Once upon a time, Mo Fan fantasized about integrating into human society, but after almost becoming a "fairy sister's" pill, he gave up on that idea.
"Damn it, if I can't be human in this life, then I'll just be a free and easy demon!
Wasn't that monkey in 'Journey to the West' doing just fine?
I, Mo Fan, will also learn from that monkey, strive to make a name for myself in this world, and become a Great Sage standing tall and proud!
That way, my life as a demon won't be in vain!"
Mo Fan muttered to himself, and after eating and drinking his fill, he lay on the grass, dreaming of the future while listening to the sound of flowing water, and soon fell asleep.
After a day of ups and downs, from surprise to despair, and then from despair to excitement, Mo Fan was physically and mentally exhausted.
In his dream, he saw himself becoming a Great Sage of the Demon Clan, even becoming sworn brothers with Sun Wukong, drinking and making merry with the Bull Demon King, until Sun Wukong invited him to join in the havoc in the Heavenly Palace...
Mo Fan woke up, startled, cursing under his breath.
"I finally managed to transform into a demon in this damn world, and with just one sentence, you want me to cause havoc in the Heavenly Palace? Give me a break!"
Mo Fan indeed admired the Great Sage Equal to Heaven from 'Journey to the West,' but he didn't envy his havoc in the Heavenly Palace. To him, it seemed foolish. Why not just be a good Demon King instead of causing trouble in the Heavenly Palace?
In the end, he was suppressed under the Five-Finger Mountain for five hundred years, and even after being freed, the Golden Headband Curse wore down his spirit, turning him into an obedient dog!
So, he would never cause trouble in the Heavenly Palace!
"Turns out it was just a dream, scared the hell out of me!"
Mo Fan patted his chest after waking up, then began to think about his future path.
Since he had embarked on the path of a demon, he had no choice but to continue. However, he knew nothing about cultivation. Although his transformation into a demon was caused by eating a Spirit Fruit, where could he find more Spirit Fruits?
Relying on Spirit Fruits for cultivation was clearly unrealistic, so the urgent task was to find a powerful demon to rely on, to have a chance to obtain a true demon cultivation technique.
There was also that book he had taken from the little girl, which needed to be translated as soon as possible. It might just be a cultivation manual.
He vaguely remembered the female demon mentioning something about a Breathing Technique of a Demonic Cultivator, which should be related to cultivation.
Thinking of this, Mo Fan couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Can a demon cultivate with a human's cultivation technique?"
After pondering for a while, two paths lay before Mo Fan. One was to find humans, learn to read, and decipher the contents of that book.
The other path was to find a powerful demon as a patron and obtain a demon cultivation technique.
But looking at the deep mountain forest around him, he realized that neither path seemed easy.
"Forget it, better find my way back to the cave first. Those three stones must be taken back into my inner space, so I can use Gold Coins to replicate more!"
In Mo Fan's view, those milky white stones were definitely not ordinary and might have some use in the future.
Of course, he wasn't just thinking about retrieving those three stones; the karst cave filled with milky white stones was worth exploring again.
With that, Mo Fan followed the stream into the distance.
He thought that the stream by his cave might be the same as this one!
Though this guess was a shot in the dark, Mo Fan's hunch turned out to be right.
After drifting along the stream for two whole days, he finally saw a familiar environment, and his heart was filled with joy.
***
When Mo Fan returned to the cave he used to live in, he was frustrated to find he couldn't get in anymore because his body was much larger than before.
In the end, Mo Fan had no choice but to dig and dig, painfully destroying the home he had lived in for months...
However, seeing the three milky white stones emitting a faint glow, Mo Fan felt much relieved.
"Good, they're all still here!"
He opened his mouth and took the three stones into his inner space, then took one out and held it in his mouth, heading once more towards the karst cave.
Yes, walking!
This was a practice Mo Fan adopted after transforming into a demon.
Since he had become a demon, he couldn't walk like an ordinary toad anymore; that would be a disgrace to demons!
Of course, the reality was that after transforming into a demon, his legs had enough strength to support his entire body.
But his walk was awkward, with his toad legs unable to stand upright like a human's, bending slightly outward, forming an outward eight shape, and he had a big belly sticking out, like a pregnant woman.
Mo Fan didn't mind; he thought that since he was only half a year old, this was already astonishing among humans, wasn't it?
Who had ever seen a six-month-old baby walking?
So Mo Fan felt he was already quite impressive, and walking was just a matter of practice, wasn't it?
It took Mo Fan nearly half an hour to cover a little over two miles.
Mo Fan didn't appear directly but hid in the bushes, observing for a while. Only when he was sure no one was around did he boldly enter the karst cave.
But as he ventured deeper into the cave, he was dumbfounded.
"That damned female demon, didn't leave me a single stone, you're a real Scrooge!!"
Mo Fan cursed, finding that all the milky white stones in the cave were gone, and even the Treasure Tree deep inside was missing. He didn't need to ask to know that the "fairy sister" from that day had taken them!
He could only give up, though unwilling, and continued to venture deeper into the cave, eventually emerging from another exit.
This exit was clearly much larger than the entrance by the stream, spacious enough for an adult human to enter, and it opened up to a lush, primitive forest.
Since he was here, Mo Fan didn't plan to go back but entered the forest to see if he could find any Spirit Herbs.
After searching for half a day, he didn't find any Spirit Herbs but discovered another cave at the base of a mountain wall.
"Could this be another treasure cave?"
Mo Fan's heart stirred, and he headed towards the cave. But as he reached the entrance, he was hit by a foul stench, unsure of what was hidden inside.
After hesitating for a moment, he decided to go in, hoping to find some treasures.
But after only a few yards, he saw a massive creature lying on a pile of dry grass, gnawing on something.
The creature also noticed Mo Fan's presence and looked up at him.
"A... tiger!!"
Seeing the striped creature with faint blue eyes, Mo Fan froze, his entire body stiffening.
Only then did he realize.
This wasn't a treasure cave at all; it was a tiger's den!
"Roar!!"
Noticing the intruder, the tiger stopped eating and let out a low growl at Mo Fan.
"Wait a minute, I'm a demon now, why should I be afraid of you?"
Mo Fan snapped out of it and let out a roar at the tiger, baring his fangs, and a faint aura burst forth from his body.
As the demon aura spread, the fierce tiger immediately backed down, retracting its neck, lying down, and wagging its tail at Mo Fan, turning into a docile big cat.
"Is this for real?"
Mo Fan was taken aback, then burst into laughter, walked up, and smacked the tiger on the head, sneering, "You dare growl at me? Do you think your Grandpa Mo is a pushover?
From today on, you'll be called Erha!"
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan