Chapter 12

"Fellow Daoist, farewell for now!"

"Farewell for now!"

Beneath the Netherworld, deep within the Sea of Blood.

Ancestor Minghe, who had founded the Asura Clan, suddenly opened his sharp eyes.

"The Witch Clan's Houtu has actually refined a primordial spirit through merit?"

Ancestor Minghe furrowed his brows slightly.

As he calculated with his fingers, Great Dao Runes flowed.

He narrowed his eyes slightly and murmured:

"Heavenly Secrets are difficult to discern, but some hidden karmic connection seems to be emerging."

After pondering for a moment, Minghe summoned the Asura Clan's chieftain and gave him a series of instructions.

Then he tore open the Sea of Blood and stepped into space-time.

Although he could not determine whether Kunpeng's words were true,

there might indeed be an opportunity hidden within.

He decided to go there quietly and investigate.

As Ming He traveled through space-time toward Wuji Heaven,

Di Jun, who had set out earlier, had already arrived outside Wuji Heaven.

He transmitted his voice loudly:

"Fellow Daoist Changsheng, Di Jun has come to pay you a visit!"

At that moment, Lu Changsheng was casually holding an Acquired Spiritual Fruit as a snack.

He suddenly heard the voice transmission.

Joy appeared on Lu Changsheng's face.

"Another mighty expert from the Primordial World has finally arrived."

He muttered under his breath, then transmitted his voice:

"Fellow Daoist, please come in."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Changsheng casually tossed aside the Acquired Spiritual Fruit, which he had bitten only twice.

Kunpeng felt a stab of pain in his heart.

The fruit was of little use to him, but only Great Master could waste a treasure so wantonly.

Before long, Di Jun entered Wuji Heaven with a radiant smile and exchanged pleasantries:

"Fellow Daoist Changsheng truly possesses extraordinary talent. It hasn't been long, yet your cultivation has advanced so greatly again."

After speaking, Di Jun also nodded toward Kunpeng.

Kunpeng nodded in return but said nothing. Since Great Master had not spoken, he did not dare to interrupt.

Lu Changsheng had no interest in exchanging pleasantries, so he got straight to the point:

"How many treasures did Fellow Daoist Di Jun bring to exchange for merit?"

Di Jun was stunned when he heard this.

He had not come to exchange for merit. He had wanted to recruit Lu Changsheng, so he had not brought many treasures with him.

But after hearing the question, he felt he had to show his sincerity. He immediately took out several mid- and low-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures, more than a dozen Acquired Spiritual Treasures, and numerous Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures as well as Innate Spiritual Fruits.

He pretended to be generous and said:

"Fellow Daoist Changsheng, please don't take offense. I left in a hurry and only brought these.

Take whatever you find useful."

Lu Changsheng waved his hand grandly and collected all the treasures.

Di Jun felt a faint ache in his heart.

Although this was only a small portion of the Demon Race's treasury, he was still reluctant to see everything taken away at once.

Just as he was about to use the opportunity to explain the benefits of recruiting Lu Changsheng into the Demon Race, he saw Lu Changsheng casually pick up an Innate Spiritual Fruit and take a bite. Then he ordered:

"Little Kun, count them."

After taking one bite, Lu Changsheng tossed the fruit aside again and spat disdainfully:

"What is this thing? It tastes awful!"

Di Jun was completely dumbfounded.

He could not help roaring inwardly:

"My low-grade Innate Spiritual Fruit!"

That fruit had grown from a low-grade Innate Spiritual Root. Even though it was only low-grade, it was still enough to make countless cultivators fight desperately over it.

Moreover, the most effective way to use a spiritual fruit was to refine it.

What living creature would be foolish enough to eat it raw?

This was simply the greatest possible waste of resources.

Just as Di Jun was heartbroken over the wasted fruit,

Kunpeng cast him a sympathetic look.

Then Kunpeng's gaze shifted to the other side.

Di Jun followed his gaze.

He saw dozens of Innate Spiritual Fruits lying there quietly, each with only one or two bites taken from it.

Seeing this, Di Jun's heartbeat nearly skipped a beat.

What normal living creature would do such a thing?

Could it be that when you were born, the Heavenly Dao never taught you to conserve resources?

