I offered sacrifices to the gods

There are still seven months until the birthday celebration of the Jin Yang Ancestor.

For the past few months, Lin Mo has spent most of his time in seclusion in his cave refining treasures, except for the occasional time he goes to water the Dragon Blood Tree.

Finally, accompanied by a surge of thick and powerful earth elemental energy, his cave trembled violently.

A small, earthen-yellow bell was suspended in the air, with waves of pure earth elemental energy rippling below its mouth.

clang!

Lin Mo released a burst of spiritual energy with one hand, attempting to activate the Zhenyue Xuanyuan Bell.

Soon, the cave began to tremble, and many small stones and dust fell down.

"It's finally been completed, but its power is rather ordinary and far from deserving of the name 'Suppressing the Mountain'."

"As expected, a counterfeit is a counterfeit."

Lin Mo muttered to himself, then waved his hand, suppressing all the spiritual energy fluctuations that had just spilled out.

"Next, it needs to be placed in the mountains to be nurtured. The longer it is kept there, the stronger the power of this earthen bell will become."

Jinyang Peak is one of the most important mountains in the Yu Kingdom, and it definitely meets this condition.

However, with less than seven months left until Daoist Jinyang's birthday, he didn't know how much the power of this earthen bell could increase if it were nurtured in this mountain for seven months.

"If the true Zhenyue Xuanyuan Bell is forged, it will need to be placed in the mountain for at least several decades to be nurtured. Once it is completed, the entire mountain will collapse and be razed to the ground."

"I just don't know how much of a stir their counterfeits will cause."

After briefly considering the size of the earthenware pot, Lin Mo prepared to refine it once more.

But soon, he suddenly remembered that he was already able to use his divine sense.

Instead of using spiritual power to refine it, he directly used the divine sense power in his brow to plant a divine sense imprint in the small, earthen-yellow bell.

Next, he only needs to think slightly to activate it as if it were his own arm.

"Since it's just a replica, it can't be named after the Zhenyue Xuanyuan Bell, as its power is far inferior."

"Let's call it the Mountain-Shaking Bell. If we activate it at full power regardless of the cost, it will certainly live up to the name of 'Mountain-Shaking Bell'."

With that, Lin Mo buried the Mountain-Shaking Bell in a stone pit inside the cave.

The next moment, the Mountain-Shaking Bell disappeared into the pit and sank into the body of Golden Sun Peak on its own, seemingly becoming one with the mountain.

This bell was also made from several kinds of earth-based spiritual objects. The bell tongue inside is the ancient jade lion, which naturally has the characteristic of being able to escape when it encounters earth.

However, because he had already pledged allegiance to Lin Mo, even if he had retreated into the mountains, Lin Mo could still activate it at any time.

Next, all he needs to do is let the Mountain-Shaking Bell slowly nurture itself within the mountains.

At this point, the necessary preparations have been largely completed.

With less than seven months left, once Master Jinyang's birthday is over, the abbot should be starting to refine elixirs soon.

Whether one lives or dies depends on one's own fate.

Just as he was thinking this, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his chest.

"Hmm?" Lin Mo frowned slightly, lifted his Taoist robe, and looked down at his chest.

A small, seven-colored silkworm crawled out, and the Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm seemed to be out of control, frantically darting around.

"How could this be... Didn't I already tame this Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm? Why is it not obeying me now?"

Lin Mo looked surprised, completely unaware of what had happened.

Soon, the Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm burrowed into his body again and began to devour his essence and blood.

"No, this is a backlash from the spirit insects?!"

This phenomenon has been described in the Mushishi (Mushi Master) tradition, and there are only two possibilities for the backlash from the spirit insects.

The first possibility is that the spirit insect has become too powerful, and the gap between it and its master has widened too much. In this case, the spirit insect may devour its master, forcibly resisting the pressure of the spirit contract and turning against it.

The second possibility is that this spirit insect has actually been secretly bound to a soul contract by other cultivators!

Instantly, Lin Mo's expression turned extremely ugly.

The Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm had only recently hatched, and he would only feed it with his essence blood once every now and then, or go to the orchard to catch other low-level spiritual insects to feed it.

How much time has passed? This Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm, which is still in its infancy, could not possibly be stronger than him.

That leaves only one possibility!

The Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm had a secret soul contract planted in it, and now that contract has been activated and is now backfiring on him.

"We can't let it keep devouring us, or it'll be drained dry."

Soon, a ruthless and decisive look appeared in Lin Mo's eyes.

He slapped his chest with his palm, channeling his spiritual power to force out the uncontrollable Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm.

He planned to kill it with a single blow, determined not to let it benefit someone else.

At that very moment, a majestic voice echoed from the summit of Golden Sun Peak:

"Since the fellow Daoists of the Heavenly Poison Sect have arrived, why don't you go up the mountain to greet them?"

As the sound rang out, the Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm on Lin Mo's chest stopped struggling in an instant.

His face was pale, and he was covered in cold sweat. He said with lingering fear, "The people from the Heavenly Poison Sect have arrived? As expected... This Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm has indeed been implanted with a hidden soul contract."

Outside Jin Yang Peak, two powerful auras rose up, one of whom was none other than the former leader of the Five Poisons Sect!

