Chapter 137: Three Years
Chapter 137: Three Years
"Whew… I finally finished everything Mother asked me to do." Bathed in the light of dawn, Lu Lingmei made her way up the mountain toward the spirit fields.
Yesterday, her mother had suddenly assigned her some family affairs to handle. Lu Lingmei hadn't thought too much of it—given the Lu clan's current state, every family member had to do their part to restore its former glory.
Now that her task was complete, she hurried over immediately, worried that Senior Hu might have something for her and be unable to find her. After witnessing that senior effortlessly repel a powerful enemy from the Xu clan, her admiration for Gu Mo had only deepened.
Just as she was about to enter the small cottage near the spirit field's array, Lu Lingmei saw her mother walking out of the formation.
"Lingmei, did you finish everything?" Fang Jiaoyan steadied her slightly unsteady steps and smiled upon seeing her daughter.
"Mm."
Lu Lingmei nodded, though her eyes held a trace of puzzlement as she looked at her mother.
"I've just reached an agreement with Master Hu. He's promised to personally guide you in the path of spiritual planting. You must seize this opportunity," Fang Jiaoyan said seriously.
As for the price she paid to obtain this agreement, Fang Jiaoyan had no intention of telling her daughter. If Master Hu had shown no interest, she would have revealed the Lu clan's dire situation and asked Lingmei to make sacrifices for their family.
But since the master was still somewhat satisfied with her, that wouldn't be necessary for now. Of course, if he was willing to stay longer, it wouldn't be out of the question for both mother and daughter to serve him.
After all, he was a cultivator powerful enough to repel an Outer Core expert.
"I'll do my best."
Hearing that she could receive guidance from such a formidable senior, Lu Lingmei was elated. Any lingering doubts in her mind vanished instantly. If she wanted to help revive the Lu clan, she had to cultivate diligently—and having the mentorship of a master spiritual planter was an incredible opportunity.
"Good."
Fang Jiaoyan stroked her daughter's head with satisfaction, then turned and left.
Inside the spirit field's cottage, Gu Mo stretched lazily, still savoring last night's experience. For the first time, he had put all the theoretical knowledge he'd gained from Earth's "educational videos" into practice—on Fang Jiaoyan. Though it was his first time and a bit clumsy, with the power of his pseudo-core level physique, Gu Mo had no trouble handling her.
Naturally, as with any transaction, having enjoyed himself, Gu Mo had to give something in return. Sensing Lu Lingmei waiting outside the cottage, he sent her a voice transmission and summoned her in.
"Greetings, Senior Hu!"
Lu Lingmei bowed respectfully. With her mother's earlier reminder, she knew the senior had called her to guide her in spiritual planting—something she was very much looking forward to.
"In a moment, I'll teach you the method for cultivating Sword Bamboo. Pay close attention." Gu Mo began. Most spiritual planters specialized in one or two plants, and that would be his requirement for her as well. The chosen plant—unsurprisingly—was Sword Bamboo.
This plant was key to the Lu clan's future. Once Gu Mo left, if no one in the Lu clan could cultivate Sword Bamboo, their qualification as a spirit supply vendor for Immortal City would be revoked. That status was an extremely important protective asset for the Lu clan right now.
However, Sword Bamboo was a Tier 2 spirit plant, while Lu Lingmei was still only in the Qi Refining stage. Even if she specialized in this one plant, cultivating it independently wouldn't be easy.
Still, Gu Mo had no plans to leave just yet. At least until the Immortal City's grand auction began—over three years from now—he'd remain with the Lu clan.
"Yes, sir!"
Lu Lingmei nodded earnestly.
Gu Mo then began teaching her the Minor Cloud Rain Art and Minor Geng Metal Sword Qi, two core techniques for cultivating Sword Bamboo.
As a low-grade water spiritual root, Lu Lingmei progressed rapidly in the Minor Cloud Rain Art, though her progress in Minor Geng Metal Sword Qi was much slower.
Time slipped by, and in the blink of an eye, three years had passed.
Three years might be a flash for cultivators, but for Gu Mo, they were three years of rapidly growing foundations.
That foundation, of course, referred to his plants. Over the course of those years, Gu Mo successfully upgraded five Tier 3 Sunflowers.
With their help, he upgraded a significant number of his other plants to top-tier Tier 2. The reason he stopped there and didn't push them to Tier 3 was that he was saving up. Once he obtained a Tier 3 spirit field, those five Tier 3 Sunflowers would produce full Tier 3 Solar Essence.
