Plant VS Cultivation

Chapter 172 – Becoming a Disciple of Shennong Valley

"Greetings, Grandmaster!"

Startled by the sudden appearance of the elderly farmer, Gu Mo hurriedly bowed. Although the man's presence felt completely restrained, given the circumstances, there was likely no one else who could appear here besides that late-Stage Nascent Soul grandmaster.

"Mm."

Hou Chunyu gave a slight nod and lifted a hand, drawing over Qi Chunde's identity token. He immediately unlocked the information Qi Chunde had left inside.

Moments later, Hou Chunyu stared at Gu Mo with a look of astonishment.

The message Qi Chunde left in the token gave a general summary of Gu Mo's background and also contained a trace of his aura. This was to prevent anyone from impersonating Gu Mo—if the aura didn't match, they would be exposed instantly.

And it was precisely because the aura was an exact match that Hou Chunyu was so shocked. Qi Chunde had clearly stated that he took Gu Mo as his disciple while the boy was still in the Qi Refining stage.

But how long had it even been? That Qi Refining cultivator had now become a Golden Core cultivator. The speed of this cultivation progress was simply staggering.

Moreover, with his late-Stage Nascent Soul cultivation, Hou Chunyu could tell that Gu Mo's physical body was extremely robust—far beyond the early Golden Core level.

And all of this had been achieved despite Gu Mo's so-called inferior spiritual roots. Qi Chunde had mentioned this in the message as well, explaining that he had taken Gu Mo on because of his astonishing talent as a spiritual planter.

In other words, this youth standing before him possessed spiritual planting aptitude so formidable that Qi Chunde had accepted him as a disciple despite his lackluster spiritual roots.

No—that so-called "inferior spiritual root" assessment might be entirely inaccurate. Someone who could bond with Xiao Hua to this degree couldn't possibly have mere inferior roots.

Either he had a hidden spiritual root, or he possessed a unique constitution. Otherwise, there was simply no explaining how he cultivated so quickly.

But no matter what the reason, it was undoubtedly a blessing for their lineage. Qi Chunde may have gone astray in his own cultivation path, but he had taken in an outstanding disciple.

And now, with Qi Chunde absent, this promising talent could be guided by Hou Chunyu instead. When Qi Chunde finally returned, Hou could chide him thoroughly—his own disciple surpassing him in cultivation might just be enough to make that rebellious apprentice repent.

"Wei Yang, take your junior nephew and help him settle in," Hou Chunyu instructed.

As for the contents of the identity token, Hou Chunyu didn't elaborate. Top-tier sects were always cautious in keeping their talented disciples hidden unless there was no choice, or until those disciples were strong enough to protect themselves.

In Hou Chunyu's view, Gu Mo was still a genius in need of protection. Of course, if he had known Gu Mo had already slain a Tier-4 demon king, he might have had a different opinion.

"Good child, let your martial uncle help you get settled in for now. Later, your grandmaster will personally take you to receive your technique inheritance." Hou Chunyu had naturally seen through Gu Mo's current cultivation technique—it was the Qingmu Sutra. Very few disciples of Shennong Valley ever cultivated it to mastery.

Most disciples merely used the Qingmu Sutra as a foundation before quickly switching to more advanced techniques.

After all, compared to the high-level techniques in the sect, the Qingmu Sutra seemed quite basic. However, the deeper one cultivated this scripture, the broader the range of future techniques available.

Some of the sect's top-tier cultivation methods could only be learned after mastering—or even perfecting—the Qingmu Sutra.

Unfortunately, the scripture's cultivation speed was notoriously slow. While it worked well as a basic foundation, reaching the Foundation Establishment or Golden Core stage with it could take far too long.

Gu Mo's rapid progress had only been possible thanks to the Sun Essence Force forcibly accelerating his cultivation. For an ordinary cultivator, it would be nearly impossible to reach Foundation Establishment with it in a lifetime.

Only particularly gifted disciples would willingly stick with the Qingmu Sutra to eventually qualify for the sect's top-level techniques. Those with average aptitude would wisely switch to faster alternatives.

That Gu Mo had managed to cultivate the Qingmu Sutra to perfection in such a short time only further confirmed that his supposed inferior spiritual roots were false. He clearly possessed some hidden top-tier talent.

For a prodigy of this caliber, Hou Chunyu certainly wouldn't let his progress be hindered by technique limitations. If it weren't for the need to prepare Gu Mo's identity token, he would've taken him immediately to select a more advanced cultivation method.

"Yes, Grandmaster!" Gu Mo responded respectfully.

