Dongluo's Reward

Bai Muye was brought by Zhu Ang to the ship's Main Control Room along with the other World Lords.

"Army Lord."

Bai Muye followed the other World Lords' example and bowed slightly.

Dongluo nodded casually, indicating that there was no need for formalities, then gave Bai Muye an appraising look.

Under the gaze of her deep-green eyes, Bai Muye felt no pressure. If she had summoned him alone, he might have worried that the Army Lord wanted to investigate him. But since she'd called all the World Lords together, she was probably going to reward him for fighting bravely and boost morale.

"I never realized I had such an outstanding Domain Lord under my command..." Dongluo began slowly, her voice as cool as ever. "You killed three Tiger Armor Zerg in this battle. Well done!"

"Thank you for your praise, my lord."

"You should have enough Military Merit to retire now, right?" Dongluo asked calmly. "When you return to camp, will you choose to retire?"

Bai Muye's thoughts raced. He knew that his answer would affect Dongluo's attitude toward him from then on.

He replied slowly but firmly, "I won't retire, my lord."

Dongluo was clearly satisfied with his answer. A faint smile finally appeared on her stern face. "Good. You killed three Tiger Armor Zerg earlier and indirectly protected quite a few of your comrades, so you must be rewarded for that... I'll submit a request to the Military System to grant you an additional 300,000 Military Merit."

"I watched the recording of your battle. You've now crossed the threshold of the Lightning Law," Dongluo continued. "What you need most right now is probably a manual for the Lightning Law. That extra 300,000 should be enough to exchange for a good one."

An Immortal Army Lord couldn't simply order the Military System to grant someone extra Military Merit. There had to be a valid reason, and the request had to go through an application and review process.

But Dongluo wouldn't have said it if she weren't confident the request would be approved.

Although she had this authority, the extra Military Merit would come out of the requesting Immortal Army Lord's own account. She would even have to pay an additional fee in Military Merit for the review.

"Thank you, my lord." Bai Muye was getting 300,000 Military Merit for free, so he hurriedly put on a deeply grateful expression.

"Train hard and strive to become a World Lord as soon as possible," Dongluo encouraged him. "You may go."

After Bai Muye left, Zhu Ang smiled. "Congratulations, my lord. You've gained another talented warrior..."

Dongluo shook her head slightly. "It's too early to call him a warrior, let alone a genius... I've seen real geniuses—people who crossed the threshold of a Law at Star Rank and could kill an Ordinary Immortal at World Lord Rank."

She looked at all the World Lords. "Enough about him. We lost more than half our force this time, so we'll need to return to camp and replenish our ranks. We'll probably need a long period of rest. If any of you want leave, let me know. I'll approve it..."

"My lord, we suffered such a heavy loss this time..." The World Lord beside Zhu Ang looked pale. Earlier, more than a dozen Tiger Armor Zerg had attacked him, leaving him badly injured.

"I want revenge too, but I doubt we can get it." Dongluo didn't bother hiding her thoughts from these old subordinates. "That Zerg Mother Empress's Detector is at least two levels higher than mine. Unless I break through to Marquis and grow stronger, I won't be able to find her. Even if we knew where she was before then, we wouldn't be able to avenge ourselves..."

The World Lords fell silent. This Zerg Mother Empress was nothing like the Mo'er Race. The Mo'er Race was an easy target, so Dongluo had dared to go after them.

But with the high-grade Detector that this Zerg Mother Empress had, they wouldn't be able to see her even if she were nearby—and even if they could, they couldn't beat her.

An enemy you could defeat was a good enemy.

Back in his cabin, Bai Muye brushed off his teammates' questions without boasting. The best way to handle something like this was to keep quiet and reap the benefits.

But things didn't go as he'd hoped. Before long, the World Lords spread the news throughout the entire force, pursuing their original goal of boosting morale.

Sure enough, the news excited most of the Universe Ranks and Domain Lords. As long as they worked hard to kill enemies, they could earn Military Merit and win the Army Lord's favor, gaining extra Military Merit as a reward.

