21: Merit Store

The moment Su Chen's consciousness sank into the Clan Luck Expedition, a storm about him was brewing in Jiang City in the real world.

Inside the training ground in the west of the city, concrete walls exploded with a roar, and rubble mixed with dust fell like rain.

A shirtless strong man shook his fist, his bronze-colored muscles still stained with wall dust.

He squinted at the screen showing Su Chen crushing He Xing Tian's head and sneered, "Killing Jiang City's number one genius? Does he even deserve to be called a genius?"

The screen's light flickered across the bulging veins on his arm, reflecting his disdain.

The young man in a suit standing beside him pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, his gaze behind the lenses heavy.

"He Xing Tian was indeed a fake; I knocked him down in three moves during the provincial competition back then.

But this Su Chen... he's got something."

His finger slid across a tablet, pulling up surveillance footage of Su Chen killing Shiji.

"Being able to instantly kill a peak Solid Spirit Realm demon beast, and also take He Xing Tian's Heavenly Pivot Meteorite Array head-on, he either took forbidden drugs or it's feedback from the Clan Luck Expedition."

"Lin Yan, who cares where he came from."

The strong man suddenly punched a nearby iron pillar, and with a loud clang, sparks flew.

"Just take him out."

"After all, I'm not like some useless person who just watched his own people get killed and didn't dare to say a thing."

In the corner, the young man in a trench coat clenched his fists; he couldn't remember how many times he had been mocked by people in his circle.

Before he finished speaking, a crisp whip kick swept over with a whoosh, striking the strong man's knee.

He stumbled, nearly falling to his knees.

When he turned around angrily, he saw a girl in a blue and white school uniform retracting her fair long leg, her ponytail swaying with the movement.

"Qiangzi, do you have anything other than muscles in your brain?"

The girl twirled a silver token between her fingers, which was the newly updated Merit System authentication token.

"Killing someone deducts a thousand merit points, which would take you three months of hunting demon beasts to earn back.

If you want to be eliminated by the times, then go ahead and act."

The strong man rubbed his knee and chuckled, "Just kidding."

The young man in the suit suddenly closed his tablet and said to the girl, "Ji Sisi, come with me to meet him."

A glint flashed in his eyes.

"Su Chen, right? Slapping the face of our Dao Hall Alliance... I don't care, but I won't allow anyone to break the rules."

Shen Zhou opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, he chose silence.

...

On the 23rd floor of an abandoned office building in the outskirts of Jiang City, the central air conditioning had long stopped, and only a few industrial fans creaked on the ceiling, stirring up dust throughout the room.

On the projection screen, a slow-motion video of He Xing Tian's head exploding played on a loop; viscous blood beads looked like ripe pomegranate seeds under the high-definition lens, and the sound of them splattering on the asphalt road was amplified by the microphone, echoing repeatedly in the empty room.

"Tsk, tsk, that technique is pretty clean."

The short-haired man in a work jacket chewed gum, his tactical backpack at his feet open, revealing layers of syringes inside.

"Our 'premium consumable' that we valued so much just became roadside trash."

The woman with gold-rimmed glasses pushed up her slipping frames, her fingers rapidly typing on a laptop.

Su Chen's student file, bank statements, and game top-up records popped up on the screen.

"Name: Su Chen, 21 years old, heir to the Su Corporation.

Jumped from no spiritual root to peak Spirit Sea Realm within 72 hours, suspected of receiving feedback from large in-game purchases."

The middle-aged man in the main seat suddenly laughed.

A rusty badge was pinned to his shirt collar, the two characters "Ruiners" blurred by cigarette burns.

"Little Glasses, this is called evolution.

Do you understand social Darwinism?

Resources should be tilted towards the capable.

I already said we shouldn't invest in He Xing Tian, that good-for-nothing."

He grabbed an energy drink from the table and took a big gulp, the sound of the can being crushed particularly harsh.

"It's been confirmed, this kid also defied the Security Department and even gave up his director position."

The short-haired man suddenly slammed the table.

"Isn't this the person we Ruiners are looking for?

Ruthless enough, has resources, and even anti-establishment!"

The man in the main seat threw the crushed can into a trash can full of cigarette butts.

"The higher-ups mean for us to bring the 'evolution plan' to discuss, promising him a 'New Human' position and sharing our 'Human-Plant Base' in Southeast Asia."

"If he doesn't accept our offer..."

"Then tie him to the 'Purification Chamber' and perform a live dissection.

I want to see exactly how much money he spent in the game and what opportunities he gained."

In the dust stirred up by the fans, the faces of several people revealed fanatical smiles, like a group of madmen staring at a new toy.

...

Not only in these two places, similar conversations were happening all over Jiang City.

In the meeting room of the Demon Hunting Association branch, a woman in a trench coat slapped Su Chen's data on the table.

"Becoming a cultivator comparable to the Solid Spirit Realm in a few days, this growth rate is abnormal.

I suspect he's in the top hundred of the top-up rankings, or even the top ten, it's not impossible."

....

Even in the temporary camp on the edge of the Mist Zone, several rogue cultivators who had just finished hunting demon beasts were discussing, "Have you heard? There's a rich second-generation named Su Chen who killed the genius from Yunshu Taoist Temple..."

"Hmph, a genius from this broken place, Jiang City, is nothing."

Someone spat out a cigarette butt.

"The 'Dragon Girl' from the province has long been in the Spirit Sea Realm, and it's said that on the first day of the server, her family in the game was almost promoted to seventh rank."

"Exactly, just small-time squabbles in a third-tier city.

Sigh, I wonder how to make the rebellious sons of my family obedient."

