Merit Points

From Shrimp Whisker Grass to Fish Dragon Grass, and then to a fish dragon, this process is quite protracted and depends on the right time and favorable location. Often over decades, a radius of a thousand miles might not yield a single example. The Yi Mu Ju Ling Tang delivered by the mountain gate to Bai Ri Mansion is precisely meant to forcibly catalyze this process, artificially producing fish dragon grass. It's just that this method loses the innate endowment of breath; the fish dragon grass produced by this method loses its pneumatic resonance with its own kind and can never transform into a fish dragon. By the same token, if one interferes with the process of the fish dragon grass transforming into a fish dragon, even if one can ultimately obtain a single fish dragon, this fish dragon will also suffer from innate deficiency and find it hard to continue growing further.

"Speaking of which, it's truly a pity. These fish dragon grasses were plucked a bit too early by this junior. If those dozen or so stalks of fish dragon grass were allowed to grow for another several hundred years, leaving their auras to resonate and intersect, naturally gathering qi to be born, the fish dragon generated at that time could truly be considered supreme grade. Even if no one issued a bounty, simply dedicating it to the sect would yield over twenty-five hundred good deeds... Of course, that is once again something to be met with by chance, not sought by force."

By this point, the old daoist's meaning was already very clear. He looked at Jin Huan: "This is the principle of transformation of the fish dragon lineage. Mansion Lord Jin, what do you think?"

Inside and outside the pavilion was a bout of lengthy silence. Everyone was like a clay sculpture or a carved wooden figure, save for that slender fish dragon, carefree, swimming and wandering in the void, occasionally flicking its tail and sweeping past Jin Huan's eyes with an unspeakable irony.

To Jin Huan, this was tantamount to the most direct humiliation. As the supreme leader of Bai Ri Mansion, when had he ever suffered this kind of treatment? Right at this moment, the two juniors outside the pavilion both thought Jin Huan was going to fly into a rage, and that a direct rupture with the old daoist was not an impossible matter.

Yet the fact was not so simple. After a prolonged silence, Jin Huan finally spoke: "Senior Brother Yu speaks with reason... It is I who thought too simply of the matter."

Lu Yang managed to remain steady, but the two young people were already dumbfounded. When had they ever seen the dictatorial Great Mansion Lord Jin lower his head and admit his mistake?

To this, Yu Ci was not surprised at all. In fact, no matter anyone, as long as it was like him last night, seeing the divine powers displayed by the old daoist before him, they would harbor similar preparations. Furthermore, behind the old daoist stood the unfathomable Li Chen Sect!

However, although Jin Huan could not act wildly before the old daoist, he would by no means forget Yu Ci's share. A glance cast over a moment later made Yu Ci understand that as long as he stepped out of the gates of Zhixin Temple, this Great Mansion Lord Jin would definitely give him a hard time.

From this moment on, as far as Bai Ri Mansion was concerned, Yu Ci had risen from "prey" to "blood enemy."

This was indeed a rather remarkable upgrade!

Yu Ci gave a cold, dry laugh and remained seated without moving. Instead, Jin Huan rose to his full height and bid farewell to the old daoist: "Senior Brother Yu, today's matters are concluded, so I shall not disturb you further and will part ways right here. As for these two children..."

"Follow the rules."

These words were unfeeling, yet they came with more substance than any guarantee. Jin Huan nodded and walked straight out of the pavilion. The old daoist also motioned for the daoist priest who had previously led the way to come over and escort Jin Chuan and Kuang Yanqi to the guest rooms to rest. The storm previously stirred up by Yu Ci was thus raised high and put down gently.

The older folks were all fairly composed, but the youths found it hard to accept. Especially in Jin Chuan's view, his grand-uncle yielding this step was simply an utter humiliation. That old daoist could pass, but as for Yu Ci, who still sat securely on the fishing platform to this day, what kind of thing was he!

When the youth left with the guiding daoist priest, he still repeatedly looked back, burning the face of this detestable daoist into his heart.

Watching the few of them walk out of the courtyard, Yu Ci could not help but exhale in relief. At this moment, he heard the old daoist beside him sigh once more, identical to the previous one.

"Ruling a region for a century, deciding the life and death of a million people with a single word—how is it that a figure like this lacks even the spirit of his youth... What a pity!"

Hmph, what would he be like when he was full of spirit? In the end, Yu Ci did not ask this question. The old daoist merely uttered a single exclamation of sentiment, then turned his gaze back, letting it fall upon him: "The junior wishes to exchange for three hundred good deeds. What item does he desire?"

