When Lu Wenshu entered, he noticed that Bai Luochu was setting up shop with all kinds of beast essences laid on the table. At first, Lu Wenshu teased her, “What is going on? Does our Divine Physician Bai feel that she has too many beast essences and wishes to sell some to earn some allowance? Just state your price. I will definitely sell Divine Physician Bai this favor.”

Bai Luochu rolled her eyes at Lu Wenshu and said, “Now is not the time to joke around.”

Lu Wenshu noticed Bai Luochu’s gloomy face and knew that something was up. Why else would she voluntarily look for him?

“Take a closer look at the beast essences. I have already sorted them by dates. The ones closest to me are the ones that were collected recently. Can you sense anything fishy about them?” Bai Luochu pointed at the beast essences and questioned Lu Wenshu.

Lu Wenshu turned serious. After all, there was nothing much that could make Bai Luochu so serious. Lu Wenshu’s expression turned gloomy after taking a closer look and he asked, “Did you notice something strange about them?”

Bai Luochu stayed silent for a moment before speaking, “Now that you say it, I am 100% sure there is something strange about them.”

The atmosphere became increasingly grave, so much so that Pei Rumo was affected. He seemed to realize that something was up after looking at the two of them.

Pei Rumo couldn’t bear the suspense any longer. “What is the problem with the beast essences?”

Bai Luochu looked at Lu Wenshu who nodded at her. After Bai Luochu was certain about her conjecture, she explained to Pei Rumo, “These beast essences are demonized.”

Pei Rumo heard the explanation and was startled. 

Demonized? What is that?

Bai Luochu saw Pei Rumo’s puzzled expression and she explained, “Your First Highness might not know this but spirit beasts normally absorb spirit qi during their cultivation. No matter how aggressive they are, they will never turn into demons. However, I became suspicious when the usually docile spirit beasts started attacking us. Moreover, there was something strange with the beast essences Your Highness handed over to me. Due to the tight schedule, I wasn’t able to study them. After getting some spare time, I did some research on them before rushing over to inform the two of you. I thought I might be wrong but after Young Master Lu gave his confirmation, I am sure of my conjecture. As we head closer to the Desolate Region, the demonization of the spirit beasts would become more apparent.”

“What does this mean? What has that got to do with our campaign?” Pei Rumo continued to ask.

Bai Luochu glanced at Lu Wenshu and indicated for him to finish the rest of the explanation.

When Lu Wenshu saw Bai Luochu’s expression, he understood that Bai Luochu didn’t wish to continue speaking. Therefore, he carried on and explained to Pei Rumo about the possible dangers that they might encounter.

“Your First Highness, the demonization of the spirit beasts becomes more apparent the closer we get to the Desolate Region. This means that the source of demonization is definitely near the Desolate Region. If that is the case, the difficulty of the campaign just increased a level. We were only concerned about the supplies, but now, there is another point we need to take note of. There might be something in the Desolate Region waiting to act against us.”

After listening to Lu Wenshu’s explanation, Pei Rumo raised an assumption, “Do you think there might be someone demonizing spirit beasts in order to stop our campaign?”

As soon as Pei Rumo finished speaking, Bai Luochu denied the assumption, “Impossible, there are too many spirit beasts. It is basically impossible to demonize all of them. Apart from natural power, I don’t think there are other possibilities.”

After Bai Luochu denied Pei Rumo’s assumption, he realized that this matter was very serious. He muttered to himself, “It seems like we need to be very prudent.”

All of a sudden, a soldier came to report, “Not good, not good! Your First Highness, there is a pack of spirit beasts attacking us. Our brothers can’t hold them back!”

As soon as the soldier made the report, the three of them charged to the front lines.

“Help!” When they arrived at the front, they heard soldiers screaming. Without any choice, Lu Wenshu and Pei Rumo used their spirit qi to repel the spirit beasts.

The soldiers made use of the opportunity to retreat, leaving Bai Luochu, Pei Rumo, and Lu Wenshu in the middle of the battle.

The trio exchanged looks and used the previous method to hunt the demonic beasts.

The most effective method to deal with the demonic beasts wasn’t to use spirit qi but to use spiritual energy. It was fortunate that among the trio, Bai Luochu had outstanding spiritual energy. She immediately released her spiritual energy to restrain the movements of the demonic beasts. In her eyes, all of their movements became sluggish.

“Towards the southeast, more to the south! Ten steps away!” Bai Luochu constantly informed Pei Rumo and Lu Wenshu the positions and the distances of the demonic beasts near them. Acting together, the number of demonic beasts that died slowly increased. However, it became increasingly harder to deal with the demonic beasts at the back.

Bai Luochu’s reserve of spiritual energy was about to be exhausted and it seemed as though the demonic beasts realized that Bai Luochu was the true leader. They intensified their attacks on Bai Luochu and both Pei Rumo and Lu Wenshu had to give their all to protect her.

Even if that was the case, they were still unable to block the crafty demonic beasts. One of them managed to circle around and it approached from behind her.

Bai Luochu placed all her attention on the battle before her and she failed to notice the demonic beast creeping up on her. By the time she noticed, it was too late to evade.