Chapter 598: Coming to Propose Marriage

The cold wind howled, and the summit of Snowy Peak was covered in thick white snow. Yet at the very top, there was a fairly large open area.

On that open area stood an inn.

Building an inn on the summit of the highest mountain on the continent would normally make one think the owner must be insane. But the disciples of Snowy Peak and the entire Hongjin Mountain sect knew full well that the owner of Lin’s Inn was perfectly sane. He did this because he loved to be famous and make a name for himself throughout the world.

Of course, the owner of Lin’s Inn had every right to be famous and bold. The fact that he dared to hire top-tier warriors as employees was enough proof of that.

But there was more to why Lin’s Inn could be so bold and famous. More importantly, Lin’s Inn had reasons that made people eager to go there. There were various high-grade spiritual beasts and materials, as well as guest rooms that could accelerate cultivation. Moreover, the prices, which were unattainable elsewhere, were much cheaper at Lin’s Inn. According to the inn’s employees, these prices might even drop further.

Strength is a martial artist’s lifelong pursuit. With ways to enhance strength—even if it means risking one’s life—countless people would flock there. Not to mention that Lin’s Inn also had a large number of eagle beasts and birds at the foot of the mountain, along with top-tier warriors as guards to ensure smooth access.

Within just a few days, Lin’s Inn became completely full. Outside the inn, countless tents were set up—occupied by sect disciples waiting for any available tables or rooms. Those endless rows of tents resembled raised mounds in the snowfield, densely packed and stretching for miles when viewed from above. With such a fierce waiting line, those at the back would never get to the front in just a few years if they wanted to enter Lin’s Inn. After all, the martial artists who came here weren’t for food or lodging but for cultivation.

Martial artists weren’t bothered by long waiting times. As long as there was enough money, no one would leave Lin’s Inn.

Fortunately, Lin’s Inn had already posted a notice stating that it would expand on a large scale soon. By then, both the number of seats and guest rooms would increase by dozens of times.

Such overwhelming demand really surprised Lin Dong, even leading him to consider moving the main branch to Snowy Peak. But he gave up on the idea. The main branch in the capital already generated enough experience points, and with Lin’s Amusement Park, future customer flow would remain strong—unless Lin’s Inn on Snowy Peak drastically reduced prices so that all martial artists could afford lodging and meals.

Once Linji Amusement Park runs out of visitors, it won’t be too late to switch to Linji Inn at Snowy Peak.
Early in the morning, Lin Dong and Yun Lan both set out.
In the courtyard, nearly ten thousand guards were already ready in the cold wind, awaiting Lin Dong’s command at any moment.
“Good boy. With such a display, not to mention the Sky Sword Sect, even all the ten thousand sects on Hongjin Mountain combined would hesitate to advance,” said Old Ding and Feng Yue, who appeared shortly after.
Lin Dong smiled calmly, “If I don’t show some real skill, how can I be worthy of Yun Lan?”
“Nice flattery!” Old Ding praised with a laugh.
Yun Lan covered her mouth and chuckled lightly. After thinking for a moment, she turned to Feng Yue and said, “Elder Feng, if there’s any conflict once we reach the Sky Sword Sect, please be lenient.”
“Don’t worry! It’ll just leave them half-paralyzed—no one will die. After a few days of eating braised Wind Spirit Grass, they’ll be back to full strength,” Feng Yue said indifferently.
Yun Lan nodded slowly.
“Since everything is ready, let’s go!” Lin Dong waved his hand, unleashing a powerful aura that forced the cold wind to retreat.
The Tianpeng Bird spread its wings, and Lin Dong mounted it, with Yun Lan following closely behind. Old Ding and the others also leaped up together.
“Dad, let me do it!” As soon as Lin Dong sat down in the pavilion, Lin Shuang asked eagerly.
“Okay!” Lin Dong nodded. It was rare to see Lin Shuang act like a little girl, so he naturally wouldn’t refuse.
Lin Shuang sat down in the seat that controlled the Tianpeng Bird, took a few deep breaths, placed her toes lightly on a protruding mechanism, and asked, “Is this the one to take off?”
“You haven’t memorized what each mechanism does yet, have you?” Lin Dong was surprised.
“I’ve memorized them, but I’m afraid I might forget,” Lin Shuang said with a smile.
“I hope so!” Lin Dong channeled his spiritual energy, ready for the plane to crash at any moment. He saw that Yun Lan, Old Ding, and the others were also silently getting ready.
“Take off!”
Lin Shuang suddenly stepped down hard and started shouting loudly.
The Tianpeng Bird spread its wings and slowly rose into the air.
“Let’s go!”
Lin Shuang stepped down again as it flew slowly, then used her toes to guide the direction of the bird’s flight.
The massive body of the Tianpeng Bird began to move. Below, Wang Liuzhi and several elders from Linji Inn gave the order, and the main force set off in an orderly manner.
In a short while, the Sky Sword Sect was in sight.
On the Tianpeng Bird, Lin Dong’s heart surged with excitement. After establishing his authority today, all his years of effort would finally bear fruit.
“Stop!”

