Longzang

Chapter 146 Hall of Merit

The young cultivator awoke from his coma, and the first thing he saw was Zhang Sheng's face.

He was so excited that he tried to sit up, but his whole body ached and he felt weak and sore, so he fell back down.

At this moment, Wei Yuan's face appeared in his field of vision again, and he said, "Don't move, the wound hasn't been treated yet."

The young cultivator looked around and saw Ji Liuli, Bao Yun, and Xiao Yu. He paused for a moment and asked, "What are you all doing here?"

"Senior Brother Sun, what happened to you? Who hurt you? Who was it?" Zhang Sheng asked.

The young cultivator was none other than Sun Yu, whom Wei Yuan had first met during the Immortal Sect's unified examination. Unexpectedly, upon their reunion, Sun Yu was being hunted down across thousands of miles and was critically injured and on the verge of death.

When Zhang Sheng asked, Sun Yu recalled that nightmarish scene, his body trembling slightly, and said, "My master led a few of us disciples on a secret journey westward, saying we were to escort something and give us some experience. But we were ambushed at the border of the Western Regions, and my master was surrounded by three Dharma Forms. Before she used a secret technique to send me away, I saw her self-destruct her Dharma Form..."

Zhang Sheng and Ji Liuli were both shocked. Ning Xi Zhenren had been famous for a long time, always kind and well-liked. Zhang Sheng had received the Li Quan San as a gift, which restored his Daoist power, but he never expected him to perish like this.

"Someone has betrayed the sect and leaked Master's whereabouts!" Sun Yu clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white, and gritted his teeth, saying, "It's one of my fellow disciples! Wait until I return to the sect..."

Sun Yu didn't continue speaking; instead, he calmed down. Such a deep-seated hatred was enough to keep in his heart; the calmer he was, the deeper the memory would be.

Wei Yuan said, "I've captured two of the men who were chasing you. After interrogating them thoroughly, we should be able to find out their identities."

Sun Yu nodded, then looked down at his wounds. He had countless wounds, large and small, but the main one was a knife wound on his chest and abdomen that not only severed several ribs but also cut open parts of several internal organs.

At the time, Sun Yu was fleeing from the pursuit and only had time to briefly seal the wound. Now the wound has been reopened, and Wei Yuan is treating the dead flesh in the wound.

Sun Yu, who came from the Xuanming Palace, felt a surge of vitality flowing into his body. Many pieces of flesh that were close to death began to grow again. He exclaimed in surprise, "Is this the power of life? No, the power of life isn't this strong."

“The wood element generates the mysterious element; this is a characteristic of this realm,” Wei Yuan said.

"No wonder... Hey, you cut off the mark, damaging the original muscle structure!" Sun Yu subconsciously began to instruct Wei Yuan on his medical skills. That cut was off by the thickness of two hairs—it was simply unacceptable! If Sun Yu had made that cut, and Ning Xi Zhenren were still alive, she would probably have been cursing him for days.

Wei Yuan was immediately embarrassed, as he had thought his medical skills were already quite good.

He made another cut, and this time Sun Yu couldn't hold back any longer. He took the knife from Wei Yuan's hand, flipped open his own belly with one hand, and pointed at it with the tip of the knife with the other, saying, "There's a very thin blood vessel here, and several tendons behind it. It's very easy to sever it if you cut like this, do you see?"

In Xu Wenwu's world, these tendons and ligaments are called nerves.

Seeing Sun Yu cut open the intact organ, pick out the tiny blood vessel, and show him the veins behind it that were thinner than a hair, Wei Yuan felt a chill run down his spine. He really wanted to say that the organ was fine and undamaged.

Sun Yu plunged the knife into his liver again.

Wei Yuan was taken aback and hurriedly said, "Uncle-Master! We can learn medicine later!"

