Chapter 254: Two Breakthroughs

Bang!
In the backyard of Lin’s Inn, Lin Dong violently smashed the bench in his hands onto the stone table. Wood fragments and splinters flew in all directions as the bench exploded. The smooth stone table shattered into countless pieces under the immense force.
The silver rabbit, as if seeing its natural enemy, curled up in fear, trembling violently.
Ma Chun stepped back in horror, staring at that face filled with rage that seemed ready to tear everything apart. He was too nervous to speak.
Yun Lanting stood calmly, observing the furious Lin Dong like still water. Yet, a murderous intent flashed briefly in her eyes. It was the first time she had seen Lin Dong so enraged. His distorted face made her heart ache slightly.
“Damn Ling Zhengyang! What do they want with their Fenglin Restaurant?”
Lin Dong glared at Ma Chun, roaring in fury.
Ma Chun licked his dry lips. Under those blazing eyes, his throat felt as if it were choked, making it difficult not only to speak but also to breathe.
Lowering prices on dishes and drinks, paying to make inns in the east, south, and west of the city free, and sending staff to attract customers in the north—according to Ma Chun, these measures wouldn’t have a significant impact on Lin’s Inn. As for lowering prices, to retain customers, they just needed to reduce prices slightly—50% off for copper cards and 40% off for silver cards—enough to counter Fenglin Restaurant’s discounts. The inn wouldn’t lose much money each day. Even if they didn’t lower prices, it wouldn’t matter much, as Lin’s Inn’s current prices could still attract sixty to eighty large groups of customers daily.
As for the inns in the other areas, it was just a small amount of money. With Lin’s Inn’s reasonable lodging fees, pleasant environment, and friendly staff, it might not fully win over the merchants who frequented Autumn Wind City in just a few months, but it was still ten to a hundred times better than those other inns. While the free meals and lodging might attract some itinerant merchants, it would have no appeal to larger merchants. After all, the distance from the north to the other three areas was considerable, and there was no reason to travel such a long way just to save a little money. Moreover, the conditions in those other inns were too poor to be comfortable.
So, even if Lin’s Inn did nothing, it would only lose a few itinerant merchants. These people spent less than a hundred coins a day on food alone, which was negligible for Lin’s Inn.

If he wanted to regain his business, he could just give it away for free. Calculated on a daily basis, a few taels would more than suffice. Compared to the hundreds or thousands of taels in losses on the second floor, it was just a drop in the bucket. So before coming here, Ma Chun hadn’t thought it was such a serious matter. But Lin Dong’s reaction far exceeded his expectations. The fury in that instant made Ma Chun feel as though he would be reduced to ashes the next second. Lin Dong’s subsequent actions truly terrified him—he turned around and smashed the stone table with a bench. Ma Chun couldn’t imagine what would have happened if the shopkeeper hadn’t controlled his anger at that moment. With that force, if the bench had hit his head, his skull would likely have burst like a watermelon. Cold sweat poured down uncontrollably, his back sticking wetly to his clothes, causing him great discomfort and making him even more afraid to look into Lin Dong’s blood-red eyes. No one understood why Lin Dong was so angry. Even Yun Lan, who already knew Lin Dong’s personality well, couldn’t explain his intense reaction other than sharing his anger. The reason lay in the experience points of the inn. For Lin Dong, those experience points meant everything—almost everything he pursued in life. After months of frustration and anxiety, he finally came up with a solution after his subordinates pooled their ideas. No one could understand Lin Dong’s feelings at that moment. If the rewards hadn’t been so generous, risking his subordinates leaving with huge sums of money or becoming careless, leaving the inn short-staffed in the short term, he would have even given away all the hundreds of thousands of taels in the mobile cash register as rewards. To prevent Maple Forest Restaurant and other major restaurants from making adjustments, Lin Dong stopped cultivating for two days, checking the lobby and the lodging building every half hour, carefully controlling the number of customers on the second floor while ensuring they received full experience points, and trying to keep the number of customers as low as possible. At the lodging building, he stood at the stairway, greeting everyone with a smile and asking if they were satisfied. Temporarily giving up cultivation and engaging in tasks he didn’t particularly like, Lin Dong still found joy in it. The weight off his shoulders gave him endless energy. Watching his experience points rise, he even spent every night thinking about the future direction of Lin’s Inn and possible improvements.

Occasionally, he practiced martial arts and chatted with Yun Lan, but most of the time he worked hard at the inn for business. Lin Dong felt that this life was good and real—living like this for a lifetime, without becoming a peak warrior, was also fine.

In just two days, the Maple Forest Restaurant had completely overturned his sense of happiness. The shift from prolonged stress to sudden ease, followed by intense pressure again, made Lin Dong extremely uncomfortable, driving him to vent the weight pressing on his heart.

