Ling Zhenfei couldn't begin to express his shock, having originally thought that the eagles were the supreme rulers of this place, but who would have expected them to be outwitted by the small animals on the ground.

In two rounds of battle, the small animals lost a few of their own, but so did the eagles. Overall, the small animals emerged victorious; in this battle between birds and beasts, the latter triumphed over the former.

Although it was merely the most common survival of the fittest in nature, Ling Zhenfei found it stirred his blood and was extremely tense.

Ling Zhenfei could see that Ru Meng was also very tense. For some reason, she seemed even more anxious than the small animals on the ground, to the point of breaking out in a sweat.

"What's wrong, are you okay? The eagles have already left," Ling Zhenfei hurriedly comforted Ru Meng.

"I hate eagles!" Ru Meng said angrily, looking in the direction of the pile of rocks.

Not knowing whether the eagles would return or not, the two of them squeezed into a small tree hollow and huddled together for the night.

They only got out of the tree hollow after it got light the next morning.

"You were right. The forest is indeed very dangerous at night. Last night we really owe it to this little tree hollow," Ling Zhenfei said gratefully to Ru Meng. Although he seemed thankful for the tree hollow, the implication was that he was more grateful to Ru Meng.

"It's nothing. Let's eat something quickly and then get moving. We'd better reach the place before it gets dark," said Ru Meng, her expression not very happy. She hadn't been very happy since last night.

Ling Zhenfei didn't say anything and took out something from the Heaven-Dropping Essence Marrow to share with Ru Meng.

It was clear that although she was verbally upset, Ru Meng actually really liked the food from Ling Zhenfei.

After they finished eating, they continued on their way. For some reason in the forest, Ru Meng seemed never to get lost and led Ling Zhenfei in a certain direction.

The day's journey was very difficult. Even with the Blooming Step Technique, it was of no use, and they moved very slowly. Nonetheless, they arrived at the base of a cliff before it got dark.

Ru Meng pulled Ling Zhenfei to a stop and pointed to a distant cliff, "There, that's the cliff you're looking for."

Ling Zhenfei was surprised and looked carefully at the cliff. It was a sheer drop, not very high, about a few dozen meters, and there was a fair amount of vegetation growing on it.

After observing it closely, Ling Zhenfei could identify a few medicinal herbs nearby and couldn't help but marvel to himself that this was indeed a great place. The cliff was indeed home to medicinal herbs, and they were all very valuable.

But what astonished Ling Zhenfei the most was a clearly visible platform on the cliff with a small cave in which Ling Zhenfei did not know what lay inside.

Ling Zhenfei tried to extend his Divine Sense as far as possible, reaching out to the furthest area he could, and this took him by surprise. Although his Divine Sense couldn't reach the top of the cliff, he could see something else.

Just below the cliff there was a small cave, not very big, just over half a meter high. But inside it, Ling Zhenfei saw a python as thick as a water bucket.

"What do we do, there's such a big python here," Ling Zhenfei said in shock.

Ru Meng nodded, "It's normal to have Spirit Beasts guarding such a place full of rare and exotic herbs on the cliff. Being close to these Spiritual Herbs has many advantages. If the herbs grow and are consumed later, it might even transform into a dragon."

"What should we do then? Is there any way to get closer? I want to check if there's any Rejuvenation Grass on this cliff. If there is, I'll risk all my cultivation to get it."

"If there are none, then we should look elsewhere to avoid the python's trouble."

Ru Meng nodded, "At least you know what's what. Although I can't deal with the python, I do have a way to just take a look."

After saying this, Ru Meng took out a small pouch from her bag and from it, she sprinkled some powder all over Ling Zhenfei.

Ling Zhenfei was slightly stunned and sniffed lightly, noticing a peculiar scent on this substance, but it wasn't very strong, quite strange indeed; Ling Zhenfei had no idea what it was.

"What exactly is this, and does it have any effect?"

Ru Meng said very pleased with herself, "This is a very special herbal powder that common people don't know about. It can hide your scent so the snake in the cave won't detect you."

Ling Zhenfei laughed, "Is there really such a wonderful thing? Then I can go straight up the cliff to gather the spiritual herbs."

Ru Meng shook her head, "It's not that easy. The effect of the medicinal powder is limited, and if you get too close, you will still be detected, so you can only get a bit closer, but not too close."

Although he couldn't get too close, it was enough to make Ling Zhenfei ecstatic.

"This is wonderful, I'm so thankful for you. I never expected you to know so much. I'm a doctor, and I thought I was already well-versed in the properties of herbs in traditional Chinese medicine, but it seems I still have much to learn."

Now, Ling Zhenfei was filled with curiosity and admiration for Ru Meng.

"Stop talking nonsense. The herbal powder's effect is short-lived, hurry up and go."

Ru Meng continued to be her cool self, seemingly immune to Ling Zhenfei's admiration.

Ling Zhenfei calmed his breathing and concealed his Northern Spiritual Energy, then slowly crept towards the edge of the cliff.

He kept his body as stable as possible, using the Blooming Step Technique to move to the area below the cliff, and as he approached, Ling Zhenfei was even more amazed.

The spiritual herbs and medicines on this cliff were astonishing—Lingzhi mushrooms, Ginseng, ambergris, He Shou Wu, Rhodiola, Dendrobium... everything was there, an abundant array.

Ling Zhenfei was internally astounded; normally, many of these herbs couldn't grow together, but here they were, all on the same cliff, which was truly miraculous.

Although there was a wealth of herb varieties on the cliff, Ling Zhenfei did not find Rejuvenation Grass, which made his heart sink. Could it be that this particular herb wasn't here?

Ling Zhenfei was not willing to give up; perhaps it was because the cliff was too tall and he hadn't seen the upper section clearly, but to get a clear view of the upper half, he needed to climb up there.

The herbs in the lower half of the cliff were already considered the finest among herbs, he could only imagine how many precious ones resided on the upper half.

However, climbing up the cliff would certainly bring him closer to the mouth of the cave, and Ling Zhenfei wasn't sure if he'd be detected by the python inside. If he was discovered, that would be rather difficult.

The python was thick as a barrel; it was not so much a python, but rather a small dragon! That beast had been cultivating under the cliff for who knows how long, absorbing the essence of the herbs above, and had long since awakened to its spiritual nature.

Nevertheless, Ling Zhenfei decided to take the risk and try. He slowly approached the cliff, while Ru Meng watched from a distance, clearly understanding what Ling Zhenfei was up to.

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