Five Hundred Thousand Merit for a Favor

This was not a reward, nor was it tribute. It was a transaction—a weighty show of support from this trusted minister to the Heavenly Court, to him as the Heavenly Emperor.

He had to make sure of it, and he had to show equal respect in return.

Standing below the imperial steps, Lin Zhu held himself upright. At the Jade Emperor's words, there was not the slightest hesitation on his face, nor any feigned pain at parting with it. Instead, he answered with calm certainty and crisp decisiveness.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, it is absolutely true. This gourd contains exactly five hundred thousand Merit Divine Water—not a drop more or less. Since I have taken it out, it is my sincerity. If Your Majesty needs it, please take it. Why speak of selling it? Consider it my modest contribution to the Heavenly Court."

Though they had been mentally prepared, hearing Lin Zhu's unequivocal confirmation still drew another chorus of sharp breaths throughout the hall!

Five hundred thousand! A full five hundred thousand Merit Divine Water! Not five thousand, not fifty thousand—five hundred thousand!

Many Immortal Officials felt their heads buzzing, as though countless streams of Merit Golden Light were dancing before their eyes.

What did five hundred thousand Merit Divine Water mean? Used properly, it meant that several newly advanced Grand Luo Golden Immortals could be forcibly cultivated in a short time!

Or several veteran Immortal Gods who had been stuck at the Peak Golden Immortal realm for countless years could break through that heavenly barrier in one stroke! Even for someone like the Jade Emperor, this was an enormous strategic resource capable of affecting the Heavenly Court's power structure for tens of thousands of years to come!

"F-five hundred thousand... my Dao Ancestor!"

An elderly immortal official with a