He made use of the above principle, making do with what was available, and, using the physical principle of sound transmission, carefully designed two eavesdropping devices. For the microphone inside the Three Star Cave, he improvised with the furnishings on the Jade Terrace; as for the one outside the cave, he used two tree hollows.

Although the transmission range of this kind of bug was very short, it didn’t matter—after all, when the patriarch was giving his lectures, there were no Taoists patrolling the mountain, and those magic arrays were all set up around the Three Star Cave, not extending into the forest. As long as there were no traces of spells or sorcery on this eavesdropping wire, the arrays would be rendered useless.

And the effect of this eavesdropping? Not bad at all—at least, it was no worse than the phone Henry Clark used in his previous life.

Why mention two devices?

Because there was another one, installed in Elder Wright’s bedroom. Why, you ask? Well, you tell me!!

And today, he finally heard Samuel’s scolding voice and the sound of the ruler knocking three times on the head.

Chapter 3: The Spirit Bird of Fangcun Mountain Steals the Art (Part 3)

Lingtai Fangcun Mountain.

In an extremely hidden cave about fifty li from the Slanting Moon Three Star Cave, a strange event was taking place.

Henry Clark was about to transform.

Generally speaking, in this world, among mountain spirits, trees, birds, and beasts, except for naturally gifted species like monkeys, it was extremely difficult to achieve true enlightenment.

Because, to achieve enlightenment, the first and most important—and also the most difficult—thing was spiritual intelligence. Humans are the spirits of all things, born with intelligence, and thus bypass this first hurdle. Other creatures are not so lucky.

There are only two ways to gain intelligence. The first is luck—accidentally eating some rare flower or fruit. Although this is a world of gods and demons, so-called rare flowers and herbs are mostly found in the heavens; on earth, they are extremely scarce, and once scattered across this vast continent, they are almost nonexistent. Unless you are truly blessed, you’ll spend your whole life as a mere beast. The second way is to have someone else awaken your intelligence. The most common example is the demon soldiers under demon kings. However, this method is very crude. Most demon kings use a spell called the Enlightenment Technique, which can grant ordinary animals a bit of spiritual awareness. But this is the most basic level—like walking upright, speaking a few simple words, with intelligence usually very low. This is why the little demons encountered by Tang Monk on his journey to fetch the scriptures were so stupid. According to what Henry Clark knows, those little demons affected by the Enlightenment Technique have intelligence equivalent to that of a five- or six-year-old child. This is also why Sun Wukong’s tricks always succeed.

Other than these, there is no other way.

The second hurdle is transformation. Only after transforming can a demon truly be called a demon; before that, they are merely spirits.

Demon transformation refers to shedding the original non-human body, with the cells inside reorganizing to form a body similar in appearance and function to a human’s. Or perhaps, this is the so-called evolution. “Similar” means not exactly the same—only possessing most human organs. Most demons, except for the head, have bodies that evolve quite well; apart from being a bit hairier and having sharper nails, there’s not much difference. The head, however, is the hardest to evolve, for reasons even Henry Clark can’t figure out. After a successful transformation, this becomes the demon’s final body—apart from their original form, they will never have another chance to change, unless by using illusion magic. Most demons, after transforming, use illusion to make themselves look exactly like humans, but this is fundamentally different from the transformed body, as it’s just an illusion.

But it’s not that there are no perfect transformations—just very few.

Transformation depends on two conditions: first, the concentration of demonic energy; second, the degree of awakened intelligence. The amount of demonic power required for transformation is not high. Some demons, even after cultivating for thousands of years and possessing immense demonic energy, still cannot transform because their intelligence is insufficient. This doesn’t mean they aren’t smart—intelligence consists of two parts: intellect and comprehension. Those demons who have cultivated for over a thousand years but still can’t transform may be able to speak, think quickly, and even have ideas just like humans—sometimes even more cunning and clever than humans—but due to a lack of comprehension, they never discover the key to transformation, and thus remain in their original form until death. Some demons, on the other hand, have high intelligence; though their cultivation time is short, once their demonic power reaches the minimum required for transformation and they comprehend the secret, they can transform—just like Henry Clark now.

After transformation, the original body is not useless. On the contrary, it is extremely important to the transformed demon, because only the original body can unleash their full power. When reverting to their original form, that is when a demon’s might is at its peak. But that’s a story for another time.

For now, let’s talk about Henry Clark beginning his transformation.