Chapter 428: Introduction of the Spirit Stone Heater

When Lin Dong racked his brains yet still couldn’t figure it out and was about to ask, Feng Yue slowly said, “Firstly, it’s time to find a disciple. If the spiritual technique truly goes lost, I’d have no face to face my ancestor after death. Secondly, after being abused by this kid for three or four months, how can I not bring him back?”
“What do you mean?” Lin Dong still didn’t understand.
“He learned my spiritual technique and now eats chili peppers every day—the spicier, the better,” Feng Yue grunted. “By learning my technique, the more chili peppers he has in his body, the easier it is for him to use it, and it also boosts his cultivation significantly. Normally, such a physique requires gradual exposure starting from birth, with daily immersion in chili water. At his age, the spiciness of the water and the duration of immersion need to be increased. Roughly, immersing himself in Tianfeng peppers for three to five hours a day for about thirty years should do it. Based on my experience, after thirty years, he’ll likely be accustomed to the pain of the chili water immersion.”
“Senior Feng’s spiritual technique can speed up cultivation?” Lin Dong stood up. Pain didn’t matter to him; as long as it accelerated cultivation, that was enough.
“If you plan to live alone for the rest of your life, I don’t mind taking on another disciple,” Feng Yue said leisurely. “With such an abundance of chili peppers in your body, you’ll never be able to get close to women again in this life.”
Lin Dong was stunned and sat back down dejectedly. He trained hard just to get closer to Yun Lan sooner. Even if Feng Yue’s technique only slightly boosted cultivation, or even allowed him to instantly reach the ranks of peak warriors, he would refuse without hesitation.
“Enough. Wake him up and ask if he’s willing to give up closeness with women and become my disciple,” Feng Yue waved his hand. “If he agrees, I can stay at Lin’s Inn forever.”
Lin Dong quickly asked, “Is Senior Feng willing to join Lin’s Inn?”
“Of course!” Feng Yue waved his hand impatiently.
Overjoyed, Lin Dong promptly activated the inn system, which automatically assigned Feng Yue to the staff roster.
Loyalty: 33!
Lin Dong let out a long sigh. This loyalty level was much higher than when Cheng Bao first joined the inn. Without hesitation, Lin Dong turned to Cheng Bao beside him and said, “Please call Master Ding over.”
Cheng Bao turned and left, while Lin Dong stepped forward, grabbed Qiao Tianhao, and sent spiritual energy into his meridians through his palms.
The next moment, Qiao Tianhao’s body convulsed, and he woke up.

“Elder Feng, please spare me? I had no choice…” Qiao Tianhao reacted quite well. Upon seeing Feng Yue, he immediately regained his senses and began to plead, tears and snot streaming down his face.
“Enough, enough. Elder Feng thinks you suit his taste and wants to take you as his disciple,” Lin Dong interrupted Qiao Tianhao’s pleas and asked, “After becoming Elder Feng’s disciple, you’ll have to endure the pain of soaking in chili water every day, and you won’t be able to get close to women anymore. Are you willing?”
“Take me as your disciple?” Qiao Tianhao was stunned.
“Yes!” Lin Dong repeated it in case he hadn’t heard clearly.
“Master, please accept my bow.”
Qiao Tianhao knelt down with a thud and began kowtowing frantically to Feng Yue.
Being a disciple of a peak-level powerhouse—how glorious that would be! His strength would improve by leaps and bounds.
Qiao Tianhao had already planned to devote his life to cooking skills and strength; women were nothing but trouble to him. As for pain, it was better than losing his life. Coupled with the benefits of becoming Feng Yue’s disciple, this news was undoubtedly a lifeline for him.
Lin Dong breathed a sigh of relief. The second peak-level powerhouse of Lin’s Inn was basically trapped now.
“Get up. Tomorrow, set up an altar. After paying respects to the founder, you’ll officially be my disciple…” Feng Yue’s words suddenly stopped as his gaze snapped toward the door.
“Elder Jiǔzun? How come you’re here?”
Upon seeing Old Ding appear silently at the door, Feng Yue stood up abruptly.
“Do we know each other?” Old Ding asked, puzzled.
“Elder Jiǔzun, you forgot. Fifty years ago, when I was just a teenager, I sneaked down to the foot of Tianlin Mountain to play. I was surrounded by a gang of bandits, but it was you who saved me. I even treated you to wine. Later, when I told my master, I learned that you were the famous Elder Jiǔzun,” Feng Yue explained excitedly.
“I remember now. You’re the kid who ate up all the chili in that inn in one meal,” Old Ding said, rubbing his head as he recalled something.
“That’s right, it’s me,” Feng Yue nodded repeatedly, his aura as a peak-level powerhouse completely gone.
“It’s good that we know each other. I was afraid you’d compete with me for wine!” Old Ding took the ninth-tier golden sword handed to him by Cheng Bao, swung it casually, and with a sharp sound, the chains on Feng Yue’s hands and feet were cut apart.
Feng Yue was overjoyed. He twisted his wrists and bowed, saying, “Thank you, Elder Jiǔzun.”
“What’s there to thank! If nothing else, I’m going back to drink.” Old Ding threw the golden sword back to Cheng Bao.

