My Five Bigshot Seniors: I am The Most Coddled Junior!-Chapter 378 - 58: Liuli Lotus

"You are a Direct Disciple of the Langya Immortal Palace. After what you did to me today, I’ll make sure to tell my master the truth once I get out. By then, don’t expect to have it easy!" The man clutched his chest and looked at Jun Wu, threatening viciously.

"Is that so?" Jun Wu chuckled lightly. "Then you better tell it right and don’t forget to mention how you were the one who tried to steal my stuff first. I wonder if your master is as unreasonable as you!"

Jun Wu had no fondness for men like him and immediately lost the desire to talk. In a flash, he was in front of the man again, grabbing him by the back of his collar and lifting him up. Under the man’s puzzled gaze, he threw him out.

"Get lost while I still don’t feel like killing you!" A glint of murderous intent flickered in his eyes, and he looked at the man with an icy stare.

The man froze for a moment, seemingly not expecting Jun Wu to say that.

But then he remembered that this was a Secret Realm, and people outside wouldn’t know the situation inside. Only he and Jun Wu were here. Even if he died here, no one would know. Even if his sect found out about his death and wanted to seek revenge, they couldn’t do so. Every time the Secret Realm opened, there were always disciples who died.

Realizing this, his eyes filled with fear as he looked at Jun Wu.

At first, seeing Jun Wu’s young appearance and thin frame, he didn’t seem particularly formidable, which was why he dared to try to snatch Jun Wu’s Purple Heart Grass. Now he realized he had kicked the iron plate. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

His face turned black, then white, then red, changing colors repeatedly. Finally, reason prevailed, and he bit his lip, unwillingly glanced at the Purple Heart Grass, then at Jun Wu, covered his wound, and turned to leave.

Jun Wu stood there watching him leave until his figure disappeared from sight. After waiting for a while, he walked over, picked the Purple Heart Grass, carefully stored it in his Qiankun Ring, looked around, made a mark, and then casually chose a direction to leave.

...

A day passed quickly.

Gu Qingqing and Rong Ye walked for about an hour together. They found a relatively flat area, discussed it, and decided to rest there for the night. After all, during the day, they were both traveling and fighting, and they were exhausted.

They divided the tasks. Gu Qingqing set up the tent, while Rong Ye cleared the surrounding area, ensuring no spirit beasts were nearby. He gathered some dry wood, started a fire, and found a small rabbit in the dense forest. After skinning and preparing it, he seasoned it with his own spices and roasted it over the fire.

He let Gu Qingqing watch the rabbit on the spit, then took out seven or eight different talismans and placed them around. This way, if anyone or any spirit beast approached during the night, the talismans would be triggered, alerting him and Gu Qingqing.

After ensuring everything was set and nothing was overlooked, Rong Ye finally sat back beside Gu Qingqing, tending to the rabbit.

"Fifth Brother, what herbs do you need to collect for your sect mission?" Gu Qingqing looked at the rabbit over the fire and asked Rong Ye after thinking for a moment.

She would definitely be moving with Rong Ye, and if there were overlaps in the herbs they needed to submit, it would save them some effort and time.

"It’s all here. Take a look." Rong Ye handed a list to Gu Qingqing.

He had someone copy the list before they departed, so he wouldn’t forget any items later.

Gu Qingqing took the list from Rong Ye, glanced at it, and found that Rong Ye’s list wasn’t very long. It included about five kinds of herbs: Bicolor Time颜 Flower and Fire Cloud Mushroom of four-grade Immortal Rank, Red Xuan Rice Fruit, and Purple Cloud Flying Flower and White Frost Spirit Grass of five-grade Immortal Rank.

They needed to submit five of each, and the Red Xuan Rice Fruit overlapped with what Gu Qingqing needed.

"We both need the Red Xuan Rice Fruit. It’s quite picky about its growing environment, but it grows on trees, so there should be plenty. We can try looking for it tomorrow." Gu Qingqing returned the list to Rong Ye, analyzing as she spoke.

"Red Xuan Rice Fruit likes sunlight, and it grows in places where the temperature is relatively high, with ample sunlight. Most of its trees grow on cliffs. We can look in this direction tomorrow." Rong Ye took the list back and put it away, following Gu Qingqing’s line of thought.

"Yes, that’s right," Gu Qingqing nodded. "Fire Cloud Mushroom and White Frost Spirit Grass have similar growth environments. They both like to be near water. We should pay more attention to water flows."

"The Bicolor Time颜 Flower is quite unique; it prefers cold places, usually found near cold ponds. The growing conditions for the Purple Cloud Flying Flower are okay, but it looks quite similar to the first-grade Immortal Rank Purple Cloud Flower. If we’re not careful, we might confuse the two, so we need to be cautious when looking." Rong Ye also nodded, recalling the growth environments of these herbs in his mind.

