Plant VS Cultivation

Chapter 170 – The Grand Yan Sword Sect

"Well then, let's see what makes this Heaven-Origin Realm so special."

Holding the jade slip in his hand, Gu Mo infused his divine sense into it. In an instant, a torrent of information surged into his mind.

With his eyes closed, Gu Mo swiftly sorted through the data.

After a moment, he slowly opened his eyes. Thanks to the intelligence stored in the jade slip, Gu Mo now had a decent understanding of the Heaven-Origin Realm.

Overall, this realm was locked in a long-standing struggle between the orthodox and demonic paths.

The orthodox sects were led by three great powers—Taiqing Sect, Yin-Yang Sword Sect, and Shennong Valley—each housing cultivators who surpassed the Nascent Soul True Lord level.

As for the demonic path, it was dominated by Blood Demon Sect, Ten Thousand Ghost Cavern, and Yin Corpse Sect, who also had experts beyond the Nascent Soul stage. The six sects had been in a standoff for over ten thousand years.

Beyond these six giants, the realm was home to numerous Nascent Soul-level sects. These varied widely in strength—some had only a single Nascent Soul cultivator, while others had multiple True Lords, even top-tier sects led by Grand Nascent Soul True Lords.

Among the names, Gu Mo spotted two familiar sects—Fenghua Sect and Hundred Flowers Sect.

Fenghua Sect had, decades ago, abruptly abandoned its ancestral territory—despite it being a sacred land nurtured for a millennium—and relocated the entire sect. As a result, it had been delisted from the Heaven-Origin Realm's major powers.

Meanwhile, Hundred Flowers Sect remained a middling Nascent Soul sect in terms of raw strength, but it had a vast network of connections, its influence rivaling that of even the top-tier sects.

"Did Fenghua Sect offend some powerful figure?" Gu Mo stared at the intel, pondering. If that sect had fled because they provoked someone formidable, he wouldn't mind reporting them—leading that enemy straight to Qinghe Realm to settle the score.

Unfortunately, the intelligence lacked further detail. Fenghua Sect's retreat had been too swift and decisive; their embedded spies had no time to gather information before the core members vanished.

Still, Gu Mo wasn't too concerned. If he couldn't find Fenghua Sect's enemy, then once he stepped into the Nascent Soul realm himself, he'd go after them directly.

As for Hundred Flowers Sect, Gu Mo had already investigated it after seeing one of its disciples in Qinghe Realm's Immortal City. The sect was simply too suitable for Chu Feifei.

He wasn't sure whether Chu Feifei had actually joined, but Gu Mo made a mental note to visit the sect someday. Hundred Flowers Sect had strong ties with Shennong Valley—many of its prized spiritual flowers and herbs were cultivated by Shennong Valley on their behalf.

After getting a general sense of the major sects, Gu Mo shifted his focus to the sword cultivator sects. His goal was to find a sect suitable for his avatar to join.

The Yin-Yang Sword Sect, one of the top three orthodox sects, was the strongest sword cultivation sect in the realm—an obvious point of interest.

But in the end, Gu Mo decided against having his avatar join them. The reason was simple: while his avatar had already proven capable of deceiving Nascent Soul cultivators—the Nascent Soul elder of Fenghua Sect hadn't seen through him—it remained uncertain whether those beyond the Nascent Soul realm could be similarly fooled. Gu Mo's avatar technique wasn't a complete or perfect version.

Just to be safe, he abandoned the idea. Besides, joining a top-tier sect like Yin-Yang Sword Sect would be a major challenge.

His avatar, while inheriting Gu Mo's base constitution, also inherited his inferior spiritual roots. With such poor aptitude, getting into the Yin-Yang Sword Sect would be extremely difficult.

Rather than waste time there, it would be better to join an older, historically rich sect that had declined in recent years. Such sects still retained powerful sword cultivation legacies but lacked the current strength to attract top talent.

This meant they'd likely be eager to recruit any promising individual, even one with some flaws.

"Grand Yan Sword Sect, you'll do nicely!"

After narrowing down his options, Gu Mo quickly settled on a target: Grand Yan Sword Sect.

It was a Nascent Soul-level sect, one of the weakest at that—only a single early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator led the sect. However, it had an incredibly long history.

