The moment Old Ancestor Shenmu heard there were rewards to claim, he rushed over at top speed.
The two followed behind Lu Changqing.
Primordial Land.
Lu Changqing took a single step, and a spacetime passage manifested between heaven and earth.
Profound Dao rhythms coiled through the nine heavens.
Where he appeared, the Three Thousand Laws intertwined and evolved. The sound of the Great Dao echoed, countless phenomena arose in the void, and billions of rays of light descended.
Most eye-catching of all were the nine hundred and ninety-nine layers of Merit Golden Wheels behind him, their endless Golden Light of Merit illuminating the Myriad Worlds.
Nine merit golden dragons leaped beneath him, their power of merit flowing without end.
The golden wheels behind him shone brilliantly, their vast golden light spreading into a sea of golden clouds that stretched for billions of miles.
A myriad of phenomena appeared across the Primordial Wilderness.
Heaven and earth were dyed completely gold.
All living beings were awed by the golden clouds filling the sky, each of them staring wide-eyed.
With merit golden dragons as his carriage and golden clouds carpeting the heavens—such grandeur belonged only to the Longevity Immortal Venerable.
His entrance was magnificently imposing beyond compare.
Golden radiance flowed in Lu Changqing's eyes, profound and boundless, his majesty innate.
He declared in a resonant voice that shook the universe:
"The thousand-year period has ended. Today, the rankings shall be announced."
"First place in opening a Great Thousand World: Sect Master Tongtian."
His voice spread throughout the Primordial Wilderness, shaking all directions.
Inside Biyou Palace.
Tongtian smiled, completely unsurprised.
First place had indeed fallen into his hands.
For this top rank, he had led the immortals of the Interception Sect and even deployed the Myriad Immortals Formation. He had labored over it for who knew how long.
Now, the time to reap the rewards had finally arrived!
Ten million!
First place would receive a full ten million merits!
Yuanshi, Laozi, and the other Sages all shook their heads lightly.
There was no hope!
Just as expected, they had no chance!
That fellow Tongtian truly had no Sage's bearing. Relying on the Interception Sect's many disciples, he acted so recklessly.
He had even brought out the Myriad Immortals Formation, his trump card, just to compete for ten million merits.
He had utterly thrown away a Sage's dignity!
Yet strangely, waves of sourness rose in everyone's hearts.
A full ten million merits!
It was enough to send their cultivation soaring.
Damn it, they had missed the top spot!
Jieyin and Zhunti nearly burst into tears on the spot.
They had mobilized the entire Western Sect to open worlds, yet they could not produce a grand formation on the scale of the Myriad Immortals Formation.
They simply could not gather that many people.
How could they contend against the Interception Sect?
Lu Changqing said aloud, "Those of you who did not take first place need not be discouraged. I have also prepared participation prizes!"
Upon hearing there were participation prizes, the Sages finally felt somewhat better.
Still, these rewards would probably only be shared among the top three, right?
At that thought, Laozi's face immediately darkened.
Nuwa's expression also turned ugly.
What a Lu Changqing!
Among the Sages present, the two of them had the fewest disciples.
This kind of competition was simply too unfair!
"Second place, Taiqing Laozi: eight million merits!"
"Third place, Primordial Heavenly Venerate: seven million merits!"
"Fourth through ninth place: five million merits each!"
With a sweep of Lu Changqing's sleeve, another ten million merits rained down.
The Sages were all stunned senseless by the spectacle.
What was going on?!
There were only nine Sages in the entire Primordial Wilderness!
Now everyone received a share, so what was the point of the rankings?
He was clearly giving away merits for free!
This operation left all the Sages utterly baffled.
Only Kunpeng and the other two wore expressions that said they had known this all along.
They had long expected that their master would never let them work for nothing.
See? Merits had practically been delivered to them!
Their master truly treated them generously!
Sob, sob, sob! They were overwhelmed with gratitude!
Lu Changqing offered no explanation and continued distributing merits.
"First place for Middle Thousand Worlds: Eastern Emperor Taiyi!"
Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens.
High Heaven Palace.
Eastern Emperor Taiyi threw back his head and laughed.
"Hahahaha!"
After years of painstaking effort, he had finally been rewarded!
Over the years, he had neglected food and sleep.
He had devoted himself fully to developing Middle Thousand Worlds.
Today, his wish had finally been fulfilled!
This honor belonged to the Demon Clan.
Those brutish fools of the Witch Clan could forget about laying a hand on it.
"Hmph, they are nothing to worry about!"
"Eastern Emperor Taiyi: five million merits!"
