Chapter 273: Recording the Rewards
“It seems I need to go out.”
Lin Dong was immersed in the magnificent sight of thousands of guards, each wielding a ninth-tier spiritual weapon. Hearing this, he was startled by Yun Lan’s words.
“Why do you want to go out?”
Yun Lan explained, “If it’s truly possible, it would completely overturn the power of spiritual weapons. This is a matter of great importance. I must return to the sect to report it, and I also need to consult the ancient texts to find materials suitable for testing.”
Lin Dong smirked. Isn’t this just shooting myself in the foot?
“Well… how about I find a disciple from the Gu Huan Sect to deliver the message? Or have the Tian Jian Sect send someone to bring the texts? Otherwise, if you leave for three or two months, that’s one thing! But if it’s three or two years, won’t I have lost a personal guard for nothing?”
“Well…” Yun Lan hesitated.
“If I go too, it could be two or three years,” Lin Dong said with a wry smile. “The inn won’t be able to develop, and my strength won’t improve either.”
Yun Lan nodded gently. “The messenger can’t be a sect disciple or a warrior loyal to the Han Empire, otherwise it’s easy to trace the connection between you and me. Also, their strength should ideally be at the Mind Spirit stage; otherwise, they might face danger.”
“Can we send more than one?” Lin Dong asked.
Yun Lan hesitated for a moment before nodding.
“Then there’s no problem!”
Lin Dong agreed without hesitation. There were no candidates who were at the Mind Spirit stage and not sect disciples or loyal to the Han Empire. But he did have a dozen or so subordinates who were less powerful but loyal. Although these people were currently busy training more loyal subordinates, sending three or five of them would only delay the establishment of the guard team and the expansion of the new inn—something insignificant compared to keeping Yun Lan.
“Hmm! Then arrange it later. This matter is extremely important for our Tian Jian Sect,” Yun Lan said. “I’ll start writing the letter right away. It’s best to set off today.”
Lin Dong grinned. “I deserve a share of the benefits, right?”
Yun Lan was in high spirits and said playfully, “Since I’m now your personal guard, how can I deny my master benefits?”
Lin Dong licked his lips and pressed further, “It was my idea after all. You should give me some reward, don’t you think?”
“A reward?” Yun Lan asked.
Lin Dong nodded, raising his eyebrows slightly. “Yes, a reward!”
Yun Lan pursed her lips, looking at Lin Dong’s smiling face, unsure what to say. Her legs seemed nailed in place—she wanted to step forward but couldn’t move an inch. Her face turned as red as a cloud behind her veil.
Although he couldn’t see Yun Lan’s expression, Lin Dong already understood that this reward was extremely difficult to obtain.
“Never mind, let’s record it for now and discuss it later,” Lin Dong said with a wave, smiling to avoid causing Yun Lan further distress. “I’ll go arrange some people first.”
Yun Lan sighed in relief and quickly called out, “Wait! I still haven’t explained clearly about the Immortal Art. If you encounter it again in the future, it’ll be easier for you to avoid it.”
“I guess if the person is already dead, there’s no chance of encountering them,” Lin Dong said, puzzled.
Yun Lan shook her head. “Those who master the Immortal Art aren’t that easy to kill.”
“Do you mean they can really never die?” Lin Dong was astonished.
“Those who master the Immortal Art have extremely strong vitality. By your standards, if that bandit really only took the Soul-Death Pill and is surrounded by dozens of warriors and thousands of soldiers…” Yun Lan slowly shook her head. “The chances of him escaping are very high!”
Lin Dong disagreed. “It shouldn’t be that way. He still has a few subordinates with him, and from his tone, it’s clear he won’t abandon them to escape alone.”
“The last entry in the secret history says that as long as you haven’t seen the master of the Immortal Art dead with your own eyes, you… can never believe he’s dead,” Yun Lan said slowly.
Lin Dong was speechless. This spiritual technique was truly amazing—there was even such a note. If that were true, Cheng Bao might indeed have been able to escape repeated attacks purely through his strength.
“If I remember correctly, the Immortal Art is divided into four realms,” Yun Lan explained. “If that bandit is only at the fourth level of the Mental State phase, he should only be at the second realm. He can use the Immortal Art to protect his companions but can’t reflect attacks back.”
