Chapter 347: Another Powerful Weapon Added

After putting all the spiritual artifacts and materials into the mobile counter, and taking out all the food and stored wine to hand over to Yun Lan for safekeeping, the group set off. Guided by Yun Lan, the four of them moved through the spiritual arrays. When they entered the third seventh-tier spiritual array, a buzzing sound suddenly filled their ears nonstop.
“Be careful! People from the Fantasy Rain Sect are in the array,” Yun Lan’s voice rang out abruptly.
Apart from Old Ding, who remained calm, Lin Dong and Yu Linglong both drew their weapons immediately, becoming highly vigilant.
“Elder, once we’re out of the array, it’s up to you,” Yun Lan said. The area covered by the seventh-tier spiritual array in the Wuyou Cave passage was only seventy or eighty square meters, but even if one knew how to exit it, it would still take a good ten to fifteen minutes to get out.
The four continued forward, guided by Yun Lan. In such a confined space, they didn’t encounter a single disciple from the Fantasy Rain Sect inside the array. As they neared the edge of the array, Yun Lan said, “Elder, send Lin Dong and the others back first. Given the Fantasy Rain Sect’s speed at breaking arrays, it will take at least three to five days. When you return, go straight into the array—I’ll be waiting for you there.”
“Alright!”
Old Ding casually tossed the wine jars to Lin Dong. After Lin Dong placed them in the mobile counter, Old Ding picked up one in each hand and walked away. Soon, Yun Lan’s voice sounded again: “Three steps forward, two steps back, then three steps forward to exit the array.”
Old Ding followed these instructions. With his last step, Lin Dong felt darkness ahead—what had been a vast, hazy world suddenly reverted to its true form, turning into a straight passage.
In the passage, rows of Fantasy Rain Sect disciples, though holding spiritual swords, stood in groups of three or five, whispering to each other. Upon seeing the four of them appear, all the disciples, including the remaining elders, froze, their expressions stunned. Clearly, none of them expected the group to appear after more than ten days of silence.
“Go!”
Old Ding rushed forward abruptly, his powerful spiritual energy surging violently, creating a roaring sound wherever he passed. Aside from a few elders who could barely stand, everyone else was sent flying backward.
Rushing forward at full speed, they covered hundreds of meters in an instant, catching the Fantasy Rain Sect off guard.
On the other side, after watching them leave, Yun Lan turned and slipped back into the array.

Dashing out of the passage at full speed, Old Ding’s pace accelerated once more. With a fierce leap, he shattered the boulders above his head, clearing the blocked entrance and reaching the ground in the blink of an eye. The view suddenly became clear—there were no obstacles other than dozens of disciples from the Fantasy Rain Sect. Grasping Lin Dong and the other person, Old Ding took off into the air. Amidst gasps of surprise, he drastically reduced the amount of spiritual energy being sent to the spiritual energy barrier before flying at full speed. His velocity was so fast that no one could even trace his movement. After two or three hours of thunderous wind howls, Lin Dong opened his eyes to find himself in the backyard of the Lin’s Inn. Having been away for over ten days, during a time of intense competition in the restaurant industry of Lingnan City, Lin Dong, after seeing Old Ding off, thought for a moment before turning to Yu Linglong and saying, “Go to the main hall first and call Ma Chun over. Also, have him send someone to inform Wang Liuzhi to come as well. I’ll hand over all the spiritual techniques to Wang Liuzhi. After copying a few copies, you can ask him for them.” Although Yu Linglong preferred to find Yu Mudan as quickly as possible and let her excitedly shout for a while with a bunch of high-grade spiritual weapons, she nodded without hesitation upon hearing this. If Lin Dong had checked Yu Linglong’s attributes using the inn’s system at that moment, he would have found that her loyalty, which was just over eighty before they set off, had now reached the full score of one hundred. Aside from the members of the guard team and Ma Chun, even Jiang Kui, the top-tier chef who had followed Lin Dong from the beginning, was still short of this full score. After Yu Linglong left, Lin Dong sat down at the stone table and quietly considered how to handle various spiritual weapons and techniques for a while before getting up to plant the branches of the Lingyun Tree in the small vegetable garden. When he set a time to leave, he could already see Ma Chun rushing over from afar. “Owner, you’re back!” Before Lin Dong could speak, Ma Chun exclaimed excitedly, “Over these past ten days, the restaurant and gambling industries in Lingnan City have been so bustling it’s hard to believe.” “What happened?” Lin Dong became interested. Judging from Ma Chun’s expression, it was undoubtedly good news. “Hongfu Restaurant can probably hold on for at most half a year anymore,” Ma Chun said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a smile. “The day after you left for Wenyan Mountain, Fenglin Restaurant introduced a new menu. What do you think it is?” Lin Dong didn’t need to guess. Ma Chun immediately explained, “It’s braised sixth-tier spiritual beast Bai Dun Fish, and its taste isn’t any worse than Fenglin Restaurant’s.” “Bai Dun Fish? Did Fenglin Restaurant also find a way to catch it?” Lin Dong was astonished.

