Merit Points

Biodata

Mechanics

Acquisition

Merit Points are awarded when Lu Chen's actions are judged to punish evil, resolve harm, protect others, or produce wider beneficial consequences. The system displays the reason and amount immediately after the action. 1 13

• Killing Lu Dahu and resolving the abusive household's conflict awarded 3 Merit Points. 1
• Defeating evil Iron Scale Gang members awarded 5 Merit Points per henchman. 13
• Destroying Blood Offering Sect members, demons, Outer Realm enemies, Three-Faced Beings, and other hostile forces produces points in amounts tied to the target and consequence. 36 37 296 390
• Saving others can generate an additional reward alongside combat gains; while slaughtering demons, Lu Chen receives points both for the kills and for inadvertently saving sect members. 43
• Nonlethal outcomes can also count. Overwhelming Guo Jing so completely that he recognized the difference in their strength earned Lu Chen 100 Merit Points. 53
• Large-scale actions receive correspondingly large rewards, including 1,000,000 Merit Points for killing a sealed demonic fiend and another 1,000,000 for establishing order in the Netherworld. 324 344
• Merit cannot be repeatedly harvested from the same person: after a beggar was killed, further harm to that individual produced no additional points. 3

Expenditure

Lu Chen spends Merit Points through the system panel by mentally directing points toward a known martial art, cultivation method, technique, or realm breakthrough. The investment grants immediate understanding and bodily transformation rather than requiring ordinary training time. 1 18 38

Costs and Restrictions

• Upgrade costs rise as a technique reaches higher realms; Galloping Horse Fist required more points to advance from Minor Accomplishment to Perfection than it had required for its earlier stages. 3
• Higher-grade arts require more Merit Points than inferior arts. Perfecting Crimson Sand Palm cost 30 points, compared with 13 points spent on Galloping Horse Fist. 6
• Points alone do not remove every prerequisite. Lu Chen must acquire an appropriate cultivation method before opening higher systems such as the Spirit Hidden Realm. 46 115
• Certain powerful arts still require sufficient cultivation to use safely; forcing the later Sword Dao Divine Abilities below the required level causes backlash. 247

Documented Point Records

System Interaction

• Lu Chen — Primary user and recipient. He mentally commands the system to allocate Merit Points, while its panel records his techniques, talents, cultivation, rewards, and remaining balance. 1 18 380
• Merit System — The system that activates after Lu Dahu's death, awards Merit Points, issues notifications, and provides the initial newbie gift pack. 1

Story Role

The Merit System activates when Lu Chen kills Lu Dahu after being left to die by his brother and sister-in-law. It heals his injuries, grants the Might Makes Right talent, and records his first three Merit Points. 1

Early in Lu Chen's journey, Merit Points accelerate basic martial training from entry-level techniques to perfected arts, allowing him to gain years of practical comprehension almost instantly. 1 3 6

As Lu Chen's enemies grow stronger, the resource becomes central to realm advancement. Points gained from Blood Offering Sect members, demons, hostile clans, and Outer Realm forces are repeatedly converted into hidden realms, Grandmaster levels, divine cultivation, and eventually the Ruler realm. 36 148 181 320 380

By the later conflicts, Merit Points are generated on a massive scale through campaigns against Heavenly Walkers, Three-Faced Beings, Chaos Beasts, and other powerful enemies. 375 380 390

Notable Quotes

“You killed Lu Dahu, resolved a family dispute, Merit +3”
— First recorded Merit reward 1

“You aided two human Grandmasters, preserving the sparks of humanity. Merit Points +5000!”
— System reward for protecting allies during the demon incursion 43

“You have killed a traitor from the past, resolved karma, and gained immeasurable merit. Merit Points +700,000!”
— Reward following the death of a Space-Time Divine Clan traitor 337

Trivia

• The system sometimes displays the resource simply as “Merit” during its earliest reward notification. 1
• Merit Points can be earned from releasing tormented ghosts from prolonged suffering; each ghost in the bone tower grants 30 points. 25
• Lu Chen explicitly recognizes that killing is not the only way to acquire points after earning rewards through intimidation, rescue, and deterrence. 43 53 337 344