Chapter 1614: Ashmona's True Face

Dong Rui knew Cao Wendao was aware of the drawbacks. However, Cao was under pressure from Heavenly Palace due to his assessment tasks. Insects, with their high reproduction rates and rapid iterations, were ideal for generating data and verifying research findings. Dong Rui, on the other hand, was a free-spirited individual who prioritized quality and fostering rapport with his demon puppets, which naturally resulted in fewer creations.

Their differing priorities led to two distinct approaches, but one could not have both.

Dong Rui brought a small piece of pomelo to Red Rabbit's mouth. Cao Wendao likely never dared to let the demon-subduing pestle out of his sight, even while sleeping, unlike Dong Rui, who frequently shared food with his demon puppets.

The rabbit sniffed the fruit; it smelled good, but the rabbit didn't eat it.

It only ate meat and had already consumed three large pieces that evening, so it wasn't hungry.

"So, Cao Wendao specifically refined a demon-subduing pestle to control Ashmona," Dong Rui explained. "When the pestle broke, Ashmona escaped and immediately retaliated." He shook his head. "Ashmona is conscious, unlike the insect puppets. Based on its reaction to Cao Wendao, there was emotion between them—a profound hatred."

After all, both love and hate are emotions.

Red Rabbit nudged Dong Rui's hand, prompting him to continue petting.

Standing nearby, He Lingchuan could discern the little Red Luminous Hound's deep affection for Dong Rui, likely stemming from gratitude for his persistent efforts to heal it over the years.

"Now that this little creature has hatched from its shell, does that mean its condition is stable?" He Lingchuan asked, his curiosity piqued. "What did Heavenly Palace originally transform it into?"

"Humanoid," Dong Rui revealed, no longer holding anything back. "It was forcibly twisted into a humanoid prototype, but unlike other specter beasts, it struggled to adapt to this form and was constantly on the verge of collapse. The Heavenly Palace's demon puppeteers likely considered it a rare young hound, too valuable to simply discard as waste, and decided to repurpose it."

"So they re-transformed it into a Child-Devouring Specter Beast?" He Lingchuan knew that Child-Devouring Specter Beasts were typically single-use demon puppets; once unsealed, they would expend all their life force in a concentrated burst over a short period.

They traded life for power.

"Exactly," Dong Rui said, gently squeezing the rabbit's ear. "But this clever creature stubbornly refused to respond to He Jing's summons."

The little Red Luminous Hound was stubborn yet intelligent enough to realize that emerging would mean its demise.

"By the way, what exactly is Ashmona?" He Lingchuan had been curious about this for a long time. "Is it a celestial demon?"

During Dong Rui and Cao Wendao's duel, He Lingchuan had watched the live broadcast through an eyeball spider and was very intrigued by Cao Wendao's primary demon puppet.

"No, no!" Dong Rui said with a mysterious grin. "Aren't you a master of deduction? Why don't you try to figure it out?"

"King Xuanlu gave Cao Wendao the remains of a young celestial demon from the Howling Forest. These remains caused nothing to grow for miles around," He Lingchuan mused, stroking his chin. "True Lord Minghui's dwelling is in the Howling Forest. This little celestial demon must have escaped from there, right?"

Dong Rui snapped his fingers. "Bingo!"

In his will, True Lord Minghui mentioned that towards the end of the Immortal-Demon War, a celestial demon he had kept as a collectible suddenly gave birth to an offspring, which then broke out of his dwelling and escaped. True Lord Minghui pursued it and slew it in the forest.

"When that young celestial demon escaped, True Lord Minghui must have realized his dwelling's location was compromised. After killing it, he probably hurried back to pack his belongings, leaving no time to dispose of the celestial demon's remains. Consequently, its corpse polluted the surrounding land, rendering it devoid of life and vegetation for many years."

Dong Rui took half of the demon-subduing pestle from his storage bag and placed it on the table. "I've examined it," he said. "It is indeed made from the remains of a young celestial demon, but it also contains something else—something you absolutely won't guess!"

He Lingchuan didn't bat an eye. "Contaminated soil?"

"I told you that you wouldn't guess... Ugh!" Dong Rui paused, then grumbled, "You fiend! How did you guess that?"

He Lingchuan produced a large piece of dried meat and circled it in front of Red Rabbit. Although the rabbit wasn't hungry, the jerky's enticing aroma made it smack its lips, clearly eager.

He quickly tossed the jerky away, lest his fingers become the next target.

With a whoosh, the jerky vanished before it even touched the ground. The rabbit remained in place, simply raising a paw to wipe its face.

"Spill it!" Dong Rui urged.

"It's just as you were thinking," He Lingchuan said casually. "That place was completely devoid of life, yet King Xuanlu brought a living creature out of it, which suggests it's likely not a normal organism. Years after the young celestial demon's death, it couldn't harm anything else; only the land continued to be polluted."

He summarized:

"Therefore, if the celestial demon's pollution didn't trigger biological mutations like the seventy-year cicadas, then the land itself must have become abnormal."

The emergence of the seventy-year cicadas was an extremely rare occurrence. The typical result of celestial demon land pollution was the creation of deserts and saline-alkali plains, which drove all living beings away.

"You're truly impressive," Dong Rui said, giving him a thumbs-up. "You only figured it out a little after I did."

"This 'living creature' you speak of is an Earth Spirit," Dong Rui continued, shaking the broken pestle in his hand. "I surmise that after the young celestial demon died, an Earth Spirit happened to be nearby. Over many years, it was influenced by the demon's presence and slowly mutated."

He paused, then added, "The creation of demon puppets isn't limited to using divine blood to induce mutation. I prefer divine blood simply because its quantity is the easiest to control. After the young celestial demon's death, its body was exposed to the elements for a long time. Its flesh, bones, and blood eventually merged with the land, and deeply fused with that Earth Spirit."

"An Earth Spirit Demon Puppet?" He Lingchuan mused. The vast world truly held endless wonders.

"Precisely. King Xuanlu then captured it and presented it to Cao Wendao, who subsequently refined it into Ashmona," Dong Rui stated, his expression serious. "I suspect the young celestial demon's anger and resentment in its final moments were also transferred to the Earth Spirit, which is why it constantly resisted Cao Wendao."

"So, the Earth Spirit's true form is within this pestle?"

"No, it's in the half of the pestle that Ashmona took, likely in the handle. It successfully retaliated against Cao Wendao and then gained its freedom."

The scene of the demon puppet turning on its master served as a stark warning to Dong Rui, one he vowed to heed for the rest of his life.

"What will this entity do now that it's free?"

"That's hard to say," Dong Rui replied, spreading his hands. "After Little An escaped Red House and regained her freedom, she amassed quite a body count. Ashmona is far more ferocious than she is."

He then added, "Oh, and by the way, I need your help to acquire some materials. Snail Toad is injured and requires repairs."

With that, he pulled out the pomelo-sized Snail Toad and showed its injuries to He Lingchuan. "Look, its leg is broken. It also sustained numerous injuries fighting the Flippered Eel, including losing an eye and having its intestines pulled out."

The Flippered Eel and Snail Toad were roughly the same size. Before it was blown up, the Flippered Eel had already been heavily wounded by the Snail Toad. It was impossible for the Snail Toad itself to have escaped completely unharmed.