[The Strongest is Being Unburdened]

Walking out of the underground vault, with no one watching her anymore, the high and mighty Ji Qingyan could no longer maintain her composure.

Her straight back slumped, and her cold, aloof face was filled with shyness. Her legs were so weak that she had to lean against the wall, not caring whether her moon white palace dress would be stained with dust.

Anyway, it had already been dirtied before.

Recalling what she had done not long ago, Ji Qingyan felt her ears burning.

She had never imagined before that she could do something so bold, even somewhat demeaning herself.

But at that moment, alone with Lin Ze in the narrow underground space, smelling the scent on him, her suppressed emotions suddenly burst out, dominating her reason, and she only wanted to obtain the man beside her.

Now that she had calmed down, Ji Qingyan did not regret her decision.

"Cultivation is also about cultivating the mind. One should have clear thoughts. Constantly suppressing one's emotions will eventually lead to mental distortion and cultivation deviation."

Sensing her rapidly growing spirit, Ji Qingyan's mood completely calmed down.

The next day, Lin Ze saw Ji Qingyan again, still in the underground vault.

However, compared to the two of them being alone yesterday, it was now bustling with people.

Employees of Lin Ze's Zhi Yuan Gold Bank were using coin counters to count Copper Coins, while Ji Qingyan's subordinates were packaging the counted Copper Coins and sending them out of the underground vault, through the Fengping County, which had been placed under curfew, and onto the large ships docked at the pier.

The coin counter was a kind of card slot. Filling the slot with Copper Coins meant exactly one hundred Wen, so the entire counting process was extremely fast.

At this time, Ji Qingyan greeted with a smile, "Zi Yi, your Copper Coins are of excellent quality. I think my imperial brother will definitely agree to what you discussed with me last time."

What she was referring to was Lin Ze using Copper Coins to purchase gold and silver from the Great Zhou Imperial Family in large quantities.

If Lin Ze provided such high-quality Copper Coins, it would indeed benefit the Great Zhou Imperial Family, saving a lot of minting costs every year.

This way of getting along was no different from before. The two were the best business partners, with no personal feelings involved.

Lin Ze looked at Ji Qingyan in her white palace dress, as cold and dignified as a fairy from the Moon Palace, and couldn't connect her with the passionate and proactive woman from last night. It was as if yesterday's events were just a dream.

So he said, "Your Highness, it's fine for my subordinates to take charge of the matters here. I have a newly made dessert at home. How about we taste it together?"

Ji Qingyan naturally nodded in agreement.

Thus, in the spacious guest room, the two ate desserts and naturally entered a state of being intertwined and knowing each other intimately.

In the following days, the transportation of Copper Coins continued.

Ji Qingyan still maintained the attitude of a business partner. The things she usually discussed were all serious matters related to the Railway Company and the Cement Factory, but as long as Lin Ze invited her to be alone, she would never refuse, but she never talked about the relationship between the two.

She would neither interfere with the other party's life and career because of their closer relationship, nor would she make any excessive demands because of it.

She was a princess, destined not to be a concubine.

If she wanted to marry Lin Ze, who was already married, he had to restore his single status first.

She was not sure that Lin Ze would agree to let Lin Ze divorce his wife to marry her, turning his original wives and concubines into outer chambers without even a title.

But she didn't want to maintain the lukewarm partnership with Lin Ze like before, so she could only be like this now.

Lin Ze gradually understood Ji Qingyan's thoughts, so his interaction with her became more natural. During the day, in front of people, he would only discuss serious matters with her, and only when they were alone in private would he appreciate her moving posture that would not be revealed to outsiders.

Such a relationship is not common in the Great Zhou Dynasty, but it is very common in the Main World.

If one word could accurately describe their relationship.

That would be, fellow cultivators!

On April 7th, Lin Ze saw Ji Qingyan off at the dock.

Compared to before, Ji Qingyan now had an even more aloof temperament, a manifestation of her spiritual state, the Cold Moon Sword Intent, having improved further.

Recently, she had already severed the inner demons of her unfulfilled desires.

"If you have time, come to Fufeng County more often. Pay more attention to your own business."

Before parting, Ji Qingyan said with a faint expression.

Lin Ze automatically translated this sentence in his mind to: "Come and see me in Fufeng County more often when you have nothing to do."

Lin Ze replied with a smile, "Don't worry, I will."

After a pause, he added, "If Your Highness has the time, you can come to my Fengping County. Recently, this place has been developing rapidly, with many talents and wealth flowing here. Perhaps you can discover some new business opportunities and industries, which will be of great benefit at that time."

