The night.
Lin Zhao sat in his room, initiating a holographic projection call through his mobile communicator. On the other side was Nangong Muyun, holding a bowl of fried rice. He spoke between mouthfuls, "40e? That can support a very large order..."
As he spoke, he ate frantically and laughed, "The fried rice my chef makes is truly delicious... Boss, you must come and try it next time you visit. It's definitely better than Sister Juzi's cooking."
"Shh!"
Lin Zhao chuckled, "You'll hurt Sister Juzi's pride. Say less of that."
"Okay, okay!"
Nangong Muyun took a few more bites of rice, then handed his empty bowl to a servant. He then pulled out a napkin and wiped his mouth, chuckling, "How do you plan to spend this 40e?"
"I haven't decided yet, so I wanted to discuss it with you."
Lin Zhao frowned. "After all, I'm a novice when it comes to modern warfare equipment. I'm nowhere near as professional as you are, so I want to hear your ideas. How can we spend this 4 billion funds, and spend it in the most valuable, scientific, and rational way?"
"I see..."
Nangong Muyun pondered for a moment. "Your Scarlet Moon Transport currently has 12 Cloud Shadow-class aircraft. Your transport capacity is still average. I suggest acquiring another 18 Cloud Shadow-class, bringing the total to 30. That should be enough to meet the transport demands of almost all clients. Additionally, purchase one Chiyou-class cruiser to ensure absolute safety on both routes. With this, your Scarlet Moon Transport will have strong competitiveness in the Huaxia region's transport market."
He took a deep breath and continued, "Moreover, merely satisfying hardware needs isn't enough. You also need to expand the escort force. You'll need at least 100 more sets of Emperor Yan-class individual combat armor, and some heavy handheld firepower weapons. If you intend to deploy troops remotely, you'll need to procure a batch of airdrop-capable anti-radiation armored vehicles. Furthermore, maintenance teams, technical analysis teams, and so on for the entire flight formation – all these software aspects should keep pace."
"Make me a list," Lin Zhao said.
"All right!"
Nangong Muyun immediately began listing them. Finally, the order was confirmed: Scarlet Moon Transport would acquire an additional 18 Cloud Shadow-class transport planes, one Chiyou-class light cruiser, 110 sets of the latest version of Emperor Yan-class individual combat armor, 60 anti-radiation armored vehicles, and sufficient weaponry and ammunition. The total cost for this package was 3 billion. As for Lin Zhao's remaining 1 billion, it was entirely placed under Su Wan's control for hiring personnel, equipment maintenance, and so on.
After all the money was spent, he felt a great sense of satisfaction.
...
In the evening, logging in.
"Whoosh!"
His character appeared within the Mountain Summit Villa. Upon logging in, he first cleared his stamina, drew many talismans, and then sat cross-legged by the lotus pond, cultivating and observing the strand of sword intent within the spiritual ruins. This sword intent originated from Long Chen's ultimate technique, "Blazing Heavenly Prison." Lin Zhao couldn't grasp its essence in a short while, so after a period of cultivation, he got up to practice his boxing.
The fist wind was sharp, and the intention of his fists grew increasingly potent.
At this moment, Lin Zhao was a martial artist of the Five Realms, the Savage Realm. His progress in boxing had actually reached its limit long ago. He had never slacked off in his boxing practice; every punch was struck with solid foundation. Based on his past experience, once the progress bar was full, he would automatically break through to the next realm. But this time, it was different. The progress bar had been overflowing for a long time, yet there was no sign of a breakthrough.
He frowned, turned, and rode the wind to the mountaintop.
Under the moonlight, he punched with one hand, his mind calm and unhurried, pursuing a state of natural flow. However, no matter how good his state of mind was, he was still a young man and inevitably felt a slight frustration. As a ripple of restlessness arose in Lin Zhao's heart, he frowned and immediately calmed himself to suppress this emotion.
In fact, Lin Zhao possessed all the common flaws of youth; the only difference was that he strove to control them.
"Young Master."
A stream of golden light drifted over from the other side of the mountaintop, transforming into the exquisite figure of Liu Liying, the Goddess of the Folding Fan. She gracefully landed on a nearby rock, sat by its edge, and looked down at Lin Zhao, smiling, "Just now, your state of mind was disturbed."
"Indeed."
Lin Zhao felt a little ashamed and smiled, "I was a bit impatient for a moment."
Liu Liying pursed her red lips. "Young Master, please don't be impatient. Liying will accompany you here."
"..."
Lin Zhao frowned. Fortunately, his state of mind was good. Otherwise, with Liying constantly disturbing his peace, cultivation would be out of the question. Fortunately, Lin Zhao was already accustomed to it. Liu Liying's heart was extremely kind, and she could be considered a gentle and virtuous woman. Treating her as someone close by wouldn't affect his state of mind. Ultimately, it depended on his own cultivation of his mental state. If he couldn't resist her beauty at first glance and wanted to embrace her and undress her, then naturally, there would be flaws in his mental state.
Do not seek outward; when inner demons arise, ask yourself why they were born.
He practiced a few rounds of boxing, his fist intent becoming increasingly dense. He looked north. As he stopped his boxing and looked north, he could only feel faint wisps of golden flame rising from between the mountains. His eyes seemed to see things he had never seen before, this was the legendary perception of the Savage Realm through one's intent and spirit. At this moment, the Five Realms, the Savage Realm, had reached its extreme.