“Is there really no weak point in the Immortal Art?” Lin Dong couldn’t help asking.
Yun Lan shook her head. “None.”
Lin Dong exclaimed in amazement. “Doesn’t that mean they’re invincible? I thought the Heaven-Controlling Art was strong enough, but I never expected there to be something even stronger. With that bandit’s strength, he’s capable of defeating someone at the sixth level of the Mental State phase.”
“That’s only because he hasn’t encountered anyone who can counter him. In fact…” Yun Lan said softly, “the Heaven-Controlling Art is no less powerful than the Immortal Art, maybe even a bit stronger. Even with your current strength, it’s not impossible to defeat him.”
“Do I have a chance to defeat him?” Lin Dong was surprised.
“Right!” Yun Lan pondered for a moment before explaining, “You just need to rely on speed to lure him outside a very deep pit, force him to jump, and then, while he’s in mid-air with nowhere to gain leverage, use your Air Control skill to make objects from below strike his feet. As soon as he resists, quickly withdraw your spiritual energy—this way, you can use minimal spiritual energy to send him higher and higher. Once he reaches a certain height, push him into the pit. If he can’t use his Golden Blade, you just need to keep using objects to attack him. Given the amount of spiritual energy required to control those objects, you’ll surely drain his spiritual energy. Even if his spiritual energy can’t be completely exhausted, finding a way to bury him will work just the same.”
Lin Dong smiled bitterly. Where could he find a very deep pit on the spot? Where could he get enough objects to keep attacking him? These objects couldn’t be something as simple as a bench; they had to be boulders at the very least. He also had to avoid his opponent’s attacks perfectly… It sounded easy, but in practice, it was life-or-death.
“Also, with your Sky Control Technique, if you have a high-grade spiritual weapon capable of resisting the Golden Blade,” Yun Lan said, “you can also gradually drain his spiritual energy. The Immortal Technique is strong in defense. Even with the enhancement from the Golden Blade, as long as you have a high-grade spiritual weapon that can block it and use the Ethereal Step to avoid most attacks, it will be hard for him to cause you much damage.”
“That’s a good idea!” Lin Dong laughed.
“I’ll have someone send over a high-grade spiritual weapon in the letter. What kind of weapon do you prefer?” Yun Lan smiled too.
“It doesn’t matter!” Lin Dong chuckled. “As long as it’s a high-grade spiritual weapon, I can use it skillfully.”
“Then use a sword! Our Tianjian Sect has many high-grade spiritual swords.” Yun Lan nodded and continued, “Besides, if you want to kill him, you have to lure him into a spiritual array and use the array to drain his spiritual energy. In fact, there are many ways to kill him.”
“All of them sound easy but are difficult to execute,” Lin Dong said with a sigh. “Since he might not be dead, if I can capture him and force him to reveal the Immortal Technique, combined with my Sky Control Technique, wouldn’t I be invincible?”
“You’re quite clever!” Yun Lan shook her head. “The Immortal Technique isn’t something anyone can learn. Otherwise, why would it be lost for hundreds of years without any sect or school mastering it?”
“It’s hard to learn?” Lin Dong asked in confusion.
Yun Lan nodded and explained, “It’s as difficult as your Sky Control Technique. To reach the highest level of Sky Control Technique, one needs an innate understanding that even extraordinary geniuses would hesitate to pursue. This is also why no sect has been able to establish itself using Sky Control Technique—often, no disciple can reach the strongest level for hundreds of years, making them easy targets for other major sects.”
“The difficulty of the Immortal Art lies in the extremely high requirements for learning it. Most importantly, one must possess deep hatred before attempting to learn it; otherwise, it’s impossible to comprehend it.”
Lin Dong was speechless—he didn’t meet this first requirement, and he hoped he never would.
“Secondly, those who learn the Immortal Art need to be of extreme Pure Yang nature,” Yun Lan explained. “Only those with extreme Pure Yang can truly understand and unleash the power of the Immortal Art.”
Lin Dong remained silent. From Yun Lan’s words, it was clear he didn’t belong to that category.
