8: Tiandao Stone enters the body

With the Tao Family Ancestor's surrender, the competition came to an end.

The Tao Family members looked at each other in dismay.

The Tao Family Ancestor, Tao Yuan, walked towards Young Master Lin with a dejected expression.

He knelt down, and suddenly declared, his voice firm:

"I, Tao Yuan, Tao Family Ancestor, today lead all Tao Family members in acknowledging Young Master Lin as our master."

"I swear to the Heavenly Dao that the Tao Family will never betray him for all eternity."

"Should I break this oath, I will willingly accept Heavenly Retribution."

Seeing their own Old Ancestor kneel, all the Tao Family members reluctantly knelt down as well.

Lin Mu surveyed the kneeling Tao Family members and said indifferently:

"Since you acknowledge me as your master, from now on, you must obey my commands."

"I cannot guarantee that I will make you prosperous, but I can guarantee that your situation will be much better than it is now."

"However, if I find that you are feigning obedience, I will absolutely not be soft-hearted."

Tao Yuan was the first to declare his loyalty.

"We will wholeheartedly serve Young Master."

Lin Mu was very satisfied with the Tao Family Ancestor's performance.

"Now there are two things I need you to do."

"Young Master, please command whatever you require," Tao Yuan said, raising his head and cupping his hands.

"First, send all the Spirit Stones the Tao Family can mobilize to my room, and find me a secret chamber. I need to enter seclusion to Cultivate."

"Second, mobilize all Tao Family disciples to collect a map of the Nine Nether Continent. The more comprehensive, the better."

Now that he had a foothold, he first needed to understand the layout of this world.

This was to prepare for his upcoming search for the heavenly dao stone.

"Reporting to Young Master, the Tao Family currently has only about thirty thousand Spirit Stones that can be used."

"My subordinate has already sent Tao Zhi to quickly tally them and deliver them to Young Master's room."

"Also, there is a secret chamber in the backyard that can be used for the master to Cultivate. Should the Spirit Stones be delivered directly there?"

Lin Mu pondered for a moment: "That's fine. The map matter also needs to be handled quickly."

Tao Yuan hurriedly nodded: "Yes, Young Master."

"I hope that what happened tonight will not be spread. Whoever spreads it will bear the consequences."

Tao Yuan guaranteed: "This old servant will ensure they keep their mouths shut."

Lin Mu turned and walked a few steps, then looked back and said: "In the future, when you act outside, you don't need to have too many reservations."

Although Tao Yuan did not understand the reason for Lin Mu's actions, he dared not question Lin Mu and simply nodded in agreement.

After Lin Mu returned to his room, he lay on the bed, constantly thinking about his future plans.

On his first night here, Lin Mu actually suffered from insomnia.

The next morning, Lin Mu was about to turn over and get out of bed.

Suddenly, he heard Lao Mo talking to someone.

"The master is not awake yet. You can wait here."

The other person also said nothing and just stood at the bottom of the steps outside the door.

Lin Mu stretched, rolled over, got out of bed, walked to the table, and poured himself a cup of tea.

"Let them in."

Lao Mo heard Lin Mu's voice, stepped forward, opened the door, and let the person at the door in!

The person at the door was none other than the Tao Family Ancestor, Tao Yuan.

Tao Yuan entered the room and bowed: "Young Master, the Spirit Stones have already been sent to the secret chamber. Would Young Master like to check them now?"

Lin Mu picked up the teacup and took a sip: "Your actions are quite swift. Let's go, let's take a look."

The secret chamber was built in Tao Yuan's courtyard.

Tao Yuan's courtyard was at the very back of the entire mansion, and it was quite peaceful.

In the middle of the courtyard, there was a rockery.

Tao Yuan walked leisurely towards the rockery.

He reached out and fumbled a few times on a protruding stone.

Suddenly, a stone door on one side of the rockery slowly opened.

Tao Yuan bowed and stood in front of the stone door, gesturing for Lin Mu to enter.

"Young Master, please come in."

Lin Mu slowly walked through the stone door, followed closely by Lao Mo and Tao Yuan.

Lin Mu looked around the secret chamber.

The space was not small, and all daily necessities were readily available.

The tables, chairs, and benches were all very clean, indicating that people often entered seclusion here!

On the stone table in the middle of the secret chamber, there were three Storage Pouches.

Tao Yuan stepped forward, picked one up, and said:

"Last night, this old servant had people tally all the usable Spirit Stones overnight. There are over thirty thousand in total, contained in these three Storage Pouches."

