NOVPUB"These bastards! Are they treating Diwu Hall like a monkey to play with?"
Song Dongyang was furious, and with a single palm strike, he turned the table before him into dust.
The Enforcer Li beside him, feeling the robust aura emanating from the other, was immediately petrified with fear.
Those who could become a Vice Hall Master were almost all individuals likely to achieve Immortal Ascension.
Both their heritage and strength far surpassed that of an ordinary Nascent Soul like him.
However, he wasn’t as agitated as Song Dongyang, and quickly responded, upon hearing his words:
"Hall Master, could there be some misunderstanding here? I don’t think the ministers of each department would deliberately deceive the Hall Master."
"What misunderstanding could there be? I’ve already had them learn from Cui Daqi, but what is this they’ve learned? Are they fooling me?"
The more Song Dongyang spoke, the angrier he became.
Yet Enforcer Li said:
"Why should the Hall Master worry? The assembly is coming up soon. Why doesn’t the Hall Master simply ask them directly?"
After hearing Enforcer Li’s words, Song Dongyang’s expression softened slightly.
After pondering for a moment and snorting with a trace of anger still in his tone, he said:
"Good! If they don’t give me a reasonable explanation this time, I will have to make them..."
...
Wanfa Peak.
Recently busy with nurturing Spirit Beasts and having taken a few days off, Wang Ba was not currently contemplating Spirit Beasts, but was quietly sensing the position of his Middle Dantian, the so-called ’chest center’ point.
There, a short blade was slowly rising and sinking.
Feeling the constrained aura of this short blade.
A smile appeared on Wang Ba’s face:
"My destined magic tool, it’s finally made."
These days, he had been shuttling between the Spirit Food Department and the Beast Control Department, taking every opportunity to refine the magic treasure embryo gifted by Cui Daqi. Today, he had finally succeeded in turning it into his destined magic tool using the technique of ’A Single-minded Spirit Blade.’
As soon as it was completed, he felt a mental connection with the short blade and faintly sensed a trace of an elusive spirit within it.
This was not the short blade about to transform into a magic treasure.
Rather, a Class III magic tool inherently possesses a nascent spirit, and if one cultivates it daily with mana and merges it with their life force, the spirit would grow faster, until one day it successfully transforms into the True Spirit of a Magic Treasure, signifying the birth of a magic treasure.
Feeling the mana and Blood Energy flowing around his body, the thoughts of his Soul Power all entering the Middle Dantian and then being perfectly absorbed by the short blade, he nodded in satisfaction.
His biggest concern had been its effect on his normal cultivation practices, but after feeling it out, he found that Ji Yuan was indeed correct.
"This blade is currently sealed... Should I refine another?"
Wang Ba pondered for a moment but eventually dismissed the idea.
With his current foundation, he could indeed withstand another destined magic tool.
However, in reality, even adding another destined magic tool wouldn’t make much difference.
Because the mana, Essence Yuan of Blood Energy, and Soul Power he could supply were limited.
Unless one blade is cultivated to perfection, taking on a second would just slow the progress.
It’s better to properly cultivate a single blade first.
"When I get a chance, I could check the market to see if there’s a top-grade, Class III blade weapon for sale," he thought to himself.
Unable to use the blade that Cui Daqi had given for now, Wang Ba lacked a handy magic tool.
But since he didn’t need to travel outside for the time being and didn’t have high requirements for a magic tool, he could take his time finding the right one.
Of course, it could be slow, but it had to be done.
As for magic tools, he wasn’t too worried.
What troubled him was his cultivation.
"The Five Elements resources for cultivation in the Golden Core Realm have run out; I need to exchange for them at the Myriad Cave... But Merit points might be a bit troublesome."
Wang Ba frowned slightly.
The Merit points generated from trading Class II Spirit Chicken Essence had become quite limited for him.
However, the quantity of Class III Spirit Chickens wasn’t yet substantial. If he started making spirit food from them now, it would delay their numbers from increasing.
The appropriate strategy was to wait a bit longer — within two to three years, the scale of the Class III Spirit Chickens would rise.
Their natural proliferation would be enough to sustain his cultivation needs and even to exchange for Merit points.
It didn’t have to be like the Bronze Swine of the Beast Department, which took hundreds of years at a time.
"But... I can’t put out too much."
Wang Ba pondered in his heart.
Although his trust in the Sect was already high, he knew well the nature of people, which is not immune to temptation.
Monks like Xumi, wholly devoted to the path, unmoved by external objects, are after all in the minority.
Even if he revealed some secrets in front of his master and the Qi Dynasty, it was based on a sufficient understanding of their characters.
As for others... after all, one never knows what’s on the inside from looking at the outside.
So, Class III spirit food could be used to solve urgent needs but couldn’t be considered as a regular approach.
"The source of Merit points would be better if it were more stable and legitimate... Speaking of which, the identity plate for the Vice Minister has not yet been issued."
Wang Ba also took the time to inquire at the Rende Hall.
Just the Merit points for a Vice Minister amount to five hundred a year.
Besides Merit points, every ten years he would receive his share of regular consumables like spirit food, Elixirs, and Talismans.
He could also use dungeons and Teleportation Arrays for free—of course, both time and frequency were limited.
Even so, such benefits were far beyond what a Deacon could expect.
Therefore, cultivators of the departments toiled for years, all with that as their goal.
This is also why there were still people in the Spirit Food Department who harbored grievances about Wang Ba being promoted to the rank of Vice Minister.
If it weren’t for the fact that the vast majority of the department, including Minister Cui Daqi, were supporting Wang Ba, thereby making it a trend of the times, some would have long been unable to restrain their discontent.
"However, five hundred points a year is still a bit too little."
