"Is that all?" Ma Xiaoniu deliberately feigned a disappointed expression.
Snake Heaven shuddered. Was the immortal somewhat dissatisfied? No, I need to think about it some more.
"Ah! Right, I just remembered, um, there was another time later, a few people came to the mountains, and I heard them say something about catching a monster to have some fun with, and that they didn't need to take care of the children anyway, so I ate them, and then, and then..." Snake Heaven frowned, unable to remember anything else. In his hundreds of years of life, he had spent most of his time in a daze.
Although She Tian didn't say much, he confirmed one of Ma Xiaoniu's conjectures. This world indeed had no reproductive barriers, which explained why the people he saw in Black Mountain City were all strangely shaped.
Ma Xiaoniu smiled. He liked She Tian's simplicity; compared to humans, demons seemed purer and untainted. Of course, this didn't exclude the possibility that some old demons were indeed evil, but most were still quite pure.
He didn't want to get involved in the conflict between humans and demons on the Desolate Sky Continent, but he did need to investigate carefully why demons were born tens of thousands of years ago.
Ma Xiaoniu granted She Tian his freedom, but how could She Tian let go of such a golden opportunity to get close to an immortal? He simply cultivated silently in the distance and did not leave. Ma Xiaoniu did not care either; for him, enjoying himself was the most important thing.
Ma Xiaoniu sat cross-legged by the lake. With a thought, a five-foot-long fish leaped out of the lake. The fish had green scales, a fan-shaped tail, and two bulging eyes that looked like two black pearls on its face.
With a wave of his hand, the large fish was already prepared. Then, several dry branches hopped out of the forest and lay down near Ma Xiaoniu. A small flame ignited and quickly turned into a raging fire. The prepared fish swam in the air, flicking its tail, and soon a rich aroma filled the air, making everyone's mouths water.
Snake Heaven watched in stunned silence. Good heavens, what kind of celestial power was this? The tree branch actually moved on its own! At the same time, his mouth involuntarily watered.
"Gulp!" He swallowed a mouthful of saliva, but even more saliva was secreted.
Ma Xiaoniu chuckled, waved his hand, and beckoned She Tian over. He then divided the grilled fish into two parts, eating one part himself and handing the other to She Tian. She Tian wanted to refuse, but couldn't resist his appetite, so he took the fish and began to devour it.
Just as Ma Xiaoniu was about to eat, strange noises suddenly came from the surrounding jungle. Soon after, pairs of bright eyes appeared all around, staring intently at the grilled fish in Ma Xiaoniu and She Tian's hands.
Snake Heaven's face darkened, and a flash of red light appeared in his eyes. Having just transformed, Snake Heaven's wild nature remained; for him, food was everything. Before transforming, Snake Heaven had experienced countless battles for food, narrowly escaping death several times, all for a single bite. Now, another creature dared to try and steal his food; how could he let it go so easily?
Seeing that She Tian was about to explode, Ma Xiaoniu smiled faintly, and a cool breeze enveloped She Tian, extinguishing the anger that was about to erupt. She Tian was stunned for a moment, then gave an awkward smile and continued to eat the grilled fish in his hand.
Ma Xiaoniu glanced around. A variety of creatures had appeared in the jungle. However, these creatures were all strangely shaped, and Ma Xiaoniu didn't recognize a single one.
"Roar!~"
A foul wind blew in, and a monster with a lion's head, deer antlers, a tiger's body, and wings on its back emerged from the forest. When She Tian saw this monster, his expression changed drastically, but after glancing at the calm-faced Ma Xiao Niu, he felt relieved. He looked at the monster and coldly laughed, "Bei Lin, what do you want?"
The lion-headed monster called Beilin sneered: "Roar! Snake Heaven, don't be nervous. As long as you hand over the grilled fish and the human next to you, I'll let you go this time!"
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===Chapter Forty-Five===
Snake Heaven was furious: "Hiss! You bastard! Do you think I'm afraid of you? Come and fight me if you dare!"
Bei Lin let out a thunderous laugh: "Let's fight! Come on!"
The lion-headed monster roared, its wings unfurling and whipping up a whirlwind. Its body hurtled towards Snake Heaven like a train. Snake Heaven transformed into its true form, its massive body, as thick as a water vat, shooting into the depths of the jungle. Although it knew it couldn't harm the immortal, it still chose to fight elsewhere.
Bei Lin: "Roar! Snake Heaven, don't run!" It flapped its wings, nimbly turned its body, and chased after it.
Ma Xiaoniu had no intention of interfering; he wanted to see how the monsters fought. However, the monsters that were eyeing him intently had no intention of letting their prey escape. They hadn't dared to approach before because She Tian and Bei Lin were present, but now that they were gone, the monsters slowly surrounded them.
"Certainly!"
The monsters that had been gradually closing in froze in place, even their eyes unable to move. Ma Xiaoniu got up and walked to a monster with a chicken's head, a deer's body, and four legs, stroking its chin and staring at it for a long time. Speaking of which, although this world doesn't have reproductive isolation, some creatures still can't interbreed, such as insects and mammals, whose vast differences in size make interbreeding impossible. Plants and animals, too, cannot reproduce due to differences in their reproductive methods. So, is it possible with artificial intervention?
Ma Xiaoniu's eyes lit up as he looked at the monster in front of him and let out a chuckle.
The chicken-headed monster looked terrified, wondering why the person in front of it was smiling like that; it felt really creepy...
