The myth begins with the Lotus Lantern

Chapter 281 Accounts
A buzzing sound was ringing in my ears.

Ding Lin could see that Xin Jia's mouth seemed to be opening and closing, but he couldn't hear any sound.

The world before my eyes seems somewhat distorted.

At one point, Xin Jia stopped talking.

"You... step back."

Ding Lin opened his mouth and tried to speak. Surprisingly, he actually made a sound. The world became vivid again, and his five senses quickly returned. He exhaled and his mood gradually calmed down.

Who says immortals don't get nervous? Those who aren't nervous are either incredibly bold and inexperienced, have powerful backing, or haven't accomplished anything significant enough.

It's magical to say the least.

At the time of stealing the peaches, I didn't realize it; I was just thinking and pondering. When I finally saw the opportunity, I acted decisively and efficiently, focusing all my attention on the matter at hand.

Now that everything has settled down and the matter has been settled, things are starting to get tense.

Is it because the operation went too smoothly and easily, making it feel somewhat unreal and causing anxiety about gains and losses?

In any case, we've finally succeeded. Now that we've reached this point, there's nothing more to worry about but to continue our cultivation.

"I'm entrusting all matters in this garden to you. Report to me every twenty days."

Ding Lin thought for a moment, then added a sentence to Xin Jia.

"promise!"

Xin Jia bowed and obeyed the order to withdraw.

……

Deep within the Peach Orchard, at the very back of the 9,000-year-old Purple-Veined Peach Orchard, stands a small building.

This was the residence of the successive stewards, or rather, a temporary official residence set up in the Peach Garden.

Hong Gu used to live here. She has long been transferred away. She has the cultivation of a Golden Immortal and was once the Old Man of Yaochi. She should only have been slightly demoted and not suffered any major damage.

Of course, these things were not within Ding Lin's current considerations. Now that he was the de facto manager of the Peach Garden, it was only natural for him to occupy this small building.

After spending so much time in the Heavenly Court, Ding Lin finally got to enjoy the privilege of living in an official residence.

Ding Lin entered the small building and immediately activated the restrictions within it. Instead of going to the main hall, he randomly found a room, slipped inside, and spread his spiritual senses throughout the room, carefully exploring it several times before taking out a futon and sitting down cross-legged.

Then, after careful consideration and review, until I was certain once again that I had done everything I could and that the rest was unavoidable, I finally stopped.

Ding Lin probed his thoughts into the storage space, and the once empty place finally became somewhat rich. A pile of peaches, some white and some red, was piled in the corner, fuzzy and quite pleasing. The spiritual energy emanating from them made them appear substantial, reflecting the light and making the several empty jade bottles on the other side shine brightly.

At the time, I was only focused on picking the fruit, but now I finally have some free time to count and organize it.

Ding Lin counted them carefully; there were 703 peaches, all of them being 9,000-year-old purple-veined peaches.

He pulled his thoughts back, a flash of inspiration struck his palm, and he took out the book from the handover, opened it on his lap, and turned to the latest page. A line of writing appeared, clearly recording the number of peaches in the garden at the last count:
There are a total of 203,612 peaches in the 3,000-year-old tree, of which 121,204 are ripe, divided into large, medium and small sizes, and 82,408 are unripe.

There are a total of 67,361 peaches in the six thousand years, of which 38,706 are ripe, divided into large, medium and small sizes, and 28,655 are unripe.

Of the 9,000-year-old purple-striped peaches, there are only 9,304, of which 3,572 are ripe, 107 of which are large, and 5,732 are unripe.

Ding Lin looked up. The previous line recorded the results of the last count. Compared to this last count, there were no major changes in the fruits from three thousand years and six thousand years ago. The only dozen or so fruits that were distributed also had their destination noted, indicating that they were bestowed by the Queen Mother.

The number of the 9,000-year-old purple-veined peaches recorded last time was 10,291. Only seven were marked as bestowed, and the remaining 980 premium large fruits disappeared without a trace, which was recorded as a loss in the ledger.

In other words, of the original more than a thousand premium fruits, ninety percent were eaten by the stone monkey, leaving only a hundred or so.

No, the number in the hundreds was the figure at the time of handover.

Ding Lin had just taken a stroll through the garden of the nine-thousand-year-old purple-veined peaches. The branches and leaves were bare, and only a few of the finest large fruits remained. Some of them had been eaten by the stone monkeys recently, so there were probably no more than a hundred left.

In addition, Ding Lin had just obtained more than 700 small fruits.

Ding Lin pondered, and a thought seemed to gather and condense into an invisible pen, landing on the paper and leaving a mark of ink. He had a feeling that as long as he thought of something, he could immediately start a new line of numbers on this paper.

