One person: Lu family bodyguard, who shattered Longhu Mountain with a single palm strike.

Inside the presidential suite, the air was so quiet you could hear each other breathing.

Lin Mo leaned against the wall, arms crossed, looking at his employer who stood with his hands on his hips, glaring at him angrily.

At this moment, Lu Linglong resembled a cat with its fur standing on end. Even though she posed no real threat, she insisted on putting on the fiercest posture.

"There's no one else here, so you'd better tell me the truth!"

Lu Linglong's question trembled slightly, and her bright, watery eyes were filled with shock, confusion, and a hint of expectation that she herself was unaware of.

"What exactly happened with that ascension?! Tell me!"

"Back then in the back mountains...you weren't really ascending to immortality, were you?!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo's face revealed a perfectly balanced mix of mockery and helplessness.

He sighed softly and spread his hands.

"Yes, I was really close to ascending to heaven back then."

He readily admitted it, his tone as calm as if he were remarking on the weather, "So, now that Miss Lu knows my true identity, how much of a raise are you planning to give me to buy out this earth-shattering secret?"

"..."

Lu Linglong's well-prepared speech was instantly choked back by this extremely damaging rhetorical question.

She opened her mouth wide, forming an adorable "O" shape, and unconsciously lowered her hands, which had been on her hips.

My brain went blank on the spot, and all that was left in my head was a buzzing sound.

yes?

A raise?

Buyout?

He... he actually admitted it like that?!

This ultimate money-grubbing bodyguard is the one who would risk his life for a NT$50,000 appearance fee, would charge extra for dirty clothes, and would even fold up the NT$38.60 taxi receipt before entering the store to prepare for reimbursement from the finance department...

Could it really be the incredibly talented "ascended master" that Grandpa and Chairman Feng were talking about, the one that top big shots would give up everything to even meet?!

Lu Linglong felt that her worldview was being repeatedly hammered by an invisible hammer, and it was already shattered beyond recognition.

"How...how is this possible?"

She stammered to herself, "How old are you? You're only in your early twenties at most, how could you possibly have cultivated to the level of ascension?"

"You wouldn't happen to be some kind of old monster who's mastered some kind of age-preserving magic, would you?"

Lin Mo stroked his chin, secretly chuckling to himself.

The system is something I absolutely cannot talk about. If I don't give a reasonably reasonable explanation today, this girl will definitely keep harping on it.

He pondered for a moment, then tilted his head back slightly, his gaze becoming somewhat distant, and an unconscious air of vicissitude and profundity about him that seemed out of place for his age.

"Actually, I didn't tell you before because I was afraid of scaring you."

Lin Mo slowly spoke, "I am not an ordinary Qi cultivator, but rather an immortal who has been reincarnated and is undergoing trials."

"In this life, I originally wanted to experience life properly in the human world and accumulate worldly experience step by step."

"That day, on the back mountain of Longhu Mountain, the scene was probably quite special, and I suddenly had an epiphany."

"I lost control of the awakened power within me and used too much force, almost sending me flying back to the sky prematurely."

After Lin Mo finished speaking, he actually felt a little uneasy.

This kind of clichéd cultivation trope involving reincarnation and trials would be scoffed at by any modern person with a modicum of sense.

He was even prepared for Lu Linglong's rebuttal.

However, the scene before him took his breath away.

Lu Linglong was stunned for a long time, then her eyes suddenly lit up with a bright light, all her confusion vanished, and she nodded repeatedly like a chick pecking at rice.

"I see!"

No wonder his strength is so abnormal, no wonder even the Ten Elders like the Great Master couldn't see through him!

Because he is not an ordinary person at all!

"This is so cool!" Lu Linglong's face flushed with excitement. She stepped forward, grabbed Lin Mo's arm, and shook it hard.

"My bodyguard is actually a reincarnated immortal who can ascend to heaven! If word got out, he'd be an incredibly powerful figure, one of the very few mentioned in history books!"

Lin Mo's lips twitched, and he opened his mouth but couldn't say a word for a long time.

No, you believe that just like that?

This girl usually seems quite clever, so why does her brain circuits become so strangely gullible at times like this?

He shook his head helplessly, chuckled, and reached out to tap Lu Linglong's forehead without any hesitation.

"Alright, calm down."

"Now you know my secret. You must keep this a secret absolutely, not even from your great-grandfather."

Lin Mo's expression turned serious again. "If this news leaks out and causes me a lot of trouble with powerful forces, delaying my ability to make money, I'll just tear up the contract and run away unilaterally."

Upon hearing the words "run away," Lu Linglong's sense of security instantly went off.

She covered her forehead, nodding repeatedly like she was pounding garlic, and raised three fingers to swear solemnly, "Don't worry! I'm very tight-lipped, I absolutely won't tell anyone!"

After making that promise, her gossip-loving spirit reignited.

She circled Lin Mo twice, her eyes brimming with curiosity like a curious child, asking, "Hey, what does it feel like to ascend? Does it just go up in a flash?"

