The Winds Rise Overseas, Nishang Grass

1,708 words

Chapter 401: The Winds Rise Overseas, Nishang Grass

“Red Coral Island! This is the nearest coral island. This will do.”

Han Li muttered to himself as he stood on the Divine Wind Boat. He then drove the artifact in a wide, swift circle around the island, hovering in the air for a moment.

After confirming that no other cultivators or demonic beasts were in the vicinity of the coral island, Han Li and Qu Hun slowly descended onto it.

The island was not large. It had an irregular ring-like structure, pieced together by a scattered chain of coral reefs of various sizes.

Standing on the smooth ground, Han Li rubbed the dark red, sand-like powder beneath his leather boot and looked up, carefully assessing the island’s terrain.

After a moment, his eyes narrowed, and a contemplative glint appeared in them.

Suddenly, he ordered Qu Hun to stand guard nearby, while he himself began to walk around the island.

With Qu Hun on alert, Han Li spent the next two days wandering the island, looking at one spot and then another.

He surveyed every section of the coral island. Finally, he even dove into the seabed at the center of the ring-shaped island, not emerging for half a day.

By the third day, Han Li finally stopped. A decision had been made in his mind.

He commanded Qu Hun to begin setting up three great formations at several chosen strategic points: the “Reversed Five Elements Formation,” the “Heavenly Wind Fury Formation,” and the “Illusory Heavenly Net Formation.”

These great formations blocked the three necessary paths leading to the center of Red Coral Island.

Only then did Han Li, at the very ring-center of the island, use all the remaining array equipment he had, setting up several smaller formations to completely seal off the surroundings.

This, he thought, should be worthy of being called an inescapable net.

After finishing all this, Han Li carefully inspected everything once more. Having confirmed there were no omissions, he took a jade box from his pocket.

He caressed the surface of the jade box for a moment, a mysterious smile appearing on his face, before gently opening the lid.

Inside was a single-stemmed, thirteen-leafed spirit herb about an inch in size.

All of its leaves were curled into tight cylinders, giving it a somewhat peculiar appearance.

But even more astonishing was that its entire body was covered in a hazy white glow, emitting a faint, dazzling multicolored light. It looked very much like a celestial object.

This was Han Li’s greatest trump card for this expedition: “Nishang Grass.”

In truth, while this herb was not a common sight, it was not an extremely rare thing either. It could be found on the coral reefs of the Chaotic Star Sea.

However, if planted in ordinary soil without a brightly colored environment, the Nishang Grass would surely wither and die within a day or two. It was quite an interesting quirk of nature.

The most wonderful thing about it was that the light it emitted always matched its surroundings. It would change color according to the environment—it could emit a red light just as easily as it could emit a blue light or any other color.

However, its medicinal effects were not terribly important to cultivators, not matching its attractive appearance at all. It was merely a catalyst for refining some low-grade pills and generally did not attract a cultivator’s attention.

But Nishang Grass had another, far more sinister name—”Demon Luring Grass”—which had once caused a considerable stir in the Chaotic Star Sea’s cultivation world.

No one knew exactly which cultivator had made the discovery. This extremely beautiful herb, which had thirteen curled, cylindrical leaves from the moment it appeared, would gradually unfurl one of its leaves every hundred years. This unfurling process would last six to seven days and, at the same time, emit a strange odor.

This smell had no effect on cultivators, but for most demonic beasts in the sea, it held an irresistible allure.

Any demonic beast within a certain range that caught the scent would follow it and immediately rush over to devour the grass.

Furthermore, the older the Nishang Grass, the wider the range its leaf-unfurling could cover, and the stronger the lure for high-grade demonic beasts.

Legend had it that a Nascent Soul cultivator deep in the Outer Star Seas had once encountered a thousand-year-old “Treasure Light Grass” just as it was unfurling its eleventh leaf.

That exalted cultivator had personally witnessed the spectacle of dozens of grade-six and grade-seven demonic beasts charging toward him at once. He was so frightened that he had no choice but to flee for his life.

After this discovery was made public in the cultivation world, many cultivators thought of using this grass to lure demonic beasts, kill them, and take their demonic cores.

The greatest headache for high-grade cultivators who came to the Chaotic Star Sea to hunt demonic beasts was the scenario of searching for months on the sea surface without finding a single beast.

For most cultivators, grade-five demonic beasts were the best targets. Grade-six and grade-seven beasts came with the risk of casualties. As for grade-eight beasts and above, anyone below the Nascent Soul stage would flee at the mere sight of them.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t be hunting demonic beasts, but feeding them.

