Chapter 109: Minor Success

Demonic beasts cannot understand human speech.

Mo Hua had clearly come to understand this.

For the next two days, the cat demon seemed frightened by Seeing Mo Shan, always huddling inside the iron cage; even when let out, it refused to leave, let alone attack Mo Hua.

No matter how Mo Hua tried to explain, it understood nothing, only glaring at him with a fierce yet timid gaze.

Only when Mo Hua fed it meat did its gaze soften slightly.

With this, there was no way to practice the Flowing Water Step.

What should he do?

Mo Hua thought for two days, and finally came up with a plan.

He starved the cat demon for two days, and when it was ravenous, its eyes glowing green, he fed it small dried fish specially made by Liu Ruhua.

These small dried fish were themselves a kind of demonic beast, with poor meat quality and a strong smell of blood; cultivators refused to eat them, but greedy cats loved them.

Then Mo Hua threaded several of these dried fish onto a rope, hung them around his neck, pointed at the fish, then pointed at the cat demon.

The meaning was roughly: "If you want to eat, come and take them yourself."

The rule was similar to when he sparred with Bai Zisheng, except now his sparring partner had changed from Bai Zisheng to the little cat demon.

Even if the cat demon couldn't understand human speech, it understood now.

Thus, the previously timid cat demon, driven by hunger, began snatching the dried fish from Mo Hua's neck.

But it remembered Seeing Mo Shan's piercing gaze clearly, so it dared not harm Mo Hua in the slightest—its target was only the dried fish around his neck.

In this secluded side room, human shadow and demonic shadow darted and chased each other.

After several days of "sparring" with the cat demon, Mo Hua couldn't help but marvel: demonic beasts were indeed far stronger than cultivators.

This cat demon had only early first-grade cultivation, lacked strength, but its speed was extremely fast, movements agile beyond measure—even comparable to a typical Qi Condensation sixth-layer cultivator.

The cat demon's attack methods were far richer than those of cultivators, even bizarrely cunning.

Cultivators' attacks, if from a body cultivator, relied mainly on fists and feet; if from a spirit cultivator, on ranged spells—actions were always predictable.

But the cat demon could attack with its teeth, claws, and tail—all from unexpected angles, impossible to defend against.

Moreover, the cat demon possessed a demonic ability that could be activated with demonic energy, briefly blurring its form until its position was nearly indistinguishable to the naked eye; Mo Hua could barely sense its location only by pushing his spiritual sense to its limit.

This was only early first-grade—if it reached mid first-grade or even up to first grade, its speed would be unimaginable.

No wonder demon-hunting teams usually required about ten members to form a squad.

What strength would a second-grade demonic beast, comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator, possess?

Wouldn't a normal cultivator be reduced to dust in a single glance?

Mo Hua involuntarily shivered.

"I must learn the Flowing Water Step well—if I can't win, at least I can run."

Mo Hua thought silently.

Fighting demonic beasts was also a process of mastering through practice.

At first, unfamiliar with the cat demon's moves, Mo Hua's dried fish would soon vanish into its mouth.

The cat demon would then crouch inside the cage, slowly chewing the fish while licking its paws, occasionally glancing at Mo Hua with a look of smugness and contempt.

As Mo Hua gradually grew familiar with the cat demon's attack patterns, he began to predict whether it would swipe with its claws, bite with its teeth, or lash out with the needle-like spines on its tail.

The cat demon's demonic ability had been impossible to defend against the first time he saw it, but after seeing it several times and learning to anticipate, Mo Hua gradually learned to perceive its movements through his spiritual sense.

The cat demon's process of eating the dried fish became difficult.

Sometimes, when Mo Hua was careless, it managed to snatch one or two, filling its belly.

If Mo Hua focused fully, it couldn't eat a single fish at all, only standing by the wall, glaring fiercely at Mo Hua.

But this ferocity was hollow, utterly ineffective.

Mo Hua knew how unpleasant hunger felt, so he pretended to be careless, letting it eat a few dried fish.

Thus, a month passed; though the cat demon never ate its fill, it never starved, its body growing a full size larger, now five feet long.

Mo Hua knew it was time—the cat demon could no longer be kept. If kept longer, once it grew even bigger, one day, careless, it might devour him.

The nature of demonic beasts was not easily changed.

Mo Hua had no intention of killing it; he planned to honor his promise and release it.

Even though the cat demon could not understand human speech and knew nothing of this promise.

One evening, Mo Hua placed the cat demon inside the iron cage, covered it with black cloth, and brought it to the foot of a mountain near Great Heishan's outer edge, outside Xiancheng.

Living demonic beasts could not be stored in storage bags; they had to be kept in iron cages.

Mo Hua had specifically covered it with black cloth to prevent other demon-hunters from spotting it and killing it outright.

Seeing no one around, Mo Hua lifted the black cloth, opened the cage's gate, and released the cat demon.

The cat demon, seeing the surrounding mountains and Lin Mu, froze for a moment, then its eyes lit up with joy.

But it did not leave; instead, it watched Mo Hua with wary eyes.

Mo Hua said to it: "I keep my promise—I let you go. But remember: don't eat humans. If you do, next time we meet, I will kill you; even if I don't, other demon-hunters will."

"Humans aren't tasty anyway. Eat more fish—it won't hurt you."

"If you don't provoke cultivators, with your movement ability, you might live longer…"

…

Mo Hua didn't care whether it understood; he repeated his warnings endlessly, then waved at it and said:

"Go."

The cat demon glanced at Mo Hua in confusion, took a few tentative steps, and found Mo Hua made no move to stop him—he even nodded encouragingly.

The cat demon's courage grew; it stepped slowly toward Great Heishan, then, just before entering the forest, suddenly accelerated—"whoosh!"—and vanished into Great Heishan.

Mo Hua exhaled in relief.

This way it was the best of both worlds—his own Flowing Water Step had already reached minor completion, and using it to deal with cultivators of the same realm, or to handle demon beasts, should be more than enough.

And this cat demon was sent off into the mountain forest.

Great Heishan was so vast that they probably wouldn't run into each other in the future. Even if they did, this cat demon would have grown up, its appearance changed, and he might not even recognize it.

He only hoped it wouldn't kill other cultivators, and preferably wouldn't die at the hands of other demon hunters either.

But that was beyond what Mo Hua could control.

Mo Hua, feeling light and easy, walked with his hands behind his back, whistling, and headed home.

And in the mountain forest of Great Heishan, the cat demon hadn't gone far, but was crouching in the grass, secretly sizing up Mo Hua.

Seeing Mo Hua leave, a trace of doubt showed in the cat demon's vertical pupils. A moment later its pupils dilated, memorizing Mo Hua's retreating figure, then it looked left and right, and cautiously headed deeper into Great Heishan.

The cat demon passed through the mountain forest, crossed a poisonous marsh, climbed up a rocky cliff, and arrived at a small mountain stream.

Seeing no cultivators around, nor any other demon beasts, the cat demon leapt into the stream, using the water to wash the dust off its body. A moment later it climbed ashore and shook the water droplets dry; the black markings on its body grew even deeper, and its white fur became even more crystalline.

At the same time, the pattern on the cat demon's forehead gradually became distinct, slowly revealing the markings of the character "王" (king).