Chapter 104: Cherry Bomb
Qinglu Sect Market.
Disguised from head to toe, Ye Yuqi stood at a distance, staring silently at a shabby little hut. After a long moment of contemplation, he finally walked over. This was the new rendezvous point for the assassination organization, and it had taken Ye Yuqi quite a bit of effort to track it down.
By all logic, after narrowly escaping death during the Inner Sect Trial ambush, Ye Yuqi should be staying as far away from this organization as possible. But he knew that as long as Yuan Nia was alive—and protecting her—he'd never get his hands on Chu Feifei.
Originally, Ye Yuqi had planned to wait until the heat died down before making another move. However, a recent encounter with Chu Feifei changed everything. The unique fragrance emanating from her body had grown significantly stronger—so much so that his Nasal Divine Sense was showing signs of a breakthrough.
This was unprecedented. Before, her scent could merely stir his Nasal Divine Sense. Now, it was pushing him to a potential advancement.
The reason was clear: with Gu Mo constantly casting Perfect-grade Cleaning Spells on her, Chu Feifei's special physique was being permanently activated bit by bit. If not for her use of Aura Concealment to suppress her scent, she would easily be leaving a fragrant trail for miles.
But that concealment was useless against someone like Ye Yuqi, who cultivated the Nasal Divine Sense.
In that instant, all thoughts of patience and restraint were thrown out the window. The opportunity to seize a great fortune and step further down his cultivation path was right in front of him—and he couldn't reach it. The torment was unbearable.
Worse yet, Yuan Nia had become an Inner Sect disciple. Her strength would only grow from here. Taking her out would become increasingly difficult. If he wanted Chu Feifei, he had to act soon.
So, Ye Yuqi returned. Though the assassination group had failed to kill Yuan Nia last time, this time, he was upping the ante—he wanted a stronger killer on the job.
Fortunately, becoming a true disciple had brought him new resources.
Inside the hut, a slovenly man lay sprawled on a battered cot. Ye Yuqi showed him the contract he'd signed with the organization. The man immediately got up, lifted the bedboard, and revealed a hidden passage beneath.
No telling how many turns the underground path took, but eventually, Ye Yuqi emerged into a dim tavern below ground. Several heavily cloaked figures, just like him, sat silently in the corners.
"I'm here to increase the bounty," Ye Yuqi said as he approached the counter and handed over his contract.
"One moment."
The barkeep gave it a cursory glance before disappearing into a hidden passage behind the counter.
Qinglu Sect, Main Peak.
"Senior Brother, the guy who posted the hit on Yuan Nia just showed up," Qian Qiyi said in a hushed tone as he approached He Shaogang.
"Oh?"
He Shaogang's eyes lit up. "Is Ye Yuqi currently inside the sect?" He had been keeping tabs on Ye Yuqi for some time now, and the more he observed, the more certain he became that Ye Yuqi was the one behind the assassination order.
"He claimed he was going into seclusion," Qian Qiyi replied, clearly having done his homework.
"Then there's little doubt left." He Shaogang smirked. He'd been plotting to eliminate Gu Mo for a while, but lacked someone to carry out the plan.
He and Qian Qiyi couldn't make a move themselves—too risky. If Gu Mo retaliated, they might both be dragged down. They needed a fall guy.
This person couldn't be a mere servant. Gu Mo was an outer sect disciple, so it had to be someone with enough standing. But turning inner or outer sect disciples wasn't easy.
And now, as if the heavens were lending a hand, he had the perfect tool: Ye Yuqi, currently ranked third among true disciples. His words carried real weight.
Whether Ye Yuqi would agree or not didn't matter—He Shaogang had dirt on him. Refusal wasn't an option.
Underground Tavern.
As time passed, Ye Yuqi began to feel something was off. Not willing to wait any longer, he got up to leave.
"Honored guest, your request has been processed. Please review this new contract," the barkeep reappeared just in time, handing over a freshly written agreement.
The new contract stated that the organization accepted responsibility for the failed mission and would now raise the bounty level for free—meaning stronger assassins would be assigned to the task.
"Much appreciated."
Free upgrades? Ye Yuqi was more than satisfied. He didn't want to waste his newly acquired true disciple resources if he didn't have to.
"Due to the difficulty of the target, may we ask for more detailed intel? This would increase the success rate," the barkeep asked after Ye Yuqi signed.
"Sure."
After a moment's thought, Ye Yuqi nodded.
Led down another passage, he was brought to a quiet room. But the moment he stepped inside, his pupils constricted—it was someone he knew: He Shaogang.
"Junior Brother Ye, no need to be so tense. Come, have a seat." He Shaogang wore a faint smile. As the sect's top-ranked true disciple, he was now considered the senior-most peer. Although Ye Yuqi had entered the sect earlier, he still had to address He Shaogang as Senior Brother.
"I think you've got the wrong person," Ye Yuqi replied, suppressing his shock and feigning ignorance.
"Do me a favor, and I'll help you complete your task," He Shaogang said calmly, sipping his tea.
"What kind of favor?"
That one sentence shook Ye Yuqi to his core. The implications were overwhelming. More importantly, he now understood—he had no way out. Refusal could mean death.
"It's simple…"
He Shaogang laid out the task. When Ye Yuqi realized it was about dealing with an outer sect disciple, his expression relaxed. That was nothing. As a true disciple, dealing with an outer sect member was child's play.
The task wasn't the problem—it was He Shaogang's sudden appearance here that raised questions.
"I will follow Senior Brother's lead from now on," Ye Yuqi said, taking a deep breath and bowing. At this point, he had no other options.
