Starting as a spiritual plant master, may I eventually become the master of all lands.

Song Chuan walked for two or three miles through the clouds and mist before the clouds and mist gradually dissipated.

Looking around again, all the fellow disciples who had been traveling with him had vanished.

Just as the sect had warned us beforehand, these clouds and mists were indeed strange.

He took out a small vine, made a simple hand seal, and pointed with his finger. The vine twisted a few times, like a small snake raising its body, and pointed in a direction.

This is a Heavenly Vine given by the sect, capable of guiding fellow disciples within a certain range.

He then took out two more maps, one of which, given to him by Xuan He, marked the path to find the cave salamander and several kinds of spiritual plants needed by Master Kuzhuo.

The other one was a simplified map of the Kongsang Mountains issued by the sect.

He compared them briefly, glanced at the direction of the Heavenly Vine, pondered for a moment, changed direction, and leaped away.

Half a day later, Song Chuan arrived at the foot of a towering mountain peak.

Giant Tree Mountain, Song Chuan's secret passage—entering this mountain is the official start of the Kongsang Mountain Range.

To the north of this mountain, there are about a dozen other mountains of varying heights. According to information left by those who participated in the adventure, most people should have entered through those mountains.

Song Chuan stepped into the woods at the foot of the mountain, and a rich spiritual energy rushed towards him.

The trees in the forest are incredibly tall, each one requiring at least five or six people to encircle its trunk; they are a type of fir, a sacred tree.

The trees are also spaced far apart, which is naturally to better distribute sunlight and soil nutrients.

Song Chuan could tell at a glance that these giant cedars with rough bark definitely had a miraculous fire-repelling effect, serving as a barrier to protect the mountain range from wildfires.

Fire-attribute magical artifacts and talismans used by Qi cultivators may not necessarily be able to damage them.

He carefully moved among the giant trees and saw various spiritual plants and vines, but none of them were rare varieties; they were at most seventy or eighty years old.

What made Song Chuan uneasy was that the entire forest was unusually quiet, without even the chirping of insects or birds.

He extended his divine sense through the bead to a place about thirty feet away, but did not sense anything unusual.

Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any powerful demons here.

However, he soon found out the reason. He walked forward for a while and saw a strange scene under a giant cedar tree that took ten people to encircle.

There was a large snake, three or four zhang long, coiling and writhing. Its body was dark yellow, and its surface was covered with some green round spots.

Around this giant snake, a dozen or so snakes, slightly smaller than it but still about two zhang long, gathered.

They were constantly coiling around the large snake and attacking each other, seemingly vying for position.

Song Chuan's gaze sharpened as he looked at the green pythons mating!

The largest one is female and is already in the mid-stage of Tier 1, while the rest are basically in the early stage of Tier 1.

If you look closely, you'll notice that the female python's body is releasing a subtle pink mist that continuously attracts male pythons from the surrounding area.

They intertwined and entwined, forming an ever-growing "snake ball".

Song Chuan's expression changed slightly, and he felt a chill run down his spine. He held his breath and stared intently before quickly taking a detour to leave.

If these guys who are "doing good deeds" get alerted, they'll definitely be in big trouble.

It is said that in the end, only one male python can successfully "take the place" after all the competition, and its mating time with the female python can last for twenty or thirty days.

How many human men would be envious of this! Song Chuan couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

After he had been running for dozens of miles, he had a sudden thought and stopped.

Just a dozen or so feet away, there was a patch of very tall spiritual plants.

These spiritual plants are not spiritual trees, but each one is two or three zhang tall, with leaves spread out like large palm-leaf fans.

A cool breeze emanates from the leaves, becoming more refreshing the closer you get.

"Wind-swaying Grass!" A hint of joy appeared in Song Chuan's eyes.

This substance is the main ingredient in a product called "Stay-at-Mind Incense," which is used by monks to calm their minds and spirits during meditation.

Of course, in many countries where summers are unbearably hot, this item is also an excellent tool for warding off the heat.

It is not particularly rare, but it is a rather practical spiritual plant.

Judging from the size of these wind-blown grasses and their fan-like leaves, they should all be at level one.

As for whether he has reached the second tier, Song Chuan will have to go over and use the sect's magical artifact to test his spiritual threads to find out.

This is not like the King Corpse Flower, which starts as a second-tier spiritual plant.

But when Song Chuan looked more closely, he felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head.

Beneath the swaying grass, a pair of human feet were faintly visible.

Its upper body is inside the wind-blown grass, as if it had plunged headfirst into it while picking the grass.

Hiss! Song Chuan gasped. This guy had only been dead for a short time, and judging from his clothes, he was a disciple of Teng Hua Valley.

This person must have come here alone because of the remoteness of the place. It's unexpected that he would die here so quietly.

Through the bead, Song Chuan saw something different again.

On the fan-like leaves of the swaying grass, strange moths, each about the size of a palm, were densely packed together.

Beneath the thick stem of the wind-blown grass lies a lizard the size of an adult, its colors constantly shifting.

However, unlike the orchid beetle, which is completely unrecognizable, it can be identified with a little closer inspection.

Occasionally, the lizard would extend its long blue tongue, scoop up a moth from a leaf, and then swiftly retract it.

The speed was so fast that Song Chuan could hardly see him stick out his tongue.

The blue-tongued lizard was at the mid-stage of Tier 1. Song Chuan recognized the creature. However, he did not recognize the moths.

However, being familiar with insects, he did not believe that these moths were not dangerous at all.

He had already realized that the moths were laying eggs, and the blue-tongued lizard was merely taking advantage of the situation to launch a sneak attack.

Once the moths have laid their eggs and gathered in a swarm, the blue-tongued lizard will behave itself.

Song Chuan jumped onto a tree, concealed his presence with a breath-concealing bead, and hid himself. He decided to wait a while and see if the moths would leave after laying their eggs.

However, at this moment, something unexpected happened to Song Chuan.

He only felt a white shadow flash by, and a small beast appeared sneakily under the Wind-Shaking Grass.

This creature is pure white and looks somewhat like a raccoon dog, but it is much longer.

A pair of dark eyes darted around, full of intelligence.

Its eyebrows are unusually long, yet they don't touch the ground; they flutter in the wind, like two ribbons at its sides.

Song Chuan swallowed hard. This couldn't be. He had just entered the mountain and had already encountered the Wind Fox, a third-tier demon beast that it valued so highly.

He sighed. This was a hot potato; he absolutely couldn't get involved with it.

Moreover, judging from its appearance, it has clearly reached the peak of the late stage of the first rank. Coupled with its wind attribute divine power, this is not something that ordinary late-stage Qi Refining cultivators can handle.

Looking at those Wind-Shaking Grasses again, yes, this Wind Fox must have come for the Wind-Shaking Grasses.

Song Chuan patted his bottom, stretched out his body, and flew away from the tree.

After leaping away from the swaying grass several times, he turned around and his expression changed drastically.

A pair of dark eyes were looking at him.

It turned out to be a wind-breathing beast with long, flowing eyebrows, walking on the wind, standing shoulder to shoulder with me at a distance of eight or nine zhang, looking at me with a curious expression.