"I wonder how Old Huang and Lin Zhujie are doing in the Demon Ancestral Land..." he suddenly chuckled.
"They are surely proceeding smoothly."
Liu Liying smiled. "Lord Huang is shameless and deeply blessed. He is the number one lecher in our Mountain Summit Villa. How could anything happen to such a person?"
"That's true..."
Lin Zhao deeply agreed.
...
Demon Race, Ancestral Land.
"Achoo!"
In the Demon Ancestral Land, two figures ambled along at the foot of a mountain. One wore a light yellow short shirt and carried a sword on his back. The other wore a cyan vine-colored short shirt and was slightly hunched. They were Huang Tingyu and Lin Zhujie. Because he had a segment of Lin Zhujie's innate bamboo stalk hidden in his sleeve, Huang Tingyu currently possessed no trace of the aura of a Great Sword Immortal of the Upper Five Realms. He looked like an old demon wandering the martial world. He frowned and looked at the sky, "I wonder who is thinking of me. Perhaps it's the Mountain Lord, or perhaps it's Miss Liying..."
"Get lost."
Lin Zhujie retorted dejectedly, "Why would they think of you?"
Old Huang grinned, wishing he could immediately give him a resounding slap.
"Brother Lin."
Huang Tingyu pointed forward and smiled, "Look, there's a wine shop over there. I haven't had wine in the Ancestral Land for thousands of years. For this first meal, are you treating me or am I treating you?"
"Either is fine."
Lin Zhujie said, "After all, we old immortals of the Upper Five Realms aren't short of money!"
"True, let's go."
The two of them stepped into the wine shop and unceremoniously sat down at a square table. Old Huang raised his hand and said, "Proprietor, bring out good wine and good meat quickly."
"Right away, please wait a moment, honored guests!"
Not long after Huang Tingyu and Lin Zhujie sat down, the surrounding tables were all filled. The diners exuded demonic energy, looking less like passing customers and more like a group of demon cultivators raised by the wine shop. Huang Tingyu merely glanced and felt that these demon cultivators all had ferocious appearances, looking even uglier than Brother Tang and Brother Mu Zha.
"Tsk tsk!"
Lin Zhujie pulled off a chicken leg, took a fierce bite, and thought to himself, "Brother Huang, our luck is truly unparalleled. For our first meal in the Ancestral Land, we've walked into a den of thieves."
"???"
Huang Tingyu looked at him in surprise and asked back with a smile in his mind, "Which wine shop in our Ancestral Land isn't a den of thieves?"
"Hahahaha~~~"
Lin Zhujie burst into laughter, as if it were indeed true. If one could rob, who would want to do legitimate business? The Ancestral Land had never had any rules, and all the wine shops were merely fronts for murder and robbery.
Just then, a burly man with a leopard's head and tiger-like eyes sat down at an adjacent table.
He was named Luo Huan, the owner of this wine shop, a ten-realm badger renowned in the area. He was extremely fawning towards those in the Upper Five Realms, but extremely ferocious towards those in the Middle and Lower Five Realms. At this moment, Luo Huan's eyes were fixed directly on the sword that Old Huang had placed on the table.
Huang Tingyu's sword was orange-yellow throughout, not well-maintained, and even had quite a bit of rust. However, it was still a celestial sword named Amber, Huang Tingyu's companion for many years. At this moment, this Amber was emanating a faint celestial sword aura, which was extremely eye-catching, making Luo Huan unable to avert his gaze.
"Fellow Daoist."
Luo Huan squinted his eyes and smiled, "Where do you come from?"
"From the Ancestral Mountain, the biological father of Demon Ancestor Qing Kui!" Huang Tingyu grinned and said, "Does the boss want to ask anything else?"
"Hahahaha~~~"
Luo Huan laughed, "Spirited! Spirited! This place is the Savage Land of the Ancestral Land, where there are no rules to begin with. Furthermore, the Demon Ancestor abandoned this place many years ago. Everyone here is the Demon Ancestor's biological father. What you said is not wrong."
As he spoke, he squinted at Huang Tingyu. "Fellow Daoist, you look distinguished, venerable, and handsome. Have you taken a wife? I, Luo Huan, have a daughter, the most beautiful flower in ten villages. If you wish, I can let her be your wife. Come, come, Second Daughter, come and let our honored guest have a look."
From the kitchen, an ugly female badger with a blind eye came out with a yelp. She was covered in mange and drooled at Huang Tingyu.
"Oh my..."
Lin Zhujie covered his face. "She hasn't even taken human form yet!"
"Yes, original and authentic!"
Luo Huan waved his hand and said heartily, "My Second Daughter is unmarried, still a maiden. If this fellow Daoist likes her, you can immediately take her upstairs to the bed and consummate the marriage. As for the betrothal gift, you can leave your sword behind."
"Tsk tsk!"
Huang Tingyu squinted his eyes and smiled. "She's so ugly and still wants to exchange for my good sword? What if I don't agree to this marriage?"
"You dare?!"
A group of diners stood up, all of them from the badger clan, showing ferocious expressions towards Huang Tingyu and Lin Zhujie.
"What do we do?"
Huang Tingyu frowned.
Lin Zhujie grinned, "What else can we do? There's no ban on killing in the Ancestral Land. If not now, when?!"
...
Ye Zi will be attending the author's annual meeting in Macau from the 8th to the 12th. During that time, there may be no time for writing, so today's four chapters are canceled. During this period, it will be the normal two chapters per day. I will not release single chapters to exploit you.