It turned out that while Ning Fei was confirming Zhao Ling'er's real-world location, Lin Mo had also instructed Qin Feng, Ling Xiao, and the others to keep an eye on things in the game.
The moment they saw Zhao Ling'er, they were to tell him immediately.
From the message Qin Feng sent, one thing was certain: Zhao Ling'er was together with a Berserker whose ID was Smile at Life.
Lin Mo had previously come into contact with Smile at Life through one of his clones, and knew he had once worked under Gao Han as the owner of Qingfeng Studio.
In other words, he was Director Zhang, the man who had nearly ruined the first half of Zhao Ling'er's life in the previous life, and who had even betrayed her in the end.
"So it really was you."
Lin Mo had already suspected that it was Director Zhang who got Zhao Ling'er's family to pressure her and restrict her freedom in real life.
Now it seemed his guess had been right.
Previously, through his clone, Lin Mo had already had Gao Han fire Director Zhang from Golden Age Group in real life, and had also kicked him out of the Golden Age Guild in Divine Oracle.
He had thought that once Director Zhang was finished, he would stop bothering Zhao Ling'er.
He hadn't expected this.
"You still dare to keep bothering Zhao Ling'er?"
Anger rose in Lin Mo's eyes.
At that moment, Qin Feng sent another message.
["Brother Mo, Qingfeng Studio doesn't have many people. Should I call Ling Xiao and the others, and get the brothers from my Zhufeng Studio too? We'll wipe out Qingfeng's people and take Zhao Ling'er back."]
To avoid a situation where Qin Feng and the others failed to save Zhao Ling'er and instead alerted the enemy.
Besides, Lin Mo had to go himself anyway.
The Divine Descent Seraph Siya was with Lin Mo. He needed to bring Siya with him and use a drop of her blood to remove the talent seal on Zhao Ling'er.
So Lin Mo told Qin Feng, "Just keep following them. I'll be there soon."
"Got it!"
After closing the chat window, Lin Mo turned his attention back to Black Wind Mountain ahead.
They had already reached the foot of the mountain.
Going back and forth would waste too much time.
So Lin Mo decided to first clear Black Wind Mountain, get the Fate Token: Heavenly Might from Black Wind Stronghold, and then go find Zhao Ling'er.
Originally, Lin Mo had planned not to use an SSS-grade magic scroll to clear the map, and instead fight his way to the summit together with Ning Xi.
Although Lin Mo had the Scroll Evolution ability granted by the SSS-grade talent Soul Fire, allowing him to evolve SSS-grade magic scrolls at any time, E-grade magic scrolls were still hard to collect at this stage.
Scroll Evolution Points were also difficult to obtain.
Lin Mo still needed the permanent enhancement effects from SSS-grade magic scrolls to raise his Attack and Attack Speed to one hundred stacks.
Raise Strong-Maned Pig's Defense and Health to one hundred stacks.
Raise Siya's Healing Effect, Buff Enhancement, and other main attributes to one hundred stacks.
As for large-area damage magic scrolls that could clear maps...
SSS-grade Fatal: Spatial Strangulation!
SSS-grade World-Destroying: Myriad Thunderbolts!
SSS-grade Death: Inferno of Flames!
The permanent effects they granted:
1% Monster Damage!
1% Lightning Damage!
1% Fire Damage Increase!
None of them were especially useful to Lin Mo.
Only after he had maxed out the one hundred passive stacks of the main scrolls would Lin Mo truly achieve unlimited SSS-grade magic scrolls.
But right now, saving Zhao Ling'er came first, so Lin Mo didn't think about any of that.
He planned to finish this as quickly as possible.
So Lin Mo directly took out an E-grade Strangulation from his backpack. (Instantly kills one normal monster whose level is no more than three levels higher than the user's.)
Using the 127 Scroll Evolution Points obtained by burning over one hundred E-grade magic scrolls that had taken him several hours to collect, he instantly evolved it into the SSS-grade Fatal: Spatial Strangulation. (Kills all normal monsters within a 1,000-yard radius whose level is no more than five levels higher than the user's.)
