Jia Ren put away the treasure he had just acquired and hurried back to his residence.

I haven't yet mastered my spells to their limits, and now I've got so many more to work on... I'll be busy in the future...

Having unexpectedly obtained Cultivation Techniques and the Demon Taming Legacy, he was in high spirits.

These kinds of things, one could only ever want more, never less.

Take it slow, there's no need to rush for now.

The focus of his spell practice was the Xuan Yuan Heavy Water Technique and the Xuan Shui Escape. Once he made progress on those, it wouldn't be too late to start on the other secret techniques.

Once Jia Ren returned to his courtyard, he activated the Formation and began studying the Demon Spirit Heart Mantra.

Compared to other spells, the Demon Spirit Heart Mantra was what he wanted to study the most.

The Fathead Fish Demon was powerful, its strength already reaching the Foundation Establishment Late Stage before reverting to its ancient bloodline.

How powerful would it become if it successfully reverted to its ancestry?

With such a demon at his side, his combat power would greatly increase.

The Demon Spirit Heart Mantra, like the Insect Control Scripture, contained many secret techniques and was even more difficult to master.

The Heart Language Technique, a spell from the Demon Spirit Heart Mantra, could be used to communicate with Magical Beasts. It would allow him to establish a connection, feel the heart language of the Magical Beasts, and communicate with them.

The prerequisite was that the Magical Beast was intelligent and willing to communicate.

The Spirit Contract, another technique from the Demon Spirit Heart Mantra, allowed him to form a pact with Magical Beasts. This established a close connection, and the Magical Beast would then be driven by his command.

The United Heart Technique was an advanced version of the Heart Language Technique and one of the core secret techniques of the Demon Spirit Heart Mantra.

Unlike other Demon Taming techniques, which take a broad and varied approach, the Demon Spirit Heart Mantra was an elite path.

The Magical Beasts he subdued and bound with the United Heart Technique needed to be handled cautiously.

The two would establish a deep, inseparable connection, with the Cultivator and Spirit Beast mutually influencing and benefiting one another.

The United Heart Technique could only target one beast; a second beast could only be bound after the former had died.

The Fish Demon had deep feelings for the deceased; the key point is the United Heart Technique.

The Demonic Transformation Technique, another secret technique from the Demon Spirit Heart Mantra, involved taking the blood of a Spirit Beast bound by the United Heart Technique. The Cultivator could then use the Demonic Transformation Technique to temporarily transform into the united demon, inheriting its abilities. The higher the level of unity, the stronger the power of the Demonic Transformation Technique.

The Demon Fusion Technique was an advanced secret technique derived from the Demonic Transformation Technique within the Demon Spirit Heart Mantra. It temporarily combined man and beast into a more powerful hybrid, unleashing combat power far greater than the sum of their parts.

The secret techniques of the Demon Spirit Heart Mantra were plentiful, with each type of Magical Beast possessing different ones.

Lastly, there were sections for recognizing and judging potential, similar to cultivation and taming guides. These contained detailed inheritances that must have originated from a Sect; they were certainly not something a Loose Cultivator could create.

He decided to start by learning the Heart Language Technique and the Spirit Contract, as both were straightforward and easier to begin with.

With the Heart Language Technique, he could communicate with the Fish Demon. If his plan succeeded, he might even be able to subdue a Foundation Establishment level great demon.

"Let's recover my Spiritual Power first."

He set up the Spirit Gathering Array and the protective Formation. Although the density of Spiritual Energy wasn't as high as in the Market, it was passable for cultivation and recovering Spiritual Power.

Having recovered his Spiritual Power, Jia Ren began cultivating the Heart Language Technique and the Spirit Contract.

As entry-level spells of the Demon Spirit Heart Mantra, these were not difficult and didn't slow his progress.

After half a day, Jia Ren looked towards the newly dug fishpond and could clearly sense the heart language of the Spirit Fish within.

When will it be time to eat? Yummy.

Feeding feels so good; I don't want to exert myself anymore.

Damned humans, I won't submit to you! Unless you give me more bait.

Humans are too cruel, another one of us died by his hand, it's scary! Huh, what was I thinking?

"This is quite interesting."

After being fed by Jia Ren, the Spirit Fish didn't harbor much resentment. Even if they occasionally saw him killing their own kind, it wouldn't take long for them to forget.

