My Five Bigshot Seniors: I am The Most Coddled Junior!-Chapter 106 - 58: Piqiu

Pang Qi and his group seized the moment when Mu Chen and the Golden Line Ape King weren’t paying attention, and quickly rushed to the Phoenix Spirit Grass, trying to grab it.

Just as Liu Fei’s hand was about to touch the Phoenix Spirit Grass, his smile hadn’t even had a chance to spread when he was kicked flying. As he was sent flying back, he saw the figure of Mu Chen.

Upon realizing Liu Fei’s actions, Mu Chen immediately tossed a dozen powerful talismans onto the Golden Line Ape King. Without caring about what was happening to the Golden Line Ape King, he flashed in front of the Phoenix Spirit Grass, kicked Liu Fei away with a cold expression.

This wasn’t enough; he flew forward, and amidst Liu Fei’s horrified gaze, he pierced through Liu Fei’s chest with his spear. When he pulled out the Flame Spear, Liu Fei’s body lost its support and fell heavily to the ground, leaving a pit on the ground.

Only by experiencing it firsthand could one understand how powerful Mu Chen was, but unfortunately, Liu Fei no longer had the chance to speak.

The talismans Mu Chen threw at the Golden Line Ape King were all highly destructive ones. The Golden Line Ape King, hit by more than a dozen talismans at once, had its left forelimb blown off, a bloody hole appeared on its stomach, and its head was on fire, making it look very miserable.

After dealing with Liu Fei, Mu Chen didn’t even glance at Liu Fei’s corpse. He directly turned to the Golden Line Ape King, taking advantage of its frenzy, and pierced the Golden Line Ape King with a dozen shots, each hitting vital spots, leaving the Golden Line Ape King to fall unwillingly to the ground.

Mu Chen turned his head, looking towards Pang Qi and the others.

They were all stunned when Liu Fei died. Although Liu Fei wasn’t a good person, he was at a fourth-stage peak cultivation, but Mu Chen resolved him in one move without giving him any chance to retaliate, clearly demonstrating Mu Chen’s formidable strength!

It was only then did they realize the judgment they had made about Mu Chen was wrong, having underestimated Mu Chen’s power!

Afraid of Mu Chen’s revenge, they deliberately split up to run away, fearing being captured all at once.

Yet, they still underestimated Mu Chen’s power!

With a few leaps, Mu Chen had already reached Pang Qi. In his haste, Pang Qi waved his sword to fend off the attack, but Mu Chen easily flicked away the sword, then pierced through his heart with his spear. With eyes wide open, he lost his breath, his body collapsing to the ground.

Subsequently, Mu Chen used the same method to kill Zhang Xiaochen and another man.

Returning to the Phoenix Spirit Grass, he flicked off the blood from the Flame Spear, put it away, took out the medicine hoe, and carefully dug up the Phoenix Spirit Grass. After securing the Phoenix Spirit Grass, he came to the Golden Line Ape King’s corpse.

He took the Demon Core and its blood from the Golden Line Ape King, leaving everything else behind, turned, and continued on his journey.

...

Gu Qingqing, Jun Wu, and Rong Ye rode the flying boat until sunset before descending to the ground, finding a flat place for the night’s camp and lighting a bonfire. Rong Ye hunted a first-level rabbit, cleaned it, and set it over the fire to roast.

To take good care of Gu Qingqing over the years, Rong Ye and Si Lin had both developed excellent culinary skills, always keeping a stock of various cooking spices and utensils in their Qiankun Rings. After preparing the rabbit, Rong Ye took out some spirit mushrooms to make a mushroom soup for Gu Qingqing.

Watching Rong Ye bustling around, Jun Wu glanced at his own hands, paused, and internally decided to learn some culinary skills himself!

Accustomed to being taken care of by Rong Ye and the others, Gu Qingqing sipped the Spiritual Dew given to her by Rong Ye, her eyes fixed on the rabbit, expression full of longing.

Rong Ye flipped the roast meat, sprinkled some seasoning on top, and glanced back, seeing Gu Qingqing staring at the roast meat. The corners of his mouth couldn’t help but curl up slightly, and he turned back to stir the pot of soup.

Smelling the roasting meat in the air, Gu Qingqing inadvertently swallowed, her gaze on the roast meat burning with heat.

Just as Rong Ye felt the roast was ready and was about to hand it to Gu Qingqing, their vision blurred, a golden figure flashed by, and suddenly the cooked meat vanished from his hand.