And with that, Gu Mo officially became a disciple of Shennong Valley. The process went unusually smoothly—not just due to Qi Chunde's backing, but also thanks to Gu Mo's astonishing display of talent.

The kind of treatment he hadn't received in the Grand Yan Sword Sect, he was finally experiencing here in Shennong Valley.

"Junior Nephew, follow me," Wei Yang said, having received Hou Chunyu's orders. He led Gu Mo to choose a treetop leaf-dwelling. In truth, all the leaves were the same size, and the sect could control the amount of spiritual energy each one received—so it was more about choosing a good location.

Without hesitation, Gu Mo selected a sun-drenched leaf. Not every leaf was bathed in sunlight, after all.

Of course, leaves without sunlight weren't necessarily undesirable. Disciples who cultivated special techniques or planted shade-loving spiritual herbs would often prefer them.

After Gu Mo chose his tree leaf, Wei Yang handed him a special meditation cushion. Once placed on the leaf, it could absorb spiritual energy from the leaf for cultivation.

In addition, every official disciple of Shennong Valley received their own plot of spiritual farmland—even those who weren't spiritual planters. Non-planters would often lease their plots to fellow disciples and collect rent.

This was essentially a guaranteed source of passive income.

Now that Gu Mo was officially a disciple of Shennong Valley, he too received a spiritual field. Based on his cultivation level, he was entitled to at least a Tier-3 field.

"Martial Uncle, is there a way to acquire a Tier-4 spiritual field?" Gu Mo asked. Tier-3 farmland was already of limited use to him, although if the area was large enough, there was still some room for improvement.

"There is," Wei Yang replied without surprise. "Complete sect missions and accumulate contribution points. Once you have enough, you can exchange them for higher-tier farmland."

His tone was casual—he had asked the same thing back in his day.

After all, what spiritual planter didn't dream of owning high-tier farmland? The higher the quality of the land, the more efficient it was to grow and cultivate herbs.

Gu Mo nodded. This is the heritage of a top-tier sect.

If this had been an ordinary Nascent Soul-level sect, there would've been no way to even obtain a Tier-4 field—assuming they even had any.

Most Nascent Soul sects with Tier-4 spirit veins would reserve them for cultivation caves, not for tilling spiritual farmland. After all, what could be more important than cultivation itself?

"This five mu of Tier-3 spiritual farmland will be yours from now on, Junior Nephew," Wei Yang said as he led Gu Mo away from the ancient tree, finally stopping at a secluded mountain hollow over a hundred li away.

Five mu of Tier-3 fields—this was a treatment reserved for inner sect Golden Core disciples in Shennong Valley. The farmland included both dry and irrigated fields, and the greater the variety of field types, the broader the range of spirit plants one could cultivate.

In addition, these fields were nestled in a natural depression in the terrain, providing excellent concealment, and they were shielded by array formations.

For spiritual planters, their cultivation methods and the plants they grew were often considered trade secrets, so solid defensive measures were a must. Trespassing into someone else's spiritual field was a major taboo in Shennong Valley.

Though not entirely invulnerable, these protections were effective enough. At most, the sect's highest authorities—those beyond the Nascent Soul realm or at its pinnacle—could forcefully observe a disciple's field, but they typically wouldn't bother.

Even if they did take a look, the spiritual plants of ordinary disciples wouldn't likely attract their attention.

As long as Gu Mo remained cautious and kept the secret of the Sunflower's ability to produce Solar Essence hidden, he would be fine. As for the Peashooters and other unusual plants—even if they looked odd, in Shennong Valley, that probably wouldn't raise too many eyebrows.

The only real drawback was the distance from his treetop leaf dwelling. Fortunately, Gu Mo didn't need ambient spiritual energy to cultivate and could just live directly by the fields if necessary.

"Junior Nephew, are you worried this is a bit too far from your treeleaf dwelling?" Wei Yang asked with a grin, seemingly reading Gu Mo's mind.

"Does Martial Uncle have a solution?" Gu Mo asked curiously.

"Of course. For spiritual planters, the crops in their fields are their lifeblood. It's natural to be uneasy about being too far away." Wei Yang nodded. "You can go to the Technique Pavilion and exchange for a wood-element art derived from the Wood Escape technique—one of the Five Element Escape Arts. With it, you'll be able to travel quickly between your dwelling and your field."

"The Five Element Escape Arts!"

Gu Mo's eyes lit up. His Wind Escape technique was derived from the Metal Escape method of the Five Element Escape Arts, and he had experienced firsthand how powerful it was.

