Deep underground, encased within the living roots of his treehouse, Wu Yuan was lost in a world of ancient texts. He sat surrounded by scrolls, burying himself in cultivation and study, shutting out the noise of the outside world.

Suddenly, his head snapped up.

His gaze pierced through the wooden walls, locking onto the direction of the valley battlefield above. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

Though he appeared engrossed in his reading, a sliver of his consciousness had remained tethered to the [Blood-Binding Spirit Mulberry]. Through that connection, he felt a disturbance.

Previously, the Goat Demon had lurked on the periphery, masking its presence. Wu Yuan hadn’t noticed a thing. But the moment the creature unleashed a technique to bombard the valley, the fluctuations in the ambient Qi were impossible to hide.

Wu Yuan tapped into the array patterns embedded in the valley floor. What he sensed made his expression darken instantly.

The energy signature was obscure, damp, and terrifyingly dense.

“This pressure… it feels similar to Bibo’s, but sharper,” Wu Yuan muttered, his claws tightening on the scroll. “Is this a Demon Beast at the peak of the Early Qi Condensation stage? 99 strands of Demon Power?”

He didn’t hesitate. He immediately willed the invisible silk threads of the array to snake toward the source, intending to probe the intruder’s true strength.

But the Goat Demon was cunning. The moment its [Green Surge] technique was blocked by Bibo’s earth wall, it turned and vanished. Its speed was blistering, fading from the valley before Wu Yuan’s sensory net could lock on.

Wu Yuan sat back, frustrated. However, the [Karma Pearl] hovering in his mind pulsed with a ghostly indigo-blue light.

He focused on the notification, and his expression grew complex.

[Blue Intelligence: A [Stone Wood Spirit Goat] (Early Qi Condensation, 99 Strands of Demon Power) covets the [Blood-Binding Spirit Mulberry]. It intends to purge Little Green Mountain, designating the Rat Swarm as its primary target.]

Wu Yuan exhaled slowly.

A [Stone Wood Spirit Goat]. A Second-Tier Middle Grade bloodline. Combined with a cultivation base that far stripped Wu Yuan’s own, this was a nightmare scenario.

Since his birth, this goat was easily in the top three most dangerous entities he had encountered. The only ones stronger were the Foundation Establishment Bird Demon and the unfathomable Cat King.

“Blue Intelligence… This means another life-or-death struggle is coming,” Wu Yuan murmured, analyzing the threat. “The gap in our cultivation is massive. If I make one wrong move, I’m dead.”

Just then, footsteps approached the treehouse.

Bibo walked in, his face etched with shame. He bowed low. “King, I underestimated the enemy. That Goat Demon is formidable. Due to my negligence, we lost several rat demons. I await your punishment.”

Wu Yuan waved a claw dismissively. He didn’t care about a few dead rats; they were renewable resources.

“Forget that,” Wu Yuan said sharply. “Tell me about the [Stone Wood Spirit Goat] clan. What are their capabilities?”

He knew the name and the stats from his system, but he needed context—the kind only an old veteran like Bibo could provide.

Bibo’s eyes widened, realization dawning on him. “Stone Wood Spirit Goat… No wonder its aura felt so distinct. It wasn’t a wild mutation.” He looked grave. “It has ties to the [Wood Spirit Temple]. King, this might be more trouble than we thought.”

“[Wood Spirit Temple]?” Wu Yuan’s ears perked up. “Explain. Details.”

Bibo composed himself, slipping into lecture mode.

“King, the Demon Race is not just divided by species. Above the tribes, there are the Great Temples.”

“The [Wood Spirit Temple] is a faction primarily composed of plant spirits who have gained sentience, along with certain flesh-and-blood races that have a ‘gentle’ disposition and an affinity for nature. The Stone Wood Spirit Goat clan is one of their vassal races.”

Bibo paused, a cynical sneer curling his whiskers.

“Of course, ‘gentle’ is a relative term. It just means they have better table manners than the Tiger and Leopard clans. They don’t leave a mess when they eat you.”

“In their eyes,” Bibo continued, his voice dropping, “the only life forms that matter are Spirit Plants. The [Wood Spirit Temple] was founded on the ideology of ‘returning the world to nature.'”

“They made a huge commotion back in the day. Even a nobody like me in the East Sea Dragon Palace heard the rumors.”

“What kind of commotion?” Wu Yuan asked, leaning forward.

Bibo frowned, digging through his memories. “I don’t know the specifics, but apparently, a radical faction within the Temple tried to cultivate a ‘Sacred Tree.’ They claimed that once it bloomed, it would provide eternal shelter for the Demon Race.”

” The catch? It required flesh and blood to grow. Massive amounts of it.”

“Rumor has it they instigated a war between Humans and Demons just to harvest the corpses. They sat in the back, trading spirit herbs for dead bodies, not caring how many other demons died in the process.”

Wu Yuan’s eyes lit up. “Reasonable. That is incredibly reasonable.”

It was ruthless, pragmatic efficiency. He respected it.

“What other major factions are there?” Wu Yuan pressed.

“[Beast Spirit Temple],” Bibo listed. “That’s the coalition of apex predators—fierce beasts and birds of prey. Then there is the [East Sea Dragon Palace], which rules the oceans.”

“Beyond the Big Three, you have neutral factions who just want peace, and some traitorous factions that align with humans. It’s a mess of checks and balances.”

Wu Yuan absorbed the information, filing it away for later. He brought the conversation back to the immediate threat.

“Focus on the goat. As a Second-Tier bloodline, what makes them special?”

Bibo looked at Wu Yuan with surprise. “The Stone Wood Spirit Goat clan is famous for one thing: Agronomy through slaughter.”

“They possess unique techniques that accelerate plant growth and manipulate vegetation. But their secret art allows them to use flesh and blood as fertilizer to forcibly cultivate Spirit Objects.”

“The East Sea Dragon Palace has plenty of water demons, but they lack skilled gardeners. That’s why they formed a partnership with the Stone Wood Spirit Goats.”

Bibo shrugged. “Or so I’ve heard. I learned this by chance.”

Wu Yuan stared at the otter.

Learned by chance? A loose cultivator at the initial stage of Qi Condensation just ‘happens’ to know the geopolitical history of the Great Temples and their trade agreements?

This old otter is definitely holding back.

Seeing Wu Yuan’s skeptical gaze, Bibo put on a helpless expression.

“King, please. My clan has lived in the East Sea for generations. We hear millions of rumors. Most of it goes in one ear and out the other. Unless you ask me specifically, I can’t just recall it all on command!”

Wu Yuan nodded slowly. “Fine. If you remember anything else, speak up.”

…

Meanwhile, in the valley above.

Big Old Black, the massive rat demon, was stomping through the carnage of the battlefield. He barked orders at the swarm, kicking a slow-moving subordinate out of his way.

“Lazy! Move it!”

He grumbled to himself, his voice a low rumble of irritation. “That old man Bibo… ‘Oh, I can’t command the swarm, you do it.’ Bullshit. He just wants to slack off so he can run back to the Boss and claim credit.”

“I did all the heavy lifting! I’m the one who got bit!”

Furious, he snatched up a half-dead rabbit from the pile of corpses. He shoved it into his mouth whole, crunching down on bone and fur with a wet snap.

“Damn rabbits,” he mumbled through a mouthful of meat. “Bit me like a mosquito… taste terrible too. Just as annoying as Bibo!”

He swallowed the rabbit in a single gulp, wiping blood from his snout.

Unbeknownst to Big Old Black, a few meters away, a single blade of green grass swayed in the wind. It was slightly greener than the rest, pulsating with a faint, rhythmic light.