I offered sacrifices to the gods

Xiyun Prefecture, Jinyang Temple.

This is the western frontier of the Yu Kingdom, mostly deep mountains and old forests, where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is more abundant.

The Taoist temple of Jinyang is located on a steep mountain peak in this state, which is the place with the most abundant spiritual energy in the entire Yu Kingdom.

After a bumpy six-day journey, Lin Mo's vehicle finally arrived at the foot of Jinyang Peak.

"Halt!"

"Outsiders are prohibited from climbing the mountain."

Two young Taoist boys, one fat and one thin, came down the mountain road and stopped Lin Mo's carriage.

Soon, a cultivator clad in black armor rode forward, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "Young friends, we have been ordered to escort His Highness the Sixth Prince to Jinyang Temple for cultivation. We have brought him here."

It was called an escort, but it was actually a forced transport.

The two young Taoist boys raised their eyebrows and said, "So it's the royal family sending a hostage. Let the prince get out of the carriage and come with us up the mountain. The rest of you don't need to come along."

The escorting monk nodded and whispered to the carriage behind him, "Your Highness, we have arrived at Jinyang Temple. Please proceed."

It's time to come.

Lin Mo sighed inwardly. He had thought about escaping these past few days, but the escort team included two cultivators at the Candle Illumination Realm, who kept a close watch on him, leaving him no chance to escape.

Stepping out of the carriage, a magnificent and majestic mountain stood before him, filling his entire field of vision.

Looking further up, a Taoist temple, no less magnificent than an imperial palace, sits atop the mountain. Though shrouded in mist, it cannot obscure the brilliant golden light emanating from the building.

Even Lin Mo, who had seen countless skyscrapers in his previous life, couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "What a magnificent and luxurious Taoist temple!"

"Your Highness, we have escorted you this far, and we will take our leave now."

"Yes, thank you for your hard work on the journey."

After saying that, Lin Mo followed the two fat and thin Taoist boys up the mountain.

He had no interest in appreciating the scenery along the way; his heart was heavy, and he only wanted to know his fate as soon as possible.

The mountain path was not rugged or dangerous, but when he reached the halfway point, a thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Young Taoist priests, consider these two bottles of Qi-Transforming Pills as payment for guiding me!"

After thinking it over, Lin Mo took out the two bottles of inferior pills from his pocket and handed them to the two Daoist disciples.

Their eyes lit up slightly, and even their gazes toward Lin Mo became more eager.

"Haha, what are you saying? It's just our duty."

"That's right, but Your Highness's hospitality is too much to refuse, so we have no choice but to accept."

The skinny Taoist boy opened the bottle, sniffed it lightly, and said with some regret, "The alchemists in the palace are not skilled enough. How come they only produce inferior Qi Transformation Pills?"

"It's good enough to have some. We don't usually get to share the pills in the temple." The chubby Taoist boy happily stuffed the white jade porcelain bottle into his pocket.

Seeing that the two had accepted the pills, Lin Mo breathed a sigh of relief and pressed his advantage, asking, "Young Daoist priests, what are the typical tasks of a hostage like myself after arriving on the mountain?"

He wanted to figure out as soon as possible what he was supposed to do after entering the Jinyang Temple.

Cannibals are soft and short.

To Lin Mo's question, the fat Taoist priest generously replied, "It's really just doing some general chores, but since you're a hostage sent by the royal family, you also have to..."

"Ahem!" The skinny Taoist boy coughed, interrupting, "You'll know about this when you see the Ancestor after you go up the mountain."

Hearing this, Lin Mo's heart sank slightly.

I never expected that I would meet the Golden Sun Taoist who had suppressed the entire Yu Kingdom royal family for more than two hundred years as soon as I arrived at the mountain!

Although the mountain is high, it is not difficult for the group of people with cultivation to climb.

In half an hour, the two Taoist boys, one fat and one thin, brought Lin Mo to the main gate of Jinyang Temple.

Two sticks of golden incense burned slowly in front of the Taoist temple, wisps of blue smoke rising, but there was no ash in the incense burner.

In the magnificent courtyard of that Taoist temple, a monk dressed in a simple blue robe was leisurely sweeping the ground.

He stopped after hearing footsteps, looked outside and said, "Little Dragon and Little Tiger, it's not mealtime yet. Why aren't you two keeping watch down the mountain? What are you doing running up here?"

"If Elder Wu sees this, you will be punished."

Upon hearing Elder Wu's name, the two young disciples' expressions changed, and they quickly pointed to Lin Mo behind them, saying:

"Senior Brother Xu, we didn't abandon our posts. The palace sent a hostage, and we brought him up the mountain together. That's him."

Upon hearing this, the Taoist priest surnamed Xu looked at Lin Mo and sighed, "I see. The patriarch is still in seclusion in his cave. Let's take him to the Golden Sun Hall to meet the abbot first."

For many years, Daoist Jinyang has neglected the affairs of the temple, focusing all his attention on cultivation. Now, he has entrusted all matters, big and small, within the temple to his three disciples.

The abbot was his eldest disciple, while the other two disciples held the positions of elders within the temple.

These three lineages control the entire Jinyang Temple, wielding power even greater than that of the Emperor of the Yu Kingdom.

