Whether it was because our group was unlucky or if it was by design, we travelled for almost four hours without finding anything worth keeping. It seemed that the trees weren't the only part of the forest that were dead. Even its ability to nurture treasures was non-existent.

We stopped when the white tiger began to growl at Meng Hou. I wasn't privy to the contents of the conversation, but the occasional beating of his chest and the increasingly loud snarls told me it wasn't friendly.

The group never stopped moving even while the two beasts argued. It reached a climax when the tiger suddenly used its azure light once more.

The mists for ten metres around us were blasted away. Every member of the group was briefly blinded, including Meng Hou.

I half expected the tiger to attack the ape, but it did nothing of the sort. Instead, it gazed at the hairy, muscular beast with contempt.

When the ape's eyes cleared, they filled with rage. He pounded his chest and then slammed his fists on the ground before screeching at the tiger.

"Since the only language you can speak is violence, then I will resort to the human's tongue so that everyone present can understand," the tiger sneered, its piercing cerulean eyes flicking briefly to Wang Ren and I.

The sudden speech startled me, but I quickly recovered. It wasn't news to me that beasts could talk after all. In fact, I'd believed the others were simply not as evolved as our ape leader, but clearly I was mistaken.

"This forest is empty. Yanhu died to that creature before we could find a way to defeat it. There is no treasure here. No lost knowledge or ancient artifacts to find. I believe it is simply a test meant for those who enter the Blossoming Heavens. We are wasting our time here while others get ahead," the white tiger snarled.

Meng Hou froze for a moment, scratching his head with a dumb expression on his face. I, on the other hand, felt that the tiger might have a point.

I had been the main proponent of the group that wanted to search for treasure, but after four hours of searching had left us with nothing but less energy and a minor headache I felt its words had merit—her words, if the slightly feminine tone was anything to go by.

"Perhaps she is right, Meng Hou. This is only one forest. I am sure there are other places in the Blossoming Heavens with far greater riches to plunder," I said, intervening before the two beasts could get into another argument. "Let us leave. If we find anything along the way, we can decide what to do then."

"Both Shuanghu and the human make strong arguments. We should make a straighter escape from this place. I do not wish to linger longer than we must," added the tortoise beast, speaking up from within its shell.

Despite its aged appearance, it had seemed to have no problem keeping up with us while we were escaping and fighting. With all the beasts now joining the conversation, I was beginning to wonder if they'd simply chosen not to talk with me until now.

That realisation made me a little offended, but perhaps it was simply a cultural difference between humans and beasts. I wasn't about to start an argument with my only allies inside this place over such a minor matter.

"Fine. We leave," Meng Hou said, sucking air through his teeth in annoyance. "If we see treasure on the way out, it's mine."

The tiger, Shuanghu, snorted at the remark. I noticed that none of the beasts refuted his claim—not even the tiger.

Personally I felt that finders keepers was a better way to split our loot, but depending on what we found I would be happy to share. Some treasures might be useless for one person, yet priceless to another.

With that decided, we changed our strategy from a zigzagging march to making a beeline in the original direction. Whether it actually led to an exit, only the Blossoming Heavens itself knew. Then again, I doubted this forest stretched on forever, so we should eventually escape.

****

We managed to finally leave the forest, although it took so long that I had lost track of the time. At first I had done so in my head, but that soon became impossible.

Keeping a running mental clock wasn't feasible, even for a cultivator at my realm. It didn't help that the thick mists prevented any sunlight from reaching us from the moment we'd arrived here.

Additionally, there was no way to know whether the day-night cycle followed the same rules inside the secret realm as it did in the world beyond. Thankfully, there was a sun shining down on us when we escaped the tangled maze of dead wood and strange sentient nodes of energy beneath it.

Whatever that creature was, I half wanted to stay so I could study it further. However, I had a more important goal and I couldn't split from the group.

