30: Hall of Merit

"That's fantastic!" Lu Zhengfeng, Hua Chenan, and the others looked excited.

"Senior Brother, we heard that joining the Lingxu Pavilion comes with many benefits. Is that true?" the group continued to ask.

"That goes without saying. Who would come if there weren't any benefits? People are practically breaking down the door to get in." Senior Brother Cheng wore a knowing smile.

"Hehehe." Lu Zhengfeng let out a sly laugh.

"However, don't get the wrong idea. The Sect regulations are still in effect," Senior Brother Cheng warned. "The benefits aren't what you think they are."

"Take the Hundred Harvests Bureau, where Zhao Qiyang and his group are, for example."

"The Hundred Harvests Bureau is responsible for collecting the spirit field tax for the Spirit Herb Hall, which is one stalk of Mutated Rice per mu of spirit field."

"Many veteran Disciples often produce two stalks of Mutated Rice from one mu of spirit field, so the extra stalk has to be sold."

"Mutated Rice is a highly sought-after treasure. The Hundred Harvests Bureau often gets the first opportunity to acquire these stalks, and then they resell them to earn the price difference."

"This has been an unwritten rule in the Spirit Herb Hall for many years, and most Disciples will give the Hundred Harvests Bureau some Face."

Hearing this, the group looked enlightened. "So that's how it is."

"Senior Brother, but reselling a single stalk of Mutated Rice wouldn't earn that many Spirit Stones, right?" Hua Chenan asked.

"Indeed, one stalk of Mutated Rice doesn't earn much, but the Spirit Herb Hall has so many Disciples," Senior Brother Cheng replied.

"Suppose you earn one Spirit Stone per stalk of Mutated Rice; what about a hundred stalks? A thousand stalks?"

Lin Yan and the others didn't know exactly how many Disciples were in the Spirit Herb Hall, but they figured it couldn't be few; hundreds or even thousands were possible.

Even if they only earned one Spirit Stone per stalk of Mutated Rice, the Hundred Harvests Bureau could easily earn several thousand Spirit Stones a year.

"Hiss..." The group couldn't help but gasp.

"That really is a lucrative business. They've struck it rich!"

"No wonder everyone wants to join the Lingxu Pavilion."

"We must find a way!"

Lin Yan was also quite tempted.

He wouldn't be short on Mutated Rice in the future, but the difficulty lay in how to turn that Mutated Rice into Spirit Stones.

If he were to blatantly sell dozens of stalks of Mutated Rice every year, even a fool would see that something was wrong.

But if Lin Yan could master a channel like the Hundred Harvests Bureau, all his problems would be solved.

That involved trading hundreds, thousands, or even thousands of stalks of Mutated Rice annually; adding his few dozen would be no problem at all.

"I advise you not to be too happy just yet," Senior Brother Cheng poured cold water on them.

"The spots in the Lingxu Pavilion are extremely precious. It's very difficult to get in without any connections."

Hearing this, the group calmed down.

"We hope Senior Brother can point us in the right direction..." Lu Zhengfeng said with a grin.

"The spots for members of each division are in the hands of the Division Head. If you build good relationships early on with those elite Disciples who are expected to compete for the next Division Head position, you might have a chance to enter the Lingxu Pavilion in two years..."

"So that's it. Thank you for the advice, Senior Brother!"

"Senior Brother, you are truly like a second parent to me!" Lu Zhengfeng exclaimed dramatically.

"Haha, you kid, that's an exaggeration," Senior Brother Cheng laughed.

"Veteran Disciples all know these things. You've just been here for too short a time. Even if I didn't tell you, you would have naturally found out later."

"That's not the same. Because you told us, Senior Brother, we can prepare earlier..."

The group chatted for a while longer before reluctantly bidding farewell to Senior Brother Cheng.

"There are still many good people in the Spirit Herb Hall," Lu Zhengfeng remarked with emotion.

"Indeed."

"Let's go. The only place left is the Merit Hall. Let's go check it out."

As they spoke, the group arrived at the Spirit Herb Hall's Merit Hall.

In any department of the Sword Pavilion, rare resources must be exchanged using merit points.

For ordinary Disciples, the source of merit points is the Merit Hall.

Using Spirit Stones to buy merit points is something only the children of wealthy families do; it has nothing to do with commoners.

This Merit Hall is where Disciples accept missions. By completing missions, one can earn merit points.

People were coming and going; the crowd was dense.

