Chapter 35: Obtaining the Imperial Phoenix Grass

After all, Wang He was an inner disciple of Wusheng Academy; his death outside would be a significant matter. Bringing his body back to the academy would serve as a proper explanation.

"Mhm."

Hao Lan nodded and produced a storage bag, placing Wang He's body inside. Although he did not like Wang He, since the man had died out here, he felt it was best to return the body to the academy.

As for how to handle Wang He's corpse, Chu Fengmian did not care. He walked over to the carcass of the Deep Water Cold Snake, sliced its head open with a sword, and extracted a crystalline demon core, placing it into his storage bag.

This Deep Water Cold Snake possessed the bloodline of a flood dragon; its demon core carried traces of dragon majesty, making it sufficient for refining many types of pills. Its price was consistently high; selling it for over a hundred thousand Bone Tempering Pills would be no problem at all.

Since the Deep Water Cold Snake had effectively been slain by Chu Fengmian alone, this demon core rightfully belonged to him.

After stowing the core, Chu Fengmian walked toward the center of the island. At the center lay a massive rock, and growing from the crevices of this rock were the Golden Bird-shaped Huangluan Grasses.

"Five of them in total..."

Chu Fengmian could not help but let out a gasp of surprise.

From a distance, one could only see a patch of golden light, but upon closer inspection, he discovered there were actually five Huangluan Grasses.

The Huangluan Grass was a spiritual herb that only condensed and grew under the influence of the power of the ancient divine beast, the Phoenix clan. They were typically found in the birthplaces of ancient phoenixes, or in the birthplaces or burial grounds of demonic beasts possessing ancient phoenix bloodlines.

Usually, one would only find a single stalk, or perhaps two or three in certain locations. However, discovering five at once was something Chu Fengmian had never even heard of in his past life, so it was no wonder he was extremely astonished.

"I should harvest them all first."

These stalks of Huangluan Grass were already emitting a dazzling golden light, a sign that they were completely mature. Harvesting them now would ensure the most perfect medicinal potency.

Generally, harvesting Earth-grade spiritual herbs involved certain taboos; for instance, some could not be picked by hand and required specialized jade plates, while others would wither the moment they left the soil, necessitating they be dug up along with the earth. However, the Huangluan Grass had no such restrictions; once mature, they were ready to be plucked.

With a gentle touch from Chu Fengmian, one stalk of Huangluan Grass fell into his hand. It looked remarkably similar to a real golden bird. Before long, all five stalks were in his possession.

Chu Fengmian placed one into his storage bag and walked toward the location where the other four companions were.

"There are five Huangluan Grasses in total. I have taken one, leaving four, so you four may each take one," Chu Fengmian said as he reached out to hand them to the group.

"This... thank you, Brother Chu," Mo Changhen said, looking at Chu Fengmian with a grateful tone.

Hao Lan, Yun Jialan, and Yue Zhanqing each took one as well.

The effects of the Huangluan Grass were greatest when consuming the first stalk, but the second and third would still provide benefits, albeit less potent than the first. With Chu Fengmian's current strength, taking all of them would have been as easy as lifting a finger. However, he had no intention of doing so; he had agreed to take only one, and he would not go back on his word. Chu Fengmian was a man of his word.

"You had better put these Huangluan Grasses away quickly to avoid causing trouble," Chu Fengmian warned.

While they knew the use of the herb, they could not possibly grasp its true value. A single Huangluan Grass was enough to create a peerless genius, and its value was actually far greater than that of a genius themselves. After all, if a peerless genius cannot be controlled, they hold little significance to certain families or factions. But with the Huangluan Grass, one could elevate a loyal warrior within their clan to the status of a peerless genius. This value was enough to drive countless families and powers to madness.

Even the largest power in the Wusheng Kingdom, Wusheng Academy, would likely move to seize them if they knew of their existence.

In his past life, Chu Fengmian had witnessed this once. A third-rate power on the continent, the Green Sword Sect, had obtained a Huangluan Grass. This news reached the Nine Demon City, one of the seven great sects. To obtain that single herb, the Nine Demon City slaughtered thousands of Green Sword Sect disciples and tens of thousands of servants before finally claiming it. If Huangluan Grass appeared on the continent, it would likely trigger another storm of blood and carnage.

"Understood."

Hearing Chu Fengmian's warning, the four stopped inspecting the grass and hurriedly stowed them in their storage bags. If these were discovered by others, it would be a massive calamity.

"Thank you again, Brother Chu," Yun Jialan said gratefully as she put her herb away.

Without Chu Fengmian, they would have had to rely on the academy's power to obtain these, and even then, there would be no guarantee of who the grass would ultimately belong to. Receiving one each was already a massive windfall.

Hao Lan also spoke up loudly. "Brother Chu, if you ever run into trouble and we can help, just come to Wusheng Academy to find me. Especially that Ding Hao—if he dares to cause you trouble, I'll definitely go and give him a beating."

Mo Changhen added, "Indeed, Brother Chu. That Ding Hao is narrow-minded and extremely sinister; you must be careful. If you encounter trouble, you can come to Wusheng Academy to find us."

"Mhm."

Chu Fengmian nodded. Not being able to kill Ding Hao this time was indeed a hidden danger, but he didn't care much. Ding Hao's greatest backing was merely being a young hall master of a branch within Wusheng Academy. Given enough time, Chu Fengmian would not fear even the academy itself, let alone a single hall master. The next time he encountered Ding Hao, it would be the man's death knell.

"Brother Chu, we must return to the academy now. We have been out for a while, and such an incident has occurred," Mo Changhen said, looking at Chu Fengmian. "I wonder if you wish to leave the Barren Mountains with us?"

"I intend to cultivate in the Barren Mountains for a while longer, so I won't be leaving with you," Chu Fengmian replied.