Sensing sothing was wrong, Fei Lianlian released her Nascent Soul–level divine sense to scan the surroundings—but found nothing out of the ordinary. She turned her senses inward to inspect her own condition, yet again, nothing seed amiss.
"Maybe it was just a coincidence..."
Suddenly, that thought surfaced in Fei Lianlian's mind. And the mont it did, she lost the desire to investigate further.
"My dear disciple, I'll get you another bottle of Hundred Flower Fragrance soon." The bottle she had promised to Chu Feifei had unexpectedly run out, so Fei Lianlian planned to find ti to make another one. Though the fragrance wasn't difficult to concoct, it was ti-consuming.
"Thank you, Sect Leader Master. I'll go look for Senior Sister Rou first." Not finding Rou Shuiyao made Chu Feifei anxious. After a quick bow of apology, she hurried off.
Elsewhere—
Gu Mo had just returned to the flower field cottage when his expression suddenly changed. The Calming Grass in the field had been destroyed—and the culprit was a demon vine.
The vine had taken root in the flower field and ruined all the nearby Calming Grass. It was obvious this vine had been deliberately planted here.
There was no ti to dwell on who was behind it. Gu Mo imdiately moved to exterminate the vine and salvage what he could.
Sensing soone approaching, the demon vine ceased its destruction. Its thick, spike-covered tendrils turned toward Gu Mo, coiling like spears ready to strike.
This was a top-tier third-rank demon plant—a class of plants known for their destructiveness and appetite for devouring living beings.
Many of Shennong Valley's combat spirit plants were bred from demon plants that had been tad—modifying their uncontrollable instincts to serve as loyal battle companions.
However, so spirit plant cultivators did the opposite—enhancing the destructive and bloodthirsty traits of these demon plants. This vine before Gu Mo was clearly one of those: modified with the signature touch of the Demonic Sect.
Such modified demon plants were far more aggressive and unstable—resulting in even greater combat power.
Had Gu Mo been just a regular spirit plant cultivator, facing this bloodthirsty vine would likely have ended in tragedy.
Clearly, the perpetrator behind this had planned to use this vine to both destroy the Calming Grass and eliminate Gu Mo in one stroke.
Unfortunately for them, Gu Mo was no ordinary spirit plant cultivator. Though only at the early Core Formation stage, he possessed a fourth-rank Sunflower, which allowed him to channel Immortal Force and unleash the power of a Nascent Soul expert at will.
In fact, even without invoking Immortal Force, Gu Mo could still eliminate this vine.
"Zing!"
At a single thought, two golden scissor blades appeared in Gu Mo's hands.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Before Gu Mo could even make a move, the vine's tendrils lunged like spears. Gu Mo raised both blades and assud the Duality Sword Formation from the Grand Yan Sword Canon.
One blade for offense, one for defense.
He combined this with Heaven-Cleaving, the offensive sword technique he had comprehended from the Naless Sword, and Sword Rebound, its defensive counterpart. Despite the large gap in cultivation levels, he sliced the vine's tendrils into shreds.
At this mont, Gu Mo appeared to be a pure sword cultivator, with no trace of a spirit plant master in sight.
"There it is!"
After cutting away the tendrils, Gu Mo spotted the vine's core. For such demon vines, as long as the core remained intact, any severed tendrils could quickly regenerate.
But Gu Mo's assault had been too overwhelming. The regeneration couldn't keep up, exposing the core.
"Clack!"
Locking onto the core, Gu Mo rged the blades into their true form: the Golden Flood Dragon Shears, and clipped toward it.
Against a spiritual treasure–level weapon like the Golden Flood Dragon Shears, the vine's resistance was futile. The shears closed, and the core was cleanly snipped out.
This was the core of a top-tier third-rank demon vine. Gu Mo wasn't about to destroy it—he planned to bring it back for cultivation. With luck, it could beco an excellent battle plant.
"Whoosh!"
Just as the fight ended, i Qiuyuan arrived swiftly. She had sensed the disturbance in the sect's flower fields and, knowing Gu Mo was there, ca to check.