Lower-order Spirit Fish's memories were not long-lasting, forgotten in a blink of an eye.

The Heart Language Technique gave Jia Ren a new experience. Except for a few Spirit Fish whose thoughts were too chaotic for their heart language to be understood, he could hear the general sentiments of the others.

A few pieces of bait sprinkled down, and the Spirit Fish surged wildly, competing for food.

Spirit Contract!

Jia Ren repeatedly used the Spirit Contract on the Spirit Fish, increasing his Proficiency Level in the technique.

A night passed, spent in seated cultivation.

The next day after breakfast, as usual, he went to the Surging River to cultivate his Xuan Yuan Heavy Water Technique and Xuan Shui Escape.

Oddly enough, by normal standards, the Fathead Fish Demon should have already succeeded in reverting to its ancestry.

No disturbance has been reported from the Surging River. Could a Second Order Fish Demon not revert to its ancestry?

Or has the reversion failed?

Jia Ren took out the Spirit Attracting Bait to feed the Fathead Fish Demon. Apart from making an exchange and forming a good relationship, he had another idea.

To verify whether the Spirit Attracting Bait could cause a Second Order Fish Demon to revert to its ancestry.

If two hundred Great Grandmaster Level Spirit Attracting Baits couldn't succeed, it would mean that Spirit Attracting Bait only worked for First Order demon fish and couldn't make Second Order Fish Demons revert to their ancestry.

It seemed the experiment had yielded results...

After cultivating the Xuan Yuan Heavy Water, Jia Ren switched to practicing the Xuan Shui Escape secret technique.

Between his cultivation and spell practice, he found time to learn the Heart Language Technique and the Spirit Contract.

Using the Spiritual Medicines he had stockpiled, he extensively refined Spirit Attracting Bait to revert Phoenix Tail Flame Fish.

Given the abundance of Three-tailed Phoenix Carps in the area, he needed to take this opportunity to stock up before leaving, as he couldn't be certain whether he could continue to get a steady supply of Phoenix Flame Tails afterward.

Beyond cultivation and spell practice, his third endeavor was to simplify Ancient Inscriptions for the creation of basic Magic Artifacts.

Jia Ren planned to cultivate Phoenix Tail Flame Fish, Black Dragon Fish, and Boneless Silverfish over the long term.

Usually, he would kill them shortly after their reversion to ancestry, not maximizing their potential.

It was like a precious Spiritual Medicine, rare and valuable in itself, but of average potency.

As Spiritual Medicines age, their value increases.

If Spirit Fish were reared for a longer time, Phoenix Tail Flame Fish might have a chance of advancing to Second Order Spirit Fish, and by then, their value would also skyrocket.

The Cultivation World was not peaceful, and a stable area for long-term residence suitable for fish cultivation was hard to find.

The priority was to create a portable space convenient for carrying and cultivating Spirit Fish.

The opportunity was right before him; he had to give it a try.

Jia Ren took out the pearl from a Second-Order Monster, an item suitable for creating a personal Magic Artifact.

Before that, suitable Ancient Inscriptions had to be matched to achieve the desired results.

Half a day was spent simplifying Ancient Inscriptions, resulting in nine different versions, each vastly more complex than those of Artifact Refiners in the town.

Whether the simplified Inscriptions were effective and what materials were suitable had to be confirmed through trial and error.

Several generic prototypes were created to test which material was suitable to carry the simplified Inscriptions and to confirm the specific effects.

This was a rather tedious process, not something that could be accomplished in a single day.

He was prepared for a long-term study, as fine work took time.

On the third day, Jia Ren, as usual, cultivated the Xuan Yuan Heavy Water and Xuan Shui Escape techniques and studied the simplified Inscriptions.

Out of the nine different simplified Inscriptions developed thus far, five were confirmed to be useless, and four had varying effects with still some room for optimization.

Just then, powerful Spiritual Power Fluctuations came from the Surging River.

Focusing on the demonic power fluctuations confirmed that it was the Fathead Fish Demon from before.

"It's alive? Did the bloodline return to its ancestors successfully?"

"Can Spirit Attracting Bait cause a Foundation Establishment Fish Demon to return to its ancestors?"

