Both Master Yuehua and Ye Kai were stunned by Lin Mo’s words—neither of them had expected him to reject the sword outright.
And his reason for refusal was so weak.
Even if Lin Mo wasn’t a sword cultivator and wasn’t particularly skilled with a blade, having a decent spiritual sword was still better than having nothing.
How could he not need it?
In the cultivation world, refusing a gift from one’s elders so bluntly was considered highly disrespectful.
A flicker of shock crossed Master Yuehua’s gaze.
She stared at her eldest disciple for a long time, and when she realized that he wasn’t pretending to be humble, the expression under her veil turned somewhat sour.
Ye Kai, of course, couldn’t let this opportunity slip away.
“Senior Brother Lin, Master is gifting you such a fine sword, yet you refuse like this? Isn’t that a bit too much?”
His words implied that Lin Mo was being ungrateful.
Master Yuehua’s brows furrowed slightly, though her voice remained gentle:
“Mo’er, I admit that I have neglected you over the years, but now that you’ve reached Golden Core, it would be embarrassing for you to be seen without a proper weapon by the other Core Formation disciples in the sect.”
Such noble-sounding words—but wasn’t she just worried about saving face?
“A suitable sword? I actually have one of my own.”
Lin Mo summoned Liuli Sword into his hand.
Liuli Sword was a thin, white longsword, its entire blade radiating a brilliant rainbow sheen, as if it were made of pure glass-like jade.
It was as beautiful as its name suggested—Liuli, the Glazed Jewel.
The moment Master Yuehua saw it, she immediately realized—
This sword was far superior to her Zi Qing Sword.
In fact, it was likely at the Magic Treasure-grade…
Now, it truly seemed like she had embarrassed herself.
No wonder Lin Mo had rejected her sword without hesitation.
Standing to the side, Ye Kai’s expression twisted.
Seeing Master Yuehua’s reaction, he knew that Liuli Sword was far superior to Zi Qing.
This realization infuriated him.
Lin Mo already had better luck with women—now he also had better luck with treasures?
First, he had gotten the Ice Spirit Fruit.
Then, he had all kinds of rare spirit herbs.
And now, he had a sword far better than Zi Qing?
Was the Dao of Heaven truly this unfair?!
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave now.”
Lin Mo turned to go.
But before he could leave, Master Yuehua called out to him.
“Mo’er…”
She seemed to hesitate for a moment before finally speaking:
“About Yuan Li… I was wrong. I owe you an apology.”
Lin Mo didn’t respond immediately.
Instead, he glanced at Ye Kai.
Ye Kai’s face darkened—he understood the meaning behind Lin Mo’s look.
But since Master Yuehua had already lowered herself to apologize, he had no choice but to follow suit.
With a forced bow, he said,
“Senior Brother Lin, it was my fault. I was the one who begged Master to forgive Yuan Li. Please don’t hold it against her.”
How convenient—what a perfect little performance.
“Senior Brother Lin has always been magnanimous. Surely he wouldn’t let something so small affect his relationship with Master… nor would he abandon Qingzhu Peak over it.”
How smooth.
This Ye Kai was truly a master of twisting the narrative.
Now, the blame was being shifted onto Lin Mo—as if he were the one being petty.
If Lin Mo refused to handle the ruined spiritual fields, wouldn’t that make him look like a narrow-minded, selfish person?
Lin Mo’s gaze turned ice-cold.
“Since Junior Brother Ye considers forgiving Yuan Li to be such a small matter, why don’t you handle the mess he left behind?”
Ye Kai clenched his jaw but forced a smile.
“If I had Senior Brother Lin’s capabilities, I would gladly take care of Qingzhu Peak’s affairs and shoulder the burden for my fellow disciples.”
Oh?
Now he was pushing the responsibility back onto Lin Mo—as if it were Lin Mo’s duty to clean up the mess.
So this was what it felt like to be morally blackmailed in the cultivation world.
Lin Mo scoffed.
This was going to be fun.
Shameless. Absolutely shameless.
Lin Mo wasn’t in a hurry. Instead, he turned to Master Yuehua and asked, “Master, do you think Junior Brother Ye is right?”
Master Yuehua was momentarily at a loss for words.
Something about this question felt off, but she couldn’t find a flaw in it.
