In Shushan, the super nuclear weapons as Magical Treasures all required vast amounts of manpower and resources to be crafted, and the threshold was quite high. The three Secret Demon Divine Shuttles that Wu Lingzhu got his hands on were only semifinished products, discovered along with the Demon Scripture. Wu Lingzhu summoned the Island Masters from various islands to help gather materials. Yet, after many years, they still had not fully refined it.

Shi Feiyang had rallied many forces from the Outer Heaven Divine Mountain to collect raw materials and had to complete preliminary refining and purification processes before moving on to the combined refining and assembly, which also took up a great deal of time.

A Secret Demon Divine Shuttle alone was an endeavor that Jiu Panpo undertook with several disciples, and without several hundred years of effort it could not be refined. If she wanted to have it ready before the calamity arrived, she would have to at least create a simplified initial version, and would need additional help to collect materials, or use the old savings she had accumulated over a thousand years to trade with others.

Compared to this, mastering Spells was much simpler, provided one could comprehend the principles within and had sufficient Mana to support it.

The Beast Transformation Technique of the Heavenly Gate Divine Monarch Lin Rui was not an especially high-end method, and at first, he refused to speak of it.

Shi Feiyang released the nine Demons that Tie Shu had captured and let these demons pounce onto his Primordial Spirit, sucking and gnawing at it, threatening him with a simplified version of the "Nine Ghosts Devouring Souls." Fearful of becoming obliterated, Lin Rui eventually poured everything out like spilling beans. Whatever Shi Feiyang asked, he answered.

His Spells had some novelty within the minor tricks—for example, the Blood Flame Needle was quite ingenious. Who would have thought of using poisonous bees to suck on hermaphroditic flowers and then use the bee stingers to refine treasures?

This fellow had a profound understanding of animals and plants, somewhat reminiscent of the Green Robe Ancestor.

His own creation, the Human-To-Beast Transformation Technique, began by finding a wild animal, no matter what species, as long as it was roughly similar in size to humans. One had to feed the animal with Talisman Water, confine it in the Dharma Platform for three days of tranquility, then use a specially refined Evil Blade to slice it open from the neck, skinning it alive. While doing so, one steadily casted Spells, causing all flesh and organs to turn into blood essence that seeped into the skin. Finally, the complete skin was peeled away, leaving nothing but a skeleton.

Then, one applied Talismans to the animal skin for Sacrificial Refinement, and after forty-nine days, it could be used.

Strip a human of all clothing, cover them with the refined animal skin, and use a Demon Banner to cast Spells. The animal skin would soon adhere and grow onto the human body, leaving no gaps from head to toe, and the person would become an entirely different animal. Cloaked in deer skin, one became a deer; in tiger skin, a tiger; running, jumping, eating, drinking, excreting—all like an animal, even able to wag a tail that humans originally didn't have.

This Spell was not very sophisticated, but it took a novel approach and had some clever aspects.

Shi Feiyang restricted Lin Rui temporarily atop the Heavenly Secret Demon God Lamp, then began to study this Human-To-Beast Transformation Technique.

First, he wanted to determine if using animal skin could turn one into an animal, then whether using human skin could one transform into another person?

Of course, he wouldn't practice skinning humans alive, but instead, he simulated the method in the Lamp World within the Heavenly Secret Demon God Lamp.

He sent Lin Rui into the Lamp World, where physical entities still didn't exist. Originally, two hundred thousand demons evolved naturally through the so-called law of the jungle here.

Those eaten and dead would still be reborn in this world. Some of them began to resist, some through brute force, others through cunning, and still, others were eaten again.

After continuous evolution, some, driven by their obsessions, had become animals—wolves, snakes, tigers, leopards, eagles, rabbits, Elephant Dragons. Some had become humans, and some remained demons.

Shi Feiyang taught these humans the Three Emperors Dao within this Meditative State, instilling "humanity" amidst their "beastly nature"—the law of the jungle and the survival of the fittest. He established the human way, organized them to rise against demon beasts and evil demons, and had stabilized their position, forming a sizeable matriarchal tribe.

Shi Feiyang threw Lin Rui into this world, where he underwent a "birth" and became a black bear.

Shi Feiyang allowed him to grow quickly, then set up the Dharma Platform in the Lamp World to reproduce Lin Rui's method, peeling the black bear to craft a "Magic Robe."

After refining a bear, he did the same with tigers, apes, deer, and so on.

Lin Rui could only work with mammals, so Shi Feiyang tried with birds, making him "reincarnate" into an eagle.

Birds were tricky, mainly because it was impossible to skin them without plucking the feathers first. Shi Feiyang attempted to remove the feathers first, which proved extremely difficult on his initial attempts—the skin would tear. On the third try, he successfully peeled off an intact eagleskin, refined it into a "Magic Robe," and casually had a demon wear it for testing. Indeed, it successfully transformed the demon into an eagle.

The demon struggled in fear, rolling on the ground for a long time before adapting to the new body. Like the earlier demons transformed into wild beasts, they dared not express any dissatisfaction to Shi Feiyang, the "Creator God."

The demon was now a bare eagle, bereft of feathers. Shi Feiyang tried to have its feathers regrow, but failed.

The animal skin had lost its vitality and could not regenerate feathers.

Shi Feiyang sent the "bare eagle" away and had Lin Rui "reincarnate" again, becoming an eagle for further experiments...

After many refinements, Shi Feiyang finally succeeded in turning humans into birds.

Throughout, Lin Rui suffered nearly a hundred "rebirths," each time as an animal, skinned alive, and his organs dissolved through Evil Skills—the agony he endured was unimaginable.

At first, he still knew to beg. After repeated torment, his mind started to blur, only able to scream in pain, and at all other times, he simply stared blankly, not knowing what to do.

