My Five Bigshot Seniors: I am The Most Coddled Junior!-Chapter 382 - 62: Iron Armor Bull Herd
Gu Qingqing and Rong Ye rested by the river for a while, then followed the stream downstream to see if they could find the Fire Cloud Mushroom.
The Fire Cloud Mushroom is a red Lingzhi that resembles a cloud. Its medicinal properties are relatively mild; when added to elixir concoctions, it can increase the chance of forming an elixir and enhance the elixir’s quality. Its quality isn’t very high, which makes it a favorite herb among alchemists.
However, due to overharvesting in the Immortal Realm, it was once nearly extinct, and even now, it’s quite difficult to find, often guarded by powerful spirit beasts.
The fact that there are Fire Cloud Mushrooms in the Imperial Secret Realm is known to the four Immortal Sects. Every time the Star Sect opens the secret realm, it tasks direct disciples with picking the Fire Cloud Mushroom. To prevent the mushrooms in the secret realm from facing the same situation as those outside, each task only requires picking five.
Despite the name "Fire Cloud Mushroom," it doesn’t like growing in warm places. It dislikes sunlight, prefers water, and grows in damp areas, making it hard to find.
Gu Qingqing and Rong Ye searched along the river for over an hour without success. Just as they were about to give up, Gu Qingqing’s peripheral vision caught sight of a red object. She paused, a sudden flash of insight triggered in her mind, and she quickly walked over, squatted down, and dug up the thing.
"Fifth Senior Brother, look quickly, it’s a Fire Cloud Mushroom!" Seeing clearly that the object is indeed the desired herb, Gu Qingqing exclaimed to Rong Ye with delight.
"Really? Let me see." Rong Ye, surprised by the news, hurried over and squatted down, examining the object in Gu Qingqing’s hand. "The shape is like a cloud and the color is fiery red, it must be the Fire Cloud Mushroom."
"Looks like we’re quite lucky, this bunch should contain five mushrooms, enough for you to complete the task, Fifth Senior Brother," Gu Qingqing said joyfully to Rong Ye, after roughly counting the mushrooms.
"Yes, it’s thanks to Gu Qingqing’s good luck." Rong Ye nodded, smiling as he reached out to pat Gu Qingqing’s hair.
A sweet smile appeared on Gu Qingqing’s face as she handed the Fire Cloud Mushroom to Rong Ye, who carefully stored them away. The two then stood up.
"Now that we’ve found the Fire Cloud Mushroom, let’s look for the Purple Cloud Flying Flower next," Gu Qingqing said as she brushed soil off her hands and looked around.
"Sure," Rong Ye nodded, leaving all decisions up to Gu Qingqing.
He noticed the soil on Gu Qingqing’s hands, took out a handkerchief, walked to the river to dampen it, and returned to Gu Qingqing’s side. In response to Gu Qingqing’s confused gaze, he held her hand gently and wiped the soil clean.
"You’re still the same as when you were little." Rong Ye said, smiling as he tapped the tip of Gu Qingqing’s nose after cleaning her hands.
"It’s because of you, Senior Brother! That’s why I’m not worried; I knew you’d help me wipe it clean." Gu Qingqing wrinkled her nose and made a playful face at Rong Ye, speaking with a mischievous smile.
Rong Ye patted her head, displaying a look of deep affection.
Although Gu Qingqing has grown up and married, no longer the innocent little junior sister, her bond with them hasn’t faded. Her five senior brothers still habitually dote on Gu Qingqing, and Gu Qingqing also relies on them, showing her true self and revealing her unnoticed traits in their presence.
The two rested for less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn before marking the tree and proceeding to search for other herb traces.
This time, they walked for about half an hour, just about to cross an open area when they felt the ground shaking, like a herd of spirit beasts was rushing towards them. They exchanged glances intending to leap onto the tree to observe, but saw two slightly disheveled figures running towards them from a distance.
One of them wore the Langya Immortal Sect elder’s direct disciple robe, while the other wore a sky-blue ensemble.
Upon seeing Gu Qingqing and Rong Ye, the two figures showed a hint of joy, especially the Langya Immortal Sect disciple, who became happier upon seeing Gu Qingqing’s direct disciple robe. However, sensing the commotion behind them, their expressions turned anxious and worried.
"Senior Brothers and Sister, there are over ten Iron Armor Bulls chasing us! Run quickly!" The Langya Immortal Sect disciple gritted his teeth and shouted at Gu Qingqing and Rong Ye.
They didn’t need him to call out; Gu Qingqing and Rong Ye had already seen what was behind them.
As the man had said, there were low-level True Immortal Realm Iron Armor Bulls!
These spirit beasts, similar to prairie sheep and Wind Wolves, prefer living in groups and often act together. Their bodies are covered with scales like iron armor, giving them strong defenses. Additionally, they have two horns on their heads; their main attack style is charging at opponents, which if hit, could cause severe damage or even death.
