Chapter 170: Interconnected

After a warm and happy night, Li Nianlong and Zhao Ling'er had breakfast and were planning to leave Suzhou. To Li Nianlong's dismay, the only way out of Suzhou was through Lin Family Manor. Despite the illogical situation, Zhao Ling'er seemed to think it was natural. "System, you're ruthless indeed!"

Fortunately, it was originally Li Nianlong's plan to take the route through Lin Family Manor. However, when the people of Lin Family Manor saw him, they all gave him unfriendly looks. Li Nianlong didn't care; they were just NPCs from the system, and their grudges were none of his concern.

"Why has the young hero come to my Lin Family Manor?" Lin Tiannan, seeing the man who defeated his daughter yesterday, thought to himself, "Could it be that the young hero wants to divorce his wife and marry my daughter?"

"Master Lin is joking." Li Nianlong waved his hand. "I have a good relationship with Miss Zhao. How could I divorce my wife and marry someone else?"

Zhao Ling'er had a happy expression on her face, but Lin Tiannan's expression turned ugly. "Then, why has the young hero come here?"

Li Nianlong smiled faintly. "I heard that not far from here, there is a hidden dragon's lair where monsters are harming people. As a member of the martial arts world, it is our duty to intervene in such matters. Therefore, I would like to pass through Lin Family Manor and ask Master Lin for a favor."

"You want to go to the hidden dragon's lair?" Lin Tiannan frowned. He thought to himself, "Well, since you don't want to marry my daughter, I don't need to worry about your life and death."

Thinking of this, Lin Tiannan said, "Since you are indeed a chivalrous person, then... Lin Zhong, take the young hero to the hidden dragon's lair."

"Yes, Master Lin." Lin Zhong respectfully agreed and led Li Nianlong towards the back yard of Lin Manor. In the backyard, Lin Yueru was swinging her sword wildly, venting her grievances.

Seeing Lin Zhong leading someone over, Lin Yueru didn't care at first. But when she saw who it was, her heart suddenly raced. "Why is it you!?"

Li Nianlong looked at Lin Yueru, who was wearing a purple dress and holding a sword, her face flushed with sweat. He smiled slightly. "Miss Lin, we meet again."

Seeing herself in such a disheveled state, Lin Yueru blushed and hurriedly adjusted her collar. "You... Why are you here?"

"Miss..." Lin Zhong immediately explained, "This young hero is going to the hidden dragon's lair to eradicate evil."

"The hidden dragon's lair?" Lin Yueru's face changed. "You're going to the hidden dragon's lair?"

"Of course." Li Nianlong smiled faintly. "As members of the martial arts world, it is our duty to intervene when there are monsters causing trouble. Therefore, I want to pass through Lin Family Manor and hope Master Lin can help."

Lin Yueru's expression softened a bit. "I didn't expect you to be a chivalrous person."

"What did Miss Lin think I was?" Li Nianlong asked with a smile.

"You... hmph! Bullying the weak and bullying others, you're not a good person!"

Li Nianlong smiled wryly. "If Miss Lin says so, then so be it! Please take care, Miss Lin. We'll meet again."

"Hmph!" Lin Yueru turned and ran away. Li Nianlong smiled faintly and followed Lin Zhong to the room leading to the hidden dragon's lair. Opening the window, he said, "This is the path to the hidden dragon's lair. Just keep going straight."

"Thank you, Chief Lin." Li Nianlong bowed.

"You're welcome, young hero."

Jumping out of the window, Li Nianlong took Zhao Ling'er's hand and whispered, "Are you afraid?"

Zhao Ling'er shook her head, her expression somewhat melancholy. "Brother Long, should all the monsters in the world be killed?"

"Oh?" Seeing Zhao Ling'er's melancholic expression, Li Nianlong remembered that she was worried about her identity as a descendant of the Nuwa clan.

"Of course not." Li Nianlong smiled faintly. Seeing Zhao Ling'er look up at him, he said, "Monsters, like humans, can be good or bad. I only want to kill the evil monsters, just like the villain who intruded into Fairy Spirit Island that night."

Pause. Li Nianlong expressed his longing. "I haven't made friends with monsters yet. If there are really good monsters, I would like to make friends with them."

Hearing this, Zhao Ling'er's face relaxed. "Brother Long, what if I were a monster?"

"You're a monster?" Li Nianlong looked at Zhao Ling'er. She became more nervous, fearing the worst.

"What else can I do?" Li Nianlong smiled wryly, bending down to lightly kiss Zhao Ling'er's forehead. "You are my wife. If you were really a monster, I would be even happier because my wife would be extraordinary, unlike those ordinary women."

Zhao Ling'er relaxed this time, her smile unusually bright. "Brother Long, actually I..."

"Hey!" A crisp voice came from above. Li Nianlong and Zhao Ling'er looked up to see a girl in purple sitting on a rock about two meters high. Seeing the two looking over, the girl jumped down lightly from the giant rock. "Where are you going?"

"Sister Lin?" Zhao Ling'er was very surprised.

"I was just about to ask." Li Nianlong smiled slightly, looking at Lin Yueru, who was neatly dressed, carrying a cloth bag behind her back, a sword on her back, and a whip in her hand. "What are you doing here, wild girl?"

"Hmph!" Lin Yueru put the cloth bag behind her back, carried a sword on her back, and held a long whip in her hand. "The hidden dragon's lair is within the territory of my Suzhou. As a member of the Lin Family Manor in Suzhou, how can I sit idly by when monsters are causing trouble?"

"Why? Do you want to join us in exterminating the monsters?" Li Nianlong asked.

