Mortal: I can unlock the card pool by becoming an apprentice to him.

The old ghost who came a few days ago, could he be talking about Doctor Mo?

Lin Mo's heart stirred slightly, but he suppressed a smile and stood there waiting with his hands at his sides.

The thought that Doctor Mo, who prided himself on his shrewdness, was ultimately mocked behind his back by two young Taoist disciples amused him greatly.

Before long, the young Taoist boy came running back with light steps and nodded at him.

"Let's go, the Master has agreed to see you."

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Lin Mo finally met the "Master Songbao" from the original story.

"So you want to become my apprentice?"

The Taoist priest in front of him was a dwarf about three feet tall, thin and looking to be in his forties.

He wore a gilded crown and a bright red Taoist robe with gold embroidery. This gaudy and vulgar outfit was completely unlike what one would expect of a cultivator.

"I have met the Venerable Master."

Lin Mo bowed respectfully.

"Let's test your spiritual root first. If you have no spiritual root, no matter how much money you offer, I will not accept you as my disciple."

The Venerable Jin Guang lazily raised his chin, and added at the end, "However, I will charge five hundred taels of gold for testing spiritual roots, regardless of the result. Have you thought it through?"

It must be said that although Venerable Jin Guang was greedy for money, he had his own professional ethics.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have traveled all the way to Caixia Mountain in the original story to support the Wild Wolf Gang.

"I will follow your instructions."

Lin Mo took out the ebony box he had prepared beforehand. Upon seeing the neatly stacked gold ingots inside, the Golden Light Immortal's originally lazy eyes instantly brightened, and his impatience vanished.

"Hold out your hand!"

Lin Mo was moved by what he heard, but his heart involuntarily jumped up.

Although the other party's cultivation level was low, he was a genuine cultivator. Whether he could embark on the path of immortality in the future depended on this encounter.

"what?"

Master Jin Guang raised an eyebrow slightly, as if he had discovered something unusual.

"Fire elemental root... Earth elemental root... No, why are these auras mixed together, obscuring everything? Could it be...?"

Upon hearing that he possessed spiritual roots, Lin Mo breathed a sigh of relief. However, seeing the puzzled look on Jin Guang Shangren's face, his heart, which had just settled down, began to race again.

"Wait, I remember now! Kid, you actually have a mutated Dark Spiritual Root, a result of the Fire and Earth dual spiritual roots!"

After pondering for a long time, Venerable Jin Guang suddenly withdrew his hand.

His previously squinted eyes suddenly widened, his face filled with disbelief and astonishment.

"Dark Spirit Root?"

Lin Mo was equally surprised, but then an uncontrollable look of joy appeared on his face.

This result was a complete surprise and delight to him.

Dark spiritual roots are a type of mutated spiritual roots. According to the original work, they are spiritual roots that have undergone mutation and sublimation, resulting from a mixture of two or three attributes.

Although cultivators with this aptitude cannot be exempt from the Core Formation bottleneck, their cultivation speed is in no way inferior to those with Heavenly Spiritual Roots.

If one can find a cultivation technique that matches one's spiritual root attribute, then one can basically crush other cultivators of the same level.

"Master, may I ask what a dark spiritual root is? Would you like to test it again..."

Lin Moqiang suppressed his overwhelming joy and spoke.

He naturally understood what a dark spiritual root was, and the reason he asked again was simply to keep his current identity a complete charade.

"Hmph, do you think I can't even figure out a mere spiritual root? As for dark spiritual roots, you wouldn't understand even if I told you."

Master Jinguang immediately flicked his sleeves and snorted in dissatisfaction.

Even now, the surprise in his eyes has not completely faded.

After all, in such a remote place, the probability of encountering someone with dark spiritual root aptitude is about the same as the probability of him luckily forming his core.

As for whether or not to accept Lin Mo as a disciple...

Master Jin Guang was in a dilemma. He had long since lost any desire to pursue the Great Dao.

Why not just be a carefree immortal in this mortal world? Why bother training disciples and adding unnecessary burdens to yourself?

But then I thought, the other party could just pull out five hundred taels of gold to test my spiritual root, so they must be from a wealthy family.

If I were to take on such a disciple, not only would I have someone to serve me, but I might also be able to enjoy gold and silver offerings year after year. Wouldn't my life be much more comfortable than it is now?

Once he understood this, the troubled look on Jin Guang Shangren's face instantly disappeared, and his gaze towards Lin Mo became warmer.

"Ahem, since you possess spiritual roots, it's not that I can't accept you as my disciple."

"only."

He twirled the few sparse whiskers on his chin, a shrewd glint in his triangular eyes.

"The teachings are not to be easily passed on. If you wish to become a disciple, you must prepare an additional three hundred taels of gold to prove your sincerity."

Lin Mo immediately agreed, and then, as if by magic, produced another small ebony box.

Upon seeing his action, Jin Guang Shangren's heart skipped a beat.

"Oh no, I was too conservative."

He slapped his thigh in frustration, his fingers unconsciously quickening their pace as he twirled his beard. After a while, the Golden Light Master barely managed to suppress his regret and once again adopted the demeanor of a superior, saying solemnly, "Since you have come with sincerity, then I will accept you as my disciple! However, if you wish to advance further on the path of immortality, it will depend on your performance..."

Lin Mo ignored what Jin Guang Shangren said next. In his line of sight, a new card pool suddenly appeared on the scroll.

[Apprenticeship successful!]

[Unlock Card Pool: Golden Light Master]

A single draw costs 100 taels of silver; a ten-draw costs 900 taels of silver.

Not bad, it's the same price as Han Li's.

Lin Mo nodded secretly.

He currently has two hundred taels of gold, which would be two thousand taels of silver if converted, enough for him to splurge in the card pool.

However, there's no rush. We'll make proper plans after we've settled down.

Afterwards, Venerable Jin Guang personally led Lin Mo to a side room in the temple to settle in, and gave him a basic cultivation technique called "The Art of Igniting Fire".

A cultivation method that is compatible with the Dark Spiritual Root is beyond imagination. Not to mention the Golden Light Master, it would probably be difficult to find even among the seven sects of Yue Kingdom.

Lin Mo remembered that Wang Chan, the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect among the six sects of the Demonic Path in the original work, had the same dark spiritual root as himself.

Their ancestral scripture, the "True Scripture of Ten Thousand Spirits," contains a Blood Spirit Technique, which is said to allow one to dominate the six sects of the demonic path once mastered. Dark spiritual roots are the best physique for cultivating the Blood Spirit Technique.

I wonder if I'll ever have the chance to get my hands on this scripture.

Lin Mo pondered seriously for a moment, then smiled wryly.

I'm really being too ambitious. I haven't even officially started cultivating yet, and I'm already worrying about the future.

That night, Lin Mo slept very soundly.

Perhaps because I had been worried about whether I could cultivate immortality after realizing that I had awakened to spiritual wisdom, today I finally learned that spiritual roots existed. The huge weight on my heart was lifted, and I felt much more relaxed.

Outside the Golden Light Temple, the night was cool and still.

The mountain wind swept through the forest, rustling the leaves.

Doctor Mo stood under the tree, wearing a cloak, his cloudy eyes glancing occasionally toward the gate.

"Why haven't they arrived yet? Could something have happened to them on the way?"

"Or perhaps, that kid didn't even deliver the letter to your residence at all."

He was incredibly anxious, but there was nothing he could do. He could only force himself to suppress his impatience, pull his cloak tighter, and continue waiting in the night.