Following the trail of wasted fruits, Di Jun looked farther ahead.

He saw piles of Merit Treasures stacked as high as small mountains.

His breathing suddenly quickened.

He stammered:

"Those—those are all Merit Treasures?"

Hearing Di Jun's exclamation,

a powerful sense of superiority surged through Kunpeng's heart.

He said with a look of disdain:

"You look like someone who has never seen the world!

You can't even imagine Great Master's happiness!"

While disdainful, Kunpeng was also filled with wild joy.

At that moment,

he finally understood Great Master's happiness.

After hearing Kunpeng's mockery,

Di Jun forced himself to remain calm and squeezed out a composed smile,

as if his lapse just now had never happened.

But the moment he raised his head,

he saw Lu Changsheng holding a hundred thousand Golden Clouds of Merit and pouring them all into a low-grade Acquired Spiritual Treasure.

The calm he had barely maintained collapsed instantly.

What normal living creature would do such a thing?

Using a hundred thousand Golden Clouds of Merit to refine a low-grade Acquired Spiritual Treasure

was like casually picking up a branch and gilding it. It was an outrageous waste!

As countless thoughts galloped through Di Jun's mind

and he was so shocked that he could not close his mouth,

Kunpeng glanced at him, his sense of superiority overflowing,

and reported to Lu Changsheng:

"Great Master, the total is five million eight hundred thousand merit."

After hearing this,

Lu Changsheng casually tossed the artifact that had become a Merit Spiritual Treasure onto the pile of treasures behind him.

Then he reached out, took out a cloud containing five million eight hundred thousand merit, and handed it to Di Jun:

"Here is the five million eight hundred thousand merit you exchanged. Take good care of it."

Di Jun blankly reached out and accepted the Golden Cloud of Merit.

His legs went weak, as if he had fallen into a dream.

Di Jun's mind was in a daze. For a moment, he even forgot why he had come to Wuji Heaven.

Who am I?

Where am I?

Why did I come here?

He had completely forgotten that he had come to recruit Lu Changsheng.

Holding five million eight hundred thousand merit, he staggered down the mountain.

Once he recovered slightly, Di Jun hurriedly put away the Golden Cloud of Merit.

Overwhelming joy surged in his heart. "With this merit, what does the Witch Clan have to fear?"

In his delight, he tore open space-time and sped back to the Demon Race Heavenly Court.

Night had just fallen.

A furtive figure quietly reached the foot of Wuji Heaven.

"So this is Wuji Heaven?"

The visitor was Daoist Burning Lamp, who had taken a detour to avoid East King Duke.

Just as Daoist Burning Lamp was about to transmit his voice and ascend the mountain, a space-time tunnel suddenly appeared.

East King Duke led the guests of Purple Mansion Prefecture and happened to land right in front of Daoist Burning Lamp.

The two ancient mighty experts stared at each other, both showing awkward expressions.

East King Duke hurriedly explained, "I did not come because I believed those rumors. I simply felt that I had a karmic connection with Fellow Daoist Changsheng and came especially to invite him."

Daoist Burning Lamp smiled knowingly. "There's no need to say more, Fellow Daoist. You and I are of the same kind. We understand each other without words."

East King Duke snorted. "Who is of the same kind as a shameless rogue like you?"

With that, he transmitted his voice first and stepped into Wuji Heaven.

Daoist Burning Lamp shook his head and chuckled. "We clearly share the same goals, yet you insist on pretending to be aloof."

Muttering under his breath, he also transmitted his voice inside and entered Wuji Heaven.

"Fellow Daoist Changsheng, East King Duke of Purple Mansion Prefecture has brought his guests to pay you a visit!"

Lu Changsheng was supervising Kunpeng's refinement of the Merit Treasures. Upon hearing this, his face lit up.

"Come in!"

These mighty experts of the Primordial World were all extraordinarily wealthy, and any one of them was worth thousands upon thousands of living beings.

Naturally, Lu Changsheng welcomed them enthusiastically.

Just then, Daoist Burning Lamp also transmitted his voice:

"Fellow Daoist Changsheng, I am Randeng of the Chan Sect. I have come especially to pay you a visit!"