I can't write yet.

Ding Lin hadn't figured out how to write yet. He let his thoughts drift away, and the paper rippled. The ink marks he had made couldn't form a sentence, so they also disappeared. He closed the sheet temporarily to avoid making a mistake, and after thinking for a while, he opened it again.

With intention, the brush moves like a dragon or a snake.

The records for the three-thousand-year-old and six-thousand-year-old peaches remain unchanged.

Ding Lin subtracted six numbers after the large fruit of the nine-thousand-year-old purple-veined peach.

The paper rippled.

The next moment, the words appeared on the latest line below: Purple-veined peaches, a total of 9,298, ripe fruit, 3,566 large fruit, 101...

Ding Lin's eyes flickered. This piece of paper was quite mysterious. The other end must be connected to some important figure. He had just handed it over. If it was not changed at all, it would be obviously a forgery. What kind of person was that monkey? The high-ranking officials of the Heavenly Court probably already knew about it during this period.

However, he couldn't not write it down, as that would be concealing the truth, nor could he write too much, otherwise, if the higher-ups didn't see any results, he would be at risk of being dismissed at any time.

Ding Lin scrolled up again and found that in the past records, the monkey would come to the garden every few days and eat more than a dozen fruits.

He decided that from now on, he would follow this schedule and update the data every few days, less frequently than before. This would prove that his efforts to control the monkeys were effective, and also show that the monkeys were still wild and untamed and needed to be restrained and dissuaded.

In this way, we can delay the inevitable as much as possible.

As for the possibility of his scheme being exposed later, he couldn't worry about that for now. He needed to cultivate to the Golden Immortal level first. At that time, he could either subtly increase the number gradually, or find an excuse to increase it all at once and then act accordingly. As long as he could settle the score, that would be fine. Of course, he would also hang the more than seven hundred purple-veined peaches he had obtained on the stone monkey's head.

At that time, the punishment will come down. With the cultivation of a Golden Immortal as a safety net, it will not be too serious or prevent them from recovering. As the saying goes, "the law does not apply to high-ranking officials." In the Heavenly Court, an Immortal can only be considered a scholar at most. Only by becoming a Golden Immortal can one reach the rank of a high-ranking official.

Ding Lin had made up his mind. He put away the newly written notebook and then, without further hesitation, a flash of inspiration appeared in his palm, and he took out a peach.

The small fruit is only the size of an adult's fist, with a dull skin color that is not as vibrant as the large fruit. In addition, the surface is covered with deep fuzz, making it look unappealing.

But it didn't matter to Ding Lin. He only wanted to extract the spiritual energy from the fruit to accumulate magical power. As long as the fruit was the right one, its appearance and how it looked were the least important.

Moreover, in my perception, even the fuzz on the surface of this peach is filled with spiritual energy.

Ding Lin opened his mouth, not even letting go of the fuzz, and swallowed the peach in a few swift movements. He then spat the peach pit into his palm, put it away, and began to refine it with his eyes closed.

A burst of heat exploded from his chest and abdomen.

Without Ding Lin's prompting, the Grand Celestial Immortal Technique began to circulate on its own. The spiritual energy emitted by the peaches was intense and boundless, like a surging river. However, the Grand Celestial Immortal Technique was like a glutton with no bottomless appetite. It floated on the sea, drinking in the river of water like a whale sucking water, effortlessly absorbing it all without wasting a single drop and refining it completely.

In the darkness, Ding Lin sensed that a force was pushing his lifespan wheel forward, trying to make it go a little further. However, he had already become a Celestial Immortal, and his lifespan had reached the limit of one epoch that heaven and earth could contain. He could not go any further, so this effort was naturally in vain.

If he wants to extend his lifespan further, he must become a Golden Immortal, living an endless life.

Peaches of immortality are rich in spiritual energy, but their true function is to prolong life.

It is said in the mortal world that eating three thousand small peaches can make one become an 'immortal'. Of course, this 'immortal' is just a general term. In the eyes of mortals, cultivators are immortals, and in the eyes of cultivators, the primordial spirit can be called a wandering immortal.

Even just accumulating small peaches can give mortals a primordial spirit and body, allowing them to live for nearly a thousand years!

It is said that eating a peach from the 6,000-year-old Zhongtao can grant one ascension to immortality. This is because if one is granted a Zhongtao, one must have caught the eye of a great figure. Ascending to the heavens and being recorded in the immortal register are just the basics, while living for ten thousand years is considered immortality.

A single medium-sized peach can grant a person a lifespan of a thousand years; eating several more can even allow one to reach the limits of immortality and mortal life, approaching a lifespan of ten thousand years.

