I offered sacrifices to the gods

The ginkgo forest was once plagued by insects caused by Guo Sheng, which destroyed most of the fruit trees in the forest.

In order to pay homage to the Mother of Ten Thousand Forests, Lin Mo volunteered to the General Affairs Hall and planted more than a dozen White Spirit Fruit trees here.

He clapped his hands, compacted the last hole containing the tree seed, and watered it one last time, thus completing the planting of the white spirit fruit tree.

In about five years, these trees will mature and bear the fruit of the white spirit.

At that time, he will complete his third pilgrimage to the Mother of Mansen!

"This land is full of vitality, and it won't be long before the tree seeds underground take root and sprout."

"They don't need much care. Just water them every now and then and take precautions against pests, and they'll grow up smoothly."

At this point, Lin Mo sighed inwardly. If only he could have enough time to grow and develop like these saplings.

But reality was not as he wished. Since advancing to the Candle Illumination Realm, he could keenly sense that the Abbot was paying more attention to him.

Sometimes they would even summon him to the Golden Sun Hall and personally explain to him the key points of practicing the Blood Transporting Sutra.

Even if Lin Mo wanted to stall for more time, he couldn't hide it from the abbot's eyes.

Several days later, in the Golden Sun Hall.

"Disciple, you have been in the Candle Illumination Realm for about a month now, but your spiritual power cultivation has not improved much."

"Why won't you take the pills I gave you? Is there something you're worried about?"

The abbot sat upright on the head seat in the main hall, his weathered eyes gazing at the tall figure kneeling in worship below.

Lin Mo, kneeling before the main hall, felt an unprecedented pressure, as if the surrounding air was about to freeze.

"Reporting to Master, this disciple wishes to rely on my own cultivation to see how far I can go without the aid of external aids."

"Having only recently advanced in cultivation, I am worried that using elixirs to aid my practice might negatively impact my foundation."

During this period, he really didn't slack off in his cultivation, and he would focus on meditation and energy cultivation for several hours every day.

However, the difficulty of cultivating the Candle Illumination Realm is far greater than that of the Spirit Guidance Realm.

This realm not only requires a much larger amount of spiritual energy from heaven and earth to be inhaled, but also requires one to make their life fire burn even more intensely in order to break through.

The fundamental principle of cultivation at this level is that magical power and physical body must advance in tandem.

After a month of focused cultivation, his cultivation level had only increased by a barely perceptible amount!

However, the abbot sneered: "You have the Blood-Moving Sutra in your cultivation, so you don't need to worry about your own foundation."

"I've said it before, the day you master the Blood Transmission Scripture, the Candle Illumination Realm will no longer present any bottlenecks for you."

As the ancient sages said: "The way of man is to take from those who have little to give to those who have more."

"Although elixirs are external means, they are also an indispensable part of the path of cultivation."

"From today onwards, you shall come to me every seven days to take one pill, and I will personally supervise your cultivation."

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo's heart skipped a beat; he knew that what was coming had finally arrived.

He didn't dare to eat a single one of the two bottles of Qi-Nourishing Pills given to him by the abbot, for fear that the strong medicinal power of the pills would affect his own foundation.

Consuming it might accelerate the growth of one's cultivation, but it's no different from forcing growth by pulling up seedlings.

If one damages their own foundation, they may be stuck at the Candle Illumination Realm for the rest of their lives.

Seeing that Lin Mo did not respond for a long time, the abbot asked in a deep voice, "What, you are unwilling?"

Lin Mo took a deep breath and replied repeatedly, "This disciple dares not. Master has given the order, and this disciple will certainly obey."

"Very good! Take out one of the pills I gave you and consume it."

Under the abbot's indifferent gaze, Lin Mo carefully took out a white jade porcelain bottle and poured out a round, dark brown pill.

There was no other way but to eat it.

Lin Mo hardened his heart and swallowed the pill with a gritted teeth.

boom!

Almost instantly, the violent drug power exploded within his body.

The medicinal properties of this Peiyuan Pill were beyond his imagination; it was extremely domineering, almost tearing his meridians apart in an instant.

This is definitely not the property that a normal elixir should have!

"Don't just stand there, hurry up and circulate your energy to refine the medicinal power."

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo had no choice but to activate his cultivation technique and refine the violent medicinal power within his body.

As the "Dragon Breathing Technique" was activated, the violent medicinal power slowly transformed into mixed spiritual energy and flowed into his dantian.

These spiritual energies were murky and extremely mixed, unlike the pure energy he cultivated through meditation.

As these mixed spiritual energies accumulated, Lin Mo felt as if his dantian was about to be pierced through.

Peiyuan Dan has many negative effects, but its effects are also very significant.

In just a short while, Lin Mo's aura became much stronger, and his cultivation level increased significantly!

This is almost equivalent to several months of his meditation and ascetic practice!

Upon seeing this, the abbot's expression finally softened, and he waved for him to step back.

"Alright, go back and consolidate your cultivation. Don't neglect your practice of the Blood Transporting Scripture either."

