Chapter 98: Lingyin

【Swordsman Lingyin, inheritor of the Penglai Sword. He spent his life drifting, pursuing the pinnacle of swordsmanship; until death his obsession did not fade, and he became the spirit of the Penglai Sword. Lingyin underwent training through reincarnation in various realms; my lord can summon him to be your guard。

Producer: Myriad Worlds xx

Personality: silent and reserved, only loves swordsmanship.

Strength: loyalty.

Usage period: the summoning contract is automatically lifted when the lord comes of age.

Myriad Worlds after the two asterisks won't be mentioned; the great king looked, stunned: "……This reward is even more outrageous, another non‑person! Do you see it says 'obsession not extinguished even in death'?" He knows each character, but together they're terrifying.

The great king timidly grabbed Bai Ze and hugged him to his chest, "He'd be better off as a robot; he's… a ghost?"

"Aren't they writing anymore? Sword spirit, not a ghost. There are no ghosts in the world."

The great king wore a "don't lie to a child" expression: "We already have a sword spirit—does it matter whether ghosts exist?!"

Bai Ze reasoned well: "You don't understand; his obsession is too strong. After death his soul does not scatter, the magnetic field changes, turning him from a person into a sword spirit—it's just swapping flesh for a sword body. The soul is not extinguished; essentially he is still Lingyin, still himself. Do you get it?" If you don't, that's right.

The great king was already dazed by him; understanding would be strange.

He hugged Bai Ze and triggered the summon; a moment later white light flashed, and before him appeared a middle‑aged man in white robes, with an ancient‑looking long sword on his back.

Needless to say, he's no different from a person of the Great Jin.

Lingyin's face was resolute; he really didn't look like a bad person. The great king, who judged by appearance, suddenly wasn't afraid.

The other party bowed politely: "For the next ten years, I am at the lord's command; I will not refuse even at the risk of myriad deaths."

The great king's sense of numbers suddenly cleared: "Is seventeen considered adulthood?"

Lingyin's expression unchanged, he repeated: "For the next eleven years, lord, command as you wish." Oh, eighteen.

The great king's curiosity could not be contained: "……How powerful is your swordsmanship? Is it the kind where a single swing fells a large area?"

"No. The Penglai Sword art is also limited by the laws of the realm; this realm has no spiritual energy, so swordsmanship is just swordsmanship. Ling Mou deliberately applied to come to this realm to let the sword art return to pure swordsmanship."

The great king didn't understand, but that didn't stop him from knowing he'd obtained a capable swordsman as a guard; he felt his life was much safer today.

"I'll take it back for now; tomorrow I'll have Zhu Ti bring you in from outside to the manor."

Lingyin disappeared; the great king couldn't keep the smile off his face.

Bai Ze complained, "Does having more thugs make you this happy?"

"You don't understand; although the Owl Cavalry hasn't been formed yet, I always feel the temperament that Bai Ge described for the Owl Cavalry is hard to cultivate. Zhang Tu and Zhao Chuan have ordinary martial skills; among the guards they're outstanding, but they still fall short of the cavalry leader Bai Ge spoke of. I think neither of them is really suited to lead the Owl Cavalry. Now we have another option, and I, the king, am delighted—this person will never betray me, hahaha～

This Bai Ze agrees; his eyes are also sharp.

"They've lived too peacefully; they can only command ordinary troops, and they're indeed unsuitable for the special forces you want. Too mediocre."

Aside from the rubber tree, the great king is fairly satisfied with the four; he has even higher expectations for the last one, the A‑rank.

After rubbing his palms together, he touched Bai Ze once more; the great king, full of anticipation, opened the wheel, and the pointer quickly landed on a black cell.