After a brief pause, she simply said, “Your Junior Brother Ye truly has good intentions, but he is powerless to do anything.”
Oh, very nice.
Still siding with Ye Kai.
Lin Mo clapped his hands and laughed.
“Junior Brother Ye, you’re truly outstanding. Don’t be so quick to admit you’re incapable. In my opinion, you’re fully capable of restoring the spirit fields.”
Ye Kai frowned. “I’m half a cripple—how am I supposed to do that?”
Master Yuehua was also intrigued.
Lin Mo continued, “I’ve already looked into the situation with the back mountain fields. There is, indeed, a way to restore them. Since Junior Brother Ye is someone who dares to take responsibility, and since you have already admitted your mistake, will you take on the task alone now that you have the ability?”
Ye Kai nodded confidently. “If I had the ability, of course, I would take full responsibility!”
Lin Mo smiled again.
Something about that smile made Ye Kai’s hair stand on end.
But then, he reassured himself—since he truly had no way to fix the fields, there was nothing to worry about.
Lin Mo had been waiting for those exact words.
“A hundred miles from here, there’s a spirit spring. The soil around it is perfect for cultivating spirit rice. Since Junior Brother Ye has such a strong sense of responsibility, why don’t you transport that soil back to the back mountain fields by yourself?”
“As Qingzhu Peak’s Senior Brother, I will, of course, help with integrating the soil afterward.”
A perfect counterattack.
Ye Kai’s face instantly went blank.
The spiritual fields in the back mountain covered over a hundred acres.
And Lin Mo wanted him to transport all that soil by himself?!
How long would that take?!
Wouldn’t he literally work himself to death?!
Ye Kai subconsciously turned to Master Yuehua for help.
But Lin Mo was faster.
“Master,” he said, “surely you won’t interfere with Junior Brother Ye fulfilling his duty to Qingzhu Peak, will you?”
“After all, he himself just said that if he had the ability, he would take full responsibility.”
Master Yuehua wanted to say something…
But in the end, she could only sigh in defeat.
Lin Mo had cornered her.
If she blatantly played favorites in front of Lin Mo, she really would break his trust completely.
If Lin Mo knew what Master Yuehua was thinking, he’d probably just shrug.
You already stole my Golden Core back then—what’s a little favoritism compared to that?
“Oh, right!” Lin Mo suddenly added.
“Since Qingzhu Peak’s disciples are currently starving, before the new spirit rice grows, Junior Brother Ye will also be responsible for providing food.”
Ye Kai’s face turned black. “I don’t have any spirit stones!”
How was he supposed to pay for that?!
Lin Mo pointed at the sword Master Yuehua had just given him.
“Sell this sword. That should be enough to feed the disciples for a month.”
“I can lend you the rest.”
That was the final straw for Ye Kai.
“But this was a gift from Master! How could I sell it?!”
Lin Mo chuckled.
“Precisely because it’s a gift from Master, you can sell it.”
“Or do you care more about a material object than about your starving fellow disciples?”
“You just swore in front of Master that you would take full responsibility if you had the ability.”
Ye Kai’s head buzzed with anger—he was so furious he felt dizzy, but he had no way to refute it.
Master Yuehua could only stand there, watching.
Even she had no way to intervene…
Though she wasn’t happy that Lin Mo suggested selling the sword she had just given, she couldn’t deny Everything Lin Mo had said was completely reasonable.
After calculating the costs of food and allowances for the next few months, Lin Mo finally handed over 150,000 spirit stones to Master Yuehua.
“Master, you should be the one to distribute this.”
This move actually helped save her reputation.
If the disciples received their allowances from her, they wouldn’t think she was so incapable that she couldn’t even provide for them.
Master Yuehua felt a wave of gratitude.
“Mo’er, after taking out this much, do you have enough left for yourself?”
Lin Mo smiled lightly. “As long as I don’t have to keep funding Qingzhu Peak, I can just barely get by.”
As he spoke, he “accidentally” tilted his storage bag, revealing a small glimpse of its contents.
Both Master Yuehua and Ye Kai were immediately dumbfounded.
Even with just a quick glance, they could tell—
Lin Mo’s storage ring held at least several million spirit stones.
Barely enough to get by?
…You call this ‘enough’?!
