I offered sacrifices to the gods

With the abbot gone, the next few days were the most comfortable days Lin Mo had spent on the mountain.

With the mountain above his head gone for the time being, he felt much more at ease.

Several days later, he lit a large incense stick in the temple. As the wisps of smoke rose, he knelt on a futon in front of the incense burner and meditated.

This was something the Hall of Punishments had asked him to do. After confirming that the abbot was about to leave, he came here to offer a large stick of incense.

While waiting, Lin Mo seriously pondered his current situation.

"The abbot's departure from the mountain this time is most likely to collect auxiliary ingredients for refining the Human Essence Pill."

"Now that I have entered the late stage of the Spirit Guidance Realm, all I need to do is ignite my life fire and cultivate the Blood Transporting Scripture to perfection. The main ingredient of my Human Essence Pill will then be ready to be harvested at any time."

"However, the cultivation of the Blood Transporting Scripture is not that simple. The abbot does not know that I have the Spirit Wood Meridian Refining Technique. Even with exceptional talent and various resources to support me, it will take at least five or six years to complete the cultivation."

After careful consideration, he realized that this was his only advantage.

With the Spirit Wood Refining Technique, as long as he can successfully extract the essence of the Dragon Blood Treasure Tree once, even if it is only a small part, it will be enough to push the Blood Transporting Scripture to the minor completion stage.

In other words, he can use his remaining time for other things, such as practicing other secret techniques to increase his ability to survive.

The resources the abbot provided for his physical training could perhaps be traded away for other, more useful items.

Immediate combat capability, that's right, he urgently needs to improve his immediate combat capability.

"Furthermore, my greatest reliance is my ability to worship the gods through the celestial palace in my mind."

"We have successfully worshipped the statues that have been unlocked so far the first time. We need to find an opportunity to worship them a second time, or even a third time, to receive deeper blessings."

The only problem is that the conditions for worshipping the idol are different each time.

Take the recently unlocked [Statue of the True Lord of the Mysterious Abyss] as an example. The first time I worshipped him, I consumed the residual miraculous water from the Evil Water Cave as an offering and successfully received the deity's blessing.

He then tried to continue consuming the strange water from the Evil Water Cave, but he was unable to perform the ritual a second time.

Clearly, the conditions required for each subsequent pilgrimage will be even more stringent and difficult.

In contrast, the rewards for future visits to the temple are also more generous.

This was the only way he could think of to break the deadlock.

"From now on, we must focus on this. We must find a way to successfully pay homage to both the Mother of Ten Thousand Forests and the True Lord of Xuanyuan Zhenming a second time."

With this in mind, Lin Mo began to think about it seriously.

Before long, footsteps came from behind him, and an ordinary disciple with an unremarkable appearance walked over and knelt on the prayer mat.

"Remember to close the protective barrier in front of the cave at midnight tonight; someone will come to pay their respects."

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo's heart stirred slightly, but he restrained himself from turning his head to look and continued to silently recite the "Longevity Scripture" in front of the pure gold statue of Jin Yang Dao Ren, completing his prayer for blessings.

After doing all this, he slowly got up. The person who had been next to him had disappeared without him noticing.

At midnight tonight, close the restrictions on the cave.

He kept this in mind and returned to his cave.

...

At midnight, in front of Lin Mo's cave where he lived and cultivated, a nimble figure suddenly darted in, slipping inside without any hindrance.

The entire process was silent and did not cause any disturbance.

Lin Mo, who had been waiting in the cave for a long time, couldn't help but sigh inwardly. This person's movement technique was truly excellent. If he hadn't specifically observed from inside the cave, he probably wouldn't have been able to discover him.

"I'm sorry to have kept Junior Brother Lin Mo waiting. Senior Sister sent me." The newcomer was dressed in a black night outfit and wore a mask, with only his eyes showing. He was very cautious.

Lin Mo asked directly, "What are your instructions, Senior Sister Yang?"

"My senior sister asked me to bring these fragments of earth crystal cores. They contain abundant earth elemental energy, which will help you in your magical practice."

As he spoke, the man took out a jade box from his pocket, which contained several irregularly shaped, golden-yellow crystals.

"Please thank Senior Sister Yang for me." Lin Mo accepted the gift without hesitation.

After taking all the items, the man spoke again: "Senior Sister also said that you should pretend to run away down the mountain three nights from now."

