I offered sacrifices to the gods

Lin Mo returned to the pool, but he remained vigilant, always keeping a safe distance.

"Senior Brother Chen, now you can talk about the cooperation."

Chen Guan didn't waste any words and said directly, "Since you have cultivated the 'Blood Transporting Scripture,' it's inevitable that the abbot will use you to refine medicine."

"You don't want to die, and the Elder of Punishment doesn't want the Abbot to refine a second Human Essence Pill either. These lapis lazuli nails on my body were also driven in by the Abbot himself. As long as he lives, I will not be able to escape."

"Therefore, we are natural allies, and you can absolutely trust us."

Lin Mo merely sneered inwardly at his words.

Unreserved trust is something only children say; he had spent many years in the palace and was already used to the deceit and treachery.

"Senior Brother Chen Guan, let's cut the fluff and get to the details of our collaboration," Lin Mo said calmly.

Upon hearing this, Chen Guan was not angry, but patiently said:

"Now that your main ingredient for alchemy has appeared, the abbot will inevitably search for the other auxiliary ingredients next."

"The other auxiliary ingredients for refining the Human Essence Pill are also quite rare, so the abbot probably doesn't stay on the mountain all the time."

"If one day when you go to water the Dragon Blood Tree, it's not the abbot who personally leads you, then it means he has likely gone down the mountain."

"Remember, report this matter to the disciples of the Punishment Hall as soon as possible!"

Lin Mo didn't ask why, but nodded: "I understand. Is there anything else you need to tell me?"

Chen Guan shook his head and said, "After you leave, the disciples of the Punishment Hall will contact you. Just follow their arrangements."

Thus, the cooperation was initially established.

Neither the Hall of Punishments nor Chen Guan revealed any specific plans, and for now, he could only proceed step by step.

After their conversation, Lin Mo left the pool and returned to the cave.

Chen Guan was slightly taken aback by this scene and said admiringly, "This kid is really unusually wary. If Lin Yang had been like him back then, he might not have died."

Guo Sheng remained silent throughout. Only after Lin Mo left did he ask curiously, "Is that all? Can he really gain the abbot's trust?"

Chen Guan sneered: "Does gaining trust matter? Does the abbot not trust this kid, so he won't use him to refine medicine?"

For the abbot, whose lifespan was nearing its end, this second Human Essence Pill was something he would definitely refine without hesitation.

...

After leaving the pool, Lin Mo sat down cross-legged and began his cultivation.

He put everything else aside and began to study the insect master's inheritance that Guo Sheng had given him.

He took out the metal piece and channeled a wisp of spiritual energy into it from his fingertips.

hum!

Soon, the metal piece glowed with spiritual light, and a torrent of characters flooded into his mind.

"The Tuoba Insect Control Manual" is a third-rank insect master's manual.

This is a complete lineage of insect masters, covering a lot of content related to spirit insects.

The inheritance introduced the characteristics and breeding points of many kinds of spirit insects. Although most of them were low-level spirit insects, they still greatly broadened Lin Mo's knowledge.

In addition, there are insect control techniques and insect taming techniques, all of which are explained in detail.

The most unique aspect of this tradition is the method of feeding insects with essence blood.

Spirit insects raised in this way will be more aggressive and stronger than ordinary spirit insects.

"I see. Spirit insects nourished with essence blood can reside in the physical body, which is equivalent to transforming a part of one's body into an insect nest."

This is why when Guo Sheng released the spirit insects, his entire body was covered in countless holes, making him look extremely strange.

Using this method, one can save on several spirit pet pouches, and the spirit insects raised with one's own essence and blood will be more easily controlled.

At the end of the transmission, the insect master named Tuoba Ye put forward several bold ideas.

A spirit insect nurtured with one's own essence and blood might even be able to merge with a part of one's own body.

Building upon this concept, could a Mushishi (insect master) abandon their physical body and completely assemble their body from spirit insects?

They even completely entrust their souls to the spirit insects, so that even if they die one day, they can be brought back to life by one of the spirit insects that carries their souls.

It must be said that this assumption is far too audacious.

"That's audacious! Could this person have actually tried it themselves and then killed themselves?"

In the path of spiritual cultivation, the physical body is the foundation. How can something so important be discarded so easily?

Putting aside everything else, the dantian and qi sea alone cannot be replaced by a spirit insect.

Lin Mo had no intention of delving into this matter further; instead, he diligently began studying the insect control techniques within the inherited knowledge.

