Xia He reached out to cover her face where she had been slapped, her head hanging slightly as strands of hair obscured her current expression.

Everyone present had a similar thought—
Lin Mo had just walked up and slapped Xia He cleanly and decisively.

Xia He?
She was the precious daughter of the Xia family, famous for her fiery temper.

Not to mention the Lin family, even the Xia family members were stunned.

No one dared to breathe too loudly at the moment.
Everyone was just waiting for Xia He to explode in the next second.

In his heart, Lin Tian gave Lin Mo a big thumbs up—
This uncle was truly fierce.
He was thankful that a few days ago, when they fought over the spear, this uncle had kicked him away—
it had actually saved him!

Lin Qingqing was also frightened, her lips tightly pursed, eyes wide as she stared at the scene in front of her.

As for Xia Qianqiu, he actually felt admiration toward Lin Mo.
Though he didn’t like this younger sister of his,
as her elder, he could only lecture her with words.

He hadn’t expected that Lin Mo would just walk up and give her a slap.
That slap hit straight to his heart—it was so satisfying.

But as the head of the Xia family, he still had to maintain appearances.

He said, “Fellow cultivator, don’t you think it’s too much to strike my younger sister like this? Are you showing any respect to the Xia family?”

As he spoke, Xia Qianqiu gathered spiritual energy in his palm. Just as he was about to make a move—

Xia He lifted her head.
Both of her cheeks were flushed red, her breathing labored.

Yet she didn’t seem angry at all—
on the contrary, she even looked a bit… excited?

At that, everyone had a look as if they had seen a ghost.

Was this still the same Xia He they knew?

She’d been slapped and was now smiling?

“Senior Brother…” These two words were practically breathed out through her panting.

This public slap across the face had made her feel a kind of excitement she had never known before.

Clearly, she should have felt shame and anger,
but instead, this strange sensation had her completely fascinated.

Even Xia He herself didn’t know what was happening…

On the other side, Lin Tian was starting to suspect something.
Was Xia He into some strange… kink?

As he pondered, he cautiously approached Xia He,
and lightly tapped her cheek—

“Are you looking to die?”

Xia He’s expression immediately turned cold.
She drew her flying sword and stabbed toward Lin Tian’s thigh.

“Ah-yo!” Lin Tian cried out miserably,
stumbling back repeatedly until he could finally stop the bleeding.

He looked at Lin Mo in disbelief.
“Uncle Lin Mo, why…?”

Before he could finish speaking,
Lin Mo kicked him hard and knocked him out cold.

At that moment, Xia He also realized—
Only when Lin Mo hit her
did she feel that heart-racing, full-body excitement again.

Could this be… love?

“When we were training, everything I taught you—
you didn’t take in a single word.”
Lin Mo spoke calmly.

“Yes… Senior Brother, I was wrong.”
Xia He lowered her head like a student who had made a mistake.

“Why did you plead on behalf of the Lin family?”
Lin Mo asked directly.

The juniors of the Lin family were utterly confused—
What on earth was their uncle even talking about?

“Because I thought… they’re your family, Senior Brother.”
Xia He answered honestly.

Lin Mo hadn’t expected this reason.

He let out two fake coughs and continued lecturing,
“I taught you compassion not so you’d hesitate when dealing with enemies.
Even if you don’t kill them, you should at least break their legs.”

“You must eliminate anything that might harm you.”

His words struck like thunder from a clear sky,
once again stunning both the Lin and Xia family members.

One Xia family cultivator asked a Lin family junior beside him,
“Does he have a grudge against your family or something?”

That junior shook his head,
“I don’t know… but from the looks of it, maybe?”

None of the Lin family juniors could believe
how ruthless Lin Mo was being.

The Xia family members were just as shocked.

Xia Qianqiu laughed heartily,
“Fellow cultivator, you’re truly interesting. How about we become friends?”