Yu Ci pondered, but did not reply directly, instead asking another question: "I wonder what kind of things the good deeds and news previously mentioned by Master Yu are?"

Hearing this, Old Daoist Yu Zhou smiled: "You speak of good deeds... The junior is truly astute. Very well, come with me."

With that, the old daoist took the lead and headed out of the gardens. Yu Ci collected the fish dragon from the pavilion and rose to follow.

From the western courtyard to the middle courtyard did not take very long either. Yu Ci followed the old daoist through halls and courtyards, arriving before a certain small hall in the third tier of the middle hall. The flow of people here was obviously much more than in other places. People were entering and exiting quite lively. Yu Ci looked up to see the horizontal plaque above the hall:

"Tongde Hall?"

The old daoist led him into the hall. Once inside, he saw that the layout of this hall was quite peculiar. It did not enshrine divine statues; there was only a long scroll hanging directly in the center with the four characters "Merit is boundless," followed by a spirit screen, and the walls on the left and right were both painted snowy white, yet covered densely with handwriting and diagrams.

Looking closely, these illustrations and texts were not written on, but rather a layer of constantly shifting streams of light shining upon the wall, each word glowing with a halo and exceptionally clear. Upon careful distinction, the walls on both sides were divided into four columns. On the first column to the left was written the character "Conquest," the second column was "Promulgate," the first column on the right was "Method," and the second column was "Object."

The old daoist stood directly beneath the long scroll of "Merit is boundless" and answered in a deep voice:

"The immortal Dao is vast and boundless, and the solitary traveler finds it difficult. People like us who pursue the Great Dao face the calamities of heaven and earth directly, and those who can achieve greatness are very few. Aside from needing self-cultivation and the stabilization of one's original mind, one must also strive for every resource to increase the odds of success. The so-called wealth, companion, method, and land are nothing more than this. However, heaven and earth are vast, and within one's lifetime, it is difficult to secure sufficient resources with the strength of a single person. Therefore, the sect established this Tongde Hall precisely for the sake of resource allocation among the sect's cultivators, and even inside and outside the sect. By using another's surplus to make up for my deficiency, we gather the strength of the entire sect to ascend to the Great Dao.

"To make different classes of resources easy to compare and trade, the sect quantifies all resources, taking 'good deeds' as the unit. Whether it is an object, a set of spell techniques, or a single matter, all can be converted into a certain number of good deeds and publicly posted within Tongde Hall for the disciples of the sect to know.

"These four columns on both sides each have their differences. The 'good deeds' news published by the sect to collect resources and temper disciples is classified under the 'Conquest Column' on the left; the rewards upon completion are higher, but the difficulty is also high. The 'good deeds' news published by individuals within the sect is classified under the 'Promulgate Column'; the rewards and difficulty vary. As for the two columns on the right, the 'Object Column' is the conversion exchange rate between various cultivation materials and 'good deeds,' while the 'Method Column' is the price of various cultivation techniques."

With his ears listening and his eyes watching, Yu Ci quickly understood the logic within and could not help sighing in wonder. So even within this cultivation sect that seemed aloof from worldly affairs, there was a place with such a heavy merchant aura. He glanced back, and the old daoist extended a hand in a hollow gesture, letting him look as closely as he pleased.

Since that was the case, Yu Ci stood on ceremony no further. He first walked a full circle before the four columns to observe their general outline, and then, according to his own needs, stopped beneath the method column.

During the few days he spent with Ye Tu in Sky Rift Valley, that kid, with his profound and solid theoretical foundation, had given him a lot of guidance, including that "concentric circle theory" which made him sigh in admiration. Beyond that, the youth had also reminded him to seize the opportunity to find a superior "longevity technique," as that was the correct path of cultivation.

The whimsical idea Ye Tu had once conceived of having him enter Half-Mountain Island ultimately failed to materialize, yet Yu Ci remembered the youth's advice. Especially half a month ago, when he accidentally used the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror to transform all the vital energy throughout his body into "Innate Qi," he discovered that Ye Tu's advice was truly the most pertinent possible.

He indeed lacked a true "longevity technique." Not to mention that still-trackless method of "refining and washing," even judging from the newly generated "impurities" of true qi every day, the "Nine Palaces Moon Bright True Return Marvelous Method" he had practiced for over a decade was clearly no longer suited to his current stage of circumstances.

