New and dark light years

Chapter 488 Come out, I see you!
beginning of winter!

While the Central Plains and northern regions are already covered in snow and ice, the climate in the central and southern parts of Jin County remains quite warm.

Even in areas further south, rice can still be grown.

In his room, Li Lin routinely infused his storage ring with spiritual energy.

This thing has been in Li Lin's hands for a year now.

Whenever he has time, this is one of the things Li Lin does every day without fail.

According to Chu Feng, this thing needs to absorb a large amount of vital energy to open, but the problem is that they have tried it, and generations of people have diligently injected vital energy into it every day, but to no avail.

Therefore, they felt that this thing was not meant for them.

However, after Li Lin channeled his spiritual energy into it, he felt that the thing was slowly 'reviving' and gradually began to react.

Just like now, the storage ring has begun to emit a faint glow.

Li Lin had a feeling that if he put in a little more effort, this thing would be usable.

It's a mysterious intuition.

Li Lin then went to the alchemy room and retrieved several bottles of spirit pills.

He then returned to his study, first taking two spirit pills. After feeling his spirit energy replenished, he continued to channel it into his study.

The storage ring seems to have become a bit more 'active' again.

Li Lin felt that the spiritual energy in his body was almost gone, so he took another spiritual energy pill.

Ten pills.

Twenty pills.

One bottle, two bottles... six bottles.

The spiritual energy was channeled into the storage ring in a stable manner.

Gradually, Li Lin was able to vaguely sense the 'existence' of the storage ring.

It was a very mysterious feeling; he seemed to be able to 'see' something in the storage ring out of thin air, but it wasn't real, it was vague.

Li Lin felt a surge of excitement.

He was genuinely curious about what might be inside that storage ring.

Then continue consuming the Spirit Energy Pills.

The spiritual energy was once again channeled into the storage ring.

Just then, Huang Qing's voice came from outside: "My lord, it's very late. Are you alright inside?"

Generally speaking, women should not disturb men when they are in their study.

This is why Huang Qing didn't come to find Li Lin until almost evening.

"It's alright, you guys eat first."

Li Lin continued to channel his spiritual energy while shouting outwards.

Huang Qing's footsteps faded into the distance.

Li Lin put another spirit pill into his mouth.

The spiritual energy flowed like a trickle into the storage ring.

In Li Lin's mind, the scene within the ring became increasingly clear.

He poured the last half bottle of spirit pills into his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed them.

Once the spiritual energy was gathered, it was all sent into the storage ring.

It was this spiritual energy that seemed to have broken through something.

Li Lin seemed to sense the sound of something shattering, and then he 'saw' a small square space.

This space contains some books and objects.

Li Lin's consciousness attached itself to it, and then a book appeared in his hand.

"It's done!"

Li Lin stood up excitedly.

Then he used his spiritual sense to send the book back.

After only two or three trials, Li Lin had completely figured out how to use the storage ring.

He quickly took everything out of the storage ring and arranged it neatly on the table.

Six books.

Three bottles of pills of different colors.

In addition, there was a golden sword. Li Lin's first reaction was that it was made of gold, but after holding it in his hand, he found that it was not.

Because it's very light.

If it were made of gold, it would be much heavier.

Li Lin brandished the longsword; because the sword was very light, he swung it very quickly.

But then Li Lin realized something was wrong, so he swung his sword downwards with force.

The longsword, leaving afterimages, silently drew a golden circle.

"There's no sound!"

Li Lin's eyes lit up.

As we all know, weapons make a sound when they are swung.

The faster you wave it, the louder the sound.

To the average person, such a sound might seem insignificant, barely audible, but to an expert, it would be quite loud.

Even the slightest sound produced when small objects like hidden weapons are launched can alert a master.

And when this sword was swung, there was absolutely no sound.

Not at all.

Combined with Li Lin's stealth technique... this thing is a perfect match. To put it simply, this thing is Li Lin's exclusive weapon.

After casually performing a set of Wind-Sweeping Sword Techniques, Li Lin was quite satisfied and put his weapon back into his storage ring.

Then he looked at the pills, opened the bottle cap, and frowned slightly.

Because this medicine has expired and tastes wrong.

He then opened the other two bottles and got the same result.

Do items stored in a storage ring also have an expiration date?

Li Lin was a little puzzled.

But thinking about it, this storage ring might be something from hundreds of years ago. It's not unacceptable that something with an expiration date has broken.

He then looked at the six books.

Li Lin was very happy to see that the font in the first book was no different from the one he was using now.

But then he put it down, with a strange expression.

This is a smutty novel!

He then looked at the other five books and sighed heavily.

The six books form a series called "The Records of the Goddesses," which tells short stories about fairies who unfortunately met with misfortune.

