Deep in the land of Southern Sichuan, within a mountain stronghold enshrouded in black fog, about a hundred people knelt on the ground, seemingly waiting for the arrival of some important figure.
At that moment, a ghostly howl emanated from a cave, causing everyone to lower their heads even further.
Then, slowly emerging from the cave, was a man in a black robe, with long black hair. The man had a tall figure but his skin was sickly pale, devoid of any color on his face. Around his body lingered streaks of black fog, dense yet not dissipating.
"Greetings to the Young Sect Master upon concluding your retreat."
A chorus of voices spoke in unison, their sound shaking heaven and earth.
"Is that Lin Mo dead?" The young man's first words upon exiting were to ask.
An elder standing by his side slightly changed his expression and said, "Young Sect Master, both Godslayer Temple and Soul Destruction Sect abandoned the assassination mission. Their five ace assassins have all fallen at the hands of Lin Mo."
The youth shrouded in the black robe furrowed his brow, extended his palm, and a ball of black fog gathered in his hand, materializing into a ghostly head with eyes flickering with red light.
"What a character Lin Mo is, not only did he slay my avatar, but he also forced both Godslayer Temple and Soul Destruction Sect to abandon their pursuit," the young man said, clenching his fist. The ghostly head in his palm instantly turned back into a wisp of black fog, continuing to coil around him.
"However, I heard Lin Mo is now in the Northeast, and he seems to have offended the people of Joy Sect, and might even be injured," the elder muttered, head bowed.
"Offended the people of Joy Sect?" The young man's eyebrows twitched, then he suddenly laughed, "I just so happen to be going to the Northeast. I might as well take this opportunity to execute Lin Mo and seek revenge."
Inside the Dark Web.
On the assassin's list of bounties, the price for Lin Mo's head had risen to a hundred billion, shocking everyone once again. This time, the kill order was published by several people simultaneously, and the combined bounty exceeded a hundred billion. Lin Mo had offended too many forces.
It should be noted that it had been nearly a decade since a bounty of a hundred billion had appeared.
"Godslayer Temple announces it will continue the pursuit of Lin Mo!"
"Soul Destruction Sect declares it will continue the pursuit of Lin Mo!"
Just then, messages from Godslayer Temple and Soul Destruction Sect spread once more.
"Damn, aren't they taking advantage of his misfortune? I heard Lin Mo might be injured."
"Yes, Lin Mo isn't just potentially injured in the Northeast; he's also angered Joy Sect!"
"Godslayer Temple and Soul Destruction Sect have their super-ace assassins wiped out by Lin Mo and have always sought revenge. With such a good opportunity, how could these two assassin organizations give up?"
"Despicable! Shameless scoundrels, to strike at a man when he is down." In the forums, many criticized Godslayer Temple and Soul Destruction Sect, while many others hoped to witness Lin Mo's fall, especially those whom Lin Mo had once offended, wishing he would perish immediately.
In an office of the Huaxia Royal Group.
Minister Shangguan sat at the head of a silver circular table, with transparent screens of air waves rising all around him, isolating him from the outside world. Even a bomb could not penetrate, as this was one of the greatest technologies of Huaxia. However, such technology would not be made available to the public to prevent theft by other nations and was only permitted for internal use.
Besides Minister Shangguan, there were some division personnel seated at the round table.
On the table, transparent data walls appeared out of thin air, and one displayed Lin Mo's photograph, which included various information about him.
"Minister Shangguan, respected leaders, according to our intelligence, Lin Mo is still in the Northeast. However, many forces from the underworld have set their sights on him, and it's said that he might be injured and consequently in grave danger," Luo Yu began to say.
"After all, Lin Mo is a pinnacle youth of our Huaxia. Should we just watch as others pursue and kill him? Wouldn't that be a challenge to our Royal Group's credibility?" An elder spoke.
"However, this can't be blamed on us. Lin Mo has been recklessly killing, and even our Royal Group has turned a blind eye. Now that he's created such a mess, he should take responsibility for it himself."
"I think Elder Chen is right. Since our Royal Group was established, we have aimed to maintain social stability and suppress these underworld forces and Hidden Sects. Now Lin Mo alone has stirred up the underworld and Hidden Sects, which is truly troublesome," another added.
Luo Yu, biting her thin lips, looked at Minister Shangguan with her beautiful eyes and said, "But Lin Mo is a great talent; are we just going to ignore him?"
Minister Shangguan was silent for a while before speaking, "Everyone, do you really think that powerful Sects and organizations can be controlled by our Royal Group?"
Upon hearing Minister Shangguan's words, everyone fell silent for a while. Today, on the land of Huaxia, forces like Joy Sect and many Sects had not disappeared but were completely hidden. Some were hidden in the Mortal World, others in the Martial Arts World, all to avoid alarming the nation.
But what about Magic Users and Martial Arts Masters with heavenly powers? How could they be content to be controlled by the Security Bureau? They would only emerge when waiting for the right opportunity.
"These Martial Arts Masters are merely afraid of our fighter jets, our superweapons, and our nuclear weapons. It's impossible to truly suppress them. From many recent reports, it seems possible that many organizations might surface. Perhaps they're just waiting for the right moment," Minister Shangguan added.
Hearing this, everyone fell silent again, knowing these matters even if Minister Shangguan didn't mention them.
