Translator: yikaii Editor: yikaii

After two months of training, the four had gained a thorough understanding of the dense forest.

Golden Core Stage beasts generally had a strong sense of pride and wouldn’t usually act in groups unless provoked by something that universally angered them, like the ancient barbarian bloodline.

“It’s indeed strange. My bloodline is supposed to suppress beasts, but I didn’t feel that in the last battle,” Barbarian Bone recalled the anomaly during their fight.

The ancient barbarian bloodline had always been effective against beasts. Since awakening his bloodline, Barbarian Bone had never encountered such a situation.

Lu Yang frowned, pondering the reason behind this.

“Ah—what is this!”

Suddenly, a sharp cry interrupted Lu Yang’s thoughts.

“Song Wuguo, why are you screaming!” Song Hua scolded his companion. Everyone was deep in thought, and his shout disrupted their concentration.

“Look at this!” Song Wuguo, sitting on the ground, was trembling as he pointed at the beast he had just gutted.

He had intended to dissect the beast to retrieve its demon core as a token of gratitude for Lu Yang and the others, but was frightened by the unusual core he found.

Lu Yang walked over and saw the disemboweled lone wolf. In its dantian area, there was a demon core, somewhat dim, wrapped in withered yellow leaves. The leaves were thin and dense, connected by white thread-like substances, sticky and messy.

Lu Yang covered his right arm with spiritual power and took out the strange core.

“The core seems normal, so the issue lies with these leaves?”

“Let’s dissect the other beasts!”

Everyone began dissecting the beasts, and the results were quickly apparent—all five beasts had their cores wrapped in these withered yellow leaves.

Lu Yang searched through all his knowledge but couldn’t identify the leaves. “Does anyone recognize these leaves?”

Even the well-read Meng Jingzhou shook his head repeatedly.

Peach Blossom Leaf and Barbarian Bone also shook their heads, indicating they didn’t know.

The Song family members, with even less experience than Peach Blossom Leaf and Barbarian Bone, were limited to identifying common spiritual plants.

The two bodyguards, who had lived at the Demon Subjugation Pass for years, had never seen such leaves.

“I feel like I’ve seen this in a book somewhere… could it be Mu Tian Grass?” Song Wuguo muttered softly.

“Mu Tian Grass?” Everyone turned to look at Song Wuguo.

Song Wuguo immediately felt immense pressure. Timid by nature, he preferred reading books over social interactions. This was the first time so many people had focused on him.

“Wuguo, do you recognize the source of these leaves?”

“I just think it looks familiar. I’m not sure. I saw it in an ancient book from the Da Yu period in the Sutra Library. It was a diary of an alchemy master, mentioning a spiritual herb called Mu Tian Grass. The drawing looked like this.”

“The book said that Mu Tian Grass initially grows like weeds, with a strong camouflage ability, mimicking the appearance of surrounding plants.”

“When it’s about to mature, it devours beasts, using them as nutrients to promote its own growth.”

“At the same time, it can parasitize a part of itself inside the beast, controlling the beast’s movements and making it hunt for food.”

“The ‘Mu’ in Mu Tian Grass comes from its parasitic nature, meaning to herd.”

“You know the corpse-driving techniques, right? It’s said that the cultivator who created these techniques was inspired by the parasitic method of Mu Tian Grass.”

“What an evil grass!” Meng Jingzhou frowned. The Mu Tian Grass exuded a sense of malevolence.

“Fairy, have you heard of Mu Tian Grass?” Lu Yang secretly asked Everlasting Fairy.

“There are a few small mistakes, but overall, it’s pretty accurate.” Everlasting Fairy confirmed the existence of Mu Tian Grass.

Song Wuguo, rarely receiving so much attention, became increasingly excited as he spoke, “Brother Song Hua, this Mu Tian Grass is so rare that even powerful cultivators at the Unity Stage haven’t seen it. It benefits their cultivation as well. If we can obtain it and bring it back to our family to present to our great-grandfather, our position in the Song family will be secure!”

“If we manage it well, the position of patriarch might not be out of reach for you!”

“Is this thing really that extraordinary?!”

“Indeed, the ancient book I read was written by an Unity Stage alchemy master. In his lifetime, he only encountered two Mu Tian Grass plants. The book also recorded that refining Mu Tian Grass into Mu Tian Pills could elevate an Unity Stage cultivator by a small realm!”

Song Hua’s eyes lit up; it was indeed a valuable treasure. But he quickly calmed down. “We were almost hunted by the Mu Tian Grass. With our skills, how could we hope to obtain it alive? It’s better to inform our uncles and ask for their help.”

“If we let the uncles handle it, how will the credit be calculated? Don’t worry, Brother Song Hua, we might actually have a chance to get the Mu Tian Grass ourselves.”

“How so?”

“Mu Tian Grass can control up to ten beasts. These five are all Golden Core Stage, which means it can only control Golden Core Stage beasts. Therefore, it has only five Golden Core Stage beasts left.”

“With Young Master Meng’s help, these five Golden Core Stage beasts are nothing to worry about!”

Song Hua thought it over and found it reasonable.

Both the Meng family and Dao Seeking Sect cultivators shared a trait—they didn’t use pills to directly elevate their cultivation.

Thus, neither the Meng family nor Dao Seeking Sect would compete with them for the Mu Tian Grass.

“That’s the situation. If I obtain the Mu Tian Grass, I will report it to the family and reward the four of you handsomely!”

The Song family was known for keeping their promises and would not go back on their word.

Song Hua didn’t hide anything and openly shared his true thoughts.

If he concealed anything now and Meng Jingzhou found out later, it could damage the relationship between the Meng and Song families, causing more harm than good.

Representing the group, Meng Jingzhou agreed. They originally intended to eliminate the Mu Tian Grass as its threat was too great. Allowing it to hunt and gain nutrients could lead to countless casualties.

“We were attacked by the beasts in this direction, so the Mu Tian Grass is likely this way!” Song Wuguo recalled their escape route. He had remained the most composed, remembering the path during their retreat.

“Let’s go!” After resting, the group headed towards the depths of the forest.

Ten figures moved through the dense forest, taking turns to extend their spiritual senses, searching for traces of the Mu Tian Grass.

“The ancient book mentioned that Mu Tian Grass prefers dark and damp environments. Please focus on these areas while searching,” Song Wuguo reminded loudly.

“Got it.”

“I found it! It’s in the center of that swamp!” Song Hua shouted, his voice filled with excitement.

“Stay alert! The beasts controlled by the Mu Tian Grass might be nearby!” Lu Yang warned everyone with his spiritual sense.

As soon as Lu Yang finished speaking, they heard the roar of beasts above them.

“Roar—”

Five majestic beasts appeared overhead.

“According to the plan, pair up. We from Dao Seeking Sect will take the lead, the Song family will provide support, and the two bodyguards will handle one beast together!”

“Understood!”

Everyone reacted instantly. Lu Yang faced one beast with Song Wuguo supporting him, and Song Hua supported Meng Jingzhou.

Zheng—

Qingfeng Sword was drawn, a silver light cutting through the air like a bright, untouchable moon.

The sword light transformed into a sharp killing intent, confronting a beast.

Peach Blossom Leaf glanced at the Mu Tian Grass in the swamp, feeling a strange unease.

She felt something was off but couldn’t pinpoint what it was.