We had emerged into what seemed like an endless plain. The grass near the dead forest was gray, but the further we travelled the more vibrancy and colour returned to the surrounding vegetation.

There were a few rolling hills, but they were barely tall enough to block the horizon. Calling them hills was a compliment.

The landscape was entirely empty apart from the sea of grass, making me curse internally. Most of the beasts shared my dismay, though the cacophony of noises they made were far louder than my own silent suffering.

"Idiots, have you forgotten the human's advice so soon after escaping that accursed forest?" Shuanghu snorted. "Sense the energy."

I wanted to slap myself. The white tiger had taken my silence as me understanding the truth of our new terrain, when in reality I simply hadn't given voice to my own complaints.

Either way, having my own advice thrown back in my face was useful. I hadn't been using my energy vision to its full extent towards the end of the journey, with the mental fatigue it accumulated and the fact we found no treasures making it pointless.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Those issues combined with the delight of the sun's warmth on my face had left me using my regular sight instinctively. The instant I spread out my senses, I was struck with a torrent of spiritual energy so thick it was almost physical. The sheer quantity left me staggered.

The reason it was so dense was due to a sort of spring about ten metres in front of us. Spiritual energy was pouring out of it in waves, filling the surroundings in regular pulses.

While it looked like a spring, the truth was far from it. Once I'd recovered from the initial shock, I realised it was actually a natural treasure.

To the eye it looked like any other blade of grass, but only if one could see the dense spiritual energy it emitted would they realise the truth. Shuanghu strolled forwards, reaching down and plucking the clump of grass with her paw.

The moment she did that, the energy seemed to curl in on the grass, forming a shell that let no more leak out. The surrounding blades of grass dimmed a few shades, now that the source of spiritual fuel was gone.

Meng Huo screeched in excitement, thinking about his earlier claim. He held out a padded paw to the tiger expectantly. "First one mine," he demanded.

Rather than handing over the grass, Shuanghu's lips peeled back to reveal her fangs in a twisted grin. "Oh? Didn't you say that the first treasure we found in the forest was yours, brother?" she taunted, waving her empty paw around the plains. "It doesn't seem that we are in the forest anymore."

The moment she said that, the grass vanished. I assumed into a spatial item, but I was surprised to know that even beasts possessed such artifacts. Then again, I'd only encountered them in the wild so far.

I also didn't think any of the beasts I'd met in the wild had ancestors as powerful as this group of beasts did, judging from the monstrously strong tiger who'd appeared in front of us before we entered. I suspected the tiger obtained the spatial item from him.

"You-! Trickster," Meng Huo spat, initially snatching out but pulling his hand back with a frown on his face. Presumably the ape realised the truth of the tiger's words, but it didn't make them sting less.

I had no desire for infighting amongst my allies, so I attempted to defuse the tension. "There are many treasures nearby, I can sense at least three more on par with the one Shuanghu just harvested. You should take the next one, Meng Huo," I said, pointing in the direction of the closest clump of energy.

When he turned and felt the potent spiritual energy emanating from the next clump of grass, the monkey screeched happily and rushed towards it. Seeing the plentiful riches simply lying around for us to take made the hardships we'd suffered worth it.

I wondered if there was a silver lining to this scenario. There was no such thing as a free meal. However, we had been through a trial, so perhaps this was simply the reward?

After all, the Blossoming Heavens was described as a place where one could find endless treasures and lost mysteries. This was exactly as described.

Most of what we found were those clumps of grass with extremely dense spiritual energy. I assumed them to be some sort of herb, hence I tried to claim as many as I could for myself without being greedy.

"You should take my share," Wang Ren said, offering me the first clump of grass he'd harvested. "We are both members of the same sect, after all. I should do my part."

"Are you sure? After all you've sacrificed I wouldn't hold it against you if you kept some treasure for yourself." I meant every word. Without Wang Ren I wouldn't be standing here. He could take half the spirit stone mine for his personal use if he so desired, though I knew he would never do something so selfish.

