Chapter 92: Condensing Divine Sense
Divine sense—this is undoubtedly one of the most crucial abilities for cultivators. Only with divine sense can one read jade slips, and many powerful cultivation techniques and secret arts can only be recorded within them.
At the same time, divine sense is an incredibly powerful means of detection and perception. At this moment, everything within a few hundred meters was clearly reflected in Gu Mo's mind.
The level of detail in this perception was akin to stepping into an entirely new world—something far beyond what mere eyesight could achieve.
Beyond that, divine sense has many other remarkable applications. For instance, alchemists can use it to observe the pill refinement process, making subtle adjustments to the flame to increase the success rate of their concoctions.
Right now, Gu Mo was using his divine sense to enhance his plant perception ability as a spiritual botanist. With it, he could see the intricate networks within spiritual plants. Some of these plants possessed hidden vein patterns beyond the visible ones. If a spiritual botanist could uncover these hidden patterns, they could further develop and modify the plant to unlock greater potential.
This ability was a hallmark of a Tier-2 spiritual botanist. After all, only those who had stepped into the Foundation Establishment stage could condense divine sense. Yet, Gu Mo, still at the sixth level of the Qi Refining stage, had already achieved this feat. He might not be the first or the only one to do so, but such occurrences were exceedingly rare.
"So this is the vision of a Foundation Establishment cultivator..." As Gu Mo scanned his surroundings with divine sense, he gained a deep understanding of just how powerful Foundation Establishment cultivators truly were.
Divine sense not only enhances every aspect of cultivation but also provides an overwhelming advantage in battle. Against Qi Refining cultivators who had yet to condense divine sense, it was essentially an absolute suppression.
Thus, even though Gu Mo's cultivation was still at the sixth level of Qi Refining, his ability to wield divine sense meant that he held a distinct advantage even against Qi Refining cultivators at the Great Perfection stage. He could use divine sense to lock onto his opponents, while their attacks would be effortlessly seen through.
It was like fighting a blind opponent.
Moreover, while Gu Mo's cultivation level was at the sixth stage of Qi Refining, the spiritual energy within his body was in a mist-like state, equivalent to that of a Great Perfection Qi Refining cultivator. If he were to face one in combat, he would undoubtedly have the upper hand.
At this point, Gu Mo could already be considered half a Foundation Establishment cultivator. As long as he liquefied his spiritual energy, he would truly step into the Foundation Establishment stage.
Suddenly, a bold thought surged in his mind—if he were to obtain a piece of Tier-2 spirit farmland right now and use Tier-2 Sunflowers to liquefy his spiritual energy, would he be considered a Foundation Establishment cultivator or still a Qi Refining cultivator?
If he were still considered a Qi Refining cultivator, he would have already met all the criteria of a Foundation Establishment expert—liquid spiritual energy and divine sense. But if he were considered a Foundation Establishment cultivator, then what of his actual cultivation realm?
"The more I think about this, the more exciting it gets!"
Gu Mo rubbed his head. Having access to all the abilities of a Foundation Establishment cultivator while still in the Qi Refining stage was exhilarating. This was far more impressive than simply having a foundation several times stronger than others in the same realm.
To achieve this feat, Gu Mo needed to acquire a piece of Tier-2 spirit farmland as soon as possible.
Fortunately, the upcoming True Inheritor Trials were a perfect opportunity to earn a significant amount of sect contribution points. If he could successfully help Yuan Niya become a True Inheritor, obtaining Tier-2 spirit farmland would no longer be an issue.
Speaking of which, the True Inheritor Trials should be concluding soon. With that thought, Gu Mo left his spirit farmland, heading toward the sect plaza to check the latest rankings.
This should also be the final ranking for the first phase of the trial, which assessed potential and talent. The rankings would shift further based on the results of the second phase—the trial missions.
Upon arriving at the sect plaza, Gu Mo saw the enormous stone monument that had been erected half a year ago. It displayed the rankings of all inner disciples.
As the final rankings were revealed, countless disciples crowded around the monument, eager to be the first to gather intel. Information like this could fetch a good price at the market—after all, the True Inheritor candidates of the Qinglu Sect were of great interest to the outside world.
These candidates represented the future core of the Qinglu Sect. Their talent and potential were essentially the sect's potential as well.
Seeing the dense crowd, Gu Mo didn't bother squeezing in. He didn't need to. A simple sweep of his divine sense allowed him to take in all the information on the monument instantly.
"Hmm?"
The moment Gu Mo released his divine sense, a nearby Foundation Establishment steward passing by instinctively turned to look in his direction. His eyes scanned the area with confusion, as he saw no other stewards nearby.
