Chapter 119: Fake Dan
As an experienced foundation-building cultivator, Wei Yuancai's innate talent and strength were average. However, living for a long time meant that he had seen a lot. At the very least, he had witnessed the phenomenon of a cultivator forming their core more than once, so he could confirm that the strange occurrence in the sky was indeed a result of someone forming their core.
However, the source of this phenomenon seemed to be right where they were, at the resource point, or more precisely, at the location of Gu mo
But wasn't that Gu mo already at the peak of Qi Refining? If he was forming his core, Wei Yuancai would not be surprised at all; in fact, he would consider it perfectly natural.
But now, the phenomenon in the sky indicated core formation, and it was hard to believe that Gu mo was trying to form his core. Jumping directly from the peak of Qi Refining to core formation without going through the entire foundation-building stage—it was simply impossible.
Therefore, Wei Yuancai thought that something must have gone wrong. With that in mind, he quickly headed toward Gu Mo's spiritual field. Along the way, he ordered the other Qi Refining cultivators at the resource point to leave, fearing they might get caught in the fallout.
Soon, Wei Yuancai arrived at the formation outside Gu Mo's spiritual field. Before he could contact Gu Mo, he saw him rushing out in a panic.
"Quick, run!"
Seeing Wei Yuancai, Gu Mo urgently waved for him to leave.
Upon realizing that his avatar's spiritual energy compression technique had inadvertently triggered a core formation phenomenon, Gu Mo was completely stunned. Given the condition of his avatar, it was impossible for it to form a core, even a fake one.
However, the massive vortex of spiritual energy in the sky was still funneling power into his avatar. In that moment, Gu Mo understood that his avatar had essentially turned into a powerful spiritual energy bomb.
Without hesitation, Gu Mo quickly packed up his belongings and tossed all the second-grade plants from the spiritual field into the black mist space. Then he turned and fled, disregarding the first-grade plants.
"Ah! Good, good!"
Seeing that Gu Mo was unharmed, Wei Yuancai couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and quickly followed him, speeding away from the resource point. Although he didn't know exactly what had happened, the violent spiritual energy in the spiritual field made him instinctively want to get as far away as possible.
"Vroom~~"
Not long after they had fled, a chilling hum echoed, followed by a blinding light explosion. However, the blinding light did not immediately erupt; instead, it was momentarily blocked by a barrier.
That was the protective barrier. Before leaving, Gu Mo had altered its defensive direction to face inward, hoping it could shield against the impending spiritual energy explosion.
Unfortunately, Formation was only able to hold for a moment before it was torn apart. However, the formation did not collapse instantly; instead, cracks appeared, causing the explosive energy inside to spill into the sky through the fissures. As the cracks expanded, the explosive power inside was quickly released.
This release of energy actually reduced the destructive power of the explosion. After all, the explosive energy had been vented into the sky, which allowed the resource point to survive.
However, the spiritual field where Gu Mo had worked was likely ruined.
"Phew~~"
Wei Yuancai wiped the sweat from his forehead. For a moment, he thought the entire resource point would be destroyed. Thankfully, the explosive energy had been redirected upwards.
This also resulted in the sky being filled with a variety of strange phenomena, but since the location was remote, it was unlikely anyone else had seen it.
"That true disciple Gu mo what is going on?" As the explosive energy gradually dissipated, Wei Yuancai couldn't help but ask. Was it really appropriate to conduct such a dangerous experiment at a resource point?
"It's fine, just a small mishap during an experiment." Gu Mo waved his hand. Naturally, he couldn't reveal the full truth to Wei Yuancai.
Seeing that Gu Mo was unwilling to speak further, Wei Yuancai chose not to press the issue. He suspected it was some secret of Gu mo, but he still made him promise never to conduct such dangerous experiments at the resource point again.
Gu Mo naturally agreed.
After the residual shockwave of the explosion passed, both Gu Mo and Wei Yuancai hurried back to the resource point. Wei Yuancai immediately rushed to check the three important Yu Lu Fruit trees to see if they had been affected.
Meanwhile, Gu Mo arrived at the site of the devastated spiritual field. The explosion had caused it to be half-destroyed. The reason it was only half-destroyed was that the field was sustained by the three Yu Lu Fruit trees; as long as those trees weren't destroyed, the spiritual field would eventually recover.
The three Yu Lu Fruit trees had not been directly impacted by the explosion, but their roots underground had been severely damaged. Gu Mo could already see many broken roots in the large crater.
