Chapter 88: The Dispersing Spirit Formation
Although Gu Mo was now an outer sect disciple and had earned the title of a spirit planter, obtaining a second-tier spiritual field as a mere Qi Refining cultivator was still extremely difficult.
If a second-tier spiritual field were to be compared to a treasure, it would be the pinnacle of second-tier treasures. After all, with proper care, such a field could continuously produce second-tier spiritual materials. Owning one was enough to serve as the foundation for a Foundation Establishment family's long-term prosperity.
Even within the Qinglu Sect, second-tier spiritual fields were scarce, and most of them were controlled by Foundation Establishment deacons. For example, Zhao Qiancheng owned several acres of second-tier spiritual fields, which were his lifeline and a crucial resource for his cultivation.
Although obtaining a second-tier spiritual field was difficult, it was not impossible. Gu Mo knew of two methods. The first was to apprentice under a Core Formation elder, such as Elder Qi, a third-tier spirit planter. Given that all the spiritual fields on Elder Qi's peak were at least second-tier, acquiring a plot from him would be easy.
Unfortunately, to become Elder Qi's disciple, Gu Mo had to first reach the Foundation Establishment stage. Yet without a second-tier spiritual field, he couldn't advance to Foundation Establishment, making this path a dead end.
Thus, his only option was the second method: exchanging sect contribution points for a second-tier spiritual field. Sect contribution points could be used to obtain rare treasures that were otherwise impossible to acquire, a policy deliberately implemented by the Qinglu Sect to highlight the value of contributions.
However, the amount of contribution points needed to exchange for a second-tier spiritual field was no small figure. At Gu Mo's current rate of earning contributions, it would take him several years to accumulate enough. This was despite his recent focus on spirit planter tasks—if he relied solely on farming, it would take even longer.
If others heard that he could earn enough contributions for a second-tier spiritual field within a few years, they would undoubtedly be shocked.
But Gu Mo didn't have years to wait. He would soon reach the peak of the Qi Refining stage, and without a second-tier spiritual field, his cultivation would stagnate.
Thus, he needed to accelerate his contribution accumulation. The fastest way to earn contribution points was by taking sect missions, especially special assignments. However, such tasks were rare, and when they did appear, they were usually highly challenging.
Still, if he could secure just one special assignment he could complete, he would quickly amass a large sum of contribution points.
Given the circumstances, Gu Mo decided to continue cultivating his current spiritual field and taking spirit planter tasks while keeping a close watch for any suitable special missions.
After finalizing his plan, he got up and rearranged the three meditation cushions in his room. This space had originally been his bed, but now it had been converted into a training area with three cushions.
The reason was simple—there wasn't enough space for three people to fit on his bed. As a result, he had dismantled it and replaced it with meditation cushions. In fact, his already small room had now been divided into three sections.
Two of these sections clearly reflected a feminine touch, belonging to Yuan Niya and Chu Feifei. Since the two frequently came to train here, they had moved some of their daily essentials into his room.
At that moment, Gu Mo's communication talisman vibrated. He glanced at it, then deactivated the protective formation around his field. Soon, Yuan Niya and Chu Feifei appeared.
"Gu Mo, you might as well just give us the formation's control talisman. It's a hassle having to notify you every time we come," Yuan Niya complained as she stepped inside.
"That's out of the question. What if I'm taking a bath and you suddenly barge in?" Gu Mo shot her a look, making it clear that handing over the talisman was impossible. His spiritual field held many secrets, and if they could enter at will, they might discover things he didn't want them to see.
"That's not fair! You already know everything about our bodies, yet you're so secretive about yourself," Yuan Niya grumbled, feeling like she had been taken advantage of since Gu Mo knew all about her physical condition.
However, she didn't press the issue further. Both she and Chu Feifei were aware that Gu Mo had secrets, but as long as he didn't bring them up, they wouldn't pry. This was an unspoken rule among cultivators.
"How about we be completely honest with each other during our training?" Gu Mo teased, not backing down from their banter.
"Hmph! As if I'd be interested!" Yuan Niya retorted instantly, clearly flustered.
Listening to their usual bickering, Chu Feifei shook her head and began setting up a formation. By now, she had officially become a formation master. The formation master inheritance she received had been arranged by Yuan Niya and was far superior to what the Formation Peak provided to servant disciples.
Chu Feifei was setting up the formation inside Gu Mo's small room to increase the density of spiritual energy, thereby enhancing their cultivation efficiency.
The spiritual energy concentration here in Gu Mo's place couldn't compare to Yuan Niya's cave dwelling. However, if she wanted to cultivate the Heartfire Art without any side effects, she had to come here and have Gu Mo activate Chu Feifei's special constitution.
But the low concentration of spiritual energy in the surroundings would slow down her cultivation speed, so Yuan Niya had Chu Feifei set up a formation to gather spiritual energy.
Naturally, there were formations for this purpose—the renowned Spirit Gathering Array was the best at condensing spiritual energy. However, its gathering speed was slow, requiring a long time to show results.
There were faster alternatives, such as the Spirit Seizing Array, which directly plundered the surrounding spiritual energy. But this formation was of a high tier, beyond Chu Feifei's current abilities to set up—and even if she could, she wouldn't dare.
If a Spirit Seizing Array were placed here, the spiritual fields in the area would be severely damaged due to the excessive extraction of energy. The destruction of so many spiritual fields was a cost even an inner disciple like Yuan Niya couldn't afford.
Fortunately, Chu Feifei found a solution within the formation inheritance Yuan Niya provided—the Spirit Dispersing Array.
As its name suggested, the Spirit Dispersing Array was designed to extract spiritual energy from objects containing it. By placing spirit stones on the array, their energy could be drawn out and dispersed into the room, increasing the ambient spiritual energy concentration.
Using this method to enhance the surrounding energy was an extremely extravagant practice. Normally, cultivators would hold spirit stones and absorb their energy bit by bit.
However, that absorption rate was far too slow to meet Yuan Niya's needs—unless she could obtain mid-grade or even high-grade spirit stones. But such stones were typically circulated only among high-level cultivators. While Yuan Niya could acquire a few from her master, she would, at most, have only a handful—not nearly enough for her cultivation.
She might not have mid-grade spirit stones, but she had plenty of low-grade ones. As an inner disciple with a Golden Core elder as her master, Yuan Niya had never lacked cultivation resources.
Squandering some low-grade spirit stones in exchange for faster cultivation was a worthwhile trade. After all, as long as her cultivation continued to advance, both her master and the sect would reward her with even more resources.