Courtyard Houses: From Bronze Compasses to Global Reach

Chapter 427 The Mobilization of the Entire Army and Two Little Ones Yearning for Kindergarten

Back in the council hall of the Wanyan Sect, Lin Yan explained his grand vision of "Heavenly Net and Earthly Net"—a magnificent blueprint woven with 108,000 cultivation satellites to form a "heavenly net" and laid out with a national border defense array to form an "earthly net"—in detail to Xiao Zenian and several core elders.

The hall was completely silent, with only Lin Yan's voice echoing inside.

However, the expected shock and skepticism did not materialize.

After listening, Xiao Zenian stroked his bald chin and, after a long while, chuckled softly.

"Young Master, your idea is truly awe-inspiring, and Ze Nian admires it. However, in terms of technical difficulty... it's actually not as great as you imagine."

"Oh?"

Lin Yan raised an eyebrow, showing interest.

"What insightful opinion does Elder Xiao have?"

"I wouldn't call it a brilliant insight, it's just a different perspective."

Xiao Zenian walked to the center of the main hall and casually used his spiritual power to draw a simple map of planets and orbits in the air.

"The difficulties you envisioned are nothing more than a few: materials, refining, spirit pattern inscription, launch array setup, and long-term maintenance. Among them, the most labor-intensive is the 108,000 'chips'. Each one requires extremely high-level spiritual micromanagement to ensure that it is foolproof and absolutely controllable."

"In the outside world, with the power of ordinary people, this would be an insurmountable challenge. But here..."

"We have five thousand Nascent Soul cultivators. Young Master, do you know what this means? It means we possess the divine senses of five thousand Nascent Soul cultivators. With five thousand 'super recorders' working together, supplemented by time acceleration within the space, completing the precise engraving of one hundred and eight thousand spirit pattern chips is not an unimaginable feat."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yan's eyes flashed with a sharp light.

Indeed, he had previously been naively thinking in terms of "projects," but he had overlooked his own most crucial and overwhelming resource advantage—people, and a large number of high-level cultivators at that.

Xiao Zenian then shifted the focus to another seemingly insurmountable bottleneck:

"Let's talk about 'launch' again. Young Master is worried that sending 100,000 physical satellites into orbit is a massive undertaking and will attract attention. But why does it have to be 'launch'?"

"All of our Nascent Soul and Deity Transformation cultivators are themselves reusable 'launch towers' and 'space assembly platforms'!"

"Why bother launching a physical entity? We can simply send cultivators to physically traverse the void and, while remaining invisible, deliver the satellite to the predetermined orbital coordinates. In this way, it will be silent and traceless, and the 'Skynet' will be complete."

"Brilliant!"

Lin Yan clapped his hands, his eyes shining brightly, and many of the obstacles he had previously encountered suddenly became clear.

"For a Nascent Soul cultivator, traversing the universe is commonplace. With this method of formation, why would there be a need for rockets? Why would there be a launch pad? This... this is simply a solution that represents a dimensional reduction attack!"

"It seems I've been too fixated on form."

Lin Yan smiled, placing even greater emphasis on Xiao Zenian's organizational and innovative abilities, and asked, "So, what about the ground network?"

"The Earth Net—the 'Nine Provinces Garrison Formation'—has a similar concept, but is more complicated."

Xiao Zenian's smile faded, and he said seriously,

"It requires in-depth geological surveys of every border and coastline around the world, and the design and installation of array bases tailored to local conditions. This array is connected to the array plate and requires meticulous coordination, not rough handling. Moreover, it involves numerous sovereign states, and the operation must be absolutely secretive, so the progress cannot be as concentrated and rapid as Skynet."

He paused for a moment, then gave an estimate:

"If we were to cover all major countries and key passages in the world with the array, even if we mobilized a large number of cultivators to advance separately, the time required would probably be around ten years. This does not include the time needed for more detailed geological surveys and adaptive adjustments to the array in the early stages."

Lin Yan nodded, showing no dissatisfaction. This plan was designed to completely rewrite the rules; how could one expect it to be accomplished overnight?

"It's alright."

He looked at Xiao Zenian, his eyes filled with trust and entrustment.

"Just do your best and proceed steadily. What resources and manpower are needed, both inside and outside the space, are all at your disposal. This is the foundation for a long-term future; there's no need to rush for short-term gains."

"I will obey your orders, young master!" Xiao Zenian bowed respectfully.

Upon receiving the order, the Grand Supervisor of Space immediately demonstrated his decisive and meticulous style. He did not rush into action, but instead spent a full month (space time) making thorough preparations.

He first meticulously divided the five thousand Nascent Soul cultivators within the space into groups according to the mission requirements:

The Exploration and Mapping Team: Composed of cultivators skilled in geomancy, they are responsible for secretly emerging into the world and traveling around the globe in various identities to record in detail the geological and hydrological data of each pre-designated array base point.

Spiritual Material Mining and Refining Team: Headed to the Wanyan Mountains and the Endless Sea to mine spiritual ores and materials such as "Star Pattern Steel", "Void Jade Marrow" and "Sea Abyss Sinking Silver" on a large scale and in a planned manner, and initially refined "Array Base" and satellite components according to unified standards.

Spirit Pattern Chip Engraving Team: This is the core of the core. Composed of one thousand Nascent Soul cultivators with the purest and most refined divine sense and the deepest understanding of the Dao of Confrontation, they began mass-producing "chips" day and night.

The overall formation design and simulation team, led by Xiao Zenian, brought together hundreds of formation masters. Based on the data continuously transmitted back by the exploration team and Lin Yan's core requirements of "absolute defense" and "identification of passage", they designed the sub-formation of the "Earth Guarding Formation" that can cover various complex geographical environments. They also conducted holographic simulation simulations in space to ensure that everything was foolproof.

