Chapter 63: Level 2 Plants
Back at the spiritual field, Gu Mo gradually calmed his emotions. What had happened today might just be a small episode in the long years of cultivation ahead.
Returning to his routine of farming and training, time seemed to pass more quickly.
"Finally done."
Inside the black mist space, Gu Mo looked at the Peashooter growing in the cultivation pot. After half a year of investing Sun Essence, he had finally filled the upgrade progress bar for the Peashooter to advance to Rank 2.
Without hesitation, Gu Mo clicked the upgrade arrow. As a light flashed, the Peashooter officially advanced from a top-grade Rank 1 to Rank 2.
Name: Peashooter
Grade: Rank 2, Low-grade
Effect: Fires pea seeds to attack enemies.
Planting Requirement: Rank 2 Spiritual Field.
The Rank 2 Peashooter didn't look much different from its Rank 1 version. The only noticeable change was the appearance of mysterious patterns on the pod cannon, suggesting that further upgrades might bring more significant transformations.
Likewise, its planting requirements had changed to a Rank 2 spiritual field. However, based on his experience with the Rank 2 Sunflower, Gu Mo knew that Rank 1 fields could still support Rank 2 plants. The only question was how much of the Peashooter's full power could be unleashed in a lower-tier field.
With that thought, Gu Mo transplanted the Rank 2 Peashooter into his spiritual field. Just as he had suspected, it took root successfully.
At the same time, he discovered the limitation of using a Rank 2 Peashooter in a Rank 1 field—it significantly reduced its attack frequency. The Peashooter needed to absorb spiritual energy from the field to condense energy peas, and with a lower-tier field, the absorption process slowed down.
Fortunately, energy peas could be pre-condensed and fired instantly when needed. However, the charging process was slow, likely allowing only a single shot.
That single shot, however, carried the power of the Foundation Establishment stage—enough to instantly kill any Qi Refinement cultivator and even pose a threat to Foundation Establishment cultivators.
With this Rank 2 Peashooter, Gu Mo felt a great sense of security. Even though it only had one shot, it provided real deterrence.
Still, to be on the safe side, he decided to upgrade his Potato Mine as well. Once he had both a Rank 2 Peashooter and a Rank 2 Potato Mine, he could safely pause his cultivation to focus on upgrading his Sunflowers.
Digging up a Potato Mine from the spiritual field, Gu Mo placed it into the cultivation pot and started infusing Sun Essence to upgrade it. He was soon surprised to find that the upgrade requirement for the Potato Mine was only a fraction of what was needed for the Sunflower and Peashooter.
The lower upgrade cost likely stemmed from the fact that the Potato Mine was a disposable explosive. Its base price was also the lowest among all his plants.
At this rate, Gu Mo estimated that he could upgrade a Potato Mine to Rank 2 in just one month—a very short time for a cultivator.
Name: Potato Mine
Grade: Rank 2, Low-grade
Effect: Causes a powerful explosion when triggered.
Planting Requirement: None.
Looking at the successfully upgraded Rank 2 Potato Mine, Gu Mo was astonished. Unlike the Rank 1 version, which required a Rank 1 spiritual field, the Rank 2 version had no field requirement at all—it could be planted anywhere.
After a moment of confusion, he figured out why. The Rank 1 Potato Mine he purchased had been in seed form, requiring a spiritual field to grow. But now, the upgraded Potato Mine was already fully matured, meaning it no longer needed to absorb spiritual energy from the field. Without that dependency, it could be buried anywhere and still function at full power.
As for its explosive strength, Gu Mo wasn't sure and didn't dare test it. He only had one, and using it would mean losing it.
However, based on his understanding of the Rank 1 Potato Mine, which could instantly kill early-stage Qi Refinement cultivators, he speculated that the Rank 2 version might be capable of killing early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.
If that were true, then the Potato Mine would become Gu Mo's deadliest trump card—allowing him, a Qi Refinement cultivator, to possess a means of killing Foundation Establishment experts.
The presence of a Rank 2 Potato Mine significantly boosted his sense of security. While it did have drawbacks—it had to be buried in advance, relied on enemies triggering it, and was a single-use item—it was still invaluable due to its overwhelming power.
After all, in the cultivation world, methods for a Qi Refinement cultivator to kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator were either extremely rare treasures or secret techniques that came with great costs.
Gu Mo buried the Rank 2 Potato Mine in front of his hut in the spiritual field. He wanted to see if the demonic cultivator who had repeatedly snuck into his place in the servant disciple area would dare to come again. If they did, he would let them taste the power of the Rank 2 Potato Mine.
And if the mine failed to kill them, the Rank 2 Peashooter could finish the job. However, Gu Mo usually kept both plants in a dormant state.
He didn't want his Peashooter wasting a powerful attack on mere spirit insects or spirit rats—using a cannon to kill a mosquito was absurd. A misfire could even damage the spiritual crops, causing a severe drop in yield.
"Speaking of which, the Water Spirit Rice is almost ready for harvest."
While focusing on upgrading the Peashooter and Potato Mine, Gu Mo had nearly forgotten that his Water Spirit Rice was entering its harvesting phase. He immediately headed to the field to begin collecting the ripe grains.
Once the harvest was complete, his next task would be upgrading his Sunflowers. With a Rank 2 Peashooter and Rank 2 Potato Mine, he had some means of self-defense, but to truly grow stronger, he needed more Rank 2 Sunflowers.
The more Rank 2 Sunflowers he had, the faster his cultivation speed would increase, allowing him to upgrade more Peashooters and Potato Mines in turn.
"330 pounds—not bad, a 10% increase in yield."
After finishing the harvest, Gu Mo roughly calculated the total yield. Compared to last year, the output had increased by 30 pounds, marking a 10% improvement—a significant achievement for high-grade spiritual crops.
After storing the Sunflowers in the black mist space and leaving the Peashooter, Potato Mine, and his lucky koi to guard the house, Gu Mo activated the formation, hung a sign indicating he was out, and headed to the Spiritual Plant Hall to register his harvest.
"Junior Brother Gu Mo!"
As Gu Mo arrived at the hall on his floating paper crane, several outer disciples immediately greeted him with enthusiasm.
In the distance, many servant disciples also looked over with hopeful gazes. However, since outer disciples were present, none of them dared to approach.
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