This Is Third Rank Already?

Lin Mo walked toward Xu Xiaodao.

Xu Xiaodao struggled to his feet, bracing himself for battle.

By now, any hope of escape was gone.

After burning his blood and qi and suffering severe injuries, his combat strength had long since plummeted.

Yet even now, he still could not believe that Lin Mo before him could be this strong.

"Just who are you? How could you possibly be this strong?"

"I have you to thank for that."

Only when he stopped three meters in front of Xu Xiaodao did Lin Mo lower his voice and speak.

The corners of his mouth curled into an arc.

"You... could it be..."

Suddenly, Xu Xiaodao's eyes widened.

Could this brat have swallowed the Thunder Bead?

That was not right. Although the Thunder Bead could boost one's combat strength, the increase immediately after swallowing it could not possibly be this outrageous.

At most, it could increase combat strength by fifty percent.

He himself possessed the combat strength of Peak Fourth Rank, and after burning his blood and qi just now, he had even rivaled a Fifth-grade Martial Artist.

Even if Lin Mo had swallowed the Thunder Bead, his combat strength could not possibly be this monstrous.

However, Lin Mo had no intention of letting him say too much.

Xu Xiaodao had wanted to keep the matter of the Thunder Bead secret, which was why he had silenced the person who provided the information.

Likewise, Lin Mo did not want Xu Xiaodao to reveal anything about the Thunder Bead.

This thing was his trump card. He could not expose too much.

So whether it was for revenge or to silence him, Xu Xiaodao had to die!

Xu Xiaodao only saw a blur before Lin Mo had already seized him by the throat.

"You... urk, urk..."

In an instant, Xu Xiaodao's face turned purple, and he could not utter a single word.

"When you chose to harm us, you should have been prepared to face the consequences."

Crack!

Lin Mo tightened his fingers, and a crisp sound of bone breaking rang out.

Xu Xiaodao's neck twisted to one side. His pupils rapidly dilated, and in an instant, he lost all breath.

Xu Xiaodao, dead!

The people nearby were also startled.

This kid is ruthless enough, Wang Xiao thought as he watched.

Zhang Junjie and the others were somewhat dazed. A Peak Fourth Rank martial artist had just died like that?

And he had been... killed by Lin Mo?

Was this still the rookie they had known before?

Still, their hatred for Xu Xiaodao made them feel a wave of relief.

If not for Lin Mo, all of them might have been killed by Xu Xiaodao earlier.

After searching Xu Xiaodao, Lin Mo found nothing valuable on him.

Thinking about it, that made sense. He was merely a Rogue Cultivator—what treasures could he possibly have?

Lin Mo then rose directly and walked toward Zhang Junjie and the others.

"Good kid, how did you escape the Wolf King's pursuit?"

Zhang Junjie gave Lin Mo a bear hug and asked in confusion.

"Don't even mention it. I ran until my legs went weak. Luckily, I came across a mud pit and hid in it, barely escaping disaster."

Pointing at the mud stains on his body, Lin Mo spread his hands and said with a bitter smile.

"A mud pit? Right, hiding in one can conceal your aura."

Hearing that, everyone suddenly understood.

"So that's how it was. What was that ball of light that man threw over? Why did it make the Wolf King chase after you?"

At that moment, Wang Ling asked curiously.

"I don't know either. I threw it away halfway through. If I hadn't, I probably wouldn't have lived to see you all again."

"That's true. Haha, it's good that you're fine."

"I'm very happy to have teamed up with you all, but I have something to do, so I need to leave early."

Lin Mo laughed awkwardly before speaking again.

"Ah? You're leaving?"

Upon hearing that, Wang Ling looked reluctant to part with him.

Lin Mo nodded, his face full of apology.

Once he left, the few of them would have to find another person and build up their coordination all over again.

"Lin Mo, these are the gains from our mission earlier. They're all yours. If not for you, we probably would have all gone under this time."

Zhang Junjie stepped forward then, handing over a backpack stuffed full of Datura Flowers and the other materials they had gathered during this trip.

Lin Mo looked at him in surprise, then at the other four.

He found that everyone was smiling at him—except Qin Bufan, whose face simply did not know how to smile.

Even Guo Hong was doing his best to maintain a smile for him, though it looked extremely awkward.

"I appreciate the thought, but I'll just take my own share."

Lin Mo smiled. Before Zhang Junjie and the others could say anything, he took his own portion and put it into his backpack.

"This..."

"Lin Mo, if you do this, we'll feel terrible."

Everyone stepped forward again.

"Say no more. We're teammates who trust each other, so this is what I should do.

I believe that if anyone else had been in trouble, you wouldn't have stood by and watched them die either."

After saying that, Lin Mo waved his hand and left with Wang Xiao.

Before leaving, Wang Xiao also gave the group a deep look and stuffed a personal business card into their hands.

"If you run into any difficulties in the future, call my private number. As long as it's within my ability, I'll do my best to make things easier for you."

These people had earned Lin Mo's approval. Their character seemed quite good.

Wang Xiao did not mind lending them a hand while he was at it.

Holding Wang Xiao's personal business card and watching Lin Mo and Wang Xiao's departing figures,

Zhang Junjie and the others stood where they were in silence for a long time.

"Director Wang actually gave us his private number."

After a while, Wang Ling broke the silence.

The others also revealed delighted expressions.

Who was Wang Xiao? How much power did he wield? They all knew something of it.

Being able to establish a connection with someone like him was absolutely a huge opportunity for Rogue Cultivators like them.

Of course, they understood very clearly.

All of this was because of Lin Mo!

"We were lucky to meet Lin Mo."

"Mm!"

Zhang Junjie's words won everyone's agreement.

As for Xu Xiaodao's corpse nearby, it simply lay there quietly, ignored by all.

No one even spared it another glance.

The world of martial artists was just this cold and cruel.

If you wanted to harbor evil intentions toward others, you had to be prepared for their counterattack.

Inside the city, rules and laws still imposed restraints.

But in the wilderness, it was like this—life was as cheap as grass!

Only when patrol officers from the River City Military Department arrived did they quickly dispose of the corpse after asking a few questions.

Inside a testing room of the Martial Artist Building.

Wang Xiao stood with his mouth wide open, staring at Lin Mo as if he had been turned to stone.

Beside him, on the enormous screen, Southern Province Commander Lu Li and Yang Ziqing, the principal of No. 2 High School, were also staring wide-eyed as they abruptly shot to their feet in shock.

After Wang Xiao brought Lin Mo back, he needed to prepare to take him to the Martial Alliance Training Camp the next day.

So, they needed to prepare some documents and conduct another livestreamed test.

The Southern Province Commander and the principal of Lin Mo's school both had to be online to jointly confirm it.

After all, once Lin Mo entered the training camp, there would be no need for him to take the college entrance examination. It was equivalent to directly entering the internal assessment.

Those who passed would enter Martial University directly and would not need to take the college entrance examination again.

Therefore, the principal of Lin Mo's school also needed to be present to confirm the handover.

Of course, if someone could enter the Martial Alliance Training Camp, the school would naturally receive a direct commendation from Southern Province.

This glory was even greater than taking first place in the college entrance examination.

Yang Ziqing had naturally been thrilled when he received the news.

He cheerfully went online with his old leader to watch Lin Mo's test.

But who could have expected that the test results would instantly knock their jaws to the floor!

"This... he's already Third Rank?"