Hearing this, Ji Qingyan nodded in satisfaction. With this excuse, it would not seem abrupt for her to come to Fengping County again next time.

So, she turned around and boarded the ship to leave.

Lin Ze watched the big ship sail away. Just as he returned to his study, he saw several familiar figures appear beside him.

It was Yue Sheng, the Heaven and Man Expert from the Longevity Palace, and his three Peerless Expert subordinates, Ning Heng, Lu Lu, and Jiang Wen.

"Greetings, Great Elder, please have a seat."

Lin Ze greeted with a smile, inviting Yue Sheng to sit down.

As for the other three, a nod was enough as a greeting.

Lin Ze was not surprised by their arrival. If he guessed correctly, these few were also here to collect money. After all, Lin Ze had promised to give them 10 billion Copper Coins, which was 10 million taels of silver, as the price for him obtaining the Longevity Palace's longevity-extending method.

Calculating the time, these few should have prepared almost everything and then come to collect the money.

However, the unfortunate thing was that Lin Ze did not have 10 billion Copper Coins in his hands anymore.

Now, only about twenty days had passed since Lin Ze promised to lend money to Ji Qingyan. With the Copper Coins Factory in the Main World operating at full capacity, it had only minted 2.4 billion Copper Coins so far.

For the remaining part, he could use silver to make up for the Longevity Palace, but Lin Ze did not want to.

After all, these Longevity Palace bastards played dirty tricks on him, even trying to control him after giving him a longevity-extending method.

The reason he did not turn hostile on the spot was because of the Heavenly Material Earthly Treasures and the Qi Consumption Method secret technique that the Longevity Palace had given him.

"Please forgive Zi Yi for our abrupt visit."

Yue Sheng did not directly get to the point, but apologized first.

After all, according to normal etiquette, they needed to report before entering. Now, this was considered an uninvited visit.

However, their identities needed to be kept secret, at least they could not have too much contact with Lin Ze openly, so they could only do this.

"It's okay. Next time we meet, you can use the name of the Three Yang Sword Sect and send a letter to arrange a meeting in a secret place."

"After all, you can be considered my partners in the future, and it's normal to have dealings. You don't need to be constrained by your secret identities."

Lin Ze said.

At this moment, Yue Sheng spoke, "Zi Yi, why haven't you used the Longevity Seed yet? In another half month, it will expire."

Lin Ze said calmly, "I am still young and do not need to extend my life yet."

Hearing this, Yue Sheng frowned slightly, wanting to persuade him that using the Longevity Seed would strengthen his essence and help with cultivation.

But looking at Lin Ze's indifferent expression, he couldn't say it.

Remembering what Lin Ze had just said, that they were his partners, not that they were part of an organization, he immediately understood that Lin Ze had discovered the problem with the Longevity Seed and was unwilling to use it, lest he be controlled by others.

Therefore, Yue Sheng stopped trying to persuade him, or else they would fall out.

What good would falling out do for them?

Offending a Heaven and Man-level combatant and pushing him completely to the Great Zhou Imperial Family's side would mean that the benefits Lin Ze promised them would be unattainable, and the Heavenly Material Earthly Treasures and secret techniques they had invested in would be wasted.

After all, Lin Ze himself was a true Peerless Expert, and they had no way to deal with him.

Moreover, Lin Ze was unwilling to use it now, but would he still be unwilling to use it in a hundred or two hundred years when his lifespan was about to end?

There was still a long life ahead, so there was no need to rush to compete for immediate gains and losses.

For the time being, they could consider that they had spent Heavenly Material Earthly Treasures and secret techniques worth over a million to befriend Lin Ze, obtain 10 billion Copper Coins from him, and become partners.

Thinking of this, Yue Sheng stopped dwelling on the topic and said with a smile, "Zi Yi, this time we came to exchange for the money you promised to give to the organization. In addition, we need to discuss some details about opening a restaurant."

Seeing that Yue Sheng was sensible, Lin Ze said, "You have also seen that I have just provided a large amount of money to the Great Zhou Imperial Family, and my reserves are insufficient. I only have 2.5 billion Copper Coins left. If you are willing to wait, you can wait another three months for me to raise the money."

"If you can't wait, then take these 2.5 billion Copper Coins first."

The strategy of transporting money during curfew could fool most people, but it could not fool these high-flying existences.

