Lin Residence — inside Lin Mo’s courtyard.

“Uncle Mo, tell me — if your nephew were kidnapped by bandits, would you step forward to save him?”

Lin Mo leisurely sipped the spirit tea in the courtyard, shot Lin Tian a faint glance, and decisively said, “No.”

“Uncle Mo, you’re my own uncle! It’s such a bright, sunny day — how can you make me feel so cold?” Lin Tian clung to Lin Mo’s leg, wailing for his mother.

Lin Mo stared at him, speechless. “If you’re cold, can’t you just put on another layer?”

“I’m cold at heart!” Lin Tian grumbled.

Lin Mo kicked him aside, clearly losing patience. “Alright, three seconds — say what you came for, and keep it simple.”

Lin Tian then recounted his entire ordeal from start to finish.

“So what you’re saying is… you were gambling at a den, got caught on the spot, and beaten?” Lin Mo almost laughed. “Serves you right, doesn’t it?”

Lin Tian quickly defended himself. “Uncle Mo, that’s not it! They were the ones picking a fight. I only wanted to prove that the gambling house was cheating — they were rigging the dice.”

“Nine out of ten bets are scams. The Lin family already gives you monthly spirit stones, and you still can’t make do?” Lin Mo shot him a fierce glare. “Why go gambling at all?”

Lately, thanks to Lin Mo, the Lin family’s standard of living had improved greatly.

Lin Tian scratched his head awkwardly. “Still not enough,” he muttered with a sheepish grin. “Money — who ever thinks they have too much?”

“Get lost! Seems to me you’ve had it too easy lately — instead of cultivating properly, you’re off swaggering around the gambling dens.”

“When I gave you that cultivation technique, how far have you actually trained it?”

Lin Tian protested plaintively, “Uncle Mo, you’re wronging me! I’ve always taken you as my role model and train hard every day. Whenever I feel lazy, I remember your teachings and push myself to work even harder.”

Lin Mo gave him a skeptical look, then reached out and grabbed Lin Tian’s wrist.

With that one check, he was surprised to find the brat really wasn’t lying.

Although he hadn’t formed a core yet, his dantian was brimming with spiritual qi—if he wanted to form a core, he could do it at any time. Clearly, Lin Tian was stabilizing his foundation to break through to a higher-quality Golden Core.

Lin Mo let go of Lin Tian’s wrist and shot him a glare. “So I wronged you.”

The kid might be flighty on most days, but he’d put in real work on the path of cultivation. With dual spirit roots for aptitude, bringing the qi in his dantian under control to this degree definitely took effort.

“Uncle Mo, the main reason I went to the market is—lately we’re really short on spirit stones!”
“In a few days it’s my uncle’s birthday. The gift I set my eyes on is a bit pricey. Without a few… little tricks, I can’t afford it.”

“And I’m also preparing for core formation. I wanted to pick up some pills at the Treasure Pavilion while I was there—that alone costs a pile of spirit stones.”

Lin Mo hadn’t expected that was what Lin Tian was up to. He gave him a surprised look. “So you did put some thought into it.”
“Why didn’t you come discuss the core-formation matter with me first?”

Lin Tian chuckled foolishly. “I can’t trouble Uncle Mo with every little thing, can I?”

Lin Mo sighed. “And yet here you are troubling me now?”

Lin Tian had no comeback and just scratched his head.

“Forget it. Don’t buy the breakthrough pills at the Treasure Pavilion. In a few days I’ll prepare suitable ones for you, tailored to the technique you’re cultivating.”

After all, Lin Tian was family—there was no reason to hold back.

Besides, Lin Mo was an accomplished alchemist himself; there was no need for Lin Tian to be buying pills when Lin Mo could refine them. And right now, the younger generation of the Lin clan needed to raise their strength as much as possible for the upcoming internal clan competition.

At the end of the day, one person’s strength wasn’t enough. If today’s Lin clan wanted to return to the main branch, others had to take victories too.

“Uncle Mo—boo hoo—having an uncle like you is the greatest blessing of my life!” Lin Tian thumped his chest. “If you don’t mind, Uncle Mo, you can use my body however you like.”

That last line sounded more and more off. Lin Mo frowned. “If you can’t speak properly, then speak less.”

Lin Tian sighed, “Being a woman really has its perks!
If I could be Uncle Mo’s concubine, I’d never worry about food or clothes again—straight to the peak of life!”

Lin Mo cut in, deadpan: “If you really want to be a woman, as your uncle I can make that happen.”

Lin Tian laughed and instinctively shielded his fragile “little brother.” “Heh, Uncle Mo, I’m just joking. Even if I turned into a woman, you still wouldn’t fancy me!”

Lin Mo stood and headed for the gate. “Enough nonsense. Let’s go.”

Lin Tian blinked. “Uncle Mo, you’re not actually taking me to that kind of place, are you?”

“Idiot. I’m telling you to take me to that gambling den of yours.”

