"Alright."
Chi Zhongyu nodded, but then hesitated. "Lin Zhao, even though I've gone to Fusu Great Wall, I'm still considered part of the Mountain Peak Villa. Is that okay?"
"It's fine."
Lin Zhao said, "Record your name in the roster before you descend the mountain. You'll be a retainer of Mountain Peak Villa."
"Deal!"
Chi Zhongyu nodded with a smile.
Lin Zhao stood up and looked at Yu Wanning. "What about you, Miss Yu? What are your thoughts?"
Yu Wanning's beautiful eyes were profound. She looked at Lin Zhao and said, "First point, just like Chi Zhongyu, I will definitely be part of Mountain Peak Villa. But I've shed my burdens and am no longer the female Valkyrie of the ancient Shu Kingdom. Instead, I feel a sense of liberation. Now that I've arrived in the human realm, I want to travel more, to see what this world is like. Is that alright?"
"It is."
Lin Zhao nodded with a smile. "Tomorrow, you can collect a hundred Jin Zi coins from Wu Zhi as travel expenses for your journey."
"Mhm, thank you!"
Yu Wanning nodded.
Chi Zhongyu was surprised. "What about me? I'm one of us too. Why don't I get travel expenses... You have to be fair, Lord of the Mountain!"
Lin Zhao narrowed his eyes. "Don't worry. Fusu Great Wall is harsh and cold, but it provides food and lodging. You won't starve. What need do you have for travel expenses?"
Chi Zhongyu scratched his head.
...
Late at night, everyone dispersed and returned to the rooms arranged for them at Mountain Peak Villa.
Lin Zhao went back to the city and gave the immortal sword Han Lu to Leng Yan, allowing her to refine it into her first natal flying sword.
Afterward, he returned to the Natural Residence and lay in his room on the second floor. With a gentle lift of his hand, a fiery red sword tip appeared in his palm. This was the fortuitous encounter sent by his teacher's teacher – a fragment of an immortal sword, an immortal sword among immortal swords. Even his teacher's teacher had evaluated it so highly, which spoke volumes of its power. As for the name of this flying sword, he already had an answer in his heart. This sword tip had absorbed the demonic core of a demon king from Man Yuan, so its Great Dao would be close to fire. Furthermore, this sword tip was what remained after the fourteenth-level sword cultivator Yan Beichen broke his sword. The meaning behind his third senior brother and Brother Yan gifting this sword tip to him was clear: they hoped Lin Zhao could achieve further breakthroughs and become a fourteenth-level sword cultivator himself!
Therefore, this sword tip carried a lot: the Great Dao of flames, and the inheritance of human sword cultivators passed down through generations. Hence, Lin Zhao named it "Xin Huo" (Kindled Fire).
He waved his hand, and the attributes of the flying sword Xin Huo floated before his eyes—
[Xin Huo] (Flying Sword)
Grade: Immortal Grade
Level: 1
Damage: +100% Lethality
Attack Speed: 2 seconds/attack
Natal Divine Ability: [Blazing Flame]
[Blazing Flame]: Passive. Massively increases the damage of the current attack. Cooldown: 7 seconds.
...
Lin Zhao was slightly astonished. It was a bit exaggerated. A level 1 flying sword already had +100% lethality, significantly higher than Ming Yue and Hao Ran. As for the first natal divine ability, Blazing Flame, the description didn't specify a percentage increase, only that it boosted damage. However, the qualifier was "massively." Other flying swords had "significant" increases, but Xin Huo had "massive," hinting at its terrifying destructive power.
He smiled and tossed Xin Huo into the third Sword-Nurturing Lake. He then threw in a piece of Qing Xin Rock to begin refining the sword. With the addition of Xin Huo, Lin Zhao's flying sword attack system was essentially complete. The flying sword Ming Yue was responsible for slowing enemies and area-of-effect damage, while the flying sword Hao Ran handled control and buffs. Finally, Xin Huo would serve as the trump card, capable of delivering a decisive blow. Previously, Lin Zhao, with Ming Yue and Hao Ran, was somewhat balanced in offense and defense, lacking in attack power. But with the addition of Xin Huo, attack was no longer an issue. His output as a Nascent Soul sword cultivator would be astonishing.
