I offered sacrifices to the gods

The secret method for supplementing spiritual cultivation is quite remarkable; even Lin Mo found it somewhat unbelievable.

The lower three realms of cultivation are known as the three basic realms, corresponding to spiritual power, physical body, and soul respectively.

To utilize the power of divine sense, one must enter the realm of visualization. Only by entering this realm can one open the sea of ​​consciousness, condense the divine soul, and generate the power of divine sense.

However, this secret technique allows cultivators to develop divine sense power ahead of time in the Illumination Realm, and further, after advancing to the Contemplation Realm, they can use this secret technique to accelerate the cultivation of their soul.

"Although it is a fragment of a secret technique, the first part is complete enough; it is only the second part that is missing."

Lin Mo's gaze was extremely fervent, unable to suppress the turmoil in his heart. He never expected to obtain such a miraculous secret technique.

The most important cultivation method of this "Supreme Contemplation Sutra" is to visualize one's own existence and then draw a portion of one's life fire into the mind, thereby generating spiritual power in advance.

However, this method is somewhat opportunistic; if the life fire cannot be rekindled, the resulting spiritual power will also be exhausted.

But Lin Mo understood that the greatest benefit of this method was probably not just that. In the future, when he reached the peak of the Candle Illumination Realm, the success rate of advancing to the Visualization Realm would be greatly increased by relying on this secret method.

After all, having divine sense in advance makes opening the sea of ​​consciousness and condensing the soul much easier.

"This is a wonderful thing. The Supreme Visualization Sutra is of incomparably high value to cultivators at the Illumination Realm."

Lin Mo sighed inwardly, thinking that killing and seizing treasures was still the fastest way. He had only killed a cultivator from the Five Poisons Sect and had actually obtained such a secret technique.

However, this thought only lasted for a short while before he regained his composure and was not blinded by it.

While murder and robbery can yield astonishing gains, the dangers involved are also considerable.

The Five Poisons Sect cultivator we killed tonight was not at his peak, as his spiritual energy was insufficient. He had nearly exhausted his spiritual energy while maintaining the formation in Chongning Pass.

That's why, after facing Lin Mo, the opponent didn't choose to fight head-on, but instead ran away.

If Lin Mo hadn't had a Wind-Light Talisman, he might not have been able to catch up with his opponent.

As night deepened and after confirming that no one was around, Lin Mo opened the second storage bag, which belonged to Governor Ge.

Compared to the cultivator from the Five Poisons Sect, Governor Ge's storage bag was much more meager.

There are only six spirit stones. As for the books and classics inside, they are mostly common items and not even comparable to the Sutra Repository of Jinyang Temple.

The remaining pills were not of much value; most were for healing injuries and restoring spiritual energy.

The pills to enhance cultivation were two inferior Qi-boosting pills, which were insufficient for Lin Mo, who was in the late stage of the Spirit Guiding Realm.

"what?"

Just when Lin Mo thought there was nothing noteworthy in the storage bag, an antique-looking jade lion caught his attention.

At first, he thought the jade lion was just an ordinary jade artifact, but it had a very antique feel and must have been around for a long time.

After taking it out, Lin Mo frowned slightly, and was surprised to find that it contained a rather pure earth elemental force.

"Earth-attribute spiritual materials can be used to refine weapons. Although the earth elemental power is not very strong, it is exceptionally pure, comparable to a complete earth crystal core."

I don't know where Governor Ge got it from, it looks very old and worn, with a lot of jade grime piled up on it.

"This thing wasn't inscribed with spirit patterns, it was just simply carved, and it can still be refined a second time."

"Perhaps it can be used as a material for refining the Zhenyue Xuanyuan Bell. After all, I am only refining a replica, and this material has enough pure earth elemental energy to be perfectly adequate."

According to Lin Mo's estimate, once he obtains some spirit metal and another earth-attribute spirit material, he can begin to attempt to refine a replica of the Zhenyue Xuanyuan Bell.

He put the jade lion away again, and finally glanced at a white bone token with colorful patterns branded on it in his storage bag.

Without a doubt, this must be the secret order that Governor Ge mentioned, used as proof to contact the Heavenly Poison Sect.

"Judging from the abbot's behavior, the collusion between the imperial court and the Heavenly Poison Sect has not yet been exposed."

"The conflict between Jin Yang Temple and Wu Du Sect will likely be a protracted war. Don't rush to discard this secret order; keep it in your hands for now, as it may prove useful."

