"With normal cultivation, it'd probably take me a month to break through from the fourth Qi Refining level to the fifth."
That was assuming he had plenty of spirit stones to cultivate with.
Meanwhile, Zhou Ze would take over Lü Mingtong's position as the new steward of the Maidservant Department.
He would need ten days to half a month at most to swiftly take charge of all its affairs.
After all, Zhou Ze had previously been the department's deputy steward and knew its affairs like the back of his hand.
Clearly, Lin Mo did not have that much time to slowly improve his cultivation.
He could not guarantee that Zhou Ze would not come looking for trouble once the time came.
Not to mention, Zhou Ze was at the seventh level of Qi Refining.
Even with the aid of his pure yang sacred body and the Yin-Yang Evil Demon Art, Lin Mo would need at least three or four months of proper cultivation.
Only then could he break through from the fourth Qi Refining level to the seventh level of Qi Refining.
Unlike him, Zhou Ze was no lone wolf. Plenty of servant disciples in the Maidservant Department followed Zhou Ze's lead.
"So I'd need to reach at least the eighth level of Qi Refining to be truly safe."
"But how could an old man like me possibly break through to the eighth level of Qi Refining in just ten days or half a month?"
"If only Zhou Ze wouldn't come looking for trouble."
But how could that possibly happen?
It was not as though Lin Mo knew nothing about the man. Compared with Lü Mingtong,
Zhou Ze was even worse.
Perhaps because he was only the deputy steward and ranked below Lü Mingtong, he usually treated the servant disciples far more brutally than Lü Mingtong did.
Now that Lin Mo had just brought Lü Mingtong down by reporting him,
Zhou Ze would very likely act against him to avoid following in Lü Mingtong's footsteps.
"Looks like there's no time to rest."
After some thought, Lin Mo had formed a preliminary plan.
Normal cultivation definitely would not be fast enough.
Fortunately, he had mastered the Yin-Yang Evil Demon Art.
As long as he practiced dual cultivation with a woman, he could rapidly improve his cultivation.
Just as he had with Shangguan Wuqing yesterday.
In a single night, he had broken straight through from the third level of Qi Refining to the fourth Qi Refining level.
Back then, cultivating properly, Lin Mo had spent a full half month breaking through from the second level of Qi Refining to the third level of Qi Refining.
He had also spent quite a few spirit stones.
Thus, dual cultivation became Lin Mo's first choice for the moment.
So far, Liu Ziyan and Shangguan Wuqing were the only women with whom Lin Mo had enjoyed deep, friendly exchanges.
But going to them himself to ask for dual cultivation was clearly unrealistic.
In Liu Ziyan's and Shangguan Wuqing's eyes, Lin Mo might merely be a cultivation cauldron they could discard at any moment. How could he turn the natural order upside down?
Lin Mo had at least that much self-awareness.
As for finding someone to practice dual cultivation with, that might be difficult in an orthodox immortal sect, but it was no problem at all in the First Saint Sect!
The First Saint Sect had the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.
In plain language, a brothel.
The Drunken Immortal Pavilion could essentially be called the First Saint Sect's most profitable business.
They regularly went outside to capture young, beautiful female cultivators, sealed their meridians and cultivation, and reduced them to outlets for the First Saint Sect disciples' urges.
There were male cultivators as well as female ones, but that had nothing to do with Lin Mo.
The crucial point was that, to maintain high profits, the Drunken Immortal Pavilion's cultivation cauldrons were all single-use.
Of course, if someone wanted to take a cultivation cauldron home to play with at leisure, that was allowed too.
But then they would have to handle the aftermath themselves, which was rather troublesome.
For the sake of profit, anyone in the First Saint Sect could spend money at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion, even servant disciples.
Provided they had enough spirit stones.
"It's settled. I'll take a look first. If the prices aren't too high, perhaps I can use this method to quickly break through to the eighth level of Qi Refining."
Having made his decision, Lin Mo set off immediately.
With thirteen hundred spirit stones in his pocket, Lin Mo had plenty of confidence about visiting the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.
At midday,
Lin Mo arrived at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.
Seeing Lin Mo, a stooped old man in his twilight years, walk straight toward the entrance, the female disciple greeting customers at the door reached out to stop him.
"This is the Drunken Immortal Pavilion. Is this somewhere a servant like you should be?" the female disciple asked coldly, her words carrying a hint of dismissal.
It was not that the Drunken Immortal Pavilion barred servants, but rather that it simply was not somewhere they could afford to patronize.
A servant earned just one spirit stone a year. Even a servant who had worked for a hundred years would not have saved enough spirit stones for a single visit to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.
Lin Mo wasted no words and simply produced the Storage Ring containing thirteen hundred spirit stones.
After a brief inspection, the female disciple said with mild surprise, "I certainly misjudged you today. To think a servant like you would have so many spirit stones."
Where Lin Mo had obtained those spirit stones was none of her business. As long as he could afford to spend them, that was enough.
"Ahem... fairy, may this old man go in now?" Lin Mo asked with a strategic cough.
"Yes. Follow me."
The female disciple led Lin Mo into the Drunken Immortal Pavilion's ground-floor hall, with its gaudy decor and the intoxicating fragrance lingering in the air.
Lin Mo felt almost as though he had returned to a massage club in a dream.
"This is my first visit to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion. Fairy, could you briefly explain the rules here?" Coming back to his senses, Lin Mo asked unhurriedly.
The female disciple said nothing and merely handed Lin Mo a jade tablet.
It listed the Drunken Immortal Pavilion's services in detail.
Qi Refining period: three hundred spirit stones.
Foundation Establishment early stage: one thousand spirit stones.
Foundation Establishment middle stage: fifteen hundred spirit stones.
Foundation Establishment late stage: two thousand spirit stones.
Foundation Establishment perfection: three thousand spirit stones.
Lin Mo understood without having to ask.
The Qi Refining period, Foundation Establishment realm, and so on listed there presumably referred to the female cultivators' cultivation levels. The prices following them needed no explanation.
"Would you like someone in the Qi Refining period or the Foundation Establishment early stage?" the female disciple then asked.
After a moment's thought, Lin Mo looked up. "Let's start with someone in the Qi Refining period."
"Fairy, may I choose?"
"Yes."
The female disciple then took Lin Mo upstairs to the second floor, where room after room held young, beautiful female cultivators.
Their figures might differ, but every one of them was fairly attractive.
After carefully looking them over, Lin Mo finally chose a female cultivator in the Qi Refining period whose rather innocent air suited his tastes.
Once his choice was confirmed, the female disciple had Lin Mo pay on the spot and led him into an empty room.
"Wait a moment. She'll be here shortly."
With that, the female disciple turned and left.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Lin Mo felt strangely nervous.
It was just like waiting for the masseuse on his first visit to a massage club in his previous life.
Knock, knock, knock~
Before long, a knock came at the door.
"Come in."
Creak~
At his reply, the female cultivator Lin Mo had just chosen pushed the door open and entered.
She had changed into a loose gauze robe. Her alluring shoulders were so slippery that the gauze had slipped down to her collarbones, exposing her fair shoulders and the seemingly bottomless depths of her cleavage.
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