The blood sword did not dissipate but instead returned to Lin Mo’s body.
In an instant, he felt his spiritual energy surge uncontrollably, his meridians burning as if they were on fire.
The Liuli Sword sensed the change and spoke in shock, “Your body… it’s producing demonic energy! You’re about to fall into demonic cultivation…”
For some reason, the sword spirit felt that Lin Mo’s current aura was oddly familiar, like something it had encountered before, yet it couldn’t recall what.
Lin Mo’s junior sisters, except for Qu Ruyan, had already been knocked unconscious by the sheer force of the Nameless Sword Art’s aftermath.
“Senior Brother… are you okay?” Qu Ruyan asked, concern flashing in her eyes as she looked at his blood-red pupils.
Chen Huai’s old servant noticed Lin Mo’s unstable state and immediately seized the opportunity. With Lin Mo’s aura out of control, this was the perfect chance to eliminate him.
Just as the old servant was about to strike, Qu Ruyan shouted, “Senior Brother, watch out!”
Before her voice even fully landed, a blood-red energy surged from Lin Mo’s body, forming another blood sword. The old servant’s eyes filled with horror as he realized what was happening, but it was too late. His body rapidly withered, and in the blink of an eye, he had turned into a dried corpse.
Chen Huai and Wang Santun were barely holding on, their minds already teetering on the edge of collapse. They were one step away from fainting, just like the unconscious girls behind Lin Mo.
Their faces were ashen, their entire bodies trembling as they dropped to their knees, desperately kowtowing for mercy.
Especially Wang Santun, who, despite his round frame, was slamming his head against the ground with incredible speed.
“Spare me, young master!”
“Please, I was blind, I was ignorant!”
Both of them knelt side by side, taking turns calling him “young master” and begging for their lives.
But Lin Mo remained completely still, standing in place like a statue.
Sensing that something was off, the two exchanged panicked glances, debating whether they should make a run for it.
Chen Huai couldn’t hold back anymore. Suddenly, he leapt to his feet and bolted toward the depths of the forest, running with everything he had.
At that moment, Lin Mo slowly regained his clarity.
Just as Chen Huai thought he had escaped, a streak of sword energy cut through the air, and his body was sliced in two.
Lin Mo turned his gaze and looked at Wang Santun, who had been slowly inching closer to Qu Ruyan.
“You were planning to do what, exactly?”
Wang Santun’s entire body froze.
It was clear as day what he had been trying to do.
Like Chen Huai, he didn’t even get the chance to beg again before Lin Mo’s sword cut him down on the spot.
Qu Ruyan hesitated before asking, “Senior Brother, what just happened to you?”
“Nothing. It’s over now,” Lin Mo replied.
She opened her mouth, about to ask why he had looked the way he did just now, but this time, she stopped herself. She clenched her hands into fists and resisted the urge to ask more.
Lin Mo was just as confused.
The moment he had killed the Brow Venom Elder and the blood sword returned to him, his body had indeed begun producing demonic energy. Even now, it hadn’t disappeared but had instead settled into a strange balance with his spiritual energy.
Since ancient times, immortal and demonic cultivation had never coexisted. The two were opposing forces, bound to clash.
Yet, in Lin Mo’s body, they seemed to have found an equilibrium.
He didn’t know what it meant.
For now, he pushed his thoughts aside and checked on his unconscious junior sisters. After confirming they were fine, he turned to Qu Ruyan.
“They passed out. Why didn’t you?”
Qu Ruyan tilted her head. “Just because they fainted, does that mean I had to faint too?”
Lin Mo frowned.
She was still only at the Qi Refinement stage. Even Xia He, who was nearly at Foundation Establishment, had collapsed from the pressure. Yet, Qu Ruyan remained completely unaffected.
That wasn’t normal.
But then, he remembered something—he had seen her tail before.
Normal humans didn’t have tails.
It wasn’t that she had ridiculous resistance—it was just that she wasn’t human in the first place.
