Chapter 28: Kill

Fang Yun remained even more silent, merely spreading his hands to indicate that he too had gained nothing.

"No need to search further; that camp has already been swept clean, all the meat is here," Zhou Yi said, tossing the corpse of a great general onto the table.

Shi Hao ripped off a piece of meat without hesitation and began eating it alone. He had originally been eager to showcase his skills, but found that there was not even a target.

"The problem is tricky, big brother Zhou Yi, at the current consumption rate our demon beasts can only last a month at most," Sui Huang estimated in his mind.

Although recent actions have allowed the Human Race to amass considerable resources, the rising demand from Golden Core cultivators is depleting those reserves quickly. Ordinary people need only a drop of demon blood, while Golden Core cultivators require three times as much.

Everyone glanced at each other, and for a moment we were at a loss. The cave fell into utter silence.

"Perhaps tomorrow I can lead a team out to explore and find a new Demon Race camp," Yao Yan suggested, but Shi Hao immediately rejected it: "Too dangerous; I'll go instead."

While everyone argued over who should go out to explore, the ever‑silent Fang Yun proposed: "Since capturing demon beasts is so difficult, why not try breeding them?"

The suggestion left everyone stunned. Indeed, instead of roaming to hunt demon beasts, it would be better to raise them in captivity, satisfying the demand for demon blood while providing a steady food source for the tribe.

However, the current number of demon beasts is too small; waiting for them to reproduce would take a long time, and their breeding capacity is far inferior to that of the Human Race.

The human sighed helplessly; he understood the situation best.

Fang Yun was instantly speechless, clearly having not considered this issue.

But Yao Yan suddenly stood up, his face full of excitement.

"I can refine alchemical pills, brew some arousal elixirs to keep them perpetually in estrus, right?"

Zhou Yi, upon hearing that, couldn't help but be moved, praising, "Are you truly a genius?"

"Watch me!" Yao Yan said, raising an eyebrow.

Since Zhou Yi said so, the plan should be feasible. "Tell me what materials you need, and I'll go fetch them," Fang Yun also stood up, adding, "After all, the idea was yours, so helping is only natural."

"The herbs here differ from those in my world; I need to search carefully. Can you accompany me?" Yao Yan said, his gaze turning to the ravenously eating Shi Hao. Seeing Yao Yan look over, Shi Hao halted his eating.

"Demon beasts, right? Didn't the Human Ancestor bring back a batch? Shouldn't be hard," Shi Hao said vaguely, grabbing a large piece of fish meat and stuffing it into his mouth, then soaring off to search for live demon beasts.

Yao Yan and Fang Yun began gathering medicinal herbs around the valley, and soon found many suitable for alchemy, all remarkably ancient.

Yao Yan produced a crucible, precisely adding the herbs, continuously refining them in the flame, and the cave filled with a strong medicinal fragrance.

Fang Yun etched runes onto the cave walls, reinforcing its safety to ensure the nearby tribe members remained secure.

Since the last battle, he has discovered that vast righteous qi exerts a strong suppressive effect on the Demon Race, making safety measures indispensable for the upcoming breeding plan.

Shi Hao, however, ran into trouble. He set out from the tribe and searched carefully along the way, yet could not find any trace of the Demon Race.

"Aren't the Demon Race supposed to be the Honghuang overlords? How can we not even catch a glimpse?" Shi Hao muttered while flying, having finished the roasted meat in his hand, yet the Demon Race remained unseen.

Suddenly, Shi Hao heard a faint sound; his eyes narrowed, and he instantly became a light breeze, silently gliding toward the source at astonishing speed.

At that moment, a group of armored fish soldiers marched toward them, the leader grumbling about being reassigned to Mount Buzhou, followed by dozens of equally disgruntled fish demons.

They were supposed to guard the seashore, but were temporarily transferred here because of Human Race affairs, a torment for those accustomed to the water.

"Finally, they're here!" Shi Hao thought, smiling coldly upon seeing the fish demons.

Then a bolt of lightning streaked across, its brilliance blinding; the fish demons fell to the ground before they could react.

"Oops, I overexerted!" Shi Hao shouted, leaping down from the tree.

Concerned about the heavily armored fish demons, he applied only a little force, not expecting such a result. After checking, fortunately a dozen or so were still alive.

Not daring to linger, Shi Hao swiftly seized the survivors and hurried toward the Human Race camp.

After he left, a fish demon soldier blackened all over suddenly moved, sprouting a new limb where its arm had been severed; though its aura was weak, its consciousness remained.

Watching Shi Hao carry away his comrade, he fled back in terror; despite his speed, his injuries made him look utterly disheveled.

"I'm back!" Shi Hao's voice echoed from afar.

He dropped the string of unconscious fish demons into the cave, casually tossing them into the depths.

"You didn't kill them all, did you?" Zhou Yi asked, eyeing the unconscious fish demons with suspicion.

"No way, look at this one—it's perfectly alive," Shi Hao said, lifting one up and waving it before Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi used his spiritual sense to scan them, confirming they were indeed alive, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

However, Sui Huang soon spotted a new issue; he approached the group of Demon Race, looking left and right, occasionally reaching out to touch, looking rather odd.

"Big brother Sui, what are you doing?" Zhou Yi couldn't help asking, seeing Sui Huang's hand reach toward a place it shouldn't.

Sui Huang's gaze grew strange; he glanced at Shi Hao, whose original interest vanished instantly—was he doubting himself?

"Shi Hao, everything you captured is indeed alive, but they all seem to be males," Sui Huang said, leaving Shi Hao stunned in place. How could that be?

The ones he painstakingly captured turned out to be a group of males, utterly unable to breed.

Unwilling to accept superstition, Shi Hao personally inspected and confirmed Sui Huang's claim.

"Damn!" Shi Hao exclaimed in frustration, "These fish demons deceived me."

But actually the fish demons are conscious; they would certainly be angry about such a sudden situation.

Shi Hao shook his head vigorously, making sure he hadn't misheard. Could the Human Ancestor possess some miraculous ability?

Even Sui Huang's gaze at Zhou Yi grew strange. Could he truly turn males into females?

At this thought, several people involuntarily shivered and widened the distance from Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi rolled his eyes helplessly, muttering inwardly that these guys lack common sense.

Fish can, under certain conditions, adjust their sex via endocrine changes; although he isn't proficient in this area, trying it can't hurt.

So, Zhou Yi walked to a fish soldier, released a glimmer of spirit from his fingertip, gently covering it.