Longzang

Chapter 94 Feedback (Bonus Chapter 5)

The Hall of Merit occupies a separate mountain peak, with one building on the mountainside and another on the summit. Several grand halls are connected on the mountainside, forming a magnificent complex. This is where matters concerning merits of those at the Foundation Establishment stage are handled; inquiries, verifications, and redemptions of merits must be conducted here. The halls are constantly bustling with activity as people come and go.

In the Taichu Palace, merit is the primary source of resources for the vast majority of disciples. Even scions of powerful families must find ways to acquire merit and exchange it for resources after establishing their Dao Foundation. Otherwise, relying entirely on their family for support would easily make them a laughingstock.

The list of merits is completely public, and everyone pays equal attention to those at the top and bottom. The middle section, however, receives little attention. Even the most shameless person can't stand being at the bottom of the list for too long, constantly being pointed at and criticized.

Furthermore, after the Dao Foundation is established, the resources required for cultivation increase dramatically, and many rare items become necessary. Unless it's a top-tier clan like the Bao or Cui families, even mid-sized families would struggle to afford the full expenses of a Dao Foundation cultivator. As for smaller families, supporting even one disciple to establish their Dao Foundation is already an immense effort.

Before entering the Hall of Merit, Wei Yuan checked his merits.

At this time, Wei Yuan was still ranked first on the ranking list, and because the golden axe and horse tack had already been given to the palace, his merit points were now over 14,000. However, Bao Yun, who was in second place, had quietly accumulated 11,000 merit points. In just two days, Bao Yun gained more than 3,000 merit points, clearly having fought another major battle. The third place went to a man named Xiao Chonglou, who suddenly appeared and amassed 7,000 merit points in one go. Just two days ago, Wei Yuan hadn't even seen this person at the top of the list. The Taichu Palace was indeed full of hidden talents.

However, this major test was already over for Wei Yuan. After all, he had penetrated deep into the Liao territory to kill the young master of Agula, and then fought back against Xueying, the Dharma Avatar, to escape, which was tantamount to slapping the entire Agula tribe in the face. If Wei Yuan were to appear on the front lines again, the frenzied Liao barbarians might not know what they would do. Although it was extremely dishonorable for a Dharma Avatar to launch a sneak attack on a junior, war between two tribes was not a martial arts competition, and there were no rules of king versus king or general versus general.

Having checked his merits, Wei Yuan felt more confident. He first went to the Immortal Silver Exchange Office and exchanged his seven thousand merits for Immortal Silver. Naturally, such a large sum of Immortal Silver couldn't be given away in kind directly; the Taoist handed Wei Yuan a beautiful piece of jade paper, bearing a trace of the Merit Hall's Taoist aura. With this paper, anyone could exchange seventy thousand taels of Immortal Silver at the Taichu Palace at any time.

Wei Yuan carefully put away the jade paper and breathed a sigh of relief. From now on, his debt was only 23.7 million taels, the last few taels had been rounded down, and he had taken a solid small step forward.

Wei Yuan's available merit points were instantly reduced by half, but the various leaderboards record the total merit points, so even if he used them all up, it wouldn't affect his ranking.

After settling his debts, Wei Yuan went to the place where he exchanged various cultivation techniques and Taoist arts, and asked the Taoist sitting behind the table, "Senior brother, do you have any body-forging techniques that can be practiced by ordinary people without talent?"

"Tell me in detail, who is it that wants to cultivate?"

“Being older and having never cultivated before, one’s foundation and physique are rather weak. It would be best to choose something that is easy to learn and has the functions of improving health and prolonging life,” Wei Yuan said.

After listening to Wei Yuan's words for a few moments, the Taoist priest understood everything and said, "Junior Brother is so young, it seems there are still mortals in your family?"

“I come from a poor family and only entered the Taichu Palace because my teacher valued me. No one else in my family cultivates.”

