Chapter 89: The Follower Heart and the Earth and Timber Scripture

「……」

Soldiers on the city wall and citizens below all widened their eyes, staring at the sky in stunned silence, as if they had never witnessed such a brutal and savage style of combat.

In fact, this was the first time in human history of this world that anyone had seen a person conquer the sky with their bare body!

Soon, Old Wol was drenched in blood, hovering in midair; he glanced at the stunned humans below, a faint smile tugging at his lips, then unhesitatingly tore the teleportation scroll.

In an instant, a flash of silver light swallowed Old Wol’s figure.

The soldiers and citizens within the city finally snapped out of their shock, erupting into astonished and excited cheers.

At the top of the tower, a middle-aged man in luxurious attire shook off his astonishment, gazing at the direction where Old Wol had vanished, his eyes gleaming with unusual light.

“Who is he?”

“Why can he fly?”

“And that power—could it truly be within human grasp?!”

Hearing the lord’s words, the young man beside him, equally well-dressed, fell silent for a moment, then whispered, “Father, he may be an unknown powerful mage, much like the late Vlamé who passed through here years ago and built the city’s barrier.”

“Another mage, huh…”

The middle-aged lord’s gaze flickered; after a pause, he suddenly said, “I heard Vlamé was close friends with the Second Imperial Prince?”

The young man replied, “Yes, Father. The Second Prince has loved magic since childhood and has had many powerful mages around him; Vlamé was the one who influenced him most deeply.”

“Rumors from the imperial capital say that in recent years, it was Vlamé who secretly urged the Second Prince to petition the Emperor to promote magic throughout the empire.”

“Is that so?” The middle-aged lord made no judgment; after a moment of silence, he murmured, “I’ve heard the First Prince suffered defeat on the front, losing a knightly regiment composed of noble youths—many dukes now harbor resentment toward him.”

The young man’s heart stirred; he ventured cautiously, “Father, are you suggesting…?”

“It’s time to make contact with the Second Prince!”

The middle-aged lord gave him a meaningful look, then turned and descended the tower.

…

…

On the other side, Old Wol, back in Spine Peak Domain, had no idea what impact his actions had caused, nor did he realize his accidental divine revelation had pushed a powerful noble to the Second Prince’s side, bringing Vlamé’s dream of spreading magic across the empire one step closer.

Of course, even if he knew, Old Wol wouldn’t care.

What he cared about more was when he could reclaim his divine pet and blessings.

Watching Old Wol, bloodied and full of anticipation, Lin Yu waved his hand, summoning clean water to wash the grime from his body, then returned to him the authority of a Level Seven Follower.

Sensing the return of divine favor, Old Wol finally exhaled in relief.

“Think carefully!”

Lin Yu gazed at Old Wol and said softly, “The greater the favor, the stronger my restrictions on you. Level Seven Follower means you’ll be confined mostly within a ten-li radius…”

Old Wol knelt on one knee without hesitation: “As long as I may serve at Your Side, even if confined to this castle alone, I am content!”

“Then do as you wish!”

Lin Yu nodded, smiling. “You did well this time—this counts as a meritorious deed. I’ll study it thoroughly before deciding how to reward you.”

“My Lord, Your Grace is all—”

“Enough, enough. Save the flattery. Go back. Don’t delay my research!”

Before the words were fully out, Lin Yu waved his hand, instantly teleporting the stunned Old Wol back home.

From then on, Old Wol could not see Lin Yu for three full days—even his prayers received no response.

Only after three days did Old Wol finally receive the “Divine Edict,” and only then did he breathe easy, hurrying to the castle to pay homage to his god.

“…My Lord, what is this?”

Old Wol raised his right hand, gazing blankly at the back of it.

There, an silver tattoo had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

Shaped like a vertical eye composed of dozens of silver lines, it was intricate yet orderly, radiating an aura of solemnity and mystery.

“This is your reward.”

Lin Yu explained with a smile: “You may call it the Follower Heart.”

Thanks to Old Wol, he had finally found a way to break through his limitations: using followers as eyes to traverse the world.

But even Level Nine Followers weren’t truly free—beyond the ten-li radius, they still felt resistance like swimming through water.

Considering this, Lin Yu spent three days researching and added a new tier beneath the Level Nine Follower system: the Clan.

Unlike Old Wol, who received authority directly from Lin Yu, Clans derive their power not from Lin Yu himself, but through the Follower Heart, transformed from a true Follower.

Thus, the Clan bears a fainter trace of Lin Yu’s essence.

Theoretically, they could move freely beyond the ten-li limit!

Hearing Lin Yu’s explanation, Old Wol grew excited.

“My Lord, are you saying Liya could also…?”

“Exactly!”

Lin Yu nodded with a smile.

Liya was Old Wol's wife, Damon's mother, also over sixty, married for over forty years, having shared countless life-and-death moments—truly devoted partners.