Thinking about it, Lin Mo no longer questioned it and turned his attention to the corpses scattered around.
It was time to collect his spoils.
The four storage rings contained a total of 3.8 million spirit stones, a few decent-quality elixirs, and some Profound-grade cultivation techniques.
The Brow Venom Elder had a low-tier blade technique, but since Lin Mo was a sword cultivator, it was useless to him. He still took it, though—it could be sold at Treasure Pavilion for a good price.
Besides that, the Brow Venom Elder’s ring contained an assortment of strange toys.
Lin Mo only needed one glance to understand their purpose, and his scalp tingled.
His body tensed, and he couldn’t help but clench his muscles in discomfort.
Just the thought of touching the Brow Venom Elder’s corpse any longer made him feel cursed.
“Senior Brother, there are still things inside. Aren’t you going to take them?” Qu Ruyan asked, tilting her head as she glanced at the storage ring Lin Mo had tossed aside with clear disgust.
“Don’t touch it! You’ll grow festering sores on your hands!” Lin Mo warned.
Qu Ruyan, who had been about to reach for the ring, quickly pulled her hands back in fear.
After looting the battlefield, Lin Mo moved to his unconscious junior sisters and used his Rejuvenation Art on them one by one.
When they woke up and saw the field of corpses, they were completely stunned.
They had only passed out for a short while…
Yet the Brow Venom Elder and the other Golden Core old man were dead.
And their corpses looked horrifying.
Meanwhile, Lin Mo stood there, completely unharmed, without even a single scratch.
How was this possible?
They wanted to ask, but none of them dared to.
They had never heard of a Foundation Establishment cultivator defeating three Golden Core experts—and winning so easily on top of that.
On the way back, the group was mostly silent.
Only Qu Ruyan kept pestering Lin Mo for more candy.
The other junior sisters were too deep in thought.
They couldn’t understand why the sect had such a terrible opinion of Lin Mo.
Not only had everyone underestimated his strength, but they had also completely misjudged his character.
Their senior brother was strong, dependable, and had saved them multiple times.
How could the sect have labeled him as some cruel, untalented troublemaker?
To them, Lin Mo was an incredible person.
When they finally returned to Qingling Sect, Lin Mo spoke firmly.
“My duty as your training guide has now ended.”
“Report back to your respective peaks and give your mission debriefs.”
“And let me repeat one last time—from today onward, do not contact me unless absolutely necessary. We’ll go our separate ways.”
Without looking back, Lin Mo turned and walked away, heading toward Bamboo Peak with swift, determined steps.
“He really just left…”
Xia He watched as Lin Mo disappeared into the distance.
Her heart felt inexplicably heavy.
She had thought he was just cold on the outside but soft on the inside.
After all, no matter how harsh his words had been, he had still come to their rescue every time.
But now, seeing the way he left without hesitation—
She realized that he wasn’t just cold on the outside.
He had a heart of iron.
Qu Ruyan broke the tense atmosphere.
“Why are you all so sad?” she said cheerfully.
“We’re still in the same sect. It’s not like we’ll never see him again! And besides, Senior Brother only said ‘don’t contact him unless necessary’…”
The others paused, then exchanged glances.
What if they just made sure there was always a ‘necessary’ reason to see him?
A spark of determination ignited in each of their hearts.
They wouldn’t give up.
From now on, they would find ways to stay close to Lin Mo, no matter what.
As Lin Mo stepped onto Bamboo Peak, he immediately noticed something felt off.
The entire peak seemed lifeless.
His junior disciples all looked tired and depressed, giving the entire mountain an atmosphere of gloom.
Lin Mo silently returned to his residence.
At that moment, he saw Gu Zi sweeping the floor, his head lowered, his expression lifeless like everyone else.
Lin Mo stepped in front of him, blocking his path.
Gu Zi looked up—
The moment he saw Lin Mo’s face, his entire expression transformed.
His eyes widened, and his whole body shook with excitement.
“Senior Brother Lin, you’re finally back!”
