Ling Xiao forced himself to contain his excitement. At that moment, he was suddenly reminded of his past life studying on Shushan; the nervousness and exhilaration he felt when he finally broke through to the Golden Core Stage and used Sword Flight for the first time were remarkably similar to his current feelings!

’Sometimes, when Ling Xiao thought about it, he felt quite fortunate. Thankfully, his soul had possessed the body of this Celestial Vein Master, allowing him to experience the world’s fickleness and humanity’s indifference as never before. This, in turn, had further solidified his Daoxin, making his state of mind even more stable!’ 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

’And the Ling Family had allowed Ling Xiao, who had never known familial affection, to feel the warmth of a home for the first time. It was enough to make him decide to treat this life as a form of mortal-world cultivation. He had to protect his family and friends, to keep them from any harm. Even if their lives only lasted a hundred years, they must, at the very least, live those hundred years happily and joyfully!’

Ling Xiao stood up and walked toward the patch of Stone Bamboo Grass. The plants were about half a meter tall, their bases creeping along the ground to form a continuous patch. The swollen nodes on their stems made them look like miniature bamboo.

The leaves were long and spear-shaped, about a finger’s length and width, tapering to a sharp point. Its base was narrow, forming clusters of flowers. Four to six small, wide, oval leaves grew beneath the flowers, their tips tapering to a tail-like point, and they were about half as long as the flower’s calyx tube. The calyx itself was cylindrical and split into five lobes at the tip. The delicate petals were a vivid red, with some variations of white and pink, and their edges were lightly and unevenly toothed. The throat of the flower was spotted or had a few fine hairs.

The capsule fruit was enclosed within the persistent calyx. The seeds were flat and ovate, grayish-black, with narrow wings on the edges... Ling Xiao squatted before the patch of Stone Bamboo Grass as if meeting a long-lost friend, reaching out to gently stroke the plants. ’I guess I should be a little grateful to those ugly Beastmen,’ he thought. ’Even though Stone Bamboo Grass is an ordinary plant on the grasslands, it’s not commonly seen.’

’But that’s just how things are. When you’re desperately searching for something, you can never seem to find it. Then, just when you’ve all but forgotten, you turn around and there it is, right beside you.’

Shangguan Yutong noticed Ling Xiao’s odd behavior. Her gaze followed his to the patch of Stone Bamboo Grass, and her eyes lit up. She walked over in delight, not forgetting to pull a diagram from her robes to compare. After studying it for a long moment, she said, "Heavens, we actually found it! Ha, this is great! Can we head back now?"

Ling Xiao nodded. "There are a few more herbs, but they’re all easy to find. Once we get them, we can head back."

’Of course, what Ling Xiao really wanted to do was pull the long-prepared Pill Furnace from his Space Ring and start refining immediately. But he knew that was unrealistic. For one, it would expose his secrets. For another, there simply wasn’t time.’

Although the other few herbs were unique to the grassland, they were also very common and found without a hitch. Afterward, the group picked up their pace and hurried toward Cameron Town.

Along the way, they encountered several groups of straggling Beastmen, most of whom were incredibly ugly. They did, however, come across a type of Fox People. They were bewitchingly beautiful—both male and female alike. Aside from their tails and slightly pointed ears, they were almost indistinguishable from humans. In all fairness, they were far more beautiful than most people.

Of course, despite their beauty, their nature was decidedly bestial. Ling Xiao and his group had no interest in showing mercy just because of a pretty face, and so they killed them all.

By the time the group emerged from the Mesopotamia Grassland and drew near Cameron Town, they were stunned by the sight before them. An army of tens of thousands of Beastmen had Cameron Town completely surrounded! The massive town was besieged so tightly it was completely sealed off. The town walls were lined with the Defense Army, all clad in standard-issue armor and armed with heavy crossbows. Below the walls lay heaps of Beastman corpses! Clearly, they had already launched an attack and been repelled.

The faint, almost imperceptible scent of blood drifted through the air, heightening the tense atmosphere. The five of them watched from afar. They couldn’t spot a single noble student on the walls; the battle likely hadn’t reached its most desperate stage yet. The Defense Army probably didn’t want those high-status students anywhere near the fighting. The responsibility would be too great if anything happened to even one of them.

"Thank goodness, they haven’t broken into Cameron Town yet," Xiao Lin said gravely. "I believe the Southern King will send troops soon!"

But Su Embroidery said, "That also means we can’t get in for now!"

Shangguan Yutong smiled calmly. "There are plenty of others who can’t get in, just like us!" As she spoke, she pointed to a spot far from the Beastmen, at the edge of the grassland. The figures of some Adventurers could be seen there. "Those are the survivors. There are probably also some merchant caravans that were heading to Cameron. Now they’re all stuck outside." ’I bet prices inside Cameron Town will skyrocket over the next few days,’ she mused.

Ling Xiao pointed toward the Beastman troops on their side of the Mesopotamia Grassland. "They’re about to attack again!"

Everyone focused their attention on the scene. Sure enough, they saw a commotion ripple through the Beastman ranks. Then came several loud roars. Immediately after, about two thousand Beastmen from various tribes brandished their weapons and charged madly toward the city walls. The ground trembled without pause. Amidst the horde, the group spotted several colossal elephants! They stood a good five or six meters tall, each with Beastmen on its back, directing its advance.

The companions exchanged horrified glances, realizing that the earth-shaking tremors they had heard the day before must have come from them.

"Heavens, it’s a Komodo War Elephant!" Shangguan Yutong gasped, then muttered to herself, "I can’t believe they actually exist... How terrifying!"

Before anyone could ask, the Defense Army on the walls unleashed a volley of arrows that blotted out the sky. The charging Beastmen held large, thick wooden shields, and some even carried the Fine Iron Shields typically equipped only by human armies!

The heavy crossbows were immensely powerful; many bolts pierced straight through the half-foot-thick wooden shields, impaling the Beastmen behind them. But the more blood was spilled, the more it roused the Beastmen’s savagery. They roared madly as they surged toward the walls.

What was shocking was that the dozen or so elephants didn’t even try to dodge the sky-blotting volley. They bent their legs, half-knelt on the ground to minimize their profile, and simply let the powerful, razor-sharp bolts from the heavy crossbows rain down on them, using their massive ears to shield their eyes. The Beastmen on their backs raised their Fine Iron Shields, and the incessant CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! of metal striking metal echoed out. Soon, each of the elephants was riddled with so many arrows they looked like porcupines.

The Defense Army on the walls couldn’t help but let out a thunderous cheer. Until now, the elephants hadn’t moved, and their sheer size had been chilling to behold. If a beast that size reached the walls, it could likely smash the gates open in a couple of blows.

They never expected them to be all show and no substance, killed so easily!

But what no one expected was that, less than two seconds into the Defense Army’s cheers, the elephants all rose to their feet. With a slight shake of their massive bodies, the sharp arrows fell to the ground like grass clippings. A few remained stuck in their hides, but it was clear the volley had caused them no real harm!

The thunderous cheers of the Defense Army died as if their throats had been seized, every shout swallowed back down.

The scene before them left them utterly aghast!

Just then, the Beastmen on the elephants’ backs stood up and let out a sky-shaking battle cry. All at once, the elephants picked up speed and charged toward the walls!

The trembling of the earth... became one continuous roar!