"Of course. If we find a legendary ancient glaive or a technique that suits my fighting style, I'll take it. Otherwise, you just store everything that goes to the two of us," he said, dismissing my worries with a wave of his hand.

"Alright then, I'll do as you say." I took the grass and stored it. As we continued advancing through the plains, we accumulated dozens of clumps.

"Is this all there is in this damn place? Grass!?" the eagle suddenly exclaimed, throwing a recently harvested herb against the ground.

While I was pleased to have found such a plentiful supply of potential ingredients, the same couldn't be said for the beasts. Beasts could absorb the energy of natural treasures to refine their cores and cultivate, but the affinity had to be somewhat similar.

For an eagle beast with a fire affinity, clumps of spiritual grass wouldn't be suitable. I could understand its frustration, but didn't like the attitude.

"Patience, brother. Our journey is only just beginning. By the time we leave this place we will have acquired endless riches of all varieties," the tortoise interjected.

"Easy for you to say. All this grass is perfect for you," the eagle snorted. However, he continued to harvest treasures along with the others without further complaint.

"Stop arguing like fools, all of you. Come over here, I've found something interesting," Shuanghu the tiger yelled out in the distance.

Wondering what she might have discovered, everyone rushed over. The eagle was especially enthusiastic, glad to have an excuse to stop harvesting grass.

We all gathered around Shuanghu's discovery. It turned out to be a cave entrance in one of the small hills. The entrance was camouflaged by grass, easy to miss if you weren't keeping a keen eye on your surroundings.

The outside seemed ordinary at a glance, but all of us could sense the energy gushing out from deep within. It was at least ten times more potent than the dense clumps of spiritual energy contained in the grasses.

"What do you think it is?" the tortoise asked.

"I'm not sure. Perhaps an inheritance of some sort? It looks like a burial mound," the horse-like horned beast suggested.

At its words, a few members of the group glanced around at the other mounds that filled the plains. The idea that every single one of them might be the burial site of a powerful expert set their greed ablaze.

"Focus, fools. If all of them contained treasures then they would emit spiritual energy, like this one. Even so, I agree with Longma. Let's go in. Stay on your guard," Shuanghu said, leading the way.

Apart from those beasts who walked on all fours and weren't as tall as a human, like the horse-beast, everyone had to crouch down to squeeze through the entrance. It was uncomfortable crawling, but thankfully the passage widened as it descended into the ground.

After a while all of us were able to walk normally, even Longma with its antlers that stuck almost a metre out of its head. If not for the scales covering its body, I would've mistaken it for a reindeer.

At regular intervals along the tunnel walls, more clumps of the spiritual grass grew. The energy within those stalks was even denser than in those outside. Alongside the grasses, there were even some bright red mushrooms with equally dense energy and twisting roots that emitted a potent herbal aroma.

We all harvested them with enthusiasm, ensuring an even split amongst all the members of the group. The eagle and the badgerhog's enthusiasm at finding the tunnel rapidly dampened the more herbs we found.

"Don't tell me this is going to lead to some extremely powerful herb," the eagle groaned.

"Stop moaning. All treasure good," Meng Huo snapped, tired of the endless complaints.

The tunnel was wide enough to accommodate us walking side by side and even stacked on top of one another, if we decided to do such a thing. All of a sudden, we reached a dead end.

The confusing part was, the tunnel seemed to continue forwards unimpeded, yet there was an invisible barrier that stopped us passing any further. The various beasts tried striking it with their claws, paws, and natural weapons, but to no avail.

"What is this?" Meng Huo said with a furrowed brow.

"It must be a protective array," Shuanghu replied, tapping the barrier with a single claw. "Does anyone know how to dispel array formations?"

I silently cursed myself for not learning more from Second Elder Li before departing Million Flowers Celestial Peak. Hopefully one of the beasts was more studious than I, but I wasn't holding my breath.

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