Chapter 43

“Cluck, cluck, cluck!”

Upon hearing the sound of the gate opening, four little hens immediately dashed out of the coop.

They surrounded Wang Chen, who had just returned home.

Wang Chen squatted down and stroked each of them.

Ever since Bai had eloped with her husband, he no longer had a cuddly pet to stroke, so he made do with these few hens.

It helped to relax his tightly wound nerves.

Then he added grain and bran to the feeding trough.

Watching the hens scramble for food, Wang Chen broke into a gentle smile.

Whether he could eat boiled eggs, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, steamed egg custard, or omelet rice in the future all depended on them.

It wasn’t that Wang Chen coveted food.

The path to immortality was long and difficult; without some pleasures in life, how excruciating it would be!

He considered himself quite lucky, actually.

Out of the nine members of the Yi Ten Defense Area’s fourth Night Patrol Team, only four returned after the battle.

One among them had lost an arm.

Wang Chen had escaped from the jaws of death unscathed and even gained some battle achievements—what was there to complain about?

Previously, while in the Defense Area, he overheard rumors that the outskirts of the Outer Mountain Gate had been massively invaded by the Grey Eye Thieves. Not only had many Night Patrol Teams suffered heavy losses, but numerous farmers had also been raided.

The exact casualties were unknown, but they must have been severe.

At least Wang Chen’s home was safe and sound.

But despite his relief, he couldn’t shake off the deep sense of crisis festering inside him.

The sudden disaster of the Earth Rhinoceros Beetle, the baffling conscription, the invasion of the Grey Eye Thieves, not to mention the appearance of the Evil Wraith.

He remembered the warning given to him by the white rat.

Wang Chen deeply felt that this place was no longer safe!

The problem was he knew the danger, but he had no better option.

Ultimately, it all boiled down to his own lack of strength!

Sitting in the meditation room, Wang Chen summoned the Immortal Cultivation panel.

Apart from his main cultivation technique, the Five Elements Skill, and the auxiliary Heavenly Dragon Vajra Method, he had now mastered nine skills.

Of these, Mighty Strength Technique, Cloud Rain Jue, Spiritual Perception Technique, Vajra Fist, and Spirit Light Shield Armor had all reached Mastery Level.

The Fire Crow Technique was just at the entry-level, while his strongest, the Geng Metal Finger, had reached Great Achievement.

In terms of spell characteristics, he had attack, defense, and support.

But what he lacked was a fleeing technique.

Plainly speaking, Wang Chen had a deficiency in escaping.

Although he could use the Armor and Horse talisman, what compared to mastering a powerful fleeing technique?

Previously, he was too embarrassed by his lack of funds to buy fleeing techniques to practice.

Now, he had some capital.

Wang Chen pondered carefully and soon made a decision.

Then he checked the virtue section in the Immortal Cultivation panel.

[Heavenly Merit (Change Fate): 10]

[Human Virtue (Breaking Threshold): 39]

Eliminating an Evil Wraith had earned him 25 Human Virtue points, which undoubtedly provided more ammunition for upgrading his skills.

Heavenly Merit had increased by 6 points, reaching a two-digit figure.

Needless to say, these 6 points of Heavenly Merit must’ve come from killing those Grey Eye Thief Cultivators.

Just like that Traveling Merchant!

And these 10 points of Heavenly Merit just gave Wang Chen the chance to enhance either his Root Bone or Comprehension.

After some thought, he added it to his Root Bone!

[Root Bone: 4]

4 points, which was double the initial attribute points!

Wang Chen felt greatly comforted.

The Root Bone could be said to be the most important attribute for a Cultivator, decided by one’s Innate nature.

To increase Root Bone, one had to acquire top-tier heavenly and earthly treasures, like the Ten-Thousand-Year Vermilion Fruit, to change their destiny.

Additionally, during the condensation of the Golden Core at the Purple Mansion, there was also an opportunity to reshape one’s Root Bone.

But the Golden Core must be of the third grade or above.

The problem is that those who can condense a third-grade or higher Golden Core, naturally wouldn’t have poor Root Bone!