Several thousand years ago, Grand Yan Sword Sect had almost ascended to the ranks of the top six sects. At that time, a monstrous genius had risen from within, breaking into the Grand Nascent Soul True Lord realm in an extraordinarily short span of time.

Unfortunately, that genius was ambushed by an unknown enemy while attempting to break through to the next realm and died. From that moment on, the sect fell into decline and had yet to recover.

To Gu Mo, this made Grand Yan Sword Sect the perfect choice—possessing higher-level inheritance while being weak enough to be open to nurturing new talent. As long as his avatar displayed exceptional potential, he'd very likely be granted access to the sect's core sword cultivation techniques.

Another advantage: Grand Yan Sword Sect wasn't far from Shennong Valley. Gu Mo's true body could occasionally deliver resources, accelerating his avatar's cultivation.

Having made up his mind, Gu Mo prepared to condense his avatar.

He took out a vial of primordial liquid spiritual essence. Of the six drops he had originally obtained, two had already been used. This would be the third.

Dripping a single drop of his own blood into the liquid essence, Gu Mo then began activating his External Avatar Technique. At his current Golden Core cultivation level, creating a non-cultivated avatar was a simple matter.

Since this avatar was intended to join Grand Yan Sword Sect, Gu Mo didn't plan to enhance its cultivation in advance. It would start fresh, learning the sect's sword arts from scratch.

Of course, he made significant adjustments to the avatar's appearance during the process. This avatar would serve as a separate identity, not a stand-in for his true self—its face had to be entirely different.

"Three months from now is the sect's recruitment day. Time to get going."

After confirming his plan, Gu Mo checked the sect's schedule. In three months, Grand Yan Sword Sect would hold its next disciple intake.

It was the perfect opportunity for his avatar to join. And since the sect was quite far away, Gu Mo needed to depart now to avoid delays.

Conveniently, Shennong Valley lay in the same direction. After his avatar was settled, Gu Mo's main body could continue on to Shennong Valley.

Compared to Grand Yan Sword Sect—once a contender for top status but now fallen—Shennong Valley had consistently held its place as one of the six strongest sects.

A three-month journey meant little to Gu Mo, who had spent the past year drifting across the ocean.

Now standing before a distant mountain range, he cross-referenced his map to confirm he'd arrived at his destination. The journey had gone smoothly, with no unexpected incidents.

This was orthodox sect territory, and rogue cultivator bandits were relatively scarce here. And besides, as a Golden Core cultivator, Gu Mo was not an easy target.

Upon entering Grand Yan Sword Sect's territory, Gu Mo activated his Concealment Technique and proceeded into the nearby city—a mortal settlement under the sect's control.

Most of the city's inhabitants were descendants of Grand Yan disciples. Generations of intermarriage and life near cultivation lands had led to the emergence of this mortal town nestled beside the sect.

This wasn't unique to Grand Yan. Many sects had similar arrangements. These mortal towns served as important recruitment pools for the sects.

Living in spiritual lands and having cultivator ancestry meant a higher probability of spiritual roots manifesting—and such people were generally more loyal to the sect, thanks to their heritage.

Because of this, whenever the sect held its recruitment drives, the local mortal cities were always the top priority. Any prodigies born here didn't need to worry about being snatched up by rival sects.

In contrast, mortal nations far from the cultivation world relied on sect emissaries to scout for disciples each year. Major sects competed fiercely for the most talented individuals—strong sects would secure the best seedlings, while weaker ones could only settle for the leftovers.

That's why, for those weaker sects to rise again, they had to place their hopes on a true genius emerging from one of their affiliated mortal cities.

It was said that the monstrous genius born thousands of years ago in the Grand Yan Sword Sect had also come from such a mortal city. Otherwise, given the sect's status back then, how could they possibly have drawn in such an extraordinary talent?

Unfortunately, the sect had failed to protect him. Or more accurately, by the time that genius had stepped into the Grand Nascent Soul True Lord realm, he had already become the sect's strongest member. There was simply no one left within the sect capable of shielding him.

Had he been born into one of the six major sects, then during his attempt to break through beyond the Nascent Soul stage, a superior from the sect would have personally safeguarded the process—allowing him to cultivate in peace.

