Yan Ruyu’s face was crimson red.
Though she was the Saintess of the Demon Realm, Lin Mo was personally chosen by the Demon Ancestor as his successor! Not only in status—Lin Mo’s cultivation was now no weaker than hers. And his overwhelming aura pressed down on her relentlessly.

Suddenly, his face drew nearer and nearer to hers. A gentle softness spread from Yan Ruyu’s lips. The kiss landed softly, tenderly.

Yan Ruyu didn’t feel the slightest resistance; on the contrary, she rather enjoyed this gentle touch. But this was merely Lin Mo’s way of lowering her guard. As things progressed, the gentle drizzle at first gradually transformed into a torrential downpour.

At this moment, Lin Mo was preparing to put a “debuff” on Yan Ruyu.
“System, bring out that giant mirror I drew some time ago.”
【Host, you really are perverse beyond belief!】
“You care?”
【Hmph, fine, I won’t interfere then.】

In the next moment, a large mirror appeared before Yan Ruyu. The mirror was enormous, reflecting both of their entire figures in crystal clarity. Yan Ruyu froze—she had never seen such a clear bronze mirror before… Or rather, this was no ordinary bronze mirror at all. But she knew instantly—this was Lin Mo’s doing.

Lin Mo hooked the corner of his lips into a smile and said, “My lady, are you satisfied with how you look right now?”
Yan Ruyu was so embarrassed, it felt like steam would soon rise from her head.

The reflection in the mirror—not just her face, but her entire body—was flushed with red. Sweat dampened her hair, and her eyes were filled with hazy confusion. Had she really become so disheveled? Where was the dignity of a Saintess in this? Where was the honor of a Saintess in this? This appearance—how was it any different from the courtesans of the Hehuan Sect? She began to truly confront herself.

Seeing that Yan Ruyu had completely let go, Lin Mo knew his goal had already been achieved. With strike after strike falling, Yan Ruyu quickly fell into a “low health” state. The finishing line had arrived, and Lin Mo promptly delivered the final blow. In this contest, Lin Mo achieved a complete victory.

The next day, Yan Ruyu still walked out with her waist bent and supporting her back. When Xiang’er saw her mother in this state, she tilted her head curiously and asked, “Mother, what happened to you?”

“Mom, are you really my mother? Why were you shouting all night, and in such a strange voice?”
Yan Ruyu’s face flushed red with shame, not knowing how to explain herself.
“Xiang’er, you’re still too young. You mustn’t look at or ask about such things.”

Pulling Xiang’er aside, she glanced at the radiant and energetic Lin Mo, and recalling the commotion of the previous night, her cheeks once again turned crimson. Her heart couldn’t help but think: “Was it really that intense?”

In her mind, the Saintess was someone lofty and majestic, full of dignity. But in front of Lin Mo, again and again, she ended up like this…

She couldn’t help but feel curious—just what methods had Lin Mo used? In the days that followed, apart from looking after his daughter, Lin Mo focused on stabilizing his cultivation realm. He also kept a secret watch on Demon Lord Meiyan’s daughter’s every move.

Finally, after a month had passed, Wanwan slipped out of the residence. Lin Mo concealed his aura and followed closely behind. He truly wanted to see—just what secrets Wanwan was hiding.

In the days after Wanwan’s departure, Ye Kai was thriving like a fish in water in the borderlands of the Three Clans. By absorbing the demonic energy of other cultivators, he had already advanced to the mid-Soul Splitting stage. In addition, he had gathered a large band of followers—over a hundred at the Golden Core stage, dozens at the Nascent Soul stage, and even a handful at the Soul Splitting stage. All of this was preparation for the day he would have to face Yue Hua.

He thought to himself, If Wanwan’s attitude toward me keeps getting worse, and she comes looking for me, won’t I be finished? With this in mind, he began carefully constructing a formation.