The leverage He Shaogang held over him could destroy him. Aligning with He Shaogang was the only path left.
"Excellent."
Ye Yuqi's tact pleased He Shaogang. Winning over the sect's third-ranked true disciple was like digging a massive hole in the Qinglu Sect's dam. And with enough of those holes, the dam would one day collapse entirely.
…
"Whew…"
Gu Mo exhaled deeply as the aura of mid-stage Qi Refining flashed across his body—he had finally broken through the bottleneck to late-stage Qi Refining.
From here on, his path to Foundation Establishment would be smooth. On top of that, he was close to mastering Aura Concealment. Having already deciphered the spell's underlying principles, there were no further barriers.
Once he reached mastery, even Golden Core cultivators wouldn't be able to see through his disguise. And since Qinglu Sect had no Nascent Soul experts, that meant no one would be able to discern his true strength.
Of course, as a major sect, Qinglu likely had some unique methods of detection. But unless he drew suspicion, the sect wouldn't go out of its way to probe a regular disciple.
It'd be like dragging someone off the street to give them a full-body CT scan for no reason—completely irrational.
Aside from the breakthrough, Gu Mo's field now had 30 Sunflowers, which gave him the energy reserves to resume exploring the Black Mist Space.
This time, he explored both inside and outside the mysterious gate—and got results from both. Within the gate, as the black mist receded, he discovered a second plant cultivation pot.
That meant he could now upgrade two plants at once—massively boosting efficiency.
Outside the gate, the new development centered around the vending machine. A fifth plant icon had appeared:
Name: Cherry Bomb
Grade: Tier 1 – Low
Effect: Delivers devastating explosive damage to enemies.
Planting Requirement: None
Seeing this made Gu Mo smile. Compared to other plants, the Cherry Bomb was the most convenient—it required no planting at all.
Usage was simple: just throw it at your enemy. The description—"devastating explosive damage"—was identical to that of the Potato Mine.
Recalling the Potato Mine's power, Gu Mo grew even more excited about the Cherry Bomb.
But the price… was a whopping 150 units of Sun Essence, by far the most expensive plant yet. The Potato Mine only cost 25.
Worse, the Cherry Bomb was a one-time-use item. A disposable priced at 150 Sun Essence—absolutely outrageous.
Still, he gritted his teeth and bought one. A vivid red cherry, the size of a ping-pong ball, rolled out from the vending machine—plump and tempting enough to eat.
Gu Mo quickly dismissed the suicidal idea. He was here to test its power.
After clearing a corner of his spiritual field, Gu Mo aimed and tossed it:
"Here goes!"
Being a throwable plant, the Cherry Bomb was indeed easy to use.
BOOM!
The cherry hit the ground—and unleashed an annihilating blast similar to the Potato Mine, but with a much wider radius—ten meters across, triple that of the Potato Mine.
No wonder it cost so much. Aside from the price, there were virtually no downsides. Plus, its blast radius would expand with upgrades.
Gu Mo did sacrifice a small patch of spiritual crops to test it—but the intel was worth it.
With the results in, Gu Mo decided: he would focus on cultivating a Tier 2 Cherry Bomb as his trump card.
Peashooters and Potato Mines had too many restrictions—Peashooters required appropriate-grade fields; Potato Mines had delayed activation.
But Cherry Bombs had none. With a Tier 2 version, he might even be able to kill Foundation Establishment cultivators outright. And with their huge blast radius, escape would be nearly impossible.
The only flaw? The price.
Not just expensive to buy—upgrading it would cost even more. But considering its sheer quality, Gu Mo had no choice but to accept it.
It was only expensive because he didn't have enough Sunflowers yet. If he had hundreds or even thousands of them, the Cherry Bomb's cost would be negligible.
…
"Senior Sister, you've broken through—why the long face?"
Inside the small spiritual field cottage, as the rich medicinal fragrance gradually dispersed, Gu Mo opened his eyes and saw Yuan Niya's troubled expression.
He Shaogang, the number one among the core disciples, was known as the Senior Brother of the sect. Yuan Niya, ranked second, naturally held the title of Senior Sister. The two of them were undoubtedly the most dazzling prodigies in the sect today.
And Yuan Niya hadn't disappointed—within just a few short months, her cultivation had reached the seventh level of Qi Refining.
But only after becoming a core disciple and gaining access to the sect's secrets did she learn of the crisis the sect was currently facing. To say that the sect was beset by both internal strife and external threats would not be an exaggeration.
Internally, disciples participating in the core disciple trials had been ambushed and slaughtered, causing a generational gap within Qinglu Sect's ranks. Externally, other major sects were steadily encroaching upon Qinglu Sect's assets.
These assets included spirit stone mines, sites for cultivating spiritual herbs, and spirit fields. These were the foundational resources that kept a sect functioning. Though the loss of such resources might seem negligible at first, over time, the consequences would become severe.
Qinglu Sect had no effective countermeasures. If their enemies had outright seized all their external holdings at once, the sect would have retaliated fiercely and waged war without hesitation.
But when the losses came little by little, Qinglu Sect found itself hesitating—was it worth starting a war over such small nibbles? Without a Nascent Soul ancestor to oversee the sect, Qinglu Sect lacked the confidence to act decisively. In the end, they could only choose to endure, hoping that once a new Nascent Soul cultivator emerged, they could reclaim everything they had lost.
But the more you endure, the bolder others become. Yuan Niya understood this all too well. As a child, whenever someone bullied her, she'd fight back without hesitation. Though she'd end up bruised and battered every time, after a few such encounters, no one dared to mess with her again.
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