Two months of training had given the four of them a sufficient understanding of the dense forest.

Monsters at the Golden Elixir stage and above generally had a strong sense of pride. Unless they encountered situations that provoked their collective indignation, such as the ancient barbarian bloodline, they would not act collectively.

“It’s indeed a bit strange. Normally, my bloodline should have a suppressive effect on monsters, but I didn’t feel that in the recent battle,” Man Gu recalled the anomaly he encountered during the fight.

The ancient barbarian bloodline was always advantageous in battles against monsters. Since successfully awakening his bloodline, Man Gu had never encountered such a situation.

Lu Yang frowned, pondering the reason.

“Ah—what is this!”

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

“Song Wuguo, what are you screaming about!” Song Hua scolded his companion. Everyone was thinking about the problem, and his scream had disrupted everyone’s thoughts.

“Lo-look at this!” Song Wuguo sat on the ground, trembling as he pointed at the monster he had dissected.

He originally wanted to dissect the monster’s inner elixir to repay Lu Yang and the others for saving his life, but he was startled by the abnormality of the inner elixir.

Lu Yang walked straight over. He saw the lone wolf had been dissected, and there was an inner elixir at the position of its dantian. It was somewhat dim, wrapped in dry yellow leaves. The leaves were thin and densely packed, with white filamentous substances connecting them, sticky and gooey.

Lu Yang covered his right arm with spiritual power and took out this strange inner elixir.

“The inner elixir is normal, so the problem lies with the leaves?”

“Dissect the other monsters!”

Everyone started to dissect the monsters, and the results came out quickly—all five monster’s inner elixirs were wrapped in these dry yellow leaves.

Lu Yang thought about all the knowledge he had learned, but none of it matched the leaves. “Does anyone recognize these leaves?”

Even the knowledgeable Meng Jingzhou shook his head repeatedly.

Tao Yaoye and Man Gu also shook their heads to indicate that they didn’t recognize it.

As for the Song family members, their knowledge was even less than Tao Yaoye and Man Gu. Their level was limited to identifying common spiritual plants.

The two bodyguards who had lived in the Monster Suppression Pass for many years had never seen these leaves either.

“I feel like I’ve seen this in a book… Is it Sky Shepherd Grass?” Song Wuguo muttered quietly.

“Sky Shepherd Grass?” Everyone turned their heads to look at Song Wuguo in unison.

Song Wuguo felt a tremendous pressure. He was timid and liked to read books since he was a child. He didn’t like to interact with people, and this was the first time so many people were looking at him.

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

“I just feel it looks familiar, I’m not sure. I saw an ancient book from the Great Yu era in the scripture library. It was a notebook of a Body Fusion stage alchemy master. It mentioned a spiritual grass called Sky Shepherd Grass. The drawing in the book looks very similar to this.”

“The book says that Sky Shepherd Grass looks like weeds when it first grows and has a strong ability to camouflage. Whatever the nearby plants look like, it will look the same.”

“When it’s about to mature, it will devour monsters, using the monsters as nutrients to promote its own maturity.”

“At the same time, it can also parasitize a part of itself in the monster’s body, controlling the monster’s every move, and letting the monster go out to find food for it.”

“The ‘Shepherd’ in Sky Shepherd Grass comes from its parasitic characteristic, meaning to shepherd.”

“You all know the spell to drive corpses, right? The legend says that the cultivator who created the spell to drive corpses got the inspiration from the parasitic way of Sky Shepherd Grass.”

“What a demonic grass!” Meng Jingzhou frowned. This Sky Shepherd Grass exuded a sense of evil.

“Fairy, have you heard of Sky Shepherd Grass?” Lu Yang secretly asked the Immortal Fairy.

“There are a few minor errors, but overall it’s not far off.” The Immortal Fairy confirmed the existence of Sky Shepherd Grass.