“Moreover, the requirements for cultivation talent are also very high,” Yun Lan continued slowly. “In truth, the key to the Immortal Art lies in the person who learns it. Once they master it, if they haven’t reached the level of a warrior by age 20, their meridians will burst, leading to death. By age 40, they must reach the level of a strong warrior, and by age 60, they must reach the peak of strength… These three major factors are also why it’s so difficult to find successors for the Immortal Art. There are also requirements like physique, perseverance, and killing intent. The reason it’s hard to kill those who master the Immortal Art is their personality. Those who learn it can survive in the harshest conditions and will never lose heart or give up.”
Lin Dong smirked. This spiritual skill not only had terrifying power but also terrifying requirements.
Seeing Lin Dong’s expression, Yun Lan smiled and said, “Actually, no matter how good a spiritual skill is, it’s just supplementary. The strongest thing is still one’s own strength. No matter how good the Heaven Controlling Art is, you can’t defeat someone at the fifth level of the Mental State stage. No matter how powerful the Immortal Art is, it will be destroyed with a mere wave of the hand by a peak strong warrior. A master of the Immortal Art at the fourth level of the Mental State stage, with Old Master Ding’s strength, is no different from killing an ant.”
Lin Dong nodded slowly, then said casually, “Whatever the Immortal Art is, with you as my personal guard, everything will be easy.”
Yun Lan said nothing, neither arguing nor agreeing.
After chatting for a while longer, Lin Dong returned to the main hall. He asked Ma Chun to send someone to summon Wang Liuze, before returning to his room.
Shutting out thoughts of Cheng Bao, Lin Dong immediately started preparing the latest news for the merchant guild to be released the next morning, along with the cooking enhancement effect.
While writing, Yun Lan brought over the finished letter. Soon after, Wang Liuze arrived at the inn.
It was Wang Liuze who handled testing and cultivating the loyalty of those ruffians. Without him, it wouldn’t work. After discussing it, Lin Dong decided to have Slim Bamboo lead a few people there, while also asking the Gu Huan Sect to send a few disciples as guards. When they were a few days’ journey away from the Heaven Sword Sect, those disciples would be told to wait in place.
Everything was arranged, and night had fallen. In the room, Lin Dong thought he could quietly work out the progress of the merchant guild, but unexpectedly, Ma Chun brought news that left him stunned for a long time. Fu Tongshan had indeed been assassinated, but only a decoy was killed. More importantly, a month ago, Fu Tongshan had been bedridden and hadn’t left home at all; those who came to visit him did so through a curtain. Now, everyone in the city was searching for Fu Tongshan’s whereabouts. “Are you sure the killed Fu Tongshan was just a decoy?” Lin Dong couldn’t help but ask. Ma Chun nodded. “It was Lord Li who said it himself; there should be no mistake. After all, he wouldn’t lie to the shop owner.” Lin Dong slowly nodded. Indeed, Li Jiancheng wouldn’t lie to him. “Besides, if Fu Tongshan really were killed, the whole city would be in chaos now,” Ma Chun speculated. “But it’s quiet in the city—nothing suggests a major incident has happened.” Lin Dong shook his head. With such a big incident having occurred at noon and no one knowing about it, it was clearly suppressed by the people from Tianwei Pavilion. If Fu Tongshan had really been killed, Tianwei Pavilion could have suppressed it just as easily. But since Li Jiancheng said Fu Tongshan was fake, it must be fake. But how could Fu Tongshan think of using a decoy, knowing that Cheng Bao would come to kill him? And he knew about it a month in advance. “Ma Chun, have there been any news related to bandits in the city recently?” “Bandits?” Ma Chun was puzzled. After pondering for a moment, he explained, “There hasn’t been much news about bandits recently. But three or four months ago, I heard that a few bandits were captured—seems to be those from the once-famous Tiansha Camp in Lingnan Commandery.” “What happened to those bandits?” Lin Dong pressed. “They said they would be executed after autumn, to prevent anyone from rescuing them, so they were killed at the vegetable market south of our Qiufeng City,” Ma Chun replied. Lin Dong fell silent. Cheng Bao’s purpose must have been those bandits. He must have sneaked into the government office at night, intending to take Fu Tongshan hostage to demand something. Apparently, the fake Fu Tongshan got scared when he saw the bandits, started screaming and alerting others, and was then killed by Cheng Bao. But if that’s the case, Fu Tongshan must have started arranging for a decoy three months ago just to avoid Cheng Bao. Moreover, there was no need to lie about being seriously ill. An idea struck Lin Dong, and he asked, “Is Fu Zizhou here?” “Fu Zizhou?” Ma Chun was stunned and hesitated. “To be honest, I haven’t heard anything about him in a long time.”
