Demon Taming: Start by synthesizing a Lantern Ghost with Divine and Demonic Talents

Chapter 139, Part 138: Fish-Dragon Island, the Little Thief Who Stole Spirit Fruit
Nestled against the mountains and beside the water, the floating island is dotted with pavilions and towers, and towering, strange ancient trees reach for the sky, their vines cascading down from the island's edge, swaying in the fierce winds outside. The island is overflowing with spiritual energy, reaching the level of a fifth-tier spiritual land.

There was also a large array surrounding it, preventing outsiders from entering or leaving.

With a skeptical attitude, Li Chunfeng inquired about the array spirit through the sword token.

The spirit of the array confirmed that this was indeed his cave dwelling and then transmitted to him a set of activation authorization incantations. Following the incantations, Li Chunfeng immediately opened the array portal leading to the floating island. As instructed, he found the array's central core in the island's core building, refined it, and the entire island was now under his control.

"Array Spirit!"

At a command, a dragon-fish made of light and shadow suddenly appeared in the air.

Are you the new master?

The dragonfish asked in a clear, boyish voice.

“If no one else has settled on this island, then it must be me.” Li Chunfeng looked at it curiously.

The dragonfish nodded three times to him. "Please wait a moment, sir. I have been asleep for too long. Let me connect with the main spirit of the Kunlun Mountain Hunyuan Heluo Grand Array and update the information."

Li Chunfeng waited quietly.

Stars appeared above the floating island, manifesting celestial phenomena, while the phantom images of the four divine beasts—Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise—flashed and disappeared in an instant.

A moment later, the fish-dragon seemed even more agile, clearly indicating that the update was complete.

"Greetings, Master. I apologize for keeping you waiting. I am the steward spirit of Fish Dragon Island, Fish Bubble. You may call me Little Fish or Bubble. Would you like me to introduce you to the current situation of Fish Dragon Island?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking. Thank you for your trouble." He bowed respectfully.

The fish-dragon phantom flickered and transformed into the appearance of a cute little Taoist boy, who also respectfully returned the greeting and said with a smile, "Master, there's no need to be so polite. Please follow me."

In a flash, it transformed back into a dragon-fish leading the way, with Li Chunfeng following behind on a purple cloud.

“Master, ever since the previous master died in the Demon Realm, Fish Dragon Island has been included in the periodic island closure and maintenance plan, and it has not been opened for five hundred years. Master must be a genius among geniuses, otherwise the array spirit would not easily activate this island.”

Li Chunfeng asked curiously, "Is there any explanation for this?"

"Because the dormitories of Kunlun Academy are divided into four levels: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow, the floating island is above the Heaven level. According to the ancient sect system, it belongs to the cave of true disciples. According to the tradition of Kunlun Academy, all students must not only complete the required credits, but also reach the sixth level of the Divine Embryo Realm to receive a graduation certificate. Students living in the floating island cave are required to reach at least the Yin God Realm, and the requirements for each subject are even higher."

"Wow~"

Li Chunfeng's dark eyebrows twitched. "That won't be easy."

He achieved a leap in cultivation level within a year, but that was not universally applicable; it was thanks to 'Soul Devouring'.

It is very difficult for a cultivator to advance to a higher realm. The Divine Realm is relatively easy. The later the realm, the more time it takes to advance to a higher realm. Even geniuses need time to accumulate experience.

The normal academic year at Kunlun Academy is only twelve years.

Reaching the Yin Spirit Realm within twelve years is indeed no easy feat.

"Master, the island is rich in resources, producing a variety of spiritual creatures such as Fish-Dragon Grass, Dragon Scale Fruit, Water Moon Crab, and Azure Dragon Horned Shrimp, all of which have excellent taste. There is also a teleportation array at the bottom of the lake on the island that leads directly to the Sea of ​​the Netherworld."

Fish Bubble led Li Chunfeng on a tour of the island, where he discovered that many of the island's magical creatures were related to food.

Could it be that the previous owner was a foodie?

After five hundred years of island closure and rectification, these spiritual creatures must have already become rampant, or even turned into monsters.
Li Chunfeng casually picked up a water crab that was sunbathing on a large rock. The crab was as big as a millstone, with its claws outstretched and it looked quite imposing.

[Water Moon Crab: A spirit fish that has lived for 580 years. Its meat is extremely delicious, and long-term consumption of Water Moon Crab is said to have transformative and rejuvenating effects.]

