"Heh, such a pretty girl, yet with quite the temper, huh?" Hou Jun said with a chuckle, his eyes however roamed incessantly over Yingzi's body.
He Qiang sneered coldly and said, "Tsk tsk, Tan Yong, is this the expert your family has invited?"
At that moment, Xiao Nai, who had appeared timid up until then, suddenly slammed his palm down on the table, stood up, and angrily said, "You two had better show some respect. This is a person of Mr. Lin! How dare you insult her!"
"Mr. Lin? Never heard of him," He Qiang replied with a lazy, indifferent look, picking at his ear.
Hou Jun looked at Xiao Nai with a slight sneer at the corner of his mouth and said, "Xiao Nai, your dad is the Party Secretary of a small city in Jiangzhou, and you're somewhat of a figure there, but this is Chuannan. In the eyes of us Magic Users, you're nothing but an ordinary person."
As he spoke, Hou Jun stretched out his palm, and instantly, a basketball-sized fireball condensed above it, the bright red glow illuminating the entire private room.
Even Tan Yun and the others showed surprised expressions. Summoning a fireball with a wave of a hand, though it was the most basic of Spells, but to summon it so readily, it indicated at least the strength of an Intermediate Martial Emperor.
Last year at the Magic Exchange Conference, Hou Jun had only exhibited the strength of a Junior Martial Emperor. In just one year, he had made another breakthrough. Going at this pace, Hou Jun might reach the Martial God Realm by the age of thirty, and the Hou Family would see a significant increase in power because of it.
Lin Mo glanced at him indifferently. The path of cultivation involved seizing the essence of heaven and earth, the thievery of the Qian Kun. In reality, the ranks of Martial Venerate and Martial Emperor were like laying the foundation for a building. If the base isn't stable, how can one construct a building upon it?
Like Hou Jun, his strength was not bad, but it was not solidly cultivated from the ground up.
"If you know what's good for you, get lost, otherwise don't blame me for not showing mercy when I make my move," Hou Jun sneered coldly, full of arrogance.
"Clamor," Yingzi's pretty eyes turned cold, and suddenly a strong Cold Energy, powerful like a whip, lashed towards Hou Jun.
Hou Jun clearly hadn't expected the young girl before him to be a Martial Arts Master. In a moment of panic, he threw the fireball, but it was struck by the Cold Energy and instantly froze into a block of ice, falling to the ground.
Seeing his fireball struck and turned into an ice block, Hou Jun's face slightly changed color.
But in the next instant, Yingzi's figure flickered, and she was already by Hou Jun's side. Her pale palm, with a swish of wind, struck Hou Jun's chest, and he was sent flying backward, violently spewing fresh blood from his mouth.
"My master is not someone you can disparage. If you don't get lost now, don't blame this girl for making a move to kill," Yingzi huffed coldly, her demeanor completely at odds with her beautiful appearance.
He Qiang had long been stunned. With strength even lower than Hou Jun's, how could he be a match for Yingzi? He harshly dropped a threat, hurried to help Hou Jun up, and ran out of the private room as if fleeing, all the while looking back and shouting, "You... all of you wait."
Seeing He Qiang and Hou Jun leave with their tails between their legs, the Tan family members revealed serious expressions.
"Hou Jun is narrow-minded and petty, and being a core genius of the Hou Family, now that he's been injured, I fear his family won't let this go easily," Tan Xiang sighed softly, expressing her concern.
"The Clan Leader of the Hou Family is a Big Shot of the Martial God Level, and now with our Tan Family being suppressed by the Black Witch, if the Hou Family seeks retribution, won't our Tan Family suffer even more?" Tan Yong thought of this and looked deeply at Lin Mo. Although he appeared tough on the surface, he actually dared not truly offend people like Hou Jun.
After all, their branch within the Tan Family didn't hold any significant status. Otherwise, in matters concerning Tan Yun's life, the family wouldn't hesitate to trade their treasure for her safety.
Tan Yun bit her thin lips, her gaze falling on Lin Mo. Seeing his indifferent expression, she took a deep breath and said, "Mr. Lin, Hou Jun is someone who holds grudges. You might want to leave Chuannan. If they come looking and don't find you, they won't be able to do anything to us."
"A mere Intermediate Martial Emperor is nothing to worry about. If he dares to trouble me, I'll just slap him to death," Lin Mo said indifferently.
Xiao Nai, who had always been mocked and oppressed within the family, felt more confident now that he had enlisted Lin Mo's help. Although he hadn't personally witnessed Lin Mo's battle at the Top of Lijiang, the stories of Lin Mo slaying the top three experts were enough to dismiss any concern for the trivial Hou Family.
"Xiao Yun, don't worry. Mr. Lin's martial arts prowess reaches the heavens. He won't be afraid of the Hou Family," Xiao Nai reassuringly held his wife's hand.
"Mhm," Tan Yun nodded slightly.
Suddenly, night fell.
Tan Yong, Tan Xiang, Tan Yun, and others returned to the mountainous family estate first, while Xiao Nai booked a five-star hotel in the city for Lin Mo to spend the night. Afterwards, Lin Mo had Xiao Nai find some hundred-year-old medicinal herbs, using them to refine a Spirit Yellow Pill that night.
After finishing the refinement, Lin Mo rested, preparing to enter the mountains with Xiao Nai the next day.
The spiritual energy in the mountains far surpassed that in the city, and thus magic families had always lived at the foot of the mountains or along its slopes, where spiritual energy was plentiful. Only clan members without cultivation talents were assigned to manage various businesses in the mundane world.
The tradition of witchcraft was very ancient in Huaxia, predominately concentrated in regions like the Miao Territory and the South Ocean. Witchcraft also spread to other nations, forming branches alongside Southeast Asia's cursing magic, and Japan's Yin Yang Technique, collectively known as the Three Great Evil Techniques of Asia.
In reality, this was just one of the circulated perspectives. Every tradition had its good and bad aspects. Some people misused these magics for chaos and evil, which led to them being included among the Ten Great Evil Techniques.
Here in Chuannan, the witchcraft tradition was also ancient with many different schools. The most lethal were the Black Witch and the White Witch; Black Witches specialized in spell attacks, unleashing a variety of spells and resentful curses, whereas White Witches were better at praying, rain-making, summoning, healing, and evil-breaking, and were relatively milder compared to Black Witches.
The next day.
Lin Mo led Yingzi and followed Xiao Nai into the mountains. The car could only go as far as the closest market to the mountain base, from there they had to proceed on foot. The whole mountain range undulated like a slumbering dragon, lush with greenery, far removed from the modernized city and much richer in spiritual energy.
The magic lineage still maintained their traditional communal tribe living. All the villagers were from the Tan Family, roughly three to four hundred people, and the largest ancient house in their midst was the Tan Family Sect.
As soon as Lin Mo arrived in front of the house, the doors burst open, revealing a group of people sitting on wooden chairs, about a dozen or so.
"Could something have happened?" Xiao Nai expressed a hint of confusion.
Lin Mo glanced over the room. Seated in the most prominent position was an elder dressed in black robes, his long white hair indicating that he was the most powerful one present, seemingly a Half-step Martial God. Aside from him, there were also Intermediate Martial Emperors and Peak Martial Emperors.