It was extremely quiet.
Everyone from the various peaks of Qingling Sect had heard that Liu Bao practiced a fire-based technique. His Blazing Cloud Palm was said to be honed to perfection, and he was considered one of the top disciples. Yet he lost so easily? Wasn’t Lin Mo practicing some kind of water and wood technique? When did he become this powerful?
Among everyone present, only those from Canglan Peak and Immortal Fengqing had seen clearly. Lin Mo hadn’t used any technique at all—he had relied purely on his own spiritual energy to block Liu Bao’s Blazing Cloud Palm and defeat him.
Standing beside Fengqing was his eldest disciple, Feng Huaiqing, who asked, “Master, why can’t I see through Lin Mo?” Feng Huaiqing wore a look of disbelief. He was hailed as the strongest among the younger generation of Qingling Sect. With a heavenly wood spiritual root, cultivation at the late Golden Core stage, and mastery of the Soul Gate sword techniques, his swordsmanship was exceptional. He was confident he could defeat Liu Bao in a short time—but that was only if he used his sword.
But Lin Mo? He defeated Liu Bao easily using just his body and spiritual energy? It was simply unbelievable.
Immortal Fengqing calmly replied, “Lin Mo has had a fortunate encounter. His strength is likely already above yours.” Feng Huaiqing felt quite disgruntled. Among the younger generation, he had always believed he could go toe-to-toe with any of the so-called prodigies in the sect—except Zhu Shiyao of the Lingjian Sect. She was the only one he hadn’t fought.
After defeating Liu Bao, Lin Mo didn’t say a word and simply returned to the seats of Qingzhu Peak. The group of junior brothers and sisters from Qingzhu Peak looked at Lin Mo with completely different expressions now. During the last Sect Grand Tournament, their senior brother had lost so quickly. And now, five years later… was this even the same person?
Duan Susu looked utterly stunned. “Senior Brother, did you take some kind of pill???” She hadn’t seen her senior brother fight in about two years—but how had he become this fierce? It was like an old cow riding a plane—arrogance soaring to the heavens.
In front of so many people, Lin Mo didn’t bother pretending to be humble. He smiled and said, “Among the disciples in this Sect Grand Tournament, no one’s strong enough to make me need to take a pill.”
Duan Susu then looked at the man next to Immortal Fengqing. “Senior Brother, not even that Feng Huaiqing is your match?”
“Nope.” Lin Mo replied simply. Feng Huaiqing was a sword cultivator too, and quite skilled. But compared to Lin Mo himself, he was still far behind. He probably wouldn’t even be able to take a single strike from Lin Mo’s Three Thousand Sword Technique.
With today’s competition concluded, Lin Mo had no intention of staying any longer.
In the shadows, Ye Kai narrowed his eyes and asked the girl beside him, “Wanwan, just how strong is Lin Mo now?” Wanwan replied, “The last time my true body glimpsed him—even though I couldn’t see clearly—what I did sense was horrifying. The mix of spiritual and demonic energy within him… none of the disciples in this tournament are his match. If he also possesses a heaven-grade technique, even killing a Nascent Soul cultivator wouldn’t be that difficult.”
Ye Kai frowned deeply at her words. Wanwan continued, “And that spirit beast by his side isn’t ordinary either. It’s already at the Nascent Soul stage.” Upon hearing this, Ye Kai’s heart was filled with envy. Lin Mo’s luck was just too outrageous—he even managed to tame a spirit beast already at the Nascent Soul stage.
He asked worriedly, “Is there anyone in Qingling Sect who can stop him?” He currently has two goals: first, to gain cultivation from the secret realm, and second, to see Lin Mo dead. Letting Lin Mo escape would feel like having a cockroach run loose in your home—utterly unbearable.
Wanwan reassured him, “Don’t worry. Qingling Sect is still a third-grade sect and has its foundation. That old man from Canglan Peak is in the Divided Spirit realm. And let’s not even talk about the other elders of Qingling Sect.” Only then did Ye Kai relax. No matter how lucky Lin Mo was, once his demonic cultivation was exposed and he bore the blame, Qingling Sect would definitely not spare him. He didn’t believe that Lin Mo, no matter how strong, could defeat someone two full realms above and overcome a Divided Spirit realm cultivator.