"Second place, Houtu: three million merits!"
"Third place, Ancestor Minghe: two million merits!"
"Fourth through three-thousandth place: one million merits each!"
"Three-thousand-and-first through five-thousandth place: five hundred thousand merits each!"
Boom!
The entire Primordial Wilderness erupted.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Immortal Venerable Changqing's actions were simply suffocating!
There were only five thousand Quasi-Saints in the entire Primordial Wilderness, and quite a few of them had only recently advanced.
Yet everyone received a share?!
Was this meant to encourage all living beings?
This was plainly a roundabout way of handing out benefits!
The Sages were dumbfounded as well. Apparently, they were not the only ones.
He was handing red packets to the entire Primordial Wilderness!
Could there be more to come?
Sure enough, Lu Changqing began announcing the rewards for Minor Worlds.
Just like with Great Thousand Worlds and Middle Thousand Worlds, one hundred thousand Grand Unity Golden Immortals each received five hundred thousand merits.
There were also ten million cultivators below the Grand Unity realm, each receiving one hundred thousand merits!
Once the news spread.
The Primordial Wilderness fell into dead silence.
Every living being had only one thought: I'm cracked!
This was supposed to be a competition?!
Stop pretending!
Everyone could see that Immortal Venerable Changqing was simply throwing money around!
How much merit would that take?!
The Six Saints stood disheveled in the wind. After making a rough calculation, they staggered even more.
Beyond the Ninth Heaven.
Watching Lu Changqing spend so extravagantly, the Six Saints felt as though their hearts were being sliced apart.
If he wanted to encourage people, encouraging Quasi-Saints would have been enough!
Why did he even have to give five hundred thousand to Grand Unity Golden Immortals?!
This was far too extravagant!
They had never seen anyone so wasteful.
Not to mention the cultivators below the Grand Unity realm—while each share was not much, there were simply too many of them!
In one go, he had spent one trillion and ten billion merits...
Laozi muttered to himself.
Tongtian's eyes were vacant. "That much merit would be enough for me to attempt a breakthrough into the Hunyuan Limitless realm."
The other Sages' expressions changed drastically upon hearing that.
Damn it!
Indeed!
Such an oceanic amount of merit!
A full one trillion and ten billion!
If it were given to Sages like them, they might truly be able to try breaking into a higher realm!
Yet Lu Changqing had just scattered it all with a wave of his hand!
What angered them even more was that after scattering away his entire fortune, he still looked utterly calm.
Fine...
Just how much wealth do you have?!
You wastrel!
Number One Prodigal of the Primordial Wilderness!
When it came to squandering wealth, Lu Changqing was truly unmatched!
He was completely insane!
Utterly heartless!
After making the announcements, Lu Changqing smiled and asked, "Everyone, have I been fair?"
"Even those who did not take first place have received participation prizes!"
All living beings in the Primordial Wilderness sighed in admiration and gave him a thumbs-up.
They had seen wastrels before, but wasting wealth to this extent was truly unprecedented since the creation of heaven and earth!
If Lu Changqing called himself the second greatest wastrel in the Primordial Wilderness, who would dare call themselves first?
Lu Changqing secretly rejoiced, nearly laughing aloud.
He had scattered so much in one stroke.
He was another step closer to his ultimate goal!
! Despicable! Host, you are too cunning!!
How could this be?!
The system's furious voice rang out.
Lu Changqing looked utterly innocent. "This doesn't violate the rules!"
"I asked you beforehand, and I only said rewards would be distributed according to rank. I never limited the number of recipients!"
"Besides, wasn't I very fair? System, don't falsely accuse a good person!"
"For cultivators below the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, I only ranked up to ten millionth place—not even one-tenth of the total number who opened worlds!"
"Isn't that perfectly normal?"
The system fell silent, speechless for a long time.
Lu Changqing was slightly surprised. Did I anger the system so badly that it went offline?
But he felt that he had already shown considerable restraint.
If he had not feared that the system would collapse on the spot, he would have ranked every living being in the Primordial Wilderness and casually spent ten trillion merits without even blinking!
Look how considerate he was toward the system!
At least he had not actually done that, right?
If the system knew what Lu Changqing was thinking right now, it would probably be fuming with rage—
So it was supposed to thank him for squandering merit so recklessly?!
"Heavenly Dao, bestow merit!"
Lu Changqing raised his head to the sky, his voice shaking the universe.
All living beings looked up in unison, their eyes filled with yearning.
They looked like a flock of chicks waiting to be fed.
Even the Sages could no longer sit still, their hearts burning hot.
What a joke!
So much merit was practically a lavish feast!