After the preparation period ended, Xiao Zenian personally gathered three thousand Nascent Soul cultivators and took the lead in stepping out of the space to head to various parts of the world.

On February 28, 1991, Lin Yan's figure quietly appeared under the porch of the courtyard house on Dongxinglong Street.

Inside the main room, the charcoal fire was warm.

Little Seven's white fur looked fluffy and warm in the firelight. It was lying obediently on the carpet, serving as a comfortable "living backrest".

Chenchen leaned against it, holding an English picture book bigger than his face in his little hands, his little face serious as he read it word by word.

His voice was clear and his pronunciation was very standard.

Xi Xi sat cross-legged opposite Chen Chen, her hand supporting her chin, listening intently, her big eyes following her brother's finger as it moved across the pages of the book.

Wang Yuling sat on a low stool to the side, doing needlework with a smile on her lips and her gentle gaze enveloping the two children. Occasionally, when Chenchen hesitated slightly when encountering a longer word, she would silently give him a hint with her mouth.

"...and the little duck finally found its way back to the pond."

After Chenchen finished reading the last sentence, he breathed a sigh of relief, looked up at his younger sister and Wang Yuling, and a slight smug look appeared on his little face, as if he had accomplished his mission.

Xi Xi immediately clapped like a seal: "Brother read it the best!" Xiao Qi also wagged her tail to show her agreement.

Lin Yan didn't go in immediately, but leaned against the door frame, quietly watching the scene.

Chenchen and Xixi just celebrated their third birthday not long ago. Their baby fat is still obvious on their faces, but their delicate and intelligent features are becoming more and more striking.

This language ability and concentration, which far exceed those of children of the same age, is certainly based on spiritual nourishment, but it is also inseparable from the English and French immersion that Alexander and Albert received.

Our home often resembles a mini United Nations language corner. The two little ones have been exposed to language from a young age, and now their daily conversations and basic phonics in Chinese, English, and French have reached a native speaker level.

"dad!"

Xi Xi, with her sharp eyes, was the first to spot the figure by the door. She immediately pounced over like a cheerful little bird and hugged Lin Yan's leg.

Chenchen also put down her book, her eyes sparkling as she quickly approached. Although she didn't pounce like her sister, she still stayed close by.

Lin Yan bent down, picked up the two little dumplings in each hand, kissed their cheeks, and then went into the house.

"What story are you reading?"

"The little ducklings are going home!" Xi Xi answered quickly.

"Read it to Aunt Wang and my sister," Chenchen added, smiling shyly.

Wang Yuling stood up and smiled:

"Young Master is back. The two little darlings are so amazing; they can read this picture book all by themselves. They were just saying that they wanted to tell Daddy some good news when he came back."

"Oh? What good news?" Lin Yan sat down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) while holding the child.

Xi Xi immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, leaned close to his ear, and breathed hot air into his ear as if announcing great news:

"Dad! We can go to kindergarten to play after the Lantern Festival tomorrow!"

Chenchen nodded vigorously, his eyes full of anticipation:

"You can go to kindergarten and play games with other children! Aunt Wang said there are lots of toys there, and a big slide!"

Lin Yan laughed and teased them.

"You really want to go to kindergarten? If you go to kindergarten, you won't see Daddy, Aunt Wang, Uncle Lin, and Xiao Qi all day long."

Xi Xi immediately wrinkled her little nose, but remained firm:

"Yeah! I want to go! I can make new friends! And..."

She winked mischievously, "I'll be home tonight!"

Chenchen thought for a moment and said seriously:

"I'll miss my dad, but I also want to see what kindergarten is like. The teachers will teach new things."

The two little ones' independence and aspirations made Lin Yan feel both gratified and a little bittersweet—they've already stopped clinging to their old father?

"Okay, since Chenchen and Xixi are so brave and want to go, then Daddy will take you."

Lin Yan finally smiled.

As soon as he finished speaking, two "attachments" appeared on his lap. Xi Xi cheered and rubbed against him, while Chen Chen smiled with his lips pursed, clearly extremely happy.

Lin Yan had already considered the choice of kindergarten.

Ordinary kindergarten courses might be a bit boring for these two little ones who have already mastered multiple languages ​​and have extraordinary cognitive abilities.

What he needs is a place where he can fully unleash his energy, train his body, and cultivate his hands-on and collaborative abilities.

He ultimately chose the Second Kindergarten in Chongwen District.

This kindergarten was renowned in Beijing's educational circles during that era for its distinctive "emphasis on both science and physical education" philosophy.

It not only emphasizes basic cognitive development, but also offers a variety of outdoor sports activities, simple science experiments, and handicraft courses.

The courtyard featured what was considered advanced for the time: a combination slide, climbing frame, and a small sandpit, as well as a specially created "nature corner" and "craft workshop."

This is exactly what Lin Yan has his eye on.

For knowledge-based learning, the home environment and resources are sufficient to provide top-notch and personalized education.

His primary purpose in sending his children to kindergarten is to help them learn to get along with others in a group, to strengthen their bodies through running, jumping, and climbing, and to develop their hand-eye coordination and creativity through playing with building blocks, molding clay, and making handicrafts.

Simply put, it's about "playing" and experiencing the lively, interactive childhood that a normal child should have.

"Dad has chosen the ones for you."

Lin Yan said to the two little ones who were staring at him expectantly,

"There are lots of fun things there, and lots of kids your age too. After we eat glutinous rice balls tomorrow, Dad will take you there. If you like it, we can go to school there, okay?"

"Okay!" came the unanimous reply, loud and full of anticipation.

Xi Xi has already started imagining: "I want to play on the biggest slide! And I want to play house with my friends!"

Chenchen's focus was a little different: "Can we make little wooden cars at the craft workshop?"