Still waiting for Lin Dong’s orders, Wang Liuzhi couldn’t help raising his arm to order a halt at the front of the large troop. About five or six meters ahead was the massive gate of Tianjian Sect, standing over fifty meters tall. Going any further would mean invasion, and combat would break out without a word exchanged.

On the Tianpeng Bird, Lin Dong came to his senses. Looking down, he saw Lin Shuang already controlling the bird to descend. Its enormous body, like a golden mountain, blocked the entrance to Tianjian Sect. Compared to that terrifying gate, the Tianpeng Bird’s size was even more awe-inspiring. The difference in scale made its power instantly apparent.

“Who is that?” Two disciples of Tianjian Sect appeared at the gate. Though it was a question, their tone lacked confidence. The reason was obviously that the vast troop, along with that bird that resembled a golden mountain, was already above them.

Such a huge spirit bird—never had they even heard of one before. They believed even the sect master and elders must have never encountered such a thing. After all, the ancient texts in the sect recorded that the largest ninth-tier spirit birds were not even one-tenth or one-twelfth the size of this golden mountain.

In the pavilion, Yun Lan vanished instantly and reappeared at the entrance of the small building on the back of the Tianpeng Bird.

Her purpose in coming to Tianjian Sect this time was to force a marriage alliance. It would be inappropriate for her to stand alongside Lin Dong.

“Please inform Elder Qin that Lin Dong has come to propose marriage!” Lin Dong called out loudly from the pavilion.

Lin Dong?

The two were stunned and quickly looked up at Lin Dong, who was hundreds of meters in the air.

“Are you… Lin Dong, the friend of Senior Sister Yun?” one of them couldn’t help asking.

Lin Dong nodded.

“Then…” The two grew even more puzzled. The scale of this situation certainly didn’t resemble a casual visit. Even if it were a marriage proposal, it was far from it—forcing a marriage alliance seemed more accurate.

“Please convey my message to them,” Lin Dong said politely, bowing slightly.

The two hesitated for a moment before one of them turned and flew away.

Behind Tianjian Sect was a small forest, and at its center stood a wooden building. This building was Tianjian Sect’s council hall.

Inside the council hall, Yun Cangqiong sat at the head, discussing with the elders how to raise funds to build an inn on the mountain top. The messenger disciple knelt outside the door and shouted, “Sect master, chief elder! Lin Dong has brought nearly ten thousand troops and a spirit bird over three hundred meters in size. He claims to have come to Tianjian Sect to propose marriage!”

“Lin Dong?” Yun Cangqiong’s lips twitched slightly before he let out a deep sigh of relief. He had been considering the marriage between Lin Dong and Yun Lan for some time now. The matter was practically settled—originally, he had been somewhat reluctant to see his most beloved daughter suddenly become someone else’s wife. But recently, he changed his mind and even started thinking about ways to help Lin Dong win Yun Lan’s hand.

There was no choice—Yun Lan was already 23!