"This might be an opportunity. If Lin Mo is so powerful that he can emerge unscathed from this situation, it would be a tremendous blow to those forces," Minister Shangguan said with a gleam in his eyes.
"I hope he can hold on," Luo Yu clenched her small fists and said with bitten lips.
The northeast wind was howling, and the families and individuals in the Imperial City, Shu Province, and Shanghai associated with Lin Mo were closely following the developments of this matter at all times.
The Su Family.
The snow had been falling continuously for three days and was getting heavier.
"He has been in our Su family for three days now and he still hasn't left. What exactly does he want to do? If he really draws people here, wouldn't we all be in danger?" Su Ze whispered.
Su Ze, Su Feiyue, Su Minmin, and others stood in the distance, looking at Lin Mo who was standing at the entrance of the hall, with a look of concern on everyone's faces.
At that moment, Lin Mo made a move, having spent the past three days sorting out the details of the Falling Dragon incident. As for the Joy Sect, if they dared to come to him, it would save him the trouble of finding their headquarters.
The Falling Dragon incident had occurred near a town called 'Yingchuan', situated toward the north, near the mountains.
"Along the way north, if a man blocks me, kill the man; if a Buddha blocks me, kill the Buddha!"
Lin Mo's eyes were cold as he stepped onto the snowy ground, slowly walking towards the door.
"Is he leaving?" Su Minmin's eyes widened as she spoke.
"It seems like it," Su Feiyue said with a hint of surprise and uncertainty.
Only after Lin Mo had walked out the door and slowly trekked through the snow towards the distance did the three of them truly believe that Lin Mo had finally left, and they all breathed a sigh of relief together.
On the first day after Lin Mo left, he spent the night in a hotel, encountering assassins from the Godslayer Temple and Soul Destruction Sect, all of which he slaughtered. But someone witnessed that the battle took quite some time, so the rumors that Lin Mo was injured might be true.
Lin Mo had planned to walk to Yingchuan County, moving through the forest. By noon the next day, he had just passed a small village and arrived in an open field.
Suddenly, a sharp and cold voice sounded.
"Lin Mo, we have been waiting for you for a long time."
The speaker was wearing a black mask and dressed in black leather, exuding an aura that commanded respect and fear.
Several oddly dressed men and women stood by his side; there were five individuals in total, each radiating a strong aura. The weakest among them was at the Emperor Peak, and three were at the Half-step Martial God Level.
"Who are you?" Lin Mo asked indifferently, giving the group a cold glance.
The leader's eyes flashed with a cold gleam as he spoke, "I am the Evil Ghost, the leader of Soul Destruction. You killed our Black and White Killers. Surely you have not forgotten us!"
"Oh, so the people from Soul Destruction have arrived, which means the people from Godslayer Temple must be here as well," Lin Mo said with an indifferent expression.
"Heh, you truly are an exceptional talent, facing assassin organizations like Godslayer Temple and Soul Destruction with such calm. Do you know that you are going to die today?"
A chilling voice rang out, and suddenly six people appeared on the left side, all dressed in uniform silver tight clothes, as if they had appeared out of thin air.
When they appeared, the people from Soul Destruction frowned and looked cautiously at the man standing at the front.
"Godslayer Temple leader, Bruce," the man introduced himself.
The people from Godslayer Temple had been standing nearby the whole time. Lin Mo hadn't used his Divine Sense, but upon seeing Bruce, it was clear he possessed some special Transcendent abilities that allowed him to conceal his body and aura.
In reality, both Godslayer Temple and Soul Destruction were evenly matched in strength, but because of Bruce's Transcendent abilities to conceal himself and be undetectable, he was feared as an assassin. Even Soul Destruction was very wary of him.
On the Dark Web.
Once more, a forum post surfaced about Godslayer Temple and Soul Destruction teaming up to ambush Lin Mo in the Northeast, igniting a heated discussion.
"I heard that Godslayer Temple and Soul Destruction both sent assassins to kill Lin Mo in a hotel the day before yesterday, but they ultimately failed!"
"Those assassins were trained by Godslayer Temple and Soul Destruction, and this time they've deployed their aces. Plus, I've heard Lin Mo might be injured!"
"Could it be that this time Lin Mo really met his end? What a pity, I was looking forward to seeing how he would fight against the Joy Sect."
"Godslayer Temple and Soul Destruction are just chickens and dogs; he will not lose."
It was that user by the name 'Yue Luohua' who spoke up.
"Pfft, with all aces of Godslayer Temple and Soul Destruction in action, even their leaders have come forth to team up against Lin Mo. If he doesn't die, who will?"
(This is a chapter of three thousand characters; the excitement continues tomorrow. If you spot any typos or mistakes with the cultivation techniques or the protagonist's name, please let me know so I can correct them; sometimes I write too quickly, which can lead to mistakes, and after writing millions of words, it's inevitable. I'd also like to recommend one of my other books. It's called (My Cold and Proud CEO Wife); it's completely different in style from this book. At that time, I wrote it following the trend in the book city. Don't criticize me, you can read it when you feel like I'm not updating this book often enough, or if you're looking to pass the time. Of course, I suspect you'll scold me because that book is purely about a protagonist who's a womanizer with a despicable character. If you think it's readable, then read it; if not, just pretend I never recommended it.)