Chapter 594: Handover

After leaving Yunlan’s room, Lin Dong didn’t head straight to the lobby to assign Ma Chun tasks related to the upgrade. Instead, he took a detour to the room next to Feng Yue’s.
He knocked on the door, and shortly after, with a creak, Lin Shuang opened it. At seventeen, in the prime of her youthful beauty, Lin Shuang wore a light blue dress, giving her a composed and cool appearance. Every time Lin Dong saw her, he couldn’t help but wonder if he should have allowed her to focus on making money from an early age.
Such a fine young woman, yet as steady as an iceberg and as cunning as an old fox—definitely missing out on countless joys that ordinary girls enjoy.
Unfortunately, it was too late to change anything now. Sometimes Lin Dong wondered what would happen if he handed Lin Shuang over to Xiao Tianchi for guidance.
“Training?” Lin Dong asked.
“No! I’m taking some time to analyze how the new emperor of the Han Country’s ascension will affect the inn. Did Dad need me for something?” Lin Shuang shook her head with a smile. Her icy demeanor instantly softened, complemented by her beautiful face, making her appear lively and charming.
Unfortunately, this kind of smile only appeared in front of a few people. This was also why Lin Dong sometimes felt regretful and guilty toward her.
A smile keeps one young—laughing more can never hurt. If he had imposed more restrictions on Lin Shuang earlier, preventing her from being completely absorbed in scheming and making money, she wouldn’t have developed such a calm demeanor in dealing with situations.
“Practice more when you have time. Don’t spend all your days thinking about the inn, or you’ll age prematurely like Dad. Dad is still okay, but if a young woman ages early, even if she becomes stronger than anyone else, it’s likely she won’t be able to turn back. By then, people everywhere will call her ‘grandma,’” Lin Dong reminded her with a smile.
“That’s not going to happen! Dad is still as young as before. If people didn’t know, they’d definitely think Dad is my brother.” With her current intelligence, Lin Shuang wasn’t easily intimidated by a few words from Lin Dong.
Lin Dong shook his head helplessly, at a loss with Lin Shuang. His daughter had grown up and even surpassed him in talent. Though he was now confident in disciplining her, she was no longer at an age to be controlled.
“Dad, you still haven’t told me why you called me,” Lin Shuang said reproachfully. “Before, aside from eating and taking me shopping, you never used to chat with me.”
“Uh! There were too many things to deal with before; I didn’t have time. I’ll definitely have time later. How about I take you on a sea trip in a while?” Lin Dong apologized with a smile.

Lin Shuang nodded repeatedly. The strength of the inn had now reached the level of being unmatched. All she needed to do was take charge on Lin Dong’s behalf, oversee the major decisions of Lin’s Inn, and handle various significant matters. In her estimation, the only thing that could impact Lin’s Inn’s business at present was the ascension of a new emperor.

Given Emperor Qianwei’s current health condition, it would take at least half a year before a new emperor ascended. Lin Shuang would definitely not miss the chance to go out and travel with Lin Dong, reliving the warm father-daughter bond they had when Lin Dong wasn’t completely absorbed in managing Lin’s Inn.

“Then it’s settled. When the time comes, Dad will catch a ninth-tier sea beast for you as a pet!” Lin Dong, worried that Lin Shuang might change her mind, quickly finalized the matter.

“I want something small, cute, that can sit on my shoulder. Also, it should be able to fly around and come in many colors…” Lin Shuang gestured with her fists, describing in detail the pet she had in mind.

After hearing her description, Lin Dong could only smile bitterly. Spirits that could fly and move freely around, while also being beautiful and cute, were extremely rare.

Of course, though he smiled bitterly, the Great Han Kingdom had tens of millions of different spirits, and even more sea beasts in the oceans. It was possible to find one that met these criteria. Besides, even if not, finding a similar one shouldn’t be a problem—there was no need to disappoint Lin Shuang by not trying at all.

“Okay! I promise I’ll find one for you,” Lin Dong assured her, though somewhat uneasy.

Lin Shuang’s face lit up with longing. Over the years, she had raised many pets, but hardly any lasted more than a month. The reason was almost always that she was too busy making money and forgot about them.

If she could have a high-tier spirit pet that could fly and move freely, available whenever she wanted to play with it and could be ignored when not needed, that flaw could undoubtedly be addressed.

“By the way, let’s get back to business,” Lin Dong finally remembered the upgrade task and quickly shifted to the main topic. “Later, go inform Xiao Liu to send people using the Tianpeng Bird to the main peak of Hongjin Mountain, and build an inn at the top. It doesn’t need to be very large at first—something on the scale of a branch store at the mansion level will suffice. Choose a location with room for expansion in case we need to set up spirit arrays or grow it later. Also, send more people—have the Tianpeng Bird transport the entire guard team over to help. If one batch can’t fit, send them in two. The inn needs to be built quickly, and let me know as soon as it’s done.”

“Build an inn at the top of Hongjinshan?” Lin Shuang was confused. “To go to the Tianjian Sect, a Tianpeng Bird is enough. The distance is such that a round trip takes just a breath’s time. Besides, the Tianpeng Bird is large enough—although it might not carry eight or nine thousand at once, four or five thousand is definitely no problem. Why build an inn on Xuemàn Peak?”
“It’s not for transporting people; it’s for…” Lin Dong didn’t know how to explain, so he simply waved his hand, invoking his father’s authority, and changed the subject. “The reason is hard to explain. Just do as I say.”
Lin Shuang had no choice but to stop asking and nodded reluctantly.
“Also, tell Xiao Liu to prepare as many Eagle Beast Birds as possible. Get as many ready as you can, ready to be sent to the branch on Xuemàn Peak via the transport portal at any time,” Lin Dong continued. “Finally, have Ma Chun prepare a large number of flyers, emphasizing that the inn’s rooms offer cultivation bonuses, and that the food in the lobby contains spiritual materials that aid in cultivation.”
“Dad really plans to open this branch?” Lin Shuang was astonished.
“That’s right. And the business must be better than that of the county-level branches,” Lin Dong nodded firmly.
“Xuemàn Peak is the highest mountain in our Great Han Nation. Reaching its summit is difficult even for those at the Heart Reversal stage. If we want to attract business from them, having rooms with cultivation bonuses solves the accommodation issue, but poor-quality spiritual materials for cultivation offer little appeal,” Lin Shuang said, puzzled. “Moreover, safety is a bigger concern. Although our inn is strong, there’s no need to deliberately attract powerful warriors from the Great Han Nation to cause trouble. Rooms with cultivation bonuses and food made from high-grade spiritual materials—either of these alone could lead to someone trying to seize them.”
“The difficulty of reaching Xuemàn Peak is indeed a problem.” Lin Shuang’s words reminded Lin Dong that there were spiritual beasts on the mountain. As the highest peak in the Great Han Nation, high-grade spiritual beasts could be found everywhere. Even those at the Heart Reversal stage couldn’t guarantee safe ascent to the summit, let alone warriors at the Mind Control stage, who would only meet certain death there.
According to the system’s requirements, the inn’s business must exceed the average. Using the transport portal to bring in guests from other places was undoubtedly a shortcut that wouldn’t work. The only solution was to attract warriors to the inn. That’s why Lin Dong changed the content of the flyers to focus on spiritual materials for cultivation and cultivation bonuses.

To reach the average level of other branches, given the large number of strong fighters in the Great Han Kingdom, it’s not particularly difficult. The challenge lies in the long time required. No matter how capable Lin’s Inn is, it’s impossible to spread the news throughout the Great Han Kingdom in such a short time. Moreover, even if the news reached every corner of the kingdom, the strong fighters don’t have spiritual birds like the Tianpeng Bird as mounts, so it would still take months for them to reach Snowy Peak.

The only solution is to lower the requirements, allowing martial artists at the Mind Concentration stage or even the Heart Stirring stage to visit the inn.

Lin Dong pondered silently for a moment before his eyes lit up.

“Add a clause to the promotional materials: Lin’s Inn will arrange a large number of eagle beasts and birds as mounts at the foot of the mountain. For each trip up the mountain, to prevent encounters with higher-level spiritual birds, Lin’s Inn will also send several peak-level strong fighters as escorts.”

“In this way, anyone can visit Lin’s Inn. Besides, several peak-level strong fighters also provide considerable deterrence,” Lin Shuang nodded slowly. Unless those peak-level fighters had malicious intentions, safety wouldn’t be a problem.

In fact, even if those peak-level fighters had ulterior motives toward Lin’s Inn, Lin Dong wasn’t afraid at all. It was only a temporary measure to meet the upgrade requirements quickly. Since the system had set such conditions, Lin Dong wouldn’t abandon them after completing the upgrade task and close the inn. By then, he would build a mountain road straight from the foot of the mountain to Lin’s Inn, and set up more spiritual arrays along the road to prevent spiritual beasts from invading. This would solve the problem of difficulty in reaching the mountain once and for all. As for safety, sending five or six hundred strong fighters at the Ninth Level of Heart Reversal, including some peak-level fighters, as laborers would surely shock the entire Great Han Kingdom. Their deterrence power would likely be on par with that of the Tianwei Pavilion.

Additionally, by setting up some Ninth-Level spiritual arrays in Lin’s Inn, even if some reckless peak-level fighters tried to cause trouble there, they wouldn’t be able to get out.

After thinking further and confirming there were no omissions, Lin Dong said, “That’s about it. Go find Ma Chun if needed, and find Xiao Liu if necessary. From now on, you’re the head of Lin’s Inn!”

“Don’t worry, Father. I promise I won’t disappoint you. Within ten years, Lin’s Inn’s savings will surely exceed those of the national treasury,” Lin Shuang said solemnly.

“Too much silver is just a pile of stones. The inn just needs to thrive in business. Having too much silver is useless; spend what needs to be spent,” Lin Dong laughed. “If you like silver, you can save it until you’re satisfied before spending it. As long as you’re not obsessed with money, that’s fine.”

Lin Shuang nodded. She understood Lin Dong’s meaning and knew what she should do from now on. With everything that needed to be communicated already taken care of, Lin Dong returned to Yun Lan’s room to read, drink tea, and admire the beautiful women, waiting only for the inn to be completed so that all the guards would be free.