Earning Merit

"Hahaha, splendid!" Zhan Yunfei burst into hearty laughter. He even managed to reach out and snatch the flying sword that had been pursuing them, which had lost all power and begun falling after its owner perished. On the other side, Yun Qing did not pause for a fraction of a second after killing that sword cultivator. Twisting his body, he accelerated with all his might, evading the sword strike launched by another enemy. In less than ten li, his speed surged to its limit. Leaving the flying sword chasing him far behind, he rapidly caught up to the sword cultivator who had unleashed it. Much like Tu Hong, this sword cultivator seemed skilled in flying sword melee combat, altering and redirecting his blade with extraordinary agility. Yet confronted with the momentum of Mach 2.7, Yun Qing chose to shatter all techniques with sheer force. As the two swords clashed, the enemy's flying sword was instantly sent flying and snapped in two by the terrifying velocity of the Zixiao sword. The sword qi that followed tore him to shreds in midair. For a sword cultivator, the single most critical attribute was speed. As long as one was fast enough, one held an insurmountable advantage in combat. Of course... Lethality could not lag behind either. Otherwise, if one's flying sword was shattered by an opponent's single strike in a head-on clash, even the greatest speed would be rendered useless. At present, however, the sword cultivators of the Xuanming Sect were clearly not powerful enough to land a solid blow on Yun Qing's flying sword, let alone shatter it. Thus, one step ahead meant staying ahead at every step. By the time Tu Hong and Zhang Lie caught up, a third enemy had already fallen under Yun Qing's blade. "Get in there!" "You can't hog all the merit for yourself!" Seeing this, the two plunged into the fray without hesitation. With them joining the battle, what had already been a dominant advantage turned into an absolute rout. The remaining three were swiftly put down one by one. Relying on their speed advantage, four against six—and having walked into an ambush without the backing of an Origin Spirit Great Cultivator—Yun Qing and his team secured a total victory over the six Xuanming Sect sword cultivators. "That felt great!" Tu Hong pumped his fist excitedly. "That Origin Spirit realm Great Cultivator is closing in!" Zhan Yunfei said quickly. "Let's go!" Yun Qing wasted no time either. Taking Zhan Yunfei with him, he broke through the air and sped off in the direction of Hall Master Bailu. Engaging enemy sword cultivators within range of their Origin Spirit Great Cultivator's divine mind was inherently a losing proposition. To chase down those six Xuanming Sect sword cultivators just now, they had covered over a hundred li. Meanwhile, the enemy Origin Spirit Great Cultivator had advanced a hundred li toward them as well. Combined, the Xuanming Sect Great Cultivator might now be less than six hundred li away. At such a distance... An Origin Spirit realm Great Cultivator's spirit refining methods were more than capable of interfering with them in every imaginable way—slowing their train of thought, dulling their reaction times, or even casting illusions to confuse their minds. In a lethal environment where combatants moved at several or even more than a dozen times the speed of sound, a momentary lapse of focus meant the difference between life and death. Consequently, the four retreated with absolute decisiveness. The Origin Spirit Great Cultivator pursued them briefly, but as the Heavenly Palace Great Cultivators above the Nine Heavens gradually reconnected with the area and the Nine Cauldrons Sect's Virtual Spirit Realm communications were restored, the pursuer was ultimately forced to withdraw in frustration. "The Zixiao Type 12 flying sword is truly phenomenal. It brought out the absolute maximum of my speed advantage," Yun Qing said exhilaratedly. "It's not just the speed. I felt like the power of my Grand Superior Perception Sword Art was amplified considerably as well..." Zhan Yunfei said, equally delighted. "That's the nature of a life-bound flying sword. To us, this blade is practically equivalent to one, so it naturally allows us to unleash our full potential," Zhang Lie said, then paused. "The only drawback is that its explosive power falls slightly short. A mid-grade or top-grade spirit artifact would probably be even better." "Mid-grade and top-grade spirit artifacts are fine, but their consumption is massive. If the