I offered sacrifices to the gods

Xiao Nan City has become quiet. The entire battlefield is in a mess. All the cultivators of the Five Poisons Sect have been wiped out, leaving only two high-level cultivators at the Visualization Realm.

Surprisingly, both the abbot and the elder in charge of punishments had stopped fighting and had no intention of actually fighting to the death.

"Fellow Daoist Poison Wolf, it seems that my Golden Sun Temple has won this round," the abbot said casually.

The Five Poisons Sect Master showed no anger whatsoever, remaining calm and composed as if the massacre of his sect had never happened.

"The Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm has already recognized its master. I hope that the kid you mentioned really has the ability to nurture it to the cocooning stage."

The abbot shook his head at this: "I never made such a guarantee. I was just asking you to let me try it out."

"Your sect has been cultivating the Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworms for over a hundred years, but all of them have ended in failure, with none surviving past the juvenile stage. Why not let my disciple give it a try?"

"My disciple has dragon blood flowing through his veins, has cultivated the Blood Transporting Scripture, and has also mastered Tuoba Ye's Insect Master inheritance. No matter what, the chances are much greater."

However, the Five Poisons Sect Master sneered: "The Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm is an ancient and exotic species, and our sect doesn't have many eggs left."

"If we fail again this time, you should know in your heart what will happen next."

It was nothing more than the entire sect marching north, launching a war of immortality that would destroy the country, and using the entire population of the Yu Kingdom as food to feed the Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworms of the Heavenly Poison Sect.

From beginning to end, the Heavenly Poison Sect has only had this one goal. In the past hundred years, the Xi Kingdom occupied by the Heavenly Poison Sect has been almost completely deserted.

The abbot sighed softly and said, "When that time comes, let's see who's the best."

"Mo Chen, you old devil, you put on this compassionate act in front of me, but the Yu Kingdom has suffered one natural disaster after another these past few years. Have you been behind it all?"

"If you had died sooner, hundreds of thousands more ordinary people in the Yu Kingdom would have survived."

The Five Poisons Sect Master scoffed disdainfully, then with a flick of his sleeve, he rose into the air, stepping on a streak of purple light.

"Hurry up and go find your good disciple, or he'll be sucked dry by the Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm."

At this point, the two cultivators from the Heavenly Poison Sect who had reached the Visualization Realm transformed into streaks of light and disappeared into the horizon, leaving behind only a dilapidated and ruined Xiaonan City.

The rest of the matter was much simpler. The remaining imperial troops were still alive, and it wouldn't take long to take over the other cities in Nanlin Prefecture.

The three southern prefectures returned to the control of the Yu Kingdom court, but they were severely weakened, with countless people perishing in this sudden turmoil.

The reclaimed Nanlin Prefecture and Baoquan Prefecture were essentially blank slates.

However, for the abbot, the fact that this dispute could be resolved was already the most perfect outcome.

He doesn't have much time left to live, so why would he care about the life or death of ordinary people?

...

The underground river of the Five Poisons Sect leads directly to the Black Sand River, which flows southwards and becomes one of the hundreds of rivers in the Stream Kingdom.

At the exit of this underground river, a figure dressed in a blue Taoist robe was swept out by the current.

This person was Lin Mo, who had fainted in the underground river. He was lucky enough to be swept to the riverbank and did not perish in the turbulent waters.

However, he was also unfortunate. If he had continued south along the river, he would have been able to enter the Xi Kingdom, which was the territory of the Heavenly Poison Sect.

After a long while, Lin Mo, who was lying on the riverbank, twitched his fingertips slightly, and his scattered consciousness was reawakened.

Pain! Excruciating pain that spread throughout my entire body!

Then came the feeling of suffocation; his chest felt as if it were filled with river water, and breathing became extremely difficult.

Upon waking, Lin Mo tried to circulate his qi and blood, and he was horrified to discover that he had lost nearly half of his qi and blood.

"Still alive, but how could their qi and blood be so depleted?!"

Just then, an old voice came from behind him.

"After the Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm first recognized its master, it absorbed a large amount of your essence and blood to maintain its life. However, your Blood Transporting Scripture has already achieved minor success, so you are able to support such an ancient and strange insect."

That voice... belongs to the Abbot!

Lin Mo turned around abruptly, and his pupils contracted sharply upon seeing the aged figure.

"Disciple greets Master." With that, he prepared to get up and bow.

The abbot said indifferently, "No need for formalities. Summon the Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm you tamed and let me see it."

Sure enough, nothing escapes his calculations!

Lin Mo took a deep breath, and then with a slight thought, summoned several poisonous insects on his body.