Logically, as the most talented man in the Great Han Kingdom, he should be a topic of conversation everywhere. Lin Dong pressed further, “The prefect was assassinated, and it’s even a fake prefect—was it covered up?”
Ma Chun nodded. “Lord Li said this matter couldn’t be made public, claiming it was an order from Tianwei Pavilion.”
Lin Dong let out a long sigh. His guess was likely correct. Tianwei Pavilion usually never interfered in worldly or official affairs, yet now they had ordered that the fact Fu Tongshan wasn’t in Qiufeng City not be disclosed. It surely wasn’t because of Cheng Bao. Although Cheng Bao was a notorious bandit and Fu Tongshan used to be a grand tutor, even if Cheng Bao ran away, Tianwei Pavilion would never break their rules to ensure Fu Tongshan’s safety. They would only spare no effort to avenge an official once one was killed.
Moreover, Cheng Bao’s target wasn’t Fu Tongshan at all. And even if they tried to cover it up, they couldn’t keep it hidden for long—Fu Tongshan couldn’t stay hidden forever.
The answer was undoubtedly Emperor Qianwei. Only Emperor Qianwei could make Tianwei Pavilion break their rules like this.
Fu Tongshan and Fu Zizhou had been missing for a month, and Emperor Qianwei was aware of it. He even ordered Tianwei Pavilion to break rules to cover it up… All these factors added up to something quite intriguing.
Lin Dong suddenly felt he needed to rewrite most of the news about the merchant guild. If he wasn’t mistaken, what he had suspected all along had been indirectly confirmed.
If that were indeed the case, it would be excellent news.
“Ma Chun, how many days does it take by carriage from Qiufeng City to the capital?” Lin Dong asked.
“Five and a half months at a slow pace, and if fast…” Ma Chun calculated for a moment before saying, “Two and a half months should be enough.”
“Can’t it be any faster?” Lin Dong frowned slightly. Two and a half months meant it would be another one and a half months before Fu Tongshan reached the capital. That was too long. Even if Fu Tongshan arrived, it would still take at least a month or two to take action. The matters of the merchant guild couldn’t be delayed for three or four months.
“Faster…?” Ma Chun spread his hands. “Unless we ride a spiritual beast.”
Lin Dong was stunned, then laughed. He had forgotten about spiritual beasts. Tianwei Pavilion certainly had plenty of fast ones.
If it were a high-tier spiritual beast or bird, it could reach the capital in just over ten days. That meant Fu Tongshan would have arrived in the capital about twenty days earlier. Calculating the time, he could start taking action in about a month.
“Alright, it’s getting late. Let’s go back and sleep! Tomorrow morning, I’ll give you an earth-shattering piece of news that will shake the entire Qiufeng City,” Lin Dong said, waving his hand.
“The news that has shaken the entire Autumn Wind City?” Ma Chun was surprised rather than pleased. “Owner, you’re not planning to pull Fu Tongshan into this, are you?”
Lin Dong said with determination, “It’s not that we want to pull Fu Tongshan in—he’s already involved. Don’t worry; I’m 90% sure that Fenglin Restaurant will help us cover up the charge of fabricating imperial policies, because they’re also fabricating imperial policies, and it falls under the category of spreading false rumors to mislead the public.”
“How is that possible?” Although Ma Chun wanted to believe it, he couldn’t convince himself.
“You’ll know when the time comes,” Lin Dong said with a smile.
“Then… should I go back first?” Ma Chun asked.
Lin Dong nodded. After Ma Chun left, he immediately started drafting new news for the merchant guild.
Since Emperor Qianwei wanted to cover up Fu Tongshan’s presence, he surely hadn’t fully prepared yet. Releasing Fu Tongshan’s identity rashly might alert Ling Zhengyang, who could then send the news to the capital and ruin Emperor Qianwei’s plans.
Fortunately, using a retired prince to replace Fu Tongshan would achieve the same result, and it wouldn’t arouse suspicion among those who were well-accustomed to the scheming in the court. To them, the idea that a retired prince could reverse the course of the merchant guild was nothing but a joke.