Boom—
After a brief silence, the Heavenly Dao turned the entire sky golden in an instant.
Across billions of miles of sky, layer upon layer of Merit Golden Clouds filled the heavens.
The sea of clouds slowly descended, vast and majestic.
Heavenly phenomena appeared in succession. Golden light illuminated the world, and golden lotuses bloomed.
Since the birth of the Primordial Wilderness, there had never been such a grand spectacle.
All living beings were dumbfounded.
Good heavens!
When had they ever seen such an ocean of merit?
The scene was too magnificent to describe in words.
This sight would likely remain unforgettable for a lifetime after just one glance.
Immortal Venerable Changqing!
How extravagantly overbearing!
There had to be trillions upon trillions of merit here, right?
It was simply an astronomical figure that left one breathless.
In the void.
The Sages watched the magnificent sight, tears streaming down their faces.
Tired.
Numb.
Just destroy everything already.
Was this the joy of being a spendthrift?
They wanted to experience it too!
"Longevity Immortal Venerable's realm truly lies beyond our comprehension."
Kunpeng sighed sincerely.
King Father of the East and Ran Deng deeply agreed.
Indeed.
The Immortal Venerable's extravagance repeatedly shattered the limits of their understanding.
It was not that their imaginations were lacking; the Immortal Venerable was simply too good at causing trouble!
The Six Saints stood there with tearful eyes, utterly unable to understand.
In the blink of an eye, he had burned through trillions upon trillions of merit!
That was trillions upon trillions of merit!
Wouldn't it have been better to do something else with it?
Yet it had vanished in an instant, like fireworks.
Their hearts ached!
It hurt so much they could barely breathe!
If he had more merit than he could spend, giving them a little would have been fine too!
They definitely would not have minded.
Lu Changqing looked at the merit fireworks filling the sky and felt thoroughly satisfied.
Spending trillions upon trillions of merit in one go—he truly was clever.
"System! Are you still alive? If you're not dead, make a sound."
Lu Changqing called out.
The system had been silent for so long. It had not really died, had it?
If it had been angered to death, how would he squander merit in the future?
The system's icy voice rang out again. "The loophole has been repaired!"
"Because the host has repeatedly exploited loopholes to disperse merit, the system is about to upgrade!"
"The rules will be refined and the regulations completed!"
"Additionally, the host has successfully consumed fifty trillion merit. You are rewarded with one mysterious gift package!"
Lu Changqing was somewhat surprised. He could still get a reward for this?
He had even forced the system to upgrade again.
Yet he still received a prize.
How embarrassing, how embarrassing.
The heavens and earth of the Primordial Wilderness were immersed in an ocean of merit.
This was a carnival belonging to the entire Primordial Wilderness.
Even the Six Saints were intoxicated by it.
There was no helping it!
There was simply too much merit!
Everything else could be set aside for now.
Enjoy themselves first, then talk!
Within the Purple Sky Palace.
Hongjun's mouth twitched as he watched the scene.
Good heavens!
This was far too outrageous!
That was trillions upon trillions of merit!
This brat was far too wasteful!
If only all that merit had been given to him!
Damn it, he was so envious!
The jealousy was enough to drive one mad!
Wuji Heaven.
Within the majestic Wuji Heaven, Lu Changqing opened the mysterious gift package.
"Congratulations, you have obtained the Chaos Supreme Treasure World-Ending Grinding Mill (Incomplete)."
"You have obtained the Great Dao Divine Ability: Years Desolate God Finger."
"You have obtained the Heaven-Opening Profound Scripture."
"You have obtained the Jade Plate of Creation (Incomplete)."
The four rewards made Lu Changqing's eyes light up.
Not bad!
They were all good things!
The Chaos Supreme Treasure World-Ending Grinding Mill!
Though incomplete, its power surpassed that of a Primordial Supreme Treasure.
Shattering time and space with a single strike was as easy as turning one's hand.
Its power was terrifying.
It could be considered among the finest offensive treasures.
If it could be restored, its power might rival Pangu's World-Opening Divine Axe.
The Great Dao Divine Ability, Years Desolate God Finger.
A Great Dao Divine Ability! This was a supreme art that stood above Heavenly Dao divine abilities.
Every move possessed the might to destroy heaven and earth!
With one finger of the Years Desolate God Finger, all things returned to silence!
Even endless chaos could hardly withstand the might of this finger!
If unleashed at full power, the Primordial Wilderness and chaos alike would likely be reduced to nothingness.
Such was the terror of a Great Dao Divine Ability.
It was enough to crush everything!
Before you continue