The first to emerge were five young wolf spiders. Because he had planted a spiritual contract with these little wolf spiders, their vitality was much stronger. They were still alive after being hit by the underground river.

However, the other twenty or so young wolf spiderlings that had not yet recognized a master were absolutely dead.

Immediately afterwards, a brightly colored silkworm emerged from his chest.

"It truly is the Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm. The Heavenly Poison Sect's massive northward expedition was solely for the purpose of cultivating this spiritual insect." A strange light appeared in the abbot's eyes as he continued, "This is an ancient and rare species, a being listed in the Record of Extraordinary Insects of Heaven and Earth."

"If this were in the environment of ancient times, this spirit insect could have grown to the fifth rank at most, but unfortunately, the environment of the world has changed too much now."

"Therefore, if the Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm wants to survive, it must be nourished with essence and flesh, otherwise it will gradually weaken until it dies."

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo's lips twitched, and a hint of apprehension appeared in his eyes.

It absorbed nearly half of his life essence upon first recognizing him as its master; how could he possibly sustain that?

Most importantly, this belongs to the Heavenly Poison Sect. If he gets his hands on it now, won't he incur the sect's hatred? How can he possibly protect it?

"Master, I've now tamed the Heavenly Poison Sect's precious spirit insects. Won't they come looking for revenge?"

The abbot said meaningfully, "Don't worry, with the patriarch here, the Heavenly Poison Sect wouldn't dare to act recklessly. Just take good care of this spirit insect."

Even so, Lin Mo still felt that something was wrong; the whole thing seemed to be going too smoothly for some reason.

If the Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm is really that precious, why would the Five Poisons Sect Master be so at ease letting it hatch in an underground secret room?

The abbot had instructed him to search the underground chamber of the Five Poisons Sect's headquarters long ago, clearly indicating that he already knew of the item's existence.

Thinking of this, Lin Mo couldn't help but ask, "Master, how is the Five Poisons Sect doing now? Won't our prolonged stay here affect the battle?"

"The Five Poisons Sect has been destroyed. Now come back to the mountain with me to cultivate properly. Your injuries are quite serious. Go back and rest as soon as possible to avoid damaging your foundation."

After saying that, the abbot tossed a jade porcelain bottle to Lin Mo.

"Take these healing pills to heal your injuries."

"Thank you, Master!"

And so, Lin Mo was once again led back to Jinyang Temple by the abbot.

...

The war finally ended with the destruction of the Five Poisons Sect. The Yu Kingdom suffered heavy losses, and the three prefectures in the southern border were severely weakened.

More than half of the cultivators sent by the cultivation families to fight alongside them were killed or wounded.

The six disciples sent out by Jin Yang Temple are still alive, though they have all suffered minor injuries, nothing serious.

Several days passed, and amidst this persistent dark cloud, a momentous event was announced within the royal family of the Yu Kingdom.

In the twenty-eighth year of Jianwu, the reigning emperor of the Yu Kingdom successfully opened his sea of ​​consciousness, condensed his divine soul, cultivated his divine sense, and entered the realm of contemplation!

Since the founding emperor, almost every emperor has reached this level, and no one has been able to replicate the glory of the founding emperor.

On that day, the entire capital of Yu Kingdom was filled with a joyous atmosphere, and even the gloom brought by the three southern provinces was dispelled considerably.

Soon, all the major cultivation families within the Yu Kingdom sent their congratulatory gifts.

Even the Jin Yang Temple sent a congratulatory gift, completely disregarding the cultivation level of the Yu Kingdom emperor.

A few days later, Emperor Jianwu announced his retirement for seclusion and meditation, leaving the crown prince to oversee the country. From then on, the crown prince would make all the major decisions in the court.

For a time, the Crown Prince's prestige and status reached their peak.

Everyone understands that it's only a matter of time before this crown prince inherits the throne; at most five or six years later, the Yu Kingdom will be replaced by another dynasty.

Sure enough, another month passed, and the Crown Prince successfully ignited his life flame and advanced to the Candle Illumination Realm.

With this, the crown prince's position was completely secured. He began to marry wives and concubines, have children, and prepare to inherit the throne.

Everyone understands that the Lin royal family's greatest desire and vision is to break free from the control of Jinyang Temple.

However, that Golden Sun Daoist was at the Shackles Realm, like a towering mountain looming over the entire royal family.

...

"Fourth Brother has already ignited his life flame. The progress is not slow. He must be aided by that incomplete dragon seed."

Lin Mo was able to learn about the news from down the mountain while in Jin Yang Temple, and his injuries had almost completely healed.