As Lin Mo sorted out his gains, he also mentally analyzed the current situation and planned for the future.

The abbot told him to stay in the camp and not go anywhere, which meant that the other party had become wary.

If they try to escape again, the consequences will not be so simple.

"We can only take it one step at a time..."

Nothing happened that night, and Lin Mo focused on his cultivation until dawn.

A cold morning breeze swept by, and snowflakes drifted down from the sky; winter had arrived in the land of Yu.

Cultivators at the Spirit Guidance Realm are already able to withstand the cold winter and scorching summer, so changes in the weather have little impact on cultivators like Lin Mo.

But the soldiers in the camp suffered terribly, shivering and turning pale.

Winters in the Kingdom of Yu are very cold; even at the beginning of winter, the chill is still bone-chilling.

There was no fighting today, which is probably the best news for these soldiers heading to the southern border.

However, Lin Mo knew that the peace was only temporary.

In dealing with the Five Poisons Sect, this army of mortals may seem like mere cannon fodder, but it allows cultivators to infiltrate and create confusion.

Moreover, once the Five Poisons Sect is destroyed, the two states will still need these mortal armies to take over and garrison them.

It's impossible for Jin Yang Temple to send disciples to take over one city after another; that would be too time-consuming.

"Sixth Brother, it's cold outside. Come into the tent and have a drink." The Crown Prince, who was in charge of supervising the army, came again.

The moment the other party appeared, Lin Mo felt the pure dragon blood within his body stir once again.

But it quickly subsided.

He was curious about what exactly the Crown Prince possessed that always stirred the dragon blood within him every time they met.

With that in mind, Lin Mo readily agreed.

"good!"

Upon entering the tent, the prince took out several jars of wine from his storage bag.

"Drunken Spring Wine, the signature product of Yingchunlou Restaurant in the capital, I brought quite a lot with me on this expedition."

As he spoke, the Crown Prince poured Lin Mo a full bowl.

"Let's drink to our hearts' content today, as a celebration of you becoming the abbot's personal disciple."

To be honest, Lin Mo didn't have much affection for his brothers, and even the emperor himself was, in his eyes, dispensable.

But this time, he really did have some things he wanted to find out.

"Fourth Brother, I met a governor last night, I think his surname is Ge." Lin Mo sipped his wine while keeping an eye on the other man's facial expressions.

However, to his surprise, the crown prince appeared completely normal, showing no sign of anything amiss.

He seemed completely unaware of the court's conspiracy, acting as an outsider. It's unclear whether he was good at hiding his true intentions or genuinely knew nothing.

"Governor Ge? I think he was a local governor of one of the three prefectures in southern Xinjiang. Speaking of which, he also bears a lot of responsibility for the loss of two prefectures in southern Xinjiang."

"Sixth Brother, where did you see him? How did he end up at the front line of Chongning Pass?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo slowly put down his wine bowl and said, "I saw this person on the mountain in Chongning Pass last night, but he was killed by the cultivators of the Five Poisons Sect. I didn't have time to save him."

The Crown Prince was slightly taken aback and asked in confusion, "It's strange that Governor Ge is on the mountain at the border. Shouldn't he be in the rear at this critical juncture?"

"To die at the hands of a cultivator from the Five Poisons Sect is rather troublesome."

It seemed that the Crown Prince truly knew nothing, which made Lin Mo give up the idea of ​​investigating further.

He shook his head, then changed the subject: "By the way, Fourth Brother, do you have some kind of treasure? Why do I feel my dragon blood stirring every time I see you?"

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince's expression tightened at first, and then he gave a wry smile.

"This matter may be a secret to outsiders, but it is not really a big secret in the royal family."

"Each crown prince inherits a fragment of a dragon seed, which is the key to giving birth to dragon blood offspring."

"I have only recently begun refining this, and I have not yet fully mastered it. That may be why the dragon blood in your body has been disturbed by the dragon seed."

It turns out that the royal family possesses such a treasure. Refining this treasure will ensure that any offspring born in the future will have dragon blood flowing through their veins.

Lin Mo was slightly surprised, guessing that this might also be helpful for cultivation.

This is why the previous crown prince's cultivation level also dropped back to the Spirit Guiding Realm after he was deposed.

Lin Mo wasn't particularly interested in this so-called incomplete dragon species.

If it were truly miraculous enough, emperors throughout history wouldn't have been trapped in the Contemplation Realm, unable to advance to the Shackled Realm.