He shot a fierce glare at Lin Tian, who was still rooted to the spot.

—

After all, it was family money—letting outsiders swindle it would leave anyone feeling sore.

“All right then, I’ll lead the way, Uncle!”

The moment he heard Lin Mo would go to the den with him, Lin Tian lit up. With Uncle Mo along, what was there to fear—wouldn’t they get the place back?

They left the Lin manor and, with Lin Tian setting the pace, soon passed beyond Tianxing City. After asking around for the den’s direction, Lin Mo was speechless. “Seriously? You had to run all the way to the one in Jinling City?”

Lin Tian explained, “The one in Yunxi City is newly opened. Tons of games—dazzling variety. It really draws people in…”

—

“In fact, it’s not just folks from other cities—lately even cultivators from far-off sects have been flocking to that den!”

Lin Mo arched a brow. “What is it, some kind of hidden paradise?”

Lin Tian clapped. “Uncle Mo, you nailed it—it really does count as a little paradise!”

Lin Mo’s curiosity was piqued. “Spell it out.”

In Lin Mo’s view, Lin Tian might act flighty, but he wasn’t stupid. For him to go that far just to lose money, the den had to be special.

“I can’t explain it in a few words,” Lin Tian said. “Once we get there, you’ll understand.”

Once Lin Tian finished, Lin Mo grabbed him by the collar and took to the air, sword underfoot, flying straight toward Jinling City. His speed was outrageous—half a shichen later, they were already outside Jinling’s gates.

Lin Tian’s hair was standing on end; he stared, dazed. “Uncle Mo, you’re way too fast—my poor heart can’t take it!”

Ignoring him, Lin Mo swept his gaze over the surroundings. The foot traffic here dwarfed Tianxing City’s—easily more than tenfold. Once they entered the city, Lin Tian ushered Lin Mo to a pavilion so jam-packed it was practically airtight.

“So many people?” Lin Mo murmured, surprised.

“Right? Last time I came, there were even more,” Lin Tian said.

“How’d you get in, then?” Lin Mo asked.

“Heh… by slipping through the cracks—just muscled my way in,” Lin Tian said, grinning. He’d timed it and wedged himself right into the “seam” between two burly men at the front—the only “gap” available being the folds of their clothes.

“Uncle Mo, come on, I’ll use my body to clear a path for you!”

Lin Mo gave him a look like he was an idiot. Honestly, this guy seemed dead set on embarrassing himself. When Lin Mo didn’t move, Lin Tian—squashed between the two big fellows—turned red and huffed, “Uncle Mo, hurry up! I can’t hold on!”

Lin Mo merely tapped forward. A formless Dao force rolled out like a bulldozer, opening a clean corridor through the human sea. Lin Tian gaped. “With cultivation that high, you really can walk sideways anywhere.”

He wriggled free from between a few broad shoulders and hurried after Lin Mo. Inside, though the place was crowded, it didn’t feel cramped at all. That caught Lin Mo off guard—the den’s crowd management was impressively tight.

He shot Lin Tian a sidelong glance. “So… how much did you lose here?”

“It… wasn’t much,” Lin Tian mumbled, hedging.

“How much is ‘not much’?” Lin Mo asked.

Lin Tian rubbed his nose and muttered, “A bit over eight hundred thousand spirit stones…”

For Lin Mo, eight hundred-plus thousand was a drop in the bucket; but for Lin Tian, it was no small sum. Back in the Qingling Sect, outer disciples like Guzi only got a monthly stipend of sixty-six spirit stones.

“So you’re actually pretty flush,” Lin Mo said.

Lin Tian laughed awkwardly. “Can’t compare with you, Uncle Mo.”

Just then, the hostesses outside the gambling hall came over.

“Honored young masters, what would you like to play? Allow me to guide you.”
The girl was pretty and graceful; every movement gave off a captivating charm.

Lin Tian leaned in and murmured, “Not bad, right, Uncle Mo? The greeters here—top-tier looks and figures.”

Lin Mo swept the room with his spirit sense. As Lin Tian claimed, there were dozens of women with excellent looks and figures; by the standards of this era, their attire was bold. The attendant guiding Lin Mo soon led them to a spot inside.

“Is this your first time at our house, young master?”

After a quick look around, Lin Mo smiled faintly. “So this place specializes in more than just games, hm?”

“Uncle Mo, you’ve been here before?” Lin Tian blurted, surprised.

Lin Mo shot him a look that said: zip it.

The woman nodded. “It seems the young master already understands a little about how we operate. To place bets, you exchange spirit stones—or items of equal value—for chips. When you’re done playing, you exchange chips back for spirit stones. As long as you’re not in the middle of a wager, the turnover we hold is perfectly clear, which makes mistakes unlikely. Especially at the tables, comparing chip counts is far easier than haggling spirit stones up by increments, so there’s hardly any need for tedious tallying.”

Lin Mo raised a brow. “I didn’t expect a gambling house to run with ideas this… advanced.”