Chapter 584: The Operation Begins

Compared to Lin’s Amusement Park, adding ten rooms that could aid sleep and possess mild medicinal effects would result in almost negligible appeal.
Of course, the appeal is minimal because the sleep-aiding effect is not very strong. In fact, Lin Dong could significantly increase the appeal of these ten rooms, even making it surpass that of Lin’s Amusement Park.
After meeting Emperor Qian Wei last time, the Colorful Bed had been upgraded to level five. The additional attributes, as Lin Dong had expected, were those capable of covering the entire Lin’s Inn.
The attribute added by upgrading the Colorful Bed to level five was called “Sub-Bed,” meaning it allowed for the creation of beds with attributes similar to those of the Colorful Bed. However, these Sub-Beds were slightly inferior—whether in terms of helping people fall asleep, enter dreams, control dreams, or prolong life, their effects were only about 80% as good. The Sub-Beds themselves also had an “Sub-Sub-Bed” attribute, but its effects were even lower.
Moreover, creating Sub-Beds required the use of spirit stones—each Sub-Bed consumed one spirit stone per day—so they could only be installed in the higher-end, more expensive Type-A rooms.
Although Sub-Beds fell short of the original Colorful Bed in many aspects, their attributes were still extraordinary. Additionally, there were no strict requirements to create Sub-Beds; any bed within the range covered by Lin’s Inn’s map could be turned into a Sub-Bed. This meant that all the wooden beds in Lin’s Inn’s over ten thousand branches could be designated as Sub-Beds.
The sleep-inducing appeal was only highly effective for those suffering from severe insomnia that even spiritual materials couldn’t cure—such people were extremely rare. Moreover, even among those with incurable insomnia, not everyone could afford to stay in Type-A rooms long-term. Hence, its effectiveness paled in comparison to Lin’s Amusement Park.
But if “entering dreams” was added, the situation changed. Whether they were commoners, officials, nobles, emperors, or sect disciples, it was likely that no one could resist the temptation to experience being awake even in dreams. Though boredom might set in after staying in this state for a while, everyone would want to give it a try. With “entering dreams” added, its effects would surely be thousands of times greater than those of just sleep induction.

The ability to control dreams, once introduced, is naturally even more extraordinary than entering dreams. Its release would surely cause a sensation throughout the Great Han Kingdom. After all, it means that as long as the dream has nothing to do with real-life beings, anyone can create their greatest dream—becoming an emperor in their dreams, becoming a peak warrior, flying through the skies… There is nothing impossible; only the unimaginable remains unattainable. This appeal is enough to make the vast majority of people become obsessed with it.

If the lifespan-extending feature were introduced, the entire Great Han Kingdom would erupt in excitement. This can be seen from Emperor Qianwei himself.

As the emperor of the Great Han Kingdom, Emperor Qianwei is the most prominent figure among its millions of people. Even he cannot withstand the threat of a limited lifespan, let alone others. Even peak warriors would go crazy over it. After all, although peak warriors have longer lifespans than ordinary people, they are not immortal. Without the lifespan-extending effect of the Rainbow Bed, which allows one to return to their pre-sleep state upon waking—meaning they cannot practice on the Rainbow Bed—peak warriors are even more vulnerable to its temptation than ordinary people. With the Rainbow Bed, they have the chance to sleep for millions of years, and upon waking, they can rely on their spiritual energy to circulate through their meridians, achieving the strength of the Ninth Level of the Heart Riding Phase.

It can be said that once all the attributes of the Rainbow Bed are introduced, their impact and appeal will be no less than those of Lin’s Amusement Park.

The reason Lin Dong has not introduced these features yet is that the time has not come.

The more powerful the effect, the more likely it is to attract attention. Not to mention that it could likely cause a stir in the martial world, drawing countless sect disciples to compete for it. Even just introducing other attributes one by one might make the already fickle Emperor Qianwei change his mind and speed up the competition. With Lin’s Inn’s current strength, it cannot guarantee staying unscathed.

To introduce other attributes, at least a few more months are needed, until Lin’s Inn’s peak warriors number over twenty. Fortunately, Lin’s Inn is not short of money at the moment and does not need these attributes to increase revenue. As for experience points, there is even less of a concern—thanks to Lin’s Amusement Park, as long as Lin’s Inn grows large enough, there will be no problem reaching level 180.

On the other hand, although Lin’s Amusement Park did not ban the sale of food within it nor provide free carriages to deliver goods to Lin’s Inn, the influx of large numbers of tourists to the park, coupled with the fact that Lin’s Inn was the best restaurant and inn in the area, greatly benefited its business as well. The owners of the top restaurants could easily sense that Lin’s Inn, which was already extremely popular, had become even more so, especially in the evenings when all the residential houses in the northern part of the city were rented out, not to mention Lin’s Inn itself.

By evening, Lin’s Inn would be so crowded with diners and guests that Lin Dong had no choice but to expand the storage rooms used for goods and turn them into guest rooms and private suites. Faced with Lin’s Inn’s success, the owners of the top restaurants felt nothing but extreme envy, along with relief and frustration. Fortunately, they had not stubbornly competed head-on with Lin’s Inn, which forced Fenglin Restaurant to take on 60% of the risks; otherwise, they would have ended up in the same predicament again. What frustrated them most was the emergence of Lin’s Amusement Park, which was like a bucket of cold water thrown on them, shattering their hopes for the grand restaurant they were planning to build together.

The owners of the top restaurants were not fools; in fact, they understood very well the purpose behind Lin’s Amusement Park. A ticket price of ten coins was clearly meant to lose money in order to generate publicity, and that publicity was directed at Lin’s Inn. Undoubtedly, Lin’s Amusement Park could provide significant help to Lin’s Inn. This benefit was already evident just from its proximity to Lin’s Inn, and additional measures in its favor would only enhance it further.

The owners of the top restaurants knew their limitations. The grand restaurant they planned to build together, combining all the advantages of these top restaurants, could indeed counteract Lin’s Inn’s unique features once Emperor Qianwei’s support for Lin’s Inn diminished. But with the arrival of Lin’s Amusement Park, the balance clearly tilted in Lin’s Inn’s favor. Just like the stock giveaways by the top restaurants, the appeal of Lin’s Amusement Park could continue indefinitely.

Unfortunately, Fenglin Restaurant was unwilling to give up, and construction of the new grand restaurant was already underway. The land near the inner city was incredibly expensive, and many desirable locations had already been purchased by officials and nobles on the outskirts of the inner city. The top restaurants spent a huge amount of money on this land, including bribes, with the total cost reaching no less than five million taels.

Originally, according to the agreement reached through cooperation among all parties, the top restaurants could withdraw at any time. After withdrawing, they only needed to bear 40% of the costs. 40% of five million would be around two million taels, and divided among the fourteen restaurants, it would amount to just over a hundred to two hundred thousand taels.

A hundred to two hundred thousand taels was not an amount the top restaurants could afford to lose. Yet, Fenglin Restaurant proposed changing the agreement, increasing their risk burden to 80%.

As a result, the owners of these top restaurants were displeased. After all, Linji Inn had ways to counterattack, and they weren’t fools—they could surely come up with effective tactics to suppress them. One day it might be stock distribution, the next day joint construction of a large restaurant, and the day after that… who knows what better ideas they might come up with. Moreover, Linji Amusement Park wasn’t something that could easily ruin the jointly built restaurant.

Before the joint restaurant was even completed, Linji Inn introduced new tactics, and the owners of the top restaurants, unwilling to give up so easily, naturally felt frustrated.

On the first day of the new year, construction on the large restaurant jointly built by the fourteen top restaurants finally began. Meanwhile, Emperor Qianwei secretly summoned all the officials who had come to the capital, and they all arrived in the city.

The next day, they flocked to Linji Inn.

In this world, there was no New Year’s celebration, and the first day of the new year marked the beginning of spring. Coupled with Emperor Qianwei’s presence, which still had a tremendous impact, Linji Inn’s business was even better than usual. An extra dozen or so tables of customers didn’t seem significant.

Of course, the lack of visibility didn’t mean Lin Dong was unaware. On the very day the thirty-some local officials arrived secretly in the capital, Lin Dong received news from Yang Shun. The information was even detailed, including the names and backgrounds of these officials, as well as their assigned tasks and the times they were supposed to enter Linji Inn.

So early in the morning, Lin Dong focused his attention on monitoring all the customers and guests entering Linji Inn. Just as noon approached and the inn was about to become fully occupied, these thirty-some officials entered one after another, exactly at the scheduled times.

After about fifteen minutes, when everyone had arrived, Ma Chun rushed into the back courtyard—Emperor Qianwei’s plan had begun.

The first step of this plan was a gang fight!

Two groups of customers got into a argument, and one group was beaten. Among those who were beaten was a fifth-rank prefect, who was left severely injured and barely alive.

Normally, in such a major incident, the customers would surely scatter in all directions. But it was well known that Emperor Qianwei had taken a liking to Linji Inn, so the customers weren’t worried that the officials would shut down the inn and arrest them for interrogation. Moreover, since both sides had wisely kept the crowd controlled in the center of the hall, the customers were instead drawn to the excitement of the magistrate being beaten, and none of them intended to leave. Soon, the center was surrounded. The local officials sent by Emperor Qianwei were all packed into the crowd. Around them was a faint energy barrier to prevent anyone from bumping into the areas infused with spiritual power.

This energy barrier was created by medicinal pills, and each of these officials also had another type of counteracting pill in their mouths. Once swallowed, it would immediately neutralize the effect of the barrier, causing it to disappear.

With a fifth-rank magistrate beaten and barely alive, such a major incident required Lin Dong to handle it personally, even with Emperor Qianwei’s backing. And indeed, that’s exactly what Lin Dong did.

When Ma Chun arrived in the back yard, Lin Dong immediately stood up and went back to the hall with him.

“Make way! Make way!” Ma Chun shouted from the back door. The local officials moved as one, pushing even harder toward the back door. Emperor Qianwei’s plan was to force Lin Dong into the center, where he would collide with the spiritual energy laid out by one of them and die instantly.