Chapter 267: Chapter 266: Herbal Celestial Grass_1
Two months of training had given the four of them a sufficient understanding of the dense forest.
The Demon Beasts of the Golden Core Stage generally have a strong sense of pride. Unless confronted with a situation that incites the public outrage of the Demon Beasts, like the Ancient Barbarian Tribe bloodline, they would not act alone.
“It’s indeed strange. In theory, my bloodline should exert a suppressive effect on the Demon Beasts, but I didn’t feel this in our recent battle,” Man Gu reflected upon the anomaly he encountered during the fight.
The Ancient Barbarian Tribe bloodline proved advantageous in the battles against the Demon Beasts. Since his successful bloodline awakening, Man Gu had not encountered such a situation.
Lu Yang furrowed his eyebrows, pondering over the cause.
“Ah–What is this!”
Suddenly, a sharp cry interrupted Lu Yang’s thoughts.
“Song Wuguo, what are you screaming at!” Song Hua scolded his companion. Everyone was deep in thought, and your shout just disrupted everyone’s train of thought.
“You, you look over there!” Song Wuguo sat on the ground, trembling as he pointed at the dissected Demon Beast.
Originally, he intended to dissect the Inner Core of the Demon Beast to repay the lifesaving grace of Lu Yang and his companions. However, the abnormality of the Inner Core frightened him.
Lu Yang directly walked over and saw an eviscerated lone wolf with an Inner Core at the Dantian position. It was somewhat dull in color, with dense and thin yellow leaves wrapping around the Inner Core. The leaves were interconnected by a white, stringy substance, sticky and slimy.
Lu Yang covered his right arm with his spiritual essence and pulled out this peculiar Inner Core.
“There’s nothing unusual about the Inner Core, which means the issue lies with the leaves?”
“Go dissect the other Demon Beasts!”
Everyone moved swiftly to dissect the Demon Beasts, and the results quickly emerged – the Inner Cores of all five Demon Beasts were wrapped within these yellow leaves.
Lu Yang racked his brain, covering all the knowledge he had, but found no correlation to these leaves: “Does anyone recognize these leaves?”
Even the worldly Meng Jingzhou continually shook his head.
Tao Yaoye and Man Gu also shook their heads to indicate their lack of recognition.
Not to mention the people from the Song Family, their knowledge was barely on par with Tao Yaoye and Man Gu. Their skill set was limited to identifying common spiritual plants.
The two bodyguards had lived at the Demon Suppressing Pass all year round and had not seen these leaves either.
“I feel like I’ve seen this in a book…could it be the Herbal Celestial Grass?” Song Wuguo muttered softly.
“Herbal Celestial Grass?” Everyone turned their heads towards Song Wuguo simultaneously.
Song Wuguo felt immense pressure. He was timid and preferred reading to interacting with people. It was his first time being viewed by so many people.
“Wuguo, do you know the origin of the leaves?”
“I, I just find it familiar. I’m not certain. I saw it in a book from the Great Yu era in the Scripture Pavilion. It was a master refiner’s notes, which mentioned a spiritual plant called the Herbal Celestial Grass. The illustration in the book was very similar to this.”
“The book mentioned that the Herbal Celestial Grass initially grew like weeds and had a strong ability to disguise itself. It would mimic the appearance of nearby plants.”
“When it’s about to mature, it devours the Demon Beasts, uses them as nutrients to promote its own growth.”
“At the same time, it can parasitize a part of itself within the Demon Beast, controlling every move of the Demon Beast, making it go out and hunt for its food.”
“The word ‘Herbal’ in ‘Herbal Celestial Grass’ is derived from its parasitic characteristic, meaning ‘grazing’.”
“You all know the magic skill to manipulate corpses, right? The cultivator who originated this skill was supposedly inspired by the parasitic method of the Herbal Celestial Grass.”
“What a wicked plant!” Meng Jingzhou frowned. This Herbal Celestial Grass exuded an aura of wickedness.
“Fairy, have you heard of the Herbal Celestial Grass?” Lu Yang asked Fairy Eternity surreptitiously.
“There are a few minor errors, but overall, it’s not far off.” Fairy Eternity more or less confirmed the existence of the Herbal Celestial Grass.