“Elder Jiuzun, didn’t you dislike staying in one place for long? How did you end up becoming another peak warrior at Lin’s Inn?” Feng Yue asked.
“There’s no choice. After all, that kid Lin managed to cure my internal injuries, and there’s plenty of good wine too,” said Old Ding helplessly. It had been a long time since he’d taken free meals elsewhere.
Feng Yue suddenly understood and turned his gaze toward Lin Dong, feeling somewhat impressed by his tactics. Peak warriors aren’t easy to retain.
Lin Dong grinned. He had been worried that Feng Yue might hold a grudge against Old Ding, but now he no longer had to worry.
“Cheng Bao, tell Jiang Kui and Yu Linglong to prepare a sumptuous meal after closing time.”
Today was a day of great joy, and it would be unreasonable not to celebrate.
……
While Lin’s Inn was celebrating, Liang Gufeng was suffering from a severe headache. If even the county magistrate Yang Yankang was unreliable, what other way was there to turn defeat into victory?
After much deliberation, Liang Gufeng came up with an idea. It was somewhat unorthodox and extremely simple—so simple, in fact, that Liang Gufeng hadn’t thought of it at first.
With a plan in place, Liang Gufeng acted immediately. He ordered his men to bring in all the troublemakers from Lingnan City and paid them to stir up chaos at Lin’s Inn and the shed where Black Fiery Grass was sold.
However, things didn’t go as Liang Gufeng had planned. Despite spending hundreds of taels of silver, two days later, Lin’s Inn was still thriving, and the shed remained crowded.
When Liang Gufeng asked around, he learned from the troublemakers that they had gone there to cause trouble, but the people at Lin’s Inn simply gave each of them ten taels of silver—ten times more than what Fenglin Restaurant offered.
Seeing the money, the troublemakers naturally followed whoever offered the most.
Liang Gufeng planned to give each of them a hundred taels after the job was done, but they demanded payment first, otherwise they wouldn’t do it.
Realizing these troublemakers were just trying to take advantage of the situation, Liang Gufeng had no choice but to spend over twenty thousand taels of silver. As expected, Lin’s Inn matched him with a large amount of silver—though not ten times as much as before, it was still five times as much, five hundred taels per person.
That amount was enough to motivate the troublemakers to commit murder.
To ensure no one would cause trouble, Liang Gufeng spent a hundred thousand taels at once. He couldn’t help but admire Lin’s Inn’s generosity and decided to retreat.

However, in less than two days, Liang Gufeng was forced to send people to retrieve that thug once again. The reason was that there was another major upheaval at Lin’s Inn—a truly earth-shattering one. This upheaval was enough to shake the entire Lingnan City violently and even cause Liang Gufeng to feel dizzy. Within ten days, Lin’s Inn distributed flyers for the third time. After announcing free Black Fiery Grass and travel expenses, as well as the inn’s reopening, the flyers spread throughout Lingnan City once more. And this time, their content was ten to a hundred times more astonishing than the previous ones. Spiritual Stone Heaters! No one could have understood this term before seeing Lin’s Inn’s flyers, but those who had seen them could all feel the impact of these four words. No charcoal or firewood needed—just a light touch, and summer would arrive. This slogan quickly became the most well-known phrase among the children of Lingnan City within a single day. For three full days, the five convoys of Lin’s Inn were surrounded by a huge crowd. This was utterly unbelievable in the dead of winter. What was even more astonishing was that people didn’t feel cold at all while watching; in fact, they felt hot when they got too close. Three giant Spiritual Stone Heaters stood on the left, right, and back sides, emitting a faint crimson glow from within, with waves of heat spreading outward. Aside from the front, no one dared approach within three meters of the carriages—the heat was strong enough to easily cook food, as some bored people had already tried, and this quickly became popular throughout Lingnan City. On the streets, wherever the convoys passed, one could see people holding long sticks with pieces of meat threaded on them. With such powerful Spiritual Stone Heaters, naturally, no one could resist their allure. On the first day they were officially introduced, as soon as Lin’s Inn opened its doors, the streets were packed with crowds and countless carriages. In such bitterly cold weather, having a Spiritual Stone Heater was undoubtedly the most comfortable and pleasant thing. Even the wealthiest families who could afford top-quality charcoal thought the same way. After all, they had families to take care of and also needed to go out.

Small spirit stone heater: covers all areas in front within a five-meter radius. One spirit stone can sustain continuous operation for a year. To receive one for free, one needs to make cumulative purchases of 50 silver taels at Lin Ji Inn. Medium-sized spirit stone heater: covers all areas in front within a 10-meter radius. One spirit stone can sustain continuous operation for five months. To receive one for free, one needs to make cumulative purchases of 100 silver taels at Lin Ji Inn. Large-sized spirit stone heater: covers all areas in front within a 20-meter radius. One spirit stone can sustain continuous operation for two months. The condition to receive one for free is to make cumulative purchases of 100 silver taels at Lin Ji Inn.

In addition, there is also a miniature spirit stone heater suitable for installation on carriages. To receive one for free, one needs to make cumulative purchases of 1,000 silver taels at Lin Ji Inn. The reason given is that this miniature heater is too small, resulting in higher costs.

No one doubts this, as after all, no one knows how these spirit stone heaters are made. As for exactly how high the cost of such miniature heaters is, only Lin Ji Inn knows. Lin Dong only knows that even the wealthiest families would be willing to spend 1,000 silver taels—or even more—to acquire a miniature spirit stone heater for their carriages.