Chapter 367: Feng Yue’s Strength

Feng Yue stared coldly at Lin Dong, lifting the spiritual sword in his hand slightly.
“Do you still want to keep us?”
Qiao Tianhao interjected disdainfully, “Idiot! Aren’t you going to compensate for breaking the tables and chairs in our inn? Or for injuring our people? Or do you think the money you made today isn’t enough for your return trip, so you want to dodge your responsibilities?”
“Brother Lin!” Liang Liren opened his palm, and a silver note appeared quietly.
Lin Dong shook his head slowly and smiled, “Lin’s Inn isn’t short of this amount of silver.”
“Then you…” Liang Liren looked puzzled. He realized that despite having seen many people, he couldn’t quite understand this young man.
Lin Dong took out three Tianfeng peppers stored in the mobile counter and tossed them at Feng Yue.
Feng Yue’s crimson eyes lit up instantly. He pushed with his palm, sending two copper coins flying toward Qin Mengtai’s back.
“Catch your reward!”
After giving that warning, Feng Yue raised both hands. With the sound of clinking chains, he caught the three Tianfeng peppers thrown by Lin Dong.
With a loud noise, the two copper coins aimed at Qin Mengtai were knocked off mid-air, about three meters away from his back.
“Is it spicy?” Without bothering to mock Qin Mengtai further, Feng Yue raised the Tianfeng peppers in his hand toward Lin Dong.
Lin Dong stretched out his right hand and smiled, “Just touching them made my palm burn with pain. Senior Feng should feel it too.”
“Yes, yes! I was just worried it might not be that spicy and asked out of concern.” Feng Yue beamed, as if he’d found a treasure.
“Senior Feng had better take a bite first. These are the spiciest Tianfeng peppers in the Great Han Nation. It’s said even the locals dare not try them,” Lin Dong explained. “Because ordinary people might die from the spice!”
“Tianfeng peppers? The name sounds nice. As for killing people from spice… I, Feng Yue, have been immersed in Wanling peppers since I was one year old. A few ordinary peppers won’t bother me. Let’s see.”
Feng Yue opened his mouth wide, pushed with his palm, and swallowed all three Tianfeng peppers at once. A flash of surprise passed through his crimson pupils.
“Senior Feng…” Lin Dong couldn’t help swallowing hard. Just watching him made Lin Dong feel a burning sensation in his stomach.

“It’s still the All-Purpose Chili that’s the most satisfying to eat.” Feng Yue stretched his right hand toward Liang Liren beside him.
Qin Mengtai suddenly shot forward, leaping out of the courtyard wall in an instant.
“Let’s go! Shopkeeper Lin, please tell Jian Chen that we’re waiting for him at the city gate.”
Liang Liren took out a chili, placed it in Feng Yue’s palm, then grabbed his shoulder and followed Qin Mengtai closely.
“I hope you’ll give up the idea of seeing Yun Lan again.”
Feng Zhengyang glanced at Lin Dong coldly, his expression as icy as frost.
Lin Dong frowned, suddenly recalling Senior Feng mentioned by Mo Jianchen last time. A killing intent surged in his heart. The Ruyi Stool, which he hadn’t taken out yet, appeared silently in his hand. He was confident that no one could shake his feelings for Yun Lan, but this man’s strength was unknown, and as the eldest disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect’s grand elder, he might resort to underhanded tactics using his status. With the feud settled today, killing him was the safest option.
After hesitating for a moment, Lin Dong decided to give up. Killing Feng Zhengyang here, based only on his ability to injure Cheng Bao and the others, would be difficult to explain to Yun Lan. Moreover, since Old Ding wasn’t around, relying on the inn’s expulsion system and transportation functions, he was confident that no one in Lin’s Inn could kill him unless they were as fast as Old Ding. But if Qin Mengtai’s proud disciple was killed and he took revenge, though there would be no danger, the inn’s business would be ruined.
“I hope you can survive long enough to come to the Heavenly Sword Sect to find me.” Feng Zhengyang’s gaze shifted to Cheng Bao.
“Idiot, you don’t learn the good things and instead focus on barking like a dog,” Qiao Tianhao retorted rudely for Cheng Bao. “Hope, hope… Why don’t you just wish to become a dog yourself?”
Feng Zhengyang’s gaze sharpened as he stared coldly at Qiao Tianhao.
“Don’t look at me; you won’t get that chance,” Qiao Tianhao snorted. “With Brother Bao’s temper, you’d better buy a rosewood coffin in advance once you return to the Heavenly Sword Sect.”
Feng Zhengyang remained silent. After scanning everyone’s faces once more, he bent his legs slightly and suddenly shot out of the courtyard wall.
“Such a gloomy guy, called a dog by others yet still able to endure it. It’s obvious he’s no honest person,” Qiao Tianhao spat in Feng Zhengyang’s direction as he left.
“Alright, except for Cheng Bao who needs to return to his room to recover, everyone else go back to the kitchen. By the way…” Lin Dong asked doubtfully, “Yulongling, why have you come back?”
“I wanted to learn a few spiritual techniques during my free time, so I came to see Wang Liuzhi,” Yulongling explained.
“Cheng Bao needs a few days to recover from the pills. You’ll take his place for now,” Lin Dong decided immediately.
Yulongling nodded.

