The Role of Merit

The long blade flashed, a faint gleam of sharpness flickering along its edge as it effortlessly sliced through the Green Wolf demon's body, cleaving it in two.

Blood shot up like a fountain, soaring several zhang high before splattering in all directions, the cold, foul stench of gore filling the entire cell.

The two halves of the Green Wolf demon slammed heavily onto the ground, its life force fading as it stared at Lin Baichuan in disbelief, growling lowly: "You... how could you..."

Before it could finish, it was completely lifeless.

Lin Baichuan casually wiped the blood off the blade on the Green Wolf demon's corpse, then sheathed it with a cold smirk: "Iron head, bronze neck, tofu waist... you probably don't know the wisdom of our Huaxia ancestors..."

At the same time, a cold, mechanical chime rang out in his sea of consciousness.

[Congratulations, host. You have gained 10 Merit.]

"10 Merit... as I thought, my guess was right—killing demons grants Merit. I just don't know what exactly Merit does yet."

A sharp glint flashed in Lin Baichuan's eyes. With a thought, he opened the Attribute Panel.

[Name: Lin Baichuan]

[Identity: Apprentice Demon Slayer of the Demon Suppression Division]

[Cultivation: Ninth Rank]

[Technique: Golden Bell Shield (Layer 1, 12%+)]

[Martial Skill: Seven Kill Saber Art (Beginner, 7%+)]

[Merit: 10]

It had changed. The Attribute Panel was different now—behind Technique and Martial Skill, a plus sign had appeared. It seemed Merit's function was to add points, directly improving techniques and martial skills.

"Let me test the effect first."

Lin Baichuan thought to himself and added 1 Merit to Golden Bell Shield.

Instantly, a flash of golden light passed, and the percentage number behind Golden Bell Shield jumped directly from 12% to 32%.

At the same time, a surge of immense power merged into his body in an instant. Lin Baichuan could clearly feel every inch of his flesh being tempered and enhanced. The skin across his body tightened noticeably, and his physical strength increased by about ten percent.

His current cultivation had just stepped into Body Refinement Ninth Stage, with physical strength around 1,200 jin. A ten percent boost meant an immediate increase of 120 jin—an unexpected delight.

"1 Merit raised Golden Bell Shield by 20%... so 5 Merit would push it to Layer 2, directly entering Ninth Rank Skin Refinement mid-stage."

Lin Baichuan's eyes gleamed with excitement, his joy plain to see, nearly jumping for joy.

In the martial path, the first realm is the Flesh Grand Realm, divided into nine ranks.

They are: Ninth Rank Skin Refinement, Eighth Rank Bone Tempering, Seventh Rank Organ Forging, Sixth Rank Blood Refining, Fifth Rank Meridian Unlocking, Fourth Rank Aperture Opening, Third Rank Qi Gathering, Second Rank Qi Transforming, and First Rank Pill Condensing.

Body Refinement Ninth Stage is also called the Nine Heavens of the Flesh in the mortal world—one rank, one heaven—showing just how difficult cultivation is. In this world, martial arts flourish, and almost everyone practices them, but only one in several hundred or thousand can even enter the ranks of martial cultivation.

Only such a martial cultivator can be called a true martial artist.

The first stage of martial cultivation is the Flesh Grand Realm.

Skin Refinement means tempering the skin and flesh of the whole body, enhancing one's constitution and strength. But the human body has its limits—ten thousand jin is the peak of physical strength. Under normal circumstances, most martial artists in the Skin Refinement realm only reach three to four thousand jin at most.

If someone's physical strength reaches over five thousand jin, they are considered a genius.

Reaching the physical limit of ten thousand jin—that is a prodigy.

One might appear in a million or ten million people, and each one is an elite.

The stronger a martial artist's physical strength in the Skin Refinement realm, the deeper their foundation, and the harder it becomes to break through from Ninth Rank Skin Refinement into Eighth Rank Bone Tempering.

But this only applies to ordinary martial artists. True geniuses are not bound by such rules.