That moment of furious anger even gave him a strong urge to destroy the Maple Forest Restaurant.

The veins throbbing violently on his forehead gradually calmed under Yun Lan’s gaze. The fierce aura that made Ma Chun’s breath icy also began to fade…

Stepping on wood chips and stones, Lin Dong sat down on the stone bench and waved at Ma Chun, “Give me some time to think!”

Ma Chun let out a long sigh, as if he had just survived a life-or-death battle. With the pressure suddenly gone, he felt utterly exhausted.

Beside him, Yun Lan also breathed a sigh of relief. She walked slowly over to Lin Dong, sat down, and remained silent.

Lin Dong slowly closed his eyes, his brows tightly furrowed.

Time passed slowly. The scorching sun in the sky moved steadily toward the zenith. The hot air made Lin Dong impatient, and his chaotic mind caused excruciating headaches.

Was there really no way? Absolutely no solution at all?

Free service was always the greatest competitive advantage. No matter how good Lin Ji Inn’s accommodations were, they still couldn’t compare to the allure of free services for traveling merchants. The dishes on the second floor were already near breaking even. Adding another plate of vitality beef balls might keep customers coming, but it wouldn’t solve the problem permanently. If the Maple Forest Restaurant reduced its prices by just 10%, it could drive Lin Ji Inn into losses.

Lin Dong gritted his teeth, frustration reappearing on his face.

“A calm mind is the foundation for solving difficulties! If you want, I can reach that Maple Forest Restaurant within half an hour and reduce it to ashes. But if you want to defeat it fairly, you need to stay calm.”

A voice as melodious as heavenly music slowly reached his ears, as if coming from the sky or rising from within his heart. It was like a clear spring, soothing the frustration in his heart and the heat in his body.

His tightly furrowed brows melted away like spring snow. The frustration on his face dissipated with a cool breeze amidst the heat.

His chaotic mind gradually settled down.

Calm. He had to stay calm.

A calm mind was the foundation for solving difficulties!

His tangled thoughts were swept aside under Lin Dong’s firm pressure. His mind gradually became clear. In an instant, Lin Dong’s consciousness spread outward; through his closed eyes, he could see the tranquility and peace brought by Yun Lan, as well as Ma Chun’s worries and unease. Further away were the lush grass and the lifeless stone slabs. Even farther still was a simple blacksmith’s shop, where, faintly, a dozen strong men were sweating profusely, swinging hammers in the scorching air. All of this seemed closely related to him. Yun Lan, Ma Chun, the blacksmiths… everything seemed to belong to him— the grass, the stone slabs, the blacksmith’s shop, even those swinging hammers. As his vision expanded, this sense of seeing and controlling everything immersed Lin Dong so deeply that he wasn’t even aware of his rapidly fading spiritual energy… Watching Lin Dong, who suddenly seemed to be everywhere and yet blurred, Yun Lan was astonished, yet a wide smile couldn’t help but appear on her lips. In the second room to the east, the drunken Old Ding seemed to sense something. He quietly opened his eyes, and a strange glint appeared in his dazed gaze. As the scorching sun shifted slightly from the zenith to the west, and its dazzling light moved from Lin Dong’s forehead to his eyes, he suddenly opened his eyes wide. The intensity in his gaze made even the bright sunlight seem pale in comparison! Taking a deep breath, Lin Dong stood up and suddenly grinned at Yun Lan, “How about a hug?” Yun Lan’s cheeks flushed red, and a blue sword appeared silently in her delicate hands. Ignoring it, Lin Dong slowly spread his arms. Miraculously, the wood chips and stones on the ground seemed to respond to some unseen command and stood upright. Looking at Yun Lan, she slowly stretched her body and moved toward him, staying close to the ground. She pursed her lips but didn’t resist the force that seemed insignificant to her. Feeling her soft body against his, Lin Dong couldn’t help but take a deep breath. Sensing her hands moving down his waist, Yun Lan said irritably, “Are we done hugging?” “Uh! Having achieved mastery in the Air Control realm and come up with solutions to my worries, I got a bit too excited. My apologies.” Lin Dong reluctantly released his arms. Glancing at him, Yun Lan said irritably, “Next time I make a breakthrough, you’d better stay back. Who knows? I might get too excited and try out my newly mastered Sky Sword Technique on you.” Lin Dong raised his eyebrows slightly and said leisurely, “If it means testing your spiritual techniques on me, even if I’m shattered to pieces, I won’t hesitate.” Yun Lan was speechless. By that logic, was it she who wasn’t loyal?

Over to the side, seizing the opportunity, Ma Chun couldn’t help but ask, “Owner, have you come up with a plan?”
“Since Fenglin Restaurant won’t give me a chance, then I won’t let them have one either!”
Lin Dong’s gaze was fierce; under the bright sunlight, his entire being exuded a determined and murderous aura.