Dealing with one Iron Armor Bull is still relatively manageable, as after all, apart from charging, it has no other means of attack. As long as you are agile enough to dodge in time, there’s generally no major issue.
But a group of Iron Armor Bulls is much harder to handle. Even if you’re nimble, it’s easy to get hit.
And now, what they’ve encountered is a group of Iron Armor Bulls.
Gu Qingqing and Rong Ye exchanged a glance and started to run immediately. After all, with their current cultivation, dealing with these dozen or so Iron Armor Bulls would be quite difficult. There’s no need to confront them.
"What did you do? Why are the Iron Armor Bulls chasing you?" After running for a while, seeing the two behind looking exhausted, Gu Qingqing directly used the Mixed Immortal Silk to wrap around their bodies. Then she and Rong Ye each dragged one, running while loudly asking them.
"An accident occurred when a female Iron Armor Bull was giving birth, and it died. The Iron Armor Bull calf in its belly also died. We accidentally passed by and were seen by this group of Iron Armor Bulls, and they’ve been chasing us ever since!" Feng Yang, who is the Elder’s Direct Disciple of the Langya Immortal Sect, explained to Gu Qingqing and Rong Ye with a bitter smile.
"Are you sure you didn’t kill them?" Rong Ye was a bit skeptical about such a coincidence and asked doubtfully.
"It wasn’t us. We were just passing by. Who knew we’d be so unlucky to be seen by this group of creatures? It’s utterly frustrating." Feng Yang’s face was filled with bitterness, and his expression was full of regret.
He truly regrets it now, regretting that back then, he didn’t listen to the advice of the fellow disciple from Bihai Heavenly Palace to take another route. Insisting on that path led them to encounter the deceased female Iron Armor Bull and its calf, resulting in the current situation.
Gu Qingqing and Rong Ye exchanged glances, feeling half-convinced by Feng Yang’s words.
The four of them ran together for half an hour, with no sign of the Iron Armor Bulls stopping, but the four were already reaching their limits. Running like this consumed too much stamina. Even though they were continuously taking elixirs, elixirs were limited and couldn’t all be used here.
"No, we can’t continue running like this. We’ll be exhausted to death if we keep this up!" Rong Ye said while frowning as he ran.
"Then what should we do?" Gu Qingqing also furrowed her brow, glancing back to see the Iron Armor Bulls still behind them, an expression of disgust flashing in her eyes.
"We can’t handle a group of Iron Armor Bulls, but we can pick them off one by one," Rong Ye’s eyes turned as he said, "We have four people now; both you, Qingqing, and I can handle two Iron Armor Bulls each. Can you two manage one?" He looked at Feng Yang and the other disciple from Bihai Heavenly Palace.
"Yes." The two exchanged a look. Although they didn’t understand Rong Ye’s plan, they nodded.
"Alright, I and these two will continue to lead this group of Iron Armor Bulls in circles while Qingqing, you find a way to take away two Iron Armor Bulls. Once you handle them, we can switch," Rong Ye explained his plan to Gu Qingqing and Feng Yang.
Upon hearing this, the three agreed it made sense and nodded in agreement.
"Brother, how about letting me and Feng Yang lead the Iron Armor Bulls? You pair up with the senior sister," Zhang Mu, who is the disciple of Bihai Heavenly Palace, exchanged a glance with Feng Yang and suggested to Rong Ye.
Clearly, Rong Ye and Gu Qingqing have a higher cultivation level, while Feng Yang and Zhang Mu have relatively lower cultivation. Yet, it’s no problem for them to lead the Iron Armor Bulls around, and Qingqing and Rong Ye pairing up could be faster.
"Alright, let’s begin now." Rong Ye agreed without hesitation.
The four then stopped running forward and started running in circles. Rong Ye and Gu Qingqing seized the opportunity to separate from Feng Yang and Zhang Mu, each leading an Iron Armor Bull away to a clearing on the side.
Afterward, Gu Qingqing and Rong Ye worked together to deal with these two Iron Armor Bulls.
The Iron Armor Bull mainly relies on charging at its opponents for combat. It has immense strength, while both Gu Qingqing and Rong Ye have very agile movement techniques. One lured the Iron Armor Bulls around, and the other sought a way to attack them.
The Iron Armor Bull has formidable defenses. Gu Qingqing used the Mixed Immortal Silk to attack the Iron Armor Bull from different angles, searching for a weak spot. After trying about a dozen times, she finally found a relatively weak area. Gu Qingqing then continually attacked the same spot, finally breaking through the Iron Armor Bull’s defenses, injuring it.
With a breakthrough, it became much easier. Gu Qingqing directly pierced the Mixed Immortal Silk into its body, severing its life force from the inside, causing it to collapse on the ground.
She then worked with Rong Ye to take down the other Iron Armor Bull. At this point, Feng Yang and Zhang Mu returned with the remaining Iron Armor Bulls, and Gu Qingqing and Rong Ye went forward again to lure two more Iron Armor Bulls away.
