A Hundred Thousand Merit Service Fee? The Dragon King Paid with Dignity!

The smile on Zhao Gongming's face was gentle, standard—like a mask worn for countless Yuanhui.

The golden scroll in his hand shimmered with the light of merit, stabbing Ao Guang's eyes and making his Primordial Spirit hum.

Service Fee Settlement List.

One hundred thousand merit.

Card swipe, or cash?

"Guh..."

A broken sound, like a rusted gear forced to turn, scraped from Ao Guang's throat.

His massive dragon form lurched violently, nearly slipping from the throne carved of Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Jade.

He raised a trembling finger, pointing at Zhao Gongming, his lips twitching for a long time without a single word escaping.

He wanted to roar.

He wanted to curse.

He wanted to ask them—does your Jie Sect have any shame left?!

You check my household registry, dig through my family's secrets, exhume my ancestors' graves, and now you want me to pay?!

But he couldn't say a thing.

Because he saw that behind Zhao Gongming, the three hundred Jie Sect disciples in gray robes had, in perfect unison, pulled out oddly shaped magical instruments from their bosoms.

The instruments resembled jade plates, covered in flowing runes, with a small groove in the center.

One disciple stepped forward, bowed respectfully to Ao Guang, and spoke.

"Dragon King, if you choose to 'swipe a card,' simply place a merit-infused treasure or your personal Dragon Clan Gold Card into the slot of this 'Heavenly Dao Merit Card Machine.'"

"If you choose to 'pay cash,' our office can also provide on-site counting and transfer services for large amounts of merit."

"All transactions are witnessed by the Heavenly Dao, and we will issue you a formal... receipt."

As he spoke, the disciple actually pulled a stack of blank jade slips from his robe, stamped with the words "Three Realms Population Census Office—Official Use."

"Thump!"

Third Prince Ao Bing could no longer hold himself up; he collapsed to the ground, his eyes vacant.

Beside him, a white-haired Whale Elder clutched his chest, gasping for air as if his soul might return to the Azure Void at any moment.

The entire Crystal Palace was plunged into a silence more absurd and terrifying than death itself.

Ao Guang stared at those three hundred so-called "card machines" flickering with faint light, at those blank "receipts" waiting to be filled.

He felt the understanding he had built over tens of millions of years being ground into the most insignificant dust.

He wanted to resist.

But every word of that Notice of Consequences had turned into chains of Heavenly Dao, binding his Primordial Spirit tight.

He wanted to compromise.

But the sky-high service fee of one hundred thousand merit and that humiliating Satisfaction Survey Questionnaire pressed down on him like two divine mountains, crushing his breath.

Forward, a bottomless abyss.

Back, an endless hell.

Ao Guang's dragon body trembled violently, his immense Pressure leaking uncontrollably, shaking the entire Crystal Palace with a rattling sound.

He stared fixedly at Zhao Gongming, a flash of desperate resolve to burn everything together in his dragon eyes—but when his gaze swept over all the trembling dragon descendants and Aquatic Clan ministers present, that resolve dissolved into endless sorrow and helplessness.

He couldn't drag the entire Dragon Clan to their doom with him.

Finally.

That thread called reason, stretched to its limit, snapped with a crisp crack only he could hear.

"Waaah—"

A wail, utterly unbefitting a Dragon King's dignity, tore through the Crystal Palace!

Ao Guang, the ruler of the Four Seas, an ancient great power who had existed since the Dragon-Han Initial Tribulation, was now sobbing like a mortal child wronged beyond measure, slumped on his throne, crying his heart out.

"Boo hoo... they're bullying a dragon!"

"You... you Jie Sect, you're not human!"

"You dig through my family, interrogate my wife, and still want my money... boo hoo... there's no living like this!"

As he wept, he pounded the throne beneath him with his massive dragon claws, snot and tears streaming, whiskers trembling wildly—not a shred of a mighty expert's dignity remained.

That crying was filled with endless grievance, endless despair, endless grief.

It would break any heart, bring tears to any listener.

All the Aquatic Clan in the Crystal Palace, watching their king like this, felt their own hearts twist in pain, their eyes reddening as they joined in sobbing.

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For a moment, the magnificent Crystal Palace became the scene of a grand tragedy.

Faced with this sudden turn of events.

The three hundred Jie Sect disciples behind Zhao Gongming wore the same programmed calm on their faces.

The lead registration disciple even took a clean white silk handkerchief from his bosom, stepped forward, and handed it over.

"Your Majesty, please restrain your grief."

His tone was sincere, yet carried a professional detachment.

"According to Article Three of the Census Work Humanitarian Care Regulations, we can provide you with a quarter-Shichen emotional buffer period."

"Do you... need it?"

"Waaah—"

Ao Guang wailed even harder.

Zhao Gongming watched this absurd scene and let out a soft sigh.

He stepped forward, his voice gentle yet carrying an undeniable decisiveness.

"Dragon King, Your Majesty."

"Crying won't solve the problem."

"This hundred thousand merits isn't a fine—it's an investment."

He unfurled the golden list once more.

"Completing household registration means the Dragon Clan officially connects to our 'Three Realms Affairs' system. From now on, whether it's official business with the Heavenly Court or karmic disputes with other great powers, everything can be processed through our bureau's procedures, saving countless battles and conflicts."

"Isn't that worth a hundred thousand merits?"

Ao Guang's sobbing paused slightly.

"Moreover..."

Zhao Gongming shifted his tone, a meaningful smile spreading across his face.

"The Immortal Official said the first unit to cooperate with our work gets a discount."

"As long as you check 'Very Satisfied' on the Satisfaction Survey Questionnaire and write us a three-hundred-character positive review."

"This service fee can be... discounted to ninety-eight percent."

Ao Guang's crying stopped abruptly.

He lifted his tear-streaked dragon face, staring blankly at Zhao Gongming.

A long moment passed.

In a voice hoarse to the extreme, he asked.

"...Truly?"

"Truly."

Zhao Gongming nodded.

Another long silence fell.

Finally, Ao Guang slowly, tremblingly, rose from his throne.

As if drained of all vitality, he waved a limp hand toward the Turtle Prime Minister behind him.

"Prime Minister."

"Go... go to the treasury, take out a hundred thousand merits."

"No, take out ninety-eight thousand merits."

He turned to the registration disciple, his eyes bloodshot.

"The questionnaire... bring it here."

Half a Shichen later.

The three hundred Jie Sect disciples marched in neat steps out of the Crystal Palace.

Behind them lay a hall as silent as death, and the East Sea Dragon King, slumped on his throne as if turned to stone.

Zhao Gongming held the fully paid settlement list and the satisfaction survey, covered in the Dragon King's blood and tears, filled with "Good! Very good! Excellent!"

He stopped, glanced back at the ornate yet lifeless palace.

Facing the palace gates, he made a distant bow and spoke loudly.

"Thank you, Dragon King, Your Majesty, for your cooperation and support!"

"Your 'Very Satisfied' is our greatest motivation to move forward!"

"The Three Realms Population Census Office looks forward to our next collaboration!"

With that, he led the Working Group, transforming into a streak of light, and vanished into the depths of the East Sea.

Leaving only that blessing, brimming with "humanitarian care," echoing long and lingering before the Crystal Palace.