When Lin Mo went to exchange his chips, a problem quickly arose.

A middle-aged man with a small mustache — clearly one of the gambling house stewards — stepped forward and said coldly,

“Young master, we have no rule here forbidding temporary raises, but I still can’t exchange your spirit stones!”

Lin Mo wasn’t surprised that someone had come to make trouble. After all, the sum involved was four hundred and fifty million spirit stones. If they just let him walk away with that, then something would truly be strange.

He asked with a calm smile,

“So, you don’t actually have any rule here that forbids temporary raises, do you?”

The mustached man sneered.

“The rules of our gambling house are uniform — there’s no such rule anywhere. I can refund your fifteen million spirit stones, but the four hundred and fifty million? You won’t be taking those away.”

Lin Mo chuckled softly.

“Oh really? Rules, my ass. Rules are made by people — and I don’t see how yours differ from any other gambling house!”
“Earlier, when my friend raised his bet by four hundred spirit stones and lost, why didn’t you speak up then?”
“Could it be that in your establishment one is only allowed to lose money, but never win?”

Because Lin Mo had won such an enormous amount, nearly everyone in the hall had noticed the commotion. Soon, voices began rising in his support.

He continued sharply,

“If your gambling house really can’t afford to pay out, then why not return all the spirit stones we lost before?”
“A gambling house that doesn’t even uphold its reputation — what right do you have to operate one?”

Someone in the crowd added loudly,

“Looking at it now, I’d say your gambling house is up to no good! Why didn’t you speak up when that gentleman’s friend raised the bet earlier? Only when this young master raised the stake — and even won — did you suddenly appear?”

That remark struck a chord with many present, and the atmosphere instantly exploded into chaos. The situation was quickly slipping out of control.

“Everyone, calm down!”

The mustached steward hurried forward to explain,

“When someone raised the bet in the first round, I had only just received the notice, so I stepped in to stop it right then. Is that a problem?”
“As for that customer’s forty thousand spirit stones from before, I’m willing to refund those as well.”

Lin Mo sneered coldly.

“Do you take me for a fool?”

Lin Mo sneered,

“You want to use the money I bet earlier to trade for four hundred and fifty million spirit stones? You really know how to do business!”
“If you’re going to play it that way, then why not refund all the spirit stones these recent customers have lost too?”

Most of the gamblers inside the hall had lost far more than they’d ever won.
When they heard Lin Mo say that, they instantly grew excited, shouting for their money back as well.

The mustached middle-aged steward’s face turned an ugly shade. From the time this gambling house had opened until now, its profits had reached nearly two billion spirit stones—an enormous haul made in only a short while. They had lured in countless cultivators who weren’t usually heavy gamblers; once that flock of “sheep” was sheared clean, they planned to withdraw anyway.

No matter what, there was no way he could return that money.

If the higher-ups learned that he’d let such a situation blow up, losing a limb might be the least of his worries.

After thinking for a moment, the mustached man forced a smile and said,

“How about this—we each take a step back. Let’s settle it with a wager of four hundred and fifty million spirit stones.”

Lin Mo chuckled.

“And why should I keep gambling with you?”

The man quickly said,

“Please, sir, just hear me out!”
“You enjoy dice, don’t you? Then let’s play Big-or-Small.”
“If you win, you take nine hundred million spirit stones. If you lose, we’ll return the fifteen million spirit stones you bet before. That’s a fair compromise, isn’t it?”

Lin Tian tugged at Lin Mo’s sleeve and whispered,

“Uncle Mo, we really don’t need to keep gambling with them. They’ll definitely cheat behind the scenes.”

Lin Mo smiled faintly—Lin Tian was learning.

“But when someone’s in such a hurry to hand their boss more money, how could I refuse?”

He straightened and said aloud,

“Fine then. I’ll play one more round with you!”

Among the crowd, a few clear-headed gamblers sighed in pity.

“Young master, this is bad…”

They knew the house would never play fair—and after today, they had no intention of ever returning.

