Chapter 155: Crafting Spirit-Gathering Stones

Snatching people and borrowing people are two different matters.

Still, if it was just to borrow manpower, Li Lin was willing.

He smiled and said, "That works, but these people borrowed for your use will only be available for about ten days, and you must pay them some overtime fees."

"Agreed." Jiang Jili nodded and agreed.

"If there is any news or clues, just notify me." Li Lin thought for a moment and said, "If you need me to act, let me know; I will also help you depending on the situation."

"Isn't it certain help?" Jiang Jili said with a smile, "We are considered allies now."

Li Lin shook his head, "What if it is a great power I cannot afford to offend?"

Jiang Jili said in a bad mood, "Son-in-law of the Huang family, yourself an Eighth Rank Spirit Hunter, and now the Taowu Zhenjun Temple enshrines someone from your Li family; you yourself are already a great power. Do you have no self-awareness at all?"

Li Lin truly did not have this self-awareness.

After all, the Huang family was just a big tree leaned on, not his true strength.

If forced to speak, the Tree Immortal Lady counts as half; why half?

Because she is not yet Li Lin's woman, but almost.

This "almost" can only count as half.

To make her truly become his woman, Li Lin still needs to work hard, practicing until Third Rank or above.

However, he soon realized something was wrong; when the Tree Immortal Lady was at Shangtidikou Village, she had clearly stated that Third Rank was needed to unite with her.

Now that she has become the Great Lord of Yulin County, her strength must be constantly increasing; how many Ranks would I need to unite with her?

First Rank Spirit Hunter?

That is somewhat difficult.

How old would I need to be?

I heard that currently in the entire Great Qi, there are only two First Rank Spirit Hunters.

Both are old men.

Afterwards, he thought again; since he cultivated the Foundation Establishment cultivation method and now absorbs spiritual energy, perhaps he does not need First Rank to approach the Tree Immortal Lady.

After all, the 'quality' of spiritual energy, compared to Yin energy and Yuan energy, is still very high.

Seeing Li Lin lost in thought, Jiang Jili asked, "What are you thinking?"

Li Lin smiled, "Nothing in particular. Anyway, if there is anything, just share it with me; after all, we are now grasshoppers on the same rope."

"That sounds really unpleasant; we are not in such a miserable state."

Li Lin chuckled twice, "That day at the restaurant, if not for me... you would really have died there. It is strange though, where were your family's guards?"

"I was negligent at the time and did not bring them out."

"Tomorrow I will go to the county government office and let the Second Squad government office Runners temporarily obey your orders."

"Thank you." Jiang Jili clasped his fists and said.

After chatting for a while, the two parted.

Li Lin returned home and began working on making Spirit-Gathering Stones.

He first found some wooden boards and made over a dozen brick molds, then poured protective barrier powder into them and mixed in well water.

Well water in different ratios.

He wanted to see if the ratio of water mixed with it would affect the solidification speed, quality, hardness, etc., of the protective barrier powder.

The experimental results were very successful; among the several ratios, the one with about one-third well water mixed formed the most beautiful brick, blue and translucent, pure and smooth like crystal, and its effect of repelling impure 'Qi' was also the best.

"Success, I will use this." Li Lin held a Spirit-Gathering Stone, full of joy.

Huang Qing also came over; women prefer such gem-like toys. She looked for a while and smiled, "A house built with such treasures must be very beautiful."

"It cannot be too beautiful." Li Lin said, "When building this house, an outer layer of brick wall must be laid on the outside, and a tiled roof must be covered to hide its appearance."

"True, we must prevent people from knowing."

Currently, only the three of them are in the entire backyard; the servants have been ordered not to approach here.

Moreover, the female apparition Li Jingyan is monitoring; under normal circumstances, no one can peek here.

"Then will we build the brick house ourselves in the future?" Hong Luan asked.

Li Lin nodded, "Regardless, one cannot be without a guarding heart. No matter how effective this Spirit-Gathering Stone is, just its appearance makes it a treasure, very valuable. If others know we have a small house built with such treasures, it will surely arouse greed and desire to seize it, even more than a golden house."

"True." Hong Luan nodded, then pointed to the less successful Spirit-Gathering Stones nearby and asked, "How should these be handled? Destroyed all? It feels a bit wasteful."

The other Spirit-Gathering Stones, although not as transparent as those in Huang Qing's hand, were still quite beautiful.

Huang Qing smiled, "Keep them for now; if we need to give gifts in the future, they might be used to show off our status."

"Won't you fear being coveted then?" Hong Luan asked.

Huang Qing looked at Li Lin, her eyes full of admiring glow, "By then, Master will surely not need to act so low-key."

This was a roundabout way of flattering Li Lin's boundless future.

Li Lin laughed loudly twice.

Huang Qing already liked Li Lin very much; after dual cultivation, she liked him even more.

