Wei Ye and the others noticed Shen Mo's brief absence but tactfully refrained from asking questions. Every cultivator had secrets they were reluctant to share and found it distasteful for others to pry. Therefore, being overly curious could easily bring trouble upon oneself! Only Clam Girl Ming Yu, who was unaware of these unspoken rules, kept pestering Shen Mo with questions.

"I have some little critters to feed," Shen Mo explained, then he called out the Spirit Storage Rat to distract Ming Yu. He believed that both the Spirit Storage Rat and Ming Yu were demonic beasts and thus naturally closer to each other.

However, for some reason, Clam Girl Ming Yu displayed a look of disgust at the sight of the Spirit Storage Rat and almost killed it with a single slap.

"SQUEAK!"

The Spirit Storage Rat turned into a blazing red afterimage and quickly hid behind Shen Mo. Its small, green, bean-like eyes stared at Shen Mo with a look of grievance, appearing quite wronged.

Shen Mo quickly put it back into the Spirit Pet Bag. After consoling Ming Yu, he asked in confusion, "Although this rat is my Spirit Pet, it's still a demonic beast. Ming Yu, why do you harbor such strong animosity towards it?"

Seeing that she had almost killed Shen Mo's Spirit Pet, Clam Girl Ming Yu appeared somewhat embarrassed.

"Sorry. The violent and hostile aura on this fat rat is too strong!"

"In our Marine Race, only brutal members who have devoured many of our own kind would possess such an aura."

"I couldn't help but act impulsively."

The 'own kind' she mentioned did not include ordinary Sea Beasts that had not cultivated demonic power nor awakened their gnosis. There are countless types of demonic beasts in the sea, and predation among them is the norm. But like Human Cultivators, as their Cultivation Realm improves, they gradually no longer need to fill their bellies with food and can draw the necessary vital energy from nature's spiritual energy.

Even if a craving for food arose, they usually would not prey on members of the Marine Race who had awakened their gnosis.

On one hand, while there is a vast number of mundane species in the sea, those who can successfully step into the extraordinary realm are extremely rare. Those who have cultivated demonic power and awakened their gnosis can be considered members of the Marine Race. The various Demon Kings of the race, to strengthen their own forces and maintain the legacy of the Marine Race civilization, have issued strict orders forbidding the harm of such creatures.

On the other hand, preying on members of the Marine Race with gnosis would taint the predator with the intense resentment and curses of the dying. Consuming too many would Corrupt one's soul and demonic power with this Resentment Qi, easily causing them to regress to a muddled state of ignorance. Their intelligence would degrade until they became similar to the demonic beasts of the far sea. Once one has possessed sharp intellect and gnosis, who would willingly return to a state of muddled ignorance and foolishness?

Not to mention, once they degenerated into barbaric beasts, they would be expelled or even slain by the big demons of the Marine Race, unable to even preserve their own lives.

Upon hearing Clam Girl Ming Yu's explanation, Shen Mo had a moment of realization.

It seems their self-proclamation as the Marine Race isn't mere boasting. Their lifestyle, societal structure, concepts, and so on, are all vastly different from the flying birds and running beasts on land. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them a demon kingdom! The Red Flame Country might have also been like this during the Ancient Savage Era. It wasn't until the rise of Human Cultivators that the other races were pushed into deep mountains and old forests, preventing them from continuing their demon kingdom civilization like the Marine Race. As for the violent and hostile aura on the Spirit Storage Rat, it must be related to me feeding it the Flesh and Blood of powerful demonic beasts.

Shen Mo called the Spirit Storage Rat out again and examined it closely using Bright Vision. Sure enough, he discovered dense Demonic Qi entangled around it, suffused with faint, blood-colored black light that radiated an ominous aura.

Gnawing on the Flesh and Blood of demonic beasts to enhance its demonic power is this little fellow's innate talent. I don't need to be overly concerned!