As long as he ran into that madwoman Yue Hua, he planned to have his underlings hold her off while he escaped back to the Human Realm. The shadow she had left on him still lingered—she had broken his hands and legs once before, and he knew if they met again, she would surely take something else from him. And what belongs to others is never as reliable as what’s your own, he sighed bitterly.

Just then, a slender figure approached from the distance. Sensing the familiar aura, Ye Kai let out a breath of relief.
“Wanwan, you’re here!” he exclaimed, running up to greet her eagerly.

Even though Ye Kai had prepared an escape route, without Wanwan by his side he always felt insecure.
“Mm,” Wanwan responded coolly, casting her gaze over the area. She quickly noticed the many figures hidden in the shadows. With a mocking smile she said, “You do have some ability. In just a few months, you’ve managed to gather so many people.”

Ye Kai thought she was praising him and was about to answer modestly when Wanwan suddenly stiffened, her eyes widening. Something was wrong.

She turned around—and there was Lin Mo, walking toward them. No matter how cold she tried to act, Wanwan’s heart trembled violently. When had the Young Master begun following them?

“Ye Kai,” Lin Mo said with a sneer, “it seems we truly are fated enemies meeting on a narrow path.” He hadn’t expected that trailing Wanwan would lead him straight to this unexpected catch. So—Wanwan was connected with Ye Kai.

Wanwan reacted quickly. Masking her panic, she turned a cold face toward Ye Kai and snapped, “You’ve got some nerve, daring to build a force inside the territory of the three great demon clans. Die!” With lightning speed, she lunged at him.

“Wanwan, you’ve misunderstood!” Ye Kai shouted, struggling against her attack. “Shouldn’t we be dealing with the one behind us—” But before he could finish, a surge of demonic energy clamped around his throat.

Wanwan no longer had the luxury of playing this slowly—she had to silence him immediately. If Ye Kai kept talking, she would never be able to clear her name.

Suddenly, a streak of sword energy cut through the darkness, shattering her demonic aura. Lin Mo had intervened.
“What’s wrong? Is letting him finish so unbearable?” he said coldly. In his heart, he had already pieced together the truth: Wanwan was Ye Kai’s hidden accomplice.

Ye Kai coughed violently, clutching his throat, and glared at her. “Wanwan, are you insane? Why attack me? Work with me—we can finish Lin Mo off together!” He was stunned to run into Lin Mo here, of all places. Last time Lin Mo had slipped away, but now—this was the perfect chance to kill him.

Wanwan’s mind crumbled. It’s over. Completely over. How had she ended up stuck with Ye Kai, this pig of a teammate? His head was full of filth, and now he had dragged her to ruin. Remembering her mother’s warnings, despair overwhelmed her.

【Congratulations, Host. Someone regretted because of you. You have gained 31,888 Regret Points.】

Lin Mo walked calmly past her, casting only a faint, indifferent glance in her direction.

Lin Mo glanced at Wanwan and, without breaking stride, noted the system’s readout: more than thirty thousand regret points in a single burst—this woman truly regretted it. More importantly, the karmic thread between them wasn’t ordinary; it set her squarely in the role of an enemy. Even so, her crooked kind of cunning had its uses.

Ye Kai, oblivious to all of that, kept his attention fixed on Wanwan. “Wanwan, what’s wrong with you? Lin Mo just walked past you and you still didn’t strike?” Wanwan didn’t dare answer. She shrank beside Lin Mo, trembling, unable to meet Ye Kai’s eyes.

Seeing her like this only deepened Ye Kai’s confusion. Something here was off—but if he couldn’t handle that madwoman Yue Hua, surely he could at least handle Lin Mo. Kill Lin Mo first, talk later. He bared his teeth. “Lin Mo, that day you ruined my foundation with a single sword—cut me open—I’ll make you feel my pain tenfold!” All the torment Yue Hua had carved into him, he vowed to repay upon Lin Mo.

A surge of pitch-black demonic energy erupted from Ye Kai and crashed forward—only for the blast to rebound. There was an explosion, yes, but he was the one sent flying. If not for the protective artifact Yue Hua had left him, auto-activating in time, he’d have been screaming from the pain. Staring at Lin Mo in disbelief, he rasped, “Why… why can you so easily break my attacks?”