"Hahaha, it's been years! Fellow Daoist Mo Chen, you're still as dashing as ever." The Five Poisons Sect Master rose into the air and clasped his hands in a fist salute towards the grand hall atop Golden Sun Peak.

boom!

The abbot also appeared, his whole body radiating golden light, completely neutralizing the spiritual pressure of the two guardians of the Heavenly Poison Sect.

"You two have arrived so early, is there anything you wish to instruct me on?" the abbot asked coldly.

The Five Poisons Sect Master and another Heavenly Poison Sect Protector both concealed their auras. After all, they were on Golden Sun Peak, the place where Golden Sun Daoist cultivated. If they were too presumptuous, they would be killed with a single palm strike and there would be no reason to complain.

"We dare not presume to offer guidance. We have come ahead of time to inform Ancestor Jinyang of an important matter. Our sect leader has also emerged from seclusion and will personally come to offer his birthday wishes to the Ancestor on his birthday."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of all the disciples of Jinyang Temple changed repeatedly, and even the abbot's expression became much more solemn.

The leader of the Heavenly Poison Sect was also a powerful expert at the Shackles Realm, a cultivator on the same level as the Golden Sun Ancestor.

The fact that the other party would personally come to attend the 500th birthday celebration of Ancestor Jinyang is quite unusual!

"I see. I will report this to the Ancestor as soon as possible." The Abbot nodded, and then invited the two protectors of the Heavenly Poison Sect into the mountain, treating them with the highest level of courtesy.

This matter definitely needs to be communicated in advance. If the leader of the Heavenly Poison Sect comes without prior notice, there is a high possibility that some bad results may occur.

"Fellow Daoist Mo Chen, I apologize for my earlier offense. Please accept these nourishing herbs as an apology." The Five Poisons Sect Master chuckled and handed over a palm-sized storage bag.

Upon seeing this, the abbot's expression softened considerably.

"Fellow Daoist Poison Wolf, you're truly thoughtful. You've witnessed the state of that Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm today, so you can rest assured now, right?"

The Five Poisons Sect Master nodded in satisfaction: "This descendant of dragon blood is indeed worthy of its reputation. If I had known this earlier, why would my sect have wasted so much effort? It has caused some unpleasantness, and I hope Fellow Daoist Mo will forgive me."

The Heavenly Poison Sect tried every means to cultivate these Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworms, but none of them survived to the cocooning stage.

Today, I finally saw hope, so I couldn't be more satisfied.

The abbot shook his head and said, "If it is merely a descendant of dragon blood, it is far from enough to support an ancient and wondrous insect."

"This child's aptitude is quite remarkable; otherwise, how could he have cultivated the Blood Transporting Scripture to its peak so quickly?"

The Five Poisons Sect Master laughed loudly: "Hahaha, no wonder Senior Jin Yang didn't destroy the royal family of Yu Kingdom, he really is a nest of excellent human-shaped medicine."

"Hearing this makes me quite eager; I really want to capture a few members of the royal family of the Yu Kingdom and raise them."

In response, the abbot said coldly, "Then I advise you to give up this idea, fellow Daoist. These royal bloodlines are still useful to our ancestor."

"It was just a joke, why take it so seriously?" The Five Poisons Sect Master chuckled dryly, then continued, "Quickly give these nourishing old medicines to your disciple; he probably didn't feel too good after that."

"I have my own plans for this matter."

...

A few days later, Lin Mo, who was recuperating in his cave, soon received an apology from the Five Poisons Sect.

Through Cui Donghao's hands, those old medicines that nourish qi and blood were all delivered to his cave.

"These medicinal herbs are all specialties from the area south of the Southern Frontier, so it seems that this is indeed the work of the Heavenly Poison Sect."

"Sure enough, they're treating me like a silkworm raiser, expecting me to feed the silkworms with my own blood and essence."

"No wonder the Heavenly Poison Sect withdrew its troops so readily, and no wonder they haven't investigated the loss of the Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworms in recent years."

By now, even if Lin Mo was incredibly stupid, he should have figured out what was going on.

Back then, the abbot was so certain that there was an opportunity at the Five Poisons Sect's underground headquarters that he directly assigned him to seize it, without worrying at all that anything might happen to him.

It turns out that a deal had already been made, and an agreement had been reached with the cultivators of the Heavenly Poison Sect to have him raise this ancient and wondrous insect.

Looking at the nourishing and restorative herbs from the mountains and forests that had been delivered, Lin Mo really wanted to kill the Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm outright.

But he still endured it.

Doing so is pointless and will only lead to your own death.

"I remember that the Insect Master's inheritance included a method to erase the soul contract mark that someone else had planted on a spirit insect."

"It just requires the use of divine sense... The hidden soul contract of this Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm was planted when it was still an egg. The strength of the soul contract imprint is definitely not very high. As long as we can find it, it won't be too difficult to erase it."

"They would never guess that I am now able to use my divine sense."

Lin Mo muttered to himself, a smile spreading across his face.

As long as the hidden soul contract can be erased, then the Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm will truly belong to me!

From then on, he could finally focus on cultivating the Seven Absolute Heavenly Silkworm with peace of mind.

...