The Bell Ringer

It was clear, however, that Liao Pantu and the others had their own strengths to rely on in becoming members of Lingxian Sect’s teaching and research group.

Sun Yigao and Mo Yuanjiao possessed exceptionally high talents and progressed through their studies at astonishing speed. Liao Pantu and Yang Jinshu, meanwhile, not only had decent talent but also brought their own distinct experiences and insights to the table.

As a result, the four of them actually had very little need to trouble Lin Xiao with once they had gotten past the initial adjustment period. They had already begun studying while recording the questions that might arise during the learning process, along with their approaches to the material and various other teaching plans, all in preparation for the lessons they would conduct later.

As for Lin Xiao, he continued devoting himself to his research.

He had finished linking every spatial formation in his private treasury together in pairs. After that, building on those linked composite formations, he linked them together once more.

In other words, he had joined four of the original spatial formations into a single whole.

It sounded simple enough, but the difficulty of constructing and operating it was worlds apart from that of the first round of linking. Fortunately, Lin Xiao had already conducted in-depth research into every step of the project when he first came up with the plan. Once he had achieved an initial success, the subsequent operations, though more complicated, followed essentially the same logic. They simply required more time and energy each time.

After briefly leaving to attend a wedding, the sect master of Lingxian Sect once again sank into a long period of intensive work.

Time passed day by day.

After getting married, Lin Lei returned to the routine he had followed three years earlier: cultivating on the mountain during the day and going home to rest at night.

He even had to find time at noon to go home and have lunch with his wife.

Since the Lingxian Sect cafeteria did not provide lunch, his wife prepared it herself. Lin Lei did not want her to become too tied down by household chores, so he arranged with Qin Jianghe to pay a monthly contribution in spirit stones, treating it as his wife’s meal expenses.

The sect was the sect, and his family was his family. Lin Lei understood that perfectly well.

Even though the sect master was his own younger cousin, the sect had been built through everyone’s efforts. Until his wife officially joined the sect, she was not a member of Lingxian Sect, so it was only right for him to pay for her meals himself.

If he truly refused to pay, of course, no one would have made an issue of such a small amount.

But Lin Lei understood that estrangements never appeared overnight. If everyone failed to pay attention to seemingly minor matters, their sect could easily run into trouble in the future.

Lin Lei did not want the sect his younger cousin had founded with his own hands to suffer because of such trivial issues.

As a member of the family, he ought to lead by example and avoid causing Brother Xiao any unnecessary trouble.

He was very clear on that point.

Thus, every evening, Jiang Youfu packed two portions of food for Lin Lei to take down the mountain and eat with his wife.

After dinner, Lin Lei would usually use the storybooks Lin Xiao had given him to tell his wife stories while teaching her to read. He would also weave in guidance on the principles and ideals of their sect.

The husband and wife got along exceptionally well.

After the young couple had lived at the foot of the mountain for more than half a month, Old Madam Lin and Eldest Aunt Lin began returning to the old residence together from time to time to stay for a few days.

This was the first grandson’s wife their Lin family had ever had, and they were eager to spend more time with her.

They had already held themselves back for more than half a month—that had taken considerable effort!

Even Lin Ying and Lin Yan often brought interesting little trinkets down the mountain to visit their sister-in-law and chat with her.

Lin Lei’s wife, whose full name was Huang Manying, was a straightforward and generous woman.

Lin Ying and Lin Yan both liked their sister-in-law very much.

They knew that their elder brother hoped she would eventually be able to join the sect as well. Since the two sisters had relatively more free time than Lin Lei, they often came down the mountain during the day, and whenever their elder brother was away, they were usually the ones responsible for teaching their sister-in-law.

With cultivation as their shared goal, and with all three girls having compatible personalities, they chatted and laughed while studying. The relationship between the sisters-in-law and their sister-in-law’s family was exceptionally harmonious.

However, as laughter and conversation began to emerge more frequently from the Lin family’s old residence after a long period of silence, the number of visitors to Xiushui Village gradually seemed to increase as well.

News that the immortals of the Lin family were temporarily staying at the old residence spread among Xiushui Village’s regular visitors.

Most people, however, tacitly refrained from making a huge spectacle of it.

No one crowded around the Lin family’s old residence to gawk. In fact, because most visitors deliberately tried to protect the immortals’ privacy, there were fewer people around the residence than before.

The tourists kept their distance, afraid that they might disturb the immortals’ lives and drive them back up the mountain in irritation, leaving them unable to catch even a glimpse of them.

The immortals had rarely come down from the mountain, so they absolutely could not annoy them into leaving.

Even so, that was merely what most people hoped for. It was impossible to keep the news completely under control.

Thus, after some time, Xiushui Village experienced a sudden surge in visitors.

The influx threw the village, which had enjoyed several years of stability, into a long-forgotten state of bustle and confusion.

Fortunately, they had experience from the past. Under the direction of village chief Du Liushui, Xiushui Village quickly regained its footing and barely managed to arrange and accommodate the sudden increase in tourists.

But it was not a sustainable solution.

Therefore, after spending an entire night thinking it over, Du Liushui went to the entrance of the Path of Heart Inquiry at the foot of the northern mountain early the next morning and shook Lingxian Sect’s sect bell.

Speaking of the sect bell, it was not something that just anyone could come and ring whenever they pleased.

Apart from directly contacting Lingxian Sect, the bell also had another function: it could determine whether the person ringing it harbored evil intentions.

If someone approached with malicious intent, they would be unable to move the bell at all.

This function had been made possible by using Heart-Questioning Stones as one of the bell’s materials.

Although the Path of Heart Inquiry had already been completed, Lingxian Sect would occasionally purchase more Heart-Questioning Stones whenever it had access to a supplier and the price was reasonable.

This was Lin Xiao’s request.

Qin Jianghe did not know what use Heart-Questioning Stones could have in the mortal world. As far as he knew, sects in the mortal world did not seem to use Paths of Heart Inquiry.

Besides, considering the financial resources of those mortal sects and the degree to which they valued their disciples’ character, they probably would not spend spirit stones to purchase such a thing merely to build a Path of Heart Inquiry for testing their disciples.

After all, many sects placed greater importance on spiritual roots.

In other words, Heart-Questioning Stones had practically no market in the mortal world.

However, they did not appear very often in the vicinity of Yuanling City, and their price was not outrageous. As a result, the Finance Hall did not reject its sect master’s request.

The receiving point for Lingxian Sect’s sect bell was the sect’s General Affairs Hall.

Now that there were more disciples and members in the sect, someone was always assigned to stand guard at the General Affairs Hall so that people could accept missions, exchange items, and handle other matters at any time.

Thus, the moment the sect bell rang, Liu Yunan immediately received the report.