Chapter 273: Cleaning Up the Tail

As night fell, after Lu Yang dug up the Heaven-Herding Grass, the Jin Dan stage cultivators lost control and lay quietly in the swamp.

Occasionally, someone would wander in by mistake, and upon seeing the scene of corpses strewn everywhere, they would be frightened by the strangeness of the place and turn to run.

A gray figure drifted down. Seeing this chaotic scene, he picked up the useless root system of the Heaven-Herding Grass, his brows furrowing.

"Who did this!"

Fury surged in his heart; years of preparation had been destroyed in an instant. This matter must have a conclusion.

He was far away in the Demon Domain when he suddenly could no longer feel the Heaven-Herding Grass's movements, so he rushed over immediately.

Unfortunately, it was too late; the Heaven-Herding Grass had already been plucked.

"Retrace!"

He formed seals with both hands, complex and ancient, moving so fast that afterimages appeared.

This was a Great Divine Ability he had mastered, capable of retracing time to view past events.

A screen of light appeared before him. In the light, a Jin Dan stage cultivator pulled the Heaven-Herding Grass out by its roots. This was the limit of the time he could retrace.

"Such audacity! A mere Jin Dan stage junior dares to ruin my plans!"

"I have remembered this face!"

The gray figure gritted his teeth, staring fixedly at Lu Yang. He would scour the heavens and earth to find Lu Yang's whereabouts, reclaim the Heaven-Herding Grass, and tear Lu Yang into ten thousand pieces!

"I'm just a nobody, why bother remembering me?" A lazy voice sounded from the side.

"Who!" The gray figure was startled. The disappearance of the Heaven-Herding Grass had unsettled his mind, and in his haste, he hadn't noticed someone nearby.

"It's you! You dare to appear before me again!" Seeing Lu Yang's appearance, the gray figure's eyes narrowed. Ruining his plans, pulling out the Heaven-Herding Grass, and still daring to show his face—did he really think he had no temper, that he was made of mud?

No, that wasn't right. He was just a Jin Dan stage cultivator. No matter how anxious he was, it was impossible not to notice a Jin Dan stage cultivator hiding nearby.

It was a trap!

He lunged toward the sky, intending to flee, only to see a large net descend from the heavens, covering the gray figure.

"Secretly cultivating the Heaven-Herding Grass and harming living beings—either face justice on the spot, or obediently come back with me to face trial!" Guardian Zeng slowly appeared from another space, standing beside Lu Yang, his pupils filled with anger.

Ten Void Refinement cultivators manipulated the Heaven-Net. The gray figure exhausted all his means but could not break free from the Heaven-Net's shroud.

Guardian Zeng narrowed his eyes; the methods the gray figure used were quite ancient, not those used by Body Integration stage cultivators of this era.

"It seems to be an ancient Body Integration stage cultivator, secretly cultivating the Heaven-Herding Grass to refine elixirs and advance their realm."

Void Refinement stage cultivators' cultivation fluctuations are immense, but that doesn't mean they cannot act at all.

The cultivation of these ten Void Refinement stage cultivators was also changing, but they could ensure that two of them were always at the Body Integration stage.

Added to Guardian Zeng, who remained on the ground, that made three Body Integration stage cultivators, enough to activate the Heaven-Net.

The Heaven-Net was a secret treasure from the Great Xia Dynasty's treasury, kept at the Demon-Suppressing Pass as one of their trump cards to guard against demon tribe invasions.

As long as it wasn't a Body Integration stage cultivator of the level of a Profound Heaven Sect Elder, the Heaven-Net could suppress them.

The gray figure clearly did not have the level of a Profound Heaven Sect Elder, otherwise, he wouldn't be cultivating the Heaven-Herding Grass.

"Take him away!" Guardian Zeng gave the order, and the ten Void Refinement stage cultivators dragged the gray figure back to the Demon-Suppressing Pass.

"How did you know there was someone behind the Heaven-Herding Grass?" On the way back, Guardian Zeng asked curiously.

"Even the Heaven-Herding Grass itself didn't know it was being cultivated." This was the result Guardian Zeng obtained from personally interrogating the Heaven-Herding Grass.

"If the Heaven-Herding Grass didn't know, it's possible the person behind it modified its memory."