Crack!
The moment Lin Mo crushed the scroll...
Whoosh!
An invisible force swept across the entire Black Wind Mountain Range.
At the foot of the mountain ahead, every level 70 Black Demon Guard hidden within the black mist was instantly erased by a silent power.
[Ding~ You used the SSS-grade magic scroll Fatal: Spatial Strangulation. Permanent bonus obtained: Final Damage to monsters +1% permanently (Current Stacks: 2/100)]
[Ding~ You killed Level 70 monster Black Demon Guard ×888. Rewards: EXP +888 million, Divine Artifact Nirvana Luck +8.88%, Divine Artifact Black Dragon Emperor Ring Basic Attack Damage +0.00888%]
[Ding~ Loot: 42,582 copper coins, 12 pieces of equipment, 1 E-grade skill book, and 2 E-grade magic scrolls have been automatically sent to your backpack!]
Whoosh!
Golden light fell over both Lin Mo and Ning Xi at the same time.
[Ding~ Congratulations! You leveled up! All five attributes +1, Free Attribute Points +3! Current Level: 68. EXP required for next level: 1.2 billion!]
Even if he used it one thousand times or ten thousand times, Lin Mo would still sigh every single time, "SSS-grade magic scrolls are just too broken."
Lin Mo couldn't wait to max out all the main passive effects and finally gain unlimited access to SSS-grade magic scrolls.
These things were simply too useful for killing monsters.
The entire Black Wind Mountain Range fell silent.
Lin Mo and Ning Xi stepped over the Black Demon Guards' bodies and headed straight for the summit.
Sure enough, there was a stronghold on top of the mountain.
That was clearly Black Wind Stronghold.
And the Fate Token: Heavenly Might required for the mission had to be inside.
At this moment, both inside and outside the stronghold were covered with Black Demon Guard corpses.
Not a single one blocked their way.
"One magic scroll cleared a difficulty 5600 C-grade hidden mission?"
Just as Lin Mo was amazed at how easily the mission had been completed...
Whoosh!
A gust of black wind swept through the stronghold ahead.
The black wind then turned into a monster wearing a dark magic robe, with two horns growing from its head, looking like the Bull Demon King.
Above its head was a blood-red ID.
[Black Magic Elder (Level 70 Magic-type · Tier 5 Boss)!]
'Oh! So one fish slipped through Fatal: Spatial Strangulation?'
His first reaction was that it was pretty interesting.
Then Lin Mo remembered that Spatial Strangulation could instantly kill only normal monsters, not elite monsters or bosses.
Still, with only this one boss left, it couldn't do much.
Instead, Lin Mo and Ning Xi became excited.
Although Black Wind Mountain Range only required Bronze Rank Three to enter, its monsters were level 70. Clearly, no other players had ever set foot here.
Which meant the boss before them still had its first kill reward.
Killing it would earn Ning Xi a lot more Reputation.
Black Wind Mountain Range was not the Black Demon Clan's main base.
So this Black Magic Elder was not the Black Demon Clan's final boss. According to its information panel, it was only one of the Black Demon King's guardians.
Lin Mo raised Illusion World: Wrath of Thunder and said to Ning Xi, "Xiao Xi, get ready for the last hit."
"Mhm!"
At the same time, the Black Magic Elder looked at the Black Demon Guard corpses covering the ground and flew into a rage.
"Despicable humans! You two! How dare you slaughter the warriors of my Black Demon Clan like this!"
"Today, you'll die here on Black Wind Mountain! I swear I'll bury one of you on the summit and the other at the foot of the mountain!"
After saying that, the Black Magic Elder raised its staff and cast a spell.
The next moment...
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Countless fist-sized insects burst out from the Black Demon Guard corpses lying all around.
Under the Black Magic Elder's command, they surged toward Lin Mo and Ning Xi like a tide.