enemy were willing to wear us down with sword cultivators at the qi refining sixth tier, how many strikes could we even unleash with a top-grade spirit artifact? This spirit sword is just right," Tu Hong said. "All right, let's head back. Having slain six enemies, every one of us will earn a share of merit." *** Hundred Refinements Sect. At that moment, several students stood gathered around a youth who looked to be in his twenties, their faces filled with envy. "Luo Qi, your cultivation speed is ridiculous!" "Yeah, didn't you just break through to the body refining fourth tier a month ago? How are you already at the body refining fifth tier?" "What's your qi refining aptitude like? Any plans to switch to qi refining?" Facing their questions and admiration, Luo Qi beamed. "My qi refining aptitude is thoroughly ordinary—only 31 points. In ancient times, that wouldn't have even registered as a heterogeneous spiritual root. The academy advised me against taking the qi refining path, which is why I chose to throw everything into body refining. Otherwise, I would've started refining qi into spirit long ago to develop divine sense and test into the Energy Department," he said with a smile. "Throwing everything into it or not, this is way too fast." A fellow student who was close with him couldn't help asking, "Did you whale it?" "Splurged a bit," Luo Qi nodded. "That can't be just a bit! Developing spirit intent in a single month... *Hiss!* Don't tell me you popped a Spirit Concentration Pill? Those can only be bought with spirit stones—a whole twelve spirit stones a bottle!" one disciple gasped. "Sharp eye. It really was a Spirit Concentration Pill." Luo Qi gave him a thumbs-up. "What are you all crowding around for? If you have time to chatter, you'd better spend it training." At that moment, Huang Yunqi walked in from outside with a stern expression. Clearly intimidated by her, the students quickly dispersed to resume their cultivation. The youth beside Luo Qi, however, answered, "Luo Qi has developed spirit intent, so we were congratulating him." "Spirit intent?" Huang Yunqi looked at Luo Qi in surprise. Whenever newcomers came to train at the Hundred Refinements Sect, Huang Yunqi and Yang Kaitai would observe them carefully for a period. If someone showed good talent, their tuition would be waived and they would be admitted into the inner sect. The most gifted could even be taken under Sect Master Zong Lian's wing as personal disciples. Yet this Luo Qi... His talent was utterly mediocre, and he had long been ruled out of inner sect admission. Both she and several junior brothers at the high-tier cultivator level had concluded that he would never step into the realm of high-tier cultivators in his lifetime. In the future... At best, he might become a martial arts hobby instructor or a head of security. With the right connections, he might join the peacekeeper brigade or become a market inspector. He would have no trouble putting food on the table, but wealth and prominence were entirely beyond his reach. How had he... Suddenly managed to cultivate spirit intent? From what the other students had said... A Spirit Concentration Pill? "Your father actually supports your cultivation that much, buying you a Spirit Concentration Pill?" Huang Yunqi asked, surprised. She was familiar with the family background of every student. Luo Qi's father was a senior artificer—an occupation that brought in only two or three spirit stones a year. After living expenses, whether he could save a single spirit stone in a year remained questionable. In other words, a bottle of Spirit Concentration Pills would take a full decade of savings for their family to afford. "My father has always supported my cultivation. In the past, we didn't have the money, so buying expensive pills was out of the question. But lately, their artifact refining institute has been performing exceptionally well. Because he earned some merit for a minor contribution, he was awarded a sizable bonus last month, and on his way back, he bought me a bottle of Spirit Concentration Pills to help me condense spirit intent," Luo Qi explained, his face radiant with smiles. "A bonus? A single bonus paid out more than a dozen spirit stones?" Huang Yunqi asked in disbelief. She managed the affairs of the Hundred Refinements Sect year-round, bustling about and wearing herself ragged over every matter large and small, yet her earnings barely amounted to around ten spirit stones a year. A senior artificer received