Chapter 592: Heir

The hidden meaning in his words was uncovered, making the old man’s face turn red again. But Xiao Tianchi smiled immediately and said, “What are you saying, Manager Lin? I’m merely sorry for arriving late.”
Lin Dong smiled and waved at Wang Liuzhi beside him, ordering, “Tell Ma Chun to prepare a banquet tonight—thousands of tables. If there aren’t enough tables and chairs, go to the carpenters and pay them with silver!”
“Eh!” Wang Liuzhi nodded vigorously. After a fierce battle, having big bowls of wine and plenty of meat to eat was the most delightful thing.
The guards also cheered loudly, even the wounded did.
“Please, Master Xiao!” Lin Dong invited Xiao Tianchi to sit at the stone table.
“Please, Manager Lin!” Xiao Tianchi quickly declined politely.
Both sat down, with Tian Hao standing behind Lin Dong. This gesture made the corners of Xiao Tianchi’s mouth twitch involuntarily.
“Master, it’s true—no one can compare to one’s own father!”
Xiao Tianchi’s words left Tian Hao momentarily at a loss, not knowing how to respond.
“You’re already the heir to the head of your Gu Huan Sect. Why should Master Xiao care about such things?” Lin Dong said calmly. “Could it be that Master Xiao disdains our Lin’s Inn for its weakness, fearing we might ask Tian Hao for favors in the future, and plans for Tian Hao to cut ties with the mundane world?”
“Is that really what you mean, Manager Lin?” Xiao Tianchi’s face lit up with joy. If Lin’s Inn could even destroy Tian Wei Pavilion, it surely wouldn’t take Gu Huan Sect seriously. When he arrived and saw so many skilled people in the courtyard, Xiao Tianchi had been worried that Lin Dong might keep Tian Hao. In his view, that possibility was quite high.
Generally, once someone reaches the pinnacle, unless they have an extreme desire for power, they tend to retire early to pursue something greater.
If Lin’s Inn could defeat Tian Wei Pavilion, it would have no rivals left in the Great Han Nation. Lin’s Inn had undoubtedly reached the peak of strength, and as its manager, Lin Dong surely no longer cared about such things—either by traveling the world or striving for mastery in martial arts… Although Manager Lin was not yet thirty, he had already brought Lin’s Inn to its peak, so he would surely choose an heir to pursue other goals.
The heir to Lin’s Inn, Lin Dong’s own offspring, was undoubtedly the best choice. It’s only natural for even those at the peak to think this way. But Lin Dong was still young and had no biological children. Tian Hao, as his adopted son, was naturally the best interim choice.
With Tian Hao becoming the new manager of Lin’s Inn, Lin Dong would live a carefree life, while Gu Huan Sect would surely weep bitterly.

Although the Gu Huan Sect received considerable support in the form of spiritual materials for cultivation from Lin’s Inn, it has now grown from a small sect to one between a medium-sized and a large sect. With Tian Hao’s connections, it will surely benefit from the Gu Huan Sect in the future, making it not difficult for it to develop into a large sect. But what will happen to the Gu Huan Sect a hundred years later? A strong sect leader can not only protect the sect from attacks by other sects but also attract many talented disciples. Large sects have extremely strict requirements for their disciples, yet geniuses also choose their sects carefully. There is a huge difference between a sect led by a peak-level powerhouse and one led by someone only at the eighth or ninth stage of the Heart Reversal phase. For this reason, every time Xiao Tianchi met Lin Dong, he tried to tie Tian Hao to him, fostering in Lin Dong the idea that Tian Hao belonged to the Gu Huan Sect. Unfortunately, this time, Lin Dong didn’t go along with his plans. Like Emperor Qianwei, after suffering a significant setback, things suddenly took a turn, and Lin Dong seemed unwilling to let Tian Hao inherit Lin’s Inn. Lin Dong nodded slowly. After using Emperor Qianwei’s victory over top restaurants as proof of his unshakable advantage, he felt an inexplicable emptiness—seemingly, the goal he had strived for for years was now within reach. After defeating Tianwei Pavilion, Lin Dong felt as if he was above all others in the Great Han Nation, with no one left to rival him. As Xiao Tianchi guessed, Lin Dong indeed wanted to find an heir. The candidate was Lin Shuang. First, Lin Shuang was a business genius; within just a few years, without any help from him, she had earned tens of thousands of silver taels. In the Southwest City, that amount made her one of the wealthiest people, and she had done it in just a few years—on top of that, she had just turned seventeen and hadn’t given up her studies at Qiufeng Academy. If Lin Shuang managed Lin’s Inn while Lin Dong provided guidance from the sidelines for a few more years, he believed she would surpass him and run the inn even better. Another factor was the guard team. The guard team, along with the small garden and breeding pens, couldn’t have an heir because only Lin Dong could control them. In this regard, he still had to handle it through the inn system. Moreover, since the guard team members were utterly loyal to Lin’s Inn, Tian Hao would have nothing to do there at all.

For the business of Lin’s Inn, Lin Shuang is indispensable. As for the guard team, Tianhao can’t interfere, so Lin Shuang is the only candidate to become the next manager of Lin’s Inn. As long as Xiao Tianchi doesn’t interfere with the relationship between Tianhao and Lin’s Inn, Lin Dong has no objection to Tianhao inheriting the Gu Huan Sect.