Not only were there Qi Refinement Stage Disciples like Lin Yan who had just joined, but Foundation Establishment experts flying on swords were also frequently seen.

Walking through the front door, they saw a huge mission jade wall hanging inside the hall.

Various colors of light flowed across it, recording missions of different difficulty levels.

From gathering ordinary Spiritual Plants to cultivating rare spirit plants, and even going down the mountain to slay demons and defend regions.

All sorts of missions were available.

The five entered the Merit Hall and looked around. Other Disciples were in small groups, some whispering in discussion, others carefully examining the missions on the jade wall.

Lu Zhengfeng scratched his head and pointed at the lines of missions on the jade wall, saying:

"We came here mainly to accumulate some merit points to exchange for Cultivation Techniques and Spiritual Artifacts."

"Let's start with the simple ones, like cultivating Moon Spiritual Plants or Qi-Nourishing Grass. These are simple and safe."

"There's also the mission to gather hundred-year willow leaves, which is quite interesting. The mission location isn't far; it's at Ten Thousand Willow Peak, west of the Mountain Gate."

"I heard that someone was lucky enough to gather a thousand-year willow leaf, and that single leaf was worth dozens of Spirit Stones!"

Hua Chenan nodded in agreement. "That's right. Let's start with these simple missions. Although the Advanced missions in the Merit Hall earn more merit points, they are too dangerous."

"I heard at the market the day before yesterday that last month, a Foundation Establishment expert accepted a mission to escort spirit items, but ended up encountering an attack by demonic Cultivators halfway and almost lost their life."

Lin Yan stood to the side, silently watching the jade wall, but his gaze was drawn to a line of missions flickering with a special golden light:

Mission Name: Cultivate Sword Grass.

Mission Content: Cultivate one mature stalk of Sword Grass (a total of ten Sword Grass seeds provided).

Mission Reward: High amount of merit points (1,000 points), one copy of a Sword Dao handbook from a Fifth Realm Great Cultivator.

Mission Time Limit: One year.

Acceptor: (None yet)

Note: Sword Grass seeds are extremely precious. Anyone accepting this mission must use the operating rights of one mu of spirit field as collateral; it will be returned upon successful completion of the mission.

Lu Zhengfeng, Hua Chenan, and the other two followed Lin Yan's gaze and looked over, their expressions changing in shock.

"Hiss... Sword Grass?!" Lu Zhengfeng gasped. "That thing is extremely precious! To think there's a mission to cultivate Sword Grass here!"

Hua Chenan also said excitedly, "Shouldn't we accept this immediately?!"

The people around them saw their overjoyed expressions and looked as if they were watching fools.

"Youth is great; so naive and cute."

"These guys must be fools."

"They look like they've just joined; it's normal for them not to understand. Tsk, tsk."

Some people around them sneered.

But there were also kind-hearted people who spoke up to remind them:

"These Junior Brothers, look carefully. There are only ten Sword Grass seeds. Do you really think you can cultivate a mature stalk of Sword Grass?"

"May I ask, Senior Brother, is there some trick to this?" Lin Yan and the others quickly asked for advice.

The slightly older Disciple patiently explained: "Sword Grass can only grow normally in environments with strong Sword Dao Laws, such as the Sword Tomb of our Sword Pavilion!"

At the mention of the Sword Tomb, everyone present wore a solemn expression.

Lin Yan had also heard a little about the Sword Tomb; it was said to be the place where the great masters of the Sword Pavilion passed away, and it was very sacred.

"Without a special environment, Sword Grass can still grow, but it almost never reaches maturity," the older Disciple continued.

"Therefore, very few succeed in cultivating Sword Grass using Sword Grass seeds. Those who do succeed are either lucky or have enough seeds."

"There is another case: if one possesses extremely profound Sword Dao cultivation, it can also significantly increase the probability of success."

"I see you Junior Brothers are young; you don't look like those kinds of Sword Dao Prodigies..."

The people around them couldn't help but chime in: "Exactly. Junior Brothers, look, there are only ten seeds. Even if they are all viable seeds, the probability of success is probably less than one percent."

"Do you think you are the one-in-a-thousand lucky ones?"

"And look at the mission note; it requires the operating rights of one mu of spirit field as collateral. I reckon it's highly likely someone wants to swindle a mu of spirit field using ten Sword Grass seeds..."

"Watch your words. Whoever can obtain Sword Grass seeds is not an ordinary person; don't offend them."

"That's true."