Plant VS Cultivation

Chapter 41: The Inner Sect Senior Sister's Request

Cultivating Spirit Jade Rice only required a single use of the Minor Cloud Rain Technique per day. However, cultivating Water Spirit Rice was an entirely different matter—it required the Minor Cloud Rain Technique to be cast multiple times daily, ensuring that the spiritual field remained constantly submerged.

It was no exaggeration to say that the cultivation requirements for Grade-One High-Quality Water Spirit Rice far exceeded those of Spirit Jade Rice. Without a mastery-level Minor Cloud Rain Technique, maintaining an adequate yield would be nearly impossible.

Despite these challenges, Gu Mo ultimately chose to cultivate Water Spirit Rice. His reasoning was simple: he was already close to breaking through to the mastery level in the Minor Cloud Rain Technique.

Having fully grasped the principles behind the technique, Gu Mo faced no bottlenecks in advancing it—he only needed to increase his proficiency. Among the five exclusive spiritual farming spells, the Minor Cloud Rain Technique was the one he was most proficient in, primarily because he used it daily. It was only natural that his proficiency would be high.

Besides his imminent breakthrough in the Minor Cloud Rain Technique, there was another key reason: Gu Mo had reached the second level of the Qi Refinement stage. Thanks to his perfect-level Cleansing Technique, his spiritual energy reserves were three times that of others at the same stage—far surpassing what he had at the first level of Qi Refinement.

Previously, he could only cast the Minor Cloud Rain Technique three to five times before exhausting his spiritual energy. Now, he could cast it more than ten times without an issue.

This meant that even if his Minor Cloud Rain Technique had not yet reached the mastery level, his current spiritual energy reserves were sufficient to meet the minimum requirements for cultivating Water Spirit Rice.

With all this discussion about the challenges of cultivating Water Spirit Rice, it was time to consider its benefits. Among so many mid- to high-grade Grade-One spiritual crops, why did Gu Mo choose this particular one?

Aside from meeting the cultivation requirements, he was drawn to its high-grade quality and its ability to nourish the meridians and strengthen the body.

Unlike Spirit Jade Rice, which had no elemental attribute, Water Spirit Rice—true to its name—contained water-elemental spiritual energy.

For cultivators practicing water-based techniques, consuming this rice provided a significant boost to their cultivation. Unlike pills, which had limitations on consumption, Water Spirit Rice could be eaten daily. A cultivator with a steady supply of it would undoubtedly surpass their peers in cultivation speed.

Even for those not practicing water-elemental techniques, the sheer quality of Water Spirit Rice made it valuable. It contained abundant spiritual energy and had the added effect of nourishing the meridians and body. This meant it could even help heal minor meridian injuries sustained during cultivation.

If Gu Mo could successfully cultivate Water Spirit Rice, the benefits would far surpass what he currently gained from Spirit Jade Rice.

However, when he went to collect the Water Spirit Rice seeds, a minor complication arose. Gu Mo was only a low-ranking disciple who had been in the Spiritual Plant Hall for just over a year. Yet, he was requesting Grade-One High-Quality Water Spirit Rice seeds.

This put the steward in charge of seed distribution in a dilemma.

High-quality spiritual seeds were not easy to cultivate. Although Gu Mo was not an ordinary disciple—having won the Spirit Jade Rice yield championship—the difficulty of cultivating Spirit Jade Rice and Water Spirit Rice was on entirely different levels.

If the seeds were given to Gu Mo and he failed, it would mean a complete waste of these valuable resources.

Wasting mid- to low-quality spiritual seeds wasn't a big deal, but Water Spirit Rice was a high-quality, high-value spiritual crop.

Ultimately, the steward decided to send a message talisman to Zhao Qiancheng, the deacon of the Spiritual Plant Hall, to seek his approval.

Upon receiving the message, Zhao Qiancheng was momentarily stunned.

Only a year had passed, and while other disciples were still performing menial tasks in the fields, Gu Mo was already attempting to cultivate Grade-One High-Quality Water Spirit Rice?

In the entire Spiritual Plant Hall, only a handful of spiritual farmers could cultivate Water Spirit Rice, and they had all mastered the Minor Cloud Rain Technique.

"Could it be…?"

Recalling Gu Mo's extraordinary comprehension ability, a possibility suddenly struck Zhao Qiancheng.

With that thought, he immediately approved the request.

At the same time, he began to anticipate what might come next—if Gu Mo successfully cultivated Water Spirit Rice, it would be time to grant him the status of a true outer sect disciple.

Some veteran spiritual farmers in the Spiritual Plant Hall possessed specialized skills, but their spiritual roots were not strong enough to qualify for outer sect disciple status. However, they still received treatment on par with, or even better than, outer sect disciples.

The steward's act of seeking Zhao Qiancheng's approval was not concealed from Gu Mo, so he had seen the entire process clearly.

He had already expected this.

Gu Mo's strategy as a spiritual farmer was to display his talent as much as possible to gain greater benefits.

However, in terms of cultivation, he deliberately kept a low profile. Becoming an outstanding spiritual farmer wouldn't attract too much unwanted attention. But if a cultivator with inferior spiritual roots progressed faster than those with superior ones, it would spark curiosity—after all, every cultivator sought ways to accelerate their cultivation speed.

"Hmm?"

After collecting his seeds, Gu Mo returned to his spiritual field, only to see a petite figure waiting for him. The striking red-and-black hair immediately reminded him of the young girl who had recently been seen following Deacon Zhao.

Why was she here? They had no prior interactions.

"Greetings, Senior Sister."

Gu Mo stepped forward and saluted. There was no choice—she was dressed in an inner sect disciple's robe. Even though she appeared younger than him and was only at the early Qi Refinement stage, as a mere outer sect disciple, he had to address her as Senior Sister.

"My name is Yuan Niya. Nice to meet you, Junior Brother Gu." The girl greeted him with a friendly smile, showing none of the arrogance typical of inner sect disciples.

After all, she had come to ask for a favor—this was no time for arrogance.

"I wonder what Senior Sister Yuan needs from me?" Gu Mo returned the greeting and asked directly. He was certain they had no prior dealings.

"I heard that you have mastered the Cleansing Technique at the perfect level?" Yuan Niya asked with a smile.

"That's correct."

Gu Mo nodded. This wasn't a secret—many in the Spiritual Plant Hall already knew about it.

"I'd like to ask you to use your perfect-level Cleansing Technique to help me cleanse my meridians and refine my body." Yuan Niya took a deep breath and made her request.

After learning from Zhao Qiancheng that Gu Mo had mastered the Cleansing Technique at the perfect level, she immediately had this idea.

Since she couldn't master the technique herself, she would ask someone who could to help her with the cleansing process.

"Huh?"

Gu Mo was momentarily stunned by the request.

His mastery of the Cleansing Technique had been known for over a year, yet no one had ever approached him with such a request before.