The art of controlling insects is not much different from the art of controlling beasts; both require taming the insects first before using them.

There are three ways to tame spirit insects.

Spirit Pact, Blood Pact, Soul Pact!

The three different contract methods correspond to three ways of taming spirit insects: the spirit contract uses one's own spiritual power to imprint a spiritual power mark, the blood contract is to recognize the master by dripping blood, and the soul contract is to imprint a divine soul mark.

Each of these three methods has its own advantages and disadvantages, and different methods can be adopted depending on the species of insect.

Lin Mo's cultivation level is still shallow, and he has not yet developed divine consciousness. For the time being, he can only use spirit contracts and blood contracts to tame spirit insects.

"Guo Sheng has gone astray. The focus of this Insect Master inheritance is clearly on quality rather than quantity."

"He tamed a bunch of low-level, insignificant spirit insects; how could they possibly form a fighting force?"

"Even if those low-level spirit insects are fed with essence blood, they won't become very powerful, and having too many contracts will also put a burden on them."

Ordinary cultivators' understanding of insect masters is that they can summon a large swarm of insects to fight with a wave of their hand, overwhelming their opponents with sheer numbers.

However, this inheritance includes a method of feeding insects with essence blood, which naturally requires collecting some more powerful spirit insects to tame them.

Similar to wondrous insects of heaven and earth, or even ancient exotic species, these spirit insects, which are already powerful individuals, can unleash even more outstanding combat power when nourished with their own essence and blood.

Of course, this doesn't mean that this lineage can't follow the Zerg swarm route.

If a precious mother insect is found in the future, it can be used to cultivate an insect colony, which will also showcase the style of traditional insect masters.

It took Lin Mo two days to completely digest this Insect Master inheritance.

However, he still needed time to practice the spells inside, and since there were no spirit insects here for him to practice with, Lin Mo had no choice but to give up.

In the time that followed, Lin Mo focused his energy on his own cultivation.

Days passed by, and before we knew it, it was time to water the Dragon Blood Tree this month.

Boom!

The restrictions on the Evil Water Cave were lifted, and bright sunlight streamed in.

"Junior Brother Lin, you can come out now."

A sound echoed in the cave, and Lin Mo's heart tightened slightly, but he quickly relaxed.

His current situation in the temple should be relatively safe. Before he completes the "Blood Transporting Sutra" and advances to the Candle Illumination Realm, the temple master will not easily harm him.

Thinking of this, Lin Mo got up and walked to the cave entrance. The bright sun outside made it hard for him to open his eyes, and it took him a while to adjust.

Cui Donghao, dressed in a dark blue Taoist robe, had been waiting outside the cave for a long time.

"Junior Brother Lin, you've had a tough time these past few days."

"Let's go back up the mountain first. Master will handle the rest."

Lin Mo clasped his hands in a fist and said solemnly, "Thank you for your trouble, Senior Brother Cui. It's really too much trouble for you to come and pick me up in person."

"This concerns the ancestor's precious tree, so we cannot be negligent. Come with me."

After saying that, Cui Donghao made a hand seal, and a fan-shaped magic artifact flew out of his storage bag.

And so, the two of them flew away from the mountain range on this fan-shaped magical artifact, heading towards the direction of Jinyang Mountain.

...

Upon returning to Jinyang Mountain and entering the main hall, Lin Mo met the abbot once again.

The man sat cross-legged on a prayer mat. After Lin Mo stepped into the hall, the abbot slowly opened his eyes, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.

"Good, good, good. It seems you didn't waste this month in the Evil Water Cave. You actually managed to cultivate the Blood Qi Inner Stance."

"Such talent is truly remarkable."

"Lin Mo, I wish to take you as my personal disciple. What do you say?"

Cui Donghao, who brought Lin Mo to pay his respects to the abbot, couldn't help but show a strange expression on his face.

He mastered the Blood Qi Internal Stance in just one month and entered the basics of the Blood Transfer Scripture. Such speed was somewhat unbelievable to him.

Lin Mo felt a slight chill in his heart, thinking that it was fortunate that he had been locked up in the Evil Water Cave during this time.

Otherwise, if these two knew that he had mastered the Blood Qi Internal Stance in just two days and cultivated the Blood Transfer Scripture to the entry level, they would probably be astonished.

He will likely face extremely severe interrogation.

Cui Donghao quickly spoke up from the side, reminding him, "Junior Brother Lin, what are you standing there for?"

"Hurry up and nod in agreement, become a disciple of Master, and we'll be true fellow disciples from now on."

"Becoming Master's personal disciple means you won't have to go to the Evil Water Cave to be punished anymore. This is a wonderful thing!"

Hearing this, Lin Mo took a deep breath, knowing that he had no choice but to accept.

"Disciple Lin Mo greets Master!"

As he spoke, he knelt down and performed a deep bow, kowtowing loudly on the ground.

Seeing this, the abbot's expression became even more satisfied, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, very good, very good! I have gained a fine disciple today, and I have no regrets in this life."

As he spoke, the abbot patted the purple-gold storage bag at his waist. A flash of light appeared, and a string of golden pendants appeared in his hand.

"This is a string of magical artifacts that I obtained in my early years, called the Golden Pattern Pendant."

"The three golden beads on this pendant have three different functions. The one on the left can be used to attack enemies, and the one on the right can activate a protective golden light."

"As for the one in the middle, it can accelerate the absorption of spiritual energy from heaven and earth, which is of great benefit to cultivation."

"Consider this treasure my gift for accepting a disciple."

Cui Donghao, who was standing to the side, smiled and said, "Congratulations, junior brother. From now on, we are brothers of the same lineage."

"This golden pendant is a treasure that Master refined many times with his own life fire. It far surpasses ordinary magical artifacts. Why don't you quickly thank Master?"

Lin Mo accepted the heavy gold pendant and hurriedly bowed again, saying, "Disciple thanks Master!"

The abbot laughed again, waved his hand, and said, "These are just small items; consider them a reward to encourage your cultivation."

"You must cultivate more diligently in the future, and you will surely reward me handsomely."

Lin Mo knelt on the ground, once again feigning gratitude, and loudly proclaimed, "This disciple will never forget Master's guidance, and will certainly work even harder in my cultivation in the future."

"Not bad, not bad!" The abbot nodded in satisfaction and said to Cui Donghao, "Donghao, go and tell Elder Wu that Lin Mo has become my disciple and will be exempt from all miscellaneous duties and chores within the sect."

"Also, please fetch him the robes and ritual implements of a personal disciple. Starting this month, he will enjoy the treatment of a personal disciple."

He was promoted to a personal disciple within a month of entering the temple, which is quite rare in Jin Yang Temple.

Upon hearing this, Cui Donghao bowed and clasped his hands in a fist salute, saying, "This disciple obeys!"

Lin Mo sighed inwardly, realizing that if he hadn't known his fate beforehand, he probably would have been blinded by this series of benefits.

Now he understood that the reason the abbot was so kind to him was because he hoped that he would reach the standard of the main ingredient of the Human Essence Pill as soon as possible.

The person in front of me really wants to eat me.

After Cui Donghao left, the abbot slowly stood up and chuckled, "Let's go. We haven't watered the ancestor's precious tree yet this month, so we can't delay. Come with me."

Lin Mo followed the abbot out of the main hall and arrived at the back mountain.

Just like last time, the abbot lifted the restrictions on this place. After the hazy halo dissipated, a crimson treasure tree that looked like a writhing dragon appeared.

This time, upon seeing the Dragon Blood Tree, Lin Mo felt an even deeper sense of awe.

Because of his cultivation of the "Spirit Tree Refining Meridian Technique," he now more keenly perceived just how immense the vitality contained within the spirit tree before him truly was.

Compared to the fruit trees he had seen in the ginkgo forest before, the vitality of this Dragon Blood Tree in front of him was like a mighty river!

The pillar of spiritual light, representing its vitality, contracted and expanded in Lin Mo's perception, like a heart, possessing a certain activity.

Snapped!

A lapis lazuli dagger fell at Lin Mo's feet. He snapped out of his daze, bent down, and picked it up.

bloodletting!

The Dragon Blood Tree's magnificent vitality and spiritual essence are inseparable from the nourishment provided by generations of princes of the Yu Kingdom.

For over two hundred years, countless princes have perished here.

This is the fate of these hostages!

Lin Mo took a deep breath, went to the tree roots, and moved the sharp lapis lazuli dagger to his wrist.

Just then, the abbot behind him suddenly said something that almost made him lose his grip on the dagger.

"You must have already seen Chen Guan in the Evil Water Cave, right?"

These seemingly casual words resonated like a thunderclap in Lin Mo's heart.

...