Song Wuguo, who was rarely given attention, began to grow more excited as he spoke: “Brother Song Hua, this Herbal Celestial Grass is so rare that even the Unification Great Power hasn’t seen it before. It’s beneficial for the cultivation of the Unification Stages. If we bring the Herbal Celestial Grass back to the clan and present it to our great-grandfather, our status in the Song Family will be solidified!”
“If we work it well, you might even become the Clan Leader!”
“Is this thing really that rare?!”
“Indeed, the ancient book I read was by a Unification Stage master refiner. He only saw two strands of Herbal Celestial Grass in his entire life. The book also recorded that the Herbal Celestial Grass Pill, refined from the Herbal Celestial Grass, could enhance a Unification Stage by one small Realm!”
Song Hua’s eyes lit up. As expected, it was a valuable item, but he quickly cooled down: “We were nearly hunted by the Herbal Celestial Grass. With our abilities, can we really pluck the Herbal Celestial Grass alive? Better to go back and inform the uncles, and have them take action.”
“If we let the uncles take action, how would the merit be calculated. Brother Song Hua, don’t worry, we do have a chance to pluck the Herbal Celestial Grass.”
“How so?”
“The most number of Demon Beasts a Herbal Celestial Grass can control is ten. These five are of the Golden Core Stage, which indicates that it can only control Golden Core Stage Demon Beasts at most. In other words, it only has five Golden Core Stage Demon Beasts left.”
“As long as we have Young Master Meng’s help, these five Golden Core Stage Demon Beasts are not to be feared!”
Song Hua thought it through, and it was indeed the case.
Both the Meng Family and Seek Dao Sect cultivators have one common trait, they won’t use an Elixir to directly advance their Realm.
Therefore, neither the Meng Family nor Seek Dao Sect would snatch the Herbal Celestial Grass from him.
“Our plan is this: once I’ve obtained the Herbal Celestial Grass, I will report it to my family and thank the four of you with a substantial gift!”
The Song Family would always keep to their promises.
Song Hua did not conceal his true thoughts; instead, he voiced it out boldly.
If he were to conceal it now, it would only disrupt his relationship with the Meng Family once Meng Jingzhou finds out, bringing about more harm than good.
Meng Jingzhou made a promise on behalf of everyone. They originally intended to pluck out the Herbal Celestial Grass anyway. The threat of Herbal Celestial Grass was too great. If it was allowed to hunt for nutrients unhindered, countless people would fall prey to it.
“We were attacked by the Demon Beasts in this direction, so the Herbal Celestial Grass is probably here!” Song Wuguo recalled the escape route. He remained calm even during the escape, remembering the route.
“Let’s move!” Everyone finished their rest and set off in the depths of the forest.
Ten figures moved quickly through the woods, taking turns to extend their Spiritual Sense, searching for clues leading to the Herbal Celestial Grass.
“The ancient book mentioned that the Herbal Celestial Grass likes a dark and damp environment, I hope everyone can keep this in mind while searching,” Song Wuguo reminded loudly.
“Understood.”
“Found it! It’s right in the middle of that swamp!” Song Hua exclaimed, his voice filled with excitement.
“Stay alert! The Demon Beasts controlled by the Herbal Celestial Grass maybe around!” Lu Yang warned everyone through Spiritual Sense.
No sooner had Lu Yang finished speaking than everyone heard the Beast’s roar from above their heads.
“Roar–”
Five formidable Demon Beasts appeared above their heads.
“Stick to our previous plan – pair up into teams. I and the Sect Leader of Seek Dao Sect will engage in the main fight, the people from the Song family will be on the flanks, and the two bodyguards will join forces against one!”
“Yes!”
Everyone reacted instantly. Lu Yang picked a Demon Beast to fight, Song Wuguo provided Lu Yang with flank support, and Song Hua provided support for Meng Jingzhou.
Clang–
The Green Peak Sword was unleashed, casting a silver light like the moon in the night sky, bright and inviolable.
The sword light transformed into a sharp killing intent, confronting a Demon Beast.
With peripheral vision, Tao Yaoye watched the Herbal Celestial Grass in the middle of the swamp, experiencing an unmistakable sense of unrest.
She always felt that something was wrong, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.