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo couldn't hide the glint in his eyes, and his breath hitched.

He pretended to run away down the mountain? Then why didn't he make it real?

But the other person's next words dispelled his idea.

"Your senior sister told you not to overthink it. There are quite a few people watching you in the temple right now; you can't escape."

Hearing this, Lin Mo chuckled and shook his head.

He was indeed overthinking things. Right now, he still needs to water the Dragon Blood Tree for Ancestor Jin Yang. Not to mention the Abbot, even the other two elders who are at odds with the Abbot probably wouldn't let him escape.

"Then what's the point of Senior Sister Yang making me do this?" Lin Mo asked coldly.

The man chuckled and said, "My senior sister said you don't need to concern yourself with this matter; it will only benefit you and not harm you."

"Okay, please tell Senior Sister Yang that I will do as she says. Is there anything else besides this?" Lin Mo nodded and asked.

"Well, there's one last thing. Senior Sister asked you for that token, the one the Abbot gave you."

"I will return it to you in three days; this is of utmost importance."

Upon hearing the other person's words, Lin Mo narrowed his eyes, and his mind immediately began to race.

Isn't this token specifically for entering and exiting the forbidden area in the back mountain? What does the Hall of Punishments need this for?

Could it be that the Hall of Punishments has its eye on the Dragon Blood Tree?

Soon, Lin Mo dismissed this guess from his mind. It was absolutely impossible. That belonged to Ancestor Jin Yang. Even if Ancestor Xingfa had ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare to covet that Dragon Blood Tree.

In other words, this token has another purpose.

The other party specifically emphasized that the token would be returned in three days, meaning that the token would take effect in three days?!

That day was also the day he pretended to run away.

Lin Mo hesitated before taking out the dark gold token, then asked, "It's not that I can't give you this token, but I'd like to know what Senior Sister Yang wants it for?"

"I'm sorry, Junior Brother Lin, Senior Sister didn't explain these things clearly. She just told me to ask you for the token."

After thinking for a while, he finally decided to do as the abbot had given him and handed over the dark gold token to the other party.

"Take it, but I must warn you, the consequences of losing this item would be unimaginable."

"Junior Brother Lin, please rest assured, Senior Sister said she will definitely return it in three days."

The conversation lasted very shortly and ended quickly.

Although he couldn't figure out exactly what the Hall of Punishments was up to, he could sense that they were indeed doing something.

For him, this is not a bad thing.

After the mysterious disciple of the Punishment Hall left, Lin Mo took out the jade box again, opened it, and several dark yellow crystals of varying sizes lay quietly inside.

"The Hall of Punishments has certainly invested heavily; these items are quite valuable."

As he spoke, Lin Mo picked up one of the seeds and examined it carefully.

"Such abundant earth elemental power..."

Before he could finish speaking, the immortal palace reappeared in his mind on its own.

Suddenly, a shrine within the immortal abode revealed an earthy yellow halo, inside which was a statue of an old man with a cane carrying a large mountain on his back.

[Idol unlocked: Earth Virtue Emperor]

[Pilgrimage will reward you with: the crafting blueprint for the Zhenyue Xuanyuan Bell]

Lin Mo gasped, his pupils dilating violently. He hadn't expected that the reward he received this time would be the method for crafting a treasure.

"What a grand name, actually named after Zhenyue." Lin Mo's breathing became rapid.

It should be known that the blessings of the gods are never empty or grandiose. For example, in the cultivation world, some ambitious cultivators like to give some ordinary magical artifacts scary names.

Names like "Heaven-Shattering," "Limitless," and "Sea-Overturning" sound frightening, but their actual power is quite ordinary.

The blessings of the gods are based on reality. Since this treasure is named after the mountain-suppressing spirit, it must possess corresponding power.

The combat power he needed has arrived!

However, Lin Mo quickly regained his composure and calmed down.

Generally speaking, the better the reward for visiting a shrine, the more difficult the visit will be.

For a deity like the Mother of All Forests, the first worship ceremony required offering a sacred tree of the same caliber as the Dragon Blood Tree.

That is a rare spiritual tree that cannot be found even once in the entire Yu Kingdom. It requires the wrists of princes with dragon blood flowing through their veins to nourish it, and even the Golden Sun Ancestor attaches great importance to it.