“Manager Lin, I, Xiao… I…” Xiao Tianchi didn’t know what to say to express his feelings. Seeing that Lin’s Inn was providing increasingly better spiritual materials for the Gu Huan Sect, he had a premonition. Getting Lin Dong’s promise today made him feel greatly relieved.

After exchanging a few polite words, Yun Lan, Old Ding, and Feng Yue came over.

“Elder!” Xiao Tianchi had never met Old Ding before but had heard from Tianhao about this person at Lin’s Inn, so he quickly stood up.

“Sit!” Old Ding nodded and turned to Lin Dong, “Young Lin, while chatting with Miss Yun earlier, we talked about how Lin’s Inn is now unmatched. Suddenly, I felt like paying respects to our ancestors. Will you come with me?”

“Of course, but…” Old Ding’s ancestors were also Lin Dong’s ancestors. Now that Lin’s Inn had become unbeatable overnight, Old Ding wanted to go and thank them, so of course Lin Dong had to go too.

“What ‘but’?” Old Ding asked.

“We need to go to the Tianjian Sect first!” Lin Dong said with a smile.

Old Ding was stunned for a moment before raising his eyebrows and saying, “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go now.”

“Let’s wait another ten or so days. Many members of the guard team are seriously injured. Even if we have Braised Wind Spirit Grass, it will take some time for them to recover. More people mean more strength. Let’s wait until everyone is back together before going, so we can strike with full force,” Lin Dong explained.

“Is it really necessary to go through such trouble?” Old Ding wondered. “If the Tianwei Pavilion could be destroyed, let alone these guards. Just bring the Tianpeng Bird, and we can easily destroy the Tianjian Sect. The mere deterrence of the Tianpeng Bird is enough to force everyone in the Tianjian Sect to compromise.”

“We still need to prepare a marriage gift, right? To marry Yun Lan, strength alone isn’t enough; sincerity is also required. Otherwise, we won’t be able to pass Senior Yun’s test,” Lin Dong said with a smile.

Yun Lan’s cheeks flushed red, but Old Ding nodded in agreement with Lin Dong’s reasoning.

Actually, Lin Dong had another reason to wait another ten days—that Lin’s Inn was about to level up.

In a few more days, Lin’s Inn will reach its full experience level, and then upgrade tasks will appear. Once those tasks come, Lin Dong will arrange to complete them according to the situation before having enough time to head to the Tianjian Sect. After all, there are still follow-up steps after successfully “forcing” a marriage. Lin Dong is worried that he might get too absorbed in these tasks and delay the inn’s upgrades.

For Lin Dong, the inn’s business is no longer tied to strength or wealth, but rather to whether he can become someone beyond the peak of power. With Yun Lan’s talent, reaching the ninth level of the Heart Riding Phase isn’t too difficult in her lifetime, but Lin Dong doesn’t have such talent. Without any auxiliary cultivation materials, even if he spent all his time in a room with nine times the cultivation bonus and his spiritual energy circulated twice as fast as that of other peak warriors, it would take him twenty to thirty years just to reach the second level of the Heart Riding Phase. Then there are the third, fourth, fifth levels… Each level is more difficult than the last, and more time is required to reach each one.

Roughly calculated, Yun Lan could achieve it in a hundred or two hundred years, but for Lin Dong, it’s utterly unrealistic without five or six hundred years. The lifespan of peak warriors is already limited to a hundred or two hundred years.

Fortunately, Lin Dong has the Inn System and the Colorful Bed. Based on the attributes gained from upgrades, whether it’s another ten levels or just three to five levels, it’s almost certain that these items will have the effect of extending lifespan. What Lin Dong needs to do is keep Lin’s Inn and the Colorful Bed upgrading until such attributes appear.

It can be said that the inn’s business is still extremely important. This is also why Lin Dong is willing to reconcile with the Tianwei Pavilion and Emperor Qianwei—he doesn’t want to waste even a single day.

Winning the heart of a beautiful woman is Lin Dong’s greatest wish at the moment, but since he’s already survived five or six years, a few more dozen days won’t make a difference.

“By the way, Lin’s Inn doesn’t need another peak warrior like me. After you and Yun Lan get married, I want to go sea,” Feng Yue suddenly said.

“Go sea?” Lin Dong was slightly surprised.

“Yes! The vast ocean has always been my most desired place,” Feng Yue nodded slowly.

Lin Dong hesitated for a moment before deciding, “Let’s go together when we have time! It would be a good chance to travel with Yun Lan. Maybe we can add more sea beasts to Lin’s Inn’s collection. Who knows, we might even discover new countries.”

“New countries?” Everyone was stunned.

Lin Dong nodded. “The Great Han Nation has hundreds of millions of people and a vast territory stretching for thousands of miles. With the strength of its peak warriors, it can still be explored easily. Yet the ocean remains beyond reach even for those peak warriors throughout their lives. Our Tianpeng Birds, which are above the ninth rank, are surely an exception. We could keep flying forward and possibly encounter a nation as vast as the Great Han Nation, or we might end up flying back to it…”
Feng Yue nodded repeatedly. Even Yun Lan and Old Ding were filled with anticipation.