Now, he doesn't have a high need to improve his cultivation. Next, he will ignite his life fire and advance to the Candle Illumination Realm. The abbot will take care of that for him.

What he really needs is the means to survive in the hands of the abbot.

"I see. Congratulations, Fourth Brother! It seems that you'll be able to ignite your life flame and advance to the Candle Illumination Realm soon." Lin Mo chuckled and offered his congratulations casually.

The crown prince waved his hand modestly: "It's just relying on the abilities of the imperial offspring, nothing special."

"Sixth brother, I've called you here today because I have a favor to ask of you."

Lin Mo raised an eyebrow, took a sip of his wine, and said, "I'd like to hear the details."

The Crown Prince took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Sixth Brother, the army has suffered heavy casualties and morale has plummeted since it marched to the southern border to deal with the Five Poisons Sect."

"Next, we'll be dealing with cultivators from the Five Poisons Sect. Mortal armies are simply not effective; sending them to the front lines will only increase casualties."

"You are the abbot's personal disciple. I need your help to put in a good word for these soldiers so that they can stay at Chongning Pass."

It turned out they came to plead for leniency. Lin Mo hadn't expected that his fourth brother, the emperor, would cherish these soldiers on the front lines.

"Fourth Brother, I will mention this to Master when I see him later, but I can't guarantee that Master will agree."

"As you know, I haven't been a disciple for very long, so I don't have much say."

Seeing that Lin Mo had agreed, the Crown Prince's expression relaxed considerably.

"It's good that Sixth Brother is willing to help. As for whether it will succeed, I, as the elder brother, would not dare to ask for too much."

"Come on, let's keep drinking!"

After drinking several jars of fine wine, Lin Mo did not feel drunk at all. His strong internal energy easily dispelled the smell of alcohol.

And so, three days passed.

The abbot issued another order, claiming that all the remaining poison at Chongning Pass had been completely eradicated, and that the army would now move in to guard the formidable pass.

Lin Mo entered Chongning Pass with the army. This border pass was extremely treacherous, with a mountain range on each side, making it a natural barrier.

The Elder of Punishments also appeared, setting up a magic array within this formidable pass and handing over control of it to the disciples of Jin Yang Temple.

They will then use this as a backing to engage in a direct battle with the Five Poisons Sect.

But on the very night the magic array was set up, a terrifying aura descended.

boom!

In the night sky, several talismans were activated, and brilliant spiritual light bombarded the newly set-up array.

"The Five Poisons Sect has attacked!"

"Enemy attack!"

Before the cultivators of Jinyang Temple could prepare, a purple gourd floated over from the night sky.

The Five Poisons Sect Master himself descended, his hands forming hand seals, and he spat out several mouthfuls of pure spiritual energy onto the purple gourd.

Boom!

The gourd flipped over, and a dense stream of purple light crashed down.

The magic array that had just been set up at Chongning Pass was broken in an instant, and the powerful aftershocks swept outwards, causing even the city walls of this formidable pass to begin to collapse.

The tens of thousands of troops that had just entered this formidable pass suffered more than half casualties in an instant, and the air inside the pass was filled with the stench of blood.

Lin Mo, who was also inside the pass, was deeply shocked. He was once again stunned by the power of the cultivators in the Visualization Realm.

The aftershocks of the broken formation nearly injured him.

But at that moment, a beam of golden light shot out from inside the pass.

Upon seeing this, the Five Poisons Sect Master merely sneered, said nothing, and fled without looking back.

The abbot rose into the air, but did not chase after them. After gazing at them for a while, he descended.

The next moment, the abbot took out an ancient bronze cauldron and pushed it out with his palm. The bronze cauldron slowly began to rotate.

Just then, from within the collapsed fortress, streaks of blood-red light converged and merged into the bronze cauldron.

Inside the formidable pass, the ordinary soldiers who were on the verge of death breathed their last, their pupils bulging, their deaths extremely gruesome.

Each of these dead mortal soldiers had a wisp of blood light drawn into the bronze cauldron in the sky.

After a long while, the abbot cast several hand seals in succession, sealing the bronze cauldron shut.

"My dear disciple, your time has come. Come quickly to your master."

Lin Mo, inside the majestic pass, was lifted into the air by a burst of golden light. He looked at the giant bronze cauldron with a complex expression.

"Master... what's wrong?"

"Hehe, your master has refined a batch of precious pills for you. Come and eat them quickly." The abbot's face revealed a strange smile.

...