Leaving the Ruins
(First update delivered. The third update might be around midnight, so don't stay up too late~~)
After obtaining the blood marrow, Gu Ding left the Small Black Room.
He had so many Merit Points that he couldn't decide which items to exchange for right away, so he simply let Liliath receive their rewards first, while he could choose slowly on the Local Area Network, so as not to waste other people's time.
After Gu Ding came out, the second person to go in was Liliath.
Liliath seemed somewhat excited, an expression that reminded Gu Ding of the times they used to go shopping together.
"It seems Lily won't be well for a while," Gu Ding couldn't help but laugh after Liliath entered the Small Black Room.
But to Gu Ding's surprise, Liliath came out not long after.
"How come you're so fast this time?" Gu Ding couldn't help but ask.
"I've already chosen what I want. I can just go in, pick it up, and put it in my Storage Space," Liliath said smugly. "I have less than a million Merit Points left. Anyone want them?"
"All 60 billion has been spent?!" Gu Ding stared wide-eyed at Liliath.
"These Merit Points can only be used in this ruin. What's the point of keeping them if you don't use them all?" Liliath rolled her eyes at Gu Ding and then threw the token into Gu Ding's hand. "You still have more than 700,000 left. Transfer them all."
Everyone else in the Merit Hall watched with envy. It was truly generous of them to just throw away more than 700,000 Merit Points like a drop in the bucket.
Gu Ding readily accepted the token, transferred the money, and then returned the token to Liliath.
After Liliath, Elsa went in, and she came out a few minutes later with a very satisfied expression.
"You've spent all of your 50 billion?" Gu Ding couldn't help but ask.
"Yes!" Elsa nodded vigorously, then handed the token to Gu Ding. "There are still over 600,000 inside."
Gu Ding accepted Elsa's token with a somewhat speechless expression, and unceremoniously took the remaining Merit Points. Then he continued to look down at the item list projection in front of him.
The third to go in was Tagore. He also came out not long after, which was normal. For Tagore, spending all of his 10 billion merit points on food was enough. He had less than 100,000 Merit Points left, which he transferred to Gu Ding.
Bigge was the fourth to enter. He simply had a Four-Star Divine Object longsword at his waist and handed the token directly to Dokter. "The system automatically rewarded me with a Four-Star Divine Object longsword, a four-star suit of armor, and a bottle of pills left over from a cultivation civilization. I checked and there weren't any five-star longswords, so I didn't exchange anything. Dokter, all the Merit Points are transferred to you. See if there's anything you need and buy it directly. Transfer the remaining Merit Points to Robert so he can choose something too."
Dokter accepted the token, transferred all his Merit Points, and then stepped into the Small Black Room.
This time, it took him quite a while to get inside; it took about half an hour.
Meanwhile, Gu Ding, with the help of the Sea Emperor, was selecting some necessities.
"How about the divine fire seed of this four-star level divine artifact?" Gu Ding suddenly saw a Divine Fire Seed.
"Don't even think about it. If you're going to use your Heaven-Burning Divine Power, use the best one. The other three types of fire seeds are all five-star or higher. There's no need for you to lower your standards and use four-star ones. Once you enter the Universe Sea, you'll definitely have a chance to find five-star fire seeds." The Sea Emperor directly rejected Gu Ding's idea.
"That bottle of cultivation Phoenix Blood Nirvana Pill is so expensive! There are only three pills in a bottle, and it costs 15 billion Merit Points!" Gu Ding couldn't help but sigh.
"Stop talking nonsense. Hurry up and check the boxes on the options. Take a picture as soon as we get into the Small Black Room." The Sea Emperor urged repeatedly. This bottle of pills was the first item he suggested Gu Ding buy.
"You have no idea how powerful the cultivation civilization is. It was one of the most powerful civilizations in human history, extending from ancient times until its decline in the Near Ancient Era. The various secret texts, elixirs, and even supernatural abilities left behind by the cultivation civilization are incredibly powerful. This Phoenix Blood Nirvana Pill was considered a very high-grade elixir even in the Near Ancient Era. It was made from the blood of the divine beast Phoenix, a powerful elixir that enhances blood and qi. Once your 'Myriad Manifestations Emperor Body' reaches the Emperor Body Realm, the blood and qi energy provided by these three pills will save you countless hours of cultivation time."
"A divine beast? Tagore has also ascended to godhood. Can his blood be used to refine pills?" Gu Ding said, looking at Tagore who was perched on his shoulder. Tagore twitched his ears and slapped Gu Ding's face away.
"I had forgotten that the concept of divine beasts has been forgotten because no divine beasts have appeared in your era," the Sea Emperor explained.
"The various life realms within the Great Universe Sea contain countless species. However, since Ancient Era, only 108 divine beasts have been recognized. Any one of these 108 divine beasts is born with divine cultivation, and can fight across an entire major level during their infancy. During their adulthood, their cultivation reaches the Peak-rank God Pinnacle, and some individual races can even cross the barrier of the Peak-rank God during their growth. But these 108 races have one thing in common: any member, once they reach maturity, will automatically cross the Godly Barrier and become Third Level life form, also known as a true god."
"Gods are merely Second Level life forms, fundamentally different from true gods in terms of the quality of their life. This difference is even greater than the difference between gods and ordinary humans. Any god, as long as they haven't crossed the boundary of Second Level life form, is less than an ant in front of a true god, and can be easily killed with a single glance."
"Can humans really become that powerful?" Gu Ding was thrilled.
