(AN: Merit Points → Merit Coins)
"Hahaha, then Old Ruben, please go to Elder Li and ask him for the merit coins. Once you have them, deliver them to Brother Yuan's cave. Wait a moment,I'll write you the necessary permission for the transaction."
Li Yun smiled at Old Ruben before taking out a brush and a piece of paper from his bag of holding. With swift, practiced strokes, he began writing.
Within moments, he finished drafting the permission scroll and handed it over.
Receiving the scroll, Old Ruben bowed respectfully. "Then, I shall take my leave. Farewell, Fourth Young Master Li, Senior Yuan."
With that, he turned and left the cave.
As soon as Old Ruben was gone, Li Yun poured another round of warm spiritual tea into their cups before continuing their conversation about the current affairs of the sect.
There wasn't much news aside from the ongoing situation with Alex. However, rumors had begun spreading about the newest batch of recruits,many of whom were said to be extraordinarily talented, with quite a few already nearing a breakthrough into the Blood Purification Stage.
This was a surprising development, Li Yun remarked.
In recent years, the incoming disciples hadn't produced many strong inner disciples, leading to stagnation in their numbers. As a result, there were relatively few inner disciples residing on the three floors of Peak Mountain.
And if the rumors were true, this new wave of talented disciples would soon bring about a shift in power.
Naturally, the sect wouldn't be foolish enough to let such talents rot in the outer sect.
They would ensure that these promising disciples advanced to the inner disciple ranks as quickly as possible.
That meant that, in the coming months, the sect would issue more missions with greater rewards, providing these talents with resources and opportunities to break through to the Blood Purification Stage.
With more opportunities to climb the ranks, these new disciples would begin their rise.
The balance within the inner disciple hierarchy was bound to shift.
Li Yun's expression darkened slightly as he let out a sigh.
"To us, this might not be good news at all," he muttered.
Chaos was not always favorable for the current powerhouses.
After all, when new dragons and phoenixes begin to rise, they inevitably set their sights on the old tigers of the mountain.
And to establish themselves…
They would challenge the old tigers,until they became the new rulers of the mountain.
Laying Low in Chaos
For Li Yun, this situation was indeed troublesome.
But for Yuan?
It was perfect.
With attention shifting toward the new recruits, he could lay low, slowly fade into the background, and be forgotten by all.
At best, people would assume that he had only managed to become an inner disciple thanks to his friendship with Li Yun.
And if that was the case…
Then all he had to do was continue playing the part of someone weak.
But…
"Should I take this leap of faith?" Yuan pondered.
Being close to Li Yun would bring many benefits.
But at the same time, it would also mean being under Li Yun's influence.
If he ever refused to do something for him, Li Yun could simply threaten him,whether subtly or directly.
Yuan exhaled slowly.
"So, I shall wait and see."
For now, there was no need to rush a decision.
Time passed as Yuan continued to gather more information about the sect.
From what he had learned, the sect would soon issue the next batch of core disciple promotion missions.
That was the only important information for the inner disciples.
Aside from that, Li Yun had also mentioned that he planned to break through to the Meridian Awakening Stage within a week.
During that time, he would be in seclusion and unable to be contacted.
Other than that, there wasn't much of significance.
Noticing that their tea had already run empty, Yuan decided it was time to leave.
"Then, Brother Yun, I'll take my leave."
With that, Yuan bid farewell to Li Yun and made his way out of the cave.
Descending the staircase, he eventually arrived at the first floor and walked toward his own cultivation cave.
Cultivation and Frustration
Once inside, Yuan resumed his cultivation, focusing on fusing his blood with spiritual essence.
As night fell, he remained seated, silently refining his spiritual blood.
Hours passed.
After ten hours of uninterrupted cultivation, Yuan opened his eyes.
His expression darkened as he clicked his tongue in frustration.
"Tch…"
He could clearly feel it,his progression had slowed down drastically.
Sighing, he muttered under his breath.
"Cultivation truly is a difficult path,you can only endure even though you don't make much improvements in the time and every small improvement becomes a big achievement."
During the past week, while using pills, he had been able to advance his spiritual blood fusion by at least one percent.
But now?
Without the aid of external resources, his progress had slowed to a crawl,three times slower than before.