The Taoist nodded and said, "Your filial piety is commendable! However, once you forge your Dao foundation, your lifespan will exceed three hundred years, and a Dharma Aspect True Person can live for a thousand years. Once you embark on the path of cultivation, you will inevitably drift further and further away from your clan. In a hundred years, you will find that even your nephews and nieces have passed away before you. It is wise of you to come to the Hall of Merit to exchange for cultivation techniques. The basic body-forging methods of my Taichu Palace's Six Departments have very high requirements for foundation and talent. Those with slightly inferior physique will hardly make any progress even after decades of cultivation. Please wait a moment, I will go and find some for you."

A moment later, the Taoist returned and placed three jade papers in front of Wei Yuan, explaining them one by one: "This is the Pine and Crane Longevity Technique, which draws upon the essence of the pine and crane. Its advantage lies in its ease of entry; while forging muscles and tendons, it nourishes a wisp of Taoist power, resulting in improved health and longevity. However, this method progresses slowly, requiring years of painstaking effort and demanding a high level of mental discipline. Even after mastering it, one is not adept at combat or warfare. Once this technique is mastered to the point of complete body forging, one's lifespan can exceed one hundred years."

Wei Yuan's heart stirred; this cultivation method was indeed suitable for Wei Youcai. Anyway, the old man had nothing much to do; he could cultivate it slowly during his leisure time and live a long life.

The Taoist continued, "This is the Tiger Coiling Mountain Stance, which comes with a set of Tiger Saber Techniques and Tiger Walking Steps. Once mastered, one's physical strength will surpass that of most mediocre Body Forging techniques, making one adept at combat. However, this method requires bathing the body with medicine to heal hidden injuries, which is quite expensive. Furthermore, it is not suitable for those who are naturally weak to cultivate."

The third piece of jade paper contains a visualization image of high mountains and flowing water. This method is suitable for those with good fortune, but it is much less demanding and simpler than the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon image.

The three cultivation methods each had their own emphasis, and after a brief consideration, Wei Yuan decided to abandon the High Mountains and Flowing Water Diagram. He himself had been tormented by visualization techniques for ten years, and now he felt an innate aversion to any visualization method. Besides, what kind of fortune could he possibly find in that small place, Ye County?
These three cultivation techniques were either collected by the Taichu Palace from other minor sects, or were ancient methods that had been abridged and revised. Each technique only required one hundred merit points. However, when exchanging them, Wei Yuan hesitated for a moment, but still exchanged the High Mountains and Flowing Water Diagram along with it. Wei Yuan still vividly remembered the time when the unified examination in Fengyuan County attracted the attention of the three major immortal sects.

Although ten years have passed, according to what was learned in the course on fortune, the fortune accumulated by Feng Yuanjun should have already fallen upon these individuals, whose whereabouts are still unknown. Generally speaking, those who are blessed with good fortune will always encounter some opportunities and are unlikely to remain stuck in remote and impoverished areas forever.

However, Wei Yuan harbored a sliver of hope, thinking that perhaps someone in his family possessed some extraordinary fortune, making the practice of the visualization technique twice as effective and greatly beneficial for longevity. After exchanging the cultivation technique, the Taoist priest said, "Junior Brother, if it's for the sake of your elders, then instead of exchanging for the technique, you should give them some pills. There are many pills available for mortals in the pill section over there, most of which have the effect of prolonging life."

"They even have this kind of pill?"

“There have always been cultivators who want to promote their families and provide for their descendants. Many mortals do not have the talent for cultivation, but everyone can use pills. Therefore, there have always been far more people exchanging pills than exchanging cultivation techniques.”

Wei Yuan thanked the Taoist priest and followed his directions to the pill section. A moment later, he exchanged several bottles of longevity pills, which surprisingly cost him seven hundred merit points—far more expensive than the cultivation technique itself. Wei Yuan carefully stored the technique and pills, intending to send them home when someone from the palace went to Fengyuan County. Currently, Wei Yuan couldn't leave the Taichu Palace at will, but he could delegate these small tasks to others at the Task Hall for a low cost.