Using complete Tier 3 Solar Essence for upgrades would be far more efficient.
The Immortal City's once-every-five-years Grand Auction was fast approaching. For Gu Mo, two possibilities lay ahead: one, Tier 3 spirit fields were up for rent or sale—if so, he'd go all-in to win the bid. The second possibility was that no such fields were available.
In that case, he'd attempt to purchase a top-grade Tier 2 field and upgrade it using Earth Vein Pearls to Tier 3.
If even that wasn't possible—if not even a top-grade Tier 2 field was available—then he would upgrade the Lu clan's own field.
Whether doing so would bring disaster to the Lu clan, Gu Mo would handle it. Before leaving, he'd leave behind several spirit plants to act as the clan's hidden trump cards.
As long as they could retain the Tier 3 field, this would be a massive opportunity—potentially giving the Lu clan the foundation to become a Core Formation-level clan.
Speaking of the Lu clan, they'd recovered a fair bit over the past three years. Fang Jiaoyan, in particular, had set aside all pride and dignity, constantly finding new ways to please Gu Mo. She even cultivated charm arts and dual cultivation techniques, just to ensure Gu Mo always had a fresh experience.
Fang Jiaoyan understood clearly: keeping Master Hu's interest was the only way to maintain this exchange.
While cultivating those techniques had delayed her own cultivation, it didn't matter. What did matter was that under Gu Mo's tutelage, Lu Lingmei's skill in spiritual planting had advanced rapidly.
Her cultivation had also soared. Though the Lu clan had suffered heavy losses and most of its experts had perished, its income had not been affected. Thanks to Gu Mo, their Sword Bamboo supply had remained stable.
In fact, the amount of Sword Bamboo had increased significantly, causing a massive spike in the Lu clan's income. Compared to before Gu Mo's arrival, their earnings had multiplied—perhaps not tenfold, but certainly by seven or eight times.
With more income and fewer claimants, the Lu clan suddenly had far more resources to allocate. As their key prodigy, Lu Lingmei naturally received the lion's share of that support.
As a cultivator with a low-grade water spiritual root, and with abundant resources backing her, Lu Lingmei's cultivation sped along. In just a few more years, she was expected to reach the peak of Qi Refining and begin her push toward Foundation Establishment.
Splash!
The gentle patter of rain outside the cottage broke Gu Mo's thoughts. He stepped outside and looked up at the cloudy sky, where a golden koi swam gracefully through the clouds.
Below, Lu Lingmei was observing intently. The koi's Minor Cloud Rain Art had reached the Great Mastery level, and every time it cast the spell, Lu Lingmei made sure to study it closely—and her diligence was paying off.
Her own Minor Cloud Rain Art had reached the Proficient stage—not just entry-level, but solid proficiency. Water spiritual roots truly had an innate advantage with water-based techniques.
In contrast, her Minor Geng Metal Sword Qi was still only at the beginner stage.
Still, that was enough for her to help manage the Sword Bamboo forest on a day-to-day basis. Gu Mo only needed to personally tend to it once every few days.
"Senior!"
Seeing Gu Mo emerge, Lu Lingmei quickly ran over and bowed.
"Any questions about your cultivation?" Gu Mo asked with a smile. While the koi had mastered the Minor Cloud Rain Art, Gu Mo himself had brought all five major spirit farming techniques to Great Mastery.
With his pseudo-core level soul, understanding Tier 1 spirit farming spells was far easier than it had been in the Qi Refining stage—especially since he'd already grasped the essence behind each one. His progress was rapid.
More importantly, Gu Mo had an abundance of time. Since he didn't need to cultivate himself, he had plenty of time to study techniques, sword manuals, and even alchemy.
Thanks to the Torch Tree Stump—a treasure for alchemy and tool refinement—Gu Mo sent his pseudo-core clone into Immortal City to seek out an alchemy legacy.
Between alchemy and tool refinement, Gu Mo chose alchemy. As a spiritual planter, he had a distinct advantage—he could grow his own ingredients and had deep knowledge of their properties.
Combined with his pseudo-core soul, the Tier 2 Torch Tree Stump allowed him to breeze through issues that plagued most novice alchemists—ingredient identification, medicinal energy changes during refinement, fire control… all were easy for him.
Unfortunately, the alchemy legacy his clone acquired was only a Tier 1 one. He could now easily refine all kinds of Tier 1 pills, with extremely high success rates and low material costs.