"I guessed there was someone behind the Heaven-Herding Grass for two reasons."

"First, the location of the Heaven-Herding Grass was too coincidental. The Heaven-Herding Grass's ability is to control Jin Dan stage cultivators, and it appeared exactly where there were the most Jin Dan stage demon beasts and Jin Dan stage cultivators in the dense forest. It was as if someone had deliberately planted it there to make it easier for it to forage."

"I thought about that too, but could it really be a coincidence?"

"That brings me to the second reason. Guardian Zeng may not know, but during my battle with the Heaven-Herding Grass, it first used an array to interrupt my directional teleportation talisman. Directional teleportation talismans are made by Nascent Soul stage cultivators. The Heaven-Herding Grass only controlled Golden Core stage cultivators; it couldn't have learned the method to interrupt a directional teleportation talisman from them."

"Furthermore, it used a Mountain-Moving Array to shift the location of the swamp. This is also not an array the Heaven-Herding Grass should have mastered."

"Someone must have taught the Heaven-Herding Grass these techniques to save its life, and that person, fearing the Heaven-Herding Grass would expose their existence, modified its memory."

"The Heaven-Herding Grass can allow a Body Integration stage cultivator to advance by a small realm, which means the other party must be at the Body Integration stage."

"Such an important thing as the Heaven-Herding Grass must have had a mark left on it. When the mark disappeared, they would surely come over. That is why I asked Guardian Zeng to act and ambush the person behind it here."

Guardian Zeng waved his hand: "How could it be asking me to act? This is my duty as a guardian. I should be the one thanking you. If not for you, who knows how long this Heaven-Herding Grass and the person behind it would have remained hidden, harming how many people."

As the two spoke, they returned to the Demon-Suppressing Pass.

Guardian Zeng had to interrogate the gray figure overnight, so he parted ways with Lu Yang.

Lu Yang arrived at the inn, where Meng Jingzhou and the others had already bought good food to celebrate Lu Yang's promotion to the Jin Dan stage.

"Come, come, come, celebrate Lu Yang's promotion to the Jin Dan stage, cheers!" The four raised their drinks and finished a cup in one gulp.

"Lu Yang has promoted to the Jin Dan stage, the three of us need to speed up our progress too. I have some leads, what about you two?" Meng Jingzhou asked.

"I am considering forming a Jin Dan related to illusionary realms. As for how to form it, I still need to research it," Tao Yaoye said.

"I haven't thought about what kind of Jin Dan to form yet." Seeing Man Gu scratched his head, smiling somewhat embarrassedly.

"No rush, there is plenty of time. At our age, besides Lu Yang, the three of us have the fastest cultivation speed. No need to rush too much." Meng Jingzhou warned Seeing Man Gu not to be impatient, and Seeing Man Gu nodded, indicating he understood.

"I need to return to the sect to consolidate my realm. There happens to be a flying boat tomorrow, so I won't be going to the dense forest with you all."

The three understood. Lu Yang was already at the Jin Dan stage; if he went to the dense forest to fight demon beasts with them, they wouldn't feel any sense of crisis, and the effect of the training would be greatly reduced.

Early the next morning, Lu Yang bought some local specialties of the Demon-Suppressing Pass, took the Heaven-Herding Grass, said goodbye to Meng Jingzhou and the others, and boarded the flying ship.

Lu Yang did not choose to fly back to the Profound Heaven Sect for two reasons. First, the distance between the Demon-Suppressing Pass and the Profound Heaven Sect was too far, and his Jin Dan stage spiritual power reserves were insufficient; he would have to stop and rest for a long time, which wasn't worth it.

Second, Lu Yang was afraid of heights.

Of course, the first reason was the main one.

Inside the flying ship's cabin, Lu Yang prepared to study this shining Invincible Pill, so he entered his mental space and saw the Decayed Fairy sleeping.

She really didn't distinguish between day and night.

"Mm, Lu Yang, you're here?" The Decayed Fairy rubbed her eyes, greeting Lu Yang in a daze.

Originally, Lu Yang was prepared to ask the Decayed Fairy what the Invincible Pill was used for, but as the words reached his lips, they changed: "Fairy, why don't you sleep a bit more?"

"That works too." The Decayed Fairy fell back asleep.

Lu Yang: "..."

I was just being polite.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 274 =====