Thus, even after secretly regaining his youth, Old Wol never looked down on Liya for her age.

On the contrary, he constantly thought of her, hoping to earn great merit so he could beg the Lord to transform Liya into a Follower too.

As the sole Level Seven Follower, his thoughts naturally didn’t escape Lin Yu’s notice.

In fact, the idea of the Follower Heart was inspired by Old Wol.

Lin Yu smiled: “Though Clans lack the divine abilities of Followers, their souls still anchor to my world—so as long as my world endures, their souls will never perish…”

“Thank you, my Lord!”

Old Wol immediately knelt down in fervent gratitude—he clearly understood Lin Yu’s meaning.

At that moment, Lin Yu sensed Old Wol’s inner thoughts and his smile froze; he quickly warned: “Liya’s fine, but Hawk and Beryl are out of the question!”

“…”

Old Wol froze, then a flicker of disappointment crossed his face.

Clearly, this fanatic had planned to turn his entire family into Clans!

Fortunately, Lin Yu’s timely warning saved Hawk and Beryl.

“Yes, my Lord!”

Despite his disappointment, Old Wol still bowed respectfully: “I will carefully choose Clan members, ensuring their devotion to You.”

Lin Yu shook his head: “I told you to spare Hawk and Beryl not because of devotion—do you remember my first choice to you?”

“I remember.”

Old Wol nodded, then suddenly realized, his eyes brightening with excitement: “You mean… they have the potential to receive Spirit Roots?”

“Not just them.”

Lin Yu smiled: “All infants born in Spine Peak City over the past two years possess this potential. When they reach seven or eight, they can receive Spirit Roots and begin the cultivation path.”

So that’s how it was!

Old Wol’s expression cleared, his gaze toward Lin Yu now even more reverent.

Lin Yu paid no mind and continued: “As a Level Seven Follower, you may develop at most two hundred Clans. If any among them shows exceptional soul talent, bring them to me—I’ll elevate them to true Followers.”

“I understand!”

Having become a Follower, Old Wol placed Lin Yu’s interests above all else—he could never harbor jealousy over such matters.

He asked solemnly: “How do I identify a Clan member’s soul talent?”

Lin Yu pointed to the silver vertical eye on his hand: “If such a person exists, the Follower Heart will tell you.”

As he spoke, he flipped his right hand and produced a thick scripture, handing it to Old Wol.

“And this.”

“This… a Scripture?!”

Old Wol exclaimed in delight: “My Lord, you’re finally going to spread the faith?!”

“Why would I spread faith?”

Lin Yu shook his head. “This is a special version I crafted—call it the Earth and Timber Scripture. The magic inscribed within relates solely to civil engineering.”

“With this scripture, you can rapidly improve Spine Peak City’s infrastructure…”

Old Wol understood at once, nodded solemnly, and accepted the scripture with reverence.

Previously, Spine Peak Domain had merely demanded from Lin Yu, so he hadn’t cared much for them.

But now, both Clans and Followers could serve as his eyes—he must properly develop their homeland, and broaden his own perspective in this world.

After Old Wol departed with the [Follower Heart] and [Earth and Timber Scripture], Lin Yu flashed back to his study.

Meanwhile, the avatar that had spent nine days in the World Below One finally returned, entering his inner universe with abundant gains, releasing the monkeys captured from the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Sky-Piercing Valley into the mountains.

While the avatar busied himself within the inner universe, Lin Yu’s main body opened the chat group.

At this moment, Fan Xian and Xiang Yunye were discussing the construction of a feudal society.

Lin Yu skimmed the chat logs, then uploaded his fully perfected [Foundation Establishment Chapter] and sent a message:

【Lin Yu: For the next period, I will enter seclusion in the Fllien world, aiming to complete the [Golden Core Chapter] within five years.】

【Lin Yu: If you have nothing urgent, don’t @ me. If you do have something, don’t forget to @ me…】

【Su Haoming & Fan Xian & Xiang Yunye: Understood!】

Su Haoming and the others responded immediately; only He Jingfeng looked startled.

【He Jingfeng: F…five years?】

【Xiang Yunye: Old He, you didn’t know? Lin Brother’s world has a time flow a thousandfold faster than ours—his five years are barely one or two days here!】

[He Jing: Time flow rate difference?]

[Xiang Yunye: That’s true—you joined the group and immediately pulled us over; you never had a chance to learn how the chat group works.]

[Xiang Yunye: Old Su, give him a quick briefing!]

[Su Haoming: …]

Watching the still-bustling chat in the group, Lin Yu smiled faintly and closed the chat group.

Yesterday my computer screen went black and wouldn’t turn on; I tried fixing it myself using a video, but the more I fixed, the more problems appeared. In the end, I sent the host unit for after-sales repair today. Until it’s returned, I can only type on that old laptop, so I’ll probably post two chapters a day for the next few days.





(End of Chapter)