"Humans were not only once one of the most powerful races, but at their peak, they even ruled the entire Great Universe Sea. At that time, the Zerg retreated to a corner and cowered, and the entire Demon Race, including the divine beast races, became subordinate to humans. The Gathering Place of various races were open to strong humans, and the presence of humans could be seen everywhere in the Great Universe Sea. Unfortunately, even such a powerful era could not withstand the cataclysmic calamity of the apocalypse..."
"A great calamity? What happened?" Gu Ding asked hurriedly.
"My authority is insufficient, and I don't know the specifics. I only know that a catastrophe occurred in that era, a catastrophe that nearly wiped out all of humanity's powerful warriors, severed the lineage of countless civilizations, and plunged the Human Race into a period of decline." The Sea Emperor only knew the general outline of this matter.
Gu Ding didn't ask any more questions, but continued to select the items he wanted to exchange.
Besides the bottle of Phoenix Blood Nirvana Pill, Gu Ding, on the Sea Emperor's advice, also chose a pair of Four-Star Divine Object gloves worth 1.5 billion. With the remaining Merit Points, Gu Ding spent another 60 billion to buy 1.5 million Qi Blood Pill refined from the corpses of the Zerg. Qi Blood Pill aren't actually considered medicinal pills; any alchemist with sufficient cultivation could refine them. They are simply solidified by extracting Qi and Blood energy, processing it, and then using an adhesive to treat the surface and prevent the medicinal effects from being lost. However, this process also makes ordinary Qi and Blood clumps look like medicinal pills from cultivation civilizations.
After Dokter came out, Gu Ding went in first to collect the selected items, and then handed the token to Robert, asking him to transfer the remaining 6.1 billion Merit Points.
Dokter didn't actually spend much. Since there were no throwing knives on his item list, and he'd been rewarded with a Four-Star Divine Object- grade armor by the system, he only bought ten Heaven Soul Crystal and a Four-Star Divine Object that boosted his soul strength. He spent less than two billion in total.
After handing the token to Robert completed the transfer. The token, which originally contained only tens of thousands of Merit Points, instantly soared to 57 billion. He then stepped into the Small Black Room.
About five or six minutes later, Robert came out of the Small Black Room and handed the token to Gu Ding, saying, "There are still 12.2 billion left."
"What else would you like to choose?" Gu Ding asked, looking at the others.
"We've bought everything we needed." Liliath and Elsa shook their heads as well.
"Then let's just exchange for a few divine items. We can auction them off at the Auction House later," Gu Ding grinned. "We should be able to get two five-star divine items, five Four-Star Divine Object, and seven Three-Star Divine Object items."
As Gu Ding was speaking, he was about to walk towards the Small Black Room when he heard someone call his name from behind.
"Gu Ding, wait a minute!"
Gu Ding turned his head. He saw that it was Stda of the Freedom Alliance who had called out to him. Star had just stepped into the Merit Hall and appeared in front of him in a flash.
"Is there something you need?" Gu Ding asked, somewhat surprised.
"You haven't used up your Merit Points yet, have you?" Stda didn't answer his question, but instead asked.
"Most of it has been spent, and only a little bit is left."
"Do we have 1.5 billion points?" Gu Ding asked, his expression slightly anxious.
"There are still over 10 billion left, what's wrong?" Gu Ding didn't know why he was asking this question.
"Here's the thing, I want to collect 5 billion Merit Points to exchange for a five-star divine armor. Can you sell it to me for 1.5 billion points?" Hearing that Gu Ding still had more than 10 billion, Stda finally felt relieved.
"How do you want to buy it?" Only then did Gu Ding realize why the other party had asked such a question.
"I have a Four-Star Divine Object Armor, a system reward, worth one billion merit points. I also have five hundred million merit points, which I can buy with Origin Stones. Five hundred million Merit Points can be directly exchanged for five million Origin Stones. But I also know that if you use five hundred million merit points to exchange for the item here and then auction it off, it will definitely fetch more than five million Origin Stones. I can give you eight million Origin Stones. But I only have five million on me right now... I can only try to raise the remaining three million for you after we get out of here..." Stda's voice trailed off.
"Why do you insist on armor made from a five-star divine artifact?" Gu Ding asked, somewhat puzzled.
"He is my teacher. His lifespan is nearing its end, and the final Heavenly Tribulation for High-rank God is about to descend. In his current weakened state, even Four-Star Divine Object might not be able to save him from the Heavenly Tribulation. If it were a five-star divine artifact, his chances of surviving the Heavenly Tribulation would greatly increase. Once he survives this Heavenly Tribulation, he will advance to the Peak-rank God, and his lifespan will increase again," Stda explained.
"Alright, I'll buy it for you. Let's just say it's five million Origin Stones instead of five hundred million merit points. You don't need to write an IOU." Gu Ding said, stepping into the Small Black Room. A few minutes later, he came out and handed a suit of armor to Stda.
Stda immediately handed all the tokens and Originium to Gu Ding, and the incident was over.
In truth, this deal seemed like a loss no matter how you looked at it, because Liliath and the others basically all had one suit of armor, Gu Ding had absolutely no need for an extra Four-Star Divine Object Armor. Exchanging 500 million Merit Points for 5 million source stones was even less worthwhile. But Gu Ding chose to make the trade because he thought Stda was quite good. Although he was an exceptionally powerful being among Prodigy Experts, he was completely without arrogance and very filial. In Gu Ding's eyes, such a person was worth befriending.
After all their Merit Points were used up, the exit of the ruins opened early the next morning. Gu Ding and his group did not linger and chose to leave immediately.