Chapter 243 - 117: With a Beautiful Wife and Concubine in the House, Is Your Back Strong Enough?

Chapter 243: Chapter 117: With a Beautiful Wife and Concubine in the House, Is Your Back Strong Enough?

One or two merit points might not be a huge draw for the scions of great clans, but for the Civilian Mansion Officials, the items they could be exchanged for were a genuine source of reassurance.

They walked on in silence.

Soon, the group followed Zhao Yan to the very heart of the Imperial Clan Court.

They stood before a temple.

Flanking the temple’s main gate, two old men with dry, white hair sat cross-legged in meditation.

Zhao Yan took a Jade Pendant from his robes and respectfully presented it to each of the two elders in turn.

The two elders exchanged a glance, then each performed a Sealing Technique with their hands. Soon, golden Divine Patterns appeared on their chests.

These were the ancestral Divine Patterns of the Zhao Clan.

The two sets of Divine Patterns resonated with each other, as if they had triggered a hidden switch. The ground inside the temple split apart from seemingly nowhere.

"RUMBLE..."

A magnificent, golden subterranean passage appeared before them.

Zhao Yan said coolly, "After today, the Merit Library will open on the fifteenth of every month. Not only will you be able to enter, but so will those from previous years who have established mansions but have yet to finish their competition.

Most of the items in the Merit Library are rare, some even one-of-a-kind. But many people want them, so you must be diligent in completing missions to earn merit.

Your mission ledgers will be posted in the Imperial Clan Court in three days.

Until the War God Tower opens, you won’t have any conflicts with the mansions from previous years."

Everyone nodded slightly.

A sense of anxiety began to well up inside them.

They had come largely for the Heavenly and Earthly Treasures. Now it seemed their competition wasn’t just the people around them, but also those from previous years.

Zhao Ci, however, frowned slightly. Zhao Yan’s words were a wake-up call. Not many mansions had been established in the past two years, but there were still seven or eight in total.

Among them, there were bound to be members of the Crown Prince Faction and the Fourth Prince Faction. These individuals were all beyond the Physical Body Realm, with no shortage of experts at the second or even third layer of the Divine Treasure realm. They would undoubtedly crush the members of the new mansions.

’This period, before we enter the War God Tower and unlock the Physical Body Realm, is essentially a grace period for the new mansions.’

’Once we’re past the Physical Body Realm, I’ll definitely be facing much greater pressure.’

’So I have to use this time to push my body to its absolute limit. At the very least, I need to be like Xiang Tiange, able to fight opponents above my level.’

Zhao Ci thought to himself and followed the group.

The passage into the Earth Palace was long and silent.

As they walked, the only sounds were their footsteps and their breathing.

「Soon.」

They reached the end of the passage, where two doors stood—one on the left and one on the right.

Zhao Yan took out the Jade Pendant and fit it into a slot next to the left door. The Profound Iron Gate, which was covered in Array Patterns, RUMBLED open.

However, the door didn’t open to a vast warehouse but to a small, rather cramped chamber.

The chamber was empty save for a small, shuttered window, no different from a sunless cellar.

Zhao Yan pointed behind them. "The true entrance to the Merit Library is back there. Other than the great power who guards it, no one is permitted to enter. You can only write down what you wish to exchange here and pass it through the window. Someone will then bring your items out to you."

Realization dawned on the group.

The Merit Library was filled with treasures, some of which required extremely strict storage conditions. It made sense that people couldn’t just come and go as they pleased.

Zhao Yan pointed to a wall. "The library’s collection is recorded here. The cheapest item is the Body Refining Pill, at one merit per pill. It is the only item without a purchase limit and is highly beneficial for those with acquired physical deficiencies."

"HUFF..."

"HISS..."

"PANT!"

At his words, the eyes of nearly every Civilian Mansion Official burned with desire.

This item was of little use to the scions of great clans. For cultivation in the Physical Body Realm, besides a few top-tier pills that specifically targeted muscles and bones, the primary aid was the Qi Cultivation Pill—and those from great clans, even from cadet branches, never lacked for those.

But it was a different story for them.

Many of them didn’t have poor Innate talent, but they lacked Qi Cultivation Pills during the crucial stages of Body Refining, Muscle Strengthening, and Bone Forging. This resulted in insufficient True Qi when they tried to break through to the next realm.

This was what was known as an "acquired deficiency."

Normally, an acquired deficiency is incredibly difficult to remedy, but the Body Refining Pill changed everything.

By taking a Body Refining Pill, they had a real chance to overcome the disadvantages of their humble origins.

And the earlier one took a Body Refining Pill, the better.

Instantly, many of them turned to look at their respective leaders.

Their eyes were filled with longing, yet they didn’t dare to speak.

As for their leaders, their expressions were all pained, like a man with a willing beauty in his bed but no strength to perform.

They had, at most, one or two merit points in their pockets.

Some were even dozens of points in debt.

No names mentioned, of course.

In any case, they either couldn’t afford them, or there weren’t enough to go around.

Just then, a loud voice shouted.

"I’ll take five!"

"..."

Zhao Yan’s face stiffened. He pointed to the nearby paper and brush. "Lao Shi, you just have to write it down. There’s no need to shout."

Zhao Ci grinned. "It’s a strange habit of mine. I have to shout before I write, or else I start coughing."

With that said, he nonchalantly picked up the paper and brush, preparing to write.

The crowd: "???"

Yang Mo suddenly whispered, "Brother Ci, could you add one more? My body... I might have a latent injury."

’This guy gets poisoned and electrocuted all day,’ Zhao Ci mused. ’It’s entirely possible he has an acquired deficiency. I don’t know if this will help, but it’s worth a shot. It’s only one merit point, after all.’

"PFFT!"

Someone let out a derisive scoff.

Yang Mo spun around to see it was Ying Rui, and his eyes instantly filled with resentment.

Ying Rui simply shrugged and started to make a throat-slitting gest—

The gesture stopped abruptly.

He had frozen because he saw Zhao Ci making the exact same gesture back at him, accompanied by a savage grin.

Ying Rui choked, then sullenly took a step back. He whispered to Zhao Wen, "Crown Prince, don’t you have one merit point? Get me one of those pills!"