My mom is waiting for treatment, and you're summoning me to be a hero?

In the Marcus family's yard, more than a dozen corpses lay scattered about.

Fresh blood flowed along the cracks in the stone slabs, gleaming darkly in the moonlight.

The air was thick with the stench of blood, mixed with the chill of the night wind, making one want to vomit.

Lin Mo stood in the center of the courtyard, his black sword already sheathed.

Not a drop of blood stained his black robe.

His sword was too fast; the man fell before the blood even splattered.

Deep inside the courtyard, an elderly man was protected by several guards.

He was dressed in a magnificent deep purple robe, his white hair was neatly combed, but his face was filled with shock, anger and fear.

"Why do you have to do this?!"

His voice was hoarse and trembling, but more so filled with resentment and anger.

"What have we, the Marcus family, done to offend you?!"

Lin Mo did not speak.

He simply took one step forward.

The guards instinctively took a step back.

The old man's face turned even paler.

He gritted his teeth, looking at the young man in black robes, knowing that a direct confrontation would only lead to his death.

His mind raced, trying to think of every possible way to survive.

"If you'd be willing to stop here..."

He spoke, trying to keep his voice steady.

"My Marcus family is willing to offer a level 80 essence!"

He waved his hand, and a servant scrambled into the backyard and soon came out carrying an exquisite wooden box.

When the box was opened, a fist-sized crystal core lay inside, emitting a pale purple light that was particularly conspicuous under the sunlight.

The old man stared at Lin Mo, hoping to see a hint of emotion on his face.

Lin Mo glanced at the essence.

Then he snorted coldly.

"If I kill you, this essence will also be mine."

The old man's face twitched.

He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh.

The guards' faces turned even paler, and their hands gripping their knives trembled.

"asshole……"

The old man's voice was squeezed out from between his teeth.

"At the very least, tell me why?"

He looked at Lin Mo, his eyes bloodshot, filled with anger and deep confusion.

"Our Marcus family has been in the capital for decades and has never offended anyone! We have never taken sides, not even with the two princes! Who...who is it that wants to attack our family?!"

As he finished speaking, his voice suddenly rose, sounding less like a question and more like a roar.

No sooner had he finished speaking than hurried footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate.

Hearing the footsteps, he was filled with fear.

Before the person even arrived, the messenger's voice had already come through.

"Report! The patriarch... he was murdered in the arena!"

Upon hearing this news, the old man's body swayed violently.

"What...?"

He stared wide-eyed at the messenger, his mind blank.

His son, the head of the Marcus family, died in the arena.

Meanwhile, the messenger had already rushed into the courtyard.

Their eyes widened immediately upon seeing the scene in the courtyard, especially when they saw Lin Mo in the middle of the courtyard; they were so terrified that they couldn't speak.

"He...he...he's the one who killed the patriarch!"

The old patriarch suddenly turned his head and looked at Lin Mo.

The young man in black robes stood there, his face expressionless. He simply shrugged slightly.

"Go ask your son in the afterlife for the specific reason."

The old man's pupils suddenly contracted.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something.

Lin Mo did not give him another chance.

The black sword was drawn, and a flash of light appeared.

Before the guards could even react, the old man had already fallen to the ground.

The old man's lips trembled, but he couldn't make a sound.

When he fell, his eyes were still wide open, frozen with the resentment and incomprehension he felt before his death.

Lin Mo sheathed his sword.

He walked up to the servant who was holding the wooden box.

The man was already limp on the ground, trembling all over, and didn't even have the strength to run away.

Lin Mo took the wooden box from his hand, opened it, and glanced inside.

The level 80 essence lay quietly inside, emitting a pale purple light.

The surface of the crystal nucleus has faint mycelium-like patterns flowing around it, which looks somewhat eerie.

Lin Mo couldn't discern the essence of what kind of demon this was.

He closed the box and put it into his spatial ring.

Then he turned around, ready to leave.

Just then...

"Oh, Brother Lin Mo, you have quite the refined taste."

A cheerful voice came from above.

Lin Mo looked up.

A huge black shadow descended from the sky and crashed down in front of him.

The ground shook three times from the impact.

Hunting axe.

The giant, over two meters tall, carried the massive black axe and grinned.

He glanced at the corpses scattered on the ground, then at the wooden box in Lin Mo's hand, nodded, and said solemnly:

"Yes, the Marcus family's possession of the essence of the level 80 Mother of Fungi was discovered by Lin Mo, a first-class wanted criminal of the Empire, and the authorities immediately took action."

Lin Mo rolled his eyes.

"When did you start saying such high-sounding things?"

Hunter Axe laughed loudly, the sound so loud it rattled the tiles on the wall.

"Having spent so much time with those nobles, who doesn't know how to say a few polite words?"

He stopped smiling and his gaze fell on the wooden box.

"The essence of the Mother of Fungi is a treasure. That thing lives in the bottom of the abyss and fights by fusing with fungi to hatch powerful fungal beasts. It only has this one skill. The Marcus family has kept it hidden for so many years, probably waiting for Ye An to grow up so they can use it."

Lin Mo nodded and put the box away.

He looked at the hunting axe.

"Have you found out the whereabouts of Zhou Yue's Holy Armor?"

The smile on Hunter Axe's face vanished instantly.

He was silent for a few seconds, then shook his head.

"Well, I asked a few old friends in the army, but nobody knows where that knife went."

He paused at this point, then continued.

"But a strange thing happened that day. It happened to be the day of that year's Glory Trial Tournament. In the middle of the competition, a beam of light descended from the sky and flew directly into the secret space of the competition. At the time, everyone thought it was a celestial phenomenon and discussed it for a while before it passed."

Lin Mo frowned.

"So that meteorite was Zhou Yue's weapon."

Hunter Axe shook his head: "It's just a rumor, and no one can confirm it, so it's most likely false."

He then let out a long sigh.

"Besides, even if it were true, Li Yan would have been found long ago after all these years."

He fell silent after he finished speaking.

Lin Mo understood that the credibility of this matter was almost zero.

Eighty years have passed, and the story of Zhou Yue has long been suppressed; many people have even forgotten his existence.

Finding the knife that was lost back then is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Thinking this, Lin Mo said, "Since your method won't work, then let's use my method."

Hunter Axe was taken aback: "What method?"

Lin Mo looked into Hunter Axe's eyes and said, "Kill Li Yan, avenge Zhou Yue, and become the new king of the Holy Ancient Empire—it's killing two birds with one stone."

Hunter Axe's pupils contracted violently.

Those eyes were fixed on Lin Mo, as if they were seeing him for the first time.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found his throat too dry to make a sound.

"Do you know what you're saying?"

His voice was hoarse, with a barely perceptible tremor.

Lin Mo looked at him, her expression unchanged.

"Otherwise, what do you think I'm here for?"