Chapter 530: Successful Fusion

Suddenly, Yun Lan spoke up, “Elder Feng, keep Qing Shui as it is.”
Below the furnace, the flames dimmed abruptly. Though still burning fiercely, they were significantly weaker. The silver water being fused also stopped boiling and bubbling, with only one or two small bubbles emerging from time to time.
Yun Lan opened her palm, and the Qing Hong Sword appeared instantly. Then, a handful of powder was scattered on its tip.
With a thought, the Qing Hong Sword flew forward and pierced into the energy barrier formed by Feng Yue. The powder on the sword tip remained intact as it moved rapidly across the silver water, seeping downward bit by bit. In the center of the silver water, a strange pattern formed, surrounded by a thin, glowing thread.
“Elder Feng, can you ensure this pattern doesn’t disappear and keep the glowing thread visible?” Yun Lan asked.
“A piece of cake!”
Feng Yue nodded. His spiritual energy surged, and the flames at the bottom of the furnace flared up again. The silver-blue metallic water began to churn violently. Yet no matter how turbulent it became, the strange pattern and the glowing thread remained unscathed, like a leaf adrift in a storm.
Finally, the metallic water turned completely blue. With a loud shout, Feng Yue caused Qing Shui to surge upward, enveloping the strange pattern and gathering it into a mass above the furnace. Then, under his control, it began to expand and contract rapidly. After tens of millions of repetitions, Qing Shui began to solidify, and the expansion and contraction ceased. The entire blue metallic mass slowly unfolded—hilt, back, blade… a large blue sword gradually took shape.
“It’s done!” Sensing that the sword was nearly fully hardened, Feng Yue spoke up.
Yun Lan waved her right hand, and the Qing Hong Sword flew back into the air. Its tip moved swiftly across the sword’s back, causing strands of powder to spill out. These powder strands caught the glowing thread outside and quickly formed a glowing pattern on the sword’s back—identical to the strange pattern enclosed by Qing Shui.
Buzz!
Not long after the pattern formed, the sword trembled suddenly, with a surge of cold energy emanating from it.
Feng Yue grabbed it with his right hand, and the sword flew into his grasp.
“Is it formed?” Lin Dong asked anxiously.
Feng Yue remained silent. A drop of blood fell on the sword’s back, after which he gave it a light swing. A howling wind from the sword sounded instantly.
“It’s done! It really is done!” Joy flashed across Feng Yue’s solemn face.
“Try it! Try it yourself!” Worried he might be wrong, Feng Yue quickly handed the sword to Yun Lan.
Yun Lan hurriedly took the sword. Lin Dong, as an observer, reminded him, “Elder Feng, you haven’t erased your mark yet.”
“Right, right!”

Feng Yue came to his senses, while Yun Lan was at a loss for words, quickly returning the great sword to Feng Yue. Once Feng Yue erased the mark from the sword and Yun Lan took it, she swung it lightly a few times, then gripped it tightly with her left fist and swung it forcefully several times before charging at Lin Dong—her excitement evident.
“It worked! Indeed, one needs the control of a ninth-tier artifact master to arrange the array core before the spiritual weapon even begins to take shape.”
With the soft jade in her arms, Lin Dong enjoyed the moment, gently patting Yun Lan’s back. Once her emotions calmed down a bit, he leaned his head against her shoulder, taking this opportunity to start moving his hands as well.
“By the way, try it!” Unaware of Lin Dong’s actions, Yun Lan remembered to share her joy with him. She pushed him away, erased the mark, and handed the sword to Lin Dong.
Reluctantly, Lin Dong took the sword and channeled spiritual energy into it, then swung it lightly.
Whoosh…
The rapidly slashing blade startled Lin Dong.
“This sword…” Lin Dong stared at Yun Lan in astonishment. Such speed could only be achieved by injecting a large amount of spiritual energy—yet he had only used a small amount just now.
“A fifth-tier Gale Array is arranged on the sword. Although it’s been scaled down countless times and its power reduced accordingly, activating it with spiritual energy still allows the sword to be even faster,” Yun Lan explained.
Lin Dong understood, and soon his smile was no less bright than Yun Lan’s and Feng Yue’s.
This was still a fifth-tier spiritual array and a fifth-tier spiritual weapon. If a ninth-tier spiritual array and a ninth-tier spiritual weapon were combined, wouldn’t that allow for the mass production of spiritual weapons as astonishing as the golden sword in Cheng Bao’s hands, with various attributes?
“What about a ninth-tier spiritual weapon?” Lin Dong took a breath and asked Yun Lan.
Yun Lan nodded slowly and said, “It’s possible, but I need to reach the Heart Riding Phase first.”
“That’s simple!” Lin Dong beamed. Yun Lan was already at the ninth level of the Heart Reversal Phase. The Dream Wisdom Tree and Water Spirit Beasts would produce their first batch in a few months. Giving all of those to Yun Lan, along with some auxiliary cultivation pills obtained from other shops on Tianfeng Street, would surely help her reach the late stage of the Heart Reversal Phase. With Yun Lan’s talent, breaking through wouldn’t be difficult.
In other words, in a few months, the third peak warrior of Lin’s Inn would emerge. And various ninth-tier spiritual weapons, several times more powerful than those found outside, could also be mass-produced.
“It seems I need to hurry up and gather ninth-tier spiritual minerals!” Lin Dong reminded himself with a grin.

