par with us demons!
I've heard from the lord that there are far more humans than us demons, and among them, not only are there Village Guardians, but also Demon Catchers patrolling, and Immortal Cultivators offering protection!
So, capturing a human from the Human Territory is not that simple.
You'd be lucky to escape with your life!" Zhazha sneered.
"That dangerous?" Mo Fan was instantly dumbfounded.
"What did you expect?"
"Spirit herbs are hard to find, humans are hard to catch. If you can't accomplish anything in three years, what happens? Are you expelled from Black Wind Mountain?" Mo Fan asked with a frown.
"Grandpa Demon King once said, Black Wind Mountain doesn't support useless demons. If you're so useless that you can't accomplish anything, you'll be made into a meal.
Although we minor demons can't eat meat, if it's soup, we can at least have a sip!" Zhazha said, instinctively licking its tongue.
Damn, they even eat their own kind?
Mo Fan felt a chill down his spine. He finally understood what demons were, far more ruthless than depicted in Journey to the West!
"I've been here longer than you, but I don't know exactly how many years. I only know the peach forest in the back has bloomed nine times.
But I'm quite lucky, almost every time I can find one or two grade-less spirit herbs.
Don't be fooled by my small size; I've already transformed my spirit body three times!"
As Zhazha spoke, a powerful aura emanated from it, surprising Mo Fan.
A wisp of black energy enveloped its body, and as the black energy dissipated, a demon with a human upper body and bird lower body appeared before Mo Fan.
"See? I'm just two legs away from reaching the Demon Officer rank!" Zhazha said proudly.
"Impressive!"
Mo Fan licked his lips, genuinely envious.
"Of course, it's impressive. Every time we demons undergo Demon Transformation, we need the total spiritual energy consumed in all previous transformations, so it becomes harder and harder to transform as we go on!"
Zhazha's words didn't discourage Mo Fan; instead, they filled him with confidence.
In Mo Fan's view, if this little sparrow could cultivate to such an extent, he, being much smarter, wouldn't be troubled by mere grade-less spirit herbs, would he?
Three years should be enough; he surely wouldn't end up as a meal, right?
"Brother Trash, you haven't told me what the second cultivation method is," Mo Fan suddenly asked.
"The second cultivation method is simple: absorb Moonlight Essence to refine the spiritual energy within us, transforming it into Demonic Qi.
A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled.
Only by refining Demonic Qi can we truly be called demons and be considered powerful!" Zhazha explained.
"Demonic Qi... is it the black energy you just had on your body, Brother Trash?" Mo Fan asked.
"Exactly, Laibao, you're quite smart, just a bit dumber than me."
"......"
"By the way, you've been mentioning spirit bodies. What exactly is a spirit body?"
"I don't really understand either. I only know that a spirit body is the form most in harmony with nature. I've heard from the lord that the reason humans cultivate so quickly is that they are naturally born with spirit bodies."
"I see, then..."
Along the way, Mo Fan was like a curious child, constantly asking questions, and the sparrow Zhazha patiently answered them.
Back and forth, the two demons gradually arrived under a Great Banyan Tree.
"Laifu, Dali, Red-Eyed, stop sleeping, get out here and greet the guest!!"
The sparrow Zhazha flew up into the sky, shouting loudly.
Mo Fan: "......"