Chapter 596: Packing Up

Soon, Lin Dong returned to the lobby with a tray in hand.
“Dinner is here. Please enjoy, gentlemen.”
After giving a greeting, Lin Dong took out the dishes and stepped aside.
“It’s Rendan Grass! I’ve seen it before!” one person exclaimed.
The other two nodded eagerly. Although they had heard of two types of spiritual materials, they had never seen them in person. But they had indeed seen Rendan Grass, a fifth-tier spiritual material—genuine Rendan Grass. If even fifth-tier spiritual materials weren’t fake, then the others surely weren’t either.
Lin Dong smiled and said, “For these four foods, it’s best for you gentlemen to take the Dust-Free Pills first, then the other spiritual materials. That way, the medicinal effects won’t be wasted.”
The three quickly nodded in thanks. As members of alchemy sects, they knew well that the Dust-Free Pills had a gentle effect, and if they had taken other spiritual materials beforehand, their effects would be suppressed.
“Please enjoy, gentlemen!” Lin Dong turned and went back to the counter.
The three immediately abandoned their image as sect disciples and devoured the food. Six Dust-Free Pills were swallowed in an instant. After a short pause, they rushed at the Braised Rendan Grass, followed by Seven-Star Fruit juice and Light Moon Fruit.
In no time, the dishes on the table were empty. Still unsatisfied, if not for concern over their image, they would have drunk up every drop of liquid left and then had some boiled water to wash it down.
These were all spiritual materials that aided in cultivation.
“Too bad, it’s not enough!” one person sighed.
“Yes! But it’s still worth it,” another said helplessly.
“Cultivate! Hurry up and cultivate!” The third, the most sober-minded, quickly pulled his gaze away from the remaining liquids.
The other two also snapped out of their daze and sat cross-legged on the bench, determined to focus solely on cultivation.
“Are you gentlemen full?” Lin Dong approached at an inopportune moment.
“Full! Fully full!” the three replied in unison.
“Good. Welcome to visit again!” Lin Dong smiled as he cleared the table.
“By the way, the money!”
Realizing they hadn’t paid yet and fearing Lin Dong might refuse them entry out of displeasure, one person quickly took out all the silver bills from his storage ring.
“Right, right!” The other two followed suit, pulling out all their possessions without even counting how much silver they had.
“The total is 31,800 taels. As you’re our first guests at Lin’s Inn, I’ll charge you 30,000 taels.” Lin Dong placed the remaining silver bills on the table and put the dishes back on the tray.
“Thank you, thank you!”

The three of them were eager to start practicing and kept thanking Lin Dong, hoping he would leave as soon as possible.
“Again, if you wish to enhance the effects of the medicine, you can practice in the guest rooms at Lin’s Inn. I believe you’ve seen our flyers—practicing there can speed up the process many times over,” Lin Dong said with a smile. “Here… it’s a bit inconvenient. After all, this is the lobby. If too many guests practice here at the same time, we won’t be able to accommodate them all. I hope you understand.”
The three suddenly realized what he meant and quickly asked, “How much is a day in Lin’s Inn’s guest rooms?”
“The rooms that double the practice speed cost 100 taels of silver per day. For each additional doubling of speed, the cost doubles as well,” Lin Dong explained.
The leader of the sect’s disciples glanced at the denominations of the silver bills on the table and said, “Then please reserve three rooms with doubled speed for us.”
“Um… I’m sorry, but we didn’t expect guests so soon. The ninth-tier spirit flowers meant for the guest rooms haven’t arrived yet,” Lin Dong said apologetically. “It will take about three to five more hours.”
“So long?” The three grew anxious.
“You can use the eagle beasts prepared by our inn to return to your sect. With your abilities, it shouldn’t take long to get back,” Lin Dong suggested.
Slam!
The leader of the sect’s disciples slapped his own head in excitement and said, “Right! We need to return to the sect and report this to the sect master immediately. This is a great achievement!”
The other two also realized their mistake and stood up together.
“Have a good journey!”
Lin Dong smiled as he saw them off, his face glowing with joy. One reason he personally worked as a staff member was because the first batch of guests after the inn’s opening, but another reason was that he needed to find a way to send the three back to their sect.
To prevent trouble, all the inn’s staff were guards at the first stage of the Heart Riding phase. Without Lin Dong’s involvement, they might not be able to guide the three back to report the news.
After the three left on the eagle beasts, Lin Dong returned to the counter. With a wave of his hand, several newly hired staff members went to the entrance to welcome guests.
“With peak-level warriors as staff, the deterrence should be sufficient, right?”
After assessing the strength displayed by Lin’s Inn and confirming that no one would dare cause trouble in the short term, Lin Dong took out the ledger from behind the counter and recorded the first transaction.

After about half an hour, the leading disciple of the sect returned, accompanied by five elders over sixty years old. The elder at the head was none other than the sect master of Qingfeng Sect, where the three of them belonged. The staff immediately stepped forward to greet them, but the sect master and elders of Qingfeng Sect were stunned, unable to sense their strength at all. It took them a while before they exchanged glances, seeing deep shock in each other’s eyes. Qingfeng Sect was located at the foot of Hongjin Mountain, so it was naturally not a major sect, but its sect master still possessed a strength at the third level of the Heart Reversal stage. This meant that the staff in the hall were at least at the seventh level of the same stage. Considering their ages, it was already remarkable that the sect master and elders could maintain some composure. Of course, they could stay calm because their own strength was too weak, and they didn’t realize that all these staff members were among the peak warriors. Otherwise, even the most steady person would be unable to remain calm. Eight or nine peak warriors, all under thirty years old, yet their status at Lin’s Inn was merely that of staff members. Such a shock could be overwhelming even for the sect masters of major sects, let alone for the composure of peak warriors. After leading the six of them to a table, the staff member immediately introduced the various dishes and drinks available at the inn. This time, the sect master of Qingfeng Sect brought plenty of silver coins that he usually didn’t use much. Upon hearing the prices, he ordered four fifth-level cultivation aids, two sixth-level cultivation aids, and one seventh-level cultivation aid at once. The total cost for these seven items was 1.55 million taels of silver, with just one seventh-level cultivation aid costing 1.38 million taels. Ever since Ren Qingsong was promoted to the head of Tianwei Pavilion’s Spirit Materials Building, Lin Dong had collected all the high-level spirit materials there into Lin’s Inn. Together with those obtained from Tianfeng Street and other major sects, Lin’s Inn now had as many as a thousand high-level spirit materials and beasts, including about twenty cultivation aid spirit materials and beasts. The sect master of Qingfeng Sect wasn’t unwilling to order high-level cultivation aid spirit materials and beast cores—just hearing their names filled him with longing. However, upon learning the prices, he immediately backed down. The cheapest eighth-level cultivation aid cost 9.88 million taels. Ten million taels of silver—just short by 120,000 taels. Qingfeng Sect could afford ten million taels, but if it did, it would immediately become penniless.

The food and drinks were served. The sect leader of Qingfeng Sect and the elders took a look and found everything to be of top quality, just as the vendor had described.
“Well… can we take this back?” After confirming the quality of the food and drinks, the sect leader of Qingfeng Sect hesitated for a while before asking the vendor.
“Of course, but it’s best to store it in ice. Also, the braised Gulin Grass shouldn’t be stored for more than thirty years, and the others shouldn’t exceed a hundred years,” the vendor nodded.
The sect leader of Qingfeng Sect and the elders were overjoyed. Such high-grade spiritual materials for cultivation were too precious for them to consume themselves. Unless there was a major conflict with another sect and an elder needed to reach a new level by using them, they were usually reserved for the sect’s heir, with any surplus given to elite disciples. This ensured that no major problems would arise during the transition of leadership.
The vendors brought lotus leaves to pack the dishes directly.
“This is twelve million taels of silver. I wonder…” The sect leader of Qingfeng Sect took out a stack of silver bills from the mobile cabinet and handed them to the vendor, asking, “Could we reserve a few rooms in the Linji Inn’s lodging building first?”
“Of course! In another three or four hours, the rooms at Linji Inn will be ready. You can come anytime,” the vendor replied.
“I wonder if the rooms can accommodate multiple people cultivating at the same time?” one of the elders asked.
“Sorry, the efficacy of these spiritual materials is limited—only one person can cultivate at a time,” the vendor shook his head. It wasn’t that the rooms couldn’t accommodate multiple people, but Linji Inn needed to rent out more rooms.
“Then I’ll reserve one room that speeds up cultivation by six times and three rooms that speed it up by three times,” the sect leader of Qingfeng Sect decided after some thought.
“Alright, that will be fifty thousand taels for four rooms,” the vendor nodded.
The six of them were about to leave excitedly when Lin Dong suddenly stood up and said, “Gentlemen, I was wondering if you could help promote this for us? If so, Linji Inn is willing to give an extra plate of level-seven spiritual materials for cultivation as a gift.”
“Of course!” The six were overjoyed. They wouldn’t refuse such a great opportunity.
“Have a good journey!”
Lin Dong bowed to see them off.
The six returned the bow and left the hall happily.
For a plate of level-seven spiritual materials for cultivation, Qingfeng Sect was fully committed—almost all of its elders went out to visit both their close allies and those with less close relationships.

In the evening, the third group of guests arrived. Before long, the fourth group followed. Then came the fifth, sixth, seventh… with each group arriving at shorter intervals than the last.
Early the next morning, Lin’s Inn was already packed with guests, as diners and patrons gradually filled up the available tables and rooms.
Ding: Congratulations on completing the upgrade task “Build a branch at the highest location with business performance on par with the average of all branches.” An additional attribute, a well, has been added to the inn!
As soon as the third day began, a system notification sounded in Lin Dong’s mind.