"Hmph!" Lin Yueru's face turned red. "Those monsters have powerful magic skills. Ordinary experts are no match for them. When the Lin Family Manor joined forces with the martial artists to attack the hidden dragon's lair, they suffered a crushing defeat. You... Although you are not a good person, your martial arts are strong. Perhaps you can really kill the serpent monster, but you are alone. I, at least, can help you deal with some small monsters and assist you."

Li Nianlong chuckled, "I didn't expect you, this wild girl, to have such a sense of justice. Since that's the case, let's go together!" Pausing for a moment, he looked at the bundle behind Lin Yueru and said, "But after we're done with the monsters, you should hurry home and not wander around."

"Hmph! That's my own business!" Lin Yueru snorted lightly, stealing a glance at him. Seeing that Li Nianlong wasn't angry, her cheeks reddened as she said, "And... I still don't know your name."

"Oh?" Li Nianlong quickly apologized with a bow, "Forgive me, my name is Liu, and my given name is Menglong."

"So, you're Brother Liu." Lin Yueru tightened her grip on her whip and said, "I... My name is Lin Yueru."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Yueru," Li Nianlong smiled.

Lin Yueru immediately felt dissatisfied, "I... I've been calling you Brother Liu, so you... should call me Yueru, right?"

"Oh?" Li Nianlong didn't expect Lin Yueru to have such a high opinion of him. He had only wanted to use her admiration for swordsmanship to entice her to join him, but he hadn't expected such a positive response from her.

Looking at Lin Yueru's peach-like face, Li Nianlong smiled faintly, "Sure, Yueru." Pausing for a moment, he asked, "How old are you, Yueru?"

Lin Yueru was delighted and said, "I'm 18 years old."

Li Nianlong nodded and turned to Zhao Ling'er, saying, "Ling'er, from now on, you should call her Sister Yueru!"

Zhao Ling'er softly murmured in agreement, sweetly calling out, "Sister Yueru."

It was only at this moment that Lin Yueru snapped out of the romantic atmosphere between the two. Seeing Zhao Ling'er's pure and sweet face, she felt a pang of jealousy and forced a smile, "Do you go by Ling'er? From now on, I'll call you Ling'er, okay?"

"Okay!" Zhao Ling'er was very happy. Although she had Li Nianlong's company all the way, there were some things that a girl couldn't easily talk about with a man. Now that Lin Yueru was with them, Zhao Ling'er was especially happy, "Brother Long, Sister Yueru, let's go!"

"Okay." Li Nianlong locked eyes with Lin Yueru, her face blushing, then turned and quickly followed Lin Yueru.

"Task completed. Congratulations, host, for gaining 20,000 experience points."

With a flash of light, Li Nianlong returned to the training ground.

The figure of Tengu appeared, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, "I really sweated for the host. When you and Zhao Ling'er left, I thought the mission was going to fail."

Li Nianlong smiled faintly, "Lin Yueru is a girl with a strong sense of justice who admires strong people. As long as I can impress her with my martial arts, and since I'm not a bad person, she will definitely have a good impression of me. At this moment, hearing that someone she has a good impression of wants to exterminate demons, she will definitely be worried. Strong sense of justice, strong-willed, someone she has a good impression of, plus the Hidden Dragon Cave is not far from the Lin family's stronghold, I believe she will definitely come."

One link after another, what a precise calculation. If one were to make a mistake, the whole plan would fail. Tengu exclaimed, "The host isn't afraid of failing the mission and missing the chance to collect the Divine Movement Set?"

"If I gain it, I'm lucky; if I lose it, it's fate," Li Nianlong smiled faintly. "If I can gain it, that's great. If I really fail, I'll have other chances to get other sets in the future. What's there to be afraid of?"

Tengu was once again amazed by Li Nianlong's boldness, "In any case, congratulations to the host for successfully completing the level. The next level will be difficult, so the host needs to be psychologically prepared."

"It's just a level 29 difficulty level," Li Nianlong chuckled, "I'm already level 49 now, and I'll soon be level 50. Moreover, I know the plot of Xianjian very well, and I know the strength of those bosses. What is there to fear?"

Tengu smiled, "The host is right. With the host's current strength, as long as there are no low-level mistakes, success is guaranteed."

After a pause, Tengu asked, "Is the host going to the alchemy room now?"

"Of course, I need to improve my strength a bit. Yueru's Qi Sword Finger made me feel a bit uncomfortable." Li Nianlong frowned, "It increases defense by 300%, and I'm not optimistic about my defense."

Li Nianlong had recently discovered the impact of strength on defense. The greater the strength, the better the body's constitution, and with a better constitution, defense naturally improved.

A defective product is a defective product; Li Nianlong could only figure it out on his own.

"That's unavoidable," Tengu said. "After all, Lin Yueru uses true qi, especially the Lin family's Dragon Slaying Technique, which can even kill dragons. Although the host's defense is strong, it's impossible to completely eliminate the sensation of pain."

"That's true," Li Nianlong nodded thoughtfully, agreeing. Then he asked, "With my current strength, what are the chances of me defeating the Water Demon Beast in its merged form with Baiyue?"

"Well..." Tengu tilted his head and thought for a moment, "Maybe the host will win, but the Water Demon Beast is immortal."

Li Nianlong furrowed his brow, crossing his arms and sinking into thought.

After a while, Li Nianlong left the training ground and walked into the equipment shop.

On the fourth floor of the equipment shop, Li Nianlong pointed to an item and said to the elderly man in his sixties, "I want to buy this."

The old man's face lit up with a smile, "Certainly, that'll be one billion soft sister coins."

"... "