Under the abbot's great guidance, he consumed various healing pills and elixirs to replenish qi and blood almost non-stop.

The effects are naturally remarkable; even when one has to feed an ancient spirit insect, the body's vital energy continues to flourish.

In addition, his magical cultivation did not stagnate. With the daily consumption of spiritual rice, he finally reached the peak of the Spirit Guidance Realm.

He has reached the limit of his cultivation at this level, and the next step is to try to ignite his life flame and advance to the Illumination Realm.

"An ordinary disciple would be worrying about preparing the materials to advance to the Candle Illumination Realm by now."

"First, you need to prepare a meridian-protecting pill to prevent the life fire in your body from going out of control and burning your meridians."

"Secondly, one must have a spiritual herb rich in life essence. At least one spiritual herb that is over a hundred years old must be prepared. Only in this way can the life essence in the body be sufficient to support the continuous burning of the life fire."

He, on the other hand, had none of these worries. The abbot would prepare everything he needed for his promotion.

Sure enough, a gentle call came from outside the cave.

"Is Junior Brother Lin here? Master instructed me to bring some cultivation materials."

The restrictions outside the cave were lifted, and Lin Mo clasped his hands in greeting to Cui Donghao, who was standing outside: "Greetings, Senior Brother Cui. I'm sorry to have troubled you to make this trip."

Cui Donghao chuckled and shook his head, saying, "It's nothing. I just happened to visit my master in the main hall, so I just brought these materials over for you."

"In addition, Master also said that you should advance as soon as possible. The earlier this life fire is ignited, the smoother your future cultivation path will be."

Lin Mo naturally ignored this, thinking that the smoother the path of cultivation, the more they wanted him, this humanoid medicine, to mature as soon as possible.

However, appearances still had to be maintained. Lin Mo nodded gratefully and said, "Then I will begin my seclusion. I hope I will live up to Master's expectations."

"Don't worry, Junior Brother. You have a solid foundation and a body-tempering method. With these resources, igniting your life flame is practically guaranteed. You have more than most cultivators in terms of wealth," Cui Donghao comforted him.

Lin Mo took the bundle handed to him; it was heavy and clearly contained a lot of things.

After seeing off Senior Brother Cui, he returned to his cave and opened the bundle.

It must be said that the abbot really put his heart and soul into this matter.

The promotion materials prepared for him this time are quite abundant.

First of all, it is a high-quality meridian-protecting pill. Judging from the richness of its color, it was definitely made by a highly skilled alchemist, and it is very likely that it was made by the abbot himself.

In addition, the abbot also prepared two century-old medicinal herbs for him: a Golden Jade Grass and a Purple Blood Ginseng, both of which were a hundred years old.

Just by holding them in his hands, he could feel the immense essence contained within these two spiritual herbs.

"These are all top-quality firewood. With these two century-old medicinal herbs, how can we worry about our life force not being strong?"

Lin Mo sighed and then turned his gaze to the two pieces of bloody, pungent flesh.

This is the flesh and blood of a demon beast. Although it's impossible to tell what kind of demon beast it originated from, its grade must be quite high.

In fact, he consumed a lot of monster flesh and blood during this period, all of which were hunted down in the Giant Tree Forest by people sent by the abbot.

Consuming the flesh and blood of demonic beasts over the years will make one's physique stronger and one's blood and energy more abundant and vigorous.

"It's all flesh and blood from at least second-tier demonic beasts, and they even refined all the malevolent energy within it. They really put a lot of thought into it."

Two large pieces of flesh and blood from second-tier demonic beasts should be worth around thirty to fifty spirit stones, something an ordinary disciple couldn't accumulate.

The materials he received for his promotion must have cost at least several hundred spirit stones.

Especially that meridian-protecting pill, which is absolutely impossible for a cultivator with shallow resources to obtain.

A single Vein Protection Pill can increase the success rate by up to 20%, and even if the advancement fails, it can protect one's heart meridian from damage caused by the chaotic flow of residual life fire.

Most rogue cultivators at the Spirit Guiding Realm basically grit their teeth and push through the barrier when they ignite their life flame and advance to the Illumination Realm.

Failure could result in death, or at least severe damage to one's vital energy and cultivation.

The life fire of a cultivator is quite terrifying in power.

As for the abbot, he was naturally reluctant to see his human-shaped medicinal plant fail to break through the barrier.

For an alchemist like the abbot, refining a mere meridian-protecting pill is not particularly difficult.

After a long while, Lin Mo sighed. He knew that once he successfully advanced to the Candle Illumination Realm, his life would truly be entering its final countdown.

...