He really admired Lin Mo’s personality.
If Lin Mo could properly guide his little sister,
he’d even be willing to help arrange a marriage alliance
between the Lin and Xia families.

“If you don’t mind what I’m about to do shortly, I might consider being friends with you,” Lin Mo said with a smile.

“What are you going to do?” Xia Qianqiu asked curiously.

“The things you just mentioned—
breaking your people’s legs,
so the Lin family can gain more benefits,” Lin Mo replied calmly.

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone present drew a sharp breath again.
They found Lin Mo harder and harder to understand.
Every word, every action—none of them could be predicted.

Some juniors from the Lin family even shouted,
“Uncle Lin Mo, if you keep talking like this, our souls are going to escape from our bodies!”

The other juniors had similar thoughts.

“I’m part of the Lin family. Naturally, everything I do is for the Lin family,”
Lin Mo continued to explain. “Just now, I didn’t say it outright—
I was merely educating her from her standpoint, that’s all.”

Whether it was the Lin juniors or the Xia juniors,
none of them could be sure anymore if Lin Mo could actually beat Xia Qianqiu.
If he couldn’t, then what they were about to witness would emotionally crush them several times over.

Because ever since Lin Mo arrived,
the entire atmosphere had grown tenser and more unpredictable.

Both sides started small talk just to relieve the pressure.

Xia Qianqiu no longer hovered around Lin Zijian’s face with his foot.
Instead, he asked, “Has this uncle of yours always been this wild?”

Lin Zijian slowly got up, nodded, and said,
“I didn’t really know him before. But I’ve always run into people like him—
and he fits that mold perfectly.”

Xia Qianqiu waved his hand dismissively.
“Go stay over with the Xia family.”

To him, teaching Lin Mo a lesson now was far more meaningful than humiliating Lin Zijian.

Lin Zijian didn’t say anything in return.
Lin Mo’s appearance had completely washed away the feeling of humiliation from earlier.
He slowly walked back to his group.

The juniors of the Lin family had no intention of mocking him either.
Admitting someone else is stronger wasn’t that hard.

Clearly, for Xia Qianqiu to have defeated Lin Zijian, who was known as a powerful rising star,
his strength was beyond doubt.

“Everyone else step aside. Let me see what gives you the right to be so arrogant,”
Xia Qianqiu said, no longer interested in idle chatter.

He raised a Flaming Palm again—yes, another Flaming Palm—
and struck toward Lin Mo.

Lin Mo held the Liuli Sword.
With just a casual swing,
the massive flaming palm that had gathered was effortlessly sliced in half.

At that moment, Xia Qianqiu’s eyes flashed with a heavy seriousness.
His gaze toward Lin Mo became more focused.

Lin Qingqing asked,
“Lin Zijian, that was Xia Qianqiu’s Flaming Palm. Could you have blocked it?”

Lin Zijian kept watching Lin Mo and replied,
“If I hadn’t blocked it, every palm would’ve drained me completely.”

He still wasn’t sure—
was Lin Mo really that relaxed, or just pretending?

The scene that followed confirmed everything.

Xia Qianqiu launched a series of Flaming Palms,
each more ferocious than the last.

Lin Mo responded with Three Thousand Sword Techniques,
and the sword effortlessly dispelled the blazing flames.

Though Xia Qianqiu was the one attacking,
he found himself gradually on the defensive,
unable to withstand Lin Mo’s offense.

Everyone watching was stunned, their hearts pounding in fear.

Even Lin Zijian now realized
just how far apart he was from Lin Mo.

He could only take Xia Qianqiu’s first three palms.
After that, each one was harder than the last.
He never imagined Lin Mo would not only take them all
but even suppress the opponent.

Of course, Xia He wasn’t surprised by this outcome.

After all, her Senior Brother,
had once taken on three Golden Core-stage cultivators by himself
before even reaching the tenth level of Foundation Establishment.

