Plant VS Cultivation

Chapter 27: Peashooter

Managing the spiritual farmland, accumulating Sun Essence, and comprehending spells—this became Gu Mo's daily routine for the foreseeable future. In addition, casting a perfected Cleansing Spell once a day was an essential practice for him. With the Cleansing Spell's marrow-cleansing effects, Gu Mo's body was gradually transforming.

When he eventually broke through, all these accumulations would erupt at once, giving him a physical and spiritual energy advantage over cultivators of the same level.

However, since he had yet to obtain a technique to conceal his cultivation, Gu Mo couldn't train at full capacity. Even though he received five units of Sun Essence daily, he could only absorb one unit at the level of an inferior spiritual root and then had to rest for three days.

At this rate, he had no idea how long it would take to reach the second level of the Qi Refining Stage.

A month had passed since his last planting, and Gu Mo had successfully cultivated five Sunflowers. If he absorbed all five units of Sun Essence daily, his cultivation speed would reach a terrifying fifteen times the normal rate—surpassing even those with superior spiritual roots.

Unfortunately, he didn't dare to do that. Instead, he used all the Sun Essence he collected to expand the Black Mist Space and feed the koi fish.

After feeding the koi fish a second portion of Sun Essence, three more of its scales turned golden. Gu Mo suspected that a transformation would only occur once all of its scales turned gold.

However, the koi had nearly a thousand scales, meaning it would take over three hundred units of Sun Essence for a complete transformation. Even with his five Sunflowers, it would still take two months to gather that amount. Wagering so much Sun Essence on the koi was clearly unwise.

On the other hand, expanding the Black Mist Space was a more beneficial choice. As the mist receded, Gu Mo's available space grew. Most importantly, as more mist cleared, he began to see a new purchase icon on the vending machine.

The vending machine didn't just sell Sunflowers—it had other items for sale as well. This intrigued Gu Mo, so he invested all his collected Sun Essence into further clearing the Black Mist Space.

In about three days, the new item's icon should be fully revealed.

Crushing five freshly harvested units of Sun Essence, Gu Mo watched as more black mist dispersed under the radiant sunlight. As the new section of mist cleared, he finally saw the newly unlocked product on the vending machine.

Name: Peashooter

Grade: Tier 1, Low-grade

Effect: Fires pea seeds to attack enemies.

Planting Requirement: Tier 1 Spiritual Farmland

Gu Mo was dumbfounded as he read the description. Wasn't this the Peashooter from Plants vs. Zombies?

Then, recalling the Sunflowers, he realized their effect was similar to those in the game. At the time, he hadn't made the connection because the names were different.

Now, with the introduction of the Peashooter, Gu Mo was certain—the vending machine was selling plants from Plants vs. Zombies!

Compared to the Sunflower, which boosted cultivation, the Peashooter was clearly an offensive plant. To understand its full potential, he would need to obtain one and test it himself.

"It costs 100 units of Sun Essence!"

Seeing the price beneath the product icon, Gu Mo raised an eyebrow. This was even more expensive than the Sunflower.

With his five Sunflowers, it would take twenty days to collect 100 units of Sun Essence.

"Five Sunflowers aren't enough." Gu Mo exited the Black Mist Space, feeling a bit troubled.

However, planting more Sunflowers carried risks. He decided to wait until this season's Spiritual Jade Rice was harvested, then trade for more spirit stones to activate the farmland's protective formation. That way, he could plant additional Sunflowers safely.

For cultivators, twenty days passed in the blink of an eye. When Gu Mo finally accumulated 100 units of Sun Essence, he poured them into the vending machine, and the Peashooter's purchase button lit up.

Clicking "Purchase," a seed rolled out. Gu Mo caught it and examined it carefully, but he couldn't see anything special about it. Without hesitation, he left the Black Mist Space and headed to his farmland.

He had already planned where to plant the Peashooter. Planting it among his Spirit Sunflowers would be too conspicuous—there were already five of them hidden there. Adding a strange-looking Peashooter would draw unwanted attention.

Instead, he decided to plant it among the Spiritual Jade Rice, using the tall crops to conceal it.

Arriving at the center of the farmland, Gu Mo cleared away a few stalks of Spiritual Jade Rice and planted the seed. In just a few breaths, the seed rapidly took root and sprouted.

Within moments, a bright green plant appeared, standing half as tall as a person. Its sturdy stem supported a pea pod shaped like a small cannon, with three leaves at the base and a curled leaf at the back. It looked surprisingly cute.

"Not bad, not bad!"

Gu Mo was pleasantly surprised. He had assumed, like the Sunflowers, that the Peashooter would take a full day to mature. However, it had fully grown in mere seconds—proving its value in actual combat.

During battle, as long as he had a little time, he could plant Peashooters to assist him.

Now, he needed to test its combat ability. Since it was an offensive plant, its effectiveness would determine its true value.

But what could he use as a target? He couldn't exactly test it on himself.

As Gu Mo pondered this, the Peashooter suddenly rotated its pea pod cannon and locked onto something in the distance.

A moment later, Gu Mo sensed spiritual energy from the farmland being absorbed through the Peashooter's roots, channeling into its pea pod cannon.

"Bang!"

A round, green pea shot out and struck a black shadow nearby.

"Squeak!!"

A sharp cry followed as the shadow collapsed. Upon closer inspection, Gu Mo realized it was a Black Spirit Rat—a notorious pest that plagued farmlands, damaging countless crops.

These creatures were naturally cautious and had excellent concealment abilities, making them difficult to locate. Yet the Peashooter had instantly detected and eliminated it with pinpoint accuracy.

Judging from the impact, Gu Mo estimated that the Peashooter's attack was roughly equivalent to a full-power strike from a first-level Qi Refining cultivator.

Though its attack power wasn't overwhelming, its automatic targeting and self-initiated attacks made it incredibly valuable. With a single Peashooter guarding the farmland, he no longer had to worry about Black Spirit Rats causing trouble.

However, the real surprise came a month later.

Just like the Sunflowers, the Peashooter continued to grow stronger over time, increasing its attack power the longer it remained planted.