Shi Feiyang then used him to create a "Human Skin Robe," draped it over a demon, casted Spells, and that demon with two heads, four arms, and a mouth full of sharp teeth immediately transformed into a pale-faced Taoist, taking on Lin Rui's appearance.

Indeed, this method was viable!

However, it still required animal skins and human skins, and the process of crafting was still too cruel.

Shi Feiyang, who had a kind heart, couldn't bear to see such things, so he thought of ways to improve it.

The first method he thought of was to reduce the amount of skin used, gradually decreasing it from the whole body.

Originally, the skin had to be intact, as even a puncture the size of a needle hole would render it ineffective.

Shi Feiyang then used the methods from the "Chi You Three Disks Scripture" to make up for the deficiencies, constantly optimizing the refining process.

Lin Rui's method was actually quite primitive, as he used Chi You Refining Form Great Technique, infusing his own qi and blood into the skin refining process, and he also experimented with skin refining before and after flaying…

After many trials, he ultimately could use a palm-sized piece of animal skin to transform into the corresponding beast.

After experimenting on beasts, he applied it to humans and soon achieved the transformation into a particular person with just a palm-sized piece of human skin.

Although it was only a palm-sized piece of animal or human skin, it was still somewhat cruel, and Shi Feiyang felt he was too kind-hearted, as even taking such a small piece of skin from a wild animal or a living person was more than his heart could bear.

So he continued to make improvements.

He thought of using something else instead, such as drawing a person or an animal on paper to replace their skin, and then draping it over his body... Hm, wasn't this just like the "Skin Painting" in "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio"?

He withdrew his Primordial Spirit and called Lin Han to fetch some Bitter Bamboo Leaves and a rabbit. First, he tailored the bamboo leaves to the right size, then he began to mix the ink, a process that was also complex, having failed many times. Using rabbit blood, cinnabar, and other materials, he also infused his own Essence Blood, finally painting the foot-long bamboo leaf densely with all sorts of talisman-like symbols.

"Han'er, come here," Shi Feiyang beckoned.

Lin Han walked over, and Shi Feiyang pressed the bamboo talisman onto his forehead, formed a gesture with his left hand while casting a spell. With a single touch, the talisman turned into a ray of blood light that enveloped Lin Han, then kept changing and shrinking until in the blink of an eye, Lin Han turned into a rabbit.

Lin Han was terrified. He stood up on his hind legs, first brought his front paws up to his eyes to look at them, disbelief filling his red eyes. He hurriedly turned and tried to walk, only to hop instead. He shook his head from side to side, feeling something cumbersome on top of his head, reached up with a paw, and realized it was his large ears flapping back and forth.

"Master... what's going on?" The little rabbit spoke in human words.

Shi Feiyang picked him up and placed him on a table, alongside another real rabbit.

The real rabbit sniffed around Lin Han, from nose to tail, then hopped away.

Shi Feiyang was quite satisfied with his masterpiece, although only the form had changed, the scent had not, and if someone was prepared and paid attention in advance, or had some Dao Level, they could still recognize the transformation as fake at a glance.

He reached out to the top of the rabbit's head, concentrated while casting a spell, grabbed the skin on the top and pulled it off forcefully, flaying the rabbit skin straight off.

Lin Han returned to human form, standing on the table, as the rabbit skin crumbled into a handful of bamboo leaf ashes.

This "Skin Painting" method was much more sophisticated than Lin Rui's spell, as it did not require the use of real animal skins and was not restricted by body size. Lin Rui's method could only change a person into an animal of similar size, but Shi Feiyang's could transform a grown adult into a rabbit, or into an elephant, or a bird, or a reptile, and it might work for insects too, though probably not for paramecium…

But this still wasn't advanced enough. The true Transformation Technique should be like Sun Wukong in "Journey to the West," who could transform at will, becoming anything he desired, whether a fly, a teacup, a rock, or a temple.

However, the Shu Mountain World didn't possess such transformation techniques, and from Lady Bao Xiang, he acquired only the briefest clue to the "Heavenly Transformation Technique," which was considered quite impressive even just to deduce a method that allowed different species to transform into humans.

To improve this technique further, he currently had no leads and could only wait for the future.

For now, he had another task to perform, which was refining the Nine Child Mother Sky Demon.

The Nine Child Mother Sky Demon, the mother of all demons, could be used to capture the Divine Demons others had refined. In the original text, Jiu Panpo took the opportunity while Shi Pi the Elder was under siege and preoccupied to use her own Nine Child Mother Sky Demon to seize away Shi Pi the Elder's Thirteen Yin Yang Divine Demons—it looked as easy as a mother picking up her child, but Shi Pi the Elder regained his composure in time, and with interference from others from afar, the capture wasn't successful.

Mainly, Shi Pi the Elder was one of the Cosmic Six Strange, far too formidable. If it had been someone else, with Jiu Panpo's millennium Demon Skill strength, she could take whatever Demon she fancied from anyone under the heavens. She would just send the mother demon to embrace it, and with almost every embrace, the capture was certain, grabbing one without a peep.

This was the true method of using demons to control demons!

Jiu Panpo's Nine Child Mother Sky Demon required two young girls maintaining their childlike bodies to refine together, but she bound her own Lifebound Demon with these Demon Gods to resist the Heavenly Tribulation.

Shi Feiyang had no plan to use these Demon Gods for transcending tribulations, so there was no need for such complications, and binding one's Primordial Spirit to a Demon God would bring mutual harm and numerous troubles. If one's Dao Level was insufficient and their will was not firm, they would be influenced by madness before the tribulation even began, or even have their bodies forcefully taken over by the Demon Gods—a very dangerous prospect.

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