Now, with the chance to learn another derived technique—especially from the same system—how could he not be excited? If he could eventually collect Water, Fire, and Earth escape techniques too, he might even be able to form a miniature version of the Five Element Escape Arts.

Of course, even derivative arts weren't easy to cultivate. It had taken him considerable time and effort to master Wind Escape.

"Don't worry," Wei Yang said, chuckling. "In Shennong Valley, you only need to grasp the basics of the wood-element art. Leave the rest to the Tree Monarch."

The dwellings of Shennong Valley's disciples were located on the leaves of the ancient tree, while the spirit fields lay among its roots. Traveling between the two was essentially going from the leaves to the roots of the same tree.

Wood escape was a secret art that allowed one to merge into plant matter. Outside the sect, you'd need to reach a certain proficiency before it could even be used.

But inside Shennong Valley, even a surface-level understanding would suffice. One could merge into the ancient tree and move swiftly between the treetop and the root zone with the tree's help.

With this fast-travel method, it didn't matter much whether the fields and the dwelling were together. The spirit fields were protected by formation arrays, and in case of any disturbance, Gu Mo could reach them in an instant.

Gu Mo nodded at this—indeed, a viable solution. But if the ancient tree was the one aiding in the process, then everything that happened within Shennong Valley would likely be known to the Tree Monarch.

The upside was that this made infiltration almost impossible. In top-tier sects like Shennong Valley, destruction by external forces was rare; decline almost always came from internal strife.

Qinglu Sect was a perfect example. If it hadn't been for He Shaogang infiltrating the sect, it wouldn't have fallen—even without a Nascent Soul expert at its helm.

Now, with a Tier-5 ancient tree overseeing everything in Shennong Valley, internal sabotage was practically unthinkable. Any sign of trouble would immediately be noticed.

Of course, this level of awareness could be a problem for someone with secrets—someone like Gu Mo.

Still, Shennong Valley likely wouldn't stoop to seizing a disciple's fortuitous opportunities. And even if someone tried to take his plants, Gu Mo could simply issue a command and have them all enter dormancy. Once that happened, others wouldn't be able to make use of them.

At worst, he could just avoid planting anything from the Black Mist Space within the sect. After all, the combat-capable plants had little use in Shennong Valley anyway.

If an enemy managed to break through the sect's protective grand formation and reach his spirit fields, whether he had those plants or not would make no difference.

Unless Gu Mo could one day cultivate a Tier-5 plant, none of it would matter.

As for enemies within the sect? He didn't need the plant army for that. With a late-Stage Nascent Soul grandmaster like Hou Chunyu backing him, calling for help would be far more effective than relying on battle plants.

The only plant he couldn't afford to go without was the Sunflower. With the peace and stability Shennong Valley provided, Gu Mo could fully devote his farmland to cultivating Sunflowers without having to mix in any battle plants.

But given how strongly Solar Essence attracted other spiritual plants, Gu Mo was a little concerned that even the Tier-5 ancient tree might react to it.

He'd already tested the Tier-4 Dragonblood Seaweed—if that caused a reaction, it was safe to assume the Tier-5 ancient tree would too.

"I'll have to find an opportunity to test it."

Gu Mo had stockpiled plenty of Solar Essence in his Black Mist Space. He could take some out and see how the Tree Monarch reacted. If it tried to seize it by force, Gu Mo would seriously consider leaving Shennong Valley.

But if the Tree Monarch didn't try to take it, Gu Mo wouldn't mind offering a little up as tribute. If he could win over a Tier-5 ancient tree, wouldn't that let him walk freely through Shennong Valley like he owned the place?

"Junior Nephew, that's all for now. Once you receive your identity token, you can collect the rest of your disciple benefits yourself." Having helped Gu Mo settle both his dwelling and farmland, Wei Yang's task was complete. Noticing Gu Mo drifting into thought, he didn't press further. He returned Gu Mo to his treeleaf courtyard and then took his leave.

"Many thanks, Martial Uncle!"

Gu Mo bowed as he escorted Wei Yang out of the courtyard. As a welcome gift, Wei Yang had also given Gu Mo a small courtyard residence after he picked his tree leaf. This courtyard, similar in function to a magical artifact dwelling, was much larger and had more complex defensive formations.

After Wei Yang left, Gu Mo entered the small house and sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion. Streams of pure spiritual energy flowed into him from the cushion—spirit power that had been refined and purified by the Tier-5 ancient tree itself. Gu Mo calmly absorbed it while quietly mapping out his plan to test the Tree Monarch.

After all, he was dealing with a Tier-5 ancient tree. He didn't dare be careless. Even the slightest hint of malice from it would be enough to crush him completely.

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