Li Lin had recently specifically studied the characteristics of the dual cultivation method; he discovered that the dual cultivation method not only allows the 'Qi' of both parties to blend, achieving the wonderful effect of Yin and Yang harmony, but it also has a very unique effect: resetting the pleasure threshold.

Human nerves have a 'tolerance' effect on dopamine.

People who frequently engage in pleasurable acts, over time, their nervous systems become 'accustomed', requiring stronger stimulation to feel pleasure.

Eventually, they might even walk the path of self-destruction.

And the function of resetting the pleasure threshold is very important.

This means that no matter how many times the three of them engage in dual cultivation, each time will be as happy and thrilling as the first time accepting such matters.

No need for more or stronger stimulation.

Therefore, for the cultivator, the dual cultivation method, no matter how long one cultivates, is not a burden, but a reward and joy.

The kind that never fades.

"The one who created the Dual Cultivation Method is a true genius."

This was Li Lin's most sincere praise.

Over the next few days, Li Lin sent servants to purchase materials. To avoid suspicion, he even bought several unrelated, even conflicting, materials.

If anyone discovered something and extracted the material list from the servants, they would not know how to use or handle the extra materials.

After finishing his morning shift, he refined pills continuously, refining pills without cease.

Several days passed, and a room full of Spirit-Gathering Stones was accumulated.

The room storing the Spirit-Gathering Stones gave a feeling of extremely 'fresh' air when approached.

Li Yanjing liked this aura very much, but she dared not get too close.

"Why?" Li Lin asked.

Li Yanjing said, "This spiritual energy is harmful to us, do you understand?"

Li Lin understood the other party's meaning.

"Only after being refined by cultivators like you can we absorb it." Li Yanjing placed her hand on Li Lin's chest and said seductively, "So, since I have been so obedient... Ah!"

A scream of agony rang out as Li Yanjing flew away, landing several meters away.

Afterwards, a long snake tail slowly vanished into the void.

Huang Qi saw this scene from the side and covered her mouth, laughing straight out.

Such simple and fulfilling days passed for several more days, and then, while on morning shift that day, Li Lin was summoned to the courtroom.

"County Commandant Li, contact with Fuxin Village has suddenly been cut off. You need to lead men there to see what is happening." Zhang Guangqi said calmly.

"When was it cut off?" Li Lin asked.

"We received the message yesterday afternoon."

"I understand." Li Lin nodded and said, "I will mobilize two hundred militia to set out."

"Trouble you." Zhang Guangqi had no smile on his face, looking entirely like he was conducting official business.

Li Lin did not mind, turned around, and left the courtroom.

Back home, Li Lin took all his 'eating' gear, then spoke in the main hall of the backyard: "Although this is official business, I am a bit worried that Zhang Guangqi might be plotting something behind the scenes. He clearly has no good face for me anymore."

"Just because we didn't give him the position at the Taowu Zhenjun Temple?" Hong Luan cursed unhappily, "To think he is still a member of the Huang family."

"He can only be counted as half a member of the Huang family." Li Lin smiled, "We are the same."

Hong Luan said helplessly, "That's true."

Then she became happy: "But here, I feel happier than anywhere else. Whether the Huang family is Huang or not, I don't care."

Huang Qi helplessly tapped Hong Luan's head: "Don't pretend I don't exist."

"Young Lady, you are now a wife of the Li family."

Huang Qi smiled and did not refute.

On the other side, Li Lin said to Li Yanjing: "The safety of the home will trouble you to pay extra attention."

"No problem." Li Yanjing smiled, "I also like it here, and I like Sister Qi and Sister Hong Luan even more."

Seeing this, Li Lin extended his left palm and said, "Take a breath."

Hearing this, Li Yanjing froze. She carefully looked at the illusory peach tree in the sky, then looked left and right.

She had prepared herself to be slapped away, but nothing happened.

Afterwards, she understood something and laughed: "So the Noble Lady also..."

Then she did not say any more; some things are better known than spoken.

She leaned close to Li Lin and gently took a sip.

Afterwards, she covered her face, which was full of red blush, and sank into deep intoxication.

After a while, she opened her eyes and smiled at Li Lin: "Rest assured about the home, I will watch over it well. As long as I am not dead, Qi and Hong Luan will not suffer even the slightest grievance."

Leaving home, Li Lin arrived at the North Gate of the city.

Two hundred militia were already assembled there.

Su Bei was among them.

Since this was to scout the situation, many hands were not needed, so two hundred people were sufficient.

Since the situation was urgent, Li Lin did not talk nonsense but directly ordered the departure.

Fuxin Village was not far from here; a half-day's march arrived.

The entire village was quite quiet.

Except for some bird calls, there was no sound at all.

Logically, during the day, one should always see some people working outside.

Li Lin said, "Commandant Fang, take fifty archers to occupy the nearby high ground first. If anything unexpected happens, shoot for immediate support."

"Commandant An, take your fifty shield-bearers and fifty spear-bearers to enter the village steadily and investigate the situation."

"The rest, set up camp right here."

(End of this chapter)