Do spiritual practitioners also enjoy watching this kind of thing?
Li Lin was extremely puzzled.

They can have any kind of woman they want.

If he couldn't figure it out, he stopped thinking about it and put the books back into his storage ring. Then he began to observe the internal space of the storage ring.

This square space isn't very big; it feels only slightly larger than a wardrobe.

But for Li Lin, this was enough. After all, it could hold a lot of things.

The greatest function of a storage ring is that it is very convenient for carrying important items.

Li Lin slipped the storage ring onto his left thumb, and then the ring automatically retracted, eventually turning into a pattern that adhered to his skin.

Touching it with my hand, I found that there were only very small bumps, almost imperceptible.

In this way, the storage ring will not prevent Li Lin from grasping things with his left hand.

"Finally, I feel like a spiritual practitioner."

Li Lin pushed open the study door, then took out the golden sword, then put it back, took it out again, and put it back again.

He looked quite satisfied.

He went to the hall and found all four women there.

Moreover, they didn't seem to eat anything, as the food on the table remained untouched.

It was already late at night, but they were still waiting for Li Lin.

"Officer."

Huang Qing was the first to notice Li Lin approaching, and she happily stood up.

The other three women also stood up.

Li Lin sighed and said, "Why are you all waiting for me? You guys eat first."

"It's alright, we can wait," Huang Qing said with a smile. "My lord has worked hard; how can we, as his wives and concubines, enjoy ourselves first?"

The other three nodded in agreement. Li Lin smiled and said, "Then let's eat together."

He sat down in the main seat, and the four women took their seats as usual.

Huang Qing, with her sharp eyes, handed a pair of chopsticks to Li Lin and asked, "My lord, you have a jade-colored mark on your left hand. Has the matter been resolved?"

Li Lin raised his left thumb to show them the mark and said, "Of course it's done."

"What is it used for?" Chu Rengong asked curiously.

Li Lin swept his left hand across the table, and all the delicacies on it disappeared.

Wow!

The four women exclaimed in surprise.

With another flick of his left hand, Li Lin brought out all the delicacies again.

"Amazing!" Chu Rengong's eyes sparkled.

Not only her, but the other three women looked at Li Lin with the same expression.

It was filled with worship and admiration.

Li Lin was a fairly calm and composed person, but he couldn't help feeling a little smug under the admiring gazes of his four wives and concubines.

After all, few men could resist being looked at like that by four beautiful women.

After dinner, another exhilarating five-person battle ensued.

The next day, Li Lin had his steward buy many large sheets of white paper. Then he made a dozen or so paper figures to guide souls, and then began to fold these paper figures into paper figures.

In just half a day, Li Lin had stored three thousand paper figures stacked together in his storage ring.

When needed, Li Lin can release them all at once.

Then came an army of three thousand men.

This is the difference between cultivators and ordinary martial artists.

Li Lin has now figured out that the storage ring needs enough spiritual energy to open, and it also needs to absorb some spiritual energy every day to maintain the space inside.

Leaving aside the differences in cultivation techniques and levels, the storage ring alone can create a significant gap between cultivators and ordinary martial artists.

With such a storage ring, Li Lin could use it to store paper figures. He could throw it out during a fight, and no martial artist would be afraid of it.

Other practitioners can use it to store magical treasures and implements.

With their hands empty, once the fight starts, the cultivators will pull out all sorts of magical treasures from their storage rings and smash them down on their heads. How can a martial artist possibly defend against that?

It can't block it at all.

In the days that followed, Li Lin lived a very ordinary life.

Dual cultivation, alchemy, and improvement of martial arts skills.

As the days went by, his strength gradually increased.

Although it was slow, it was a steady and solid progress, taking one step at a time.

The four women are also gradually becoming stronger and more beautiful.

This kind of life gives people a sense of tranquility, and even a feeling of 'lack of ambition'.

At least that's how many people view Li Lin.

Many people speculate that Li Lin will definitely make a 'big move' after integrating the resources of Guijun.

So far, Li Lin's only major move has been to build Zhenjun Temples in Tianjin and Guangxi counties.

No one knows where he found so many True Lords; in just over two months, he had already built seven True Lord temples.

Although it is not yet possible to include all the lands of Jin County and Gui County under the True Lord's 'protection', several important official roads have already been brought under the True Lord's protection.

This made transportation convenient and facilitated frequent travel for the residents of the county towns of Jin and Gui.

And so, another three months passed, and another New Year arrived.

Outside the window, a light drizzle was falling. Inside the county government's courtroom, Jiang Jili looked at Li Lin and asked, "The number of soldiers recruited by Jin County Prefecture has reached 50,000. If we recruit any more, the tax revenue may become unsustainable."

Li Lin nodded slightly: "Then let's suspend recruitment."

"Actually, we don't have to provide the soldiers with such good food, nor do we need them to have such good armor and weapons. That way, we can recruit at least 120,000 soldiers."

Li Lin shook his head: "Elite troops are more important than numbers. A thousand armored swordsmen and shieldmen in formation can defeat ten thousand ordinary unarmored soldiers, believe it or not."

"That's unlikely," Jiang Jili said, sounding skeptical.

Li Lin smiled and said, "In addition, our soldiers are well-fed every day and have sufficient training, so their actual combat effectiveness is much stronger than you imagine."

Jiang Jili pondered for a moment and said, "You, as the military governor, have led troops in battle, so you are right in this regard. I am just offering a suggestion; you can just listen to it."

Li Lin put down the case file in his hand and smiled, "You suddenly told me all this... What do you want to ask? Just ask directly, no need to beat around the bush."

Jiang Jili took a deep breath: "As expected, I couldn't hide it from the military governor. My elders sent a message asking me when you would... raise your arms and take action."

He spoke in a very low voice, and with the light rain falling outside, he was almost inaudible unless you listened carefully.

The air is silent.

All the sounds outside seemed to have disappeared.

Li Lin looked at Jiang Jili with a calm and expressionless face.

Jiang Jili felt uneasy under Li Lin's gaze.

Then Li Lin laughed: "Can't you guys wait?"

“Zhang Zouzhi of Xiangjun has already raised his banner.” Jiang Jili’s expression relaxed a bit, and he said in a low voice, “Open the granaries to relieve the poor, distribute the land equally, break down the gates of the rich and powerful, and share the delicacies!”

Li Lin subconsciously raised an eyebrow and said, "This banner is a bit intimidating, but the people should like it."

"Yes, his followers are numerous. It is said that Zhang's army has reached 170,000 men and is moving towards Ganzhou and Minzhou."

“They’re probably just starving people,” Li Lin said after a moment’s thought. “Do you think they can take Ganzhou?”

"That's possible, after all, Gan County has less than 30,000 troops. The last Western Expedition drew too many troops, and they haven't recovered yet."

Li Lin squinted and thought for a moment, then said, "In other words, Xiang County is currently unattended."

Jiang Jili nodded.

Li Lin said, "Then let Ji Bo and Xiao Chunzhu, the commanders of the government army, each lead 10,000 men to enter Xiang County from the east and west routes and see if they can capture three or four counties that border our Jin County."

"Do you really want to fight?"

Jiang Jili was trembling all over; he had been waiting for Li Lin to say those words.

Moreover, many people in Jin County are waiting for this sentence.

"You should discuss which date would be most suitable for the deployment of troops."

Jiang Jili said in a slightly trembling voice, "Governor, please rest assured, we will handle this matter steadily and properly, but are we only going to capture three or four counties?"

“This way it’s easier to defend and more likely to turn it into our territory,” Li Lin said with a smile. “Besides… if we cause too much trouble, the wolves on the left and tigers on the right won’t stand for it.”

The phrase "wolves on the left and tigers on the right" naturally refers to the Tang family army and Qin Tuo of Yue County.

Jiang Jili: "This humble official understands."

After saying this, Jiang Jili took his leave.

With Li Lin's consent, the administrative office here can now begin its formal 'work'.

With Chiang Chi-li's departure, this "administrative office" has clearly come to life.

It seems there's a pent-up energy that's about to be released.

In the administrative center, everyone's eyes were filled with excitement, brimming with fervent anticipation.

As Li Lin's physical strength and spiritual energy gradually increased, he gradually became able to sense the 'qi' in the surrounding environment.

Or rather, it's about momentum.

Although it's not very clear yet, I already have a similar feeling.

"So, this is what people want?"

Li Lin looked at the drizzle outside and shook his head helplessly.

He then took an oil-paper umbrella, left the government office, and headed home.

Several guards followed behind him.

The drizzle is silent, yet it can shield us from the noise of the world.

Perhaps because of the rain, there were very few people on the street.

And they are becoming fewer and fewer.

Li Lin walked for a while longer before stopping.

The street ahead was deserted; there wasn't a soul in sight.

He turned around, but his personal guards were gone.

Moreover, a 'hint' was slowly appearing in his field of vision.

[Formation +1]

[Formation +1]

Li Lin folded his umbrella and tossed it aside. He then shouted at the deserted street ahead, "Come out, I see you... five friends."

As soon as he finished speaking, a few breaths later, the rain began to stir slightly.

Five ragged beggars emerged from the distorted 'space'.

(End of this chapter)