But Tier 1 pills weren't of much use to him. While selling them could yield some profit due to his low costs, the profit margin wasn't very high.
So after mastering the Tier 1 legacy, Gu Mo stopped pursuing it further, planning to resume once he acquired a higher-level legacy.
For now, his time remained devoted to spirit farming techniques and sword manuals. Mastering all five core spirit farming arts to Great Mastery had been his major accomplishment over these past three years.
While Tier 1 spirit farming arts weren't particularly helpful for someone at his level…
He still invested the time to master them—because each of the five "Minor" techniques had an advanced version. Qi Chunde had told him so, and Gu Mo wasn't surprised.
After all, the "Minor" in their names strongly implied the existence of full-fledged versions.
Though his clone hadn't found any advanced techniques in Immortal City, Gu Mo wasn't discouraged. Given the low regard this realm had for spiritual planters, it was to be expected.
To find the advanced versions, he'd likely have to go to the famed Shennong Valley.
Of course, advanced techniques didn't mean the "Minor" ones could be ignored. On the contrary, the Minor techniques were the key to entering the advanced ones. Only by mastering the basics could one truly begin to comprehend their higher counterparts.
This is the benefit of having a proper lineage. Without Qi Chunde's message and reminder, although Gu Mo would still continue to study the Spirit Farmer techniques, he wouldn't have treated them with such importance. By the time he arrived at Shennong Valley, if his understanding of the basic Spirit Farmer techniques was lacking and he couldn't cultivate the advanced versions, wouldn't that be a disgrace to his master?
Of course, reaching the Great Accomplishment stage would merely mean he didn't embarrass himself. To truly bring honor to his master, reaching the Perfection level was clearly essential.
However, even for a Stage 1 Spirit Farmer technique, reaching the Perfection level was immensely difficult. Gu Mo wasn't entirely confident he could achieve it.
That said, compared to comprehending the Sword Canon, Gu Mo still found the Spirit Farmer techniques easier to grasp. In three years, he had only just managed to grasp the entry-level move of the Sword Canon—Heaven-Cleaving Slash, which was considered the easiest attack technique in the canon.
During these three years, Gu Mo had also been trying to comprehend new sword moves, such as one called Sword Reversal. He regarded it highly—it was a sword technique designed for defense and counterattack.
Block the enemy's strike, then use that momentum to retaliate.
Block, leverage, counter—three distinct steps, yet they had to be fused into a single seamless move. The difficulty of mastering this surpassed Heaven-Cleaving Slash by countless times. But once fully grasped, it would be a powerful sword technique combining both defense and counterattack.
After three years of studying, Gu Mo had only reached the blocking stage. Still, it had already given him a fairly solid means of defense.
The deeper he delved into the Sword Canon, the more Gu Mo realized its extraordinary nature. And yet, this was only a fragmented version compiled and refined by Realman Yuquan. If the Sword Canon were complete, it would undoubtedly be a formidable sword cultivator's manual.
"Senior, I'm still confused about some aspects of the Lesser Gengjin Sword Qi." Upon hearing Gu Mo inquire about her cultivation, Lu Lingmei immediately shared her confusion.
To Gu Mo, who had already cultivated the Lesser Gengjin Sword Qi to the Great Accomplishment level, Lu Lingmei's issues were quite basic. With just a few pointers, she immediately felt as though a veil had been lifted—everything suddenly became clear.
At that moment, after casting a Minor Cloud Rain Technique, Little Carp swam over and blew a stream of bubbles at Lu Lingmei. In response, Lu Lingmei cast a low-grade Bubble Technique to counter.
Over the past three years, Little Carp and Lu Lingmei had grown quite close. With her Water Spiritual Root, Lu Lingmei naturally appealed to Little Carp, a water-element spirit beast.
Of course, the most important thing was that Little Carp finally had a playmate. Normally, Gu Mo was immersed in studying techniques and the Sword Canon and had little time to play with her. Lu Lingmei's arrival gave Little Carp someone to have fun with.
Gu Mo pulled over a chair and sat down, quietly watching the girl and the fish play together. At the same time, his consciousness shifted to his False Core incarnation.
The Grand Auction at Immortal City was about to begin. Gu Mo needed to investigate whether there would be any spiritual farmland up for lease or sale that interested him.
Before the auction officially started, Immortal City would usually release information about some of the featured treasures in advance.
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