Having prepared cultivation techniques and elixirs for his family, Wei Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. After ten years of cultivation, he could finally do something for his family. Although Wei Youcai was old and unlikely to embark on the path of immortality, at least he could live for another ten years or so, and in his later years he could be healthy, eat and drink well, and that would be enough.

After finishing his family affairs, Wei Yuan went to the core exchange area.

The core exchange area was a separate hall, with nearly a hundred desks inside, each holding a jade tablet. At this moment, there were about thirty or forty people in the hall, each finding a desk and perusing the contents of their jade tablets.

Wei Yuan casually found an empty table, inserted his identity jade tablet into the groove on the table to activate it, and began to read it with his divine sense.

The information contained in the jade tablet was vast, divided into dozens of major categories such as elixirs, talismans, cultivation techniques, magical artifacts, magical treasures, and materials, with each major category containing numerous subcategories. For example, elixirs had seventeen subcategories, and each subcategory had further subcategories, down to the various specific elixirs. There were nearly a thousand different kinds of elixirs and poisons alone.

When searching for specific items, not only are there descriptions, but most also include images, and some top-tier items even possess a hint of Daoist charm for one to experience. For example, there is a celestial pill called the Sky-Supporting Creation Pill. This pill is said to have been left behind by ancient immortals. After consuming it, one can ascend to heaven in one step and directly cultivate a Dharma Form. However, the Dharma Form formed after consuming the pill is a fixed Sky-Supporting Azure Peak, ranking in the lower tier among all Dharma Forms.

When Wei Yuan saw the Sky-Supporting Creation Pill, he was startled. Could a Dharma Aspect True Person really achieve it by consuming a pill? Although it could only lead to a fixed low-grade Dharma Aspect, a Dharma Aspect was still a Dharma Aspect. Even the worst Dharma Aspect was stronger than most Dao Foundations. Of all the Dao Foundations in the Primordial Palace, less than half could achieve the Dharma Aspect.

The fact that simply taking the elixir could enable one to achieve a Dharma form made Wei Yuan feel very uncomfortable.

In Wei Yuan's mind, cultivating immortality was about defying the heavens, overcoming countless obstacles and hardships to gain immense power—that was the true meaning of cultivating immortality. Now, Wei Yuan felt that the celestial paradise he had painstakingly reached through tribulations was something someone else had easily attained by simply taking medicine.

Wei Yuan suppressed his discomfort and checked the exchange conditions for the Sky-Supporting Creation Pill. He found that it required Heavenly Merit Points. Heavenly Merit Points were a higher rank than ordinary merit points, obtainable only by completing tasks related to Dharma Form. Heavenly Merit Points could be exchanged for ordinary merit points, but ordinary merit points could not be exchanged for Heavenly Merit Points. Since the Sky-Supporting Creation Pill required Heavenly Merit Points, no matter how many merit points Wei Yuan possessed, he couldn't exchange for even one.

Wei Yuan put away the pills and then browsed the magical artifacts. Now that he had formed his Dao foundation, he needed a few suitable magical artifacts for protection.

Among magical artifacts, swords are the most numerous, forming a large category on their own; followed by bows and arrows, and crossbows, which are grouped together into one category; then there are other weapons.

As Wei Yuan was looking around, a golden axe suddenly caught his eye:
Divine Edge Slashing Axe: Nurtured for many years by the primordial spirit of a powerful alien race, it possesses three major functions: divine edge, sharp blade, and slashing power, making it a top-grade weapon of slaughter.

Isn't this the golden axe of the Liao clan's young master? Wei Yuan just exchanged it for his sect, and it's already in the exchange list? Then Wei Yuan glanced at the exchange price: 4,500 merit points.

Wei Yuan silently closed the category for magical artifacts, now deeply understanding that there was a reason why the Taichu Palace was so prosperous.

Suddenly, a major category caught Wei Yuan's eye: Boundary Stones.

(End of this chapter)