When he heard that two mighty experts of the Primordial World had arrived at once, joy immediately appeared on Lu Changsheng's face.

"Two mighty experts came at once? What a fortunate occasion!"

After all, only figures of this level could exchange for large amounts of merit.

"Come in!"

As Lu Changsheng's reply rang out, the two mighty experts entered together.

East King Duke clearly had some grudge against Daoist Burning Lamp and deliberately walked ahead of him.

Daoist Burning Lamp did not mind.

He had wanted to observe first and see whether Lu Changsheng truly exchanged merit as the rumors claimed.

It made no difference if East King Duke went first.

"Fellow Daoist Changsheng, I have long admired your great reputation. Seeing you today, you truly possess an extraordinary bearing!"

Upon seeing Lu Changsheng, East King Duke immediately revealed a kindly smile and praised him.

The three thousand guests he had brought, led by a rogue cultivator at the Quasi-Sage realm, saluted in unison:

"Greetings, Immortal Changsheng!"

Daoist Burning Lamp also cupped his hands and said simply:

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Changsheng."

Lu Changsheng nodded in response, then went straight to the point:

"I wonder how many treasures you brought, Fellow Daoist. Why not take them all out?"

Lu Changsheng was not particularly interested in the pleasantries exchanged among these mighty experts of the Primordial World.

Everything he did was mainly to disperse his merit as quickly as possible.

East King Duke's brows furrowed slightly when he heard this.

He glanced at Daoist Burning Lamp from the corner of his eye, his expression somewhat displeased:

"Fellow Daoist Changsheng, that isn't quite right. I, East King Duke, did not come to exchange for merit.

I came this time because I wished to discuss some important matters with you!"

Lu Changsheng raised his hand and interrupted East King Duke directly:

"For me, giving away merit was a major matter."

As they talked, Lu Changsheng recalled that East King Duke seemed to have fallen during the Witch-Demon War.

The reason was that he had been far too arrogant.

Bearing the empty title of "Head of Male Immortals"

he had assumed that he truly possessed the strength to unify the Primordial Wilderness.

Thus, he recruited rootless rogue cultivators everywhere, scheming to establish dominion over the Primordial Wilderness.

Later, he did indeed establish a faction in Purple Mansion Prefecture.

Although the protagonists of the Primordial Wilderness stage at the time were the Witch and Demon races,

Purple Mansion Prefecture, relying on three thousand Grand Unity Golden Immortal retainers and the combat strength of two quasi-sages,

could still be considered a formidable force on the Primordial Wilderness continent.

Compared with the tens of thousands of Grand Unity Golden Immortals among the demon race, which likewise harbored ambitions to rule the Primordial Wilderness, his strength was ultimately far too inferior.

For that very reason, East King Duke eventually met the fate of being slain by the demon race at an early stage.

Without sufficient strength, how could he contend with the demon race, the strongest faction in the Primordial Wilderness?

Thinking of this, Lu Changsheng looked at East King Duke before him, along with the three thousand retainers and million rogue cultivators accompanying him.

Suddenly, he felt that having only Kunpeng as a mount in his Wuji Heaven made the place seem somewhat deserted.

If he could have more guards, perhaps it would be more ideal.

With that thought, Lu Changsheng spoke again:

"I don't think there's any need to discuss anything major anymore.

Doesn't your Purple Mansion Prefecture have many retainers? Why not all of them come to my Wuji Heaven and serve as guards?"

When East King Duke heard this, anger immediately surged within him.

But before he could erupt, a casual action by Kunpeng left him frozen in place.

Kunpeng, who was refining Merit Treasures, casually tossed a newly refined treasure onto the mountain of treasures piled up beside him.

East King Duke took a closer look, and that entire "mountain"

was actually made up of Merit Treasures?

He was completely dumbfounded.

Could so many Merit Treasures really be possessed by living beings of the Primordial Wilderness?

Randeng also noticed this scene, and a scorching light immediately burst from his eyes.

These Merit Treasures piled up like a mountain undoubtedly confirmed what Lu Changsheng had said earlier—that treasures could indeed be exchanged for merit here.

At the same time, the three thousand retainers and million rogue cultivators brought by East King Duke all saw this scene as well.

The quasi-sage rogue cultivator at the head could hardly believe his eyes.