Lin Xiang’er burrowed into Lin Mo’s arms, sitting cross-legged on his thigh. Lin Mo opened his eyes and found himself staring wide-eyed at the little girl, eye to eye.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Cultivating together with Daddy, of course,” she replied.

“Then why are you sitting on my leg?”

“Because cultivating this way is more comfortable.”

Lin Mo pressed a hand to his forehead. If this little girl kept being this clingy, she would be far too easy for someone to abduct. He reached out, intending to pick her up and toss her to the side.

Before he could, he noticed the little girl truly beginning to absorb demonic energy. In an instant, Lin Xiang’er’s demonic energy intertwined with his own, and he felt a faint, involuntary sense of closeness in his heart.

“Fine, just cultivate like this then,” he said, abandoning the idea of tossing her aside. Settling down himself, he entered a state of cultivation.

During that brief exchange of demonic energy, he noticed something unusual—Lin Xiang’er wasn’t a demonic cultivator at all, but a true demon. Yet within her body there seemed to linger a small trace of human aura. He concluded that, like him, she was a child of both human and demon blood.

【Host, you’re mistaken. She’s definitely not a child of human and demon blood…】

“Then tell me, what’s going on with this little girl?”

【Inside her… Wait! One sentence, 200 regret points.】

“Forget it then, no need to tell me. I don’t want to know anymore.”

Lin Mo had absolutely no interest in paying for the answer. The system fell silent, utterly speechless. This always happened—it tried to bait Lin Mo into spending regret points, but in the end, it was always Lin Mo who reeled it in instead, leaving the system wanting to reveal the truth of its own accord.

Unable to restrain itself, the system spoke anyway.

【Are two hundred regret points really that important to you? This system truly gives up on you, Host.】

【Forget it. I’ve already been tricked by you so many times anyway. This little girl has three-fourths demonic bloodline and one-fourth human bloodline, so she’s a descendant of demons and half-demons. That’s why her manifested form is mainly demonic.】

Lin Mo’s eyes narrowed slightly. So that was the case. Still, this system’s personality was far too easy to manipulate.

After a moment of thought, he said, “In the future, for twenty regret points, you can freely answer my questions. I won’t bargain, and you’ll only deduct the points after answering.”

【Really?】

Rather than giving away free answers in the future, the system found this arrangement acceptable—perhaps even profitable.

“Really,” Lin Mo confirmed.

【Wuwuwu, Host, it turns out you’re actually a good person.】

At dawn the next day, the little girl who had cultivated all night was still sitting on Lin Mo’s thigh. She stretched lazily and greeted him, “Daddy, good morning.”

“Mm, good morning,” he replied evenly.

After a night of cultivation and contact, he found himself subconsciously growing closer to Lin Xiang’er. There was always a faint illusion that she was his own daughter. But when he thought about it more carefully, he knew he wasn’t the type to be merciful or sentimental.

The reason he had agreed to bring her along yesterday was likely due to a kind of uncontrollable fondness toward her, which stirred a subtle sense of closeness. He had acted on it without thinking.

Strange… could it be that he and Lin Xiang’er were truly fated?

Once they left the inn, Lin Mo noticed that even more gazes from the surrounding area lingered on him.

Lin Mo’s gaze swept over Lin Xiang’er’s clothes and the many magic treasures she wore. In an instant, he understood the problem. To him, it was actually a good thing.

Yet after only a few days, the demonic cultivators in this region had grown timid, avoiding him altogether. He even overheard whispers that they had begun calling him the “Sword Demon.”

The title didn’t please him. In this area, he had harvested only about half the regret points he’d gained from the Qianchi Clan.

“Let’s go,” he said. “Time to grind somewhere else.” His sights were set on the Baili Clan’s territory.

“Brother Mo, we don’t need to go,” Mo Pao’er called, halting him. “At the edge of the Baili Clan’s territory, there won’t be many who dare provoke you.”

“Why?” Lin Mo frowned.

“I’ve heard your reputation has already spread from the Qianchi Clan to the surrounding regions. If we head to the Baili Clan now, after just a few moves, they’ll know exactly who you are. It’ll be a wasted trip.”

Lin Mo’s lips tightened in disappointment. It seemed his bait-and-trap method of harvesting regret points in the demon realm had already reached its limit.

A sharp female voice suddenly cut through the air, tinged with excitement. “Young Mistress, so you were here! This old servant has been looking for you for so long!”

Following the sound, an old woman came hurrying toward them.

“Granny Rong…”

The moment she saw the woman, Lin Xiang’er instinctively edged closer to Lin Mo.

“Young Mistress, come back with me,” the woman urged. “The master is waiting for you at home.”

As she spoke, she reached for Lin Xiang’er’s sleeve, her grip rough and forceful.