What's the difference between heaven and earth? Just how powerful are immortals?

Faced with this series of questions, Lin Mo instantly reverted to his usual businesslike and indifferent demeanor.

"Ms. Lu, it's lunch break time now."

Lin Mo reached out and opened the door, pointing outside. "These issues are not covered by our security service contract. Please go back and take a nap. Goodbye."

Without saying a word, he pushed Lu Linglong out.

"Hey, don't be in such a hurry to send me away! Just tell me what's going on..."

Lu Linglong clung to the door frame and protested loudly, but Lin Mo ruthlessly pushed her out.

"Bang!" The door slammed shut.

Lu Linglong, standing outside the door, stomped her foot in anger.

Just as she was about to knock on the door to argue, her eyes lit up, a sly smile appeared on her lips, and she quickly pulled out her phone and made a few quick gestures.

"Ding—WeChat Pay received, 10,000 yuan."

A crisp, pleasant notification sound came from my phone pocket.

Lin Mo, who was about to walk towards the big bed, suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Immediately afterwards, he turned around with lightning speed and twisted the doorknob.

Outside the door, Lu Linglong was smugly waving her phone around.

"Oh dear! It's windy in the hallway outside. What are you doing, Miss Lu? Please come in, please come in!"

Lin Mo's face instantly lit up with a warm smile like that of a five-star hotel lobby manager. He stepped aside slightly to make way and made a perfectly standard gesture of invitation.

"What would you like to hear? Don't worry, I'll tell you everything I know!"

Lu Linglong snorted triumphantly, put her hands behind her back, and swaggered back into the room, sitting down on the single sofa.

"That's more like it. Today, I'm going to hear exactly what this legendary immortal realm is like!"

Faced with the demands of such a big customer, Lin Mo naturally couldn't be negligent.

He poured himself a glass of water, pulled up a chair, sat down, cleared his throat, and began his special storytelling session.

Anyway, Lu Linglong has never ascended to heaven, so what's in heaven is all just something he makes up.

"Ahem, since Miss Lu is so curious, I'll tell you the truth."

Lin Mo lowered his voice, feigning mystery, "Actually, you all have too high an opinion about ascension."

"The feeling of ascending is like riding the fastest roller coaster in the entire universe, without a seatbelt."

"There was lightning and thunder all around, and one wrong move could mean certain death. It was incredibly thrilling."

Lu Linglong exclaimed in surprise, "What about when we get to the sky?"

"Wow, what great legs!" Lin Mo slapped his thigh. "The Heavenly Court is indeed quite large, magnificent and surrounded by celestial energy."

"But think about it, those up there are all ancient monsters who have cultivated for thousands or even tens of thousands of years. Their seniority system is much more strict than ours here!"

"Newcomers like us, who have just ascended from the lower realms, are basically just there to do illegal work!"

"Huh? Working illegally? That's still a divine being." Lu Linglong was stunned.

"Immortals are nothing. Even if you go to the Heavenly Court, you'll just be a low-level, low-ranking official."

"Do you know about the 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals? Most of the newly ascended people are assigned to them, standing guard and keeping watch every day, even worse off than security guards."

Lin Mo took a sip of water and started rambling on and on.

"The danger level is extremely high! If one day a powerful demon like a monkey with a stick suddenly appears and wreaks havoc in the Heavenly Palace, we lowly soldiers will just be pure background cannon fodder."

"The Koreans swept through, and a large number of them fell down."

"They're not even extras; the rest can only hide on the sidelines and yell 'Go, boss!'—definitely cheerleaders!"

"Huh?!" Lu Linglong exclaimed in disbelief, completely bewildered.

The ascension to immortality that she had always longed for, which her great-grandfather and the other Qi practitioners revered as gods and pursued with great difficulty, turned out to be such a miserable experience.

You work hard your whole life to improve yourself, only to end up as a security guard or cheerleader?

"This...this is such a rip-off!"

Lu Linglong swallowed hard, her beautiful fantasy shattered, and her face fell.

"Then I must go back and tell Grandpa to stop messing around with the ascension thing!"

"This is such a bad deal! Being one of the Ten Elders in the mortal realm would be so prestigious!"

Lin Mo suppressed a laugh, nodded seriously, and sighed, "There's nothing we can do; the workplace in Heaven is quite complicated."

"You're a promising young man. Now you know why I almost left but insisted on staying, right? Isn't it better to be a security guard here, earning a base salary of 100,000 and living a life of luxury?"

The two of them, one daring to make things up and the other daring to believe them, chatted until 3:30 in the afternoon.

Lu Linglong stood up, still somewhat embarrassed, and stuck out her tongue: "Um, sorry to have disturbed your rest. What we talked about today is between you, me, and me, I promise to keep it a secret."

"You should get some sleep, I'm off!"

Watching the girl sneak out of the room like a thief, Lin Mo sighed helplessly.