Fortunately, nobody was resentful. Bai Muye's achievements were undeniable, and he had rescued quite a few teammates along the way. If anyone still objected, the answer was simple: go kill three Tiger Armor Zerg at Peak World Lord Rank yourself, then talk!

Time passed. A few months later, the ship traveled back to the Original Universe and returned to the military camp.

Sitting cross-legged in his Training Room, Bai Muye connected his consciousness to the Military System in the Virtual Universe and entered the Military Merit Treasury.

The Military Merit Treasury interface had eight categories:

Secret Techniques, Weapons, Rare Treasures, Technological Weapons, Materials, Tools, Lifeforms, and Other Special Items.

"Let's look at weapons first..."

He clicked on the weapons category, and a long list of subcategories appeared: polearms, blades, swords, telepathic weapons...

A thought crossed his mind. He opened the telepathic weapons list, and a dense array of options appeared. In the top few rows, he spotted the Yan Shen Armament.

It cost 200,000 Military Merit!

He did the math. 200,000 Military Merit was worth two Hunyuan Units, or two trillion Cosmic Coins. He remembered that in the original story, Luo Feng had bought a Yan Shen Armament at auction for over three trillion Cosmic Coins—just over three Hunyuan Units. But that was an auction, where the price was inflated. Under normal circumstances, one of the Nine Divine Weapons of the Controller cost around three Hunyuan Units.

By that calculation, the price in the Military Merit Treasury is about a third lower than on the market...

Once he had a clearer idea of the prices, he opened the polearms list.

Phantom Spear, Ghost Butterfly Spear, Blood Demon Halberd, Xuanming Spear, Thunderclap Staff, Golden Light Dagger-Axe...

These were all Fifth-Order Force Weapons. He checked their prices. Most cost around 1,000 Military Merit, with some a little more or less depending on whether they were top-, middle-, or low-grade Fifth-Order weapons.

So the weapon Zhu Ang lent me was called the Wind Chaser Halberd. It really does cost less than 1,000 Military Merit. He checked the weapon he'd used for more than a decade. This one feels pretty good in my hands, but it's wind-aspected, so it doesn't suit the Lightning Law very well. I'd better trade it for something more suitable. I'll return the Wind Chaser Halberd to Zhu Ang...

He didn't like owing people favors. Now that he had a decent amount of Military Merit, there was no need to remain indebted to Zhu Ang.

The three Tiger Armor Zerg had been drained of energy, so they wouldn't make suitable gifts. I'll give him some of the other spoils I've collected over the years as interest.

After deciding, he began searching for a weapon he liked. Before long, his eyes settled on a weapon shaped like a long spear.

The God Slayer Spear was a top-grade Fifth-Order Force Weapon with a lightning attribute. Its entire body was silver-white, and strange, profound Lightning Secret Patterns were engraved along its shaft. It cost 1,350 Military Merit.

After he clicked to exchange for it, it would arrive that same day.

He put some of his earlier spoils along with the Wind Chaser Halberd into a Space Ring, then went to visit Zhu Ang.

Zhu Ang hadn't expected to get the weapon back after giving it away. But when Bai Muye explained that he'd already exchanged it for a weapon better suited to him, Zhu Ang could only collect it with an amused, helpless smile.

He checked what was inside the storage space. He said nothing, but he was quite pleased. The items weren't valuable, but at least they proved that the young man before him wasn't an ungrateful wretch. That was enough.

Taking the opportunity, Bai Muye asked Zhu Ang for leave and said he planned to go into seclusion for a while and wouldn't participate in the team's upcoming drills. Zhu Ang readily agreed, even telling him he could stay in seclusion longer. They needed to replenish quite a few troops this time and would likely have to wait for several batches to arrive.

Normally, a force would spend a decade or so in battle, then rest for more than ten years after returning. But this time, the rest period would probably be longer than usual. They might also join forces with another team. Zhu Ang said he would notify Bai Muye in advance.

Back in his Training Room, Bai Muye didn't use his Military Merit to exchange for manuals or anything else just yet. Instead, he brought himself to peak condition and prepared to begin practicing the Hunyuan Body Refining Technique.