Lin Mo and the mustached steward walked back to the same gaming table as before.
The man narrowed his eyes.

“Young master, this will be the final round. I’ll wager with you personally.”

Lin Mo smiled.

“No problem—but I’ll be the one to throw the dice. You bet on big or small.”

The mustached middle-aged steward agreed without hesitation.

“No problem!”

He was eager for Lin Mo to proceed.

These dice were special. Without channeling spirit power, a cultivator couldn’t judge the total by sound, nor shake out an exact result—unless they’d undergone special training. As the house’s steward, he had both skills down cold: he could rattle out the points he wanted and discern totals by ear without a mistake. Even if Lin Mo truly possessed freakish talent and could roughly roll what he wanted, he was still the bettor. From any angle, the house couldn’t lose this round.

Lin Mo asked mildly,

“One more question. For the ‘big or small’ reveal, what determines the number shown inside?”

The mustached man laughed.

“But of course!”

“Good. Hearing that puts me at ease,” Lin Mo said, and began to shake the dice. Nothing flashy—just a steady rhythm back and forth a dozen times—then he capped the cup on the table.

The steward’s ear twitched; he grinned.

“I bet Big.”

Composed as ever, Lin Mo slowly lifted the cover.

The first die showed six, followed by five, then four.
Faces tightened all around. No matter what else emerged, the total would certainly be at least twelve and less than eighteen.

“Young master, you’ve lost,” the mustached man declared.
“Come along—let’s go reclaim the 3,500 spirit stones you staked earlier.”

He turned to leave the table.

“Wait!” Lin Tian, who had been watching closely, suddenly blurted out, eyes fixed on the last die. He was stunned.

“The last die shattered—it shows ten points!”

Everyone whipped around to look. Sure enough, the final die had cracked.

“Ten points?!” The mustached steward was struck dumb. “H-how is that possible…?”

Lin Mo smiled.

“These dice are custom-made. If you don’t use spirit power, no matter how hard you try, you can’t break them—right? And yet… how could that be?”

He had indeed used a “dirty” trick: leveraging a secret treasure of the Chi Yan clan together with his system’s spatial ability, he released spirit power inside the system’s space, shattering the outer shell of one die and thereby evading the wrist-mounted inspection.

Even so, the mustached steward didn’t dare accuse him outright—he knew full well such methods existed and were custom-crafted. If he tried to spell out the “cheating” aloud, he’d only expose the house’s own tricks.

To keep the casino’s broader operation from collapsing, the mustached middle-aged steward still handed over the final nine hundred million spirit stones to Lin Mo.

Lin Mo didn’t stand on ceremony. He raised his voice to the hall:

“Everyone—anyone who lost spirit stones to me today, I’ll reimburse your losses for today!”

For a moment, the crowd erupted in cheers.

Lin Mo shot the mustached man a mocking glance—its meaning plain: “And what exactly can you do about it?” The steward ground his teeth in fury. With the mixed crowd—scions of great houses, disciples of immortal sects, and wandering cultivators—Lin Mo had practically wrapped the whole venue’s sympathy around himself. This was no place to make a move on him.

Once Lin Mo stepped out of the square, the steward relayed orders across Jinling City:

“Watch that brat’s every move. Find a chance and take him out.”
“At least three or four hall masters must act together—otherwise we won’t be able to pin him down!”

He could tell Lin Mo’s cultivation was at Divine Transformation. But so what? If someone dared stir up trouble, what did Divine Transformation change?

After leaving the gambling house, Lin Mo began making amends to the wronged crowd. He took out just under one hundred million spirit stones from his winnings and still won approving looks. It was the first time Lin Tian had ever seen so many spirit stones; he clicked his tongue.

“Uncle Mo, with this much, you’re rich enough to rival a city!”

Lin Mo smiled and handed Lin Tian ten million spirit stones.

“Take these to the Treasure Auction in Baidi City—the one held once every four years. Bid boldly this time.”

Lin Tian accepted them with a broad grin.

