Premeditated

"Immortal Suiyue's true form was a spiritual plant that developed sentience, just like the Heaven Herding Grass?" Lu Yang was astonished. It was extraordinarily rare for spiritual plants to awaken sentience in the first place, and even fewer went on to achieve greatness. As far as he knew, there were two ways a spiritual plant could develop sentience. The first was simply living long enough to gradually awaken intelligence—such was the case with the little Medicine Kings in the Herb Garden. The little Medicine Kings had lived for at least a hundred thousand years. For a spiritual herb to survive a hundred thousand years without being harvested, one could imagine how absurdly good its luck had to be. The other was through a convergence of extraordinary coincidences: growing inside a vein of supreme-grade spirit stones and absorbing spiritual energy day and night without pause, or brushing against some fundamental truth of the world and receiving the favor of the Dao, or perhaps being enlightened by an almighty expert. Sentient spiritual plants were so exceedingly rare that the world knew very little about them. Even though the Dao Seeking Sect possessed several little Medicine Kings in its Herb Garden, studying them thoroughly was nearly impossible. The characteristics of different spiritual plants varied drastically, leaving no baseline for comparative study. One thing was certain, however: a spiritual plant that gained sentience saw its capabilities multiply a hundredfold compared to a mindless plant. Take the Heaven Herding Grass before them—it was controlling at least fifty or sixty Golden Cores, and that wasn't even counting any that might still be lurking in secret. "Immortal Suiyue would certainly be displeased to hear you say that. How could the Heaven Herding Grass even compare to him?" "Immortal Suiyue's true form was the heaven-bridging Jianmu. Even without developing sentience, he was already a peerless immortal tree, rare across all eternity. Before he developed sentience, his branches and foliage stretched from one planet to another, colossal beyond measure. "After developing sentience, he was still weak. Worried about being targeted by malicious figures, he separated a branch to assume human form, traveling and cultivating across the mortal world, with the fruits of his cultivation feeding back into his true form. "When he ascended to immortality, the commotion was immense—it could not be concealed, nor did it need to be any longer. Only then did the world learn that the supreme genius who mastered time was not a human, but a tree. "Perhaps because the Jianmu had lived long enough, Immortal Suiyue was exceptionally gifted in the domain of time, and taking 'Time' as his Dao fruit, he achieved immortality." If the Immortal Fairy hadn't explained, Lu Yang would have genuinely believed Immortal Suiyue had comprehended the power of time because eating the Immortal Fairy's cooking made his life flash before his eyes. Lu Yang did not linger on the ancient secrets the Immortal Fairy was recounting. The situation in reality was dire. As the leader, he needed to make a decision immediately: fight, or retreat to the Demon Quelling Pass. Lu Yang sent a sound transmission to Meng Jingzhou and the other two: "Get your Directional Teleportation Talismans ready! Take the Song family members and return to Demon Quelling Pass!" Lu Yang made his decision in an instant: in a situation like this, running was their only option. Leaving aside the burden of the Song family members, the sixty Golden Cores in the swamp were simply not something Lu Yang and the others could handle. Four late Foundation Establishment cultivators defeating sixty Golden Cores? That was an impossibility; the sheer battle of attrition would grind them into dust. Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had twelve Directional Teleportation Talismans between them—more than enough to teleport everyone out. Excluding Song Wuguo, three members remained of the Song family, and along with the two bodyguards, there were five people from their camp who needed saving. Gripping his Green Blade Sword, Lu Yang stood at the very front, warily watching the Golden Cores emerging from the swamp. Taking advantage of the moment before the Heaven Herding Grass launched its assault, he signaled Meng Jingzhou to quickly distribute the Directional Teleportation Talismans. Two mud-caked Golden Cores made their move. Both were humans, their faces coated in mud so thick their original features were unrecognizable. Lu Yang met them with his sword, severing their arms, but neither felt pain; they relentlessly pressed their attack against him. The two were only in the mid Golden Core stage, but fighting with total disregard for bodily harm, they actually managed to temporarily hold Lu Yang at bay. "Don't get tangled up with them! They're all handed out—run!" Meng Jingzhou