Correspondingly, the blessing received after completing that pilgrimage was a heaven-defying secret technique like the "Spirit Wood Refining Meridian Technique".

It goes without saying that the difficulty of worshipping the newly unlocked [Earth Deity] statue for the first time will be extremely high.

"However, it's just the crafting blueprint for this treasure, not a direct reward of the treasure itself, so there should still be a chance to complete it."

Thinking of this, he looked at the earth crystal core he was holding in his hand, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"This deity clearly holds authority over the earth, and the worship ceremony should be related to this."

"Moreover, judging from the rewards, this pilgrimage should also require offerings; some items of a corresponding level must be sacrificed."

Lin Mo rubbed his chin for a moment, then began to think seriously.

This pilgrimage must be solemn enough and must involve sacrifices, and its level must be above these earth crystal cores.

After a long while, Lin Mo sighed, still without any clue.

"I'll go back and wander around the Sutra Repository again, and see if I can find any records related to these deities."

"Perhaps we can find some clues in the legends recorded in some ancient books."

He felt quite helpless about this.

Each time you worship these gods, it's like solving a puzzle, and unlocking the statues can only be done by pure luck.

The hardest part of obtaining these rewards is figuring out the preferences of these gods and how to properly please them.

Regarding this, he guessed that his current cultivation level was still too low, and he did not have enough control over the immortal mansion in his mind.

Lin Mo guessed that as his cultivation level increased in the future, he might be able to gain even greater control over this immortal abode.

Among them, the Candle Illumination Realm and the Visualization Realm are two important nodes. The former ignites the flame of life, while the latter gives rise to the divine soul and opens up the sea of ​​consciousness.

Once these two realms are advanced, the Immortal Abode may reveal more wonders and be able to more accurately understand the needs and preferences of these immortals and gods.

Temporarily abandoning his thoughts on how to worship the [Earth Virtue Emperor], Lin Mo attempted to use these earth crystal cores to cultivate the "Stone Skin Technique".

He clutched one of the earth crystal cores tightly and still chose to lie down in the pit that had been carved out of the cave.

Activating the Stone Skin Technique mobilized the thick earth elemental power hidden in the surrounding rocks.

This time it went incredibly smoothly. To Lin Mo's surprise, the Earth Crystal Core he was holding in his hand was also leaking pure earth elemental energy as the Stone Skin Technique was activated.

"Such a rich and powerful force! The earth elemental energy within the earth crystal core has been refined into my skin."

As time went by, Lin Mo could clearly perceive that some kind of magical change had occurred on the surface of his body.

He felt as if he had become one with the earth in the cave, and even as if he had become a part of the entire Jinyang Mountain.

As time passed, until dawn, the Earth Crystal Core in his hand turned into a fine dust.

Earth elemental power is exhausted!

In just one night, he mastered the Stone Skin Technique to the beginner level.

"I've finally mastered it. The price I paid was a fragment of an earth crystal core. A complete crystal core is even a precious spiritual material that can be used to refine high-grade magic artifacts."

The rarity of top-grade magic artifacts is such that even cultivators at the Candle Illumination Realm might not be able to possess one.

The string of gold pendants on his wrist, though refined by the abbot with his own life fire for many years, is still only a mid-grade magic weapon and cannot compare with a high-grade magic weapon.

As for top-grade magical artifacts, only the two elders and the abbot of the temple should possess them.

"Although the cost is high, the benefits are also considerable."

Lin Mo stepped out of the stone pit. With a slight thought, the spiritual power in his dantian was activated, easily drawing out the earth elemental power contained in the ground beneath his feet.

In an instant, earth elemental power covered his body and merged with his skin.

Minor Success in the Stone Skin Technique!

Even without using his own protective aura, he could withstand the slightest damage from the sharp weapons slashing at him.

This is just the beginner level. Once you reach the minor or even major level, you will be able to withstand attacks from high-grade magic weapons.

He was quite satisfied with this.

During the day, Lin Mo did not continue his cultivation. Instead, he simply cooked a pot of spirit rice and ate a delicious and nutritious meal before heading to the Scripture Hall.

He planned to search for some books related to various gods and immortals in the library to broaden his knowledge and understanding in this area.

Ideally, he should find records related to the gods he has already unlocked, so that he can proceed with proper worship and sacrifices from these sources.

...