Chapter 61: Ganoderma? A Blind Bear!

"The tuning of this bow is still not at its absolute best!"

Lu Chuan held the bow in his hand, weighing it carefully.

"If we were to change the materials, both accuracy and range could be improved significantly!"

"Accuracy?"

"Range?"

Su Ruan pondered for a moment and smiled. "An interesting way to put it, but quite accurate!"

"However, this bow is already very powerful. Even in the military camp, it is rare to see such a strong bow."

"This kind of bow is suitable for the mountains and forests, but not for the battlefield!" Lu Chuan said seriously.

"Surely not?"

Su Ruan asked with some surprise, "This bow is already very good!"

"Hmm!"

Lu Chuan nodded. "But on the battlefield, archery doesn't require such extreme range. Moreover, wooden bows are easily damaged. On the battlefield, opportunities are fleeting, and the tactical situation changes in an instant. Stability is the ultimate pursuit!"

"The kind of bow I made, although it looks fine, is extremely fragile in the environment of a battlefield." Lu Chuan added.

Su Ruan looked at Lu Chuan in surprise.

"Have you ever been on a battlefield?"

Without battlefield experience, one could not possibly have such insights.

The Lu Chuan before her was able to speak about these matters with absolute clarity and logic.

It was very likely that he had once been a soldier in battle.

Yet!

Lu Chuan was clearly quite young; how could he possibly understand so many things?

"Whenever I have free time, I like to ponder things on my own, and eventually, I figure them out!"

Lu Chuan laughed it off with a vague excuse.

He had indeed been on a battlefield, just not one involving the cold steel weapons of this era.

However, in the wilderness, the fundamental laws of survival remained the same.

Su Ruan curled her lips, completely disbelieving Lu Chuan's explanation.

However, seeing that Lu Chuan was unwilling to elaborate, she did not press him further.

Su Ruan and Lu Chuan continued their journey deeper into the mountains.

This time, Lu Chuan's main objectives were twofold: a pheasant and a badger!

The pheasant, naturally, was for Yu Tianrui.

Yu Tianrui was no ordinary man.

Though Lu Chuan could not completely see through him, while Yu Tianrui possessed some strength, it had not reached an insurmountable level. His family background was presumably quite good, and logically speaking, someone with his background would find physical refinement a relatively easy task, yet Yu Tianrui had not undergone it.

Instead, he followed his own path, practicing martial arts step by step.

As for the badger, it was naturally because the Xu family wanted one, and the price was quite high.

"Master..."

At that very moment, a trace of surprise appeared in Su Ruan's eyes as she pointed ahead and spoke, "Look, what is that?"

"Hmm?"

Lu Chuan followed the direction of Su Ruan's finger.

He saw the stump of a dead tree not far away.

The stump was covered in snow.

However, a certain object was protruding from it.

"A ganoderma?"

Lu Chuan cried out in pleasant surprise, then walked over quickly.

The cap of this ganoderma was much larger than those commonly seen, roughly the size of a small millstone.

"This has been growing for quite a few years!"

"At least a century!"

Excitement surged in Lu Chuan's heart.

In this era, there was still no artificial cultivation for something like a spirit fungus.

Ordinarily, finding a wild ganoderma over twenty years old was already a formidable task.

Yet here, before even reaching the depths of the mountain, they had stumbled upon a century-old ganoderma?

"We've struck it rich!"

Lu Chuan quickly searched his memories.

Such an item was currently priceless and in high demand.

There was no need to worry about finding a buyer; as long as one could produce it, wealthy officials and nobles would fight over it!

"You really are my lucky star!"

Lu Chuan looked at Su Ruan before him, speaking with heartfelt emotion.

If not for Su Ruan, he might not have discovered this ganoderma today.

"Hehe, Master!"

Su Ruan tugged at Lu Chuan's sleeve, a bright spark dancing in her eyes.

"Will you take me up the mountains with you more often from now on?"

Su Ruan asked.

"Hmm!"

Lu Chuan nodded, then carefully harvested the ganoderma. He wrapped it securely in a piece of cloth and strapped it onto his back.

Pheasants were relatively easier to hunt, especially in winter.

On the barren, snow-covered mountain, pheasants stood out quite clearly.

Past noon, they had already managed to bag a pheasant. This time, the distance was relatively close, so Su Ruan hit it with a single arrow!

With this pheasant secured, they would have no trouble fulfilling their promise tomorrow.

The harvest from this trip up the mountain had been bountiful.

However, right at that moment, Lu Chuan suddenly sensed that something was amiss.

His vigilance spiked instantly, and he looked around sharply.

"Su Ruan!"

"Climb a tree!"

Lu Chuan shouted to Su Ruan.

Although Su Ruan did not understand what was happening, she immediately scrambled up a nearby tree.

The next instant!

A pungent, fishy odor accompanied a fierce gust of wind, charging fiercely toward Lu Chuan.

The king of the forest!

A black bear!

Everyone knew that a black bear was not only fast and immensely powerful, but also possessed extremely thick defense. Even an entire hunting party, if poorly coordinated upon encountering a black bear, ran a high risk of being wiped out.

Lu Chuan's body suddenly leaned to the side.

Then, he fiercely grabbed the fur on the black bear's body and used the momentum to pull himself backward!

"Roar..."

Sensing that it had been thrown off balance, the black bear glared with vicious eyes, within which Lu Chuan's figure appeared exceptionally clear.

The black bear abruptly halted its charge.

Then, it lunged at Lu Chuan once more, moving at a blistering speed.

Lu Chuan did not dare to climb a tree.

Black bears were adept at climbing trees. Remaining on the ground allowed him to barely keep the bear's attention on himself, but if he climbed a tree as well, the situation would truly become perilous.

"Damn it!"

Lu Chuan cursed inwardly.

With a sudden arch of his body, the black bear lunged straight past him.

Taking advantage of this opening, Lu Chuan fiercely grabbed the fur on the bear's back, exerted all his strength, and landed squarely and steadily astride the beast's back.

"Beast-Taming Technique!"

Lu Chuan took a deep breath and chanted silently in his mind.

Immediately afterward, he pressed one hand against the back of the bear's neck, and faint green荧光 (fluorescent lights) flowed out from his palm, seeping steadily into the black bear's body.

The black bear seemed to sense a strange, unsettling tremor!

Its body began to thrash even more violently as it desperately tried to shake Lu Chuan off its back.

Clenching his teeth, enduring the dizzying jolts, Lu Chuan desperately clung to the bear's body with all his might.

He could feel it clearly: when he used the Beast-Taming Technique, the black bear put up an even fiercer resistance, as if stubbornly fighting against his attempt at domestication.

"Damn it, I refuse to believe I can't break you!"

Right at that moment, a piercing sound cut through the air.