over a dozen spirit stones in a single bonus? "Yes. Word is that practically every artificer received a bonus, and for some senior artificers, it was even twenty or thirty spirit stones," Luo Qi said yearningly. "Twenty or thirty spirit stones?! How could that be?!" Huang Yunqi couldn't help asking. "Which artifact refining institute does your father work at?" "He works at the Zixiao Institute." Luo Qi naturally possessed the vanity of youth, speaking without any hesitation or attempt to hide it. "The Zixiao Institute?!" Hearing those three words, the expression on Huang Yunqi's face froze solid. Only after a long while did she manage to ask, "Wasn't the Zixiao Institute on the verge of being demoted? How could they possibly have such performance?!" "That was in the past! According to my father, a new First Seat arrived, and he's remarkably capable. Under his leadership, the entire Zixiao Institute has been thriving, landing several consecutive large orders directly from the main sect." Luo Qi's tone carried deep respect. "I overheard my father and his colleagues saying that the Zixiao Institute has already been listed as an outstanding support-worthy entity in the Jiuxiao Domain. If they maintain this momentum, there's even hope of striving for the status of a main-sect-level key artifact refining institute in the future." "A main-sect-level key artifact refining institute..." Huang Yunqi's eyes widened, her face full of sheer incredulity. The Zixiao Institute?! A newly appointed First Seat?! Months ago, when Yaoguang had left the Hundred Refinements Sect and someone had respectfully addressed him as First Seat, she had felt conflicted and quietly had someone look into it, discovering that Yaoguang had taken up the post of First Seat at the Zixiao Institute. Though a tangle of mixed emotions had welled up inside her back then, the Zixiao Institute had been shrouded in rumors of demotion, so she had not completely lost her composure. Yet now... According to Luo Qi, not only had the Zixiao Institute escaped demotion, it was flourishing under Yaoguang's leadership?! Business had become so good that they could directly hand out over a dozen, or even tens of spirit stones to their senior artificers as rewards?! If they could distribute that many spirit stones in bonuses, just how immense were the Zixiao Institute's profits?! And how many spirit stones was Yaoguang, as First Seat, taking home?! For a moment, Huang Yunqi felt utterly dazed. By the time she snapped out of it, she had no thought to spare for Luo Qi or instructing the disciples. Hastily tapping into her personal connections and channels, she began inquiring about news concerning the Zixiao Institute. The Hundred Refinements Sect was, after all, a private organization backed by a Great Cultivator. As its de facto chief manager, Huang Yunqi possessed rather well-informed channels, and after some inquiries, she soon gathered the general picture. Last month, the bonuses paid to the artificers of the Zixiao Institute alone had reached two thousand spirit stones. The Zixiao Institute's profits were conservatively estimated to exceed fifteen thousand spirit stones. Depending on contributions, a First Seat could generally take anywhere from thirty to seventy percent of an institute's profits. In other words... As First Seat, Yaoguang had pocketed at least five thousand spirit stones?! What was more... According to her contact, that major order reportedly consisted of several batches. In other words, once the entire order was fulfilled, Yaoguang's earnings would amount to ten or twenty thousand spirit stones! Ten to twenty thousand spirit stones! What did that even mean?! As a Heavenly Being of the body refining eighth tier, she would have to work without eating or drinking for one or two thousand years to save up that much! And Yaoguang... Had done it in just a single year?! Having left their Hundred Refinements Sect, Yaoguang had achieved staggering success in merely a few months?! At the thought of this, regret surged through Huang Yunqi's heart. If only Yaoguang had not left the Hundred Refinements Sect, but remained with them... An income of ten to twenty thousand spirit stones would have multiplied the Hundred Refinements Sect's total revenue tenfold! When that happened, would their own earnings not have risen with the tide, reaching a hundred, or even hundreds of spirit stones a year? For a time, the eldest senior sister of the Hundred Refinements Sect stood frozen, utterly crestfallen.