Days passed, bit by bit.

The Lin family of the Upper Realm was about to begin its internal grand competition.

During this time, Lin Mo spent his days in the clan compound, teaching the younger generation how to cultivate.

With Lin Mo’s guidance, the cultivation and combat strength of the Lin juniors advanced by leaps and bounds.

Almost all of the juniors who had accompanied Lin Mo into the secret realm last time had successfully formed their cores.

“Patriarch, over these past two years our Lin family has gained a total of twenty‑five new Golden Core cultivators.”

“And among those whose talent was already relatively outstanding, the earlier batch who formed their cores have all broken through to the Nascent Soul realm.”

“And among the newly advanced Golden Core juniors, four have formed seventh‑grade cores, thirteen have formed sixth‑grade cores, and even the weakest have fifth‑grade Golden Cores.”

The Grand Elder, face alight with excitement, reported the compiled figures to Patriarch Lin Nantian.

Looking across the entire Middle Realm, which aristocratic clan or immortal sect could compare to these numbers?

“Ever since we took over all of the Chen family’s shops and spiritual‑vein lands, and added in the harvests from the Nangong family and the Qingling Sect, the Lin family’s income this year is already more than five times that of previous years.”

The Second Elder, who managed finances and revenue, couldn’t wait to cut in.

Now, whether in resources and wealth or in sheer strength, the Lin family had thoroughly secured its position as the number‑one clan in the Middle Realm.

Lin Nantian stroked his beard, his face full of smiles.

“Heaven truly favors me, Lin Nantian, to send me such a precious grandson.”

The Second and Third Elders nodded in unison.

It could be said that the Lin family’s current prosperity was entirely thanks to Lin Mo.

The Second Elder proposed, “I think Lin Mo isn’t that young anymore. It’s about time he married and had children.”

Lin Nantian pondered slightly. When it came to Lin Mo’s marriage, he really couldn’t make the decision easily.

The women he knew were only somewhat renowned within the Middle Realm.

To put it bluntly, they were rather unworthy of Lin Mo.

That girl from the Xia family had originally been quite decent, but unfortunately his grandson didn’t like her.

As for that senior sister of Jiang Yanran from the Cold Ice Palace, she was always coming and going without a trace.

Her whole person was a mystery, and her temperament was even harder to grasp. It seemed that a woman truly worthy of his grandson could only be found in the Upper Realm.

Thinking of this, Lin Nantian could only give a wry smile.

As an elder, he had actually reached the point where he couldn’t even find a well‑matched wife for his own grandson.

Over on Lin Mo’s side, he was in the main courtyard teaching the clan juniors sword practice. Their swordsmanship had indeed improved by leaps and bounds.

Lin Tian was controlling over a hundred streaks of sword‑qi in the sky, sweat pouring down his forehead.

After barely holding on for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, his spiritual energy was completely exhausted, and he plopped down on the ground, panting hard.

“I really don’t know when I’ll be able to use Uncle Mo’s Thousand‑Sword Technique and control over a thousand sword‑qi, killing whoever I point at in an instant.”

Lin Qingqing shrugged. “Go dream. In your dreams you can have anything.”

“Uncle Mo’s Three‑Thousand Sword Technique isn’t something you can pull off just by having a high cultivation.”

“Without some talent in the sword, you simply can’t precisely control that many strands of sword‑qi.”

Lin Tian curiously turned to look at Wang Li, who was standing to the side.

“Li, you’re a powerhouse too now. Is Uncle Mo’s Three‑Thousand Sword Technique really that hard to pull off?”

Wang Li nodded very seriously. “I’m not a sword cultivator, but from how you all describe it—being able to blanket the sky with sword‑qi, and precisely control each strand, each one having the power to kill a Divine Transformation cultivator—”

“That’s already completely beyond my understanding.

“I’m afraid even the elders of the Ling Sword Sect couldn’t reach that level.”

Lin Tian’s eyes went wide. “Even the Ling Sword Sect elders aren’t as good at flinging swords as Brother Mo!”

Wang Li said, “The Young Master’s strength probably isn’t just about his talent in the sword. The quantity and quality of his spiritual energy also far surpass cultivators of the same realm.”

She herself was a Divine Transformation cultivator.

Previously, when she and the other two hall masters had faced Lin Mo, they hadn’t had the slightest ability to fight back.

Lin Tian had been present as well. He only knew his Uncle Mo was strong, but he hadn’t expected Uncle Mo to be this monstrously strong.

Lin Mo, meanwhile, was sipping tea off to the side. Listening to others flatter him felt quite pleasant.

“All right, enough chatting. Back to sword practice.”

He shot Lin Tian a fierce glare. “If you embarrass me at the Lin family of the Upper Realm, you’ll be in for it.”

Lin Tian thumped his chest with confidence. “Uncle Mo, don’t worry. With a sword god like you teaching me, once I get to the Lin family of the Upper Realm I’ll slaughter my way through them.”

The other juniors all chimed in their agreement with Lin Tian’s words.

During this period, with Lin Mo’s guidance, their progress wasn’t just twice the result for half the effort.

It was like having cold water poured over their heads, waking them up completely.

Not only had he mapped out individualized cultivation paths for each of them,

but whenever they ran into something they didn’t understand in cultivation, Lin Lin could immediately explain it clearly.

They had already heard about what happened on Qingzhu Peak from Guzi and Yin Susu.

Thinking back on it now, the disciples of Qingzhu Peak really hadn’t known how to cherish what they had.

With teaching talent like Lin Mo’s, he could probably teach a tree to cultivate.

---

Upper Realm, Lin family.

A man seated in the main seat said blandly to the elders below, “All preparations for the clan’s internal grand competition are complete.”

“There are only half a month left until the competition.”

“It’s time for you to go to the Middle Realm and bring that branch‑family lot back for the matches.”

As for the Lin family in the Middle Realm—

Aside from Lin Mo, who had reached the Divine Transformation Realm at just over thirty years of age and piqued his interest, he had no interest in anyone else.

If not for Lin Mo, that branch‑family Lin clan in the Middle Realm wouldn’t even be qualified to participate in this internal competition.

Most importantly, he had already investigated Lin Mo’s entire history.

Up until the age of twenty‑five, he had still been a useless little Foundation Establishment cultivator.

From Foundation Establishment to Divine Transformation in just over seven years? The fortuitous encounter behind that was definitely not simple.

To say that Lin Mo didn’t have some heaven‑defying treasures on him—he simply didn’t believe it.

This internal grand competition was the perfect chance for him to see just what kind of secret Lin Mo was hiding.

Time flowed on.

Today was the day the branch‑family Lin clan would head to the Upper Realm Lin family for the competition.

In the center of the main courtyard stood the elder sent by the Upper Realm Lin family to escort them.

“Those going to the clan competition this time must all be under thirty years of age, and their cultivation must not be lower than the Golden Core stage.”

“That said, you probably don’t have that many who meet the requirement anyway.”

“So the Patriarch has granted you a special exception: even Foundation Establishment cultivators can participate—if they’re not afraid of dying.”

The elder’s face was full of arrogance.

He simply didn’t believe that this Middle Realm Lin family

could produce many Golden Core cultivators under thirty.

However, in the next instant, something happened that slapped him in the face.

Over fifty young juniors stood before him, and the weakest among them were at mid‑Golden Core. A few had even broken through to early Nascent Soul.

At the side, Lin Mo slapped his thigh and sighed in regret. “Ah, looks like at thirty years old, I have no fate with this clan competition.”