While the number of demonic beasts in the Outer Star Seas was indeed high, as long as they stayed submerged in the deep sea and didn’t surface, they were incredibly difficult to find.

Even though high-grade cultivators could traverse tens of thousands of li in a day with their artifacts and possessed the divine sense to scan the sea surface and seabed, it was perfectly normal to drift through the Chaotic Star Sea for half a year without encountering a single demonic beast.

Besides the sheer vastness of the Outer Star Seas, most demonic beasts had their own unique methods of concealment, making them easy to overlook even when searching with divine sense.

The discovery of the Nishang Grass’s miraculous beast-luring property naturally caused a stir in the cultivation world at the time.

For a while, hundred-year and thousand-year-old Nishang Grass was incredibly expensive.

But these cultivators soon discovered that this plan was nothing more than a pipe dream.

First, they had no way of accurately predicting when the Nishang Grass would unfurl its leaves.

While it was said to unfurl one leaf every hundred years, a margin of error of two or three years was perfectly normal. Cultivators who went out to sea could not effectively make use of this time window.

Secondly, they were disheartened to discover that once planted, Nishang Grass had a peculiar habit of being impossible to uproot before its first century was up.

If it were uprooted, it would lose its ability to unfurl its leaves and emit its scent.

Thus, the idea of carrying a soon-to-unfurl Nishang Grass on their person and transplanting it in the Outer Star Seas was also crushed.

And so, the name “Demon Luring Grass” was soon abandoned by cultivators, who reverted to calling it “Nishang Grass.”

Han Li had come across this account, recorded as a humorous anecdote, in a jade slip.

A flash of inspiration had struck him then. He had thought of the miraculous combination of his small vial and this spirit herb to create the perfect “waiting for the rabbit by the stump” effect.

He immediately bought a batch of Nishang Grass from the market and began experimenting in his own cave dwelling.

Sure enough, after dripping the green liquid onto it, within one to two days at the least, or four to five at the most, the Nishang Grass would certainly unfurl a leaf. During this unfurling process, it would also emit a strange aura—not pleasant, not foul, but a uniquely memorable scent.

Filled with uncertainty, Han Li released his two Bloodjade Spiders into the medicine garden. The two spirit beasts immediately grew incredibly agitated, flying over to devour several stalks of the strange-smelling Nishang Grass without a moment’s hesitation.

Once the smell was gone, the two white spiders immediately returned to their normal state.

Delighted yet cautious, Han Li observed the Bloodjade Spiders for over ten days. Seeing no abnormalities, he finally felt reassured.

With this trump card in hand, his journey to kill demonic beasts and harvest their cores was filled with newfound confidence.

After making new preparations, he brought a large quantity of Nishang Grass seedlings and his small vial, and specifically chose the Condensing Jade Island sea area, known for its many coral islands, as his teleportation destination.

After all, only in a place abundant with coral could the Nishang Grass survive.

Now, having laid his inescapable net on Red Coral Island, he only had to wait for the Nishang Grass to be induced to maturity, and the demonic beasts would come to him.

Han Li found a solitary coral reef at the ring-center of the island and transplanted the young Nishang Grass from the jade box over to it.

Although he knew that older Nishang Grass would affect a wider sea area when it unfurled its leaves, he decided to play it safe and start with a hundred-year version.

Han Li took out his small vial and carefully dripped a single drop of green liquid onto the Nishang Grass.

He then began to rest nearby on the coral island, closing his eyes to conserve his energy. Qu Hun had long since returned to his side, also recovering his strength.

On the third day, the Nishang Grass finally showed signs of unfurling its leaves right before Han Li’s eyes, emitting its strange odor.

Without a word, Han Li’s hand flashed with light as several array flags, each with a different color, appeared around him. He precisely inserted them into the ground in front of him.

He gazed at the array flags for a moment before closing his eyes again with a calm expression.

He had already decided that if no demonic beast showed up after a few days, he would drip another drop of the green liquid onto the grass to expand the lure’s range.

This way, a demonic beast was bound to come knocking eventually.

