In order to restore his own cultivation foundation, Ye Kai had brought about the deaths of countless Qingling Sect disciples.

The revelation struck like thunder. The entire Qingling Sect was dumbfounded.

“What’s going on? Those disciples who died in the beginning—was it actually Ye Kai who killed them?”
“Ye Kai was the true culprit behind the slaughter of his fellow disciples?”
“But then why did Senior Brother Lin fall into demonhood at that time?”
“Didn’t you see? It was that demon girl at Ye Kai’s side. During Senior Brother Lin’s duel with Zhu Shiyao, she secretly injected something into him. That’s when the demonic energy began to surge from his body.”

The truth was finally revealed.

The disciples of Qingling Sect no longer had the face to look at Lin Mo. Their heads hung low in shame. They remembered the sight of him, battered and bleeding, still standing against the sect-guarding grand formation in order to slay Ye Kai. The memory made their guilt unbearable.

The peak masters of Qingling Sect felt the same. As elders, they had wrongly accused a junior—nearly condemning a man who was willing to die to eradicate a true demon, a man filled with righteousness, as the demon himself. Their old faces burned with humiliation, nowhere to hide.

The other righteous cultivators present began openly criticizing Qingling Sect.

“At the very least, your sect is supposed to be third-rank. How can your abilities be this poor?”
“I heard their twelve peaks only mind their own business. They don’t even know the true state of their sect. If they had been united like other sects, would such a farce have ever happened?”
“Exactly. Qingling Sect might as well disband. Living off the name of a third-rank immortal sect while doing nothing useful—better stop misleading disciples.”

The twelve peak masters were scolded so harshly they could not lift their heads. Lin Mo, however, was secretly pleased, gathering wave after wave of regret points.

“Fellow Daoist Lin Mo, what happened before was a misunderstanding. Could you perhaps put away that sword aura of yours that could scare people to death?” The speaker was an elder from one of the First-Rank Immortal Sects of the Upper Realm.

Others quickly echoed:
“Yes, Senior Lin Mo, it was all a misunderstanding. Now that the truth has come to light, we are all on the same side.”
“We apologize for our recklessness. Please, withdraw your divine power.”

They truly feared that if Lin Mo grew angry and so much as moved a finger, he could unleash his sword aura and cut them all down.

Lin Mo only shrugged and withdrew the energy. At once, the sky cleared—without the oppressive aura, the heavens stretched vast and bright again. But the vision was not yet over.

It continued.

The Twelve Peak Masters had been injured by a mysterious girl who descended from the heavens. While they recuperated, Ye Kai once again stirred up trouble, slaughtering many Qingling Sect disciples. After drugging Yuehua into unconsciousness, he desecrated the female disciples of the sect before her very eyes, then killed them brutally.

In the end, he drained Yuehua of all her cultivation and fled. From that moment on, he was relentlessly hunted by Yuehua, already fallen into demonhood.

Fury ignited among the righteous cultivators. Every gaze turned on Ye Kai.

“I can’t hold it in—this beast deserves to die!”
“Never in my life have I wanted so badly to tear someone to pieces and feed him to the dogs.”
“Death is too light for him—his very soul should be annihilated!”

Curses rang out without end. Ye Kai looked broken, as if his soul had already fled.
“Ye Kai, let’s see who can still protect you now!”

Yuehua struck again. This time, the two elders from the Upper Realm’s First-Rank Immortal Sect did nothing to stop her, and the righteous cultivators coldly watched.

Just as Yuehua’s hand was about to pierce Ye Kai’s chest and end him in a single blow, a figure in white swept across the battlefield. One sword diverted Yuehua’s strike.

Yuehua stared at Lin Mo, bewildered.

“You would let him die so easily,” Lin Mo said coldly. “By doing so, you’re only shielding him.”

“No, Mo’er, I did not!” Yuehua blurted, already realizing her recklessness. Ye Kai could not be allowed such an easy death—that would be far too merciful.