Outside the window, leaves rustled.
Lin Zhao frowned, feeling a bit helpless. "Li Ying, come in."
"Yes, Young Master."
The fan-wielding goddess Liu Li Ying's figure didn't walk through the door but seeped in through the wall. Her pretty face was slightly flushed. "Why aren't you asleep yet, Young Master?"
"Why aren't *you* asleep yet?"
Lin Zhao said helplessly, "This is the Natural Residence. I really don't need you to attend to me. Besides, Dong Cang has already arranged a room for you, just a few steps away from the Natural Residence. You don't need to stay here."
"But..."
Liu Li Ying pursed her red lips. "I just want to be closer to you, to be ready to obey your orders at any time."
"Alright."
Lin Zhao said, "Your command now is to go back to your room and sleep. Come back in the morning."
"Yes!"
Liu Li Ying nodded with a smile. "Young Master, I'm going then?"
"Go on, go on."
Liu Li Ying floated away, exuding spiritual energy. In fact, Liu Li Ying's presence at Mountain Peak Villa added considerable luster to it. After all, she was a genuine spirit blessed by heaven and earth, unlike apricot spirits like Dong Cang. Liu Li Ying, originating from a mural goddess, was already associated with divinity. Therefore, Liu Li Ying possessed much divinity, and her future capabilities were immeasurable.
In short, it was Liu Li Ying's fortune to find a place at Mountain Peak Villa, and Mountain Peak Villa would benefit greatly from having Liu Li Ying.
...
The next day, early in the morning.
As soon as dawn broke, Chen Ben went up the mountain. As soon as he arrived, Lin Zhao also got up. The two young men then rushed into the lotus pond to check the fish traps they had set the previous night. As expected, they were not disappointed. The traps contained not only a pile of crayfish but also over a dozen loaches. Lin Zhao personally handled the preparation, Liu Li Ying tended the fire, Lin Zhao boiled the loaches, and then made shredded loach. Afterward, Dong Cang began making loach noodle soup.
Those who had drunk wine the previous night, except for the old gentleman who had returned to the upper realm, were all present. Each person received a bowl of spicy and fragrant shredded loach noodle soup, which was considered a specialty of Mountain Peak Villa.
In the morning light, Lin Zhao, Lin Xingchu, Lin Wanhua, Wu Zhi, and others were hunched over small tables outside, eating noodles. Meanwhile, rough fellows like Huang Tingyu, Tang Guangjun, Mu Ya, and Han Buyu held their bowls and squatted by the lotus pond, slurping their noodles. Huang Tingyu was discussing whose newly married daughter-in-law in the town looked very fertile. Tang Guangjun repeatedly nodded in agreement, lamenting that the shredded loach noodle soup, jointly prepared by Dong Cang and the Lord of the Mountain, was truly peerless. He felt that even if he cooked noodles for a hundred years, he would never achieve such skill.
After breakfast, Lin Xingchu, clad in a flowing golden cloak of water fortune, bid farewell with Wang Yue, taking the boundless water fortune back to Xi Jian River. Next was Su Shanjun. This Shanjun of the intermediate fifth realm, radiating scholarly elegance, wiped his mouth after eating a bowl of noodles. Like an elder, he pointed at Tong Yu and asked her if she had been diligent in her cultivation recently and if she had encountered any problems with sword refining, making Lin Wanhua beside him look astonished. "Su Shanjun, are your swordsmanship or realm higher than mine that you are now instructing my disciple?"
However, out of respect for Lin Zhao, Lin Wanhua said nothing. Su Shanjun was good in every aspect: he was handsome, had a good temper, but was simply a bit shameless.
Lin Zhao also paid attention to Tong Yu's cultivation, finding everything to be smooth. As a seventh-level sword cultivator, she had already refined two flying swords into her natal items within her two Sword-Nurturing Lakes. Such a foundation was rare in the world. Furthermore, Lin Wanhua was not stingy with her disciple, giving her many flying swords. Thus, Tong Yu's medium-refined swords were all immortal swords, and her more than twenty small-refined swords were all heavenly-grade sword embryos. Moreover, Tong Yu had practiced the Thirty-Six Swordsmanship of Vertical and Horizontal. Once activated, flying swords would fill the sky!
