The myth begins with the Lotus Lantern

Chapter 265 Inspection
Ding Lin glanced at it and memorized it, but he still patiently read it again word by word.

The greatest truths are the simplest; this wonderful method is actually only a few hundred words long.

However, the explanations following the main text are as vast as a mountain, more than ten times greater than when I first read the appendix of "The Great Celestial Immortal Manual".

Fortunately, Ding Lin is no longer the same Ding Lin he once was; he has now become an immortal.

I scanned one side first, as always.

Even with Ding Lin's divine sense, which is now that of a celestial being, it took him a full hour to go through it once.

Then I began to read it carefully.

Ding Lin appeared extremely patient, going over the text again and again without getting tired of it. He did this three times, repeatedly memorizing it to ensure that he could remember every single word and recite it verbatim.

These are all forms of knowledge.

Moreover, it has another function.

Ding Lin's Thirty-Six Transformations of the Heavenly Gang are temporarily kept hidden from the light of day. This is fine on ordinary days, as no one would want to probe his fundamental techniques without reason. However, once he has mastered them, he will inevitably have to use the transformations when fighting with others. At that time, the Seventy-Two Transformations of the Earthly Fiends may be used to cover them up.

Although the Heavenly Gang is based on the Earthly Fiends, the two are ultimately from the same source and still share some similarities.

Nine days later.

Ding Lin stopped, opened his eyes, stood up, his body glowing with spiritual light, and put on his standard golden armor again before walking out of the duty room.

It wasn't that he had already mastered the 72 Transformations, but rather that today was the 15th, and according to Ding Lin's predecessor, Tianpeng would return to his official residence today.

"General!"

Outside the duty room, Xin Jia stood ramrod straight, actually helping Ding Lin keep watch. Sensing the sound of the door opening, he lowered his head and respectfully called out.

"You've been here the whole time?" Ding Lin was a little surprised. He had been engrossed in his books these past few days and hadn't paid any attention to the outside world. He didn't expect to see this scene as soon as he opened the door.

Xin Jia was taken aback and didn't speak immediately.

Although he was ostracized by Yin Huan, he had served in the Tianhe Navy for many years and still had access to basic information channels. Moreover, with Yin Huan being flogged, what happened in the palace that day was no longer a secret and had spread throughout the army. He originally thought that this general would at least summon him once to ask him some questions—how could someone who had made an enemy not pay attention to the other party?

However, for nine consecutive days, there was no news at all.

Since he was assigned to this general's command, apart from initially having him lead the way to the Tianpeng Temple and subsequently giving him orders to oversee defenses, his general has never spoken a single word to him.

Is it because they don't trust him?

Military tradition dictates that if the commander dies, all his personal guards will be executed.

Now that he had been transferred to the command of this general, no matter what the future held, he had no choice but to follow him.

Furthermore, even if you don't trust them, it's always okay to ask about some basic information.

Xin Jia was unaware that Ding Lin had originally intended to summon him as well, but this was interrupted by the evolution of the dragon body. In comparison, his own cultivation path was naturally more important.

The inquiry was put on hold for now and will be postponed.

These past few days, Xin Jia had thought a lot, and the more he pondered, the more confused he became. Was his commander simply not taking this matter to heart, or was he just being too patient, or perhaps he harbored resentment towards him… and was deliberately keeping him at arm's length? A chill ran through him, followed by a sense of unease. Had he done something wrong? But no matter how much Xin Jia thought about it, he couldn't find a flaw. Or rather, wherever he looked, it seemed like a flaw, and the more he thought of this, the more unfathomable, unpredictable, and elusive his commander became. New officials are always prone to being over-interpreted.

"Hmm?" Ding Lin snorted, somewhat puzzled. Was his question really that difficult to answer?
“As the general’s personal guard, I should be by your side at all times. However, before the general went into seclusion, he instructed me to coordinate the deployment of defenses. Therefore, I have been away from home from time to time. I hope the general will forgive me.” Xin Jia said carefully.

"Very good, you are innocent. By the way, from now on you just need to manage the temple's defenses well and make sure nothing goes wrong. I don't need to come here every day to report for duty."

Ding Lin said that although he didn't show it on his face, he was actually quite pleased to see Xin Jia's respectful attitude.

"Yes." Xin Jia paused for a moment before giving a reluctant reply. He had already lost trust before the project had even begun.

In fact, Ding Lin was simply avoiding the light of his supernatural powers, subconsciously refusing to let anyone get close to him while he was cultivating.

"Come with me to inspect the defenses first," Ding Lin said again.

"Yes." Xin Jia was apprehensive, but he still had to force himself to be alert and led Ding Lin to inspect each of the four gates, and then looked at the side gate.

“My lord, in addition to the four main gates, this temple also has four side gates, making a total of eight entrances. I have assigned eight people to guard each of the four main gates, four people to guard each of the side gates, and the remaining two to patrol with me daily, to ensure that the defenses are not neglected.”

"Eight gates, personnel mixed and scattered, rotated every four hours."

Xin Jia gave his introduction, trying his best to demonstrate his abilities.

Ding Lin knew nothing about these things, so he spoke little and only nodded slightly from time to time.

This attitude only made Xin Jia's heart sink even further.

"General..." After explaining the situation, Xin Jia wanted to say something more, but his understanding of Ding Lin was really limited, and he was afraid that he would make a mistake if he said too much. He started, but then he didn't know what else to say.

"That's settled then. I understand the situation now. Will you show me around?" Ding Lin said.

"Yes." Xin Jia replied dejectedly.

"By the way, tomorrow at Chenshi (7-9 AM), come to my duty room alone and tell me about the situation in the army, about that Silver Ring Commander, and that... General Wang Yu!" Ding Lin said, his eyes deep.

"Yes!" Xin Jia suddenly looked up, his eyes shining with surprise, as if he had been brought back to life. "I will arrange tomorrow's affairs tonight and be on duty by the general's side first thing tomorrow morning. I will definitely not be late!"

"No need for guard duty, just tell me their information," Ding Lin waved his hand.

As a result, the joy on Xin Jia's face turned into surprise and uncertainty.

"Let's go!" Ding Lin waved from the front, signaling Xin Jia to follow.

What does this mean?
"Yes!" Xin Jia was even more conflicted and couldn't figure it out, but he had no choice but to hide his expression for the time being. He agreed and followed Ding Lin.

Silence prevailed the entire way.

Ding Lin's eyes darted around; his attention wasn't on patrolling at all. He was just putting on a show, but in reality, he had his spiritual sense at its maximum, subtly observing his surroundings so as not to miss Tianpeng's whereabouts.

In Ding Lin's view, Tianpeng's return to the residence was an inspection from above, and the first inspection during the probationary period. First impressions are very important, and no amount of caution is too much.

Ding Lin had worked in the workplace in his previous life, so he naturally knew that only doing more when it was noticed by the boss was considered truly doing more.

(End of this chapter)