Innate Plants—Muyu couldn’t help but look at his grandpa in astonishment.
In the cultivation world, as one progressed, there were various methods aiding one’s cultivation, but undoubtedly the Creation Cultivation Arts and Battle Cultivation Arts are top-grade ones, and now he understood why.
He had heard of innate plants. They are... a higher grade than natal plants!
What’s the difference? In fact, while they sound similar, they are extremely different!
Natal Plants are like Natal Weapons, external tools nourished by cultivators to gradually form a deep connection. But at their core, they are external tools. Natal plants can absorb spiritual power and transfer it to cultivators, and when they break through, they can feed back some spiritual power. But while sounding good, they have too many restrictions—they remain in one place and can only be moved but can’t permanently leave the earth, their effect on improving strength isn’t as strong, and their limit is based on the grade of their seed.
A second stage seed will only become a second stage plant, and it will require immense effort and opportunities to allow the plant to grow. In addition, their speed is slower than that of cultivators, so even if they grow, their effect will be quite useless to cultivators.
Effectively it has become an art that helps you in the early stage and is then abandoned later on. Only some sects have better seeds and allow this method to be used better, but no one would use it that way, because there are still Innate Plants!
Innate Plants are different than Natal Plants because they grow inside your dantian!
From the start, they’re only bound to you, and you can move them however you want! Planting them in the earth ensures better growth, but if you have to leave, you can just take them with you.
And! They grow alongside you. Even when reaching the limit of their seed, with sufficient cultivation and after you break through, it will follow you. The benefits are even more than just sharing cultivation—you also share lifespan, and the Innate Plant can even assist you in battle!
"Grandpa, is this real? Our clan has this inheritance?!" he asked again to confirm.
"Indeed, but this is a hidden inheritance most cultivators don’t know, only core members know about it. Even outside, cultivators only think we have a natal plant method and not an innate method—as for the Sun Glow Sect, they’re the ancestral sect and won’t ever reveal our clan’s information. As a clan descendent of theirs, we are included in the sect’s lineages and our secrets are guarded in the sect’s ancestral hall!"
Muyu breathed deeply, then asked, "If it’s secret, then..."
"In the family, only the vice-hall masters of the Spiritual Planting Hall as well as the heads of the Three Gardens have access to the inheritance, and we can only pass it on to one person in our lifetime."
"One? But, mother..."
"Your mother has a thunder-wood spiritual root and was specifically rewarded by the ancestor, so I still have a chance to pass it on." Chunfeng said casually, but Muyu could sense the currents hidden beneath this sentence.
His mother’s talent was fine, but why did she have to specifically get it from the ancestor?
Now it seems there was a story behind this, or his grandpa and mother specifically planned for their grandchild before he was even born...
A sense of warmth spread in Muyu’s heart. He swore that no matter what happened, he would help his grandpa and mother. If it wasn’t for the Fu Ancestral Talisman, he wouldn’t have the confidence, but with it, he could become a talisman master! In the future, he would ensure they didn’t lack talismans!
Grandpa Chunfeng didn’t let him think too much, asking again, "Are you willing to learn this inheritance?"
Muyu focused once more, his ideas spurning. Should he learn the inheritance? This question only flashed through his mind before he threw it away. So what if he had a talisman talent? Finding an inheritance was extremely difficult and he might be too old to learn it if he delayed too much. Throwing away a pot of gold for a piece of coal that might become a diamond, how could he be so foolish?
And just as his grandpa said, combining two things might result in supporting each other. He was willing to try and combine planting and talismans!
"Grandpa, I’m willing!" he bowed deeply in the face of this opportunity.
Chunfeng smiled, his grandson was very good. He patted his shoulder and told him to sit upright, then closed his eyes.
Muyu watched attentively, until he saw a thin line emerge from his grandfather’s glabella—
He caught his breath when he saw this, his eyes widening in shock. His grandpa... had actually reached this stage?!
This was spirit sense! Not the rudimentary spiritual sense of cultivators born in the late stage—it was a true Spirit Sense found only in Foundation Building cultivators!
Thousands of thoughts emerged in his mind but he stood still, awaiting his grandfather’s words.
Before any words were spoke, the sense entered his glabella.
Instantly, it transformed into a manual, and... the line between manual and his grandfather broke!
He looked at his grandfather and saw large beads of sweat falling from his forehead, wetting his beard and making him look weary. Even his white hair seemed to become paler.
Only after a moment, after suppressing a deep breath, did Chunfeng smile again and say, "The inheritance can only be passed down through the mind, it can’t be recorded, this is a rule of the Sun Glow Sect." he explained, then continued, "To pass it on in the future, you need to either become the head of one of the gardens and use a secret technique to compress your spiritual sense into a spirit sense to pass on the cultivation art, or you need to become a Foundation Building cultivator."
"Grandpa..." Muyu’s eyes reddened. He realised something. Spirit sense... was practically impossible for cultivators of their rank to develop. This was a secret technique, one that could enhance and compress spiritual sense into spirit sense... wasn’t this a Foundation Building Technique?
He understood now. The heads of the gardens... they were all cultivators who failed Foundation Building, and only because of their remaining foundation can they become elders who pass on the inheritance.
The rule stipulating they could only pass it on to one person... was likely because you could only do so once. The connection was cut off, and the spirit sense developed and nourished by his grandfather for years dissipated.