Chapter 593: Building a Branch

That night, all the carpenter shops in the capital city had their doors forced open. Soon after, all the finished large round tables in the shops were replaced by golden ingots that still shone brightly in the darkness. The golden light emitted by these ingots was like a sacred glow capable of dispelling darkness, instantly clearing away any irritability.

At Lin’s Inn, the cooking enhancements were turned to full capacity without concern for increased costs. The six top chefs brought out their best skills—stirring in large iron pots with spatulas while using their palms to channel spiritual energy to intensify the flames.

After the chefs shook their wrists, the spiritual beasts and ingredients inside the pots were evenly distributed and instantly scattered into freshly polished plates.

The guards responsible for serving the food moved back and forth between the kitchen and the backyard at speeds too fast to see with the naked eye, like butterflies flitting through flowers.

Over 800 large round tables were gradually filled with dishes. In just one hour, there was no longer any space left for more.

All of this was accomplished with only six chefs and five guards who also served as assistants. Whether it was the scale of the banquet or the speed of serving, Lin’s Inn set a new record. Of course, compared to defeating Tianwei Pavilion, this record seemed rather insignificant.

As Lin Dong raised his cup, the entire backyard was ignited. Bottle after bottle of top-quality wine was emptied under Old Ding’s worried gaze. The abundant food and drinks kept decreasing as the guests ate.

Lin’s Inn was immersed in a sea of excitement, with no sign of stopping for a long time. It wasn’t until early morning that the banquet came to an end. As a result, seven top chefs, including Jiang Kui, had to eat for half an hour, then rush back to the kitchen to work for another half hour, repeating this cycle.

The backyard was quickly cleaned up, and the inn’s doors opened on time. Unusually, no customers came in after the doors opened. Lin Dong wasn’t worried; he had expected this.

With birds filling the sky, terrifying light orbs resembling falling suns, and giant birds like golden mountains… The residents around Lin’s Inn, after witnessing scenes they couldn’t understand, still felt uneasy. Although the world had returned to normal—the birds were gone, the light orbs no longer appeared, and Jinshan had left—they couldn’t be sure such anomalies wouldn’t happen again.

Within a ten-mile radius of Lin Ji Inn, countless residents moved away with their families, and this panic began to spread throughout the entire capital. The events above Lin Ji Inn, after being exaggerated, became well-known to everyone in the city. From high-ranking officials and nobles to common merchants and laborers, fear grew ever greater under these rumors that became far more dangerous than the truth itself. Just as everyone was preparing to flee the city for safety, an imperial edict was issued. Lin Ji Inn had succeeded in developing new spiritual stone tools, and as a reward, ten million taels of gold were granted, along with ten thousand taels of silver in compensation for each affected family. The issuance of the edict sent shockwaves through the capital once again. For the common people, those who had initially been considered unlucky due to living in the northern part of the city suddenly became targets of intense envy. Ten thousand taels of silver—given the land was still available—would allow them to build two or three hundred houses at the capital’s prices. In the blink of an eye, those once disaster-stricken families became wealthy individuals with vast fortunes. Ordinary people in the capital were already much richer than those in other places, but on average, a family of a dozen or so, including their house, land, savings, and household items, had a total wealth of just over a thousand taels of silver. Such wealth could be considered extremely large in remote villages. Yet, due to this inexplicable disaster, those who could have become wealthy in remote villages suddenly became extremely rich even in small towns. Overnight, their wealth more than doubled. It was hard not to feel jealous at such good fortune. The wealthy merchants and high-ranking officials thought more deeply than ordinary people. They weren’t concerned about ten or eight thousand taels of silver; what interested them was another clause in the imperial edict: Lin Ji Inn had succeeded in developing new spiritual stone tools, and as a reward, one million taels of gold were given. What kind of achievement could earn ten million taels of gold? Or rather, to what extent must Emperor Qianwei be pleased to offer such a generous reward? Ten million taels of gold equaled one hundred million taels of silver, and there were tens of thousands of affected families. In total, the rewards alone amounted to at least two hundred million taels of silver. It was impossible for Emperor Qianwei to offer such a large sum without reaping enormous benefits for himself. Throughout the history of the Han Dynasty, such massive rewards were usually only given at the beginning of the dynasty or shortly after a new emperor ascended the throne, as part of grand celebrations to solidify his rule. Undoubtedly, what Emperor Qianwei received was not real gold or silver. With a little thought, the answer lay with the spiritual stone tools.