The discussions gradually subsided, and people quickly turned their attention back to the Clan Luck Expedition.

After all, the first three days of the server launch were the golden period for seizing resources, and no one wanted to waste time on a "regional genius."

No one expected that this young man, whom they regarded as "small-time squabbles," was at this moment sitting on the dragon head of the Taixu Emperor Dragon Boat, his fingertips sliding across a virtual panel.

As soon as Su Chen entered the game, he noticed a brand new "ღ" icon in the upper left corner of the interface, which was the Merit Shop updated at dawn.

With a thought, the panel instantly expanded, clearly displaying his current balance: 24491 points.

[Spirit Herb Garden (Basic): 2000 Merit Points, purchasable by eighth-rank families, Production +6.]

[Spirit Gathering Array (Basic): 2800 Merit Points, purchasable by eighth-rank families, Cultivation +8.]

[Body Tempering Pool (Basic): 3500 Merit Points, purchasable by eighth-rank families, Combat Power +7.]

[Spirit Beast Garden (Basic): 4000 Merit Points, purchasable by seventh-rank families (currently unavailable for purchase).]

[imperial decree: 100000 Merit Points, allows the family to bypass the imperial examination county-level test and directly advance to seventh-rank.]

The Merit Shop, like the VIP Shop, refreshed weekly, selling basic facilities needed for family development.

Su Chen's gaze swept over them, and without hesitation, he purchased all three facilities that boosted family attributes.

[Ding, purchase successful.

Current Merit balance is 12191 points.]

He then clicked on the family panel, and the attribute values had quietly updated:

[Family Level: Level 6 (Eighth-Rank Humble Family)]

[Combat Power]: 13 (Increases the effectiveness of family members' combat spells and slightly increases fighting spirit)

[Cultivation]: 14 (Increases the effectiveness of family members' breathing exercises and slightly improves comprehension)

[Luck]: 30 (Increases drop rate of feedback items and increases chance of encounters)

[Production]: 12 (Increases output of family minerals, elixirs, etc., and slightly improves quality)

Finally, his gaze fell on the imperial decree, and a glint flashed in his eyes.

For the past two days, he had been thinking about how to maximize the mission evaluation by advancing to a seventh-rank family.

Now, it seemed, this imperial decree was undoubtedly the best way.

Most families advanced to seventh-rank by completing tasks issued by the yamen, but there was also a very niche method: the imperial examination.

Those who advanced through the imperial examination would be recorded on the imperial roll, directly enjoying the Immortal Court's destiny, and announced throughout the Immortal Court, a world of difference from families only registered with local yamen.

"It seems I need to do more good deeds in reality to exchange for the imperial decree sooner," Su Chen mused.

The beast tide would arrive in three days; at that time, slaying fierce beasts and saving the common people would surely earn a massive amount of merit.

Closing the panel, Su Chen's divine sense extended beyond the scroll.

He saw Tantai Qinghuang, dressed in a palace gown and ruqun, sitting cross-legged with her back straight.

The girl had completely shed yesterday's negative state, exuding a sense of clarity as if breaking free from shackles.

At this moment, she was forming hand seals, attempting to unleash her newly awakened innate ability.

The space around her rippled like water waves, with her as the center.

The artifact spirit Little Girl floated in the air, smiling contentedly as the ripples washed over her.

Su Chen nodded slightly, secretly praising, "As expected of an Emperor's bloodline!"

Just relying on her newly awakened 10% bloodline, she could stir spatial ripples; this level was truly astonishing, comparable to a Void Breaking Realm expert.

He knew that among the three Great Emperors in the Tantai Family's ancestry, one specialized in the Dao of Space, and Tantai Qinghuang was clearly her direct descendant.

At this moment, Tantai Qinghuang sighed softly.

As a reborn Female Emperor, she knew better than anyone that awakening the family's Emperor's Blood was only the first step—without corresponding cultivation techniques, the path of cultivation would be twice the effort for half the result.

In her previous life, she joined a Holy Land, but as an outsider, she never obtained a cultivation technique suitable for her bloodline, so she could only piece things together and explore on her own.

If she rashly cultivated the techniques from her previous life, once her origins were exposed, it would surely bring disaster to her family.

"If only the Old Ancestor could bestow a cultivation technique..." This thought had just emerged when she forcibly suppressed it.

"Qinghuang, oh Qinghuang, you were a Quasi-Emperor in your previous life, how can you be so reliant on the Old Ancestor?"

The girl's pride from her previous life would not allow her to show such weakness.

"Even if the Old Ancestor possesses heaven-defying means, he is only a remnant soul at this moment; how can I trouble him further?"

Su Chen heard her inner thoughts clearly and couldn't help but smile.

At this moment, Tantai Qinghuang pondered for a moment, then respectfully spoke, "Old Ancestor, Bei Huang County is not far ahead.

Qinghuang has previously been admitted to the Great Xia Chongwen Immortal Academy; may Qinghuang be permitted two hours to select new cultivation techniques from the library?"

"Chongwen Immortal Academy?" Su Chen narrowed his eyes slightly.

He naturally knew this highest academy officially established by the Great Xia Immortal Dynasty, whose status superseded that of the private schools of various great families.

Students who graduated often directly entered the imperial court to hold important positions or became core talents eagerly sought after by various families, truly an excellent path for humble family disciples to change their fate.

In fact, this was also a means for the Immortal Court to absorb talented humble family disciples and prevent them from developing disloyal intentions.

Su Chen nodded in agreement.

Going to the Luo Family could wait a little, and besides, he remembered that such special locations often held hidden rewards.