Gu Mo had been left behind by Shennong Valley to help heal the Calming Grass, so Hundred Blossom Sect naturally had to ensure his safety. If anything had happened to him, it would've been hard to explain.
"You... you're not hurt, are you?"
i Qiuyuan looked from the lifeless demon vine on the ground to Gu Mo, who was completely unhard, and finally managed to say sothing. She couldn't fathom how a spirit plant cultivator like Gu Mo had killed a top-tier third-rank demon vine.
Especially since the killing blow didn't look like a spirit plant technique at all—it looked like the work of a sword cultivator.
"Thank you for your concern, Senior. I'm fine... but the Calming Grass…" Gu Mo looked at the destroyed field, a little helpless.
"It's fine. The Demonic Sect clearly wants to destroy it at all costs. But they've paid a price for it." i Qiuyuan said coldly.
She then softened her tone. "And thank you for your warning."
If Chu Feifei hadn't co to her earlier to relay Gu Mo's suspicions, i Qiuyuan wouldn't have been so vigilant—and Hundred Blossom Sect might have suffered major losses.
Thanks to the warning, she managed to apprehend the fleeing traitor in ti, confirming that the person was a high-ranking infiltrator from the Demonic Sect.
It stung even more that this infiltrator had been chosen as a cultivation partner by her own disciple.
Worse still, her disciple had unknowingly been implanted with demonic thods, becoming an unwitting pawn.
Hearing that the infiltrator had been captured, Gu Mo nodded. With the Solar yang pill he gave Chu Feifei, her senior sister Rou should be able to purge the demonic influence.
Still, after this incident, Rou would likely suffer greatly—and it would be hard for Hundred Blossom Sect to trust her again.
For the Demonic Sect to sacrifice such a talented mole just to destroy so Calming Grass—it seed like a huge waste. If the infiltrator had remained hidden, she might've eventually risen to high ranks within the sect, becoming far more valuable.
But since she was caught, Gu Mo didn't need to worry. With Hundred Blossom Sect's deep roots and connections, they would soon uncover the full truth.
After confirming Gu Mo was fine, i Qiuyuan handed him a bottle of perfu, then rushed off.
Before she left, she told him, "If you give this perfu to a Hundred Blossom Sect disciple, it'll instantly max out their favorability toward you."
"Seriously?"
Gu Mo examined the perfu—it was clearly high-grade. To Hundred Blossom Sect disciples, such perfu was akin to high-grade pills.
Giving soone a pill that could enhance their cultivation? Of course that would win instant favor.
But Gu Mo didn't have anyone he wanted to give it to. As for Chu Feifei, her Hundred Blossoms Sect Holy Physique naturally emitted a fragrance far more refined than any perfu.
Still, it didn't necessarily have to go to a Hundred Blossom Sect disciple. Others might appreciate it too.
anwhile, atop Hundred Blossom Sect's main peak—
i Qiuyuan looked sadly at Rou Shuiyao, who knelt before her. She had once doted on this disciple deeply—but now, everything had changed.
Under the Demonic Sect's influence, Rou had beco soone else entirely.
"Master, please spare my Dao companion. He's innocent!" Rou Shuiyao pleaded again.
"Do you even hear yourself?" i Qiuyuan's voice turned cold. To her, the girl before her was no longer her disciple—just a puppet under demonic control.
"I don't know anything except that my husband was frad!" Rou shouted, eyes full of fury and defiance.
"You know nothing…" i Qiuyuan's heart twisted, but she knew words were useless now.
Unless the demonic influence in Rou's body was purged, the real Rou would never return. Worse yet, in her desperation to save her so-called Dao companion, she might even betray the sect again.
i Qiuyuan had tried every thod to purge the influence, to no avail. Rou's condition was more advanced than any other cases—even more severe than the Grand Yan Sword Sect elders—because her own Dao companion was the one who had implanted the control.
If i Qiuyuan were to kill the traitor now, Rou would die with him. That was the traitor's threat.
But no way would i Qiuyuan release a high-ranking spy from the Demonic Sect. Even if it ant killing her own beloved disciple.
