Jiang Yuebai took root next to the Bitter Luo Grass, no matter how it whimpered, refusing to leave.

It was hard to find one with Spiritual Wisdom, shouldn’t one consult on how to be a grass?

"Whimper~ How could a grass not know how to be a grass, you’re annoying~"

The Divine Thought conveyed by the Bitter Luo Grass made Jiang Yuebai feel it was like a frail person who only knew how to cry with a handkerchief.

Little did one know, the small Bitter Luo Grass, once grown, could pull mountains with exceptional prowess.

Jiang Yuebai remembered seeing in the Herbal Collection that the Bitter Luo Grass, with its bitter taste, could be used as medicine. It clears heat and dispels internal chaos caused by Spiritual Energy, and is one of the auxiliary herbs for eliminating Elixir Poison with the Dust Suppressing Elixir.

However, the roots of the Bitter Luo Grass are poisonous. While the root system tastes sweet, it can be refined into a poison that starts melting the internal organs from within. This poison brings no pain, making one feel as if they are soaking in warm water, eventually leading to death in exhaustion.

"Whimper~ I eat meat, while you Cloud Mushroom Grass absorb Moonlight to grow, don’t you? Why come and ask me?"

Jiang Yuebai sprouted two small white leaves from the White Vine, this time cleverly locking the Spiritual Energy in the roots, while rubbing the leaves in the Earth, making them earthy and dull.

The Bitter Luo Grass snickered disdainfully, "Your fragrance spreads for miles, no amount of rubbing in the Earth will help. If you don’t want to be nibbled, you must turn your leaves bitter like mine."

Hmm? Makes sense!

"How do I do it?" Jiang Yuebai asked.

The Bitter Luo Grass waved its withered and slender leaves, "Whimper~ Are you really from the Grass and Wood Clan? You don’t know such basic knowledge? Plus, it’s an innate skill of grass and wood?"

Jiang Yuebai scratched one leaf with the other, "To be honest, I lost my memory after being hit by a monkey, my Spiritual Wisdom got a bit damaged, and I can’t remember many things."

Upon saying this, Jiang Yuebai absorbed a mass of Spiritual Energy and infused it into the leaf of the Bitter Luo Grass with a pat.

"A small gift as a token of respect."

The entire Bitter Luo Grass shuddered, causing dust to flutter around.

"Hiccup~ You actually gifted me Spiritual Energy?!" The Bitter Luo Grass exclaimed in disbelief.

Jiang Yuebai scratched her leaves, "Is it not allowed?"

"Whimper~ In the forest, apart from coexistent clans, all energy needs to be seized on one’s own, like... see that red-backed rat."

The Bitter Luo Grass pointed with its slender leaves into the distance, and Jiang Yuebai saw a scrawny red-backed rat sniffing around, digging everywhere.

"The water on this grassland has been absorbed into my roots, and it can’t find water to drink."

The red-backed rat, a common type of rodent, isn’t very smart. It can’t find water, so it nibbles on the nearby Bitter Luo Grass.

The red-backed rat is small and starts nibbling from the lower part of the Bitter Luo Grass, whose leaves are long and slender, getting increasingly bitter towards the tip.

The initial bitterness is unpalatable but provides some moisture to the red-backed rat. As it nibbles further down, closer to the roots, sweet flavors and more moisture seep out, making it irresistible to the rat, encouraging it to eat more.

Finally, the poison from the roots seeps into the red-backed rat’s body, causing it to collapse beside the grass cluster. The roots of the Bitter Luo Grass emerge from the soil, wrapping around and consuming the rat’s corpse.

"Red-backed rats have little Spiritual Energy, just enough to fill the gaps between my teeth."

"Why don’t you make the whole grass sweet, wouldn’t it then attract larger animals, allowing for a bigger meal at once?"

The Bitter Luo Grass sways its leaves, "Whimper~ I’m so weak, how could I withstand the nibbling of big beasts? Naturally, I need to be a bit bitter to let them disdain me and not come to eat me."

