Chapter 53: The Supreme Sunflower
After confirming that the required material for upgrading the Sunflower was Sun Essence, Gu Mo began pouring all 15 portions of daily Sun Essence into the cultivation pot. As he continued, the upgrade arrow gradually turned green.
Upon adding the 50th portion of Sun Essence, Gu Mo noticed that the arrow had turned completely green. Without hesitation, he clicked the upgrade arrow.
In the next moment, a radiant light enveloped the Sunflower. A few breaths later, the light faded, revealing a slightly taller Sunflower.
Name: Sunflower
Grade: Tier 1, Mid-grade
Effect: Condenses Sun Essence
Planting Requirement: Tier 1 Spiritual Field
"A mid-grade Tier 1 already!"
Gu Mo's heart filled with joy as he scanned the newly upgraded Sunflower's attributes. Then, he noticed another greyed-out arrow next to the grade indicator.
Could this mean that the mid-grade Tier 1 Sunflower could be further upgraded? If he upgraded it to high-grade Tier 1, would its ability to condense Sun Essence become even stronger?
At this moment, Gu Mo was tempted. But before making a decision, he needed to verify the effectiveness of the newly upgraded Sunflower.
He removed the Sunflower from the cultivation pot and replanted it in the spiritual field. The next day, he harvested a portion of Sun Essence from the mid-grade Tier 1 Sunflower.
Upon absorbing it, a smile spread across Gu Mo's face. This portion of Sun Essence granted him the equivalent of three days of arduous cultivation.
Though still three days' worth, it was based on his mid-stage Qi Refining realm—far superior to the effect he achieved at the early-stage Qi Refining realm.
Confirming that the upgraded Sunflower produced enhanced Sun Essence, Gu Mo immediately decided to continue upgrading it.
Currently, he had 15 Sunflowers in his spiritual field—already at the limit. Any more would be difficult to conceal. Since he couldn't increase the quantity, improving the Sunflowers' grade was the best way to enhance his cultivation efficiency.
At the same time, he wanted to determine the Sun Essence required for each upgrade to plan accordingly for his other Sunflowers.
He transplanted the mid-grade Tier 1 Sunflower back into the cultivation pot and resumed infusing it with Sun Essence.
This time, it took a full 100 portions of Sun Essence to upgrade the mid-grade Sunflower to high-grade. To Gu Mo's astonishment, the upgrade arrow still didn't disappear.
High-grade Tier 1 was not the Sunflower's limit—it could continue to evolve.
"I want to see how far you can go!"
Gu Mo gritted his teeth, determined to push the Sunflower to its maximum potential.
The Sunflowers were, without a doubt, the foundation of his cultivation. The stronger they became, the greater the benefits he would reap. Therefore, Gu Mo had no hesitation in investing in their growth.
However, before proceeding further, he transplanted the newly upgraded high-grade Sunflower back into the spiritual field to test its effectiveness. The results left him thoroughly satisfied—it condensed enough Sun Essence to grant four days of cultivation.
And this wasn't even the limit. If he could plant this high-grade Sunflower in a high-grade spiritual field, it could potentially provide five days' worth of cultivation. Unfortunately, his mid-grade spiritual field was already falling behind.
Acquiring a higher-grade spiritual field was challenging at the moment. Unless he exposed some of his hidden cards, there was little chance of obtaining one—but the risks were too great.
Since upgrading the field was not an option, he would continue upgrading the Sunflower.
Returning the high-grade Sunflower to the cultivation pot, Gu Mo resumed pouring in Sun Essence.
Given the previous upgrade costs—50 portions for the first and 100 for the second—he estimated that the third upgrade would require 200 portions. With his 14 remaining Sunflowers, he could accumulate the necessary amount in roughly 14 days.
As expected, after infusing 200 portions, the upgrade arrow turned green again. He clicked upgrade, and the Sunflower successfully evolved into a supreme-grade Tier 1.
However, the upgrade arrow still didn't vanish—it had grown even larger.
Gu Mo's heart pounded.
Upgrading from supreme-grade Tier 1 meant breaking into Tier 2.
Tier 2 belonged to the Foundation Establishment realm.
Advancing from Tier 1 to Tier 2 was a major threshold in cultivation. Yet, this cultivation pot allowed the Sunflower to ascend beyond this barrier simply by using Sun Essence.
If he could obtain a Tier 2 Sunflower while still in the Qi Refining stage, the benefits would be unimaginable.
He tossed in a few portions of Sun Essence to test the waters.
To his dismay, there was no visible progress. Previously, he could at least see some indication of advancement when infusing Sun Essence. But now, it seemed as though his contributions were being swallowed whole.
This meant that breaking into Tier 2 would require an astronomical amount of Sun Essence.
The question was—was it worth it?
Dumping a massive amount of Sun Essence into this single Sunflower would inevitably slow down his own cultivation. But at the same time, if he succeeded, a Tier 2 Sunflower would be an unparalleled asset.
Unable to decide immediately, Gu Mo planned to upgrade his other Sunflowers first.
However, as he worked on their upgrades, he made an astonishing discovery—the Sun Essence condensed by a supreme-grade Tier 1 Sunflower was several times more potent than that of a low-grade Tier 1 Sunflower.
Previously, upgrading a low-grade Sunflower to mid-grade required 50 portions of Sun Essence. But using supreme-grade Sun Essence, it only took a little over a dozen portions.
This revelation solidified Gu Mo's decision.
If a Tier 2 Sunflower could condense even more potent Sun Essence, wouldn't a single portion be enough to instantly upgrade other Sunflowers?
Additionally, Gu Mo considered his long-term goal—Foundation Establishment.
Would absorbing the Sun Essence from a Tier 2 Sunflower help him break through to Foundation Establishment more easily?
His inferior spiritual root meant that advancing to the Foundation Establishment realm would be exceptionally difficult. He had to start preparing early.
With his mind made up, Gu Mo first upgraded all his Sunflowers to mid-grade. The Sun Essence from mid-grade Sunflowers would be more efficient for breaking through to Tier 2 compared to using low-grade Sun Essence.
As for upgrading them to high-grade? That required too much Sun Essence, and his mid-grade spiritual field couldn't fully harness a high-grade Sunflower's potential. So, he skipped that step.
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Qinglu Sectt - Main Peak
This was the core of the entire Qinglu Sect Sect, where a Tier 4 spiritual vein coursed through, providing abundant spiritual energy. Cultivating here was like having a built-in acceleration buff.
Only sect elders and highly talented inner disciples had access to such prime conditions. Regular inner disciples could only cultivate on secondary peaks, though even these contained Tier 3 spiritual veins—a luxury that countless cultivators coveted.
At this moment, in a cave mansion midway up the main peak, a handsome young man gazed at a name list, deep in thought.
He was the Sect Master's newly accepted direct disciple—He Shaogang.
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