Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace Main Altar.
Within a Hidden Cave Mystical Realm, treasures gleamed and clouds billowed with rosy hues. Suspended in mid-air were countless pearls, each the size of a large bowl, illuminating every corner of the vast space.
Rows of thick jade platforms, each about three feet wide and over thirty feet long, shone with a soft luster. Neatly arrayed, each platform held various items, numbering in the thousands, stretching beyond sight.
The resources stored here were undoubtedly rare and precious treasures, each invaluable and priceless in the outside world.
This was one of Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace's most crucial strategic secret vaults, its resources not to be used lightly unless the sect faced existential threats.
Walking through the aisles between the jade platforms, Sect Master Mu Yinghua moved gracefully, her figure enveloped in radiant light, wearing a resplendent red palace dress, her face obscured by the dazzling aura.
Yu Lingzhou and Yueyi Heavenly Lord followed silently, lips pressed tightly shut.
"Perhaps it won't be long before we have to spend these vital reserves like water," Mu Yinghua's voice echoed with a tinge of melancholy.
Yu Lingzhou scoffed, unconcerned, "If we must spend, then so be it. Out with the old, in with the new! As long as it revives our sect and continues the Dao Lineage, what treasures can't we acquire later? Being miserly leads nowhere good. Is it better to hoard our wealth only to compensate our enemies in the end?"
"Indeed, I was merely expressing my thoughts," Mu Yinghua replied with a smile, pausing before a platform stacked with translucent jade boxes, each about three feet in length and a foot in height and width.
She reached out, took a box, and opened it to reveal fist-sized, golden lotus-shaped crystals, pure as water and crystal clear, with faint golden-purple clouds swirling around them, forming auspicious cloud shapes.
Gazing at the crystals, one felt an indescribable sense of ancient solitude yet vibrant life, an aura of supreme Dao Rhyme that commanded involuntary respect and worship.
These were Heavenly Merits.
As the name suggests, only those who have made significant contributions to the cosmos receive such rewards from the heavens, unattainable by ordinary means.
The Heavenly Merits stored here were accumulated by generations of Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace's mighty cultivators, sealed within these crystals as strategic reserves, not to be used without special cause.
Heavenly Merits had many uses, primarily for cultivation advancement, healing, improving physique and talent through the Book of Changes, alchemy, and divination.
For cultivators, there's hardly any trouble that a vast amount of Heavenly Merits can't solve; if there is, it's simply because there aren't enough Merits.
"The amount is still too little; it's not nearly enough," Mu Yinghua sighed softly. "To restore that person to a state capable of action, we'd need at least ten billion Merits, and to fully return to peak strength, ten times that amount!"
Yu Lingzhou and Yueyi Heavenly Lord were silent, ten billion Heavenly Merits already an astronomical figure. The sect's entire stockpile didn't even come close to a tenth of that, and even the most prosperous Supreme Dao Lineages would struggle to gather such resources.
As for a hundred billion Merits, that was unthinkable, perhaps only the highest Dao Courts and descendants of Ancient Divine Beasts could possess such wealth.
"Can we send people to purchase more?" Yueyi Heavenly Lord asked. "Including the top hundred merchants, trading families, and market alliances in The Great Void, we'll take as much as we can get. Can we gather enough?"
Though Heavenly Merits were exorbitantly priced, Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace had recently acquired a vast array of rare resources from the Misty Illusion Secret Realm, which could be secretly sold or bartered.
Mu Yinghua shook her head slightly, "While feasible, the amount we can gather won't be substantial. This item is in high demand, needed by all major sects and Dao Lineages, and supply is quite limited, so…"
In The Great Void's list of special strategic resources, Heavenly Merits were among the top, theoretically capable of elevating a cultivator to the Quasi Holy Emperor level, or even the legendary Harmony Supreme, provided there were enough Merits.
"Let's try anyway, gather what we can," Yu Lingzhou suggested. "Additionally, with the resurgence of the Magic Clan in The Great Void, if we mobilize our disciples to eliminate those beings, we might collect some Merits, though it will take time and may not be immediate."