Looks like it was time to set his plan in motion.
That night, Shen Ke’er was once again waiting at the base of Qingzhu Peak for Ye Kai, but he never came. So she decided to return to the peak and rest. On the way back, she witnessed something shocking. She saw her senior brother, Lin Mo, eyes glowing red, black mist swirling around his body, draining the spiritual energy from another disciple. She was so terrified that she quickly covered her mouth.
So the rogue demonic cultivator who had been harming fellow disciples lately… was actually her senior brother??? When had he started cultivating demonic arts? Her mind was a mess. She didn’t know what to do and fled back to her room on Qingzhu Peak.
Meanwhile, Ye Kai, seeing that his goal had been achieved, was preparing to finish off the disciple before him. Wanwan suddenly spoke to him, “I swear, you really are stupid. Wouldn’t it be better to leave him barely alive? Is your brain full of shit? Leave this disciple barely breathing—fear will do the rest. Shen Ke’er can only serve as a supporting character. Doing this also gives you a fallback in your plan.” Ye Kai suddenly understood and, following Wanwan’s advice, deliberately left the female disciple alive.
The next day, Lin Mo headed to Canglan Peak to continue participating in the Sect Grand Tournament. To his surprise, Shen Ke’er had also joined the spectators today. Seeing her quietly following along in the crowd without coming up to provoke him like before, Lin Mo didn’t say anything either.
As with the previous day, there were three matches scheduled for the tournament. Many had assumed Lin Mo’s victory over Liu Bao yesterday was a stroke of luck. But today, when they saw his performance again—defeating his first two opponents in an instant—they were thoroughly shocked by Lin Mo’s strength. More and more disciples began praising Lin Mo to the skies.
Only Shen Ke’er remained unmoved. She watched Lin Mo’s figure with complicated emotions in her eyes. She was now certain that Lin Mo had indeed turned to demonic cultivation. Otherwise, how could he have so easily defeated two Golden Core-stage senior brothers and sisters from other peaks?
No one noticed that on Canglan Peak, a blue-clothed girl was quietly watching the tournament from afar. The girl shook her head. “That guy Lin Mo still treats the sect’s disciples the same way as before. Not a single one can even put up a decent fight.” The blue-clothed girl was Zhu Shiyao, who had just arrived today. Her original intention had been to visit Lin Mo for a sparring match. She hadn’t expected to run into the Qingling Sect’s tournament. Since she had nothing better to do, she figured she’d watch the matches and get a sense of the overall talent level in the sect—maybe even spot a promising seedling.
But the more she watched, the more disappointed she became. After watching for half a day, she concluded that Lin Mo’s fellow disciples were vastly inferior to him. It seemed she’d have to wait until Lin Mo finished his match before challenging him.
Lin Mo’s final opponent of the day was Senior Sister Bai Ling from Dashi Peak. He still remembered her, so he politely greeted her, “Greetings, Senior Sister Bai.” Bai Ling also had a favorable impression of Lin Mo. She was one of the few present who didn’t blindly believe the rumors about him. Her way of judging people was to rely on her own experience and interactions. The Lin Mo she remembered wasn’t some cold-blooded, heartless person who harmed his fellow disciples.
She returned the greeting and said, “Junior Brother Lin, it’s been years, but now I can’t even see through your cultivation.”
“Just got lucky and had a fortunate encounter,” Lin Mo replied with a smile.
“I know I’m not your match anymore,” Bai Ling said, “but for the sake of our old acquaintance, give me some respect and draw your sword. I know you’re a sword cultivator.”
Her voice wasn’t quiet—everyone nearby heard it clearly.
“What? Senior Sister Bai Ling is admitting defeat before even fighting?”
“Wait, didn’t she place third in the last sect tournament?”