“Mm!” Ma Chun nodded. “And unlike Hongfu Restaurant, which has a fixed daily quota, Fenglin Restaurant can provide as many Bai Dun Fish as one is willing to pay for.”
Lin Dong remained silent. No wonder Ma Chun was so excited.
Bai Dun Fish could only be found in Wanshui Lake, about thirty miles outside Lingnan City. It belonged to one of the sixth-tier spiritual beasts, with extremely delicious meat. Not only in Lingnan Prefecture but even across the entire Great Han Nation, it was considered one of the finest ingredients.
In essence, eating Bai Dun Fish was not just about status—it was also worth its price of two to three hundred taels of silver.
Originally, just like Tianxian Shui at Fenglin Restaurant, Bai Dun Fish was also a unique dish exclusive to Hongfu Restaurant. Although its origin wasn’t as unknown as Tianxian Shui, Bai Dun Fish was extremely cunning, and as a sixth-tier spiritual beast, even the strongest might not be able to catch one in a month or two.
To catch Bai Dun Fish, one needed a way to lure it out, and only Hongfu Restaurant had such a method.
Fenglin Restaurant’s sudden introduction of Bai Dun Fish undoubtedly meant they had found a way to lure them. With their headquarters as a backing, it was easier for them to find warriors, allowing them to serve Bai Dun Fish without limits.
Besides Hongfu Restaurant’s three signature dishes, Bai Dun Fish was a spiritual beast dish of exceptional status. At a price of two to three hundred taels per plate, not every wealthy family dared to order it. Even the wealthiest might only try it every few months. Since it couldn’t be a regular dish, it naturally couldn’t become a signature dish either. Similarly, while the three signature dishes represented Hongfu Restaurant, Bai Dun Fish, due to its high price and value, almost became a symbol of their status.
In Lingnan City, if one wanted the most expensive and best dishes, everyone knew it wasn’t at Fenglin Restaurant but at Hongfu Restaurant.
Now, Fenglin Restaurant also had Bai Dun Fish, with both taste and quantity surpassing Hongfu Restaurant’s. There were many implications behind this. The two most important ones were undoubtedly that Fenglin Restaurant’s status had risen above Hongfu Restaurant’s, and that Hongfu Restaurant’s top spiritual beast dish, second only to their three signature dishes, had been overshadowed.
With Fenglin Restaurant and Linji Inn joining forces, they were already stronger than Hongfu Restaurant. On top of that, Hongfu Gambling House was in dire straits. It could be said that unless Hong Wanfu had the strength to defeat Tiandai Gambling House first, Hongfu Restaurant was doomed unless something unexpected happened.
With the introduction of Bai Dun Fish, the likelihood of Hongfu Restaurant’s downfall not only increased but also accelerated significantly.

After thinking it through, warmth welled up in Lin Dong’s heart. The early closure of Hongfu Restaurant meant that Lin’s Inn would have to face Fenglin Restaurant sooner as well. But on the other hand, Lin’s Inn might also be able to defeat Fenglin Restaurant ahead of time.

“Owner, I have another piece of good news for you,” Ma Chun said with a smile, noticing Lin Dong’s expression—clearly he had already considered all the pros and cons. “A few days ago, I went to Qiufeng City and stopped by Lin’s Factory. I asked Mrs. Peng, and it turns out that the small gadgets produced by Lin’s Factory are already being mass-produced. More importantly, the Spirit Stone Heater will be developed successfully in just over a month. Right now, the only drawback is its high consumption of Spirit Stones, but according to Peng Qiao, there’s still plenty of room for improvement.”

Lin Dong couldn’t help but smile. The Spirit Stone Heater came at just the right time. If predictions were accurate, Hongfu Restaurant would be in a desperate situation in another half year—meaning that in half a year, Fenglin Restaurant would start targeting Lin’s Inn.

Since Liang Gufeng dared to offer Perfume Additives as a condition to ally with Lin’s Inn, he must surely have a trump card to suppress them as well.

Lin’s Inn had more and cheaper Perfume Additives than Fenglin Restaurant, plus half a year of development time. Lin Dong wasn’t worried about failing to withstand Fenglin Restaurant’s pressure. With the addition of the Spirit Stone Heater, he even had the confidence to turn the tables and suppress Fenglin Restaurant.

Half a year later would be the beginning of winter. The super-rich families might have heating systems in their bedrooms and were willing to use top-quality, smokeless and odorless charcoal, but their family members might not necessarily be able to afford such premium charcoal. In other words, once the Spirit Stone Heater, which was cheaper and more convenient than top-quality charcoal, was introduced, even the super-rich couldn’t refuse it. If marketing could link the Spirit Stone Heater to status and higher-end models were created, even the super-rich themselves wouldn’t be able to resist.

If even the super-rich couldn’t refuse it, then the ordinary wealthy families certainly couldn’t either. It could be said that although the Spirit Stone Heater might be slightly less attractive than Spirit Stone fans, it was still close enough to become a powerful weapon for Lin’s Inn.

“By the way, owner…” Ma Chun suddenly slapped his forehead and asked cautiously, “How’s the production of Perfume Additives coming along?”

“A thousand iron boxes, all filled to capacity—enough for two or three years,” Lin Dong replied with a smile.

Ma Chun pumped his right fist, his excitement evident. This meant that by the time Hongfu Restaurant collapsed and Fenglin Restaurant started pressing down on Lin’s Inn, Lin’s Inn would have another secret weapon to turn the situation around.

With perfumes and spirit stone heaters, coupled with the improved skills of the inn’s chefs after half a year, and the gadgets produced by Lin’s Factory, no matter what tricks Fenglin Restaurant has in store, Lin’s Inn still has the means to catch Liang Gufeng off guard.