The fishermen were left dumbfounded.

By the time they drew near, that Xu Ran had already swallowed the entire Treasure Fish.

Then, a horrifying scene unfolded before the fishermen’s eyes. The boy named Xu Ran instantly turned beet red, let out a wretched scream, and curled up on the boat in agony. His entire body was so red it looked as if it were about to burst into flames.

He even started bleeding from all seven orifices.

This terrified the fishermen, and they didn’t dare get any closer. Someone even cried out on the spot that it was poisonous.

The Treasure Fish is poisonous!

They continued to watch from a distance.

The young fisherman struggled for a short while before falling still.

He lay in the boat’s cabin, crimson from head to toe, looking as if he were dead.

If not for the fact that his skin was still bright red and his chest was still rising and falling faintly... they probably would have truly thought him dead.

But he certainly didn’t look normal, so the fishermen could only continue to watch from afar.

Unexpectedly, the boy actually woke up a day later.

And when he woke up and stood, the people gasped in shock... This boy, who had originally been a little over six feet tall at most, was now well over eight feet tall!

He shot up two feet in height overnight?!

It was truly staggering.

The shock was enough to make one’s hair stand on end.

After waking up, the young Xu Ran tried to pilot his boat away, but some of the fishermen, unwilling to let him go, instinctively tried to block his path.

The boy, in a fit of rage, slammed a fist into the side of his boat, shattering it instantly and silencing all the fishermen!

...For a Martial Artist, smashing the side of a boat with one punch was nothing special.

But for an Ordinary Person, it was another matter entirely!

This Xu Ran, just like Fang Zhou who had gotten a Treasure Fish before him, had been just an Ordinary Person.

But in a single night, he had gone from an Ordinary Person to reaching at least the level of Mingjin Cultivation.

In the end, Xu Ran left, and no fisherman dared to stop him.

But the incident caused a huge sensation.

News spread rapidly, and the entire River Surface was in an uproar.

...This time, it wasn’t just a few Water Pirates who had witnessed it.

Because the spot where Xu Ran caught the Treasure Fish was a well-known local fishing hole, crowded with fishing boats.

Many people had seen it.

They had even seen it all, from beginning to end!

This astonishing transformation completely ignited the fishermen’s fervor.

...A single fish had turned an ordinary boy into a Mingjin Martial Artist overnight.

It was too astounding!

The fishermen, who had originally been wary of Demons, threw all caution to the wind. One by one, they took to the river to fish... hoping to become the next Fang Zhou or Xu Ran.

Under these circumstances, incidents of Demons harming people naturally became more and more frequent. Within just a few days, there were several cases of Demons eating people.

But even so, it couldn’t stop the fishermen’s frenzy.

...Even the number of fishermen here in Wanshui began to increase noticeably. The fishing boats passing by Qin Fang’s door each day had become an almost endless stream.

It wasn’t just fishermen; gang members and even disciples from martial arts dojos... they all started taking to the river!

It was sheer madness!

When Qin Fang heard these rumors, even he was somewhat shocked.

The effects of the Treasure Fish, in particular, astonished him.

...It made him think of the Giant Bees.

That Treasure Fish could turn an Ordinary Person into a Mingjin Martial Artist overnight.

The Giant Bees, which also counted as Extraordinary creatures... he had been eating Bee Meat for several days straight... and while the effects were very good... compared to the Treasure Fish, it clearly wasn’t on the same level.

’...How can the difference be so huge?’

And there was another point that Qin Fang couldn’t figure out...

The Giant Bees’ effects were so much weaker, yet they already possessed terrifying self-defense capabilities: a formidable Physique and a fearsome poison.

So that Treasure Fish, with such incredible effects, was just caught and eaten raw by an ordinary young fisherman?

’...It doesn’t have any means of defense at all?’

’Then how did it survive in the river?’

The natural world, after all, was a place where the law of the jungle was even more brutally enforced.

Big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat shrimp!

A fish like the Treasure Fish, possessing such incredible effects... was practically a living treasure!

If any large, carnivorous fish came across it, wouldn’t they pursue it relentlessly like a cat that smells fish?

But clearly, that wasn’t the case.

Otherwise, the Treasure Fish would never have had the chance to be caught by a person.

’...There’s only one possibility. Although the Treasure Fish itself is weak, it must have some other mysterious means to keep larger fish from approaching, ensuring its own survival.’

’But this method... is ineffective against humans?’

In the end, that was the only conclusion he could reach.

Then, Qin Fang’s thoughts turned to the matter of the Demons, and his brow furrowed.

He was now certain that a group of mysterious beings was plotting something, even using human bodies as vessels to cultivate some kind of monster.

Based on the fact that Wang Hu had encountered a Demon and survived, only to return and be parasitized... it was reasonable to speculate that these people were probably also connected to the Demons!

Add to that the fact that Ganlu Hall was clearly part of this Mysterious Power... and they were the ones promoting the Qi Blood Pills.

...Connecting these dots, he could vaguely see that their ambitions were anything but small!

But what was their ultimate goal?

Qin Fang still couldn’t figure it out.

The clues seemed numerous, but they were actually a jumbled mess. It felt like a clear thread was missing... a thread that could connect all these pieces.

In the end, Qin Fang could only sigh and set the matter aside for the time being.

’Even if I knew, with my current status and strength, I probably couldn’t change anything... From the looks of it, they should still be in the planning stages. I... should still have some time.’

Thinking of this, Qin Fang took a deep breath.

He had finished eating the three Giant Bees.

He planned to head to Old Ox Back again.

This time, he not only wanted to fish for bees, but he also intended to explore that cave.

He wanted to see... just what allowed that Wild Boar King to withstand the Giant Bee’s terrifying poison.

He instructed Xile to watch the house, then went to the market by himself to buy bait for the bees.

Just as he bought a large cut of meat from a butcher’s stall, a somewhat hesitant voice called out from behind him.

"Master... Qin?"

Qin Fang froze and instinctively turned his head.

A young boy, holding a young girl by the hand, was staring at him in surprise.