The Shepherding Heaven Grass

Two months of training gave the four of them a thorough understanding of the dense forest.

Demon Beast at the Golden Core stage and above generally have a strong sense of self-respect, and they will not act collectively unless they encounter situations that arouse public anger among Demon Beast, such as encountering Ancient Barbarian Tribe bloodlines.

"It is indeed a bit strange. Logically speaking, my bloodline should have a suppressive effect on Demon Beast, but I didn't feel that during the battle just now." Man Gu recalled the strangeness he encountered during the battle.

The Ancient Barbarian Tribe bloodline was invincible in battles against Demon Beast, and since successfully awakening his bloodline, Man Gu had never encountered such a situation.

Lu Yang frowned, pondering the reason behind it.

"Ah--What is this!"

Suddenly, a sharp scream interrupted Lu Yang's thoughts.

"Song Wuguo, what are you yelling about!" Song Hua scolded his companion. Everyone was thinking about something, and your shout has disrupted everyone's concentration.

"Look, you all!" Song Wuguo sat on the ground, pointing tremblingly at the Demon Beast he had gutted.

He originally intended to dissect the inner core of the demon Demon Beast to repay Lu Yang and the other three for saving his life, but he was startled by the strangeness of the inner core.

Lu Yang walked straight over and saw that the lone wolf had been gutted. In the Dantian, there was an inner core, which was somewhat dim. The inner core was wrapped in withered yellow leaves. The leaves were thin and dense, and there were white filaments connecting them, which were sticky.

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

"The inner core is normal, which means the problem lies with the leaf?"

"Go and dissect the other Demon Beast!"

Everyone set out to dissect the Demon Beast, and the results came quickly—the inner cores of all five Demon Beasts were wrapped in these withered yellow leaves.

Lu Yang racked his brains, but couldn't find a match for the leaves. "Does anyone recognize this cluster of leaves?"

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

Tao Yaoye and Man Gu also shook their heads, indicating they didn't recognize them.

Needless to say, the Song family members were even less knowledgeable than Tao Yaoye and Man Gu; their level was limited to identifying common Spirit Plant.

The two bodyguards, who had lived in Zhenyao Pass for many years, had never seen such leaves before.

"I feel like I've seen this in some book before... Is it Shepherd's Grass?" Song Wuguo muttered to himself.

"Shepherd's Grass?" Everyone turned to look at Song Wuguo.

Song Wuguo suddenly felt immense pressure. He was timid and fearful, and had loved reading since childhood. He disliked communicating with people, and this was the first time so many people had been looking at him.

"No results. Do you know the origin of the leaves?"

"I... I just feel like it looks familiar, but I'm not sure. I saw an ancient book from the Great Yu period in the Scripture Depository. It was a master alchemist's notebook, and it mentioned a kind of spiritual herb called Mutian Grass. The picture in the book looks a lot like this."

"The book says that the shepherd's purse initially grows just like a weed, possessing extremely strong camouflage capabilities; it looks exactly like the surrounding plants."

"When it's almost fully grown, it will devour Demon Beast, using Demon Beast as nourishment to accelerate its maturation."

"At the same time, it can also parasitize a part of itself inside Demon Beast, controlling the Demon Beast's every move and making the Demon Beast go out to find food for it."

The "Mu" in "Mu Tian Cao" comes from its parasitic nature, meaning to graze.

"You know about the Law Technique for driving away corpses, right? Legend has it that the cultivator who created the Law Technique for driving away corpses got his inspiration from the parasitic way that the Shepherd Grass grows."

"What an eerie herb!" Meng Jingzhou frowned; this Mutian herb exuded an evil aura.

"Fairy, have you ever heard of the Sky-Shepherd Grass?" Lu Yang secretly asked the Immortal Fairy.

"There are a few minor errors, but overall it's pretty much correct." The Immortal Fairy seemed to have confirmed the existence of the Shepherd Grass.

