Chapter 98: The Plant Defense Line
"What's wrong?"
Yuan Niya and Chu Feifei, who had been brought back to the villa by Gu Mo, asked with concern.
"It looks like those assassins have no intention of letting us go." Gu Mo took a deep breath. Just now, his divine sense detected a group of cultivators approaching from the distance.
They wore the same attire as the assassins who had ambushed them before.
Moreover, one of them noticed Gu Mo's probing, which meant that among them was a Foundation Establishment cultivator—only those who had condensed their own divine sense could detect his investigation.
"What do we do now?"
Hearing that the assassins had found them and that a Foundation Establishment enemy was among them, both Yuan Niya and Chu Feifei looked uneasy. At the same time, their hearts were filled with questions—just what kind of assassin organization was bold enough to openly hunt down disciples from a major sect?
Just then, Yuan Niya's Inner Sect disciple token began to vibrate, and a message surfaced on it.
"It's an urgent communication from the sect."
As an Inner Sect disciple, Yuan Niya understood the significance. Each Inner Sect disciple's identity token had the ability to receive emergency messages from the sect, bypassing distance and formation barriers.
Because sending such messages was costly, the sect would not use this function unless it was of great importance.
"It seems we're not the only ones being targeted. There must be some other force acting against the entire Qinglu Sect."
The three of them huddled together to read the message on Yuan Niya's token, their expressions turning grim.
This was no ordinary ambush—it was a full-scale confrontation between Qinglu Sect and an unknown enemy force.
Both sides had deployed Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining disciples in this area for a battle of ambush and counter-ambush. If this mysterious force could send people to assassinate Qinglu Sect's disciples, then Qinglu Sect could retaliate just as well.
The message made it clear: for every enemy assassin killed, the sect would provide generous rewards. The more kills, the greater the rewards. Additionally, this was now part of the True Disciple selection process. Inner Sect disciples with lower rankings could improve their standing by eliminating these assassins and securing a spot among the True Disciples.
Of course, the message also reminded all disciples to regroup with their Dao Protectors before taking action—because the enemy squads included Foundation Establishment cultivators.
"Where is our Dao Protector?" Yuan Niya scanned her surroundings. If they had a Foundation Establishment protector, they wouldn't have to worry about the enemy's Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Their protector could hold off the assassin leader, while they eliminated the remaining Qi Refining assassins just as they had before.
"He was lured away by the enemy's Foundation Establishment cultivator earlier. He's not here now," Gu Mo said helplessly.
Without their Dao Protector to counter the enemy's Foundation Establishment expert, they wouldn't be able to go on the offensive. In fact, they were at greater risk of being eliminated themselves. Gu Mo stood no chance in a direct confrontation against a Foundation Establishment opponent.
"Then… what should we do?"
Chu Feifei looked worried. Based on what Gu Mo had said earlier, they had likely already been discovered. If he hadn't pulled them back in time, they might have walked right into the enemy's trap.
"We can only hold our ground and wait for our Dao Protector to find us."
Unlike the others, Gu Mo wasn't too concerned. He wasn't strong enough to take the initiative against a Foundation Establishment opponent, but in a defensive battle, he had nothing to fear.
That was why, upon sensing danger, he hadn't chosen to flee. Instead, he had immediately brought Yuan Niya and Chu Feifei back to the villa. The villa had a one-acre field of Grade-1 High-Quality spirit farmland—an ideal battlefield for Gu Mo to set up his Plant Defense Line.
Moreover, the villa itself had a high-grade protective formation sustained by a spirit vein. It would undoubtedly slow down the enemy's advance, buying them more time.
"Senior Sister, activate the villa's defensive formation as soon as possible," Gu Mo instructed Yuan Niya. The formation was intact and could be activated using the control token.
"Understood!" Yuan Niya nodded.
Meanwhile, Gu Mo and Chu Feifei rushed to the spirit farmland. On the way, Gu Mo took out nine Grade-1 Supreme-Quality Nut Shields and handed them to Chu Feifei to set up a defensive array.
Nine Supreme-Quality Nut Shields—these could definitely withstand a Foundation Establishment cultivator's attack. As long as they weren't shattered instantly, they would absorb spirit energy from the farmland to regenerate.
Gu Mo himself took out ten Pea Shooters and planted them in the spirit field. These were part of his personal stockpile—one of them was a Grade-2 Low-Quality Pea Shooter, two were Grade-1 Supreme-Quality, and seven were Grade-1 High-Quality.
