Faced with Black Night's refusal, Ling Xue didn't force the issue.
She only said to him, "It's fine. If you ever change your mind at any time, the gates of the Divine Nation will always be open for you."
As she spoke, Ling Xue turned to Lin Mo and said, "We're planning to go clear the level 50 dungeon [Demon Hall]. Lin Mo, are you coming?"
"The difficulty of that dungeon isn't high. The guild members should be able to handle it themselves, no need for me to lead. I won't go for now, I still have a task to finish."
Lin Mo added, "If the guild needs anything, I'm here."
When it came to Lin Mo, Ling Xue kept things balanced.
Unlike how she treated other core members of the guild, assigning them quotas and tasks with almost no freedom online.
She agreed, "Alright, I'll leave a team with you, just in case those guilds from earlier come looking for trouble again."
Lin Mo didn't refuse this.
After all, free bodyguards, why not?
So Ling Xue ordered Sun Yang and dispatched a thousand elite Divine Nation players to stay by Lin Mo's side.
She herself led the rest and withdrew from the Inferno Forest.
Watching Ling Xue leave in the distance, Ning Xi stood beside Lin Mo and softly murmured, "This Mingyue Xin doesn't seem to have any bad intentions. Brother Lin Mo, why are you so set on going against her and the Divine Nation?"
Lin Mo glanced at Ning Xi and said, "She clearly knows you're my girlfriend, yet she still expressed interest in me right in front of you. You call that having no bad intentions?"
Ning Xi lifted her head and said playfully, "But Brother Lin Mo, this Mingyue Xin is really outstanding."
Ning Xi's occasional fatal questions sent a chill down Lin Mo's back, his survival instinct kicking into full gear.
"Ahem! Her excellence can't be denied, but in my eyes, she's not even one percent of you."
"You can know a person's face but not their heart. What you see is only the surface."
Lin Mo stared at Ling Xue's departing figure, his gaze meaningful.
———
On the other side, the main force of the Divine Nation was heading toward the [Demon Hall] dungeon.
Along the way, Lin Miaomiao tilted her head and asked Ling Xue, "Sister Ling, have you really taken a liking to that Lin Mo?"
Ling Xue's pretty face flushed slightly, "How could that be? Why would I like him? I just value his ability…"
"Come on," He Xiao, who looked refined on the surface but was actually full of scheming thoughts, said with a sly grin, "It's one thing to fool others, but the five of us have known each other since high school. What's our relationship? You think we don't understand you, Ling Xue?"
"If you like him, just say it. We'll give you a push! So what if he has a girlfriend? That Liuli looks pretty and her strength is decent, but her background doesn't even compare to a fraction of yours."
"From high school, college, until now, a total of 985 people have chased after you, yet you didn't fancy a single one."
"You're practically a noble jade branch. Men understand men best. If you like him, just go on the offensive. In less than three days, that kid will dump Liuli and be completely devoted to you."
"Don't!", Zhao Jun, the oldest among them, said, "You'd better not lead Xiao Xue astray and make her steal someone else's love."
He Xiao scoffed, "I'm saying it because the kid is worth it. Besides, Ling Xue, you're not that young anymore. We're aiming to build a top national server guild in Divine Oracle. If word gets out that our guild leader Mingyue Xin has been single for 22 years and hasn't even held a guy's hand, people might think you've got some kind of psychological issue."
Zhao Jun: "Why are you so worried? It's not like you've ever held a girl's hand either."
He Xiao: "Good point! Don't say it again next time."
Ling Xue said nothing.
She did have a bit of a favorable impression of Lin Mo, but it wasn't to the point of liking him.
At that moment, Ling Xue changed the topic and instructed Zhao Jun, "Go check the information on that red-named player from earlier, Shadow Sword God Black Night. Within 24 hours, no matter what method you use, I want him to appear on the core member list of our Divine Nation guild."
"Also, compile a list of all guilds in Inferno City, along with their member information, and give it to me."
"Understood!"
———
[Inferno Forest]
Black Night took a skill book out of his spatial backpack and handed it to Lin Mo.
Lin Mo nodded in acknowledgment.
He didn't engage much with Black Night.
After all, recruiting him was the clone's task.
And Sun Yang was watching from the side.
So Lin Mo just needed to handle his own matters.
