Chapter 77: The Life-Saving Talisman
"Congratulations, Senior Sister, on reaching the mid-stage of Qi Refining."
Despite his surprise, Gu Mo didn't forget to offer his congratulations.
In the sect, if a servant disciple managed to reach the mid-stage of Qi Refining, it would be a cause for grand celebration. After all, for servant disciples with inferior spiritual roots, the limit was usually the third layer of Qi Refining. Reaching the fourth layer meant breaking through that limitation, which certainly warranted a celebration.
However, for an inner disciple like Yuan Niya, stepping into the mid-stage of Qi Refining wasn't particularly noteworthy.
"I heard you became an outer disciple. This is a gift from your Senior Sister." After accepting Gu Mo's congratulations, Yuan Niya took out a jade talisman and handed it to him.
Upon leaving her seclusion, she learned that Gu Mo had not only become a spiritual plant cultivator but had also successfully advanced to an outer disciple.
"Thank you, Senior Sister!"
Gu Mo, naturally, didn't refuse a gift from his wealthy senior sister. Upon receiving the jade talisman, he discovered it was an escape talisman—a life-saving artifact. When activated, it could grant the user the speed of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, making it possible for a Qi Refining cultivator to escape from someone at the Foundation Establishment level.
"Well? Satisfied?"
Seeing the surprise in Gu Mo's eyes, Yuan Niya chuckled. She had plenty of such life-saving talismans, all rewards from her master and the sect.
With the enhancement of Gu Mo's perfected Cleansing Technique and the aid of some secret medicines, Yuan Niya had managed to address the shortcomings she faced when first entering Qi Refining. After advancing to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, her foundation was six times stronger than that of an average cultivator at the same stage, making her a strong contender for becoming a true disciple.
As one of the biggest contributors to her success, Gu Mo naturally deserved a proper reward.
"Satisfied? I'm more than satisfied."
Gu Mo praised generously. Who would ever dislike a life-saving tool?
"Then Junior Brother, give me a super-enhanced version of the Cleansing Technique this time." After breaking through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, Yuan Niya was worried that Gu Mo's strength might reduce the effectiveness of his Cleansing Technique, so she requested the super-enhanced version.
"Alright!"
Gu Mo nodded. With Yuan Niya's cultivation advancing, her tolerance should have increased, so she ought to be able to handle the super-enhanced Cleansing Technique.
"Huh? Junior Brother, why does your room smell so nice?" Upon entering Gu Mo's small house, Yuan Niya sniffed the air with a curious expression. The fragrance was unique and quite pleasant.
"That's incense I prepared for you, Senior Sister." Gu Mo lied without blinking.
"Really? I really like this scent." Yuan Niya was pleased with Gu Mo's arrangement, especially the fragrance, which suited her tastes perfectly.
Inhaling the faint aroma, Yuan Niya signaled for Gu Mo to begin.
"Ah!"
The next moment, Yuan Niya's face contorted in discomfort. Even though she had reached the fourth layer of Qi Refining, which matched Gu Mo's apparent cultivation level, the perfected Cleansing Technique he used didn't lose any of its potency.
"This doesn't make sense."
As Yuan Niya staggered out of Gu Mo's spiritual field, she couldn't understand why his Cleansing Technique was still so powerful despite her advancement to mid-stage Qi Refining.
"Could it be that Junior Brother Gu Mo is hiding his true strength?" Yuan Niya suddenly felt excited, as if she had uncovered one of Gu Mo's secrets. She decided to test him the next time she visited.
Formation Peak.
"Senior Sister Chu, where have you been all day?" As Chu Feifei returned to her residence, a junior servant disciple, who was on friendly terms with her, came running over.
"Uh…"
Caught off guard by the question, Chu Feifei was momentarily speechless, not having thought of an excuse.
"Senior Sister Chu, did you go on a date with that outer sect senior brother from last time?" Seeing her hesitation, the servant junior sister suddenly looked as if she had figured it all out.
To be fair, this junior sister was quite perceptive and had guessed correctly. But Chu Feifei obviously wasn't going to admit it.
"Senior Sister Chu, don't deny it! You're practically radiating the scent of love!" The servant junior sister leaned closer to Chu Feifei and sniffed, catching a pleasant fragrance. This only confirmed her suspicions further. She had read many romance novels and considered herself an expert in such matters.
Rolling her eyes at the little girl, Chu Feifei thought to herself that she and Gu Mo were just… friends, friends who could entrust each other with secrets.
Besides, she needed to start practicing the Breath Concealment Technique Gu Mo had given her. While the scent on her body wasn't obvious, anyone who got close could still detect it.
Time passed.
As the new season's Water Spirit Rice approached maturity, Gu Mo finally completed the upgrade of his fifth Tier-2 Sunflower. With that, he now had five Tier-2 low-grade and ten Tier-1 mid-grade Sunflowers.
Additionally, he had one Tier-2 low-grade and four Tier-1 low-grade Peashooters, as well as one Tier-2 low-grade and four Tier-1 low-grade Potato Mines.
Picking up a batch of Tier-2 Sun Essence to absorb, Gu Mo felt a wisp of mist-likespiritual energy emerge within his body. At this point, he had no idea how many days of hard cultivation a batch of Tier-2 Sun Essence equated to.
Because mist-likespiritual energy couldn't be cultivated through hard work unless one was at the peak of Qi Refining.
Now, by refining incomplete Tier-2 Sun Essence, Gu Mo could directly acquire the mist-likespiritual energy that only peak Qi Refining cultivators could possess. Once Gu Mo fully transformed all the spiritual energy in his body into mist-likeform, he would essentially be a peak Qi Refining cultivator suppressing his realm at the fourth layer.
This would allow Gu Mo's combat strength to not just surpass lower tiers but directly cross into higher realms, enabling him to contend with late-stage Qi Refining cultivators while still at the fourth layer.
Feeling the heavy mist-likeenergy within, Gu Mo felt that all the waiting over these past days had been worth it.
In the days that followed, Gu Mo focused entirely on cultivation. Consuming five portions of Tier-2 Sun Essence per day, it took him less than a month to convert all his spiritual energy into mist-likeform.
Next, he began working on unblocking the fourth minor meridian cycle. With the high quality of mist-likespiritual energy, this process was effortless. Gu Mo felt that within a few days, he would successfully unblock the fourth minor cycle and step into the fifth layer of Qi Refining.
During this time, the Water Spirit Rice matured, with yields per acre increasing again to 350 jin. The biggest contributor to this increase was Gu Mo's spiritual energy.
Using mist-likespiritual energy to cast spells greatly enhanced their power and effects, equivalent to a peak Qi Refining cultivator performing spiritual farming techniques.
Such yields naturally amazed the disciples of the Spiritual Plant Hall. However, considering Gu Mo's status as a spiritual plant cultivator, everyone found it understandable.
This was the benefit of having a title—many things no longer needed to be hidden, and others would come up with reasonable explanations for you.
Speaking of spiritual plant cultivators, after Gu Mo, two more disciples from his cohort achieved entry-level spiritual plant cultivator status. One of them was Gu Mo's acquaintance, Mai Yunfa, while the other was an inner disciple named Shan Yu.
With three spiritual plant cultivators emerging in this cohort, it was considered a significant success. This brought Qinglu Sect's total to five Tier-1 spiritual plant cultivators. Rumor had it that the Sect Master was considering establishing a Spiritual Plant Peak.
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