“Maybe she’s just being humble in front of him?”
“What’s got me is—did she just say Lin Mo is a sword cultivator? That’s insane!”
Given Lin Mo’s earlier performance—using neither weapons nor spells—everyone had assumed he was a body cultivator. After all, his previous cultivation technique focused on health and physical strength. That theory made sense. But now, hearing Bai Ling call him a sword cultivator left them even more confused.
Off the stage, Feng Huaiqing turned to his master—who was also his grandfather—and asked, “Master, is Lin Mo really a sword cultivator?” Immortal Fengqing replied, “You’re a sword practitioner too—can’t you tell?” Feng Huaiqing had indeed sensed it… he just didn’t want to believe it. If Lin Mo really was a sword cultivator and still beat his opponents so easily without even using a sword, then that meant Lin Mo’s strength was very likely beyond his own.
As for Lin Mo, he naturally took out the Liuli Sword from his storage ring. Even if Bai Ling hadn’t brought it up, he still would’ve used it. Those senior brothers like Liu Bao had already treated him like scum, simply because they listened to rumors. Lin Mo didn’t owe that kind of person any respect.
But Bai Ling was different. From the moment they met, she treated him like she always had—clearly not believing the slanderous gossip about him. So of course, Lin Mo would show her respect in return.
The moment his hand gripped the Liuli Sword, the sword began to hum.
“Xiao Li senses it—Mistress Shiyao’s aura.”
“That’s right. Mistress Shiyao’s aura is nearby.”
Lin Mo trusted the Liuli Sword’s intuition. A sword spirit’s sense of aura was far sharper than a human’s—and this sword was utterly obsessed with Zhu Shiyao. There was no way it would be mistaken. Which meant—Zhu Shiyao had come to challenge him. Sure enough, Qingling Sect was as troublesome as ever.
Once this match ended, he’d have to fight that little demon girl Zhu Shiyao too. Lin Mo sighed inwardly. This was all Master Yuehua’s fault—she just had to go into seclusion to attempt a breakthrough to the Divine Transformation Realm right when he was about to leave the sect. If it had just been a regular closed-door cultivation, she’d have come out in a few days and he could’ve left already. But now? Zhu Shiyao had caught up with him.
“Junior Brother Lin,” Bai Ling said, “the aura of your swordsmanship is truly terrifying.” On Bai Ling’s side, the moment Lin Mo gripped his spirit sword, she immediately sensed a change in his aura. It was the kind of sharpness unique to sword cultivators—and it was even stronger than when she’d sparred with Feng Huaiqing by several levels. She didn’t overthink it. Her only thought was: if she could last a few moves under Lin Mo’s sword, it wouldn’t be too embarrassing.
Seeing that Lin Mo was holding his sword without making a move, she understood that he was letting her strike first. She didn’t take it as arrogance—after all, in this world, strength was everything. With that in mind, she didn’t hold back. She thrust her own spirit sword forward without hesitation.
But just as the match began, ten terrifying auras suddenly descended from the sky, heading straight for their location.
“What’s going on? Why are all the peak masters arriving together?”
“Did something major happen?”
The disciples watching panicked as they saw their own masters flying over—each one of them wearing expressions filled with rage. A sense of dread spread among the crowd.
Only Immortal Fengqing and Master Yuehua were not among them. The peak masters of the other ten peaks came to a halt right between Lin Mo and Bai Ling. All of them glared coldly at Lin Mo.
Immortal Tianchen was the first to speak:
“Lin Mo, how dare you cultivate demonic arts!”
At the same time, within the Ice Palace, Gu Qingxue led Jiang Yanran into the Cold Abyss. As long as Jiang Yanran could endure the trials of the Cold Abyss, not only could she recover—she would become even stronger. This was a privilege reserved only for the Palace Master of the Ice Palace. The reason Gu Qingxue allowed Jiang Yanran to enter was because she felt guilty—for failing to take proper care of her disciple.
“Now that everything has been dealt with, it’s time I headed to Qingling Sect to reclaim my external incarnation.”
