When Lin Mo woke up, Yan Ruyu was nowhere to be seen.

“Didn’t expect it… My first time just vanished like that.”

Recalling last night’s intense battle, he rubbed his still-dizzy head.

As he was about to get up, he suddenly realized something—his spiritual energy had become noticeably denser.

Not only that, but it felt as though it had been nurtured, becoming even more refined.

What’s going on?

Confused, Lin Mo turned to the system for answers.

“System, what are my chances of forming a ninth-grade Golden Core now?”

【Congratulations, Host! You’ve hit the jackpot by dual cultivating with a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. As long as you attempt a breakthrough, your Golden Core is guaranteed to be ninth-grade.】

Late-stage Nascent Soul?!

Lin Mo had always known that Yan Ruyu wasn’t ordinary.

But he never imagined that she was two whole realms above his master, Yuehua.

No wonder she could suppress Nangong Xu with just her aura.

Of course, with such a great opportunity came great danger.

Lin Mo was now genuinely concerned about his future safety.

Still, at least he had gained something out of this.

Once he returned to Qingzhu Peak, he could immediately go into seclusion and break through—no need to spend any Regret Points.

【Ding! System has detected that Host wishes to break through without spending Regret Points. New offer available! For only 10,000 Regret Points, you can form a Flawless Golden Core.】

…What?

A Flawless Golden Core?!

Lin Mo frowned.

“I don’t recall the original owner of this body having any memory of that, and you’ve never mentioned it before. System, are you trying to scam me out of my Regret Points?”

【Host, this system is always fair and honest. The Flawless Golden Core surpasses even ninth-grade cores. As the name suggests, it is without flaw, capable of containing spiritual energy of the same purity as natural heaven and earth essence. Spending just 10,000 Regret Points is an absolute bargain!】

If it could truly rival natural essence…

Then his cultivation speed would skyrocket, and his spiritual energy quality would surpass all others in his realm.

In that case, the 10,000 Regret Points were well worth it.

Lin Mo had made up his mind—once he went into seclusion, he’d spend the points to form a Flawless Golden Core.

Looking around, he still didn’t see any trace of Yan Ruyu.

However, on the tea table, he noticed two items.

One was a jade slip containing a recorded cultivation technique.

The other was a strangely shaped stone.

Curious, he picked up the jade slip and began reading.

The more he read, the more shocked he became.

It was a sword cultivation technique—though it had no title, Lin Mo could tell that it was extraordinary.

Even with his innate sword talent, absorbing its insights wasn’t easy.

An hour passed before he fully comprehended it.

【Ding! Congratulations, Host! You have obtained Unnamed Sword Technique, a mid-tier Heaven-rank cultivation method!】

Lin Mo wasn’t stupid—he immediately realized that Yan Ruyu had left it for him.

For a moment, he felt helplessly amused.

Not only had he been slept with, but the other party had also generously gifted him a Heaven-rank sword technique.

He finally understood how those kept men from his past life felt—those guys who got devoured by rich CEO women, only to wake up to stacks of cash on the bedside table.

This was an insult to his masculine dignity.

A trampling of his self-respect.

…That said, if he could experience this kind of “humiliation” a few more times, he definitely wouldn’t mind.

This was a huge win.

However, there was something strange about the technique.

It required fresh blood as a medium—the more people it harmed, the faster it progressed.

It felt suspiciously similar to demonic cultivation techniques.

But Lin Mo had no biases against cultivation methods.

After all, wasn’t there a saying?

“Techniques are neither righteous nor evil—it all depends on the one who wields them.”

Lin Mo wasn’t the type to kill indiscriminately, but if someone was vile, dangerous, or dared to provoke him, he certainly wouldn’t hesitate.

And if he ever hit a bottleneck… wasn’t the system there to help?

【Ding! Reminder: Heaven-rank techniques require significant Regret Points to upgrade. To advance from first to second level, you need 5,000 Regret Points. Second to third level requires 10,000. Third to fourth level costs 20,000, and so on.】

…Damn. That’s expensive.

However, Lin Mo realized that if he cultivated the technique on his own—without using fresh blood—it would probably take him at least a year just to reach the second level.

