Merit Scroll

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Merit Scroll (功德卷轴)
Alias(es)	Golden Finger 2 6
Affiliation	Bound to Qin Zheng; resides in his sea of consciousness 2 589
Occupation/Role	Appraises targets and items, records Merit, and refines or upgrades martial arts, cultivation methods, artifacts, and related rewards 2 185 416
Status	Active
First Appearance	Chapter 2

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Initial awakening and Merit interface	2 4	Awakens after Qin Zheng grasps the ghost-head saber; displays his lifespan, martial arts, Merit balance, upgrade costs, and the Merit reward for killing marked targets.
Martial-art and item detection	7 8 21	Identifies the High Monk Sarira’s Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill and later detects the Great Sun Golden Cicada Skill from a recorded manual.
Expanded Merit scale	71	Displays Merit in jin, liang, and qian while offering refinement of the Esoteric Awareness Mental Scripture.
Item-refinement reward listings	194 200 219	Begins listing specific refinement rewards, including talents, martial arts, Spiritual Roots, and optional Spiritual Energy extraction.
Innate and Acquired Merit tracking	369 374	Records Innate Merit separately from Acquired Merit and offers renewed entry to the Spiritual Secret Realm in exchange for Merit.
First documented metamorphosis: Traverse/Treading Through the Heavens	417 422	Purifies Pollution Qi into an unknown white Origin Qi, absorbs it, and gains its first Merit Art, allowing travel across the heavens and toward locations of linked divine-artifact fragments.
Second documented metamorphosis: Enlighten Dao Seek Essence	465 466	Absorbs five strands of Great Dao Origin Qi and gains a Merit Art for comprehending Dao essences within all things, including divine artifacts.
Third Merit Art: Yin-Yang Creation	498 503 556	A third Merit Art manifests after further Great Dao Origin Qi investment; it can seal the heavens and suppress all things, and is later listed as Yin-Yang Creation.
Revised self-record and temporal protection	543 547 577	Its display changes to record Qin Zheng’s Realm, Characteristics, Merit Arts, Treasures, and Merit Treasure Crystals. Its golden radiance protects Qin Zheng from a temporal repulsive force while he observes the River of Time.

Background / History

The Merit Scroll awakened within Qin Zheng’s sea of consciousness after he held the ghost-head saber. Its initial display showed his lifespan, the Ghost-head Saber Technique, no Merit, and the cost to upgrade the technique. Qin Zheng immediately recognized that it allowed Merit to be exchanged for direct martial progress. 2 6

It subsequently revealed the sins and potential Merit yield of execution targets, allowing Qin Zheng to identify Shi Yan as a deeply wicked man worth one tael and seven qian of Merit. Its rewards are based on a slain target’s sins rather than their strength, making evil but weak individuals potentially valuable sources of Merit. 2 21

As Qin Zheng’s cultivation expanded, the Scroll’s functions developed beyond martial-art upgrades. It could identify incomplete or contaminated techniques, examine demon cores and ancient objects, list potential refinement rewards, extract Spiritual Energy, and later record Innate Merit and Merit Treasure Crystals. 185 194 369 497

Its later metamorphoses were connected to purified Pollution Qi and Great Dao Origin Qi. These changes produced Merit Arts, beginning with inter-world traversal and later Dao-essence comprehension. 417 422 465 466

While travelling the River of Time, Qin Zheng witnesses the Scroll descend from the river’s source into his former Earthly Body. It changes that body into the appearance of Qin Zheng and bears the executioner’s palm mark; Qin Zheng concludes that the Scroll orchestrated his transmigration and altered his form. 577

Appearance

The Merit Scroll normally floats above Qin Zheng’s sea of consciousness, presenting information as lines of text. During major transformations, it radiates intense golden light; when its first Merit Art manifests, it appears as a heavy scroll slowly unfurling. 2 422

• Emits a gentle vibration when it detects a target, martial art, item, or available refinement. 2 185 416
• Can fill Qin Zheng’s sea of consciousness with golden light during metamorphoses. 417 465
• Can suspend and suppress dangerous objects beneath its radiance, including the Human Skin Scripture and the Shroud. 569 589

Abilities & Functions

Merit Appraisal

The Scroll identifies wicked individuals and displays the Merit Qin Zheng may receive for killing them.