Lin Mo sneered. “What do you think?” Ye Kai still hadn’t grasped the gulf between them. One hand clutched his defensive artifact; with the other he fired a streak of demonic energy straight into the sky.

It boomed overhead like a war drum. In moments, several figures raced toward the battlefield and formed up at Ye Kai’s side. Lin Mo chuckled. “One arrow through the clouds, and ten thousand horsemen come galloping—something like that, yes?”

Missing the sarcasm, Ye Kai whipped to his men and shouted, “See the man in front? He’s carrying over a thousand spirit stones and hundreds of treasures—every last one of them will be yours!”

He refused to believe it—so many subordinates, and they still couldn’t bring down Lin Mo? But in the next heartbeat his men went white, as if they’d seen a ghost, and bolted. “It’s the White-Robed Sword Demon! The White-Robed Sword Demon!” someone screamed. “If we lay a hand on him, we’re dead men! Run!”

Lin Mo’s name at the borders of the three great demon clans wasn’t for nothing. Nearly everyone knew it, everyone had heard it, and anyone who actually saw him chose the wisest option—flight. What kind of joke was it to ask them to fight that man? This was the monster who could even drive off True Demons in the Soul Splitting realm. Rumor had it he’d carved a path deep into the Meiyan clan’s territory—right up to Demon Lord Meiyan’s own seat—and still walked out whole. That alone said enough about how terrifying the White-Robed Sword Demon truly was.

Besides, none of them owed Ye Kai any life-and-death loyalty. And even if they did—they were demonic cultivators. Better a fellow cultivator dies than me. Hadn’t they all learned that lesson by now?

In just a few breaths, Ye Kai was left alone, abandoned in the wind. “Th-this… what’s going on?” At last, he realized how dire his situation was. Lin Mo still watched him with that faint smile, and Ye Kai shivered. For Lin Mo, crushing him like an ant would be far too easy. And killing him outright — that would be too merciful.

Sometimes death was the lightest punishment.

Under Lin Mo’s gaze, Ye Kai’s skin crawled. “What’s so good to look at? In your half-human, half-ghost state, can you still trick women?” Lin Mo mocked. He didn’t know why Ye Kai had become so pitiful, and he didn’t care. The words struck deep.

“Die, die, go to hell!” Ye Kai roared, lashing out with wave after wave of demonic energy. Lin Mo simply flicked his hand, dispersing them all like smoke.

At last, Ye Kai understood the truth: the gulf between them was absolute. He couldn’t fathom how Lin Mo had grown so terrifying in barely a year. Even inheriting all of Yue Hua’s cultivation left him hopelessly outmatched.

Desperate, he turned to Wanwan. “Wanwan, aren’t you going to make a move? Will you just watch me get tormented again before you save me?”

Lin Mo cut him off with a cold stare. “No. She won’t save you.”

Then he glanced at Wanwan. “Isn’t that right?”

Wanwan bowed her head. “Yes, Young Lord.”

Ye Kai’s eyes went wide. “Wanwan… what did you just call him? Why would you call Lin Mo the Young Lord?” It was incomprehensible, absurd. But one thing he did understand: if he stayed, he would die.

Without hesitation, he triggered the escape formation he had prepared. Lin Mo reacted at once, sending a streak of blood-colored sword energy straight into the space between Ye Kai’s brows. The blade of qi coiled around his soul — with a single thought, Lin Mo could annihilate him. On top of that, he unleashed the Dream of Yellow Millet, a technique that could seize memories.

Ye Kai vanished into the Human Realm. Lin Mo wasn’t concerned. His plan was only beginning. With Ye Kai’s memories in hand, he could walk into the Human Realm and whitewash his identity, all while earning a fresh bounty of regret points. As for Ye Kai himself — he would not die quickly.

Then, he would slowly torment Ye Kai to death.

…