Upon entering the mortal city under Grand Yan Sword Sect's control, Gu Mo quickly spotted the recruitment notice. In the central plaza, crowds of mortals had already gathered—mostly youths and teenagers.

Seeing this, Gu Mo stepped into a side alley. A moment later, a handsome young man emerged—that was his avatar.

Following the crowd, the avatar made his way to the plaza and lined up with the other teens, preparing to undergo the spiritual root assessment.

Of course, given Gu Mo's own inferior spiritual roots, his avatar predictably shared the same trait. Even if accepted into the Grand Yan Sword Sect, he'd likely be classified as a menial disciple. However, since this was a sword sect, they tested not just spiritual roots, but also aptitude in swordsmanship.

That was Gu Mo's angle. While his avatar was technically a mortal with poor roots, the mind controlling it belonged to a Golden Core cultivator. Gu Mo had also trained in the nameless sword manual, and his sword comprehension was not shallow.

By displaying just a hint of this insight, he could at least secure a position as an outer sect disciple. From there, continued demonstrations of talent would naturally attract the sect's attention and resources.

"Inferior spiritual root."

The test was quick. As expected, Gu Mo's avatar was classified as having an inferior root. He was then directed to another area to take the sword aptitude test.

This sword test was simple: slash a specific stone with a sword. The stone clearly wasn't ordinary—brute force alone wouldn't leave a mark. Only those who grasped the essence of sword techniques could carve into it.

"Unqualified."

"Unqualified."

…

One by one, the young participants stepped forward, only to be turned away after failing to make any impression on the stone. All these youths had already passed the spiritual root test; those with no roots at all had already been eliminated and weren't even eligible to take this part.

After all, sword cultivators were still cultivators. Without spiritual roots, one could never cultivate—no matter how great their affinity with the sword, they'd amount to no more than a mortal swordfighter, not a true sword cultivator.

Those without sword aptitude would still be admitted to the sect, but only as menial disciples. Unless they had a low-grade or better spiritual root, which might qualify them for other non-sword-related paths.

Though the Grand Yan Sword Sect was mainly a sword sect, it maintained a few auxiliary cultivation paths for such cases. The Yin-Yang Sword Sect, on the other hand, was a pure sword sect—no matter how amazing your spiritual root, if you lacked sword talent, you'd never set foot through their gates.

"Next!"

At the call of the Foundation Establishment cultivator overseeing the test, Gu Mo's avatar picked up a sword and stepped before the stone. With a light swing, the sword cut a deep gash into it.

Using only swordsmanship—not spiritual energy—this was the absolute limit of what Gu Mo's avatar, as a mortal, could achieve.

And it was also a clear reflection of Gu Mo's real sword talent.

"Not bad."

The examiner's eyes lit up. This was easily one of the better candidates he'd seen that year.

"Sigh…"

Seeing the man's reaction, Gu Mo sighed inwardly. His sword talent was decent, sure—but clearly still fell short of the realm's true geniuses.

Then again, swordsmanship was never his main path—he specialized in cultivation through agriculture and alchemy. Sword arts were simply a way to make up for his lack of combat power. If he wanted to experience the life of a genius, he'd wait until he reached Shennong Valley.

"What's your name?"

The Foundation Establishment cultivator began recording information. Despite the avatar's poor spiritual roots, his sword aptitude merited focused cultivation.

"Lin Wu."

Gu Mo spoke the name he had prepared long ago. He deliberately chose something completely unrelated to his real name, to sever all ties between his true self and this avatar.

As for why he chose this particular name—he just felt like it sounded like a proper protagonist's name.

"This is your temporary identity token. Wait here."

The cultivator handed over a token bearing the name "Lin Wu."

Passing this sword test was only the first step. The real admission process involved further evaluations—not all of them about aptitude. They would also be vetting the candidates' backgrounds to ensure none were spies planted by demonic sects.

"Time to head for Shennong Valley."

With his avatar safely on the path to joining Grand Yan Sword Sect, Gu Mo's true body was now free to travel to Shennong Valley.

He wondered if Master Qi Chunde had returned. The last news he had received was that the man was being hunted.

Gu Mo wasn't too worried, though. The identity token given to him by Qi Chunde could sense whether the man was alive or dead.

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