Gu Qingqing had been eyeing the roast meat, and with the meat nearly in her mouth, it was snatched away, making her furious as she chased after the figure.

Rong Ye and Jun Wu exchanged a glance and followed suit.

The meat thief appeared to be a small beast, but despite its small size, it was incredibly fast, leaving all three of them unable to catch it, filling them with amazement.

"Fixed!" Seeing the figure about to disappear, Gu Qingqing furrowed her brows, opened her mouth, and an ethereal, mysterious voice floated out from her lips.

The figure ahead froze still. Before it hit the ground, Rong Ye flickered to its side and caught it.

"Is this... a Piqiu?" Rong Ye’s voice was filled with astonishment as he looked at the creature in his hands, visibly shocked.

When Gu Qingqing and Jun Wu arrived beside Rong Ye and saw the little beast in his arms clearly, they too were very surprised.

The little beast, held by Rong Ye, had a build like a tiger or leopard, the head resembling a dragon, colored in shades of gold and jade, with a pair of wings on its shoulders and a single horn on its head, matching the legendary description of a Piqiu.

"How is it here?" Even Jun Wu, seeing a Piqiu for the first time, couldn’t help asking in surprise.

"Judging by its appearance, it should still be a young one. The reason it is here is unknown, but since we’ve encountered it, we could try to communicate. Perhaps we could convince it to stay." Rong Ye thought his idea was good. Being an auspicious beast, signing a contract with it would be a great fortune!

Gu Qingqing looked curiously at the Piqiu, finding its appearance quite adorable.

Her Word Spirit Technique had a time limit, and soon, the immobilization effect faded. The Piqiu, catching on to something, locked its gaze on Gu Qingqing.

It leapt from Rong Ye’s embrace to Gu Qingqing’s, and she intuitively caught it. Nestling in her arms, it nuzzled and sniffed, eventually settling comfortably in her embrace.

"Does it... like Little Qingqing?" Rong Ye stared in surprise at the little Piqiu acting coy in Gu Qingqing’s arms, his expression peculiar.

"Seems like it," said Jun Wu after a momentary pause.

Gu Qingqing was a bit amazed too. She cautiously reached out to touch the little Piqiu’s head, expecting it to shy away, yet instead, it nudged its head against her hand, appearing to really like her.

This left Rong Ye and Jun Wu even more surprised.

"This little thing is quite clever." Rong Ye glanced at the Piqiu and said somewhat sourly.

Jun Wu nodded in agreement.

"Since it wants to follow Qingqing, let it, but it’s too recognizable like this. If others see it, it could cause trouble for Qingqing." Rong Ye furrowed his brows, concerned about the Piqiu’s distinct appearance.

Little Piqiu seemed to understand Rong Ye’s words. It paused for a moment, then, under the amazed gazes of Gu Qingqing and the others, transformed into a little tiger. It touched its forehead, nodded in satisfaction, and continued to cuddle in Gu Qingqing’s arms.

"Alright, then let it follow you, Qingqing," Rong Ye could only say speechlessly upon seeing Little Piqiu’s transformation.

Gu Qingqing nodded and rubbed Little Piqiu’s head, causing it to contentedly nuzzle against Gu Qingqing’s hand.

The three of them returned to the campfire. The roast meat from earlier had been eaten by Little Piqiu, so Rong Ye asked Gu Qingqing to drink some soup while he went to hunt another rabbit to roast.

After eating and drinking their fill, they rested for the night. The next day, they continued their journey and finally witnessed the power of the auspicious beast.

Before, they had walked for half a day without encountering any valuable spirit flowers or herbs. But with Little Piqiu, they encountered countless rare spirit flowers and herbs along the way, eventually becoming somewhat numb to it.

"This little guy is amazing; it feels like we’ve hitched a ride on a golden leg!" Rong Ye looked at Little Piqiu and joked.

Little Piqiu proudly lifted its head in Gu Qingqing’s arms, gazing expectantly at her, seeking praise. After Gu Qingqing patted its head, it snuggled into her arms, nuzzling her hand.

Gu Qingqing carefully held Little Piqiu, her face full of smiles as she looked at it, clearly very fond of it, making Jun Wu and Rong Ye quite envious.

After half a day of walking, they finally saw traces of human activity again.