Li Chunfeng was startled; this crab had actually lived for five hundred years.

Is this such a dish?
“Master, there are array formations and restrictions on the island that suppress the spiritual creatures. Their strength is suppressed, so they cannot develop intelligence or cultivate. They can only grow instinctively and cannot take human form,” Fish Bubble answered his question.

These spirit fish have been inhaling and exhaling the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for hundreds of years, and the energy contained within their bodies is now extremely abundant. If they possessed intelligence and knew the methods of cultivation, they could probably transform into demonic power immediately and take human form on the spot.

However, under the restrictions of the formation, they can only grow in a daze, still retaining the characteristics of spiritual creatures.

A complete transformation, a complete cleansing of the body and marrow—Li Chunfeng was deeply moved.

I have inherited a treasure trove.

Is there really no problem?
He repeatedly asked Bubble, "Are you sure I have the right to dispose of the resources on this island?"

Fish Bubble said with certainty, "The resources on the island, whether it's the Moon Crab, the Green Dragon Shrimp, the Fish Dragon Grass, or the Dragon Scale Fruit Tree, were all transplanted and planted by the previous master himself. They are not native to the island."

"I have confirmed with the main spirit that Master has inherited Fish-Dragon Island, and all resources on the island belong to him. Whether to mine or continue developing them is entirely up to you, Master. However, I do not recommend destructive mining. According to the tradition of the Imperial Academy, one should leave seeds for successors before graduation."

Li Chunfeng frowned.

He inherited the estate of a complete stranger without any reason, but instead of being happy, he felt inexplicably indebted to the person.

There's no such thing as a free lunch. He's a new student, hasn't accomplished anything yet, and isn't happy using this job.

"Please bring up the information on the former island owner so I can take a look."

"Yes."

With a "whoosh," a light and shadow appeared in the void in front of them.

The image of a handsome young man in white robes holding a sword appeared. He was clearly young and in the prime of his life.

A large amount of information is displayed on the side.

"Li Chang'an possessed an innate sword physique. He was specially recruited into Kunlun Academy by ranking third in the Qingyun Ranking individual competition. He entered the academy at the age of eighteen and joined the Sword Dao Academy. After entering the academy, he won various combat competitions one after another, leaving behind many records... To this day, he still holds the record of clearing 365 floors of the Divine Embryo Realm Sword Tower... In the eleventh year of his enrollment, the war with the Myriad Demon Realm broke out, and he took the initiative to participate in the war. He slew countless demons on the battlefield and made great contributions. Later, he was ambushed by the Golden-Winged Demon King and died in the Myriad Demon Realm, his body never to be found."

Li Chunfeng observed silently for a long time, "He's from the same clan. Does he have any family members still alive?"

"No, the previous master was a war orphan whose entire family died in battle."

Li Chunfeng fell silent again. Then, with a wave of his hand, he dispelled the messages. "Fine, if I ever encounter the Golden-Winged Demon King again, I'll avenge you."

As he passed by the waterside pavilion, he happened to see a giant azure dragon shrimp, the size of an arm and with prominent horns, leap out of the water to prey on a monstrous insect in the waterside grass. Li Chunfeng used his Void Handprint to scoop up the shrimp in his palm.

The green lobster is not very big, at least compared to the water crab.

[Azure Dragon Horned Shrimp: A spirit fish that has lived for 350 years. Its horns are extremely delicious; long-term consumption of the shrimp meat and horns can temper the body and increase physical strength.]

It has been less than 500 years, so it must have been the offspring that laid eggs and grew.

Behind the mountain, there is a large area of ​​woodland. From a distance, it looks very tempting with its bright red color; these are the dragon scale fruit trees.

Each tree is no more than ten meters tall, with gnarled branches and leaves like a dragon, and the trees are covered with bright red fruits, the skin of which is layered like fish scales.

[Dragon Scale Fruit: A fifth-tier spiritual plant. It flowers once every three years, bears fruit once every three years, and matures in one season. Consuming it can help beings with true dragon bloodlines purify and strengthen their bloodlines. Long-term consumption can enhance one's physique or heal injuries.]

"Hmm? It blooms once every three years and bears fruit once every three years, so all those years of Dragon Scale Fruit have been wasted?"

Looking at the soil on the ground, it doesn't look like there's a large amount of fruit pulp piled up and rotting.

Fish Bubble was also unsure. "Please wait a moment, sir, while I check the array monitoring."

After a while, a video appeared before my eyes.