In the future, once Tong Yu entered the upper fifth realm, she would undoubtedly become a dazzling sight at Mountain Peak Villa. Beautiful, and her swordsmanship even more so.
"I'm leaving."
Lin Wanhua said with a smile, "Although Fusu Great Wall and Xue Yu Tian Chi are not far apart, the Sages of the Confucian Wen Lin are always watching. If I stay outside, I will inadvertently absorb a lot of the sword dao fortune of the human realm. I will now return to the Sword Pavilion of Fusu Great Wall and confine myself. If you have time, come find me for a drink."
"No problem."
Lin Zhao pulled Chi Zhongyu over, and then, with a tacit understanding, they cupped their fists towards Lin Wanhua. Lin Zhao said, "Miss Lin, Chi Zhongyu, this Star River realm sword cultivator, actually has good combat strength. Once he recovers from his injuries, he can definitely be considered a quasi-sword immortal. However, his state of mind has significant flaws, so he cannot stay at Mountain Peak Villa. I wish to temporarily lend him to Fusu Great Wall as a retainer of Mountain Peak Villa so he can cultivate there. You can command him as you please."
"Oh?"
Lin Wanhua narrowed her beautiful eyes, looking at Chi Zhongyu, then at the fan-wielding goddess Liu Li Ying, who was washing dishes in a short shirt in the distance. She immediately understood everything and couldn't help but shake her head slightly. Love is difficult to overcome, how difficult? Half of my own thoughts are still on the Mountain Peak Villa, wishing I could shed my responsibilities and travel the world with him. But does this affect my sword refining? Some people are just being dramatic!
She said with a smile, "Chi Zhongyu, Fusu Great Wall is a place of hardship and cold. Although the sword dao fortune, martial fortune, and military killing fortune are relatively strong, you must think carefully. If you go to Fusu Great Wall, I will not indulge you. There will be no fine clothes or delicacies, no treatment befitting royalty or nobility. You will be a mere sword cultivator practicing in hardship. Don't suffer too much and then come crying to Lin Zhao."
"I won't."
Chi Zhongyu smiled slightly. "I've long been accustomed to a life of luxury. If anyone at Fusu Great Wall shows me even a speck of oil or a morsel of meat, I'll make sure they pay! But there's money to be made from killing demons at Fusu Great Wall, right?"
"Yes, as long as you're not afraid of death, there are plenty of opportunities to make money."
"Good!"
Chi Zhongyu looked at Lin Zhao and said, "Lord of the Mountain, wait for Chi Zhongyu to make money for our Mountain Peak Villa."
Lin Zhao smiled and clenched his fist. "Go for it!"
Unfortunately, Liu Li Ying didn't even glance at him, causing another crack to appear in Chi Zhongyu's sword heart.
"I'm leaving."
Lin Wanhua, with her sword and body as one, transformed into a streak of sword light and headed towards Fusu Great Wall. Her speed was neither fast nor slow. Chi Zhongyu also hurriedly mounted his sword and chased after her. From this day on, Lin Wanhua would be his city lord. As for Lin Wanhua, she was also a stunning beauty, but Chi Zhongyu dared not harbor any impure thoughts. Firstly, his heart was already filled with Liu Li Ying. Secondly, Lin Wanhua was a thirteenth-level great sword immortal; he would be seeking death if he had any such thoughts. Thirdly, Lin Wanhua was the Lord of the Mountain's confidante, and with his character, Chi Zhongyu would never overstep his bounds, or he wouldn't be Chi Zhongyu.
...
After seeing Chi Zhongyu off.
Lin Zhao turned around and saw Liu Li Ying squatting beside the gourd vine, looking at the short, tender golden vine with great interest. This posture accentuated her curves, driving Huang Tingyu and Tang Guangjun's eyes wide open, gleaming.
"Young Master."
Liu Li Ying smiled faintly. "Do you want this gourd vine to grow quickly or even bear fruit? Li Ying has a way."
"Really?!"
Lin Zhao looked at Liu Li Ying, his eyes gleaming as well.