Courtyard Houses: From Bronze Compasses to Global Reach

Chapter 400 Little 7 Awakens

Spring 1988, Sentosa Villas, Singapore.

The faint light from the teleportation array dissipated in the secret underground chamber of the villa.

Lin Yan stepped onto the stairs, pushed open the heavy door, and entered his study, which he hadn't visited for several years.

Lin Yi was already standing quietly in the center of the study.

"Young Master, you're back."

Lin Yan sat down behind his desk.

"How have you been these past few years?"

Lin Yi nodded slightly and began to report.

"Let's start with Singapore. The 'Candle Dragon' prototype completed its final integration and debugging three days ago on the third basement level of Jurong, and the optical alignment accuracy met design expectations. The 'Galaxy-3' processor architecture drawings have been issued to the Penang photomask workshop by the chief engineer of 'Lin's Microelectronics,' which is one of our people. The seven wafer fabs and fifteen packaging and testing lines across the island have already increased their production capacity to the seventh stage this month, as assessed in the schedule. The military's exercise last week used all our equipment systems, and the command chain was running smoothly."

Lin Yan tapped his finger on the table, signaling to continue.

"Let's talk about Malaysia. At the end of last month, 1,000 engineering prototypes from the 'Eastern Star' assembly line in Penang were distributed to our 17 test sites around the world. All core technical team members for the 'National Automotive Program' in Kuala Lumpur have been replaced. The logistics codes for output from rubber plantations, palm plantations, and tin mines all use the prefix 'LM' (Lim's). All the bills passed by Parliament this month were drafted from our think tank in Singapore. The Chief of the Armed Forces just submitted the annual defense assessment—the real version—to 'Lim Wee' yesterday."

"The mineral vein maps of Sumatra and Kalimantan in Indonesia have been updated to the seventh edition of the 'Atlas of Southeast Asian Resources' in the Space Library. The final closed loop of the funding flow for Jakarta's 'Five-Year Development Plan' is completed in banks under our control. The escrow accounts for the 'Presidential Family's' overseas assets are changed quarterly, and are managed by Albert's people. The factional structure of the military is developing entirely according to the 'balanced script' we set ten years ago. There, are our raw material warehouses and backyard workshops."

"The core code for all berth scheduling algorithms at the Port of Colombo in Sri Lanka is provided and maintained by our Penang Software Lab. The final transaction price at the tea auction house is locked in a range by the Hong Kong Commodity Exchange system. The monthly mining volume of the gem mine is directly linked to the order volume of our jewelry company in Tel Aviv. The patrol routes of the naval base are automatically cleared for cargo ships marked with our specific identification signals. That is our logistics node and outpost."

After Lin Yi finished speaking, he stood silently. No summary was needed, because there were no unexpected developments.

These four countries, from top to bottom, inside and out, from the presidential seal to the soldiers' weapons, from the central bank treasury to street gossip, are essentially just different departments of the "Lin Family Nanyang Holdings System," and the "heads" of all departments share the same soul imprint.

Lin Yan slowly leaned back in his chair.

"Very good, the results are remarkable. I trust you to handle things. I'm going to go into my spatial realm to cultivate for a while. Remember to keep the others informed!"

"Yes, young master!"

Within this space, the years are unknown.

In the small courtyard, Lin Yan sat cross-legged, with no wind around him. The great millstone of gods and demons in his sea of ​​consciousness slowly rotated, and with each rotation, it seemed to be drawing upon even deeper laws.

Beneath the millstone, the dark golden threads that had been present since his Nascent Soul advancement had been refined through three hundred years of meditation, completely merging with his meridians, blood vessels, and even deeper life veins.

They are like another form of neural network, silently imprinting the domineering Daoist essence of the millstone—its ability to devour, suppress, and return to nothingness—into every particle of his physical body.

The power of the soul is condensed like mercury; with a single thought, it can transform into an invisible hammer or the finest probe.

At the same time, the nascent soul within the dantian, cradling the seed of chaos, solidified slightly, and the golden light emanating from its gray aura grew even brighter.

Lin Yan pushed his cultivation from the first level of the Nascent Soul stage to the second level. The resources and effort required far exceeded his previous estimates. It was as if he were opening up a small world again in the chaos, which was extremely difficult.

For the next ten years, he used the spiritual herbs that grew in the space to refine pills, repeatedly taking them and regulating his breathing, before finally stabilizing this hard-won advancement.

That day, he had just finished refining a batch of "Nourishing Spirit Pills" and was about to adjust his breathing when a sudden, uneasy tremor came from the entire Wanyan Mountain Range.

"roar--!"

"Awooo—!"

The roars, hisses, and galloping sounds of countless demonic beasts converged into a chaotic and terrifying torrent, erupting from all parts of the mountain range.

Birds flew about in a chaotic frenzy, blotting out the sun, while beasts charged frantically at the edges of the sect's protective arrays set up in various locations. It was as if something terrifying to them was awakening deep within the mountains, or perhaps some supreme aura was causing them to instinctively want to worship, yet they were driven mad by the unbearable pressure.