At this rate, if he continued without any external help, it would take him nearly five years just to reach 33% fusion.
Yuan clenched his fists.
Each stage of blood fusion is divided into four layers.
1-33% Early Layer, 34-66% Middle Layer, 67-99% High Layer, 99.5-100% Peak Layer
At the early stages, creating spiritual blood is relatively easy.
However, once a cultivator reaches the Middle Layer, the process slows drastically,taking twice as long compared to the Early Layer.
At the High Layer, progress becomes four times slower.
And at the Peak Layer, it is five times slower than at the Early Layer.
Even with the lifespan granted after breaking through to the Blood Purification Stage, it was nearly impossible to ascend through natural cultivation alone.
If one became a Blood Purification cultivator at the age of 15, then, at this pace, they would only reach completion around 130.
However…
No Blood Purification cultivator lives that long.
Because of this, cultivators must rely on external resources to speed up their cultivation.
But even with external aids, most cultivators still end up dying before reaching the next stage.
The Struggle of Spiritual Blood
The reason for this brutal difficulty lies in the very nature of the process itself.
The fusion of spiritual essence with blood is not natural.
To the body, spiritual blood is nothing more than a parasite,something foreign, something to be eliminated.
So the body fights back, resisting the fusion.
As spiritual blood spreads, it begins to replace and condense the body's original blood becoming purer, stronger, and more concentrated.
But at the same time…
It becomes harder to cultivate.
Reaching the Peak Layer of Blood Purification is akin to fighting against one's own blood for complete dominance.
Most cultivators first experience the true resistance when they reach the first bottleneck,the 33% cap.
At that point, the body's normal blood has already lost a third of its natural influence, and from there, the blood fights back even harder.
For Yuan, the difficulty was even worse.
His Blood Fiend Lower Physique made the process harder than normal.
However…
If he could endure it,if he could overcome this brutal process…
Then, at the Meridian Awakening and Bone Forging Stages, his cultivation speed would skyrocket.
That was the sacrifice he had chosen to make.
But Yuan pushed aside his thoughts about the Blood Purification Stage as he heard a knock on his door.
He stood up, walked over, and opened it.
Standing outside was Old Ruben, his posture straight yet respectful.
The elderly man bowed slightly.
"Greetings, Senior. This old man is here to deliver Senior's merit coins! Please, take this bag of holding!"
With that, he reached for the small pouch hanging from his hip and extended it toward Yuan.
Yuan gladly accepted it with a small smile.
"Thank you, Old Ruben, for delivering the merit coins. Here,take ten merit coins as a token of appreciation!"
Without hesitation, Yuan reached into the bag of holding, pulled out ten merit coins, and handed them to Old Ruben.
A Suprised expression came from old Ruben but this turned then into a bright smile across the old man's wrinkled face.
He bowed twice, expressing his gratitude several times.
Yuan merely chuckled and wished him a good day before closing the door.
The moment he was alone again, Yuan sat down and began counting every merit coin inside the bag.
640 merit coins.
Nodding in satisfaction, he allowed himself a small smile.
A bit of wealth had returned to him.
After a brief pause, his gaze shifted back to the bag of holding Old Ruben had given him.
He examined it more closely and quickly realized
It was of better quality than the one he had been using.
Naturally, Yuan wasn't one to trust things so easily.
Before making the switch, he carefully inspected it for any hidden formations or runes that could indicate tracking or interference.
But after a thorough examination, he found nothing.
Which made him very happy.
A soft chuckle escaped his lips as he began transferring all his items from his old bag of holding into the new one and began to take a closer look at it.
The bag of holding has dark green leather,the bag was smooth yet sturdy, inscribed with various formations and runes that enhanced its functionality.
The main formations included the Space Enlargement Formation that allowed for an increased storage capacity and the Spirit Essence Absorption meaning Runes that ensurs that the bag remained constantly charged and active.
Of course, there were many more runes and formations embedded within, but these were the most essential.
Now that he had transferred all his belongings, Yuan left his cave, sealing it with his identification slate.
Then, without hesitation, he made his way toward the Outer Disciple Market Area.
As he though about Ming Ze's restaurant.
It was time to see what had become of his 100 merit coin investment.