She reached out to catch Lin Mo’s sleeve, to explain, but a ripple of sword-qi blasted her back.
“Don’t touch me,” Lin Mo said. “You no longer have that qualification.”

“Mo’er, Mo’er, I know I was wrong. I don’t ask for forgiveness—just give your master one chance, one chance to atone.”

Yuehua’s heart felt flayed open, as though countless insects gnawed at her flesh. She could not accept her disciple’s cold indifference. To think it would always be like this from now on—life felt worse than death.

Lin Mo did not look at her. “No need. That sword strike, that day, already severed our bond as master and disciple. I don’t need your atonement. I only hope you will no longer disturb my life.”

Thirteen years of master-disciple ties—snapped in an instant. Her Mo’er would not even give her the chance to make amends. His calmness cut deeper than any blade.

She would rather he strike her, curse her—anything would hurt less than this indifference.

Had atonement become a luxury beyond reach? Memories of thirteen years—every fragment spent with Lin Mo—rose up in waves, each bringing fresh pain. At last, Yuehua could no longer endure it. She fell to her knees, clasped her head, and wept.

“Sob… Mo’er, Mo’er, I was wrong—I truly was wrong… Please, just give me a chance to make amends…” By the end, her voice had nearly broken.

The onlookers could only watch. On such matters, outsiders could neither speak nor dare to. Between the two of them, neither was someone they could provoke. Yet from the vision alone, it was clear Yuehua had indeed wronged Lin Mo deeply.

“Don’t… don’t come any closer…” Ye Kai shrank back in terror as Lin Mo strode toward him.

Lin Mo did not hesitate—he severed Ye Kai’s limbs, stopping the thrashing that irritated him. Then, from the system, he purchased a spatial mirror and sealed Ye Kai inside. To prevent suicide, he locked down every trace of Ye Kai’s demonic qi. He intended to grind this beast down slowly, to make him live a fate worse than death.

“Leave Ye Kai to me. None of you have objections, do you?” His words pressed down like a mountain, allowing no refusal.

“Of course not. This is a private grievance between you and that demon—we will not interfere.”
“Yes. Since you have decided, you must already know how to punish him.”

Even the elders of the First-Rank Immortal Sect spoke this way. The rest could only agree.

“Lin Mo, on behalf of the Qingling Sect, I apologize to you,” said Master Fengqing, dropping to his knees. Seeing this, the other peak masters and disciples followed suit.

Had Lin Mo still been only at the Golden Core stage, they would never have knelt. But now he had reached the Divine Transformation Realm, and they had no choice. They knew that if Lin Mo refused to forgive them—after all they had done—even if their sect was exterminated, no one would intervene.

“An apology is not something spoken with words alone,” Lin Mo said evenly. “From now on, thirty percent of Qingling Sect’s income will be delivered to the Lin family.”

The demand was neither too large nor too small. The sect had no room to refuse and accepted at once.

Seeing matters settled, Lin Mo prepared to return to the Lin family.
“Fellow Daoist Lin Mo, how should we handle Master Yuehua?” a Divine Transformation Realm elder asked.
“She has nothing to do with me.” With that, Lin Mo vanished.

Now, all eyes turned to Yuehua, whose face was filled with despair.
“Yuehua, although you didn’t directly harm those Qingling Sect disciples—”
“—you were forced into demonhood. But you know as well as we do: the righteous and the demonic cannot coexist.”

“You still have to die. We won’t act this time. End it yourself. Preserve your soul, and you can still enter the cycle of reincarnation.”

Yuehua trembled, then shook her head violently.
“I cannot die—not yet. I haven’t slaughtered all the demons under heaven. I haven’t made amends to my Mo’er. The only one who can kill me… is my Mo’er.”

“You’re not allowed—and neither am I!” she cried.

In the next instant, Yuehua dissolved into a swirl of black mist and vanished.

Her speed left the righteous cultivators dumbstruck.
“What just happened? She… ran?” They had truly believed Yuehua would take her own life in shame. No one expected her mind to twist in such a way.