Therefore, Yu Ci stood first beneath the method column.

The top three rows at the head of this column were all golden characters, arranged neatly and exceptionally clear. The black characters below flickered occasionally with the shifting light streams, but these top three rows had never shifted so much as a fraction. Looking at the topmost entry, the front was the name of the spell technique:

"Heavenly Mansion Profound Subtlety Penetrating Truth Nine Degrees Scripture"

Merely looking at the name of this scripture made Yu Ci's mind surge, and immediately he looked at the number of good deeds required for exchange behind it. But what met his eyes was not numbers at all, but two large characters: Boundless!

Beneath the "Heavenly Mansion Profound Subtlety Penetrating Truth Nine Degrees Scripture" was the "Nine Degrees True Text Form Refining Chapter," similarly suffused with the two characters "Boundless" as a suffix. The third one was somewhat better, labeled with the spell technique named "Flying Feather Concealed Form Heaven Ascending Method." It was no longer the despair-inducing "Boundless," but rather a concrete number: one hundred thousand!

Further down, the characters turned into ordinary black ink. The very first at the head remained a heavy hitter, being the "Taiqing Golden Liquid Divine Pill Formula," marked at a price of ten thousand. For Yu Ci, it remained an unreachable figure. Below that were still various pill formulas and pill methods, with prices consistently hovering around the ten thousand and eight thousand level—considered the top tier among the black ink entries.

Seeing these numbers, and then thinking of the three hundred good deeds still not yet in hand, Yu Ci did not know what his expression was right now, though it likely was not looking very good.

"The junior is very concerned about these spell techniques. Do you also wish for longevity?"

At some unknown time, Old Daoist Yu Zhou had appeared behind him. Yu Ci was not in the best mood and merely gave a brief "Yes."

"What grand spirit!"

The old daoist praised, but what followed was a calm statement of facts: "If you seek a longevity technique, these three hundred deeds are far from enough."

Yu Ci cracked a smile, yet still held a query: "Are all these golden and black ink entries longevity techniques?"

The old daoist replied: "These are the profound-penetrating spell techniques upon which our sect relies to establish itself in the world: the 'Heavenly Mansion Profound Subtlety Penetrating Truth Nine Degrees Scripture' is the general outline of our sect's cultivation, the 'Nine Degrees True Text Form Refining Chapter' is the secret method for transcending tribulations, and the 'Flying Feather Concealed Form Heaven Ascending Method' is the art of void stepping. When these three are combined and supplemented by the pill formulas, breathing techniques, and other methods below, it constitutes the complete set of longevity techniques you seek. Cultivating according to this, you will have the opportunity to cast off the shackles of the mortal husk and inquire into the Great Dao of longevity."

"Secret method for transcending tribulations? Art of void stepping? Pill formulas?"

Yu Ci seemed to have heard Ye Tu mention these things, but for a moment he could not remember clearly, so the old daoist explained for him:

"Pill formulas are precisely the methods of returning the elixir; void stepping arts enable cultivators to fly across the nine heavens and beyond domains, shedding shells and transforming forms; tribulation-transcending secret methods enable True Person cultivators who have already attained the Dao to survive heavenly jealousy calamity trials in order to seek abiding worldly longevity. Pill formulas, void stepping arts, and tribulation-transcending secret methods—these three are indispensable. Only when the three unite do we have the complete structure of a longevity technique.

"In the midst of this, there is also a requirement of 'self-consistency.' That is, the void stepping art must correspond to the attained returned elixir, and the tribulation-transcending secret method must also adapt to the True Person divine powers after achieving the Dao. Much like the Buddhist relics, which are equivalent to the returned elixir cultivation, yet it is difficult to coordinate them with the Xuanmen's void stepping art. This is to say that to make the pill formulas, void stepping art, and tribulation-transcending secret method progress step by step in harmony as one—that is precisely the Great Dao of cultivation..."

The old daoist explained quite clearly, yet Yu Ci listened with a face turning dark. According to what he said, if one wanted to acquire a true "longevity technique," one had to purchase all of the pill formulas, void stepping arts, and tribulation-transcending secret methods. Putting the pill formulas and void stepping arts aside, merely looking at the price of the tribulation-transcending secret method made it clear that this sort of thing was fundamentally pure bait, and would by no means be open to a rogue cultivator like him.

To attain a single longevity technique was actually difficult to this extent?

With the old daoist at his side, he said leisurely: "The difficulty of longevity—can it be known?"