Chapter 29: Listless

In the next second, the fish demon began to thrash violently, its body shifting from human shape back to fish form, its whole body turning red as if scorched by fire.

It wasn't until he smelled the familiar roasted‑meat aroma that Zhou Yi realized something was wrong: the fish demon was already dead, and well done.

Facing Shi Hao and Sui Huang's puzzled gazes, he walked to another fish demon and repeated the process.

Shortly after, the entire cave was again filled with the scent of roasted fish.

Shi Hao shook his head helplessly, while Zhou Yi persisted, continuing to try.

In the end, out of a dozen‑plus fish demons only six remained; Shi Hao and Sui Huang each held a roasted fish, watching Zhou Yi's repeated attempts.

"Why don't you go persuade him?" Sui Huang said to Shi Hao.

Shi Hao thought for a moment, nodded in agreement, and was about to speak when he heard Zhou Yi's laughter.

Their gazes all turned there, and the fish demon's male features had vanished, transformed into a female appearance.

"It actually worked!"

Shi Hao's face was full of astonishment; he hadn't expected the method to be truly effective.

"How's that? I told you it would definitely work," Zhou Yi said smugly.

"No wonder, Human Ancestor."

Shi Hao hurried forward, pulling Zhou Yi aside; seeing him still eager to try, he thought that if the remaining fish demons were subjected to the same ordeal, breeding would become a serious problem.

So Shi Hao waved his hand, and a wall of earth instantly rose from the ground, encircling Zhou Yi.

Fang Yun quickly followed, reinforcing the seal with mysterious runes.

On the other side, Yao Yan's alchemical furnace began emitting wafts of medicinal fragrance.

The clan members who were playing suddenly halted, their eyes turning dazed.

The You Chao clan was the first to become alert, and a loud shout shattered the trance.

Yao Yan only then realized he had neglected the potency of the pills, and with the You Chao's help quickly sealed off the furnace's scent emission.

Yao Yan carefully placed a hundred pills into a jade box for storage, "Even so, some medicinal scent still leaked out; the materials here truly work better."

"Have all the Demon Race been captured?" Yao Yan asked.

"Caught them, and under my training they've already met the breeding requirements," Zhou Yi replied coolly.

After hearing Shi Hao's recount of what had just occurred, Yao Yan was both exasperated and amused.

"Actually I have pills that can achieve this gender transformation," Yao Yan said.

"Then why didn't you say so earlier!" Shi Hao complained.

"You never asked me," Yao Yan shrugged innocently.

Nevertheless, Yao Yan was very curious about Zhou Yi's method.

Although the approach was costly, it had indeed succeeded.

Perhaps he could learn some experience from the Human Ancestor; he was keenly interested in this field.

"Hurry and give it a try," Zhou Yi urged. Hearing this, Yao Yan immediately opened the box and took out the pills.

The wall that had trapped the fish demons cracked open, and Yao Yan without hesitation flung the pills into the mouths of several fish demons.

Then the surroundings grew unusually quiet. Shi Hao gave Yao Yan a look, and Yao Yan glanced back indifferently.

"Now they're all fainted; we can only wait for them to wake up gradually."

"Don't worry, these pills not only restore their vigor but also subtly grant them considerable aid," Yao Yan said confidently, patting his chest in assurance.

The medicinal herbs here are of superior quality, and the pills they produce are astonishingly effective; even he himself was surprised, so he looked forward to the outcome.

The group waited silently, and shortly after, movement sounded from within the cave.

The previously captured fish demon commander slowly rose, "Where am I?"

Because Fang Yun's runes suppressed their demonic power, they could only maintain human form and speak. Yet when he opened his mouth, his voice turned into a high‑pitched female tone; startled, he looked down and found himself turned into a woman.

"How did I become a woman?" he cried in terror, while the surrounding fish demons began to awaken, their eyes flashing beast‑like, scanning the surroundings.

The highest‑cultivated among them slowly approached and said, "Captain, you smell so good!" Chaos erupted, echoing through the cavern.

Zhou Yi couldn't help but frown, then heard a mournful wail while feeling the cave's temperature rise as if flames were burning.

After a long while, the clamor inside the cave still hadn't ceased, and everyone marveled at the pills' power.

Meanwhile, in a palace deep within the North Sea, the tension was so thick it seemed capable of freezing the seawater.

The Octopus General glared at a demon soldier who had fled back; that soldier had been forced by Shi Hao's attack to employ his once‑in‑a‑life "severed‑arm rebirth" ability to escape.

"Impossible, how could the Human Race achieve this?" Though riddled with doubt, the Octopus General decided to dispatch a special flying fish to scout.

The flying fish can glide over the sea; if fully cultivated it can even soar in the sky, its scales reflecting light to conceal itself—perfect for the mission.

At this moment, within Human Race territory a bustling scene unfolded; the dwellings near the cave that had held the Demon Race had been completely evacuated due to the developments.

Every two days, Yao Yan entered the cavern to feed the creatures inside the pills.

After several rounds, some members of the Demon Race began to change because of the pills' power.

After half a month of effort, the demon‑race captain whose gender had been altered by Zhou Yi lived up to expectations, giving birth to over twenty offspring, many of them female.

Shi Hao originally planned to extract their blood and execute them, but after Fang Yun's persuasion he decided to keep the offspring for now.

Once they reproduce, he will extract their essence blood to ensure a steady supply.

So the original cave expanded by more than double, its walls etched with glowing, oppressive runes that suppressed the Demon Race's aura inside.

Half a month later, a flying fish slipped in here.

The first thing that met its eyes was a pool brimming with blood, humans moving in and out, the air thick with a pungent metallic scent. As a demon, the flying fish was unusually sensitive to this aura and was shocked.

"How could this be?" it thought, and before it could recover from the shock, a wail reached its ears.

It hurried its gaze toward the cave interior; at that moment Yao Yan had just finished feeding the pills, turned to leave for cultivation, and no one was around.

The flying fish seized the chance to slip in, but as soon as it entered it was suppressed by the powerful runes, unable to fly and forced to crawl along the ground.

Fearful inside, the flying fish was relieved that no one noticed. The sight inside the cave was unbearable; it forced its body forward, peering in the dimness.

The sight before it stunned it: like hell, moans and screams intertwined, every member of the Demon Race like a mindless beast. Fei Yu saw members of his own squad inside, his heart sank like an ice cellar, and he dared not linger, rolling and crawling away.

On the way back, those terrifying images kept resurfacing in his mind, his body swayed unsteadily, and the journey took several times longer than the outbound trip.

After returning to the undersea palace, Fei Yu's listless appearance shocked General Zhang Yu.