The magical beast in the valley was a type Li Pu hadn't really seen outside before, mushroom-type magical beasts.
Strictly speaking, mushrooms aren't considered plants, but they're not much different from them either.
Each of them is chubby in shape, with an average height of less than 1 meter.
They have a red cap with round yellow spots on top, and their bodies are entirely white.
All facial features are on the mushroom body, with only hands and no feet, moving by jumping around.
There are many kinds of mushroom-type magical beasts, but with Li Pu's current knowledge, he couldn't identify their exact identities.
"Why don't you ask the little tree spirit if it knows the situation in this valley."
Fortunately, he could ask the local inhabitants.
[Grass!]
[Caocao!]
[Swish Swish!]
[Swish Swish Swish Swish!]
One party was gesturing wildly, while the other nodded and shook its head. Both continued to communicate for a while.
In the end, the feedback Li Pu got from the grass man was not the answer he wanted to know.
The little king meditation tree did know about the situation in the valley, but it demanded the two to beat it up thoroughly before it would speak.
"Good guy, didn't think you'd be so clever, asking for benefits first."
Li Pu spoke while rolling up his sleeves.
They sought out the little king meditation tree with this intention in mind.
After all, he felt that yesterday's beating was too light, and he thought it was insufficient to compensate for the [Wisdom Root] value.
"Whip it hard for me."
[Grass~!]
Under Li Pu's command, the grass man took out the whip.
Whap! xN
[Ugh, Swish swish!] xN
Thus, one human and one grass began to beat the little tree spirit alternately.
An hour later, Li Pu was sweating heavily, sitting against the tree root.
"This is really physical labor."
He had to admit, this was quite exhausting.
[Gulp, glug grass...]
The grass man made sounds of agreement from the side.
Its state was even worse, lying straight down on the ground, completely tired out.
A large bottle of cola was inserted vertically into its mouth, the liquid level descending rapidly.
[Swish swish swish!]
Contrary to them, the little king meditation tree was the most energetic one present.
Actually, this time, Li Pu had instructed the grass man to take it a bit easier.
Because he feared that he might again whip this guy until it upgraded with perfumed powder, causing nearby beasts to get enraged, which would be unfortunate.
But now it seemed he had worried too much.
[Swish swish?]
Seeing the fatigued expressions of Li Pu and the grass man, the little king meditation tree sucked on its finger.
[Swish swish!]
The next second, a flash of inspiration hit it.
And so it shook towards both of them.
A small amount of golden perfumed powder was shaken out by it.
Falling onto Li Pu and the grass man, it instantly absorbed into their bodies and disappeared.
"Hmm?"
This situation caused Li Pu to raise an eyebrow slightly.
Though it didn't completely sweep away the exhaustion, the fatigue from earlier was mostly gone, about seventy or eighty percent.
[Grass!]
The grass man was the same, now having the strength to sit up, holding the cola bottle and gulping more vigorously.
It turns out that the little king meditation tree wasn't completely useless.
This golden perfumed powder, although it didn't have healing effects, could greatly relieve fatigue.
Clearly, its role wasn't that of a direct combat-type summoned beast, but more of a supportive type providing assistance.
After being beaten to this extent today, the little king meditation tree was satisfied.
Not because it didn't want to be beaten anymore, but because the nutrients from yesterday's meal had been digested, thoroughly converted into its strength. Beating it further wouldn't provide anything more to digest.
[Swish swish swish! Swish swish swish!]
Taking advantage of the period while both human and grass continued resting, the little king meditation tree began to introduce the valley behind it.
With the grass man's translation, Li Pu got the answer.
According to the little king meditation tree, this valley was called Mushroom Grove, a very casual name, sounding more like one it had given itself.
Anyhow, the valley was full of various mushrooms, along with many mushroom-type magical beasts.
And the red-cap mushrooms were the most numerous type in Mushroom Grove.
Usually, they have a relatively gentle disposition, generally neutral magical beasts if not provoked.
But once a companion is attacked, they will rally and fight back, very united.
In the deeper parts of the valley, there are other types of mushroom groups, but their activity range is far from the valley entrance, so they can't be seen here.
"They would initiate group attacks? That's going to be troublesome."
After listening, Li Pu was lost in thought, rubbing his chin.
No matter what skills these red-cap mushrooms might provide, he wanted them.
After all, this forest so far was sufficient in numbers to satisfy the collection of related materials of magical beasts; besides the tangled vine, only the red-cap mushrooms remained.
Whether it's acquisition/fusion/sacrifice, it's meant to strengthen the grass man, so they couldn't miss it.
But he wasn't sure about the individual combat strength of these red-cap mushrooms.
And even if he estimated based on the weakest combat strength, there were so many of them. If they rushed over all at once, he wouldn't be able to handle them.
[Swish swish swish!]
However, the little king meditation tree seemed to understand Li Pu's difficulty and proactively raised its branch-like hand.
[Grass!]
Grass man: Summoner, it says it has a solution!
"Oh?"
Li Pu didn't expect the grass man's little brother to be this useful.
Then, the little king meditation tree proceeded to introduce a plan.
In its words, these red-cap mushrooms were very dumb.
According to the summoner's interpretation, they had almost no intelligence.
The little king meditation tree could use its fragrance to lure them out one by one, allowing Li Pu to defeat them individually.
"This plan sounds good, but it's getting a bit late now."
Even though they said so, Li Pu felt something was still not quite right.
After beating the little king meditation tree, the sun had completely set.
Now, only some afterglow remained, and even the figures of those red-cap mushrooms were a bit blurred and hard to see.
[Swish swish swish!]
Yet the little king meditation tree indicated it was not a problem at all, walking briskly to the valley entrance.
It shook its body once more, and then a large amount of silver perfumed powder drifted inside.
The powder stuck to various places in the valley, including the bodies of a few red-cap mushrooms.
This perfumed powder provided very good visibility, illuminating the entire valley.
"You little tree spirit, you're not as useless as you seem."
Li Pu walked to the valley entrance, and had to give a compliment.
[Swish swish swish!]
Although the little king meditation tree didn't fully understand human speech, it somewhat caught the praise, so it puffed out its chest immediately.
"What are we waiting for? Let's begin."
With all conditions met, Li Pu clapped his hands.
[Grass!]
After discussing the plan, the grass man followed Li Pu to the large stone near the valley exit and hid.
[Swish swish swish!]
Then, the little king meditation tree cautiously raised its branch-like arm and flicked it towards the valley.
Whoosh~
A barely visible puff of perfumed powder floated lightly into the valley, landing at the nose of the outermost red-cap mushroom.
[Mushroom good! Mushroom wonderful!]
The red-cap mushroom's expression lit up, and it skipped towards the scent, hopping out.
...
...
[Red-cap Mushroom]
Angry, 6 Water 4 Earth, F
[Mushroom Headbutt (F)]: Charge forward vigorously, delivering a headbutt.
Description: The most common type of normal mushroom magical beast.