Gu Ningxin’s hand trembled in fright. Fortunately, Lin Mo pressed her hand tightly, otherwise the ring’s power might have been triggered.

“Mother, are you doing something bad?”

“Mo’er, are you all right…”

Watching Lin Mo, radiant with vigor, Gu Ningxin stepped forward and hugged him tightly, her face full of joy.

“All right, mother, I still have to return to the Lin family to deal with things!”

Lin Mo’s gaze fixed on the dense crowd above the Lin family. Fortunately, with the Meiyan clan’s secret treasure on him, he was able to reach the battlefield in time.

“Returning to the Lin family?”

Upon hearing that, Gu Ningxin’s face turned serious as she began carefully scrutinizing the Lin Mo standing before her.

“There’s no demonic qi,” Gu Ningxin said, puzzled.

Since there was no demonic qi, that meant their child hadn’t become demonic because of the bloodline. So what exactly happened with the Qingling Sect incident? Lin Mo knew what his mother was worrying about. He reached out and patted Gu Ningxin’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Mother. Regarding the Qingling Sect matter, I’ve already dealt with it — it’s completely resolved.”

This completely cleared the suspicion that he practiced demonic cultivation. After hearing Lin Mo’s explanation, Gu Ningxin let out a small sigh of relief. Luckily, it hadn’t harmed Mo’er because of any issues with her own bloodline.

His mother seemed to be paying special attention to the ring on her finger.

“You seem very attached to that ring you’re wearing?”

Lin Mo reached out to touch the ring on Gu Ningxin’s finger. She hurriedly withdrew her hand, hiding it behind her back, and flusteredly explained, “It’s just an ordinary ring…”

Lin Mo snorted with a laugh and said:

“Mother, by doing this you’ve really shown that this ring isn’t ordinary.”

Actually, Lin Mo could have guessed it too. This ring most likely contained the power of the demon clan; once Gu Ningxin used it her identity would be exposed. Whenever the Lin family fell into a desperate situation, Gu Ningxin would think of using the ring’s power.

Lin Mo, however, was resolute — he could not allow her to use it.

“Mo’er, actually, actually…” Gu Ningxin still wanted to explain, but Lin Mo cut her off.

“Alright, Mother, I was joking, …”

“I, of course, believe this is just an ordinary ring. And I hope that from now on it will always be just an ordinary ring!”

Gu Ningxin was stunned. Where could she not understand the meaning behind those words?

“Mo’er, what do you already know…”

Lin Mo didn’t say much. He simply pulled his mother along and headed toward the Lin family estate.

In the sky above, the atmosphere was growing more oppressive, pressing down bit by bit. The younger members of the Lin family below all stared nervously at the unfolding situation, their eyes fixed on every subtle change.

“Make way—please, make way.”

Suddenly, a voice shattered the tense calm.

“Why are you all blocking my front gate?”

Everyone turned toward the Lin family’s main gate. There they saw a young man in white threading his way through the crowd outside the mansion, disdain still etched across his face. No one had expected that, at this moment, someone would take the initiative to return to the Lin family—

His attitude remained leisurely and relaxed, as if he hadn’t even noticed the spectacle raging in the skies. Among those present, aside from the Lin family members themselves, very few recognized Lin Mo. To them, the white-robed youth looked like nothing more than a naive greenhorn — their family was on the verge of being ransacked, yet he didn’t show the slightest shred of nervousness.

“I must not be seeing things — that’s Uncle Mo?”

The younger members of the Lin family stared in utter disbelief, rubbing their eyes over and over to confirm the visitor’s identity. Only Lin Tian reacted quickly. The moment he saw Lin Mo, he immediately bolted out of the Lin residence.

The wandering cultivators who had been watching scattered and flew off one after another. Soon after, one eager figure came up to Lin Mo and said excitedly, “Uncle Mo, you’re back.”

Lin Mo glanced at the street before him, now suddenly much more open, and nodded.

“Good, so sensible!”

The next moment, he reached into his storage. He took out some high-quality pills from the ring and tossed them toward Lin Tian. Lin Tian caught the pills, inspected them, and beamed with delight.

“Uncle Mo, how generous!”

With Lin Tian confirming his identity, the younger members of the Lin family surged forward. They paid no heed to the rumors that Lin Mo had gone demonic. One by one they saluted and greeted him.

In the crowd, Lin Mo spotted Duan Susu at a glance. He stepped forward and asked,

“Junior sister Duan, are you doing all right at the Lin household?”

After their long separation, Duan Susu’s eyes brimmed with tears.

“Brother Lin, as long as you’re fine, that’s all that matters—you’re safe, that’s what matters.”

Having witnessed Lin Mo’s terrible condition, Duan Susu had been constantly anxious about her senior brother’s state during the more-than-a-year she stayed at the Lin household.

Gu Zi stood to one side holding a broom, sniffling and crying his eyes out.

“Senior Brother, I just knew you would be all right.”

“It’ll be fine.”

Lin Mo exchanged a few pleasantries there. Above the Lin residence, the crowd also went wild. Nangong Bisheng, who didn’t recognize Lin Mo, teased Lin Nantian and said,

“I didn’t expect that at a time like this your Lin family would have a junior return. Is he just reckless, or does he actually have guts?”

The people on the Lin side ignored Nangong Bisheng’s words. Their gazes were fixed tightly on Lin Mo. All of them were thinking the same thing:

“No matter how you look at him, he doesn’t seem to have gone demonic at all!”

Chen Sheng was the first to react, pointing excitedly at Lin Mo.

“He actually dares to come back — he’s Lin Mo!”

At that moment Lin Mo also rose into the air. Looking at Chen Sheng, he smiled and said,

“What are you shouting for? I thought it was someone else. Isn’t this that same old Chen dog from last time, the one who only knows how to bark?”

With that, Lin Mo ignored Chen Sheng and began chatting freely with Lin Nantian and Lin Zhan behind him.

“Grandpa, Father — after more than a year apart, you both broke through?”

Lin Nantian said,

“It’s really thanks to Mo’er — the resources you brought back from the secret realm. Only because of that were your father and I able to breakthrough so quickly!”