There were no Mid-Quality ones, as they weren't particularly useful to him. Unless he could field a large number of them, they wouldn't be cost-effective, and he lacked the Solar Essence required to sustain a large army.
Thus, Gu Mo opted for an elite force.
Grade-1 High-Quality Pea Shooters could threaten late-stage Qi Refining cultivators.
Grade-1 Supreme-Quality Pea Shooters could rival Peak Qi Refining opponents.
The Grade-2 Pea Shooter had power equivalent to a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
In other words, these ten Pea Shooters added one Foundation Establishment, two Peak Qi Refining, and seven Late-Stage Qi Refining combat units to Gu Mo's forces.
Of course, the Grade-2 Pea Shooter could only fire once due to the farmland's limited grade, but the others would be fully operational, as the farmland could sustain them.
Aside from Pea Shooters, Gu Mo had prepared Potato Mines—his true trump card. These required little Solar Essence to upgrade, so he had invested heavily in them.
This time, he had brought:
Two Grade-2 Potato Mines (originally five, but two had been triggered, killing a Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator).
Three Grade-1 Supreme-Quality Potato Mines
Seven Grade-1 High-Quality Potato Mines
Twenty Grade-1 Mid-Quality Potato Mines
Because of their explosive power, even the Mid-Quality ones could threaten late-stage Qi Refining cultivators.
Since Potato Mines were triggered passively, their effectiveness depended on sheer numbers. A few wouldn't make much difference, but with enough of them, enemies would eventually step on one.
Nut Shields, Pea Shooters, and Potato Mines—Gu Mo had deployed three of his four available plant types. The last one, Sunflowers, was not suited for direct combat, so he didn't use them.
Ideally, a perfect Plant Defense Line would include Sunflowers. They could continuously generate Solar Essence, allowing Gu Mo to buy and upgrade more plants, creating an impenetrable battlefield of despair for his enemies.
However, this battle was unlikely to last long. Sunflowers were most useful in prolonged engagements, where their constant energy supply could maintain and expand the plant army. In a short fight, their impact would be limited.
"Junior Brother Gu Mo, what are these?"
After activating the villa's defensive formation, Yuan Niya felt a little more at ease. She approached the farmland and curiously examined the Pea Shooters.
She knew Gu Mo was a Spirit Plant Master, and a highly talented one at that. However, the plants he had cultivated lacked the usual attack features—no thorns, no poison, no vines.
Instead, these strange plants had round, pod-like cannons on their heads, swaying rhythmically in the field, giving them a somewhat goofy appearance.
"These are Pea Shooters," Gu Mo replied without looking up as he buried more Potato Mines.
Given his status as a Spirit Plant Master, he wasn't too concerned about revealing these plants. His only worry was that their power might be a bit too shocking—after all, a Grade-1 Spirit Plant Master producing Grade-2 plants was quite an anomaly.
Still, in the vast world of cultivation, such feats weren't unheard of. Just as a genius formation master could spend years constructing a Grade-2 grand formation, a talented Spirit Plant Master could certainly nurture extraordinary plants.
A certain alchemist with a special talent once managed to refine a Tier 2 pill using Tier 2 spiritual herbs—such feats are not unheard of. Now, with Gu Mo, a genius spiritual plant cultivator, successfully nurturing a Tier 2 spiritual plant, it's not a big deal either.
Perhaps Gu Mo could leverage this ability to cultivate plants beyond his level and be accepted as a direct disciple of the Elder Spiritual Plant Master without even reaching Foundation Establishment. If that happened, with a Golden Core Elder as his backing, what would he have to fear?
"Oh!"
Yuan Niya scrutinized the row of Peashooters, reaching out to touch them but failing to see anything particularly remarkable.
With the enemy approaching fast, Yuan Niya suppressed her curiosity, adjusted her mindset, and prepared for the upcoming battle.
"Crack!"
As she walked toward the grass hut, Yuan Niya suddenly felt like she had stepped on something. Looking down, she saw that it was something Gu Mo was in the process of burying—it looked like a potato. Based on her understanding, this was likely a trigger-type spiritual plant.
But why would something so dangerous be buried in the main path without any markings? And now, she had stepped right on it.
"Gu Mo, what… what should I do?" Yuan Niya asked in a panic.