After taking the book, Lin Mo turned and left.
Unfortunately, since it wasn't obtained as a reward, it couldn't trigger Ning Xi's talent effect of tenfold reward amplification.
So Lin Mo directly used the skill book.
In the customization options, Lin Mo made his choices.
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Class: Knight → Demon Knight
Type: Passive
Effect: Health
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[Ding ~ Customization complete. Congratulations, you have obtained the Demon Knight S-class passive skill book · Immortality!]
A mere S-class skill book wasn't enough to stir Lin Mo, whose entire set consisted of SSS-class skills.
He took a glance at the skill's effects.
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[Immortality] (Passive Skill)
Class: Demon Knight
Quality: S-Class
Skill Effect 1: Max HP +60%
Skill Effect 2: For every monster killed that is not lower level than the user, permanently gain 10 HP (the permanent HP gained this way cannot exceed 50% of the original max HP)
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
'Damn!'
'This passive skill is insanely strong.'
As for exactly how strong, let Ling Xiao prove it.
So Lin Mo immediately sent this S-class [Immortality] to Ling Xiao via mail.
Knowing his skill slots were definitely insufficient, Lin Mo also sent several E-class, D-class, C-class, and B-class [Skill Expansion] magic scrolls from his previously accumulated resources to help him expand his skill slots.
After Ling Xiao learned the skill, he sent back a screenshot of his status panel.
Lin Mo saw that Ling Xiao's HP had surged from 220,000 straight up to 300,000.
"Damn!"
Lin Mo exclaimed, "That's really insane."
After all, at the moment, [Immortality] had only taken effect with its first effect.
The second effect hadn't even been stacked yet.
"Based on Ling Xiao's current 300,000 HP, if the second effect of Immortality is maxed out, his HP cap could be pushed up to 450,000."
However, there was no need to deliberately grind the second passive effect.
With Ling Xiao's current HP alone, it was already enough to blow up the Blood Emperor.
Excitement surged in Lin Mo's heart.
"I can go to the Hall of Yama, kill the Blood Emperor, and obtain the Incubation Clone Scroll."
So Lin Mo sent a message to Ling Xiao, ["Go to the Hall of Yama and wait for me."]
"Alright!"
At the same time, Lin Mo instructed Sun Yang, "Take your people to the [Blood Mine] map and collect the Blood Crystals there. I'll finish my task here, then come find you."
Lin Mo knew that: having just joined the Ling Group and directly taken on a K8 rank, along with the position of Vice Guild Leader of Divine Nation, many people in the guild were dissatisfied with him.
So he had to create value for the Divine Nation, demonstrate his ability and worth, in order to stabilize his position as Vice Guild Leader and secure this protective umbrella.
So he had to bring out something real.
And based on memories from his previous life, he knew that the Blood Crystals that could be collected in the Blood Mine could be used to trigger a hidden quest in Inferno City.
Lin Mo planned to contribute this hidden quest, which wasn't particularly valuable to him, to demonstrate his worth.
At the same time, Lin Mo himself also needed these Blood Crystals.
Because—
'After obtaining the Incubation Clone Scroll and creating a clone, the next step is to wait until Ling Xiao and the others reach Silver rank, then form a team to enter the [God's Tomb] dungeon and capture a Priest from inside, evolving it into Divine Descent · Seraph.'
After all, nuclear bomb Ling Xiao had already taken initial shape.
Lin Mo would need to use him more and more in the future.
But each nuclear explosion required the cost of his own death and level loss, which was too heavy.
So Lin Mo had to get a Divine Descent · Seraph as soon as possible, and use its resurrection ability to revive Ling Xiao after each explosion, eliminating his death penalty.
And Lin Mo remembered, 'The God's Tomb is a rare hidden dungeon, its tier even surpasses the elite-level Shadow Temple in the level 3 main city Blazing Ember City. To enter this dungeon, not only must participants reach Silver rank, but they also need a God's Key to open its gates.'
'And the Blood Crystals that can be collected in the Blood Mine are precisely the core material for forging the God's Key.'
So Lin Mo's plan was simple.
Have Sun Yang lead people to mine Blood Crystals for him, contribute the hidden quest to Ling Xue and use the extra Blood Crystals to forge the God's Key for himself.
Two birds with one stone.
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