From this, one can see how against the heavens the Immortal Cultivation panel is.

Wang Chen estimated that if he were to test his Root Bone now, he would probably receive a “below average” rating.

Of course, Wang Chen would not actually go to test his Root Bone again; if people found out he was able to enhance his Root Bone, he believed that all the Golden Core True Persons of the Cloud Sun Sect would be very interested in having a talk with him.

In the subsequent cultivation process, Wang Chen clearly felt the benefits brought about by the increase in his Root Bone score.

His efficiency in refining Spirit Food improved, he was able to absorb more of the external spiritual energy into his body, and the time it took to complete the Great Circulation shortened, correspondingly improving the efficiency and quality of his cultivation.

The investment of 10 points of Heavenly Merit was totally worth the value!

For two consecutive days, besides tending to the Spirit Fields, Wang Chen stayed at home and practiced diligently.

He grinded for experience points in the Mighty Strength Technique, Vajra Fist, Spirit Light Shield Armor, and the Fire Crow Technique.

Not until the morning of the third day did a white paper crane “flap flap” its way into the house.

It landed on his windowsill.

The startled Wang Chen took the paper crane and opened it.

This kind of paper crane was a one-time automaton, mainly used for delivering messages,

essentially a letter that could deliver itself.

It was also known as a Messenger Crane.

The original owner had received paper cranes from others before, so it wasn’t something unfamiliar.

And this Messenger Crane came from the Outer Sect Main Hall!

The contents of the letter were in two parts.

First, it was regarding the commendation of Wang Chen, as the merit report filed by Team Leader Yao Mingjie had been verified, and he could take his Identity Plaque to the Merit Affairs Hall to receive a reward of five hundred Merit Points.

In addition, the Magic Artifacts, Pills, and Talismans issued to him by the Defense Area would not be taken back.

Five hundred Merit Points!

Wang Chen was truly beyond happy.

The Magic Artifacts, Pills, and Talismans provided by the Defense Area were nothing special, but Merit Points were really good items.

The original owner had worked hard farming the Spirit Fields, paying the full amount of Spirit Valley, and had only accumulated one hundred Merit Points in five years.

Then, he used them all up to exchange for the last six layers of the Five Elements Skill, leaving nothing behind.

Now, just by taking down a Grey Eye Thief, he actually received a reward five times the effort of five years!

How could he not be happy?

In the sect, Merit Points were even more useful than Spirit Stones.

They could be exchanged for Cultivation Techniques, Spiritual Materials, Pills, and Magic Artifacts, and could also be used as compensation for seeking teachings from the Dharma Transmission Elder.

They could even be used to offset minor offenses.

Wang Chen’s desire to obtain an escape technique could be realized immediately!

Besides the commendation, the other part of the content was a recruitment notice issued by the Main Hall.

They were recruiting cultivators aged sixteen to forty-five, who were above the third level of Qi Cultivation,

to join as reserves for the Combat Hall, Guard Hall, and Punishment Hall.

Reserve cultivators could receive an allocation of Cultivation Techniques, Magic Artifacts, Pills, and Talismans, as well as the opportunity to become an official disciple of the three halls.

If they distinguished themselves with meritorious deeds, they could even be promoted to the Inner Sect.

Any of the hundred thousand Outer Sect cultivators who met the conditions could sign up to participate.

Wang Chen felt that compared to the previous inexplicable compulsory conscription,

this enticing recruitment notice was the normal and rational way to recruit cannon fodder!

Let alone being promoted to the Inner Sect, even the status of an official disciple in the Combat, Guard, and Punishment Halls was enough to attract countless lower-level cultivators to flock to them, willing to risk their lives for a chance at a better future.

Not to mention other benefits, an official disciple of the three halls had a free lease quota for ten mu of Spirit Fields.

If Wang Chen became an official disciple of the three halls, then he would no longer need to pay even a single pound of Spirit Valley for his own Spirit Fields!

The allure was truly strong.

However, Wang Chen’s heart was without ripples, and he even felt a desire to laugh.

Whoever wants to go, let them go.

He was definitely not going to participate!

The first update is here, begging for votes.