Lin Yan flashed and appeared in the square outside the core hall of the Wanyan Sect.

Several powerful Nascent Soul cultivators descended simultaneously, their faces showing surprise and doubt.

"Sect Leader, the beasts are rampaging, and the source seems to be..." The leading elder pointed to the core area of ​​the sect, which was the direction of Xiao Qi's sleeping cave.

Lin Yan looked up and saw that the mountain where the cave was located was shrouded in a pure and majestic golden spiritual light.

The beam of light was incredibly solid, shooting straight towards the blazing sun high in the sky, even drawing sunlight to merge with it.

Centered on the cave dwelling, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within a radius of a thousand miles boiled over, as if stirred by an invisible giant hand, forming a huge, slowly rotating funnel of spiritual energy that covered an extremely wide area and frantically poured into the cave dwelling.

The suction force emanating from the center of the funnel grew stronger and stronger, even beginning to draw upon the reserves of spiritual veins further away. The light within the space was slightly distorted due to the intense flow of spiritual energy.

"It's not an enemy attack, it's that Xiao Qi is about to break through."

Lin Yan instantly understood, but his expression did not relax.

This breakthrough was far more significant than expected. If the spiritual energy funnel is allowed to draw energy indiscriminately, it may damage the foundation of the spatial spiritual veins.

"Listen to my command!"

Lin Yan's clear and melodious voice instantly drowned out the roars of ten thousand beasts.

"Immediately activate the 'Zhou Tian Xing Dou Mountain Protection Array' to stabilize the earth's veins, channel the raging spiritual energy, demarcate a safe zone to isolate the beast tide, and strictly prohibit any disciple or demonic beast from approaching the core area within a hundred miles!"

"As you command, young master!" Several Nascent Soul cultivators did not hesitate and transformed into streaks of light, shooting towards the array points of various parts of the sect.

In an instant, streaks of brilliant starlight rose from all parts of the Wanyan Mountains, weaving into a giant net that covered the mountains, forcibly calming and soothing the turbulent spiritual energy, defining boundaries, and isolating the frenzied beast horde on the periphery.

At the same time, Lin Yan took a step forward and appeared directly above the spirit energy funnel. His storage ring flashed with light, and fist-sized top-grade spirit stones were thrown into the most violent spirit energy vortex at the center of the funnel like a meteor shower.

Once the top-grade spirit stone enters the vortex, it is instantly broken down into a torrent of the most primordial spiritual energy, promptly replenishing the seemingly bottomless demand.

One, ten, a hundred... Lin Yan remained calm. This expenditure would be enough to make any major cultivation sect feel the pinch, but for him, Xiao Qi's successful breakthrough was more important than any spirit stones.

Time passed amidst the raging spiritual energy and the beast roars gradually calmed by the array.

About two hours later, the golden pillar of light that pierced the sky suddenly contracted inward, and the huge funnel of spiritual energy also stopped rotating and vanished with a roar.

The monsters of the Wanyan Mountains ceased their commotion, looked around blankly, and then instinctively lowered their bodies towards the core area, emitting low, submissive whimpers.

From the direction of the cave, a clear and cheerful yet indescribably majestic chant rang out.

A flash of golden light, and a figure appeared in front of Lin Yan.

It was a magnificent golden unicorn.

Its body had grown to about the height of Lin Yan's thigh, and the scales covering its body were no longer as soft as when it was young. Instead, each scale was like a piece of the purest gold, with iridescent light flowing around its edges.

The two small bumps on its forehead have transformed into two crystal-clear, forked horns, shrouded in a faint aura of chaos. Its limbs are strong, with auspicious clouds gathering and dispersing beneath its hooves, and its tail is fluffy and agile, with a cluster of golden spiritual flames that never go out at the tip.

What is most striking is its eyes, which are still pure gold, but deep within the pupils, it seems to reflect a microcosm of the sun and moon's rotation and the birth and death of stars, a reflection of its ancient bloodline being awakened.

It affectionately nuzzled Lin Yan's hand with its head, its voice changing from a babyish tone to a boyish one:

"Brother, I've broken through!"

Lin Yan reached out and gently stroked his head, a genuine smile appearing in his eyes.

"It's good that you're awake." He paused, sensing a deeper connection between Xiao Qi and the origin of space, and asked, "How are you feeling?"

Xiao Qi raised her head, a powerful confidence flashing in her golden eyes:

"Great! I'm really hungry! And... I think I can now 'see' and slightly influence some very simple basic rules in this space."

Lin Yan nodded slightly. The growth of a spatial artifact spirit is indeed closely related to the space itself.

Xiao Qi's breakthrough during her slumber not only resulted in a leap in her own strength, but also the initial manifestation of her control over space, which is of great significance.

"If you're hungry, that's easy, there'll be plenty," Lin Yan said with a smile, then his gaze swept over the Wanyan Mountains below, which were gradually returning to order.

"However, after we finish eating, we might go out and take a look. There must be a lot of things piling up outside."

Little Seven excitedly flicked its tail, its spirit flames drawing streaks of golden light.

"Wherever my brother goes, I'll go!"