A few months passed again.

Stabilize the realm and organize knowledge.

The following spring, in the morning.

Zhang Feng came out of the forest without having any particular place in mind, but he encountered more than twenty villagers with tense expressions at the edge of the forest. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

They were holding forks and hoes used for tilling the land, cautiously and fearfully surveying the surroundings.

At this moment, Zhang Feng was about a mile away from them.

He observed them entirely by relying on his spiritual sense.

’There’s a demon.’

After switching through several talismans in his spiritual sense, Zhang Feng also saw a strong concentration of water attribute spiritual Qi where they were.

And this spiritual Qi carried a ’demonic aura.’

However, this demonic aura wasn’t an attribute; it was a unique scent.

Just like how a person might spray themselves with perfume.

When demons cultivate, they also have a unique scent, partly distinguished from the scent of human cultivation and naturally gathered spiritual Qi.

Zhang Feng had raised two demon bears and had seen rats and crows, and after nearly nineteen years in the forest, he had encountered hundreds of demon beasts.

His rich experience and deepening research into spiritual Qi.

Allowed Zhang Feng to quickly identify it.

As for what this demon beast specifically was.

Zhang Feng didn’t know, but he would know after looking.

He thought it was a good opportunity to collect an unfamiliar scent and enrich his own knowledge.

Thinking about it.

Zhang Feng’s spiritual sense stirred, and a spare gray robe appeared from the small cloth bag on his back, quickly replacing his animal skins.

Then he trimmed the hair that had grown wild for nineteen years and used a grass rope as a tie.

The classic image of an ancient cultivator appeared.

This way, he wouldn’t scare the villagers over there.

Seeing how nervous they looked.

If he really had waist-length hair and a body covered in animal skins coming out of the deep mountain forest, people might think he was a crazy little wild man.

Swish—

On the way towards them.

Zhang Feng gathered water droplets from the air and used them as a mirror for a quick look; it was alright.

His appearance was ordinary, not handsome like someone from the world of undercover agents, but he had a good temperament, and he looked like a good person at first glance.

Sure enough.

When Zhang Feng emerged from the forest and approached the villagers at the edge.

They saw a young Daoist approaching and didn’t exhibit any extreme reactions.

However, the leading old man anxiously shouted to Zhang Feng, "Young Daoist, did you see a long-legged carp running when you came out of that mountain?"

’A long-legged fish?’ Zhang Feng was taken aback, finding it quite bizarre.

Just the thought of a carp running wildly seemed incompatible with the ancient cultivation realm.

"That demon ran to the south!" Another sturdy man pointed in the direction Zhang Feng came from when he didn’t respond, "Just a quarter of an hour ago, didn’t you see it, Daoist?"

He spoke while suspiciously looking at Zhang Feng.

The rest also looked at him strangely.

Because they suddenly suspected if this Daoist might be the fish demon in disguise?

The reason for their suspicion was that, in this world, demons indeed had the ability to shapeshift into humans.

A Golden Core demon cultivator could transform into a human in a certain sense.

Zhang Feng, who had been in seclusion for over a decade, hadn’t encountered other cultivators or Golden Core demons, so he didn’t know these specifics.

Faced with the villagers’ stares, Zhang Feng didn’t think in this direction.

Because his mind was more focused on the north, where the demonic aura was thick.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the demon has fled north.

The south, which you observed, is likely an illusion it created.

Watch."

As he spoke, Zhang Feng slightly manipulated the dense water spirit Qi, lifting his arm slightly, and this mass of water spirit Qi spread out, projecting the scene of the long-legged fish monster running.

This was using the principle of refraction, along with some neuron interference.

It was relatively easy to achieve a ’realistic illusion’ akin to a 3D projector.

However, Zhang Feng didn’t know what the fish monster specifically looked like, so he designed a normal two-meter-long carp with two stout legs growing from the bottom.

And this bizarre scene scared the group greatly.

"Demon... demon..."

"Scarier than the demon..."

"The demon is coming..."

In panic and confusion, they couldn’t hold the tools in their hands steadily, and they clattered to the ground.

Zhang Feng was also curious upon seeing this.

Such cowardice, yet why chase?

But on second thought, so many people came out with tools, then encountered the fish demon.

Then the fish demon ran, and they chased.

It all seemed rather instinctive.

Fortunately, the fish demon didn’t turn back.

Pondering this, Zhang Feng dispersed the magic.

"Don’t panic... don’t panic... that was the Daoist’s magic..."

"This young Daoist can perform magic..."

After about two seconds, people gradually regained their composure, and combining it with Zhang Feng’s previous ’illusion and look closely’ speech, they realized that the terrifying fish monster was a magic spell cast by the Daoist.

But the illusion was so real, and they lived in a border area with no experience of ’grand magicians’.

So encountering such wondrous magic scared them inevitably.

However, living in a world with demons, they had some degree of resistance in their hearts.

Therefore, after a brief moment of fear, they turned pleading eyes towards Zhang Feng.

"Daoist, please take charge for us!"

"The fish demon is causing trouble; we implore the Daoist to save our village!"

"My sheep were all devoured by the demon..."

As people spoke, they were about to kneel and reach into their clothes to take out their scarce money.

Zhang Feng used spiritual Qi to stop them from kneeling while ignoring them.

During these few minutes of pause.

After careful observation, Zhang Feng accurately determined the fish demon’s specific location.