What caught Lin Mo’s attention was not joy in the girl’s eyes at seeing a familiar face, but fear.

He raised the Liuli Sword, the blade aimed straight at Granny Rong’s wrist. His voice was cold. “Let go.”

Granny Rong’s eyes flicked to him. “These past days, you were the one protecting our young mistress, weren’t you? Thank you. I am her maidservant. The young mistress slipped out while playing, and I must take her back.”

Without waiting for a reply, she tugged at Lin Xiang’er again, clearly intending to drag her away.

“Daddy…” Lin Xiang’er’s small hands gripped the front of Lin Mo’s robe tightly.

Without hesitation, Lin Mo swung his sword.

Granny Rong reacted swiftly, pulling her wrist back. She glared at him. “What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing much,” Lin Mo replied evenly. “Xiang’er doesn’t want to leave with you. Didn’t you see that?” His eyes turned cold again.

“Do you know the young mistress is a close relative of the Demon Lord? And you, an outsider, dare to meddle in the affairs of our Meiyan Clan?”

A trace of viciousness flashed in Granny Rong’s eyes.

To Lin Mo, though she called Lin Xiang’er ‘young mistress,’ her treatment of the girl was anything but proper. What kind of servant would drag and tug at their own young mistress?

“Who told you I was an outsider?” he sneered. “Didn’t you hear what Xiang’er called me?”

Lin Xiang’er reacted instantly, tugging on Lin Mo’s sleeve and once again calling out in a childish voice, “Daddy.”

Granny Rong’s eyes widened in shock. “That’s impossible! How could you possibly be the young mistress’s father?”

Ever since Lin Xiang’er was born, she had been under strict control and had never even met her father. Among the Meiyan Clan, aside from the Demon Lord’s cousin herself, no one knew who Lin Xiang’er’s father actually was.

Thinking of this, Granny Rong said firmly, “You can’t possibly be the young mistress’s father.”

Now it was Lin Mo’s turn to be puzzled. What he had meant, after all, was that he was Lin Xiang’er’s godfather.

But judging by Granny Rong’s expression and words, it was clear she didn’t know who Lin Xiang’er’s father was. This was absurd—utterly absurd. Even Granny Rong’s own master in the Meiyan Clan was absurd. This was absurdity taken to the extreme.

From the looks of it, there was absolutely no way Lin Xiang’er could be allowed to return with this woman. Lin Mo moved her behind him protectively, then looked at Granny Rong and said provocatively, “My daughter already called me Daddy. What else can you even question? Either you bow your head, or you die. How dare you go against our Meiyan Clan? You must be tired of living.”

Granny Rong’s face twisted in anger. Dark demonic aura swirled around her, completely enveloping her figure until her body no longer resembled a human. Only a pair of blood-red eyes could be seen within the black mist.

“A true demon…” Mo Pao’er exclaimed in shock from the side.

To be honest, Lin Mo still didn’t quite understand what made a true demon so special.

【Host, in this dimensional world, there are many different races—human, demon, immortal, spirit beast, and ghost.】

【The greatest difference between true demons and demonic cultivators is not just race, but also strength. At the same realm, true demons are nearly invincible. However, there is one aspect where they fall short of humans—though they are born with immense power, it is much harder for them to raise their cultivation realm.】

【Half-demons have one half pure human bloodline and one half pure demon bloodline. Generally, they are born with human physical traits, but a very small number are born showing demon traits. Even those with human appearances are highly susceptible to negative emotions, which can lead them to fall into demonic ways and reveal their demon nature.】

【As for you, Host, you appear in human form, but unlike others, you have achieved something no one else in this world has—cultivating both as a demon and a human simultaneously. This means you’ve already perfectly merged demon and human forms, and can freely switch between them at will. If you completely suppress your spiritual energy and only use demonic energy, then you are a demon.】

Lin Mo understood. If he wanted to be human, he could be human; if he wanted to become a demon, then demon he would become. Even while shrouded in demonic energy, he could still shift freely between the two.

Seeing the true demon, Mo Pao’er’s face turned anxious. “We’re screwed, we’re so screwed! Brother Mo is definitely done for!”

In his eyes, Lin Mo was indeed powerful—but only in these fringe regions, not against demonic cultivators backed by true demons. Compared to a true demon, he still fell far short.

It wasn’t just Mo Pao’er. The surrounding demonic cultivators had all retreated far back, though they still wanted to see if this so-called “Sword Demon” could last a few moves under a true demon’s assault.

Lin Mo gave a cold chuckle. “This lifetime, I’ve slain monsters, exterminated ghosts, and killed more than a few cultivators—but I’ve never chopped down a true demon. Today, I’ll use you for practice.”