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Reading Guide Decoding

The Art of the Patient Predator: A Masterclass in Logistics

Cultural / Xianxia Notes

The ‘Waiting by the Stump’ Strategy (守株待兔): Han Li consciously compares his plan to this classical Chinese idiom. The original story is a cautionary tale about a farmer who, upon seeing a rabbit accidentally kill itself by running into a tree stump, abandons his farming to wait for another rabbit to do the same. He starves. In the hands of a Mortal Stream protagonist like Han Li, this foolish strategy is transformed into a highly efficient, risk-managed tactic. He doesn’t hope for random luck; he engineers a situation from which a specific outcome is nearly guaranteed. This subversion of a classic fable perfectly encapsulates the novel’s core philosophy: don’t rely on fate, but use your intelligence to create your own luck.

The ‘Chicken Rib’ (鸡肋) Potential of Knowledge: The story of the Nishang Grass perfectly illustrates the concept of “Chicken Rib” knowledge in xianxia. The lore was out there, written off as a failed experiment by the broader cultivation world. It was a tasteless bone—the effort required to use it didn’t justify the reward. But for Han Li, whose Heaven Vial is the one missing ingredient that makes the whole puzzle work, this seemingly useless knowledge becomes the most valuable asset imaginable. This reinforces the core theme that a protagonist’s unique advantage isn’t just raw power, but the ability to see value where others see waste.

Chapter Overview

Welcome back, fellow Daoists, to another masterclass in applied cunning. Forget flashy duels or world-shattering revelations—Chapter 401 is a pure, unadulterated lesson in Han Li’s favorite pastime: turning the system against itself. We watch our favorite paranoid cultivator transform from a wandering swordsman into a patient, calculating predator. This isn’t about raw power; it’s about preparation, patience, and weaponizing obscure botanical knowledge. The stage is set on the desolate Red Coral Island, a place that will soon become a kill box. Get ready for a slow-burn chapter where the real action isn't a fight, but the meticulous construction of a perfect trap and the clever exploitation of a neglected corner of the cultivation world’s ecology. It’s a quiet chapter, but the tension is all in the setup.

Key Plot Points

Han Li selects Red Coral Island in the Condensing Jade Island sea area as his base of operations. He spends two days meticulously surveying the island’s terrain, even diving to the seabed of the ring-shaped center.
He and Qu Hun deploy a layered defensive system, setting up three major formations—“Reversed Five Elements,” “Heavenly Wind Fury,” and “Illusory Heavenly Net”—to block the three entrances to the island’s center, with additional smaller arrays forming an inner perimeter.
The chapter’s centerpiece is the introduction of the “Nishang Grass.” We learn its history: a seemingly useless spirit herb that, once every hundred years, unfurls a leaf and emits a scent irresistible to demonic beasts.
Han Li explains why previous cultivators failed to weaponize this grass—unpredictable leaf-unfurling times and an inability to transplant the plant—which led them to abandon it as a “Demon Luring Grass.”
Han Li reveals his masterstroke: he uses the Heaven Vial’s green liquid to artificially induce the Nishang Grass’s maturity on demand, bypassing the century-long wait and the transplantation problem.
Having prepared his inescapable net, he plants a hundred-year-old Nishang Grass seedling, drips a single drop of green liquid onto it, and settles in to wait. His plan is a logistical masterpiece, proving that in the Mortal Stream, victory is achieved long before the first blow is struck.

Reading Guide

This chapter is a slow, satisfying setup that rewards patient readers. Don’t skip the historical flashback about the Nishang Grass! It’s not just a lore dump; it’s a brilliant piece of narrative economy. It establishes the rules of the world (why this plan hasn’t been done before), showcases the limitations of typical cultivators, and highlights Han Li’s unique genius in exploiting a loophole that only he can exploit. The real drama here isn’t in what happens, but in the preparation. Watch how methodically Han Li works: surveying, planning, layer upon layer of arrays. The payoffs from these setups are some of the most satisfying in the story. By the end, you should feel a cold sense of anticipation, not for a battle, but for the inevitable, efficient harvest that is about to begin.

The Lore of the Nishang Grass: A Botanist’s Nightmare

For the curious Daoist, understanding the Nishang Grass is key to understanding Han Li’s genius. In Chinese folklore and xianxia, plants of unusual appearance are often given exaggerated mystical properties (the Ginseng Fruit, Peaches of Immortality). The Nishang Grass subverts this. It looks like a celestial treasure but acts like a common weed with a very specific, localized utility. Its need for a “brightly colored environment” hints at a deeper ecological logic that is never fully explained, a classic technique in xianxia worldbuilding. This gives the world depth without overwhelming the reader with exposition. The grass is a perfect McGuffin—a rare object that drives the plot not because of its intrinsic power, but because of the unique way the protagonist chooses to use it.