Spirit Stone fans, Spirit Stone heaters, Spirit Stone exhaust fans… Lin’s Inn had many tools powered by Spirit Stones, each of extraordinary value. As the rumors, gradually debunked by imperial edicts, revealed the truth, many people guessed at the real reason.

Lin’s Inn had developed Spirit Stone tools that ordinary people could operate, with enough power and defense to defeat thousands of high-level spirit birds and withstand their attacks. If such tools existed and were firmly in the hands of the imperial court, undoubtedly no other force could shake the rule of the Great Han Nation. For the court, the value of such tools was naturally immense. To give just 10,000 taels of silver as a reward would be considered stingy even by Emperor Qianwei.

Soon, Emperor Qianwei proved he wasn’t stingy. The next day, another imperial edict was issued, exempting all kinds of taxes by 10% for three years. This was the quintessential nationwide celebration and one of the most common tactics used by a new emperor to win over the common people after ascending to the throne.

With this edict, not only the nobles and wealthy merchants but even ordinary people suddenly realized that Emperor Qianwei was so happy that he didn’t reserve the tax-reduction measure—a means to stabilize his rule—for the new emperor but used it himself. Few knew the truth, but those who did were certain that Emperor Qianwei’s mood had nothing to do with happiness.

A sudden disaster turned into a joyous event thanks to these two imperial edicts. It not only prevented Lin’s Inn’s business from declining but also saw it soar to new heights. On that day, in everyone’s eyes, Lin’s Inn’s contributions were so great that its influence over Emperor Qianwei even surpassed that of Prince Qingliu.

In fact, Lin’s Inn’s influence over Emperor Qianwei indeed surpassed Prince Qingliu, though the reason for this influence was different from what everyone guessed. This outcome was exactly what Lin Dong wanted to see. It was also the reason why the owners of the top restaurants were extremely worried.

Lin’s Inn went from being suppressed by those top restaurants to a situation where neither side could gain the upper hand, and now it held a clear advantage—achieving this huge leap in just about a year.

Things reach their limit when they go too far. With Lin’s Inn becoming too prominent and growing too rapidly, coupled with the incredibly powerful Spirit Stone tools it had developed, it made sense for the imperial court to eliminate Lin’s Inn to prevent others from learning how to make such tools as well.

For this reason, the owners of the top restaurants were determined to hold on until a new emperor ascended the throne before making any decisions. Ling Weifeng didn’t disappoint them—taking on another 10% of the risks. If they failed, they would only lose 20% of their wealth, which further strengthened their resolve to fight on.

At Lin’s Inn, Lin Dong no longer needed to worry about the attitudes of the owners of those top restaurants. What concerned him most now was the upgrade task.

In the room in the back yard, Lin Dong was in Yun Lan’s room, as usual reading, drinking tea, and admiring beautiful women. The difference was that from time to time, he would access the inn’s system to check its experience points. That long list of experience points kept creeping closer to the value on the right side. From being 500 points short early in the morning, it became 300, then 100…

As the sun gradually set, the experience points on the system finally jumped again, reaching the same number as on the right side. An instant system notification sounded.

Ding: Congratulations! Your inn’s experience points have reached full capacity. You have received an upgrade task: “Build a branch at the highest location with business performance on par with the average of all branches!”

Lin Dong stood up abruptly—the upgrade task had finally appeared.

On the wooden bed, Yun Lan slowly opened her eyes and looked at Lin Dong with confusion.

“Something good is about to happen!” Lin Dong explained excitedly.

Yun Lan suddenly understood.

“I need to think… think…”

Lin Dong tapped his head, trying to suppress his excitement and keep his mind clear. After finally controlling his emotions, his thoughts became clearer, and the key terms of the task flashed through his mind: highest location, average performance!

The task wasn’t hard to understand. Once his mind settled, Lin Dong quickly grasped its requirements. The upgrade task to level 10 required him to build Lin’s Inn at the summit of the highest mountain in the Great Han Kingdom, ensuring that its business volume would not be lower than the average of all branches.

The conditions weren’t very detailed. While it was clear the location had to be the highest point, it didn’t necessarily have to be the highest mountain in the Great Han Kingdom. There might be towering peaks out at sea as well. But if that were the case, the task would be too difficult, which didn’t fit the system’s usual pattern.

As far as Lin Dong knew, the upgrade tasks given by the system could be completed in three to five days if they were easy, or at most three to five months if they were difficult. Abroad, just finding a place might take longer than three to five months, not to mention that such places would likely have no business opportunities. After thinking this through, Lin Dong immediately stepped out the door.