【Hurray～hurray! Congratulations, lord, for drawing the A‑rank wheel's top reward: Youzhou City Wall x1—surprised or delighted? We, 'Capital Prosperity Dream,' are fundamentally a construction game; lord, don't forget your original aspiration and keep forging ahead, keep going～

Whether to claim the reward now, yes/no】

"Whoa——!!!" the great king let out a high‑pitched cry; the next moment he excitedly jumped around unstably in the room twice—finally he got what he'd been waiting for!

The next instant the study's door was flung open; Zhao Bao shouted, 'Protect the highness!' and rushed in with a few guards; the two groups stared at each other… the scene was momentarily extremely awkward.

On the great king's side there was only him as a human; under the table sat a bear, on the table one end had Bai Ze standing, the other end the little fat bird. The great king had a brainwave, pointing at the Juanyun Diao pacing on his table, expertly shifting blame: "There's no telling where a little bird flew into the study from; it scared the hell out of me!"

Zhao Bao: "……Your place has both a civet and a bear, and you're actually scared by a bird? Shouldn't you be catching birds? Never mind, these guys getting along look quite harmonious; Bai Ze and Weini never fight.

Zhao Bao checked that the doors and windows were closed and guessed: "Maybe it flew in when the place was aired this morning. I'll go back and tighten the little eunuch's guard duty—this is too lax! Your highness, should we have this bird taken away?"

The great king is quite fickle: "No need for that; I'll take another look, find it utterly cute, and decide to keep and raise it myself."

"Then I'll go prepare a cage for your highness."

The great king couldn't wait; he saw Zhao Bao off and then clicked to claim the reward.

【Side quest: Build Youzhou City Wall.

Official subsidy: all raw materials; all tools and equipment;

On‑site technical supervisor NPC x1 (recovered after task completion); professional technical labor x3000 (recovered after task completion);

Logic chain supplement: recruit local Youzhou labor x3000 (three thousand people);

Estimated construction period: ninety days;

Quest items: work uniforms x3000; meals x3000×90; wages x3000×90

Estimated start time: March, Ningde Year 11】

Huh? Actually we can't start building now? That Mr. Zhao would need three months before we could meet.

Immediately it occurred to him that Youzhou is extraordinarily cold right now—outside, water freezes to ice, so construction really can't proceed. The great king himself isn't cold; he often overlooks that Youzhou is currently undergoing severe cold.

Now that the city wall is in hand, the great king is no longer in a hurry; he began to gleefully study his newly acquired Sun‑shooting Bow and Juanyun Diao.

The next day was New Year's Eve; he arrived in Youzhou for his first year there. This new year, although he can no longer see his sister at the palace banquet, at least he still has the cousin he detained keeping him company.

Thinking of his sister, the great king personally went to the warehouse and picked a box of pearls: "Saving them, for when his sister marries, to give as her dowry." Anyway, he wouldn't be stupid enough to send them to the palace now; later he won't know who'll benefit.

Zhao Bao soon delivered a cage; the great king simply took the door off so the little fat bird could come and go freely, then found a piece of cloth to line the inside and made a nest for the Juanyun Diao.

"Hey, you've got the top‑tier reward; you must be smart enough not to get lost, right? Then you usually just sleep here… no, we need to give you a name……"

"How about 'Nine Myriad Li'?" Bai Ze blurted out.

"Why?"

"It'd match your horse called 'Eight Myriad Liang'—you'd hear it and think, 'What a master!' pfft～cough!

The great king grew wary: "Are you making fun of me? Humph! This time I'll pick the best‑sounding name in the world—just you wait!"

Bai Ze: hehe.

Great King's Diary:

【New Year's Eve, Youwang Manor.

Secluded Prefecture will have city walls soon! This King can even wake up laughing in his sleep~

By next March, This King will use the silver earned from fishing this winter to build a new block outside the mansion, granting each subordinate a large mansion. Just build it imitating the houses on Vermilion Bird Avenue, good-looking and sturdy, letting them settle down and work with This King to build Secluded Prefecture, no longer longing for the prosperous Everlasting Peace City!

Next year's Secluded Prefecture will be completely new.】