Fortunately, the future eggplant novel hadn't appeared yet at this point in time.

Otherwise, after being exposed by Eggplant Novels and Fruit Short Sentences, Lu Linglong would immediately realize and expose the truth.

I checked the time again.

Still taking a nap? What a load of rubbish.

However, his current cultivation level is unfathomable. Not to mention losing a night's sleep, even going without sleep for several months would not affect his condition.

At exactly four o'clock in the afternoon, the doorbell rang on time.

Lin Mo opened the door, and standing outside were Feng Zhenghao's two children, Feng Xingtong and Feng Shayan.

The two were dressed casually and looked very energetic.

A short while later, Lu Jin and Lu Linglong also came out of their respective rooms.

"Hello, Grandpa Lu." The two greeted Lu Jin respectfully, then Feng Xingtong turned around, her face beaming with an overly familiar smile: "Sister Lu, Brother Lin, good afternoon! I know there are many fun places in Tianjin that most people don't know about. I see we still have some time, how about I take you out for a stroll?"

Feng Shayan, standing to the side, nodded slightly, her eyes filled with curiosity and absolute politeness.

Clearly, Feng Zhenghao had already explained to them the true value of Lin Mo's abilities.

Lu Linglong subconsciously turned to look at Lin Mo, her big eyes asking a question.

Lin Mo remained calm as he took out his phone and glanced at the time.

He secretly calculated: This morning, because he had to go to the hospital to rush Xu Xiang to the emergency room, he left the employer's 100-meter radius, so his perfect attendance bonus for today was definitely going to be for nothing.

But since the Lu family is offering such a generous base salary, fulfilling one's duties is the bottom line for any working person.

"You're my protected target. Wherever you go, I'll go." Lin Mo shrugged professionally.

Hearing this answer, Lu Linglong smiled sweetly and turned to the Feng siblings, saying, "Then we'll have to trouble Sha Yan and Xing Tong. Let's go!"

The four young people walked toward the elevator, chatting and laughing.

Only Lu Jin and Feng Zhenghao remained in the corridor.

"President Feng, I have some old friends to see in Tianjin, so I won't bother you any longer. I'll take my leave now." Lu Jin cupped his hands in farewell.

Feng Zhenghao politely tried to persuade Lu Jin to stay a few more times, but seeing that Lu Jin was determined to leave, he did not press the matter further and personally escorted this important figure of the Ten Elders level out of the Tianxia Group building.

As Lu Jin drove away, Feng Zhenghao stood outside the gate, his smile gradually fading.

The look in his eyes behind the gold-rimmed glasses became deep and shrewd.

He recalled the amazing achievements Lu Jin had revealed during lunch earlier that day, fueled by a bit of alcohol.

Even Lu Jin, who is widely recognized as the strongest fighter in the industry, admitted that it would be very difficult for him to defeat Lin Mo.

This indicates that Lin Mo's strength has likely approached, or even reached, the level of top-tier veteran experts.

"To have such terrifying strength at such a young age, his potential is limitless..." Feng Zhenghao thought to himself. "Most importantly, this person is incredibly strong, yet he has an unusual obsession with money."

If someone loves money, then it's not impossible to win them over!

Feng Zhenghao's lips curled into a confident smile, and a glint of shrewdness flashed in his eyes.

Such exceptional talent is absolutely worthy of the World Society's best efforts to cultivate good relations with, or even recruit, them.

……

the other side.

Feng Shayan drove an unassuming SUV, taking Feng Xingtong, Lin Mo, and Lu Linglong through the streets and alleys of Tianjin.

They first visited a secret underground antique market exclusively for trading by people with unusual interests, and then went to a few hole-in-the-wall restaurants in the alleyways to try their luck. The atmosphere was very harmonious.

As evening approached, the group found a nice-looking coffee shop to rest.

Feng Shayan held her coffee cup and gently stirred it with a spoon. She casually raised her head, her gaze sweeping over Lin Mo and Lu Linglong, before smiling and starting a conversation.

"Miss Lu, Mr. Lin. You've both been in Longhu Mountain lately, so you must have heard about the recent uproar in the industry, right?"

A glint of shrewdness flashed in Feng Shayan's eyes.

"One of the Thirty-Six Thieves of the Jia Shen Year, and the inheritor of the Eight Extraordinary Techniques 'Qi Body Source Flow,' has appeared in the world."

Lu Linglong nodded while biting her straw: "I heard my great-grandfather mention it. I think his name is Zhang Chulan, and he caused quite a stir."

Feng Shayan put down her coffee cup: "That's right, it's him. My dad is very interested in this person and instructed me to personally invite him to the Tianxia Society tonight."

At this point, Feng Shayan paused deliberately, then extended an invitation with a smile.

"After all, we are going to meet the inheritor of the legendary Eight Extraordinary Skills."

"Miss Lu and Mr. Lin, would you be interested in joining us tonight to join in the fun and see Zhang Chulan for yourself?"

……