After leaving the Alchemy Furnace, Mo Fan didn't see the red-backed centipede or the little girl. He thought to himself, "What a great opportunity!"
Just as he was about to escape the Alchemy Chamber, he noticed a book on a chair nearby.
Mo Fan's eyes flashed, and his crimson tongue shot out, wrapping around the book a few meters away. He held it in his mouth and dashed out the door.
Once outside the room, Mo Fan realized he was in a mountain cave. The cave was dry, with a constant oppressive heat that made him uncomfortable.
Not daring to linger, Mo Fan fled with all his might, finally escaping the cave after a while.
Outside the cave was a patch of overgrown weeds. As soon as Mo Fan jumped out, he heard the faint sound of flowing water nearby.
"A stream?"
Mo Fan was overjoyed and quickly leaped toward the sound of water.
Sure enough, after passing through a bamboo grove, he saw a small stream winding its way into the distance.
"Toad spirit, where do you think you're going!"
A voice shouted angrily from behind.
Mo Fan turned his head and was startled.
The little girl in a plain dress was rushing toward him, holding a sword in one hand and half of a red-backed centipede in the other.
"You little brat, I'll remember this grudge today!"
Mo Fan spat out a harsh line and then jumped into the stream, disappearing without a trace.
The little girl stood by the stream, searching for a while but unable to find him. Finally, she stomped her foot and gave up.
Meanwhile, after jumping into the stream, Mo Fan encountered a giant carp.
To escape this so-called Immortal Dao Sect more quickly, he used his front claws to grip the carp's eyes and sat on its head, holding on tightly.
The carp, in pain, swam madly toward the far end of the stream.
After an unknown amount of time, the water flow suddenly intensified, and the carp shot out of the stream, leaving Mo Fan wide-eyed in shock.
He turned his head and understood why.
The stream was on top of a high mountain, and it ended here, forming a waterfall that plunged straight down!
With a scream, Mo Fan and the carp plummeted downward.
"Splash!"
Water splashed from the spring pool as Mo Fan and the carp sank into the water.
***
Amidst the vast mountains, a small stream meandered, and with the sound of water, a splash appeared on the surface.
A bald-headed man emerged from the water, swimming to the shore, revealing a toad body that didn't match his human head.
Mo Fan casually tossed the carp, which was longer than him, to the side.
The carp was long dead, and not wanting to waste it, Mo Fan kept it with him.
He looked around, no longer seeing the mountain peak, realizing he had finally escaped.
He then went to the stream's edge, crouched on all fours, and dipped his head into the water, observing his reflection.
His eyes were large, his skin dark and rough, but his facial features were distinct, resembling a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy.
"Is this me? Looks pretty ordinary, but why am I bald?"
Mo Fan frowned.
His human head wasn't handsome, but not ugly either, just plain and somewhat pleasing. The only thing he disliked was the lack of hair.
Even stranger, he had no neck. Below his head was a toad's body, making him look bulky and odd.
This was Mo Fan now, with some characteristics of a demon.
"Am I considered a demon now?"
Mo Fan muttered to himself, still not fully understanding. He vaguely felt that the two Innate Spirit Fruits he consumed were extraordinary, as they had easily transformed him into a demon.
He also noticed other changes in his body.
Firstly, his size had increased several times over.
Before the Demon Transformation, Mo Fan was only the size of a human head. Now, sitting cross-legged, he was as large as a millstone!
If he stretched out his hind legs, he estimated he would be about a meter tall.
While this height would be considered dwarf-like in his previous life, it excited Mo Fan now.
At least it proved that his size could change, not remain constant.
Then he seemed to remember something and immediately activated the wisp of airflow in his mind. Mist appeared on the surface of his human head, and in an instant, he transformed back into a toad head.
This was a Path of Transformation Mo Fan comprehended after the Demon Transformation, allowing him to switch between his original form and human form.
After playing around with his human and toad heads for a while, Mo Fan stopped, maintaining his human appearance. He opened his mouth and spat out the book he had taken from the Alchemy Chamber.
However, after flipping through it for a while, Mo Fan lost interest.
He couldn't recognize a single character in the book. The script resembled oracle bone script, but it couldn't be interpreted that way, so he gave up, opened his mouth, and reabsorbed the book.
This method of storing items in his mouth was another Innate Divine Ability he gained during the Demon Transformation, called "Devour the Heavens."
The name sounded grand, but it merely created a strange space within him to store items.
As for whether this ability had other miraculous effects, Mo Fan didn't know yet, as he hadn't fully grasped the wonders of Devour the Heavens.
Through Inner Vision, Mo Fan discovered that the space was only about a meter in size, and besides storing items, it seemed to have no other function.
Despite this, Mo Fan was quite pleased.
At least he wouldn't have to worry about not being able to take valuable items with him in the future.
He thought that if he had this ability in the karst cave, he could have taken all those milky-white stones.
Although he still didn't understand what those stones were, Mo Fan knew they must be some kind of treasure.
Inner Vision was another ability Mo Fan gained after the Demon Transformation, but compared to the Innate Divine Ability of Devour the Heavens, it seemed rather ordinary.
He believed all this was due to the airflow within him. Could that airflow be Demonic Qi?
Mo Fan shook his head. He was still half-understanding these things. Finally, he approached the carp, his crimson tongue shooting out like an arrow, wrapping around the carp and dragging it over.
Although the carp was much larger than Mo Fan, his strength after the Demon Transformation was astonishing.
He held the carp and took a bite, chewing the scales and flesh in his mouth.
Even though it was raw, Mo Fan didn't feel nauseated, just a mouthful of fishy taste.
"It seems that after becoming a demon, my appetite has improved. In my previous life, I wouldn't have been able to eat raw fish like this."
Mo Fan thought to himself, then noticed another change: his teeth could be sharpened or smoothed using the power within him, which delighted him, as it meant he could eat without much fuss in the future.
"No wonder mythological novels say demons eat people. With such sharp fangs, which human wouldn't be terrified?"
Mo Fan pondered, then thought of humans. Since this world had immortals and demons, did it also have ordinary humans?
If there were humans, he could learn to read from them, solving the mystery of the Beast Hide Manual.
Thinking of this, Mo Fan felt a surge of excitement, imagining a brilliant future.
Since he had already become a demon, becoming an immortal was out of the question, especially since the immortals in this world were terrifyingly fierce...
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan