Chapter 601: Success
Reminded by Lin Dong, the elders and disciples of the Sky Sword Sect remembered that besides the terrifying Tianpeng Bird, Lin Dong also brought tens of thousands of troops with him.
With a surge of spiritual energy, everyone, including the disciples, focused their minds to probe at the people behind Lin Dong.
The result left them stunned.
The disciples of the Sky Sword Sect were still somewhat okay—they could gauge the opponents’ strength at the fifth or sixth level of the Mental Realm, suggesting the opponents were only at the eighth or ninth level.
But the sect’s elders were utterly dumbfounded, their shock being a hundred or even a thousand times greater than that of the disciples. Even Yun Cangqiong was extremely astonished.
He could detect that there were over twenty peak-level warriors behind Lin Dong, with the rest all at the ninth level of the Mental Inversion Realm.
Tens of thousands of people at the ninth level of the Mental Inversion Realm could easily sweep across the entire Great Han Kingdom.
Yun Cangqiong and the elders could not believe that Lin Dong, a mere secular shopkeeper, could possess such terrifying strength, no matter how lucky he might be.
“Lin Dong, behind you…” Yun Cangqiong struggled to speak.
“I’m lucky they regard me as their shopkeeper. Whenever I go out, I always encounter plenty of high-grade spiritual materials and beasts useful for cultivation,” Lin Dong said modestly with a smile.
Everyone was speechless. Was this considered good luck? It would take all the luck in the Great Han Kingdom to amass such an astonishing force through mere luck.
“What? At least the ninth level of the Mental Inversion Realm? Impossible! That’s absolutely impossible! Even the Tianwei Pavilion couldn’t have such strength,” Qin Mengtai roared after learning about the strength of Lin Dong’s troops from an elder’s astonishment.
Lin Dong ignored him. With a wave of his right hand, the lids of twenty large wooden boxes were lifted simultaneously.
All sorts of spiritual materials, beast cores, and internal essences were revealed, filling each box and emitting an enticing medicinal aroma.
Hiss…
Everyone in the Sky Sword Sect took a deep breath. Each of the twenty boxes contained either a spiritual material or a beast core, all of which were at the eighth or ninth level—and all were useful for cultivation.
With such an enormous amount of high-grade cultivation materials and diverse varieties, a sect master could train nearly a thousand warriors at the ninth level of the Mental Inversion Realm. This meant the sect would eventually have thousands of people whose strength rivaled that of other major sect masters.
With such strength, even the Tianwei Pavilion could face them unflinchingly!
“Qinglan Fruit, Jincheng Grass, Xuelin Beast Inner Elixir… Are these all for us?” Everyone in the Tianjian Sect, including Yun Cangqiong, stared at Lin Dong anxiously. They knew what Lin Dong intended to do with these boxes, but such a terrifying amount of high-grade cultivation materials left them uneasy without further clarification.
“Yunlan has nurtured the Tianjian Sect for many years, and now with others joining in, the sect must have suffered great losses. These humble gifts are meant as compensation,” Lin Dong said, bowing to the elders.
Sighs of relief filled the air, and a few disciples with weaker composure even cheered.
The heir of a sect must be a disciple of that sect to prevent spiritual techniques from leaking outside, or else if the heir marries outside, the next sect leader’s strength would plummet, posing a huge threat to the sect.
With tens of thousands of experts at the Ninth Stage of Xin Ni period and a mutated Ninth-Level spiritual bird coming to demand marriage, the risk of the sect heir marrying outside was essentially eliminated. Otherwise, the sect would be destroyed right away, let alone preserving its spiritual techniques.
Faced with such strength, all future threats paled in comparison.
Twenty-one boxes of high-grade cultivation materials were equivalent to compensating for all risks related to the leakage of spiritual techniques, and the compensation was even a hundred or a thousand times greater.
Yunlan’s strength could ensure the survival of the Tianjian Sect for a hundred years. With nearly a thousand experts at the Ninth Stage of Xin Ni period, even without risking conflict with the Tianwei Pavilion, their deterrence would far exceed that of a peak expert. Moreover, just the value of them mentoring disciples far exceeded that of a single peak expert.
One peak expert could ensure the cultivation of one expert at the Ninth Stage of Xin Ni period. And if a thousand experts at that stage dedicated themselves to mentoring, it would not be difficult to produce a thousand experts at the Eighth Stage.
A thousand experts at the Eighth Stage also carried immense deterrence.
This meant that even if the Tianjian Sect made no progress, it would be protected by experts at the Ninth Stage for a hundred years. Another hundred years later, it would be protected by nearly a thousand experts at the Eighth Stage. Yet another hundred years, and thousands of experts at the Seventh Stage would have a deterrence comparable to that of a peak expert.
With such enormous compensation, even if the question of revealing the Tianjian Sect’s Tianjian Art arose, the elders would not hesitate. Besides, with such a vast force, Lin Dong might not even demand the Tianjian Art from Yunlan.
The elders and disciples looked at Lin Dong with warmer expressions. Even aside from Feng Zhengyang, Qin Mengtai’s expression also softened considerably. He harbored deep anger toward Lin Dong for having his meridians destroyed and decades of cultivation wasted. Yet, the sheer number of high-grade spiritual materials and beasts for cultivation also made him see a brighter future for the Tianjian Sect. And the great benefactor who ensured such a bright future for the Tianjian Sect was none other than the very Lin Dong he hated bitterly.
Between personal feelings and the interests of the sect, Qin Mengtai favored the latter. He lived only for the Tianjian Sect throughout his life.
After glancing at everyone, Lin Dong suddenly leaped up and landed on the pavilion atop the Tianpeng Bird. Then, wooden boxes about one meter long and wide began to fall rapidly. Under his control, they covered an area of about a hundred meters by a hundred meters with layers of wooden boxes.
More boxes continued to fall, piling up on top of the existing ones, forming another layer. When two layers were complete, the last box landed in the center.
There was no need to count—twenty thousand and one!
“It seems this kid followed the rules strictly, with the last number always being one,” said one elder, stroking his long beard in praise of Lin Dong. Even after twenty-one boxes appeared, he had already fully sided with Lin Dong. To prevent other elders from remaining dissatisfied with Lin Dong, he deliberately praised him for knowing the rules.
According to the marriage customs of the Great Han Nation, the groom must offer a dowry, and the number of items in the dowry must be odd, with each item’s quantity ending in one. For example, it could be eleven pieces of cloth, twenty-one cows, ten thousand and one chickens…
This rule had existed since before the founding of the Great Han Nation, and even the martial world was not exempt from it.
The other elders nodded in agreement; their attitudes were the same as that elder’s. Since even Qin Mengtai’s expression had softened and he hadn’t spoken to stop them, it was even less likely for the others to do so.
Lin Dong waved his right hand, and the lids of the top row of wooden boxes were lifted simultaneously.
What appeared before everyone were pieces of crystal-clear spiritual stones.
Buzz…
The entire Tianjian Sect was in an uproar.
“Ninth-tier spiritual stones! All of them are ninth-tier spiritual stones! With so many, our Tianjian Sect can use the most luxurious cultivation methods for hundreds of years!”
The elders’ gazes toward Lin Dong grew intense. The disciples couldn’t resist rushing forward, piling onto the wooden boxes to pick up the ninth-tier spiritual stones. A few bold and clever ones even tried desperately to stuff them into their storage rings. They believed that at this moment, the elders didn’t have the time to scold or pay attention to them.
Qin Mengtai’s expression softened not only but even his gaze toward Lin Dong became extremely gentle. With millions of ninth-tier spirit stones in hand, along with twenty-one boxes of high-grade materials for cultivation and spirit beast inner cores, if Yun Lan could help the Tianjian Sect set up some high-tier spirit arrays, in less than ten years, the Tianjian Sect would have the strength to rival the Tianwei Pavilion.
Among everyone in the Tianjian Sect, the happiest was undoubtedly Yun Cangqiong. At this moment, his mouth was so wide with joy that it couldn’t close. The bright future of the Tianjian Sect was secondary; in his eyes, the fact that Lin Dong was willing to offer such a huge dowry showed just how high Yun Lan’s status was in his heart. Undoubtedly, there was no need to worry about Lin Dong having multiple wives or becoming infatuated with new ones in the future.
What a son-in-law!
After their ecstasy, everyone’s gaze fixed on Lin Dong’s face, filled with great anticipation.
Normally, a dowry should be an odd number, with the last digit must be 1, symbolizing taking one and making the bride’s family’s side even.
Lin Dong leaped down and took out a special VIP card tied with a red string from the mobile cabinet. On the back of the card were the words “Number 1”.
Everyone looked at Lin Dong in confusion. The first two items had already stunned many people, but why just a card? If they couldn’t come up with something better, they could have sent the cultivation materials and spirit beast inner cores separately.
Actually, Lin Dong had initially planned to send them separately, but after the discovery of the well, he changed his mind due to the large amount of ninth-tier spirit stones available.
Handing the VIP card to Yun Cangqiong, Lin Dong said with a smile, “This is a VIP card from our Lin’s Inn, representing Room Tianzi No. 1 on the fifth floor. In other words, Room Tianzi No. 1 on the fifth floor of our Lin’s Inn will be given to the Tianjian Sect.”
“You mean Lin’s Inn on Xueman Peak belongs to you?” Yun Cangqiong asked.
Lin Dong nodded.
Everyone was shocked, but soon they understood. Aside from Lin Dong, it seemed no other faction in the Great Han Kingdom, not even the Tianwei Pavilion, could afford Lin’s Inn on Xueman Peak.
“The cultivation enhancement for Room Tianzi No. 1 has been set to its maximum of ten times, and there’s no limit to the number of people it can accommodate. In other words, as many people as fit can cultivate inside,” Lin Dong continued.
Everyone took a deep breath, finally understanding why Lin Dong had used such a small card as the third dowry item. In fact, the value of this third dowry was no less than the other two.
Ten times the speed of cultivation, and by squeezing in and dividing the room into multiple layers, it can easily accommodate hundreds of people for cultivation. More importantly, they all knew that the cultivation boost provided by Lin’s Inn could increase the speed at which one’s spiritual energy circulated by ten times. This meant that those with slightly less talent who were otherwise on the verge of becoming peak warriors could achieve unexpected results by cultivating in this room, which would greatly aid their breakthroughs. Now, there was no doubt that in another decade or so, the Heavenly Sword Sect would also become the sect with the largest number of peak warriors. Across the Great Han Kingdom, aside from Lin’s Inn, the Heavenly Sword Sect would undoubtedly stand supreme. “Elder Second, prepare a banquet to welcome the guests!” Yun Cangqiong shouted loudly. The elders and disciples all smiled broadly, and even Qin Mengtai, after glancing at Feng Zhengyang who was still rolling on the ground, joined the welcoming team with a joyful expression, supported by Mo Jianchen. With a wave of his hand, tens of thousands of Lin’s Inn’s guards rushed into the Heavenly Sword Sect.