Of course, it can only replenish what is lost; there is no way to replenish what has been lost, unlike what happened to Ding Lin before, when his lifespan was completely depleted.

The purple-veined peaches that are nine thousand years old are even more extraordinary. They are said to be able to live as long as heaven and earth and shine as brightly as the sun and moon. The so-called "one cycle begins, all things are renewed" means that every cycle is a new beginning. Every 129,600 years, when the cycle begins again, heaven and earth are naturally overturned and the sun and moon are obscured. The "one cycle begins, all things are renewed" refers to the number of cycles, which is also the limit of lifespan that heaven and earth can allow.

The lifespan limit of immortals is known as the "One Yuan Era," but apart from Heavenly Immortals, the other four ranks of immortals cannot reach perfection upon attainment. The lowest-ranking Ghost Immortal can only live for more than 20,000 years. However, if one has the opportunity to eat a 9,000-year-old Purple-Veined Peach of Immortality before their death, although it does not benefit their cultivation level, their lifespan can be greatly increased, up to the maximum of one Yuan Era.

For someone like Ding Lin to only use the peaches of immortality to enhance his magical power is actually a waste of resources.

Three hours later.

Ding Lin opened his eyes, a hint of shock flashing in them. He had already overestimated it as much as possible, but he hadn't expected the peach to be so effective. Just one peach had advanced his cultivation by more than two hundred years.

Three hours, two hundred years of cultivation!

Based on this calculation, if everything goes smoothly, theoretically he only needs a little over three months to reach the pinnacle of his cultivation.

If there was some trepidation when stealing peaches before, now, after experiencing the effects of the peaches, all that remains is excitement.

Without hesitation, Ding Lin ate another peach, putting the pit back in its original place.

And so, twenty days passed without anyone noticing.

The feeling of rapidly increasing magical power was so intoxicating that in just twenty days, Ding Lin's cultivation level rose from over 40,000 years to nearly 60,000 years.

Ding Lin opened his eyes, his gaze filled with lingering desire, yet he still had to temporarily leave seclusion. Life couldn't just be about indulging in what he wanted to do; there was also the pursuit of other things.

He went to the main hall and sat in the main seat.

Sensing that outside the small building's protective barrier, Xin Jia had been waiting for a long time.

Ding Lin waved his sleeve, creating a gap in the barrier and letting Xin Jia in.

"General!" Xin Jia greeted him.

Ding Lin was in a hurry to get back to his cultivation, so he didn't exchange many pleasantries with him and went straight to the point, asking Xin Jia to report to him.

In the vast Peach Orchard, Xin Jia dispersed the hundred heavenly soldiers. Ten heavenly soldiers were placed in the three-thousand-year-old peach forest, and twenty heavenly soldiers were placed in the six-thousand-year-old peach forest, each led by a human immortal. He personally led the remaining seventy heavenly soldiers to patrol the nine-thousand-year-old peach forest.

Ding Lin remained noncommittal. After listening, he asked another question about the movements of Yin Huan outside the Peach Garden. Upon learning that he would lead his troops to deploy defenses around the Peach Garden, completely surrounding it, he nodded without comment and was about to dismiss Xin Jia.

"General," Xin Jia reported before leaving, "In the past twenty days, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven has come three times. The three-thousand-year-old and six-thousand-year-old peaches are undamaged, and he has eaten more than thirty nine-thousand-year-old peaches. Now, looking around, the large fruits are a rare sight."

“He has a title and official rank, so the brothers can’t stop him, nor do they dare not stop him.”

"Just do your best." Ding Lin was silent for a while before slowly saying this, but it was as if he hadn't said anything at all.

Finished.

Ding Lin waved his hand, signaling Xin Jia to leave again.

……

As soon as Xin Jia left, Ding Lin immediately closed the restriction again. He went around the main hall and returned to the hermitage. He couldn't wait to take out the peaches again and greedily chewed and refined them.

……

Outside the small building, Xin Jia walked a long distance before looking back. His shoulders, which had been straight, suddenly slumped slightly. Ding Lin was not there, and he was being vague and indifferent. It seemed that he had completely given up and was just waiting for these last few months before being demoted to the mortal realm. If the commander was like this, what could they, the subordinates, do?
He looked up at the sky. Although the sun was shining brightly, he saw a shadow among the clouds. He felt lost and gloomy about the future, as if the only path left was to be banished to the mortal world with Ding Lin.

Ding Lin was demoted, but he was still able to retain his official position. As for him, he could probably only be a minor official under the mountain god, and he might not even be able to keep his status as a celestial being.

Xin Huan was puzzled again. If that was the plan, then why did she pay so much attention to Yin Huan when they were in the clouds?

(End of this chapter)