This time, by a lakeside, two groups were confronting each other. Not far from them stood a grade six spirit herb, obviously the cause of their conflict.

Gu Qingqing and her companions found a concealed spot to observe the situation between the two groups without alerting them.

...

Zhuo Yunjun was Zhuo Tingqiu’s cousin, a year older than Zhuo Tingqiu, holding the highest rank among the Zhuo Family members entering the Secret Realm alongside Zhuo Tingqiu.

Luckily, he was teleported with some Zhuo Family members, so they explored the Secret Realm together. They were thrilled when they discovered the spirit herb. After a hard-won battle defeating the herb’s Guardian Beast, they were about to collect the herb when they encountered the Lan Family people.

The relationship between the Lan Family and their Zhuo Family was never smooth. Ever since the Lan Family elder was disgraced at Zhuo Tingqiu’s birthday banquet, their relations worsened. Encountering each other in the wilds meant occasional treasure snatching, usually not too extreme.

Now, in the Secret Realm with no supervision, the Lan Family acted without scruples, not only wanting to snatch the spirit herb but also aiming to kill them. Since those entering the Secret Realm were family pillars, losing them wouldn’t cause Zhuo Family’s downfall but would greatly diminish their strength, making it difficult to maintain their status as one of the Five Great Families!

The Lan Family had been there for a while, hiding as Zhuo Yunjun’s group fought the Guardian Beast, planning to reap the benefits. Now, the Zhuo Family members were injured and overwhelmed compared to the Lan Family interlopers.

"Lan Cheng, are you sure you want to snatch our spirit herb?" Zhuo Yunjun asked coldly, staring at the Lan Family member standing at the front.

"What a joke, there’s no Zhuo Family emblem on this spirit herb, it’s unclaimed. Whoever has the ability gets it, how can you say we’re snatching it from you?" Lan Cheng sneered at Zhuo Yunjun.

"We were the ones who discovered this herb first and killed its Guardian Beast. You wanting to take it now is too much!" Zhuo Yunjun’s face darkened further at Lan Cheng’s shamelessness, saying coldly.

"Heh, what if we’re going too far? Come on, just stop us from taking it if you can." Lan Cheng showed no fear of Zhuo Yunjun, speaking arrogantly.

Zhuo Yunjun’s face turned utterly gloomy, his eyes glaring at Lan Cheng as if about to burst into flames.

"In that case, let’s settle it with our skills." With that, he struck first.

Both sides were prepared for a fight. After Zhuo Yunjun initiated, everyone else joined in.

The Zhuo Family members, already weary from a previous battle, quickly fell into disadvantage against the Lan Family.

Zhuo Yunjun dodged Lan Cheng’s attacks, seeing a man behind him wounded by a Lan Family member. He wanted to assist, but Lan Cheng blocked him, causing his brows to furrow tightly.

Seeing the Zhuo Family’s state, Lan Cheng couldn’t help but smile smugly.

"Looks like we’re going to win this time!" While attacking Zhuo Yunjun, Lan Cheng couldn’t help but boast.

"That’s not certain!" Zhuo Yunjun responded coldly, his moves becoming more fierce.

Feeling anxious, Zhuo Yunjun knew the longer they dragged it out, the worse for them. He attacked relentlessly, eager to defeat Lan Cheng quickly and help others.

Lan Cheng seemed to guess Zhuo Yunjun’s plan, slowing his attacks to delay time.

Gu Qingqing’s group, figuring out the identities from their conversation and learning one side was Zhuo Family, paid more attention—after all, they were Zhuo Tingqiu’s kin. Seeing someone almost getting killed, Gu Qingqing discreetly flicked a stone, hitting a Lan Family member’s hand, making him miss his target.

Startled and puzzled, the hit man looked around but couldn’t ask anything before getting attacked by a Zhuo Family member, forcing him back into the fight.

Gu Qingqing continued using stones at critical moments to disrupt Lan Family’s attacks, giving Zhuo Family respite.

However, the Zhuo Family still struggled, being at a disadvantage and accumulating injuries. With defeat looming, Gu Qingqing dashed out from hiding, blocking Lan Cheng’s attack.

"Who are you?" Lan Cheng, unfamiliar with Gu Qingqing, scowled at her interference.

"Miss Gu," Zhuo Yunjun, recognizing Gu Qingqing, brightened up but, unaware of her cultivation, hastened to shield her. "Miss Gu, be careful."