Sun Yu ignored Wei Yuan, plunged half a knife into Wei Yuan's liver, twisted it a couple of times, and then slowly pulled it out, picking up a small round bead from the tip of the knife. His face paled slightly as he said, "This was given to Wei Yuan by the Palace Master, and it was also something my master escorted. He entrusted it to me before he died. I was afraid of losing it, so I hid it well."

Zhang Sheng reached out and took the round bead, saying, "The item has arrived. Focus on healing your injuries first. Whether it's fighting the enemy or seeking revenge, you need to get better first."

Sun Yu nodded, lay down, and slowly closed his eyes. Having struggled between life and death for many days, and finally fulfilling his master's dying wish, Sun Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to rest for a while. When he woke up again, his injuries should have healed.

Sun Yu had barely closed his eyes when he opened them again: "...Your cut went in half a degree deeper; there are three blood vessels below..."

A moment later.

"...It's just a piece of dead meat, how come you're still not done after three cuts? Can't you just cut it cleanly in one go? At this rate, you'll probably be cutting until tomorrow morning..."

A moment later.

"Boy, you've severed eleven of my tendons. Hasn't your master taught you how to cut people before? Oh, you're not from the Xuanming Palace, never mind..."

At last.

"Give me the knife, I'll do it myself!"

……

Wei Yuan watched as Sun Yu fell into a deep sleep, carefully covered him with a blanket, maintained the Jia Mu Sheng Xuan state, and then left the room.

Zhang Sheng and the others waited outside. When Wei Yuan came out, they said, "People from Xuanming Hall are all like this. You'll get used to it. Actually, Senior Brother Sun and True Person Ningxi are usually very nice people. You just can't discuss medical techniques with them. Once you talk about medical techniques, they become a completely different person. Next time you treat his injury, just knock him unconscious."

Zhang Sheng stretched out his hand, revealing a round, transparent bead in his palm, inside which a small palace floated gently. Zhang Sheng said, "This was bestowed upon you by the palace. See where you should put it. But the palace actually bestowed this too; no wonder those people wanted to surround and kill Ningxi Zhenren."

"What is this?" Wei Yuan asked. "The Hall of Merit, or more precisely, a subsidiary hall of the Hall of Merit," Zhang Sheng replied.

Wei Yuan took the round bead and used his divine sense to probe it, and he knew how to use it.

The Hall of Merit in the Primordial Palace has seven subsidiary halls, which are actually part of the same set of magical artifacts as the main hall, and are undoubtedly items belonging to immortals. Merit can be exchanged even from thousands of miles away in the subsidiary halls, although only a small number of items can be exchanged at a time, and high-grade treasures cannot be exchanged, but it is still an incredible supernatural power.

The sub-palace in Wei Yuan's possession is the weakest among the sub-palaces, and currently it can only exchange for treasures at the initial stage of the Dharma Aspect level.

With this subsidiary hall, there is a constant stream of support, even if the quantity is very limited, its significance is immense. It's like sending treasures from the main hall across millions of miles into Wei Yuan's hands out of thin air; only an immortal could accomplish such power.

Wei Yuan asked cautiously, "Master, this thing must be very expensive, right?"

Zhang Sheng said, "It should be a bit more expensive than Qingming."

Wei Yuan dared not ask any more questions. After thinking it over, he came to the original main hall, activated the round bead, and a small hall, about two zhang square, appeared on the main hall, just covering Qingming below.

Wei Yuan gently pushed open the palace door and entered the Hall of Merit. The hall was not large. At the far end stood a white laurel tree with white-gold leaves. To the left of the hall was a jade table with a jade tablet on it, exactly the same style as the one in the main hall. However, while there were hundreds of jade tables in the main hall, there was only one here.

To the right of the hall is an incense table, flanked by candlesticks, with a four-legged tray in the center, and above the incense table is a portrait of the patriarch.

The laurel tree in the center is the core of the Hall of Merit. It bears a fruit every three days. If you want to exchange for something, the fruit will transform into that item.

The jade tablet on the left is connected to the main hall, allowing you to search for all items available for exchange in the main hall. The incense table on the right is where you can offer sacrifices; offerings can be various items containing the primordial energy of heaven and earth or imbued with good fortune.