Especially that one old man—
he was practically half a step into the Nascent Soul stage.

“How is that possible?” Xia Qianqiu’s rhythm was completely thrown off.

He was covered in sword wounds of all sizes.

Lin Mo’s semi-spiritual sword strikes made him feel as if he were facing the demonic Zhu Shiyao.

Recalling what Zhu Shiyao had once said about being defeated by Lin Mo, he too began to doubt—

Was that really just a sword match?

“Fellow Daoist, your sword is indeed formidable. But I wonder… can it withstand my final move?”

At this moment, Xia Qianqiu had no choice but to reveal his trump card.

“Blazing Flame Palm” was a Heaven-grade technique, and even its Earth-grade offensive techniques were top-tier.

Now, this technique had evolved from fragments of eight different Heaven-grade methods.

Although based on incomplete remnants, Xia Qianqiu had still cultivated it to the second layer.

However, unleashing it came at a cost.

Shortly after activation, Xia Qianqiu’s entire skin turned crimson red,

and the flame gathered in his hand began to shift in color—

from pale yellow to white, and eventually nearing a cyan-blue hue.

“Ah, he’s already closed in far more than usual. Everyone present could feel the high temperature radiating from Xia Qianqiu’s body.”

“Prepare yourself.”

Wherever the fire palm passed, the ground scorched black.

A small pond nearby boiled and emitted a dense crimson mist after the palm swept past.

Seeing this, Lin Mo did not dare to act carelessly.

He slowly activated the Earth-grade mid-tier Seven Kill Flowing Sword.

That terrifying sword energy layered together—

At the instant it clashed with the fire palm,

the outer layers of sword energy began to disintegrate one after another.

By the fifth layer, the fire palm was instantly annihilated.

Xia Qianqiu was left unable to move.

The right hand he used to unleash the flames was already charred black.

The vital energy and blood in his body had also been utterly drained by that last attack.

And the sword energy from the Seven Kill Flowing Sword was nearly exhausted as well.

He could no longer worry about the fear of death—his body was engulfed in flames.

Just as the sword energy was about to pierce through Xia Qianqiu’s body,

Lin Mo subtly shifted the trajectory of his sword at the last moment.

Xia Qianqiu, barely clinging to life, collapsed to the ground.

He couldn’t understand, and asked, “Why didn’t you kill me?”

Lin Mo never tolerates betrayal.

He smiled slightly. “You should feel fortunate… that you didn’t harbor ill intentions toward the Lin family back then.”

“According to your suggestion, I should do what I need to do now.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a bolt of sword energy—swift as lightning—pierced straight into the Xia family’s formation.

Everyone present, except for Xia He,

felt a sharp pain in their legs and fell to the ground.

The reason Xia He was unharmed was naturally because she had spoken in support of the Lin family earlier.

Lin Mo had always acted with clear judgment—an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Within seconds, waves of anguished cries echoed from the Xia family squads.

The younger members of the Lin family were completely dumbfounded.

None of them had imagined that Lin Mo’s strength would be so overwhelming.

Thinking back, many of them had looked down on this young uncle before.

Now, being distant from Lin Mo—they couldn’t feel more regret.

Even Lin Zijian, at this moment, was utterly convinced, bowing with utmost respect.

He had once thought Lin Mo was arrogant,

and even cursed that Lin Mo would suffer a grim fate.

Now, it was clear—he had been the real fool.

During this time, Lin Mo had steadily gained more and more regret points from these encounters.

Lin Tian also came to his senses, staring blankly at the scene before him.

Seeing the way everyone looked at Lin Mo, he quickly figured things out.

Without hesitation, he rushed to Lin Mo’s side and knelt down:

“Uncle, you are truly my real uncle! If you ever need anything from me in the future, I will never refuse!”

“Of course, that is… unless it involves walking into fire or climbing a blade mountain, haha…”

“Lin Mo.”

“Lin Mo…”

“…”