Ma Xiaoniu sensed everything with a slight effort, and he had a complete grasp of all the information about the areas he could control. There were fifty-five species of insects in the Black Desert, five thousand three hundred and twenty species in the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts where Zhu Tu was, and three thousand two hundred and fifteen species in Black Mountain City and the Black Mountain Range where Ma Xiaoniu was located. The variety was abundant, though still slightly inferior to Earth. After a moment's thought, Ma Xiaoniu contemplated, and with a thought, an insect the size of a thumb seemed to pass through a spatial portal, appearing out of thin air before him.
This is an insect that looks like a butterfly, with beautiful dark blue wings adorned with bud-like yellow patterns, two slender tail wings trailing behind it, and two red antennae on its head.
Ma Xiaoniu grinned at the chicken-headed monster: "Don't be afraid, it'll be over in a minute."
Looking at Ma Xiaoniu's smiling face, the Chicken-Headed Monster felt something was off. Ma Xiaoniu's mind raced, and the thumb-sized butterfly instantly grew to over two meters tall, appearing roughly the same size as the Chicken-Headed Monster. Then, with a wave of his hand, both the Chicken-Headed Monster and the butterfly suddenly had bloodshot eyes, trembled all over, and were consumed by lust. The two monsters rolled together, and after a series of moans and groans, the exercise ended. The Chicken-Headed Monster lay limply on the ground, its tongue lolling out, while the Butterfly Monster also collapsed, exhausted, looking no better.
Time speeds up!
The butterfly monster's belly swelled up at a visible speed, and a moment later, a blue egg rolled out. The butterfly monster breathed a sigh of relief, flapped its wings, and quickly flew away. The chicken-headed monster also wanted to run, but its legs were still weak. Looks like it's time to exercise!
The blue egg, about the size of a soccer ball, cracked open in an instant as time accelerated. Then, with a loud cracking sound, countless fissures appeared on its surface before it shattered. A small monster, more like a butterfly, emerged from the egg. This monster's antennae, head, wings, and tail were identical to a butterfly's, but it had the body of a deer and four tiny claws. The little monster looked around bewilderedly, its tender wings fluttering slightly, and it toddled over to the chicken-headed monster, nuzzling it affectionately.
The chicken-headed monster was a mix of despair and utter bewilderment. Not only had he inexplicably gained a son, but his wife had also run away!
Ma Xiaoniu nodded. It seemed this world was indeed as he had predicted; any creature could seemingly combine with another without any reproductive barriers. Speaking of which, what interesting things would happen if a large number of hybrid monsters—insects and mammals, mammals and plants—were created in this world?
With a wave of his hand, he released the time-space lock, and the monsters that had been frozen suddenly found themselves able to move. They all fled at top speed. The chicken-headed monster also wanted to run away with his son, but his legs still felt weak. If he escaped in this state, his and his son's fate would be in danger. After all, in the jungle, there was only the relationship between hunter and prey, nothing else.
Ma Xiaoniu had clearly considered this as well. With a wave of his hand, a shower of golden light fell upon the Chicken-Headed Monster and the Butterfly Monster. In an instant, the Chicken-Headed Monster's body returned to normal, and its strength increased rapidly. The comb on its head changed from red to golden-red. The Chicken-Headed Monster felt better than ever before, and its mind was much clearer than before. Many things it didn't understand before suddenly became clear. The Chicken-Headed Monster didn't run away immediately, but turned around and prostrated itself in front of Ma Xiaoniu to express its gratitude. Because it was smaller, its innate energy hadn't been depleted, and the Butterfly Monster benefited even more. First, its wings became wider, and its movements were swift and powerful. Its tail became longer, and its four claws gleamed with a metallic sheen. It was also noticeably smarter than the other monsters, and its two small eyes were particularly bright and lively.
"Go! This is the reward you deserve!"
The chicken-headed monster stood up and, with the little butterfly monster in tow, darted into the jungle like lightning.
The commotion had dragged on past midnight. The earth trembled in the distance, and Snake Heaven and Northern Forest were still locked in battle. Previously, Northern Forest's bloodline held a slight advantage, but now that Snake Heaven had taken human form, their strength was nearly equal, and neither could gain the upper hand. Ma Xiaoniu shook his head; none of this mattered to him. With a thought, he returned to the Bronze Palace. The Bronze Palace was carpeted with thick, soft carpets; he found a spot, lay down, and fell asleep.
zzzzzz~
...
Around 8 a.m. the next day, Ma Xiaoniu sat up. He looked around and saw that the bronze hall was unusually empty, but wasn't it a bit too empty? It would be nice if there were more books around.
The moment the thought crossed my mind, rows of bookshelves appeared in the bronze hall, with all sorts of books appearing out of thin air. In no time, thousands of bookshelves had appeared in the hall. Fortunately, the hall was large enough that even with thousands of bookshelves appearing out of thin air, it still felt quite spacious.
Nodding, with a thought, he arrived at the place where Zhu Tu and the other two lived in the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts.
In front of the bamboo house, Zhu Tu was fishing. The three of them were already at the bottom of the food chain in the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts, possessing little martial power. However, their strong reproductive ability allowed their species to survive. Hunting was practically impossible for them, so for so long, they had no choice but to fish for a living. But fishing wasn't easy. They didn't know how their master had managed it, but the fish in the lake were noticeably more cunning and difficult to catch. Looking at the sun, Zhu Tu sighed. "Fine, I'll just eat vegetarian today!" He put away his fishing rod and turned to wake Zhu Yun and Zhu Yu, who were still sleeping in, but suddenly found their master standing behind them. Overjoyed, Zhu Tu quickly ran over and knelt down with a thud.