Ji Liuli and the others also entered the hall. The Hall of Merit was not large; it was almost too small for five people to stand in. At this moment, everyone sensed that the merit books they carried had changed.

With the establishment of the Hall of Merit and Merit, the Register of Merit and Merit can be updated in real time again.

Wei Yuan took out the merit book, opened it, and saw that he had accumulated more than 15,000 merits. The Taichu Palace currently has more than 9,900 Dao Foundation cultivators, and Wei Yuan ranks 8,900th.

Actually, Wei Yuan's ranking isn't low, considering it's the overall merit list, and some Foundation Establishment cultivators have accumulated merits for over two hundred years.

Wei Yuan had been cultivating for the past ten years, and only recently completed his apprenticeship during the major examination. He began to accumulate a lot of merits and his ranking jumped ahead of thousands of people.

Now that the merit list had been updated, Wei Yuan took a look at the others. Xiao Yu had 23,000 merits, ranking 6,300th, while Bao Yun had 29,000 merits, ranking 4,400th.

Xiao Yu also took out her merit book and immediately located Wei Yuan. She then became reserved and said, "With the Merit Hall, it will be much easier to exchange for whatever we want in the future. However, it's only once every three days, so the initial opportunities are a bit limited. Or how about we exchange them according to the order of the merit ranking?"

“That’s only right.” Wei Yuan nodded. The Hall of Merit wasn’t just for his use; all disciples of the Primordial Palace in the Azure Nether Realm could use it.

Bao Yun looked outside the hall, pretending not to know Xiao Yu.

At this moment, Wei Yuan was struggling to flip forward, trying to see where his master and senior sister were. Just then, the merit book in his hand suddenly emitted a layer of purple light, then the list blurred, and Wei Yuan's name disappeared from its original place.

When Xiaoyu saw the purple light, an ominous premonition suddenly rose in her heart. She stared intently at the merit book in her hand, and sure enough, she could no longer find Wei Yuan! She turned the pages one by one, and the more she turned, the heavier her mood became.

At this moment, his name reappeared on the merit book in Wei Yuan's hand, only now it had turned light purple.

Wei Yuan, ranked 150th out of 1170 in the Heavenly Merit system.

At this moment, Wei Yuan also saw the names of Zhang Sheng and Ji Liuli, both of whom were in the top 100, with Ji Liuli ranking higher and Zhang Sheng lower.

According to the rules of the Primordial Palace, killing the weakest Dharma Aspect grants 500 Heavenly Merits. However, on the Merit Ranking, as long as one's Heavenly Merits exceed 500, ranking is based solely on Heavenly Merits, disregarding Merit Points.

Wei Yuan had already killed a Dharma Aspect and a Great Shaman, primarily using Immortal Lord techniques. However, after evaluation, the Hall of Merit still awarded Wei Yuan more than half the merit. If anyone else had used the same Immortal Lord techniques, they wouldn't have been able to save Xu Guanwen and the Great Shaman.

Most of the merit from killing the second great shaman went to Zhang Sheng, which was only natural, since Zhang Sheng had cut off nine and a half of the lizard's ten lives. Then Wei Yuan finished off the lizard, and his merit was comparable to that of Ji Liuli and Bao Yun.

Wei Yuan glanced at Bao Yun's information again. After this update, her Heavenly Merit was over three hundred. When they killed the Lizard Great Witch, the three of them each gained fifty Heavenly Merit. It seemed that Bao Yun had quietly harmed quite a few Dharma Aspects elsewhere.

Xiao Yu also participated in slaying the Great Witch, so her current Heavenly Merit is ten.

Xiaoyu closed the manual without making a sound and said casually, "I still have a sword to finish forging, so I'll be going now."

Wei Yuan said to Xiao Yu's retreating figure, "Is there anything you urgently need to change? I can let you have it."

Xiaoyu ignored him and walked even faster.

(End of this chapter)