Jiefeng nodded suddenly: "How do we break this illusion?" "Just let Xiangxiang absorb the medicinal power, and it will reveal its true form," Taiyan said with a smile.

Hearing her answer, Nie Kong knew he had asked a foolish question. With a thought, the little creature's body immediately swelled, its roots and stems wrapping tightly around the Qu Long Grass. Then, its emerald-green innate medicinal power poured out in great swathes from the leaves and stems, completely covering the vine.

In just over ten seconds, the little creature's body and its innate medicinal power began to recede simultaneously. A moment later, the Qu Long Grass, fully exposed to the air, started dissolving. In the blink of an eye, the two-meter-long vine was reduced to nothing more than a half-foot-long root filament, gently drifting toward the ground.

"Just as I thought!"

Kong was swift; he snatched the Zhu Long Grass root filament. After the little creature absorbed the medicinal power, the life force within the root was completely extinguished.

"Ah-ya-ya?"

Xiangxiang seemed somewhat dejected, its little flower bud drooping in a crestfallen manner. But immediately after, the little creature's spirits lifted again. With a whoosh, it dropped to the ground in front of Nie Kong and then scampered out toward the external passage, clearly having made another discovery.

Nie Kong hurried to follow...

After four or five minutes, at the end of a passage, a second identical "Zhu Long Grass" materialized. Without a word, the little creature swelled its body and pounced upon it.

A moment later, the number of Zhu Long Grass root filaments in Nie Kong's hand increased from $n$ to two.

Several more minutes passed, and the number of root filaments grew to three!

"Ah-ya-ya!"

The little creature chirped happily and started to rush back the way they came. Although they were just root filaments, the medicinal power within them was quite intoxicating to it. However, Nie Kong could not let it continue. The little creature had only run a few meters when its body began to retreat, falling back into Nie Kong's palm.

The little creature swayed its flower bud in confusion, seemingly quite bewildered.

"Based on the current situation, that stalk of Zhu Long Grass must have achieved sentience and detected my presence, constantly generating illusions to keep me running ragged. If I keep searching like this, it might take ten days or half a month before I even find the true form of the Qu Long Grass."

Nie Kong's mind raced. "Since that's the case, I absolutely cannot grant its wish. Its true body is hidden, and the illusions it releases contain real medicinal power, which is intensely alluring to Xiangxiang. If I continue to rely on the little creature, I will only find more of the same illusions."

"Qingyue won't work either. Although she is proficient in illusion arts, her sensitivity to medicinal herbs is far inferior to Xiangxiang's. Moreover, the Qu Long Grass's soul power surpasses hers, making it difficult for her current abilities to penetrate the Zhu Long Grass's illusions."

"Taiyan is also out of the question. Her eyesight is the strongest, and her hidden strength is the greatest, but she cannot use it. Her ability to sense medicinal herbs is probably inferior even to Qingyue's."

Eliminating Xiangxiang, Qingyue, and Taiyan one by one, Nie Kong finally turned his attention back to himself, continuously searching through the inheritances of the Chi Xing and Pan Xing clans.

"Blood Shadow Dharma Aspect?"

After a long pause, Nie Kong softly uttered these words. He furrowed his brow in deep thought for a while, and finally, a slight smile touched his face. "Xiangxiang, find another one. Zhu Long Grass, come out!" With that, Nie Kong released the little creature that had been squirming in his palm.

"Ah-ya-ya!"

Xiangxiang excitedly nodded its little flower bud and continued its search.

This time, the process took longer—nearly ten minutes before the fourth Zhu Long Grass illusion was found. The little creature happily rushed over to absorb it, but under Nie Kong's instruction, Xiangxiang did not absorb all the medicinal power contained within the illusion, leaving a small trace behind.

That trace of medicinal power was insufficient to sustain the two-meter illusion. So, when the little creature released it, the leaves and stems of the Zhu Long Grass collapsed just the same, leaving only a single root filament behind.

Sensing the residual medicinal power and life force in the root filament, Nie Kong smiled with satisfaction. He tucked his wooden staff into his storage pouch and immediately sat cross-legged on the ground. The color of his "Lingxi Battle Robe" rapidly changed, gradually taking on a layer of ghostly green that perfectly matched the hazy void surrounding them.

At Nie Kong's command, the little creature returned to the Ling Shen Aperture, Qingyue retreated into the hand-card, and Taiyan likewise slipped back inside Nie Kong's clothing. Nie Kong remained seated, motionless, like an ancient, unmoving sculpture... For a time, there was no sound in the passage, the silence being somewhat terrifying.

"Medicine King Incarnation!"

After an unknown amount of time, Nie Kong's motionless body suddenly split into two identical figures. One of them was the incarnation Nie Kong had just condensed, using the "Fire Tree Silver Flower" as its foundation. Counting the instance within the Pan Hu body space, this was the second time Nie Kong had manifested the Medicine King Incarnation.

He thrust the first three root filaments into the hands of the "Medicine King Incarnation." Their medicinal power was gone, and their life force extinguished, but they retained a faint aura of the Zhu Long Grass. Then, Nie Kong continuously forced out dark green blood from the tip of his right index finger, smearing the fourth yellow root filament until it turned dark green.

"Hiss! Hiss! Hiss..."

Nie Kong’s fingers rapidly sketched patterns in the void, and strands of golden divine power emerged from the Nether Star, sinking into the Qu Long root filaments.

Gradually, a dark green radiance began to bloom from the blood coating the surface of the root filaments, becoming brighter and more dazzling as time passed. Then, that cluster of radiance twisted and shifted, and after several minutes, it condensed into a foot-long phantom image of the "Zhu Long Grass."

"Blood Shadow Dharma Aspect!"

This was a technique from the Chi Xing inheritance. As long as a fragment of the opponent's aura was obtained, one could use their own blood and divine power to condense it into the opponent's true form—this was the "Blood Shadow Dharma Aspect."

Due to that sliver of aura, the "Blood Shadow Dharma Aspect" shared a subtle, mysterious connection with the opponent's true body. By activating the Dharma Aspect, one could accurately locate the true body. Most wonderfully, the opponent would never detect it; it was an incredibly miraculous tracking art.

Furthermore, the stronger the aura used to condense the "Blood Shadow Dharma Aspect," the stronger the Aspect's sensing ability, and the faster it could locate the true body. This was why Nie Kong had asked the little creature to find the fourth Zhu Long Grass illusion; a root filament retaining life force was much stronger than one whose medicinal power had been completely drained.

The environment here was different from the outside. A single "Blood Shadow Dharma Aspect" could not silently locate the true body of the Zhu Long Grass. But having the "Medicine King Incarnation" changed things. By leaving the "Medicine King Incarnation" and those three root filaments here, the Zhu Long Grass would sense Nie Kong as being in this location.

Under the cover of the "Medicine King Incarnation," Nie Kong, concealed by the "Lingxi Battle Robe," should be able to achieve his goal.

"Hiss!"

Another burst of divine power shot out, and the Blood Shadow Dharma Aspect immediately floated lightly out into the exterior passage.

Nie Kong rose to his feet, and the Lingxi Battle Robe extended upward, enveloping his entire head. At this moment, Nie Kong's entire being merged into the eerie green void, drifting behind the "Blood Shadow Dharma Aspect" like a phantom, causing no disturbance wherever it passed.