"Yes, right, the herbs I need to find are one more than the ones you need, and they’re also quite tricky to find. Besides the Red Xuan Rice Fruit, there’s the four-grade White栀花, Purple Ling Grass, Three-petal Bell Lily, and the five-grade Liuli Lotus and Vermilion Cloud Fruit," Gu Qingqing shared the herbs she was looking for with Rong Ye.

"I just encountered some White Zhi Flowers on the way and picked a few. How many do you need? Let me see." Upon hearing Gu Qingqing’s words, Rong Ye immediately said, taking out the White Zhi Flowers he had picked, "There are six, is that enough?"

"Enough, we only need to hand over five," Gu Qingqing hadn’t expected such a coincidence that Rong Ye would come across White Zhi Flowers and pick them up along the way, "Great, we now have one less herb to gather."

"Yeah, we can continue searching tomorrow," Rong Ye smiled as he saw Gu Qingqing’s happiness and said.

Gu Qingqing nodded, feeling very fortunate to reunite with Rong Ye after a rather perilous start in the Secret Realm.

After they finished eating the roasted rabbit, they chatted for a while and then retreated to their tents to rest.

The night passed peacefully. In the morning, after freshening up and having some snacks brought by Gu Qingqing, they set off again. This time, they weren’t wandering aimlessly but headed toward a place with flowing water.

...

After Mu Chen left the conversation between Song Xinrong and Ji Ziyao, he wandered aimlessly through the forest. Along the way, he came across some Purple Cloud Mushrooms and White Zhi Flowers, which he picked and stored. He also encountered a low-level True Immortal Realm Black Wind Leopard and battled it. At a critical moment, he poisoned the Black Wind Leopard with his own concoction, preventing serious injuries to himself.

Before nightfall, he found a cave, which was likely a former spirit beast’s den. However, it seemed the beast was long dead, as there were no signs of recent activity. After tidying up the cave a bit, he laid down a talisman at the entrance and scattered some self-made insect-repelling powder and poison before spending the night there.

At daybreak, Mu Chen finished his cultivation, stretched his limbs, packed his belongings, used previously gathered water to wash, and walked to the mouth of the cave. He discovered the talisman was untouched, but not far from the entrance were several small spirit beast corpses. His eyes glimmered briefly as he stepped past the corpses and left the cave.

The forest was vast, and although he’d traveled all day yesterday, Mu Chen hadn’t covered much distance. After marking some nearby trees, he set off again.

After about half an hour, he encountered a lake.

The lake wasn’t very large, and its water was exceptionally clear. On the surface floated several lotuses, distinct from the usual pink flowers; these appeared transparent, glinting azure under the sunlight. They were none other than the five-tier immortal-grade Liuli Lotuses.

Mu Chen was pleasantly surprised to encounter the Liuli Lotuses so effortlessly. From the distance, he roughly counted thirteen or fourteen blooms. Harvesting all of them would be quite a gain.

Thinking this, he didn’t act impulsively.

Liuli Lotus is a tier-five immortal-grade herb, typically guarded by spirit beasts. The fact that so many of them thrived without being ravaged suggested a formidable spirit beast guarded these blooms!

With this in mind, he dared not act recklessly.

He stood a short distance from the lake’s edge, carefully observing the surroundings. He noticed no trace of spirit beasts, furrowing his brows as he scanned around, only to focus on the water’s surface.

If no beasts roamed nearby, there was only one possibility left: the guardian spirit beast lived underwater!

With a glint in his eye, he retrieved a doll from the Qiankun Ring, a Substitute Puppet crafted by Si Lin during their time in the Sub-immortal Realm. Initially made for Gu Qingqing’s amusement, Si Lin had gifted each of them one when it was finished. Mu Chen had kept his, and now it proved useful.

He smeared a drop of his blood on the doll’s forehead and infused it with immortal power. Instantly, the doll enlarged to match his own size, yet its appearance still revealed its puppet nature.

In his mind, he felt a slight bond, indicating his control over the Substitute Puppet.

He maneuvered the puppet towards the Liuli Lotuses, directing it to pick them. As it passed above the lake, all seemed well, but as its hand neared the Liuli Lotuses, a black tail suddenly shot from the lakebed, striking the puppet and splitting it in half.

The surface of the lake started to ripple, the water rolling violently.

Mu Chen raised an eyebrow, retreating a bit as he watched the intensifying turbulence. Soon, a figure burst from the water, lifting a curtain of water high. When the curtain fell, it revealed the figure.

It was a twin-headed serpentine spirit beast!