Jiang Yuebai used her Divine Thought to scan the withered grassland, spotting a herd of large Fire Rhinoceroses coming, head down eating the grass, munching and defecating as they go.

"Whimper~ I love the gifts from the Fire Rhinoceroses~"

The Bitter Luo Grass exclaimed in excitement, extending its roots underground to rapidly decompose the Fire Rhinoceroses’ droppings.

"Zhizhi, would you like some?"

Jiang Yuebai’s leaves contracted, "Uh~ No, thank you."

"It’s very delicious, how could you despise it?"

The Bitter Luo Grass swayed, not letting a single drop go to waste, absorbing and devouring it all.

"My leaves help the Fire Rhinoceroses expel impurities within, and these impurities are the best nutrients for me, making my roots grow better and stronger~"

Jiang Yuebai somewhat understood now, the survival methods of grass and wood.

Actually, she realized that by thinking back on how one cultivates Spirit Plants, absorbing sunlight and rain, and fertilizing as needed, one can thrive.

But Spirit Plants tended in a Spiritual Field are different from those in the forest. Here, no one protects her or fertilizes her; she has to rely on herself for everything.

Jiang Yuebai silently set two crucial goals for herself.

First, become bitter to prevent being nibbled again, possibly even become poisonous. To do this, all she needed was to absorb some poisonous plants.

Second, eat poop (crossed out)

For now, she should focus on accomplishing the first goal. Things should be done one at a time; one shouldn’t be too hasty in being a grass.

Furthermore, while the Bitter Luo Grass is a carnivorous plant, and she doesn’t mind eating meat, Cloud Mushroom Grass itself doesn’t eat meat, so she needs to find another vegetarian grass to consult.

"Bitter Luo, I have a few more questions to ask you..."

Jiang Yuebai retracted her far-reaching roots, steadily coiling around the Bitter Luo Grass stems, the two white leaves almost sticking to the Bitter Luo Grass.

The Bitter Luo Grass shivered unexpectedly, feeling a storm brewing.

"Were you born bitter, or did you become bitter later? How does this process of becoming bitter work? And how did you awaken your Spiritual Wisdom? Besides eating meat and poop, do you have other cultivation methods? What do you rely on to enhance your Cultivation usually?"

"Have you always been rooted here, or can you wander to other places? To what extent must grass and wood cultivate to achieve Transformation? Besides guarding against herbivores, what else should our Grass and Wood Clan be wary of in the forest? Do we have any places to gather and exchange cultivation insights among the Grass and Wood Demon Clan? And..."

Bitter Luo Grass: (＠_＠*)

Not far away, a grazing Fire Rhinoceros suddenly stopped, realizing the grass in its mouth was more bitter than before, and all the grass on the grassland suddenly wilted.

The Fire Rhinoceros looked up in confusion. The sky was overcast, not a blazing sun; what happened to the Bitter Luo Grass?

Three days later, Jiang Yuebai finally figured out the basics. Once again retracting her leaves, she gathered her Divine Thought onto the White Vine at the base, burrowing underground to venture further into the rainforest.

Along the way, she paused whenever night fell, wrapping her vine body around trees to ascend in places without obstructions, where no beasts roamed, to absorb Moonlight.

The overall strength of Little Bai increased rapidly, her leaves becoming robust, starting to sense more of nature’s Spiritual Energy, allowing her to attempt Little Demon Techniques.

The Demon Realm appeared vast beyond measure for a little Cloud Mushroom Grass. The Little Grass Demons Jiang Yuebai encountered along the way were few, mostly just ordinary plants without Spiritual Wisdom.

Among them, she left none unscathed, absorbing and integrating the toxins, transforming herself into a highly poisonous Cloud Mushroom.

A dozen days later, Jiang Yuebai finally found the Ten Thousand Wood Forest mentioned by the Bitter Luo Grass, the main gathering place for the Grass and Wood Demon Clan.