“Don’t worry, Uncle Mo. The items I pick out for Uncle Zhan won’t be anything less than excellent.”

Mention of the Treasure Pavilion’s auction in Baidi City brought back the scene of the very first time Lin Tian had met Lin Mo.

Back then, Lin Tian really hadn’t known any better — he had even dared to talk back to Uncle Mo.
Fortunately, he’d come to his senses in time and turned into Uncle Mo’s loyal little follower. Only because of that did this disciple now get to live so comfortably.

Just as Lin Mo was raking in winnings and preparing to take the kid Lin Tian back to the Lin family, he suddenly noticed a familiar figure lurking in the shadows, eyes fixed on him.

“Brother Xia,” Lin Mo called out lazily, “why not come out and greet your big brother when you see him?”

From the crowd squeezed out Xia Qianqiu, wearing an embarrassed smile.

“Greetings, elder brother…”

Lin Mo chuckled.

“What’s with that guilty face? Lost quite a bit today, haven’t you? And you still have the nerve to come to me for money?”

Xia Qianqiu nodded sheepishly.

“I lost… quite a lot. I’m a bit embarrassed to ask you for help.”

Lin Mo nodded.

“All right then — I won’t give you any.”

Xia Qianqiu froze, then hurriedly said,

“Brother, please — lend your younger brother a hand!”

Lin Mo asked,

“How much did you lose?”

“Eight million spirit stones,” Xia Qianqiu admitted.

At that, Lin Tian couldn’t help but grin.

“Uncle Mo, see? I told you — it’s not my fault. This gambling den’s too tempting; even Uncle Qianqiu couldn’t resist, right?”

“I only lost eight hundred thousand,” Lin Tian added quickly.

“Eh!” Lin Mo gave him a light kick.

“That’s because you don’t have eight million spirit stones to lose.”

Then his expression turned serious.

“Giving you eight million spirit stones isn’t the issue — but that’s exactly what shows there’s something wrong here. Did you notice it today?”

Xia Qianqiu hesitated, shaking his head before nodding slightly.

“I can tell something’s off… but I really can’t see what the problem is.”

Lin Mo’s gaze turned cold as he looked toward the gambling den.
The biggest issue wasn’t their tricks — it was that the staff themselves had cultivation levels far too high to be ordinary employees.
Even the so-called itinerant cultivators inside were all at the Nascent-Soul realm or higher.

“Those women serving the guests — even the weakest among them were at least at the Golden Core stage,” Lin Mo said calmly.
“But more importantly, I also found that, aside from those mustached middle-aged stewards, there are two cultivators here at the Divine Transformation realm.”

Lin Tian and Xia Qianqiu both froze in shock.

“With a setup like this, they could go straight to the Upper Realm and establish a sect of their own. Yet they’ve opened gambling houses here in the Middle Realm…”
“The more I think about it, the stranger it feels.”

Lin Mo warned,

“Your Xia family’s territory is the closest to these dens. You’d best remind your old master to stay cautious.”

Xia Qianqiu nodded quickly.

“Brother, why don’t you come to my Xia household for a visit?”

Lin Mo shook his head.

“Xia He still misses you quite a bit,” Xia Qianqiu added, half-jokingly.

But Lin Mo said firmly,

“The people from this gambling house already have their eyes on me. It wouldn’t be wise to go to your Xia family now — I might bring trouble to your doorstep.”

Hearing that, Xia Qianqiu immediately spread out his divine sense to probe the surroundings.

“The one tailing us only just broke through to the Nascent Soul realm not long ago; I can also make out a few Golden Core cultivators nearby.”

Then Xia Qianqiu said,

“Brother, I’d better go notify my Xia family and have them come lend you a hand.”

Lin Mo shook his head and said,
“Your old man has only reached the Soul Splitting stage — if he comes here, he’ll just be throwing his life away. You should hurry back. Don’t stay in contact with me for too long, or you’ll arouse suspicion among the people here. I have my own way to handle this.”