"Strange..."
Finding nothing unusual, the Foundation Establishment steward swept his divine sense over the stone monument before departing.
"Whew—"
Watching this unfold, Gu Mo let out a quiet sigh of relief.
While the outer disciples and servant disciples nearby hadn't noticed anything when he used his divine sense, a Foundation Establishment cultivator like the steward had immediately sensed it.
"Seems like I can't use divine sense to probe Foundation Establishment cultivators." Gu Mo made a mental note of this. His knowledge of Foundation Establishment techniques was still lacking, as his strength had grown faster than his understanding.
At that moment, his communication jade slip vibrated. It was a message from Yuan Niya.
Without hesitation, Gu Mo set off toward the sect's main mission hall.
Unlike the smaller mission halls located within each peak, this grand mission hall was responsible for distributing major sect missions—including those that involved leaving the sect or required Foundation Establishment-level cultivators.
The missions for the True Inheritor Trials were also issued here.
It was obvious why Yuan Niya had summoned him—she was preparing to draw her trial mission. Those who passed the first phase now had to take on the second phase of the trial. Additionally, any helpers the inner disciples had recruited had to be officially registered at the mission hall.
"Hopefully, Senior Sister Yuan has bad luck," Gu Mo muttered to himself on the way.
Since the trial missions were randomly assigned, an unlucky draw could mean facing a particularly difficult challenge. But at the same time, tougher missions granted higher evaluations upon completion.
For the truly capable, drawing a harder mission was actually preferable, as it provided an opportunity to widen the gap between them and the other candidates.
Yuan Niya was undoubtedly among the strongest competitors. After all, she ranked fourth in the potential assessment—a truly remarkable feat for someone who had only been in the sect for a few years.
Over the past six months, with the help of Gu Mo and Chu Feifei—her two secret weapons—her ranking had climbed from sixth place to fourth. She had even advanced to the sixth level of Qi Refining.
Of course, if not for He Shaogang, her performance would have been even more astounding.
Unfortunately, He Shaogang, the latest addition to the inner sect, had held onto the top spot from the very beginning and never relinquished it.
His monstrous talent had caught the attention of many elders, some of whom even regretted letting the sect master take him in. If they had known how exceptional he was, they would have fought for the chance to mentor him themselves.
Compared to the overwhelming brilliance of He Shaogang and Yuan Niya, the other inner disciples' performances seemed rather ordinary. Of course, this "ordinary" was still exceptional—it was just that their achievements lacked the same unprecedented shock factor.
Among them, one inner disciple who was originally ranked fifth had unexpectedly dropped to tenth place in this assessment. If he failed to deliver an outstanding performance in the upcoming True Inheritor Trial, he would lose his chance to become a true inheritor altogether.
This inner disciple was none other than Ye Yuqi. While others had been tirelessly cultivating and building up their foundations during the assessment period, he, having already exhausted all his resources, could only watch helplessly. He didn't even dare to let anyone know that he was now penniless.
After all, if someone were to ask where all his cultivation resources had gone, he would have a hard time explaining it.
---
"Gu Mo, over here!"
As soon as Gu Mo arrived at the mission hall, he immediately spotted two elegant and graceful young women—Yuan Niya and Chu Feifei.
"Congratulations, Senior Sister, on achieving fourth place!" Gu Mo said with a smile.
"Hmph!"
Hearing Gu Mo's congratulations, Yuan Niya's expression showed a hint of pride. She had fought her way to fourth place this time, earning high praise from her master.
Of course, the assistance of Gu Mo and Chu Feifei had been indispensable. Without their help, she would never have been able to reach her current level.
Placing fourth in the True Inheritor Assessment—while not breaking into the top three—was still an incredibly high achievement, ranking her as the fourth strongest among all inner disciples of Qinglu Sect.
"Niya, let's hurry and draw our mission! If we're late, all the good tasks will be taken by the senior brothers and sisters."
Seeing that Yuan Niya was still eager to bask in her moment of glory in front of Gu Mo, Chu Feifei urged her impatiently.
After not seeing Gu Mo for a few days, Chu Feifei couldn't shake the feeling that he had changed somehow. Although he still appeared to be at the second level of Qi Refinement—a seemingly unimpressive rank—there was something about him that felt even more mysterious and unfathomable.
"Oh, you're right! Let's go!"
Upon hearing this, Yuan Niya snapped back to reality and quickly led Gu Mo and Chu Feifei into the mission hall. By now, many inner disciples had gathered there, all with the same goal—selecting their trial missions.