But it wasn't a major problem. As a spiritual herb master, repairing spiritual plants was one of his specialties. With a little time and effort, the three Yu Lu Fruit trees would likely recover quickly.
Aside from that, the first-grade plants that Gu Mo hadn't yet collected were all destroyed, and one of his avatars had completely perished.
"Eh?"
Suddenly, Gu Mo's eyes fell on the crater. He sensed a familiar aura—a spiritual energy signature that he recognized as his own.
"This is!!"
Gu Mo dug through the dirt and found a round pearl. From this pearl, he could feel an overwhelming amount of spiritual energy, and it was the same type of energy he possessed.
"This is my avatar's fake dan!"
Quickly, Gu Mo figured out the origin of the bead. Logically, under normal circumstances, a manifestation could not condense a fake dan. Even if it eventually triggered the phenomenon of forming a golden core, it would still be difficult to succeed. However, at that time, Gu Mo realized something was wrong and immediately withdrew his consciousness from the manifestation. Without Gu Mo's consciousness interfering, the manifestation was instead able to condense the fake dan with the infusion of heavenly and earthly spiritual power.
And this fake dan managed to survive the massive explosion and was preserved.
But what exactly was going on here? Gu Mo was momentarily confused as he held the fake dan in his hand. However, his eyes soon lit up.
This fake dan was his own, and the spiritual power within could be perfectly absorbed by him. It was like giving Gu Mo an extra source of immense spiritual power.
Moreover, although the quality of the spiritual power in the fake dan was not as high as that of a true golden core, it already surpassed the foundation-building level.
If Gu Mo used the spiritual power in this fake dan to perform the Spirit Refining Technique, wouldn't it allow him to temper his body to the level of a fake dan cultivator? With such a physique, Gu Mo could withstand most foundation-building cultivators' attacks.
In addition, Gu Mo remembered that there was a technique in the cultivation world called the External Core Technique. This technique allowed cultivators to use the inner core of a third-tier demon beast and refine it into their own golden core, thereby gaining the battle strength of a golden core cultivator.
This method did not require going through the process of forming a golden core, so there was no risk of failure. Even cultivators in the late foundation-building stage could attempt the ritual. The downside was that the inner cores of third-tier demon beasts were rare, and the power of an external inner core was limited because it was not the cultivator's own.
However, if Gu Mo used the External Core Technique to refine this fake dan, there would likely be no problem, because this fake dan was formed by Gu Mo himself, and there was no conflict between the two.
In fact, Gu Mo wouldn't even need to wait until the late foundation-building stage to refine it; he could attempt it during the mid-foundation-building stage, thanks to the 100% compatibility.
Gu Mo, having the foundation of a mid-foundation-building cultivator, could theoretically refine this fake dan right now and gain the power of a fake dan cultivator.
However, Gu Mo wouldn't do that. Refining the fake dan would be akin to cutting off his future. Only cultivators who had no hope of forming a golden core would resort to the External Core Technique.
Gu Mo himself wouldn't refine the fake dan, but he could give it to his manifestation. This way, Gu Mo could gain the battle strength of a fake dan cultivator in a short period.
A fake dan cultivator was considered a strong figure in the cultivation world.
However, before all that, Gu Mo needed to rebuild the partially destroyed spiritual field. Only with the spiritual field could he plant various plants, and with plants, he could obtain the Sun Essence for cultivation, Peashooters for combat power, and Nuts for defense, among others.
The first step in restoring the spiritual field wasn't the field itself but the three Yulu fruit trees. Only by allowing the roots of the Yulu fruit trees beneath the spiritual field to regrow could the field be restored.
With this in mind, Gu Mo went to where the three Yulu fruit trees were located. At this moment, Wei Yuancai was instructing a group of Qi Refining cultivators on how to care for the trees.
The three Yulu fruit trees, though still alive, had clearly lost some of their previous vitality and appeared a bit withered. This was due to the damage to their roots, and it would take at least several years to fully recover.
This meant that the next harvest might not yield fruit, as the trees would likely use all their energy to restore themselves.
Several years was clearly too long for Gu Mo to wait, so he, as a spiritual plant master, would need to step in.
"True disciple Gu mo
Seeing Gu Mo arrive, Wei Yuancai quickly stepped forward and explained the situation of the three Yulu fruit trees.
"I understand," Gu Mo nodded and walked up to the trees. His eyes scanned one of them, and he used his Plant Perception technique. With his mid-foundation-building divine sense sweeping over the tree, a complex network map appeared in his mind. This was the root system of the Yulu fruit tree. As a second-tier top-quality spiritual plant, its network was far more intricate than those of first-tier plants.