After a brief moment of thought, Shen Mo relaxed. The demonic power within the Spirit Storage Rat remained pure, without any trace of being mottled or turbid. Furthermore, its gnosis showed no signs of regression, which was enough to prove that this method of cultivation had a negligible impact on it.

「...」

Thanks to this interruption, Clam Girl Ming Yu no longer asked Shen Mo where he had gone. Instead, she began discussing the local customs and cultures of various regions within the Red Flame Country and the Immortal Burial Sea with him. Yearning for the sights of foreign lands, after all, is a "common ailment" among all spirited beings!

Even Shen Mo found himself quite curious about the deep-sea royal palace where Ming Yu's mother, Demon Lord Ming Ze, resided, as well as the Marine Race cities built around the palace that Ming Yu described.

After a long chat, Ming Yu left with a satisfied expression.

Immediately, Shen Mo closed the doors and windows and took out the Soul Refining Flag from his Universe Bag.

With a mere thought, he grasped the general situation of the Demon Soul Generals hundreds of miles away. Thanks to the significant improvement in his cultivation, Shen Mo could dispatch the Demon Soul Generals up to three hundred miles out. This distance far exceeded the detection range of a Spirit Sea Realm cultivator's sense. The Demon Soul Generals, each with a mottled and mixed aura, were like a massive net dragged behind a large ship. Following the ship's direction of travel, they swept through the area. Whenever they encountered a Sea Beast, they would employ various means to devour it completely!

However, Shen Mo encountered a problem similar to that faced by the Heavenly Demon: the sea region was simply too vast. Particularly in the far sea, nature's spiritual energy was much sparser than in the coastal waters, and Sea Beasts possessing demonic power were even fewer. To cultivate over a hundred Class III Demon Soul Generals in a short time, as the Heavenly Demon who had seized Demon Lord Lin Gu's territory had done, was clearly not so easy.

There's no rush. Raising a dozen or so Class III Demon Soul Generals will be enough for my needs!

Shen Mo muttered to himself, then closed his eyes and began to cultivate.

「...」

Day by day, the sea vessel carrying Shen Mo and the others gradually slowed its pace. This was done to avoid the ubiquitous dangers. These included terrifying, world-destroying thunderstorms; endless fog from which ghostly wails emanated; reef clusters as sharp as knives; and spatial rifts, smaller than a strand of hair yet stretching for thousands of miles...

Fortunately, the five people and one demon aboard the ship were all powerful individuals. By combining their abilities, they managed to navigate these dangers without mishap. The most dangerous encounter was a sudden confrontation with a Strange Vortex hundreds of miles wide. Both people and ship were almost swallowed by it! The terrifying suction force was so strong that even Shen Mo, using his Soar Cloud Immortal Method and augmented by the Wind Riding Skill, nearly failed to escape. Fortunately, at the critical moment, Ming Yu activated The Smallest and The Largest, bringing the large ship and everyone on board into The Smallest Space. If not for this, while Shen Mo and the others might not have necessarily been harmed, the large ship and the dozen or so Gold Toad Tower disciples aboard would likely have been completely annihilated.

After waiting for five full days and nights, this terrifying tidal vortex vanished without any warning, as abruptly as it had appeared.

After this ordeal, Wei Ye, E Xun, and the other two of their group began to treat Clam Girl Ming Yu with even greater respect and ardor. They constantly hovered around Ming Yu, fawning over her, their intentions clearly to curry favor.

Shen Mo naturally knew what they were scheming and subtly expressed his displeasure. At this, Wei Ye and the others had a sudden realization: this Class III big demon had long been claimed by Shen Mo. They no longer dared to harbor thoughts of luring her away.

Clam Girl Ming Yu remained oblivious to all the covert maneuvering happening around her. She was merely a little puzzled as to why the attitudes of Shi Hongyi and the other three had become so peculiar—first exceedingly enthusiastic, then rapidly cooling off. Little did she know, she had long since become a coveted prize in their eyes!

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