However, Ji Qingyan had many experts guarding her, and they were currently on the transport ship, with their strength concentrated. Unlike the previous days when they needed to protect many areas during the money transport, they were not afraid of these few experts robbing them.

Yue Sheng said with a smile, "Then let's take the 2.5 billion Copper Coins first. It just so happens that the organization needs a lot of start-up capital to open restaurants and pharmacies."

Lin Ze nodded, picked up a scroll from the desk, handed it to Ning Heng next to him, and said, "This is the operating ideas and recipes for opening a hotel. I will have someone send you the secret seasonings later, and then you can implement them according to this business plan."

"Let's open the first hotel in this Fengping County. Once you have completed the preparations and I have inspected and approved it, you can officially open for business and replicate the successful experience throughout the country."

This business plan was made by Shi Hongxue, the president of the Delicious Forest Catering Group in the Main World, at Lin Ze's request, in the name of summarizing the group's successful experience.

Next, these people from World No. 2 would replicate it based on the advanced catering experience of World No. 1.

And World No. 2 did not respect human rights as much, so perhaps they could do even better in terms of service attitude.

The discussion ended here.

After a little preparation, Lin Ze's subordinates and those nominally belonging to the Pacifying Escort Agency began to hand over the 2.5 billion Copper Coins that Lin Ze had promised.

After several days, everything was finished.

Yue Sheng and his group left Fengping County and began to return.

On the river, the Longevity Palace's large cargo ship was moving forward, and Yue Sheng and the others were sitting in a more comfortable passenger ship, closely following behind the cargo ship to protect the money.

Yue Sheng comprehended the wondrous state of the union of Heaven and Man, the water beneath the boat flowed automatically, propelling the boat forward.

In the quiet cabin, Jiang Wen spoke through sound transmission: "Leader, this Lin Ze hasn't used the Longevity Seed, so he's not one of us and can't be easily controlled. Now that we've gotten our benefits, shouldn't we deal with him?"

They had appeared respectful to Lin Ze, but they had hidden this crucial, fatal information from him.

Beside him, Lu Lu nodded and joined the conversation:

"Yes, yes, his wives, concubines, and properties are all in Fengping County. We can just send a Peerless Expert whose lifespan is about to end. I remember my great-grandfather is about to die. When the time comes, we'll kidnap his family, and he'll have no choice but to submit."

If Lin Ze were subdued, she wouldn't have to repay the two hundred thousand taels IOU, and she could even ask him for money.

"If you two want to die, don't drag me down with you."

Ning Heng also joined the chat, but his opening was a reprimand.

Seeing the dissatisfied expressions on their faces, Ning Heng said coldly:

"Lin Ze has only been out of the mountains for a few months, and his properties and wives and concubines were only acquired during these few months. Do you think these things are important to Lin Ze? If you offend him but can't take him down, who do you think he'll retaliate against?"

"Most importantly, he's young and has a long lifespan."

"When the time comes, if we're lucky, we can hide our names and live in obscurity for the rest of our lives. If we're unlucky, he'll kill us on the spot."

Beside them, Yue Sheng had ignored them from beginning to end.

He had already seen through these things.

Hundreds or thousands of years ago, why would anyone, given a choice, offend a Peerless Expert or even a Heaven and Man Expert to the death, or kill their relatives and friends?

It was because everyone had concerns.

If you overturn the table, won't others overturn the table too?

The strongest are those without attachments.

If you remove someone's attachments, they directly enter an invincible state, without any constraints.

Unless you can use stronger force than them to kill them, there's no way to restrain them. Before that, they can freely retaliate against everything you care about, making you feel the same pain as them.

The current situation is that they have no way to deal with Lin Ze himself.

"Hmm?"

Just then, Yue Sheng suddenly felt a stinging pain in his brow.

A strong sense of crisis emerged.

Subconsciously using his movement technique, he directly broke through the cabin and appeared on the river surface hundreds of meters away.

A deafening explosion rang out.

A heatwave blew over, and Yue Sheng turned his head to see that the passenger ship he had been on had been completely reduced to dust. Only some broken limbs and ship fragments were floating on the river surface, burning fiercely under the flames.

And Lin Ze, had somehow already stood on the Riverside bank.

Behind him, a heavy cannon floated, the dark muzzle pointing at the passenger ship.

Sensing the aura, one of the three Peerless Expert subordinates he had brought was dead, one was near death, and one was seriously injured.

If it weren't for the fact that there were only a few of them on this passenger ship, they would probably be dead by now.