"Hmm?"
As Gu Mo released his divine sense, Wei Yuancai couldn't help but be surprised. As a foundation-building cultivator, he could naturally sense the presence of divine sense. Gu Mo possessing divine sense was not unexpected; he had shown it when he killed a foundation-building cultivator earlier.
What really surprised Wei Yuancai was that Gu Mo's divine sense seemed even stronger than before, surpassing the range of early foundation-building.
However, considering Gu Mo's status, Wei Yuancai suppressed his surprise. Perhaps Gu Mo had already become a foundation-building cultivator.
The noise from a foundation-building breakthrough wasn't as great as the one from forming a golden core, so it was normal for Wei Yuancai not to have realized it. Given Gu Mo's deep cultivation base, it made sense that his divine sense had grown stronger after reaching foundation-building.
Yes, for a genius, this was probably quite normal.
Gu Mo carefully studied the root network of the Yulu fruit tree, then used the exclusive secret technique of a spiritual plant master, Accelerated Growth. Gu Mo had figured out this secret technique himself when he first became a spiritual plant master. Now, having received the true method of Accelerated Growth from Qi Chunde, Gu Mo had progressed rapidly in mastering it. His current level of mastery was at the proficient stage, and he was not far from perfection.
With the nearly perfected Accelerated Growth technique, combined with Gu Mo's wood-type spiritual power that contained the essence of the sun, the once withered Yulu fruit tree began to show signs of vitality. Gu Mo could clearly sense the broken roots rapidly regrowing.
However, to fully restore the Yulu fruit tree to its original state and cover the area of a spiritual field, a significant amount of spiritual power was required. In the past, it would have taken Gu Mo at least several months of continuous use of Accelerated Growth to fully restore the tree.
But now…
"Wei Zhi Shi, leave this to me. You and your team can go now," Gu Mo said to Wei Yuancai.
"Yes!"
Seeing the revived Yulu fruit tree, Wei Yuancai was reminded that Gu Mo had once claimed to be a spiritual plant master.
A spiritual plant master who could kill a foundation-building cultivator in the perfect Qi Refining stage—truly, a remarkable figure in all aspects.
After Wei Yuancai led the Qi Refining cultivators away, Gu Mo flipped his hand, and a fake dan appeared in his palm. To restore the Yulu fruit tree quickly, Gu Mo's own spiritual power was clearly insufficient, so he planned to draw upon the power of the fake dan.
His divine sense entered the fake dan, and soon a trace of silver-hued spiritual power flowed into Gu Mo's body. This was the power of a fake dan cultivator—spiritual power that was a higher grade than the liquid spiritual power of a foundation-building cultivator.
If it had been a true golden core cultivator, the power would have been golden, but for fake dan cultivators and external core cultivators, the power was silver.
However, even with silver-colored power, Gu Mo felt an overwhelming weight in his body as it flowed through his meridians due to the high quality of the power.
But once Gu Mo used the Spirit Refining Technique to strengthen his physique to the level of a fake dan cultivator, it should become much easier.
Slowly guiding the silver power, Gu Mo injected it into the Yulu fruit tree, accelerating its growth.
"Whoosh!"
As the spiritual power entered, the Yulu fruit tree trembled as if it had consumed a potent supplement. The second-tier spiritual plant absorbed the third-tier dan power, and with the same wood-type attribute as Gu Mo's spiritual power, the effect was evident.
The energy of the tree skyrocketed visibly, and below the surface, countless roots were growing wildly.
In just one hour, the tree's roots had regrown to their original extent, even extending far beyond, meaning Gu Mo's spiritual field would now expand from one acre to one and a half acres.
Unfortunately, due to the limitation of the second-tier mid-quality spiritual vein at this resource point, the Yulu fruit tree could not be upgraded to second-tier top-quality. Otherwise, with the assistance of the fake dan power, the Accelerated Growth technique could have pushed it to that level.
A second-tier top-quality Yulu fruit tree could expand the spiritual field several times over. Nonetheless, increasing the field by half an acre was still a good result.
Once the roots of the Yulu fruit tree were restored, the spiritual field would soon be fully recovered. A month later, Gu Mo looked at the newly planted Sunflowers, Peashooters, and other plants in his spiritual field, feeling a sense of relief.
With the field sorted, it was time for Gu Mo to focus on his own matters, such as officially stepping into foundation-building and refining his manifestation again.
(Show your support and read more chapters on my Patreon: p@treon.com/psychopet. Thank you for your support!)