Yun Lan smiled and nodded, while Feng Yue grunted, “It’s easy to craft a fifth-tier spiritual artifact, but a ninth-tier one isn’t that simple. Even with all the best materials available, it would take at least half a month of non-stop work to create one. Eating ten or twenty pounds of Tianfeng peppers a day for such hard labor— isn’t it not worth it?”
Lin Dong was speechless. This was outright price gouging!
However, to craft a ninth-tier spiritual artifact, Yun Lan only needed to set up a spiritual array at critical moments. Even though it was a ninth-tier array, it was scaled down countless times, so it could be completed in just one or two hours. The real hard work still fell on Feng Yue. Considering this, the high price made sense.
“Well then, once the young Tianpeng birds grow up, I’ll pick the strongest and best one for Senior Feng as a mount,” Lin Dong said. Knowing Feng Yue had no real demands and just felt a bit disadvantaged, he generously added, “The house and pavilion will be built using ninth-tier Jincheng Jade, and the interior decoration will be the most luxurious and comfortable in the entire Great Han Kingdom.”
Armor made of ninth-tier Jincheng Jade was not only as light as a feather but also extremely durable. A complete set of such armor would cost tens of millions of silver coins—unattainable without that much money. Building a house with Jincheng Jade would be so dazzling that even the strongest warriors would bow in awe, thinking a deity had descended.
With that in mind, working hard for a few years was definitely worth it!
Feng Yue didn’t stay silent for long and quickly nodded. “You’re bold enough to invest heavily. Besides that, all ninth-tier spiritual artifacts must also bear my name, Feng Yue.”
“Deal!” Lin Dong hesitated none. Since he had already committed most of the cost, such a minor detail wasn’t a concern.
“Alright, start collecting Jincheng Jade as soon as possible! Don’t let me die before I see the Tianpeng birds and the Jincheng Jade house you promised.” Feng Yue wasn’t distrustful of Lin Dong, but Jincheng Jade was extraordinary. With such a huge quantity, he still wondered if Lin Dong was just bluffing.
“No problem. I guarantee it can be done within three to five years.”
Lin Dong nodded. If he dared to propose using Jincheng Jade to build a house, he must be confident. In his dealings with shops on Tianfeng Street, one of them offered Jincheng Jade in exchange for a large amount of Qinglan fruits. Although the amount wasn’t enough to build a house, it was still significant. Lin Dong believed the sect behind that shop surely had Jincheng Jade mines but was too cautious to use them extensively. By offering a large batch of Qinglan fruits first, he ensured the other party would follow through.
If the collection speed was fast enough, three to five years wasn’t even too long.
Feng Yue’s figure flashed and he disappeared.

“I’ll go back to my room to look up some information and study those ninth-tier spiritual minerals that can be used to set up ninth-tier spiritual arrays,” Yun Lan said immediately.
“Okay! I’ll head to the lobby,” Lin Dong replied with a smile.
Once Yun Lan returned to her room, Lin Dong rushed to the lobby in high spirits.
Fortunately, Ma Chun wasn’t serving guests upstairs this time; instead, he was sitting at the counter, doing calculations.
Lin Dong called out to him, and Ma Chun immediately followed him to the front yard.
“Boss, what’s the matter?” Ma Chun asked cheerfully after Lin Dong sat down. “Your face looks so bright—seems like something good has happened?”
“It indeed is a great thing. Later, tell Xiao Liu to go to the shop that exchanged Golden Chen Jade for Cyan Blue Fruits last time—I think it’s called Qi Chong Shan He. Ask their boss to come to Wan Bao Zhai and show them a hundred or so pairs of Cyan Blue Fruits, and see if they’re willing to exchange them for Golden Chen Jade,” Lin Dong said with a nod.
“A thousand eight hundred pairs of Cyan Blue Fruits?” Ma Chun was astonished. “Providing so many at once might attract the attention of the sect behind that shop.”
“No problem. When making the deal, ask Old Master Ding to go as well. In front of such a powerful figure, they probably won’t dare to act,” Lin Dong said nonchalantly, explaining the reason to Ma Chun.
Ma Chun nodded in understanding.
“Also, keep an eye on who orders the most dishes tomorrow,” Lin Dong continued.
“Who orders the most dishes?” Ma Chun repeated, a bit puzzled.
Lin Dong nodded. “And it has to be throughout tomorrow. If anyone orders more than what’s usual for a banquet, let me know right away. If there are more, keep notifying me—tell me as much as you find. As for the reason… don’t ask.”
Ma Chun grinned. Whenever Lin Dong said “don’t ask,” he knew there was something fishy going on. Of course, he had encountered this situation many times before, so he didn’t take it too seriously and agreed.
“Is there any movement from the top restaurants?” Lin Dong asked further.
“Early this morning, Feng Lin Restaurant sent a message saying that yesterday, a group of them met to discuss taking turns launching eye-catching promotions to gradually draw business away from our inn,” Ma Chun replied.
“Have they set a start date?” Lin Dong pressed.
“They’re still discussing it. In my opinion, with such a big deal, unless someone makes a significant concession, it won’t be easy to reach an agreement. After all, the issue of cutting off supplies isn’t resolved yet, so they’re not in a hurry to target our Lin Ji Inn,” Ma Chun said calmly.

Lin Dong dismissed it with a smile and didn’t take it to heart. When it came to marketing tactics, he would never admit he was inferior to anyone. All he had to consider was whether to make another concession or launch a slight counterattack—whichever would force the top restaurants to invest more money.