Song Wuguo was rarely given attention, and the more he spoke, the more excited he became. “Brother Song Hua, this Sky Shepherd Grass is so rare that even Body Fusion stage experts have never seen it. It’s beneficial for Body Fusion stage cultivators. If we can pick the Sky Shepherd Grass and present it to our grandfather, our position in the Song family will be secured!”

“If we manage it well, the position of the clan leader could also be yours!”

“Is this thing really that rare?!”

“Really, the ancient book I read was written by a Body Fusion stage alchemy master. He only saw two Sky Shepherd Grasses in his life. The book also recorded that the Sky Shepherd Pill made from Sky Shepherd Grass can enhance a small realm for Body Fusion stage cultivators!”

Song Hua’s eyes lit up. It was indeed a good thing, but he quickly calmed down. “We were almost hunted by the Sky Shepherd Grass. With our abilities, how can we pick the Sky Shepherd Grass alive? It’s better to go back and inform our uncles and ask them to take action.”

“If we let our uncles take action, how should we calculate the credit? Brother Song Hua, don’t worry, we might actually be able to pick the Sky Shepherd Grass.”

“How so?”

“The Sky Shepherd Grass can control up to ten monsters. These five are all at the Golden Elixir stage, which means it can only control Golden Elixir stage monsters at most. In other words, it only has five Golden Elixir stage monsters left.”

“As long as Young Master Meng helps, these five Golden Elixir stage monsters are nothing to fear!”

Song Hua thought about it, and it made sense.

Both the Meng family and the Seek Tao Sect cultivators had one characteristic, that is, they would not use pills to directly enhance their realm.

So neither the Meng family nor the Seek Tao Sect would compete with him for the Sky Shepherd Grass.

“That’s the case. After I get the Sky Shepherd Grass, I will report it to the family and thank the four of you with heavy gifts!”

The Song family always kept their promises.

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

If he hid it now and Meng Jingzhou found out later, it would damage the relationship between the Meng family and the Song family, which would be more harm than good.

Meng Jingzhou agreed on behalf of everyone. They originally planned to remove the Sky Shepherd Grass. The threat of the Sky Shepherd Grass was too great. If it was allowed to hunt for nutrients, who knows how many people would be in danger.

“We were attacked by monsters in this direction, so the Sky Shepherd Grass is likely to be here!” Song Wuguo recalled the escape route. He was the calmest and remembered the route even while escaping.

“Let’s go!” Everyone finished their rest and headed deep into the dense forest.

Ten figures shuttled through the dense forest, taking turns to open their divine consciousness, looking for clues of the Sky Shepherd Grass.

“The ancient texts say that the Sky Shepherd Grass prefers dark and damp environments. Please keep this in mind when you’re searching,” Song Wuguo reminded loudly.

“Understood.”

“I found it! It’s right in the middle of that swamp!” Song Hua shouted excitedly.

“Don’t let your guard down! The demonic beast controlled by the Sky Shepherd Grass might be nearby!” Lu Yang warned everyone through his divine sense.

No sooner had Lu Yang finished speaking than they heard the roar of a demonic beast overhead.

“Roar——”

Five majestic demonic beasts appeared above them.

“Stick to the plan. Pair up, I, as the Sect Master of Seek Tao Sect, will lead the fight, the Song family members will flank, and the two bodyguards will team up to deal with one beast!”

“Yes!”

Everyone reacted instantly. Lu Yang targeted one beast, Song Wuguo provided support for Lu Yang, and Song Hua supported Meng Jingzhou.

Zing——

The Green Edge Sword was unsheathed, a silver light streaked across the sky, like a silver moon in the night, bright and inviolable.

The sword light transformed into a fierce killing intent, confronting one of the beasts.

Tao Yaoye, with a sidelong glance, observed the Sky Shepherd Grass in the middle of the swamp, a sense of unease lingering in her heart.

She felt that something was off, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.

The second update will be before eleven o’clock.

(End of the chapter)