"Master! Master!"
Just then, Chu Feifei ca running in.
"What's with the panic?"
i Qiuyuan shot her a look. Thanks to Chu Feifei's tily warning, the sect had avoided a major disaster. Most disciples hadn't even noticed anything and were still enjoying the festival.
"I was afraid you might kill Senior Sister Rou with one slap!" Chu Feifei muttered. She knew her master well—gentle most days, but ruthless when it ca to the sect's safety.
"She is no longer your senior sister," i Qiuyuan said with a sigh.
"Master, I have a way to purge the demonic technique inside her!" Chu Feifei held out the top-tier third-rank Solar yang pill given to her by Gu Mo.
"A Solar yang pill? And it's a top-tier third-rank one?!" As a Nascent Soul cultivator, i Qiuyuan recognized it at a glance.
It was one of the best ways to purge demonic influences. But the main ingredient—Sunlit Glaze Flower—had long been impossible to cultivate. The pill had all but vanished from the world.
Only recently had Gu Mo from Shennong Valley succeeded in cultivating it. But even then, it would take years before it could produce refined Sun Essence on a large scale for pill-making.
"It was a gift from a friend," Chu Feifei explained. Gu Mo had only told her not to reveal the fourth-rank version—the third-rank one didn't need to be kept secret.
After all, it was plausible to use refined Sun Essence from a third-rank flower to craft a top-tier third-rank Solar yang pill.
"So you've only t this friend a few tis, and now he's your 'friend'?" i Qiuyuan imdiately guessed the person in question—Gu Mo.
Only soone like him could produce such a rare pill, on par in value with even so fourth-rank ones—and he just casually gave one to Chu Feifei? Clearly, he had ulterior motives.
"He's soone I t back in the Qinghe cultivation realm. I owe much of my progress to him," Chu Feifei clarified.
Which only made i Qiuyuan more anxious—this was a childhood friend?
That's even worse! Her precious disciple—the hope of Hundred Blossom Sect's rise—was being courted?
"Oh? In that case, your friend is quite extraordinary. But you'd better train harder, my dear. The female cultivators of Shennong Valley aren't weak. If you fall behind, soone else might swoop in and steal him away…" i Qiuyuan didn't forbid the relationship.
She knew too well: the more you forbid sothing, the more rebellious it becos. Better to steer it toward cultivation—turn the relationship into motivation.
Chu Feifei gave her master a sideways glance. She felt her master had misunderstood sothing.
Her relationship with Gu Mo was one of absolute trust—deeper than most Dao companions. In the cultivation world, a friend you could trust fully was more precious than any romance.
But for so reason… she didn't feel like correcting her.
"Let's focus on dispelling the demonic influence in Senior Sister Rou for now." Chu Feifei composed herself and turned to Rou Shuiyao.
Rou instinctively tensed at Chu Feifei's gaze—especially at the pill glowing in her hand. That reaction didn't co from Rou herself, but from the demonic force inside her.
With a Nascent Soul expert like i Qiuyuan present, Rou couldn't move. Chu Feifei easily pried open her mouth and fed her the Solar yang pill.
In the next mont, wisps of black mist began seeping from Rou's body. The top-tier Solar yang pill was more than enough to expel the demonic influence from a Core Formation cultivator.
As the black mist faded, Rou Shuiyao's eyes cleared. She fell to her knees before i Qiuyuan and bowed deeply.
"Disciple has shad the sect…"
With her clarity restored, Rou was filled with remorse. She had unknowingly beco a pawn in the Demonic Sect's plans.
"Get up. This wasn't your fault."
i Qiuyuan looked at her and sighed. "From now on, you'll remain in the sect and help watch over the flower fields."
Though Rou's actions were not her own, i Qiuyuan couldn't pretend nothing had happened. Rou would have to be restricted within the sect—just in case the Demonic Sect had planted so hidden fail-safes.
"Yes, Master!"
Rou Shuiyao bowed deeply again.
"Oh right, Master, Sect Leader!" Rou suddenly recalled sothing. "Their true target… was the Sect Leader!"
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