For comparison, he had spent only one month advancing his Profound rank mid-tier sword technique, the Three Thousand Sword Art, to the sixth level.

This made it clear—the Unnamed Sword Technique was not an easy path.

Setting the sword technique aside, Lin Mo turned his attention to the strange stone left beside it.

It was most likely another gift from Yan Ruyu.

But what exactly was it for?

【Reminder: The stone contains the power to access another dimension, but its restrictions must first be unlocked. Additionally, it has an auto-defense array, capable of negating one fatal attack and teleporting you to safety.】

A life-saving artifact like this was just as valuable as the sword technique—if not more so.

And by all logic, this kind of item should have been more useful to Yan Ruyu herself.

Yet, she had left it for him…

Was she really feeling guilty about possibly getting him killed?

Lin Mo thought that was entirely possible.

He decided—he needed to find Yan Ruyu and get some answers.

“You’re looking for the Pavilion Master? She already left,” the brothel’s madam informed him.

“She bought this establishment a few months ago, but only said she needed to use it for a while. I don’t know her background, nor do I know when she’ll return.”

Hearing this, Lin Mo felt an unexpected emptiness inside.

Come to think of it, aside from her name, he knew almost nothing about Yan Ruyu.

He let out a soft sigh, turned around, and headed back to his room to grab Liuli Sword before returning to the inn to reunite with his junior sisters.

Originally, he had intended to return last night, but unexpected circumstances had… delayed him.

By now, Xia He was probably talking all sorts of trash about him.

As he reached for Liuli Sword by the bedside, something caught his eye—

A small crimson stain on the bedsheet.

Oh, hell.

Lin Mo was stunned.

Because of the drug’s effects, the entire night had been a blur of intense action, and he hadn’t paid much attention to details.

But now that he thought back—when he had finally closed the distance between them, Yan Ruyu had clearly looked like she was in pain.

He had never imagined that despite her bold and confident demeanor, she had actually been a virgin.

A strange feeling stirred in his heart.

His impression of Yan Ruyu shifted yet again.

However, the fact that his first woman had slept with him and then immediately fled the scene was still pretty damn irritating.

Just then—

“Um…” a small voice came from his sword.

“That big sister left a message for you!” Liuli Sword piped up.

“What did she say?”

Lin Mo didn’t even notice how eager he sounded.

“She said: ‘Don’t worry, no one will come after you because of me.’”

Lin Mo felt a chill down his spine.

How the hell did she already understand him this well?

He suddenly felt a bit awkward—like he’d been completely seen through.

“Anything else?” he pressed.

“She also said you don’t have to take responsibility. But if you really want to find her—whether for revenge or for other reasons—as long as you reach the Nascent Soul Realm within ten years, the stone will naturally lead you to her.”

Lin Mo’s expression twisted.

…She actually thought I’d want revenge?

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

This whole situation made it sound like he was the poor maiden who had been taken advantage of and abandoned.

But wasn’t he the one who had been in control the entire time?!

Ten years… From Foundation Establishment to Nascent Soul.

That was basically impossible.

Clearly, she was trying to make him give up.

Lin Mo chuckled to himself.

He wasn’t some lovesick teenager, desperate to grow stronger just so he could chase after a woman and have a touching reunion.

That was absolutely beneath him.

But even without Yan Ruyu, he would still seek every opportunity to increase his strength—because in the cultivation world, power was everything.

As for Yan Ruyu?

Oh, he was definitely going to find her.

Not for romance.

But to settle the score.

Next time, she wouldn’t be able to leave so easily.

Next time, he’d make sure she couldn’t even get out of bed.

After tidying himself up, Lin Mo left Jiangyue Pavilion, feeling refreshed and satisfied.

But when he returned to the inn, something was off.

His junior sisters were missing.

Frowning, he called for the innkeeper.

“Oh, your junior sisters? They came back briefly last night but left together shortly after. They haven’t returned since.”

The innkeeper added, “I overheard them saying something about handling the mission themselves and reporting to the sect to complain about their ‘useless’ senior brother.”

Lin Mo’s face darkened.

No need to ask.

They had completely ignored his orders and had gone off on their own to infiltrate Official Ding’s estate.

An entire night had passed—and they still weren’t back.

Which meant they were in trouble.