Mu Yinghua nodded, "Alright, we can use these methods. It's a pity the Dao Court's higher-ups refuse to lend us Merits for our urgent needs. Qinghuan Emperor's attitude has softened recently, but the conditions are too harsh, so I refused."
"What conditions?"
"She wants us to hand over Qing Muling. How could we agree to that?"
"That's outrageous!"
Yu Lingzhou was furious; this would completely sever Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace's hopes for resurgence. Not even for ten billion Merits, nor the entire Dao Court, would they agree to such a trade!
Yueyi Heavenly Lord sneered, "If she's going to be so unreasonable, then there's no need to negotiate. We just need to focus on nurturing Qing Muling quickly. We'll solve this problem in time without coveting the Dao Court's charity."
Mu Yinghua nodded, then spoke with a hint of helplessness, "It's a pity our Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace is a female cultivator sect. Most of our high-end resources are tailored for female disciples and unsuitable for male cultivators. Otherwise, Qing Muling would already be at the Fate Realm."
"Sometimes I wish he were a girl; it would save us all this trouble!"
Yu Lingzhou chuckled, "If he were a girl, the sect would just have another promising Saintess in line. How could we then benefit those young ladies?"
"Exactly!" Yueyi Heavenly Lord added, "Qing Muling's entry into our sect is thanks to you, Sect Master, and perhaps it's also destiny. With him, we just need to wait a bit longer, a small price the sect can afford."
Mu Yinghua smiled brightly, "Fortunately, our recent secret operation was successful. We've acquired resources suitable for male cultivators, and Luo Huan has already delivered them to him. I believe he will bring us more surprises soon."
***
Seven days and nights later.
Qing Muling finally emerged from the secret chamber with Luo Huan, the Senior Sister radiant like a blooming flower.
Despite consuming several pills to restore his vitality, Qing Muling still looked somewhat haggard.
In the inner study, Luo Huan handed him a Space Bracelet, saying softly, "These are the resources Sect Master prepared for you; it should be enough for a while."
Qing Muling examined the contents: bottles of pills, various spirit wines, high-grade ingredients, and cores of high-level beasts, many acquired at great expense or through favors from allied sects.
"Sect Master has gone to great lengths."
Qing Muling sighed, taking out an exquisite jade pill bottle from the bracelet and swallowing a Phoenix Glow Heaven-Mending Pill on the spot.
"These pills are excellent, but you shouldn't consume them too often. With your current cultivation level, Junior Brother, about two a month should suffice."
"Understood."
Qing Muling replied, knowing that while he could continue to take the pill, its effect would be somewhat diminished, and his innate Harmony Spirit Seed would also absorb some of the essence.
Even with ample resources, assimilating and converting them into personal cultivation was not instantaneous; it required time to digest and adapt. Of course, this was still tens to hundreds of times faster than the arduous process of meditative cultivation and refining the body.
From the Understanding Mystery Realm to the Fate Realm, the most crucial cultivation resources for cultivators are various pills, which provide abundant vitality to refine the body, strengthen the Divine Soul, and elevate their cultivation level.
Once reaching the Elemental Immortal realm, reliance on ordinary pills significantly decreases, except for those with unique effects or of very high grades. Most cultivators can draw essence directly from the vast void to replenish and enhance their cultivation.
Luo Huan sat in Qing Muling's lap, enveloping him in her fragrance, and after checking the state of his meridians, she asked, "You're now at the seventh level of the True Person Realm, close to the True One Realm, right? Can you break through within half a year?"
"Probably," Qing Muling mused. "With abundant resources and regular dual cultivation with you, Senior Sister, I could advance even faster if not for deliberately stabilizing my foundation."
"That's good to hear!" Luo Huan beamed, her eyes curving like crescents. With her Junior Brother by her side, her path ahead seemed bright, and catching up to Yueyi Heavenly Lord's level was no longer a mere fantasy.
"Since your cultivation is complete, let's find a suitable place to help you transcend your heavenly tribulation," Qing Muling suggested.
"Agreed, let's settle on that."
Luo Huan joyfully accepted, soon to become the second core disciple of the new generation to achieve the Elemental Immortal realm, following the Eldest Senior Sister.
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan