I offered sacrifices to the gods

"Junior Brother Lin, you've only been on the mountain for less than two months, and you've already lost two lives."

Yang Xiaoran crossed his arms and looked at his personal disciple, whose cultivation level was only at the Spirit Guidance Realm, with a half-smile.

Lin Mo frowned slightly and calmly said, "Senior Sister Yang, do you think I poisoned Zhong Xiaolong and Zhong Xiaohu? You'll be disappointed. I haven't even seen their faces since I returned from the Evil Water Cave."

This is the truth. During the time he has been back, Lin Mo has been staying in his cave and rarely comes out.

Occasionally, I would leave my cave dwelling to go to the preaching platform to listen to the elders' sermons and deepen my understanding of the path of cultivation.

He had neither the motive nor the time and place to poison Zhong Xiaolong and Zhong Xiaohu.

However, Yang Xiaoran shook his head and took out two white jade porcelain bottles from who knows where.

When Lin Mo saw the two white jade porcelain bottles in her hand, he was slightly taken aback, and then a feeling of disbelief welled up in him.

Isn't this the Qi Transformation Pill he used to bribe those two fat and thin Daoist boys when he first went up the mountain?... Could it be?!

"I have determined the cause of their deaths; they were poisoned by a strange poison."

"This poison is quite strange. It will not kill you immediately after ingestion, but will accumulate a colorless and odorless toxin in your body."

"Normally, it's not noticeable, but it only erupts when the toxins accumulate to a certain level, killing people instantly without even giving them time to cry for help."

At this point, Yang Xiaoran's smile gradually faded, and his tone turned icy: "This poison is called Eternal Void, and there are residual traces of it in these two white jade porcelain bottles."

"The temple wouldn't use this style of porcelain bottle to store elixirs. As far as I know, this jade porcelain bottle with dragon patterns and platinum design should be used exclusively by your Yu Kingdom's royal palace, right?"

The moment the words left his mouth, two pale purple flame patterns appeared in Yang Xiaoran's pupils.

boom!

The aura of a mid-stage Candle Illumination Realm cultivator surged forth, forcing Lin Mo to involuntarily take a step back.

Under this external pressure, Lin Mo's thoughts became chaotic, and his mind went blank with a buzz.

But he quickly regained his composure, and on the surface, there was no sign of anything amiss.

No, if this person has solid evidence, he can just take me to the Hall of Punishment for trial. Why waste so much breath?

I am a hostage, and I still have to water the Dragon Blood Tree. The Hall of Punishments dares not do anything to me!

Moreover, the Hall of Punishments also wants to deal with the Abbot, so everyone shares a common interest.

Thinking of this, Lin Mo said calmly, "Senior Sister Yang is joking. The world is so vast. Just because a pill bottle looks similar, does that mean it came from the imperial palace?"

"Even if we assume this is truly a pill bottle from the imperial palace, how can we prove that I gave it to them?"

"I have no grudge against my two junior brothers, Xiaolong and Xiaohu, so why would I poison them?"

Regardless, Lin Mo clung to this point, resolutely refusing to admit that the deaths of the fat and thin Taoist boys were related to him.

A satisfied smile appeared on Yang Xiaoran's pretty face. She withdrew her aura and nodded, saying:

"You have a good temperament. You can still answer calmly and fluently. You've passed the test. You can work with my Hall of Punishments to plan important matters."

With that, she tossed two white jade porcelain bottles into Lin Mo's hands, then turned and sat down in the main seat at the back, gesturing with her hand, "Sit down. Now we can discuss the specifics of our cooperation."

Lin Mo breathed a sigh of relief, relieved that he had dealt with the situation so easily, and sat down on a wooden chair to the side.

"Now that you have become the abbot's personal disciple, the fact that he still allows you to move freely on the mountain proves that the abbot does not think you can cause any trouble; everything is under his control."

"You have two main things to do next..."

Before Yang Xiaoran could finish speaking, Lin Mo interrupted him, frowning as he said:

"Wait, is it alright to talk here? The Abbot is at the Visualization Realm."

What they are planning is quite significant; they are targeting the leader of Jinyang Temple, whose status and power are second only to Jinyang Daoist.

In the entire cultivation world of Yu Kingdom, he can be considered the second strongest person on the surface.

Even though the Yu Kingdom was located in a remote corner of the country, he was still a true cultivator at the Visualization Realm.

"Don't worry, the area where the Hall of Punishments is located is within an array personally set up by Master, so divine sense can't probe in," Yang Xiaoran said with a light laugh.

Lin Mo was still uneasy about this, and he asked, "I want to know why the Hall of Punishments is targeting the Abbot?"

This is very important; he must know what the conflict between the two sides is before he can truly feel at ease cooperating with the Hall of Punishments.

"I cannot tell you about this matter, but you can rest assured that even Elder Wu will be willing to stand on our side on this point."

Even Elder Wu is willing to go against the Abbot?

Suddenly, Lin Mo understood many things.

No wonder he was assigned to go to the Ginkgo Forest with Guo Sheng to exterminate the spirit insects; no wonder Guo Sheng's spirit insects suddenly went out of control that day.

Everything has a traceable origin.

Today, Jinyang Temple is a three-way power structure, with the abbot holding a high position and in charge of the appointment and dismissal of various positions.

The Elder of Punishments is in charge of punishments and holds the power of life and death over the disciples in the temple.

Elder Wu was in charge of general affairs and resource allocation, holding the economic lifeline of Jinyang Temple in his hands.

The three elements check and balance each other, and there may be conflicts, but Lin Mo really couldn't figure out why it had evolved into a life-or-death situation.

Yang Xiaoran gave Lin Mo a deep look and said something that seemed irrelevant: "Our ancestor has been in seclusion for many years, and in order to make further progress, he has not paid attention to the affairs of the temple for many years."

Is it merely a power struggle?

Lin Mo was still somewhat skeptical, but at this point, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and cooperate with the other party.

"I understand. Then please tell me, Senior Sister Yang, what should I do?"

Yang Xiaoran said, "There is a spell called 'Stone Skin Technique' in the Sutra Repository of the temple. Go and borrow it to practice."

"Once you have mastered this technique, come to the Hall of Punishments. At that time, your master will bestow upon you a method for cultivating a supernatural power."

Supernatural!

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo was slightly startled. He hadn't expected that the Punishment Elder, whom he had never met before, would be so generous, offering him a cultivation method for a supernatural power.

It should be noted that in order to cultivate supernatural powers, one's cultivation level must at least reach the Candle Illumination Realm.

Only by igniting the life fire and achieving a leap in life level can one cultivate a supernatural power within the body, whose power far surpasses ordinary techniques.

Moreover, at most, someone with the Candle Illumination Realm cultivation level can only cultivate one supernatural power.

"Secondly, the abbot cannot stay on the mountain all the time."

"Starting this month, if the abbot does not personally take you to water the Dragon Blood Tree, you should afterwards offer a large stick of incense in the incense burner in the front courtyard."

"How about it? These two things shouldn't be too difficult for you, right?"

It was indeed very simple, and didn't even require him to take too much risk.

Having already stepped into this vortex, he had no other choice.

Lin Mo took a deep breath, stood up, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Alright, I've remembered these two things."

"Well, it's getting late. You should go back now. I need to go and interrogate the other unlucky guys too." Yang Xiaoran gave him the hint to leave.

Lin Mo knew that they were going to find a disciple to take the blame, but he didn't know who would be made the scapegoat.

...

After leaving the Hall of Punishments, Lin Mo did not rush to the Scripture Hall, but returned to his cave first to avoid arousing suspicion from others.

When he returned to his cave, he was surprised to find Cui Donghao waiting for him at the entrance.

"Senior Brother Cui, what's going on?"

When Cui Donghao saw that Lin Mo had returned safely, he visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Junior Brother Lin, it's good that you're alright. I heard that you were taken away by the Punishment Hall again, and I was worried that something might have happened to you, so I waited for you in your cave for a while."

"I am grateful for your concern, Senior Brother. I am safe and sound. The deaths of those two Daoist boys had nothing to do with me, and the Punishment Hall did not make things difficult for me." Lin Mo expressed his gratitude.

Hearing this, Cui Donghao nodded in relief, and then took out a wooden box from his pocket.

"That's good. I have a century-old ginseng here. You can use it to make tea to improve your blood and energy. You can take it."

Looking at the wooden box in the other person's hand, Lin Mo felt a mix of emotions.

This time, however, he did not refuse. Instead, he nodded and accepted it generously: "Then thank you very much, Senior Brother Cui. I have been fortunate enough to receive your gifts many times. I will definitely repay you handsomely in the future."

Seeing that Lin Mo accepted the gift, Cui Donghao smiled and nodded, "Then I'll take my leave now. I still have some matters to attend to at the temple, so I won't stay any longer."

"Take care, senior brother." Lin Mo clasped his hands in farewell.

...

Meanwhile, in the rear courtyard of the Hall of Punishments.

Several peach trees are planted here, and surprisingly, even though it is already late autumn, peach blossoms are still falling from the sky from time to time.

This atmosphere is quite different from the decisive and upright style of the Hall of Punishments.

Having finished his work, Yang Xiaoran walked through the corridor strewn with peach blossoms and bowed respectfully to the person in front of him.

"Disciple Yang Xiaoran greets Master."

Under a peach tree in front of them, a plump figure sat leaning against the tree.

The punishment elder of Jinyang Temple was actually a mature and beautiful middle-aged Taoist nun.

The loose Taoist robe couldn't hide her voluptuous figure. Occasionally, a gentle breeze would blow, revealing glimpses of her fair and delicate skin beneath the hem, which was truly breathtaking.

"Hmm, you've already seen the main ingredient of that Human Essence Pill. What do you think of it?" The Punishment Elder turned to look at Yang Xiaoran, revealing a gentle and mature profile.

There are traces of time on her face, but they do not detract from her beauty; instead, they add a touch of stunning beauty that comes with the passage of time.

She was truly a stunningly beautiful woman, like a fine old wine that only gets better with age.

Yang Xiaoran truthfully replied, "This person is cautious enough and has a very steady mind. He should be a potential partner."

The elder of punishments smiled gently and asked, "Lin Yang was the same back then; in the end, he still became a pill."

"My senior brother just refuses to accept his fate."

"The spiritual energy of this Yu Kingdom is scarce. This spiritual vein of Jinyang Mountain is the best that the country can find, but it is still impossible to support the cultivation of two Shackled Realm cultivators."

"If he were to refine another Human Essence Pill, then it would be me and Junior Brother Wu who would die from exhaustion."

At this point, the beautiful woman shook her head, gazing at the cliff in front of her, her beautiful eyes filled with a sense of loss.

Yang Xiaoran dared not respond. She clasped her hands and bowed her head, saying, "Master, I have already instructed Lin Mo to borrow the 'Stone Skin Technique' from the Scripture Hall for cultivation."

"Yes, he has been given the chance. Whether he survives or not depends on his fate."

"If they don't live up to expectations, there's nothing we can do."

"You may leave now. I'm leaving the affairs of the palace to you."

Yang Xiaoran quickly replied respectfully, "It is naturally an honor for this disciple to be able to share Master's burdens."

"This disciple takes his leave!"

...

Back in his cave, Lin Mo sat down with a somber expression, his mind unable to find peace for a long time.

He took out two white jade porcelain bottles, his eyes filled with a frighteningly intense rage.

These two bottles of Qi-transforming pills were the farewell gift that His Highness the Crown Prince gave him when he left the palace.

"I've already been exiled to Jinyang Temple, and they still want to poison me inside! Crown Prince, do you really want me to die that badly?"

Both bottles of Qi-transforming pills were poisonous. If he hadn't used those two bottles to bribe the two fat and thin Daoist boys...

The person who has now died from the poison must be him.

In other words, those two Taoist boys saved him from a near-death experience.

After a long while, Lin Mo finally understood the pros and cons.

It is likely that the Third Prince, having just become the Crown Prince, felt his position was unstable and wanted to poison him, who was far away at Jinyang Temple.

Forced by circumstances, the palace had no choice but to send another prince to serve as a hostage.

The crown prince is already the heir apparent of the country, so it's unlikely that he will be the next hostage sent.

At this moment, Lin Mo completely lost all hope in the Lin royal family he came from.

"Since you want to sit securely in your position as crown prince, I'll make sure you don't get your way!"

Lin Mo licked his lips, a ruthless glint in his eyes.

Jin Yang Temple is the de facto controller of the entire Yu Kingdom and has the power to interfere in the succession of the throne, but it basically doesn't get involved.

Now, he has become a disciple of the abbot of Jinyang Temple and a personal disciple of the abbot!

This is something that no previous hostage had ever done before. If the news were to be released, it would be enough to shake the entire capital.

With this thought in mind, Lin Mo's face hardened, and he took the two white jade porcelain bottles and headed straight for the Golden Sun Hall to pay his respects to his master.

Before long, Lin Mo knelt down straight in front of the Golden Sun Hall.

"Disciple Lin Mo greets Master!"

Almost the instant he knelt down, several invisible divine senses swept over from above, and a silent clash ensued.

Immediately afterwards, a gentle yet authoritative voice resounded from within the hall: "What business do you have requesting an audience?"

"The current crown prince of the Yu Kingdom is acting perversely and lacks virtue. I believe he is unworthy to inherit the throne."

"I implore my master, for the sake of the people of Yu Kingdom and all living beings, to issue a decree to depose the crown prince and replace him with a new heir."

After he finished speaking, the several streams of divine consciousness that had been in the air silently dissipated.

...