Although the martial world was relatively lenient regarding marriage age, it wasn’t unusual for people in their thirties or forties to get married. Yet Yun Cangqiong wasn’t convinced. Though he always considered Yun Lan the best girl in the Great Han Nation, that didn’t mean he liked her.

Over the past few years, Lin Dong’s influence and strength had grown at an alarming rate. In just a short time, even a powerful sect like Tianjian Sect, with its deep roots, had to curry favor with him in order to obtain high-grade spiritual materials. Moreover, living in the secular world all year round, Lin Dong likely had many wives and concubines, and it was common for powerful people there to be fickle. Yun Cangqiong was afraid Lin Dong might pick up such habits as well.

Now that Lin Dong had finally come to propose, it was hard for him not to feel relieved. If the two got married, Yun Lan would be in a legitimate position. Although it still couldn’t prevent Lin Dong from having multiple wives and concubines, fickle behavior would definitely be ruled out.

Yun Cangqiong believed that his daughter, no matter her intelligence, appearance, or temperament, could never be abandoned. Even if Lin Dong later had multiple wives, she wouldn’t be at a disadvantage in competing for his favor. Even if Yun Lan was gentle and didn’t like to fight, she wouldn’t stand by idly when it came to the rights of their children.

If it weren’t for concern over the elders’ reactions, Yun Cangqiong would have almost clapped his hands and rushed out to welcome them.

Yun Cangqiong’s expression was strange, and so were the expressions of the other elders. Especially Qin Mengtai, after a brief moment of shock, suddenly stood up abruptly.

“Third Elder, activate all the spiritual arrays. Sixth Elder, gather all the disciples and go out to confront them!”

The air was filled with murderous intent!

The Third and Sixth Elders frowned but didn’t respond. Instead, they looked at Yun Cangqiong.

The First Elder is overstepping his authority!

When the sect master is present, major decisions of Tianjian Sect are naturally made by him. Only when the sect master is absent does the First Elder take charge. This was the rule of Tianjian Sect, as well as all sects—the authority of the sect master was beyond question.

Overstepping authority meant treason.

Qin Mengtai clearly realized his mistake and turned to look at the unshakable Yun Cangqiong, bowing and saying, “I acted in haste. Please forgive me, Sect Master.”

“No problem! Let’s do as the Grand Elder suggests!” Yun Cangqiong waved his hand, unconcerned. He was well aware of Qin Mengtai’s loyalty to the Tianjian Sect. A little overstepping of authority was simply because he, as the sect leader, had spent too much time acting as a hands-off boss, allowing this Grand Elder to develop the habit of taking charge of the sect.

Moreover, Yun Cangqiong had heard clearly about the rewards for his disciples: tens of thousands of troops, along with a spiritual bird over 300 meters long. Add in Old Ding and Feng Yue, and he believed Lin Dong wouldn’t suffer any losses.

“Sect Leader, should we recall the disciples from Lin’s Inn as well?” asked the Sixth Elder.

“No need!”

Yun Cangqiong shook his head, suddenly having an idea. Initially, the appearance of Lin’s Inn at the top of Xueman Peak hadn’t been linked by him to Lin Dong. After all, the strength of this inn was extremely formidable. He tended to agree with the conclusion reached by the other elders—that Lin’s Inn was set up by Tianwei Pavilion, though the reason remained unclear. Only Tianwei Pavilion could possess such abundant spiritual materials and beasts, as well as numerous peak-level experts.

But now that Lin Dong had brought along tens of thousands of troops, Yun Cangqiong couldn’t help but connect him to Lin’s Inn at the top of Xueman Peak.

Coming prepared, those tens of thousands of troops surely weren’t made up of ordinary people. To train tens of thousands of warriors at the Heart Stirring stage, or even those at the Soul Concentration stage, required an enormous amount of resources.

There was no doubt that Lin Dong had never revealed his full strength. Coupled with the fact that Lin’s Inn also had plenty of spiritual beasts and materials to aid cultivation, and the similar names, Yun Cangqiong suddenly felt that Lin Dong was connected to Lin’s Inn at the top of Xueman Peak.