Soon, Lin Mo was led to a magnificent golden hall and met the person in charge of the Golden Sun Temple.

"Greetings, Abbot!"

Lin Mo bowed deeply, his attitude even more respectful than when he met his own emperor father.

The abbot of Jinyang Temple was a middle-aged man with a few strands of white hair at his temples. His face looked somewhat weathered, but his eyes were particularly sharp.

After staring for a while, the abbot chuckled and said, "After all this time, the palace has finally sent over the replacement hostage."

"From now on, you will cultivate under my tutelage, but before that, I need to verify the authenticity of your identity."

There had been a similar incident before where a prince was switched with a cat; in his fury, the Taoist Jin Yang nearly wiped out the entire Lin royal family.

From then on, no emperor dared to do such a deceptive thing again.

And so, led by the middle-aged abbot, Lin Mo arrived at the back mountain of the Taoist temple.

A barrier was set up here, and a hazy spiritual light enveloped the place. As the abbot formed a hand seal, the pale golden spiritual light slowly dissipated.

The moment the restriction was activated, a rich spiritual energy rushed towards us.

This place is extremely rich in spiritual energy!

Before Lin Mo could even finish his internal monologue, he felt his blood boiling, as if he had been touched by something.

In this open courtyard, a large tree, as red as blood and with branches resembling a dragon, stood before me.

The surface bark is a layer of fine scales, which at first glance looks like a crimson dragon.

Lin Mo gasped, for he had seen related records in some ancient books in the palace.

Dragon Blood Tree!

At this moment, he finally understood why the Taoist Jinyang had made emperors send their own children to Jinyang Temple generation after generation.

These protons are the long-term nourishment for this dragon blood tree.

"Go, cut your wrists and bleed out," the middle-aged abbot said, tossing a sharp lapis lazuli dagger at his feet.

Lin Mo hesitated for a moment, knowing that he had no room to resist; this was his fate.

Resigned, he picked up the dagger, slowly walked to the Dragon Blood Tree, and used the lapis lazuli dagger to cut his wrist.

Soon, drops of bright red blood flowed from his wrist and dripped onto the roots of the Dragon Blood Tree.

In an instant, the dragon blood tree seemed to come alive, its bright red branches and leaves moving swiftly without wind, as if it were very satisfied with the blood he had offered.

At that very moment, Lin Mo clearly sensed that a sacred and otherworldly statue appeared in his mind.

The statue of Mother of the Goddess, which had been silent for so long, was now emitting a faint emerald green light.

[Successfully paying homage to the statue of Mother of All Forest, reward: "Spirit Wood Refining Technique"]

[Reward for the next shrine visit: Deeply Rooted Register]

They actually managed to pay homage to the statue of the Mother of the Forest!

A wave of shock surged through Lin Mo's heart. He hadn't expected that the worship ceremony he had pondered for so long would be so simple.

The worship ceremony of Mother of the Trees is a successful offering to the sacred tree.

At this moment, the abbot came up and sealed the wound on Lin Mo's wrist, stopping the bleeding.

"Indeed, they are of royal blood."

"You have a trace of dragon blood flowing through your veins, along with a wisp of imperial dragon energy, which can accelerate the growth of the Dragon Blood Tree."

"You must come back every month to have your blood drawn; you absolutely cannot delay."

Once a month!

Lin Mo's lips twitched slightly, thinking to himself that no wonder few of the hostages in the imperial palace throughout history had a good ending.

At this rate, even a cow would turn into beef jerky.

"Don't worry, the temple will take good care of you." The abbot chuckled, patted the purple-gold storage bag at his waist, and a jade slip fell out.

"What is this?" Lin Mo picked up the jade slip and asked hesitantly.

"The Blood Transporting Scripture is a third-grade body-refining inheritance. If you can cultivate it to a certain level, you might become the next hostage to leave alive."

After saying this, the abbot took Lin Mo away from this forbidden area and settled him in a simple wooden house.

"Cultivate diligently, and never forget to water the Dragon Blood Tree once a month." After giving these final instructions, the abbot leisurely departed.

Lin Mo, whose face was slightly pale, plopped down on the cold, hard stone bed and sighed after a long while.

"Apart from having blood drawn once a month, their other treatment is similar to that of ordinary disciples of Jinyang Temple."

"There's no way to escape now, let's just take it one step at a time."

As he spoke, Lin Mo took out the jade slip that the abbot had given him earlier.

A wisp of spiritual energy seeped in, and soon this body-refining inheritance was poured into his mind.

The Blood Refining Scripture, a third-grade body-refining technique, is already considered a very advanced inheritance in the outside world, and its value is extremely high.

"If one can cultivate to the highest level, with one's internal energy and blood flowing like a river, then one will indeed not have to worry about bleeding once a month."

Lin Mo gave a wry smile, then put down the jade slip and recalled the reward he received when he successfully worshipped the statue of the Mother of All Forests.

The Spirit Wood Meridian Refining Technique!

Not long after, Lin Mo suddenly opened his eyes, a look of surprise on his face.

This is also a body-refining secret technique, but it is at a very high level, as it can extract the essence of spiritual wood to nourish one's body.

...