Lin Baichuan had once heard that a prodigy from the Cangwu County Demon Suppression Division not only trained his physical strength to the limit but also advanced at an astonishing speed—crossing three ranks in three months, going from an ordinary person straight to Sixth Rank Flesh, becoming a legend in the division.

Now, with the ability to directly improve techniques using Merit, in theory, as long as he had enough Merit, he could break through to Sixth Rank or even higher in a single day.

Of course, that was just wishful thinking.

Not only was Merit hard to come by, but the further he went, the more Merit he would need. Moreover, Merit didn't directly raise his cultivation realm—it improved the techniques he practiced, thereby achieving a breakthrough.

In other words, without a cultivation technique, even with plenty of Merit, he might not be able to advance. And the Golden Bell Shield he was currently practicing was merely a Mortal Grade Lower Body Tempering Art.

At best, it could help him reach the peak of Skin Refinement, and even then, his physical strength couldn't reach the human limit—at most, around four to five thousand jin.

Lin Baichuan was naturally not satisfied with that. He was a man with a cheat—if he couldn't push his physical strength to the human limit, wouldn't that be a disgrace to the title of cheater?

"It seems besides getting more Merit, I also need to earn enough Contribution Points to exchange for higher-grade cultivation techniques and martial skills..."

Lin Baichuan muttered to himself, his expression turning serious.

In the Demon Suppression Division, as long as you had enough Contribution Points, you could exchange for various techniques, martial skills, and cultivation resources. Contribution Points were the internal currency of the division, and the most direct, efficient way to earn them was by taking on missions.

"Once the assessment is over and I get my identity token, I can start doing missions to earn Contribution Points."

Lin Baichuan thought to himself, but he didn't linger. After glancing at the wolf demon's corpse on the ground, he turned and left the cell.

He didn't continue adding points, planning to study it slowly once he returned to his quarters.

He retraced his steps.

At the entrance, quite a few people had already come out. Their states varied—some showed surprise, their eyes carrying Sha Qi and excitement, while others were pale-faced, and a few were even vomiting on the side.

Clearly, these were all aftereffects of killing demons.

"Baichuan, over here..."

No sooner had Lin Baichuan stepped out of the dungeon than he heard someone up ahead calling his name.

It was Yang Zhan.

The guy looked perfectly at ease, waving at Lin Baichuan.

Lin Baichuan gave him a slight smile, then respectfully handed his identity token to the female Demon Slayer standing at the entrance. "Ma'am, I have not failed your trust."

"Mm."

The female Demon Slayer took the token and wiped it. Instantly, a flash of light flickered across the token, and a wisp of black qi emerged. She nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Congratulations on passing the assessment. From now on, you are an official Demon Slayer.

Within three days, your new identity token, along with the exclusive Demon Slayer uniform and battle saber, will be delivered to you.

Wait over there for now. Someone will come shortly to take you to your new quarters."

"Yes, ma'am."

Lin Baichuan respectfully clasped his fists and bowed, then turned and walked toward Yang Zhan.

"So, Baichuan, how does it feel to slay a demon for the first time?" Yang Zhan asked eagerly as Lin Baichuan approached. "Were you scared? Listen, don't let it weigh on you. My dad always says, those not of our kind are bound to have different hearts. Demons and humans aren't even the same race. Treat them like pigs, dogs, cows, or sheep, and you'll kill them without any guilt."

"It's fine."

Lin Baichuan smiled faintly, but his gaze quickly swept the surroundings.

Of the hundred Apprentice Demon Slayers, fewer than thirty had come out so far. It looked like there was still a wait. After chatting idly with Yang Zhan for a bit, he found an excuse and went off alone to a shaded spot, where he sat cross-legged.

Since he couldn't leave anytime soon, he might as well study the function of Merit.

"One point of Merit can boost Golden Bell Shield by twenty percent. Let's see what it does for Seven Kill Saber Art."

Lin Baichuan thought to himself, and with a stir of his mind, he opened the Attribute Panel in his consciousness.

Then, without hesitation, he added one point of Merit to Seven Kill Saber Art.