• Merit valuation is determined by sinfulness rather than combat strength. 21
• It identified Shi Yan as “wicked and villainous,” with a reward of one tael and seven qian of Merit. 2
• After the souls bound inside the Legacy Spirit Pearl were released, Qin Zheng’s Merit increased by roughly one thousand jin; he attributes the gain to their liberation. 128

Refinement and Direct Advancement

The Scroll can refine discovered martial arts and objects, or directly upgrade abilities that Qin Zheng has already learned.

• Upgrading the Ghost-head Saber Technique floods Qin Zheng with saber memories and experience. 4
• It detects martial arts from manuals, sarira, demon cores, and other objects rather than requiring a conventional written inheritance. 8 21 62
• Refinement can yield martial arts, cultivation methods, talents, Spiritual Roots, pills, weapons, bloodlines, and other treasures. 194 200 383 416
• It can offer an optional Merit expenditure to extract Spiritual Energy from certain demon cores. 194 200 219
• It can transfer a refined technique to Qin Zheng’s clone for one strand of Innate Merit. 383

Hazard Analysis

The Scroll identifies incomplete and contaminated items, often warning Qin Zheng against forced refinement.

• It warns that forcibly refining the incomplete Spirit Subduing Qi Refining Method may be dangerous. 185
• It identifies contaminated objects such as the Legacy Spirit Pearl, Demonic Monk Sarira, Corpse Cloth Fragment, and Spiritual Ancient Dao Soldiers. 128 196 547
• It can list the rewards gained by purification, including Primordial Inheritance, Primordial Essence Blood, Sky Abyss Divine Arrow Dao, and fragmented memories. 547 570

Pollution Purification

The Scroll can consume Innate Merit to purify Pollution Qi.

• It expends ten thousand strands of Innate Merit to purify a wisp of black Pollution Qi into an unknown white Origin Qi. 417
• The purified Origin Qi enters the Scroll and triggers a metamorphosis. 417 422
• Great Dao Origin Qi can also be absorbed to trigger later metamorphoses and unlock additional Merit Arts. 465 466 498

Merit Art: Traverse the Heavens

Also rendered as Treading Through the Heavens, this was the Scroll’s first known Merit Art.

• Allows traversal across the boundless heavens and innumerable great realms. 422
• Can consume Merit to travel toward the locations of other fragments of a divine artifact. 422

Merit Art: Enlighten Dao Seek Essence

This Merit Art allows Qin Zheng to comprehend Dao essences contained within objects.

• Its description states that all things possess spirit and that the Three Thousand Great Daos carry all things. 466
• Qin Zheng uses it to comprehend the Dao essences within a Zen Staff and Demon Claw. 466
• It can be used to investigate memories and inheritance contained within polluted Spiritual Ancient Dao Soldiers, at a stated Merit Treasure Crystal cost. 547

Merit Art: Yin-Yang Creation

The Scroll’s third listed Merit Art.

• It grants an ability described as sealing the heavens and suppressing all things. 503
• It is formally listed among Qin Zheng’s Merit Arts by the time he reaches Legend Perfection. 556

Suppression and Temporal Protection

The Scroll can restrain hostile presences within Qin Zheng’s sea of consciousness and defend him from temporal interference.

• It suppresses the Human Skin Scripture after Qin Zheng stores it in his sea of consciousness. 569
• It rejects and suppresses Hou Shisan’s remnant will after the latter attempts to merge with it. 589
• Its golden light neutralizes the River of Time’s repulsive force while Qin Zheng revisits a past temporal node. 577

Relationships

• Qin Zheng — Primary host and user. The Scroll resides in his sea of consciousness, responds to his intent, records his status, and supplies the means for his rapid cultivation. 2 543
• Qin Zheng’s External Incarnation — The incarnation does not possess the Merit Scroll, leaving it unable to determine whether its own kills will generate Merit or to contact Qin Zheng’s main body through the Scroll. 378
• Great Dao Tree — Exchanges vital energy with Great Dao Origin Qi; Origin Qi that could nourish the Tree can instead be absorbed by the Scroll to produce new Merit Arts. 465
• Hou Shisan — His remnant will attempts to merge with the Scroll after sensing its temporal activity, but is rejected and placed under its suppression. 589