Li Chunfeng watched curiously, and suddenly saw that when the Dragon Scale Fruit trees ripened, individual Fish-Dragon Grasses, pulling themselves out of their roots, laboriously made their way towards the fruit grove. At first, they could only use their roots to burrow into the flesh of the ripe Dragon Scale Fruits that had fallen to the ground to absorb nutrients. Many years later, these Fish-Dragon Grasses had transformed into azure dragon fish, swimming openly in the air above the fruit grove, devouring the fruits without restraint.

"The little thief who stole the spirit fruit was actually the Fish-Dragon Grass?"

Li Chunfeng was no stranger to the Fish-Dragon Grass. It was a wild spiritual herb with extremely strong survival ability, and it did not reach the rank of cultivation. No matter if it was arid, rocky forest, desert, or even flooded land, it could survive tenaciously and take root and reproduce.

Eating it dry has a terrible taste—astringent, bitter, and hard, like chewing wax. But if it's pickled for a period of time using a special method, it can become a delicious dish on the tables of countless households.

It's considered top-notch wild vegetables.

It is also the least prestigious type of herb.

In the mountains and seas, many families with average means of living would go up the mountain in autumn to pick wild fish dragon grass, pickle it, and cook it for winter consumption.

Some martial artists also choose to soak fish dragon grass in alcohol to drink.

But the fish-dragon grass in the video doesn't look like a low-grade spiritual herb.

Li Chunfeng quickly arrived at the medicinal field area and found that the fish-dragon grass had already overrun the area. The originally planned medicinal field had been completely occupied by the fish-dragon grass, which had even broken through the boundaries and spread to the distant high mountains.

However, no blue dragonfish was found within the medicinal field.

Li Chang'an was a war orphan, and his family may not have been well-off. Perhaps he developed a fondness for pickled fish and dragon grass vegetables after eating them with his mother when he was a child.

He's a foodie, so it's understandable that he would grow some on the island.

Therefore, when setting up the array on the island, no special suppression was applied to the Fish-Dragon Herb Field. This was because the Fish-Dragon Herb was merely a spiritual plant. Who could have imagined that, over five hundred years later, these "wild vegetables" would actually become the dominant species?

Li Chunfeng casually picked up a piece of fish-dragon grass that was already as long as his forearm.

[Fish-Dragon Grass: A first-tier spiritual plant containing a barely perceptible trace of true dragon bloodline. Second-tier Fish-Dragon Grass can transform into a dragon-fish.]

"what!"

It has already advanced to the second tier, the Fish-Dragon Grass, which has actually broken through the racial evolution.

Li Chunfeng immediately became interested, and his divine sense spread out like ripples, quickly finding a group of dragon fish swimming leisurely in a body of water at the edge of the underwater dragon scale fruit forest.

He silently vanished into the void, and in the next instant, he arrived at the edge of the water, picked a dragon scale fruit as bait, and hung it by the water's edge.

Soon.

A plump dragonfish, ten feet long, swam up first. With a flick of its dragon-like tail, it leaped out of the water and swallowed the dragon scale fruit in one gulp.

It was about to fall back into the water, but found itself floating straight up, as if a large hand was pulling it along.

This terrified the fish, which struggled desperately. Its ten-foot-long body suddenly shrank to the size of a fist in an attempt to escape. Crimson lightning even emanated from its body, slashing like sharp swords at the large hand that trapped it.

"What a strength!"

This crimson lightning sword was also incredibly powerful, almost shattering Li Chunfeng's Void Handprint.

If it were facing other people, the dragonfish would simply run away.

But if Li Chunfeng were to let this plump fish escape, he might as well give up being number one on the Qingyun Ranking.

A punch of telekinetic energy slammed into its forehead, knocking the dragonfish unconscious.

[Dragonfish: A third-tier spirit fish, containing a barely perceptible trace of true dragon bloodline. It can change size at will, wields the Azure Thunder Sword, and can control both water and air.]

Seeing the dragonfish's attributes, Li Chunfeng found it unbelievable.

"They actually managed to turn a single dish into a big thing!"

He did not kill the third-tier spirit fish, for its growth was not easy.

These dragonfish are native creatures of Fish Dragon Island, born and raised here, having arrived even before him.

The only thing they did was have the spirit fish bubble add another layer of protection to this area to prevent the fish and dragons from rebelling.

Then he grabbed a handful of Tier 1 Fish Dragon Grass, wanting to conduct an experiment.

(End of this chapter)