Many of the disciples had brought helpers with them. It was rare for an inner disciple to complete a mission alone. After all, trial missions didn't just involve fighting; they also required gathering intelligence and locating the target.
If one person had to handle everything alone, it would waste a lot of time. However, with one or two assistants, the process became much more efficient, improving both completion speed and mission evaluation. The benefits of having helpers often outweighed the minor reduction in personal performance scores.
Since the mission hall was filled with inner disciples participating in the trial, familiar faces were bound to appear.
"Junior Sister Yuan, congratulations!"
Ye Yuqi greeted Yuan Niya with a warm smile as she approached, as if all past conflicts had been completely forgotten.
"Hmph!"
Yuan Niya merely cast him a cold glance and ignored him. She had no patience for empty pleasantries.
Despite this, Ye Yuqi's smile remained unchanged as he shifted his gaze toward Chu Feifei and Gu Mo. He had long coveted Chu Feifei, but it was Gu Mo's presence that caught him off guard.
"This junior brother must be quite remarkable to have earned Junior Sister Yuan's recognition," Ye Yuqi said with a seemingly friendly demeanor. If it were any other outer disciple, they would surely feel honored to receive such kind words from an inner disciple.
Unfortunately, Gu Mo—who had now successfully condensed his divine sense—had an acute perception of hidden emotions. It was effortless for him to sense the killing intent lurking beneath Ye Yuqi's friendly facade.
Gu Mo had no interest in dealing with such a two-faced person. If they weren't in the sect's mission hall, he might have taken action on the spot. Given his current strength, he could easily crush Ye Yuqi.
Gu Mo's indifference ignited a flicker of rage in Ye Yuqi's heart. He could tolerate Yuan Niya ignoring him—after all, her talent and potential justified such arrogance. But Gu Mo? Just an outer disciple at the second level of Qi Refinement—what right did he have to be so dismissive?
Still, recalling that both of them wouldn't live much longer, Ye Yuqi gradually suppressed his anger. He cupped his hands in a brief farewell and turned to leave.
"Tch!"
Watching Ye Yuqi's retreating figure, Yuan Niya scoffed before leading Gu Mo and Chu Feifei to the registration counter. This step was necessary to officially list them as her assistants, allowing them to participate in her trial mission.
---
"Big Brother Yao!"
At the registration area, Gu Mo spotted a familiar face—Yao Shifeng.
Hearing the familiar nickname, Yao Shifeng turned around and saw Gu Mo and Chu Feifei. After a brief moment of surprise, he shook his head and said, "I'm not your big brother anymore."
Yao Shifeng knew quite a bit about Gu Mo and Chu Feifei's recent developments. After all, gathering sect intelligence was one of his duties as He Shaogang's subordinate.
However, ever since that farewell banquet, he had cut ties with Gu Mo and the others.
"Sigh…"
Seeing Yao Shifeng's distant attitude, Gu Mo sighed inwardly, suddenly losing the desire to continue the conversation.
---
"Senior Sister Yuan, are these the assistants you recruited?"
Amidst the silence, a young voice rang out, immediately followed by gasps of surprise from the surrounding crowd. Clearly, the newcomer had an extraordinary status.
And since he addressed Yuan Niya as "Senior Sister," his identity was obvious—among the inner disciples, only He Shaogang had joined later than Yuan Niya.
"Yes, Junior Brother He. Have you recruited your assistants yet?" Yuan Niya's tone carried a hint of wariness. After all, He Shaogang was a formidable competitor.
"Of course."
He Shaogang nodded. At this very moment, Yao Shifeng—who had been registering his name—was one of his assistants, responsible for gathering intelligence and analyzing mission details. The more He Shaogang worked with him, the more he appreciated his efficiency.
"And this must be Junior Brother Gu Mo."
After exchanging a few words with Yuan Niya, He Shaogang's gaze finally landed on Gu Mo. The real reason he had come to greet Yuan Niya was because of him.
Gu Mo had already surprised him twice—first by advancing to outer disciple status, then by becoming a spiritual plant cultivator. But now, he had delivered an even bigger surprise: joining Yuan Niya's team for the True Inheritor Trial.
With Gu Mo as an insider, the success rate of their plan to eliminate Yuan Niya had risen to at least 90%.
In just half a year, Yuan Niya had climbed two ranks in the True Inheritor Assessment. Her potential was terrifying. If she were given a few more decades, she would undoubtedly become a powerhouse within Qinglu Sect.
Their window of opportunity to deal with her was closing fast.
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