"Don't worry, it won't explode," Gu Mo reassured her. He had already added Yuan Niya and Chu Feifei to the whitelist, meaning they wouldn't trigger the Potato Mines. Likewise, the Peashooters wouldn't attack them either.
This way, during battle, they wouldn't have to remember exactly where the Potato Mines were buried, whereas the enemy would have to tread carefully to avoid stepping on them—just that alone would greatly reduce their combat effectiveness.
"Gu Mo, is this just for intimidation?" Yuan Niya lifted her foot, and sure enough, nothing happened. She couldn't help but ask—cultivating spiritual plants that looked menacing but lacked real offensive power for deterrence was also a valid strategy.
"Of course not. If an enemy steps on one, it will explode, with a blast radius of three meters. Just make sure to dodge when that happens," Gu Mo reminded her. The explosion range of the Potato Mine was small enough that even if the enemy triggered it, his allies could quickly move out of the blast zone.
If it were a larger-range explosion, even their side might get caught in the blast.
"The two big craters in your spiritual field last time—were those caused by this thing?" Yuan Niya suddenly understood. A three-meter explosion diameter didn't seem all that powerful.
While they were talking, Chu Feifei had finished setting up the defensive formation. Nine human-height Wall-nuts were half-buried in the spiritual field, forming a complete array.
With that, all preparations were complete. Yuan Niya handed control of the manor's formation over to Chu Feifei and began adjusting her condition, readying herself for the grueling battle ahead.
"Gu Mo, can we really win?" Chu Feifei clutched the formation control talisman, her expression tense.
"Don't worry, they won't be able to break through," Gu Mo said with confidence. He wasn't just comforting Chu Feifei—he truly meant it.
Based on his observations, the enemy squad was strong enough to break through the manor's grand formation. However, getting past the defense array made of nine top-tier Tier 1 Wall-nuts? That would be extremely difficult.
If their protector elder could arrive in time, they might even be able to launch a counterattack and eliminate the enemy squad entirely.
Of course, there was also the possibility that, upon discovering the Wall-nut defense array was unbreakable, the enemy would call for reinforcements. If another Foundation Establishment cultivator joined them, that would be troublesome.
In that case, Gu Mo would have to find a way to use his Tier 2 Peashooters and Potato Mines to take down at least one opponent. At most, his plant-based defenses could handle two Foundation Establishment cultivators simultaneously.
If three Foundation Establishment cultivators came at them, though, there would be nothing he could do. But sending three Foundation Establishment cultivators just to deal with three Qi Refinement disciples? That was unlikely.
"Mm!"
Hearing Gu Mo's words, Chu Feifei's nerves eased slightly.
…
Several miles from the manor, a squad of cultivators was scouring the area.
"Senior Brother, our target this time seems to be a core disciple candidate from Qinglu Sect. If we manage to take one down, I wonder what kind of reward we'll get," a late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator in the squad said eagerly to their leader.
"My codename is Yi San. Remember, don't expose our identities so easily," the leader, a peak Qi Refinement cultivator, snapped.
This mission to ambush the Qinglu Sect disciples participating in the core disciple trials was being carried out under the guise of an assassination organization. Under no circumstances could they let anyone know they were from an overseas sect. That's why they had all chosen code names to avoid revealing their true identities in conversation.
"Yes, boss!"
Realizing his mistake, the late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator quickly corrected himself.
Seeing his teammate acknowledge the mistake, Yi San's tone softened. "Don't underestimate the enemy. The last squad, Team 13, was completely wiped out except for the Foundation Establishment senior leading them. Our strength is about the same as theirs—if we're careless, we could suffer the same fate."
Although Yi San was eager to take down a core disciple candidate, he was well aware that such individuals were never easy to deal with.
That being said, their last battle against Team 13 had likely forced the Qinglu Sect disciples to burn through many of their life-saving resources. That was good news for them.
On top of that, the last battle had separated the Qinglu Sect disciples from their protector elders. Without a Foundation Establishment cultivator guarding them and with their trump cards mostly used up, this time, the enemy squad held a huge advantage.
"Found them!"
Suddenly, the oldest member of the squad at the back of the group snapped his gaze toward a distant manor.
He was the very Foundation Establishment cultivator whom Gu Mo had sensed earlier.
The Qinglu Sect disciples had already regrouped with their protectors. If the overseas sect wanted to intercept and eliminate them, they also needed to bring their own Foundation Establishment cultivators. Otherwise, they wouldn't be hunters—they would be prey.
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