“Master Lin, I…” Hua Wuyue hesitated, unsure what to say.
Lin Dong smiled and asked, “Worried about attracting people you shouldn’t?”
Hua Wuyue nodded and inquired, “Is the Tianjian Sect a major sect?”
Lin Dong didn’t explain but said, “It indeed is a major sect. You can leave the inn at any time if you sense something’s wrong. Even now, if you want to take precautions, you can do so as well.”
Hua Wuyue hesitated for a moment before asking carefully, “If I stay, that Lingyun Tree branch…”
“As much as you need!” Lin Dong replied casually, “Until you can no longer absorb any medicinal effects.”
“Then… should I go back to the kitchen?” Seeking fortune in danger, Hua Wuyue, though still hesitant, had made up her mind.
Lin Dong nodded with a smile.
After everyone left, Lin Dong sat down by the stone bench. Soon after, Mo Jianchen stepped out quickly from the room where Yun Lan was studying how to perfectly integrate spirit arrays with spirit weapons.
“Huh? Where did everyone go?” Glancing around, Mo Jianchen looked at Lin Dong in surprise.
“They left first. The second elder said he’s waiting for you at the city gate,” Lin Dong replied.
Mo Jianchen nodded and said awkwardly, “I’ve already put away all of Sister Yun’s things. Um…”
“It’s fine. Just remember where they are and make sure not to put them back in the wrong place,” Lin Dong said calmly.
“Put them back?” Mo Jianchen was confused.
“You’ll know when the time comes,” Lin Dong replied without further explanation. The reason he agreed to let Mo Jianchen take Yun Lan’s things was, firstly, because Liang Liren had asked him to, but more importantly, he believed those items needed to be returned.
It was Yun Lan who decided where to study the perfect integration of spirit arrays and spirit weapons, not Qin Mengtai. Publicly, Linji Inn deserved credit for this research, so there was no reason to exclude them. Privately, Lin Dong was confident that unless Yun Lan’s passion was stirred, as it had been in Wuyoudong, or unless Yun Cangqiong intervened personally, she would prefer to stay at Linji Inn with him.
Given Yun Lan’s status in the Tianjian Sect, she didn’t need to follow Qin Mengtai’s orders. She had already refused to return to the Tianjian Sect to study once before, so a second refusal wouldn’t matter. Even if Qin Mengtai tried to force her to go, with the Huanyu Sect guarding Wuyoudong outside, and even an expert like Old Ding facing risks when taking Yu Linglong with him, it would be difficult for Qin Mengtai and his men, let alone with Mo Jianchen and Feng Zhengyang as burdens, to get in without a special strategy—let alone emerge unscathed.

Even if they got in, there were numerous advanced illusion arrays in the passages. Without advanced spirit array masters or peak-level experts, it would be enough to trap Qin Mengtai and the others for a year or so. After that, there was also Old Ding, a formidable obstacle who could single-handedly take care of all of Qin Mengtai’s people. If Qin Mengtai tried to use force, it would be extremely difficult for him to succeed. Once Yun Lan returned to Lin’s Inn, the materials she took would undoubtedly have to be brought back. Seeing that Lin Dong had no intention of explaining, Mo Jianchen, fearing he might ask how his relationship with Yun Lan had been revealed, quickly asked, “Should I go chase after Master and the Second Elder first?”
“What about Senior Feng?” Lin Dong asked.
“Sister Yun sent a letter to the Tianjian Sect, saying they needed one or two alchemists at least at the fifth rank. Senior Feng is an eighth-rank alchemist, so the First Elder brought him here.”
“I’m asking how he ended up as a prisoner of the Tianjian Sect,” Lin Dong said, shaking his head.
“That was over ten years ago. Senior Feng came to our Tianjian Sect to steal spiritual pills and even injured the former sect master and several former elders. At that time, Sect Master Yun, who was just the heir, happened to return from his training. It is said that it took three days of fighting before he was captured,” Mo Jianchen explained. “After that, to get Senior Feng’s alchemy techniques, he was kept locked in the Nine Nether Ice Prison of our Tianjian Sect.”
Lin Dong was intrigued and pressed further, “So, Senior Feng is also a peak-level expert?”
Mo Jianchen shook his head. “He should be at the ninth stage of the Heart Reversal Phase. Back then, Sect Master Yun was also at the ninth stage. It wasn’t until two months after the battle that he broke through. I remember that it was after Sect Master Yun broke through the Heart Reversal Phase that the former sect master announced his retirement and Sect Master Yun took over.”
“What’s his strength now?” Lin Dong asked.
“Still at the ninth stage of the Heart Reversal Phase!” Mo Jianchen shook his head. “After he was captured, Sect Master Yun used a special technique to control several of Senior Feng’s vital meridians with spiritual energy. Although Senior Feng could still use spiritual energy, he couldn’t cultivate properly or use it to strengthen his dantian and break through the ninth stage of the Heart Reversal Phase. He could only rely on a unique spiritual technique to absorb the spiritual energy from the Ten Thousand Spirits Pepper to barely maintain his strength.”
“A unique spiritual technique?” Lin Dong was surprised. “Using the spiritual energy in spiritual materials directly as spiritual energy?”
Mo Jianchen nodded. “That’s likely, but only for materials with a spicy taste.”
Lin Dong didn’t think much of it and waved his hand. “Go chase after them! Be careful outside Wuyou Cave; you might encounter an ambush by the Fantasy Rain Sect, the largest sect in Lingnan Commandery.”
“Understood!”
Mo Jianchen bent his legs slightly and shot off in pursuit.

The backyard grew quiet. Lin Dong returned to the lobby to instruct Ma Chun to send someone to clean up the mess. After considering for a moment what to do if Qin Mengtai and the others returned, he went back to his room to practice.