"You two may withdraw first. During my seclusion, do not let anyone disturb me."

Tao Yuan bowed respectfully and exited the secret chamber.

"Master, please rest assured and Cultivate. I will guard the main door and not let anyone approach."

Lin Mu nodded: "Thank you for your hard work."

Lao Mo said nothing and quietly walked out of the secret chamber.

After the stone door of the secret chamber closed, Lin Mu walked to the table and picked up one of the Storage Pouches.

Looking at the mountain of Spirit Stones piled up in the Storage Pouch.

Lin Mu fell into a brief contemplation.

"What Cultivation Technique should I use to Cultivate spiritual power?"

"I wonder if my Demonic Technique from my previous life can still be used?"

Thinking of this, Lin Mu picked up the Spirit Stones with both hands and began to Cultivate.

After a quarter of an hour, he opened his eyes and exhaled.

"Phew! It seems it can be used, but the effect is much worse."

"Let's try the Righteous Path Cultivation Technique I referenced before."

In his previous life, Lin Mu had often engaged in killing and plundering, and he had comprehended quite a few Righteous Path Cultivation Techniques.

He remembered a Cultivation Technique that seemed to increase the absorption of spiritual power, it seemed to be called "Great Evolution True Art"!

Lin Mu tried hard to recall the contents of the "Great Evolution True Art."

Another two quarters of an hour later, Lin Mu opened his eyes again.

"The Great Evolution True Art is indeed useful. The speed of absorbing Spirit Stones is more than twice as fast as before!"

Over the next few months.

Under Lin Mu's continuous absorption, only less than a thousand of the thirty thousand Spirit Stones remained.

Lin Mu also successfully opened all his Spiritual Veins and established his Sea of Consciousness as he wished.

"Success!"

"It took nearly thirty thousand Spirit Stones to Breakthrough to the Spirit Roaming Realm!"

"Is my Aptitude not good enough?"

Lin Mu began to doubt his own Aptitude.

In fact, what Lin Mu didn't know was that the Eternal Undying Body was different from ordinary people.

The Sea of Consciousness space he opened was dozens of times larger than that of ordinary people.

Lin Mu sensed the spiritual power in his body.

"Is this the Spirit Roaming Realm?"

Lin Mu tried to cover his entire body with his Divine Sense, and he could clearly feel the subtle changes in every pore of his body.

As his Divine Sense continued to wander.

Lin Mu's Divine Sense returned to his Sea of Consciousness space.

The Sea of Consciousness was hazy and unclear!

Lin Mu could only roughly estimate its size.

It should be over a hundred square meters.

Lin Mu withdrew from his Sea of Consciousness and took out the heavenly dao stone from his embrace.

Immediately, with a thought, the heavenly dao stone entered his Sea of Consciousness.

As soon as the heavenly dao stone entered the Sea of Consciousness, a faint yellow spiritual power spread throughout the Sea of Consciousness.

The originally hazy Sea of Consciousness seemed to become clearer.

Lin Mu nodded in satisfaction, slowly rose, and walked out of the secret chamber.

Over the past few months, the Tao Family had been relatively peaceful.

Aside from a few minor skirmishes among the younger generation of the Family outside, no major conflicts had occurred!

A few months ago, the Family of the person killed by Lao Mo had intended to seek revenge on Lin Mu.

But when they heard that Lin Mu had moved into the Tao Family, they temporarily abandoned their plans for revenge.

As for the Zhao Family, who had been constantly eyeing them.

They sent people to monitor the Tao Family for over a month.

But they never saw Lin Mu or Lao Mo, so they could only reluctantly withdraw their people.

The most important reason was that the Zhao Family was preparing for an extremely important matter.

The Zhao Family Head was about to Breakthrough to the Spirit Roaming Realm!

So the Zhao Family recalled all its members who were outside.

In Hancheng City, some people suddenly noticed that the Tao Family had become much bolder than before in recent months.

They no longer acted timidly.

Instead, the usually arrogant Zhao Family had recently quieted down.

They couldn't help but speculate wildly.

"Could it be that times are really changing, and the Tao Family is about to become the number one Family?"

Everyone speculated, and some smaller families even secretly began to align themselves with the Tao Family.

But just then.

A shocking piece of news, like a clap of thunder, startled everyone.

The current Zhao Family Head, Zhao Jiuding, had successfully Breakthrough to the Spirit Roaming Realm!