Xia Qianqiu wanted to say something more, but Lin Tian patted his shoulder and said,
“Uncle Qianqiu, Uncle Mo is already a powerhouse at the Divine Transformation stage — haven’t you heard?”

Xia Qianqiu knew that Lin Mo had already cleared his name and broken through to the Divine Transformation stage.
But hearing it and believing it were two different things — he still found it hard to accept.
Now that Lin Tian put it that way, he glanced at Lin Mo and asked carefully,
“Uncle Mo… have you really reached Divine Transformation?”

Lin Mo didn’t bother hiding it. He released a wave of Divine Transformation–level spiritual pressure toward Xia Qianqiu.
Xia Qianqiu staggered back several steps under the crushing weight, his face turning pale as paper.

Seeing Lin Mo’s subtle glance, Xia Qianqiu immediately turned and hurried back to the Xia residence.
Hidden watchers in the dark quickly transmitted what they saw to a middle-aged man with a small mustache.

“Chief Wu, that man seemed to have a clash with the Xia family’s eldest young master — he forced him to leave.”

“Should we keep tailing the Xia family’s young master?”

Chief Wu replied,
“No need. Keep an eye on that middle-aged man instead. Try to find out his background. Once they leave Jinling City — if he turns out to be nobody important — just let him go.”

…

That day, Lin Mo went nowhere in particular. He simply stayed in Jinling City with Lin Tian, eating and drinking to their heart’s content.

After eating and drinking his fill, Lin Tian began to grow uneasy.
“Uncle Mo,” he said, “I heard that before people die, there’s always a farewell meal — so they won’t go hungry on the road to the underworld. You’re not… feeding me my send-off meal, are you?”

Lin Mo blinked.
“You don’t believe in my strength?”

Lin Tian gave a wry laugh.
“I was hoping we could escape from these people, but honestly… I don’t trust my strength!”

Lin Mo patted him on the shoulder.
“Relax. Since you’ve been calling me ‘Uncle Mo’ all this time, I guarantee you won’t die today.”

Lin Tian let out a startled cry.
“So I just won’t die — that’s it?”

Lin Mo smiled.
“You’ll live — and I’ll make sure your second brother survives too. That way, the Lin family’s line won’t be cut off.”

When Lin Mo said that, Lin Tian felt a chill run down his spine.
“Breaking my arms, legs, or even my throat is fine, but at least protect my face!”

Lin Mo chuckled. “You picked the one thing on you that’s worth the least. Typical you.”

Once they left Jinling City, it wasn’t long before things unfolded exactly as Lin Mo had predicted —
they were ambushed.

Groups of three or four cultivators surrounded them, each led by someone at the Divine Transformation stage.

The oldest among the attackers sneered, “Kid, I heard you made quite a bit of money at the gambling den. With so much money, can you really keep it all to yourself?”

Lin Mo nodded with an easy smile. “Isn’t that exactly what I’m doing — holding it just fine?”

A short, middle-aged man at the head of another group spoke coldly,
“Cut the chatter. The Chief Hallmaster already warned us — this brat’s a genuine Divine Transformation cultivator. Don’t go fighting him one-on-one, or you’ll regret it. Attack together, and we’ll end this quickly.”

The last to speak was a fair-featured woman, her tone calm yet persuasive.
“Why not settle this peacefully? He hands over the money, and we let him live.”

The short man snorted. “Peaceful? Please. You just fancy this boy’s looks! Someone like you isn’t exactly his type anyway.”

The woman narrowed her eyes slightly and turned to Lin Mo.
“Young master, what do you think of me?”

Lin Mo gave her a brief glance — not bad at all — then turned his head toward Lin Tian.
“Little brother, do you mind?”

Lin Tian looked at the beautiful woman across from them, swallowed hard, and whispered,
“She’s really good-looking… I like her, but I don’t think I could handle her.”

Lin Mo grinned.
“It’s fine — as long as you like her. You just have to believe you can handle her.”

Then he added with a teasing glint in his eyes,
“As long as you don’t mind that this guy can’t have kids, it’s fine.”

Lin Tian: “…”