105: Chapter 0105 Suddenly became clever

"Young Master Xie, why are you so panicked?" Mu Wanying frowned and asked, "Is Princess Ningxiang some kind of ferocious monster?"

"You don't understand, my sister is just like my father! She looks down on me doing artisan work and is definitely going to drag me back to the Marquis's estate!"

"She's two years younger than me, but she's been bossing me around since we were kids. Apart from craftsmanship, she's better than me at everything else!"

"If only she were a man, how would it ever be my turn to inherit the title?"

Xie Yu started to plead, "Lin Xiao, I might as well just call you brother-in-law! You have to save me!"

Lin Xiao was amused. Last time this guy tried to "sell his sister," he had accused him of taking advantage of him.

Now, with Emperor Hong bestowing the marriage, he really had become his brother-in-law!

"I haven't decided to marry her yet; you're being a bit too impatient," Lin Xiao said while eating, too lazy to bother with this clown.

"The Emperor bestowed the marriage, so you must get married within the year. Otherwise, you, the Great General of the North, will be guilty of resisting an imperial decree and deceiving the monarch!"

Xie Yu plucked up his courage and said, "You haven't even taken the six prefectures of the Northern Frontier yet; you can't just rebel directly, can you?"

Lin Xiao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This guy had suddenly become clever!

Indeed, it was not yet time for him to set up his own camp. On the surface, he still had to appear loyal to the Emperor.

"Rest assured, without my permission, no one can take you away from Baishui Prefecture!"

Lin Xiao gave him a reassuring promise, "I, Lin Xiao, keep my word."

Xie Yu was overjoyed, "Then I can rest easy! I'm going back to continue working on the underfloor heating!"

After Xie Yu left, Mu Wanying felt a bit worried.

"It sounds like this Princess Ningxiang is a formidable character. She says she's coming to find Xie Yu, but it's likely she's here to vet you, Husband."

Lin Xiao smiled and said, "Let her be. I'm very busy anyway. There are still three months until the New Year, we'll see when the time comes."

Xiao Qingxuan didn't take Xie Juner seriously at all. After all, with sixty years of Cold Jade Art cultivation, her perspective on the world was completely different.

In her eyes, many people were just ants that could be crushed with a flick of a finger.

Only her husband and a few close people around her could truly occupy her heart.

"Husband, what is this underfloor heating?"

Xiao Qingxuan's focus was on the various infrastructure projects Lin Xiao was working on.

Her husband always managed to come up with some magical and useful novelties.

"Want to know? Tomorrow morning, I'll take you both to see it. It just so happens I haven't been there to inspect it in a few days."

Upon hearing this, both women's eyes lit up, and they nodded with anticipation.

After dinner, Lin Xiao returned to his study and began drawing.

He had been running to the workshops and construction sites quite often lately, so he tried refreshing the shopping mall while in these places.

Sure enough, many industrial and agricultural tools appeared in the mall.

Among them were looms, sugar mills, oil presses, furnaces, casting molds, and various other devices that were ahead of this era.

However, Lin Xiao quickly realized that these things cost hundreds or thousands of Prestige points, making them very cost-ineffective to buy.

Because the industrial foundation was too weak and many materials were unavailable, buying them wouldn't allow him to replicate them or achieve scale.

Therefore, Lin Xiao chose to purchase production-related books that included blueprints!

"《Record of Heavenly Crafts》, a miraculous book compiled by skilled artisans. Grade: Earth Grade. 600 Prestige points."

Lin Xiao bought it immediately, and a large number of blueprints were directly absorbed into his mind.

This was the benefit of buying books from the system; there was no need to read them, he learned everything directly.

Whenever Lin Xiao had time, he would draw out the blueprints he thought were useful and hand them over to Old Yu and the others to study.

Old Yu and the others were already accustomed to his heaven-defying research and development abilities; in private, they often called their General Lin a "monster."

But for these artisans, having constant projects and constant wages was a huge blessing, and everyone was very satisfied.

After Lin Xiao finished drawing, he stretched, put away the blueprints, and planned to give them to Old Yu personally tomorrow.

Having nothing else to do, he refreshed the mall.

Then... Lin Xiao let out a long sigh...

"Dragon-Elephant Subduing Demon Divine Art (Heaven Grade), a supreme technique of the Buddhist Esoteric Sect, capable of slaying evil and breaking demonic forces. 6000 Prestige points."

"Immeasurable Sword Art (Heaven Grade), a peerless Taoist sword technique. When cultivated to the extreme, sword qi transforms into an immeasurable sea of swords. 7000 Prestige points."

"Overlord Spear (Heaven Grade), a long spear used by a legendary hero, containing the slumbering power of an Overlord. 8500 Prestige points."

...

At a glance, the Heaven Grade items, which cost several thousand or even ten thousand Prestige points, made Lin Xiao incredibly envious!

"It's too damn expensive!"

Lin Xiao finally understood why he hadn't seen any Heaven Grade weapons.

The total Prestige points he had spent so far wouldn't even be enough to buy the cheapest Heaven Grade weapon!

Even though Lin Xiao had a 50% discount coupon on hand, he was still far off!

Furthermore, if Lin Xiao really had that much Prestige, he would definitely wish for the "Indestructible Golden Body fragment" first.

What was depressing was that the wish energy required for the fourth fragment far exceeded the third.

The exchange rate for cultivation power increased to 50:1, and Prestige points increased to 25:1.

This meant that Lin Xiao might need 5000 years of cultivation power or 2500 Prestige points to obtain the fourth fragment.

Considering the power of the "Indestructible Golden Body" and comparing it to the outrageous prices of Heaven Grade techniques and weapons, Lin Xiao could accept it.

Leaving the study, Lin Xiao prepared to take a bath.

Just then, he saw the newly built "hot spring" in the back garden, with white steam rising from it.

It was built under Lin Xiao's personal supervision, using cement and granite.

First, well water was pumped into the pool, then heated by a coal stove nearby, circulating hot and cold water to raise the temperature.

Aside from occasionally needing to add coal briquettes himself, it was otherwise very convenient.

After Xiao Qingxuan and Mu Wanying used it a few times, they were no longer willing to bathe indoors.

It's just that Lin Xiao wanted to exercise with them by the pool, but the two women were unwilling; after all, in an open-air environment, if it got too loud, they would definitely be heard.

Lin Xiao walked quickly into the hot spring area. He opened the door and entered, and sure enough, he saw Xiao Qingxuan sitting inside, while Mu Wanying was facing away from him.

"Husband! You..." Xiao Qingxuan's expression was a bit strange.

Lin Xiao smiled and began to take off his clothes, "Wife, you're bathing quite late today. It's perfect, let's soak for a while together!"

As he spoke, Lin Xiao walked down the steps and entered the pool.

"Wanying, why don't you..."

Lin Xiao was just about to ask why Mu Wanying was so quiet, but when he turned around, he saw a pretty face flushed to the point of dripping, cold yet alluring.

Leng Bingyan was clutching her chest, her legs pressed together.

Her delicate, snow-white skin was flushed with an alluring rosy hue due to the temperature and nervousness.

The usually cool and suave female swordswoman now had crystalline tears in her eyes, and she was almost about to cry from anxiety!

It was all because Lin Xiao had come too suddenly, and she had been soaking quite comfortably, so she hadn't had time to react before the man got in!

"Husband... I didn't have time to tell you, tonight it's Yaner."

Xiao Qingxuan bit her red lips, looking innocent, but a trace of cunning flashed in her eyes.

Leng Bingyan glared at her best friend angrily. Xiao Qingxuan could clearly have stopped him out loud; this was done on purpose!