Chapter 59: Spiritual Energy Atomization
As soon as Gu Mo absorbed the essence of the sun, speckled with golden light, it instantly transformed into a mist-like spiritual energy. The moment this mist-like energy appeared, his meridians felt an overwhelming weight.
"This is..."
Sensing the mist-like energy within his body, Gu Mo was instantly struck by a realization, his expression filled with shock. For a Qi Refinement cultivator to step into the Foundation Establishment stage, one crucial requirement was the transformation of their spiritual energy from a gaseous state to a liquid state.
Between these two states, there was an intermediate phase—the mist state—only attainable at the peak of the Qi Refinement stage. Yet now, by absorbing the essence condensed from a Tier-2 Sunflower, Gu Mo had acquired mist-state spiritual energy, something typically only achieved at the pinnacle of Qi Refinement.
In terms of quality, mist-state spiritual energy was undeniably superior to gaseous energy, which explained why Gu Mo felt a sense of heaviness—this was the weight of refined energy.
For a cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refinement to possess mist-state energy, which only a peak-stage Qi Refinement cultivator should have, was an immense leap in power. In certain aspects, this granted Gu Mo abilities comparable to those at the peak of Qi Refinement.
For instance, when casting lower-level spells, since both he and peak Qi Refinement cultivators had mist-state energy, their spell potency would theoretically be the same.
However, when it came to high-level spells, due to the disparity in total energy reserves, Gu Mo might still fall short of a true peak-stage Qi Refinement cultivator.
Even so, for someone at the fourth level of Qi Refinement to wield a portion of peak-stage Qi Refinement's combat strength was already an extraordinary feat.
And this was only an incomplete version of the sun essence—the Tier-2 Sunflower had not been planted in Tier-2 spirit fields, meaning the condensed essence was imperfect. If a Tier-2 Sunflower were grown in a Tier-2 spirit field, Gu Mo suspected that its fully matured essence might allow him to directly acquire liquid-state spiritual energy.
If this hypothesis were correct, Gu Mo's path to Foundation Establishment would become significantly easier. Transitioning from Qi Refinement to Foundation Establishment involved two major hurdles—the first being the transformation of spiritual energy into a liquid state. This challenge was heavily influenced by a cultivator's spiritual roots; those with poor spiritual roots found this step particularly difficult.
This was precisely the hurdle Gu Mo feared. Advancing to Foundation Establishment with inferior spiritual roots was an arduous task. However, if the Sunflower's essence could directly grant him liquid-state energy, this obstacle would be completely bypassed, making his spiritual roots irrelevant.
The second hurdle of Foundation Establishment was the formation of divine sense, which depended on a cultivator's soul foundation rather than their spiritual roots. On this front, Gu Mo felt quite confident.
Moreover, he was currently practicing the Wine God Soul Refining Technique, a specialized secret method for strengthening the soul. Once his soul reached a certain threshold, forming divine sense would be a natural progression.
In other words, if Gu Mo could find a Tier-2 spirit field and continue enhancing his soul through the Wine God Soul Refining Technique, achieving Foundation Establishment would be practically guaranteed.
"Awesome!"
Having discovered a clear path to Foundation Establishment, Gu Mo couldn't help but shout with excitement.
Unfortunately, he currently had only one Tier-2 Sunflower. To fully convert his internal energy into mist-state energy, he needed more.
Thus, he planned to use the essence condensed from this Tier-2 Sunflower to upgrade other Tier-1 mid-grade Sunflowers. Using higher-grade essence to upgrade plants would significantly improve efficiency.
The effects of the Tier-2 Sunflower's essence were astonishing. Previously, upgrading a Tier-1 mid-grade Sunflower to Tier-1 high-grade required 100 portions of standard essence. But with Tier-2 Sunflower essence, only 10 portions were needed.
Of course, while the efficiency increased, the time required remained unchanged. A single Tier-2 Sunflower took ten days to produce ten portions of essence, whereas fourteen Tier-1 Sunflowers could generate 100 portions in less than ten days.
Ultimately, the issue was still the number of plants. If Gu Mo could bring a Tier-2 Sunflower to its full potential, he estimated that a single portion of fully matured Tier-2 essence might be enough for an upgrade. Only then would the true power of Tier-2 Sunflowers be revealed. However, he lacked a Tier-2 spirit field.
Still, since he had successfully upgraded one Tier-2 Sunflower, with enough time, he could cultivate more. Upgrading a second Tier-2 Sunflower would likely take only six months instead of a full year.
And as the number of Tier-2 Sunflowers grew, the time required to upgrade new ones would decrease. Eventually, all of his Sunflowers would reach Tier-2.
The thought of having fifteen Tier-2 Sunflowers within just a few years filled Gu Mo with excitement. However, this progress came at a cost—his cultivation would stagnate during this time. Since all the Sunflower essence would be used for plant upgrades, none would be left to enhance his own strength.
The idea of halting his cultivation for years made Gu Mo uneasy. He hadn't forgotten that he was a prime target of an unknown demonic cultivator.
Who knew when that enemy would strike? At just the fourth level of Qi Refinement, Gu Mo was far from prepared for such a threat.
Abandoning the Sunflower upgrades to focus entirely on cultivation would allow him to reach peak Qi Refinement in a few years. However, to truly counter this unknown danger, achieving Foundation Establishment was the safest option.
"Maybe I should upgrade the Pea Shooter and Potato Mine first."
Gu Mo soon thought of a more reliable plan—prioritizing the upgrades of his Pea Shooter and Potato Mine to Tier-2. These two plants were offensive in nature, and upgrading them would grant him Foundation Establishment-level firepower.
While they might not match true Foundation Establishment cultivators, the efficiency was undeniable—he could cultivate a Tier-2 combat plant in just six months.
A six-month investment to gain a battle-ready plant with Foundation Establishment-level strength was an incredibly cost-effective strategy.
With Tier-2 Pea Shooters and Potato Mines for protection, Gu Mo could then safely upgrade his Sunflowers. Once all his Sunflowers reached Tier-2, his cultivation would skyrocket. If he found a Tier-2 spirit field, he could step into Foundation Establishment in the shortest possible time.
Determined, Gu Mo immediately dug up a Pea Shooter from his spirit field and transplanted it into the inner-space cultivation pot. Thus began his six-month upgrade journey.
After setting everything in motion, he gathered the Sunflowers from his spirit field and prepared to head to the marketplace for the annual gathering. It was also the perfect opportunity to fulfill his promise to Chu Feifei and deliver the Water Spirit Rice she had requested.
"It looks like this paper crane won't last much longer."
Summoning the paper crane, Gu Mo noticed its spiritual glow dimming with each use.
Once it became unusable, he planned to switch to the mid-grade flying sword given to him by Yuan Niya. By now, he was fully qualified to use a flying sword as a means of travel. After all, no one would doubt that a spiritual farmer capable of cultivating Water Spirit Rice could afford such a tool.
(Show your support and read more chapters on my Patreon: p@treon.com/psychopet. Thank you for your support!)