transmitted through divine sense. "Right!" With a fierce swing of his sword, Lu Yang forced the two back, then drew a Directional Teleportation Talisman along with everyone else. The Directional Teleportation Talismans ignited spontaneously, and figure after figure began teleporting toward Demon Quelling Pass. Suddenly, a light chuckle rang out: "Any of you may run, but not you, Lu Yang." Lu Yang's expression changed, realizing things had gone wrong. The voice came from the center of the swamp—it was the Heaven Herding Grass speaking! The Heaven Herding Grass swayed gently. Buried beneath the ground, spirit stone after spirit stone was instantly drained of spiritual energy, reverting to transparent crystals. A grand array hidden in the surroundings activated, coalescing into motes of light that converged upon Lu Yang and interrupted his teleportation. "Lu Yang!" "Senior Brother Lu!" "Brother Lu!" Meng Jingzhou, Tao Yaoye, and Man Gu cried out involuntarily just before they were whisked away. None of them had expected the Heaven Herding Grass to deliberately target Lu Yang, let alone prepare an array in advance specifically to disrupt teleportation talismans. The shift happened in a flash; by the time they realized something had gone wrong, they were already back at Demon Quelling Pass. "What do we do?" Song Hua and the others were at a loss. Though they had been saved, Lu Yang was still trapped back there and needed rescue. Meng Jingzhou did not hesitate. He dashed straight into Demon Quelling Pass, intending to reveal his identity to the garrison commander to mount a rescue for Lu Yang. ... "I really didn't expect to be targeted like this," Lu Yang said, staring at the Heaven Herding Grass without a hint of a smile. The Heaven Herding Grass spoke once more. Its voice sounded young, like that of an elegant, poised young master. "Lu Yang, I have had my eyes on you for two months. Now that you've finally stepped into my trap, how could I let you leave?" Lu Yang's heart chilled. Could it be that he had been watched by the Heaven Herding Grass ever since he set foot deep into the dense forest? He recalled the Golden Core cultivators they had encountered over the past two months. Had they all been controlled by the Heaven Herding Grass? "Judging by the power you displayed, you must possess a Sword Spiritual Root, don't you? "We spiritual plants have plenty of ways to preserve our lives, but few means of attack. What I desire most is to absorb cultivators with Metal Spiritual Roots or Sword Spiritual Roots to enhance my offensive capabilities. I thought I wouldn't have the chance to encounter either before maturing, yet here you are, delivering yourself right to my doorstep. "Of course, that isn't the most important part. What matters most is your clone technique! "Hand over your clone technique, and I might just spare your life!" Controlling Golden Core cultivators, the Heaven Herding Grass had observed Lu Yang from afar for a long time. The wood clone Lu Yang used had made its heart itch with craving. Until reaching a certain age, spiritual plants were incapable of moving. What the Heaven Herding Grass craved above all else was a clone technique, which would allow it to control a surrogate body and move about to do whatever it wished. Moreover, the clone Lu Yang used was a wood-attribute technique, perfectly compatible with spiritual plants. No matter what, it had to get its hands on this technique! To that end, it had painstakingly laid a trap to lure Lu Yang in step by step. Even though Song Wuguo had been exposed, it didn't disrupt the overall scheme. As long as Lu Yang came to the swamp, his fate was sealed! "Even if I handed it over, you wouldn't be able to learn it," Lu Yang said, shaking his head. He had somehow twisted the Tree Planting Art into something bizarre, and he seriously doubted this Heaven Herding Grass could twist it in the exact same crooked way. "Why don't we sit down and have a proper chat? Come back to my sect with me. The sect has plenty of resources to nurture you, so you won't need to rack your brains gathering nourishment out here. It's a win-win for everyone." The Heaven Herding Grass sneered coldly. "I know what you're thinking. You're just trying to stall for time until your companions bring reinforcements from Demon Quelling Pass. Did you really think I wouldn't be prepared for that? "Mountain Shifting Grand Array, activate!" The leaves of the Heaven Herding Grass swayed rhythmically, and the Golden Cores raised their hands in unison as another hidden grand array sprang to life. Lu Yang felt the ground lurch beneath his feet before steadying. "We've already been teleported to another location. The big figures at Demon Quelling Pass won't find this place. "Now, are you ready to become my nourishment?" Lu Yang's expression turned grave. Is this damn weed really going to force me to summon Eldest Senior Sister?