Jia Ren flew high into the sky and used the Spirit Eye Technique to observe the Fish Demon in the river, noticing it had undergone significant changes since he first saw it.

Its black Scale Armor was solid, seemingly with strange Inscriptions flowing across it.

Most importantly... its size had increased several times compared to before, now fifteen zhang in length.

A Second Order Fish Demon approached, sensing the Fathead Fish Demon's aura, lingering in the distance, yet not daring to attack.

Is it looking to take advantage of a perceived weakness?

Perhaps it was the hostility that made it impossible for Jia Ren to hear its heart's voice.

The Fathead Fish Demon remained quiet, and its aura gradually receded.

The opportunistic Second Order Fish Demon, sensing "weakness," showed its sharp teeth and rapidly approached.

Should he intervene?

Confronting a Second Order Fish Demon directly wasn't a very good option.

Jia Ren didn't want to risk his life to save the Fathead Fish Demon.

After hesitating for a moment, he still took out a piece of Spirit Attracting Bait and threw it to one side.

The ferocious Second Order Fish Demon stiffened, then changed direction, swiftly pouncing on the distant Spirit Attracting Bait.

Killing a formidable enemy was nothing compared to the importance of eating the bait.

Useful?

The Spirit Attracting Bait indeed proved to be a valuable treasure, with a very effective luring effect.

The Second Order Fish Demon swallowed the Spirit Attracting Bait and immediately turned its vicious gaze towards Jia Ren in the sky.

It opened its mouth wide, and a water missile flew towards Jia Ren.

Jia Ren was well-prepared and increased his flying altitude, turning into an increasingly blurry black spot.

The water missile didn't reach high enough and fell powerlessly.

Having no other choice, it again targeted the Fathead Fish Demon.

A piece of Spirit Attracting Bait fell from the sky.

Again?

It swallowed the bait; there was no taste to speak of.

It suddenly realized that the Spirit Attracting Bait it was about to swallow had left the water and was gradually rising into the air.

A duck about to be caught sprouts wings and flies away?

The Second Order Fish Demon could only watch as the Spirit Attracting Bait rose higher and higher.

Constantly feeding Spirit Attracting Bait, when will it end?

Jia Ren didn't want to keep feeding the precious bait to this Fish Demon, so the best course of action was to revert to an old practice: fishing.

He attached the bait to a fishhook and a fishing line tens of zhang long and dragged the bait off into the distance.

The aroma of the Spirit Attracting Bait drew in the Second Order Fish Demon and a large number of Spirit Fish from the Surging River.

They disregarded life and death, frantically chasing after that piece of Spirit Attracting Bait.

Jia Ren, controlling his Sword with the fishing line and Spirit Attracting Bait in tow, caused a frenzied chase across the river's surface as thousands of fish followed.

More and more fish gathered, converging from all around, vying desperately for the bait.

Tens of thousands!

A hundred thousand!

The strongest was still the Second Order Fish Demon, which charged fiercely; the fish that attempted to snatch the bait were killed one after another.

"KRAH!"

A sound came from the distance as the Fathead Fish Demon, previously in a slumbering state, chased towards this spot.

It seemed to be declaring its sovereignty.

Its body leaped up and fell hard.

Its massive body whipped up shocking waves, sending a huge number of fish flying into the air.

"KRAH!"

It was as if celebrating the joy of successfully returning to its ancestors.

It opened its mouth wide, and a tremendous suction force emerged; the river water, as if a dam had burst, poured into it.

The speed of absorbing river water using Xuan Yuan Heavy Water was not even one-thousandth of this...

The water level in the nearby area declined rapidly, revealing a riverbed a hundred zhang deep, as the water flow could not keep up with the swallowing speed.

The surrounding river water and Spirit Fish all entered its belly, the volume swallowed far exceeding what its belly should have been able to hold.

Its stomach possessed a strange magic, as if with no limits, capable of containing the waters of all five lakes and four seas.

The Second Order Fish Demon reacted very quickly. Sensing intense danger, it tried to turn and escape.

The flowing river water held a strange magic; caught within it, the fish demon could not escape, only watch as the other's mouth got closer and closer.

The Second Order Fish Demon was swallowed, and the action of swallowing river water ceased without any further movement.

The Fathead Fish Demon's bloodline had successfully returned to its ancestors!

An ancient variety, the River-swallowing Fish!

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