"This disciple... takes his leave!"

With a heavy heart, Lin Mo returned to his cave.

And so, in the following period, Lin Mo would be summoned by the abbot every seven days to take a Qi-Nourishing Pill in the Golden Sun Hall.

His cultivation level improved at a rocket-like speed, taking off rapidly.

More than a month passed, and Lin Mo's aura became increasingly unstable. Sometimes he couldn't even control the flow of spiritual energy within his body.

The mixed spiritual power gained from taking the Peiyuan Pill occupied almost a third of his dantian.

If this mixed spiritual energy were to exceed half of what's in his dantian, Lin Mo even doubted whether he would be able to mobilize his spiritual energy like a normal cultivator.

Under such intense consumption of Peiyuan Pills, his foundation had already begun to crumble.

Finally, the abbot noticed something amiss and, unusually, allowed Lin Mo to temporarily stop taking the Qi-Nourishing Pill.

On the way back to his cave, many eyes fell on him.

The ordinary disciples, unaware of the inside story, looked at him with awe and respect.

"Congratulations, Senior Brother Lin, on your further progress in cultivation!"

"Senior brother's cultivation speed is astounding! Such talent is truly comparable to those legendary ancient geniuses."

"..."

Those disciples who knew some of the inside story looked at Lin Mo with a mixture of pity and schadenfreude.

His fate was already sealed. The abbot had designated him as a humanoid elixir, and it seemed that in a few days, he would be refined into an unparalleled precious pill.

On a huge blue stone halfway up the mountain, Yang Xiaoran glanced at Lin Mo from afar, his expression incredibly complex.

Lin Mo ignored the attention from the outside world and simply returned to his cave, where he sat down to begin his cultivation.

However, instead of meditating and cultivating his qi, he studied a secret method called the "Taishang Guanxiang Jing".

He obtained this method from a cultivator of the Five Poisons Sect. If he can master it, he will be able to use his divine sense power when he reaches the Candle Illumination Realm.

"It's too profound, I can't understand it at all." Lin Mo frowned deeply.

This secret method for cultivating spiritual consciousness is extremely profound, far surpassing any cultivation technique he has ever seen.

After reading it through, he still had many questions about the law.

There was no other way; after all, it involved a secret technique related to divine consciousness.

The power of divine sense is a power that only cultivators in the visualization realm can use. If one can master this technique, the success rate of breaking through to the visualization realm in the future will undoubtedly increase many times over.

But even getting started is extremely difficult for him now.

"Hold fast to the original essence and guard the oneness, let the mind and breath coexist... observe the world and gather your nature to enter the great void, concentrate your spirit and energy points and let your mind be still."

He recited the scriptures several times, but there were still many things he didn't understand.

"This method may involve some of the mysteries of the visualization realm."

"Some of the key points may need to be discussed with other elders, or even directly with the abbot."

Temporarily abandoning this method, Lin Mo once again focused his attention on cultivating the Stone Skin Technique.

This is just a low-level earth magic technique. Even when you were in the Spirit Guidance Realm, it was quite difficult to even get started.

However, after he advanced to the Candle Illumination Realm, it became much easier for him to continue cultivating this low-level technique.

Now that he can draw upon a much larger amount of earth elemental power, practicing this low-level spell in his hands can be said to be twice as effective with half the effort.

For several days, Lin Mo devoted all his energy to practicing this method.

Finally, with layers of earth elemental energy being added to his skin, his body seemed to be covered with a layer of stone armor.

The Stone Skin Technique has been perfected!

With a thought, Lin Mo instantly channeled the heavy earth elemental energy from his feet to his body, which then condensed into a layer of stone-like armor hidden on his skin.

During the activation of the Stone Skin Technique, his physical strength was even able to withstand attacks from mid-grade magic weapons.

For low-level cultivators, it is indeed an excellent defensive spell, and it is quite practical even at the Candle Illumination Realm.

The only drawback is that it requires the connection of earth elemental power. If you are using a magical artifact to fight in the air, the effectiveness of this technique will be greatly reduced.

"Finally, I can try to cultivate this advanced earth-attribute spell!"

Lin Mo sighed inwardly and immediately took out the congratulatory gift that Yang Xiaoran had given him when he broke through to the next level.

Inside was a yellow jade slip. Spiritual energy flowed between his fingertips, and in an instant, he imprinted the contents of the jade slip into his mind.

"Wu Xin Sitting at the Mountain Pass"!

Upon seeing the cultivation scripture for this divine power, Lin Mo's heart trembled violently, and a glint of light flashed in his eyes.

This earth-elemental divine power is extraordinary; if mastered, it can transform the physical body into a mountain.

During this process, the body's vital energy is locked up, like a stubborn rock.

"Good, good, no wonder the Elder of Punishment said that mastering this divine power would give me a chance to live."

If the abbot were to throw him into the alchemy furnace, he only needed to activate this divine power, and his body would become as solid as a mountain, with his vital energy completely locked up and sealed.

The key to survival lies within this!

...