Song Wuguo, rarely receiving such attention, became increasingly excited as he spoke, "Brother Song Hua, this Shepherd's Grass is so rare that even Body Integration Realm experts have never seen it. It's beneficial to the cultivation of Nascent Body Integration Realm experts. If we can pick the Shepherd's Grass and bring it back to the Lineage to present to our great-grandfather, our position in the Song family will be secure in the future!"

"With a little more maneuvering, the position of clan leader might very well be yours!"

"Is this thing really that rare?!"

"It's true! The ancient book I read was written by a master alchemist in the Body Integration Realm. He had only ever seen two Shepherd's Grass plants in his entire life. The book also records that using Shepherd's Grass to refine Shepherd's Pill can raise Body Integration Realm by one small realm!"

Song Hua's eyes lit up; it was indeed a good thing. But he quickly calmed down. "We were almost hunted by the Shepherd's Grass. With our skills, how could we possibly harvest it alive? We'd better go back and tell our uncles and elders, and ask them to help."

"If our uncles and elders were to handle this, how would the credit be calculated? Don't worry, Brother Song Hua, we really might be able to obtain the Heavenly Grass."

"How so?"

"The Shepherd Grass can only command a maximum of ten Demon Beasts, and these five are all at the Golden Core stage. This means that it can only command a maximum of Golden Core stage Demon Beast, which means it only has five Golden Core stage Demon Beast left under its command."

"With Young Master Meng's help, these five Golden Core stage Demon Beast are nothing to fear!"

After thinking it over, Song Hua realized that this was indeed the case.

The cultivators of the Meng family and the Ask Dao Sect share a common characteristic: they do not use elixirs to directly improve their cultivation level.

Therefore, neither the Meng family nor the Ask Dao Sect would compete with him for the Heavenly Grass.

"That's how it is. After I obtain the Shepherd's Grass, I will definitely report to my Lineage and express my sincere gratitude to the four of you with generous gifts!"

The Song family has made a solemn promise and will not break their word.

Song Hua made no attempt to hide anything and openly expressed his true thoughts.

If we cover it up now, it will only damage the relationship between the Meng and Song families if Meng Jingzhou finds out later, which would be a loss for both sides.

Meng Jingzhou agreed on behalf of everyone. They had originally planned to eradicate the Shepherd Grass, as it posed too great a threat. If it were allowed to hunt for sustenance, countless people would perish.

"We were attacked by Demon Beast in this direction, and Mu Tiancao is very likely here!" Song Wuguo recalled the escape route. He was the calmest and remembered the route even when he was running away.

"Let's go!" After resting, the group headed deep into the dense forest.

Ten figures moved through the dense forest, taking turns using their Divine Sense to search for clues about the Shepherd's Grass.

"Ancient texts say that the Heavenly Grass prefers dark and damp environments, so please keep that in mind when you're looking for it," Song Wuguo loudly reminded everyone.

"Knew."

"Found it! It's right in the middle of that swamp!" Song Hua shouted, his voice filled with excitement.

"Don't let your guard down! There might be Demon Beast controlled by Mu Tiancao nearby!" Lu Yang reminded everyone with his Divine Sense.

As soon as Lu Yang finished speaking, everyone heard the roar of Demon Beast coming from above.

"Roar--"

Five majestic and imposing Demon Beast appeared above everyone's heads.

"As planned, we'll go in pairs. I 'Ask Dao Sect leader to fight, the Song family members will provide backup, and two bodyguards will team up to deal with one of them!"

"Yes!"

Everyone reacted instantly. Lu Yang approached a Demon Beast, Song Wuguo provided backup for Lu Yang, and Song Hua provided backup for Meng Jingzhou.

Zheng--

The Qingfeng sword was drawn, a streak of silver light flashing across the sky, like the silver moon in the night sky, bright and unassailable.

The sword light transformed into a fierce murderous intent, facing the demonic Demon Beast.

Tao Yaoye glanced at the shepherd grass in the middle of the swamp out of the corner of her eye, a strange sense of unease lingering in her heart.

She felt something was off, but couldn't quite put her finger on it.

The second update will be before 11 PM.