Chapter 55: Massive Merit

Looking at the vast ocean of golden merit before him, Bai Jing dropped his jaw in utter astonishment! This was simply too much merit!

Subsequently, the merit split into four parts. Four tenths fell upon the Twelve Ancestral Witches, four tenths descended upon all members of the Wu clan, one tenth flew toward the direction of Wuzhuang Temple, and the final tenth shot straight toward Bai Jing.

Bai Jing hurriedly summoned the Yuanyang Cauldron, taking in all the immense merit before feeding it to the Golden Lotus of Merit residing within the cauldron.

Under the infusion of such colossal merit, the six third-grade Golden Lotuses of Merit grew rapidly, evolving in the blink of an eye into six sixth-grade Golden Lotuses of Merit.

This consumed only twenty percent of the massive share of merit allotted to Bai Jing. He continued to channel the remaining merit into the six sixth-grade Golden Lotuses of Merit.

By the time only ten percent of the merit remained, those six sixth-grade Golden Lotuses of Merit had already evolved into six ninth-grade Golden Lotuses of Merit.

These six ninth-grade Golden Lotuses of Merit had now grown to their absolute limit; pouring any further merit into them would no longer stimulate their growth.

At this moment, a considerable amount of merit still remained within the Yuanyang Cauldron. After a moment of hesitation, Bai Jing decided to infuse this remaining merit into the ninth-grade white lotus.

Bai Jing had long intended to refine this ninth-grade white lotus into a supreme spiritual treasure. If all went according to plan, the remaining three sixth-grade purifying white lotuses and nine third-grade purifying white lotuses would also be refined by him into spiritual treasures, a plan intimately tied to his future endeavors after attaining sainthood.

However, given the foundational origin of the ninth-grade white lotus, once refined into a spiritual treasure, it would most likely only reach the level of a top-tier Xiantian spiritual treasure.

Top-tier Xiantian spiritual treasures held little utility for the current Bai Jing, let alone for a future Bai Jing who would achieve sainthood through his physical body.

Consequently, Bai Jing had consistently sought an opportunity to upgrade this ninth-grade purifying white lotus.

Now that he still had so much merit left in his hands, if he poured this remaining merit into the ninth-grade white lotus and then proceeded with the refinement, there was a strong probability that this ninth-grade white lotus would become a top-tier Xiantian merit spiritual treasure, its power absolutely rivaling that of premier Xiantian spiritual treasures.

No sooner said than done, Bai Jing channeled all the remaining merit into the ninth-grade white lotus. Constrained by its inherent origin, the ninth-grade white lotus could not advance any further in grade, but Bai Jing could clearly perceive that its inner essence was continuously strengthening.

By the time it had absorbed all the merit, the origin of the ninth-grade white lotus was vastly superior to what it had been before, and the original white lotus was now tinged with a faint golden luster.

Bai Jing was exceedingly pleased with this outcome. Next, he would simply wait until his profound arts reached the seventh revolution and his physical body attained sainthood, at which point he would use the miraculous power of a saint to refine this ninth-grade white lotus into a top-tier Xiantian merit spiritual treasure.

The reason he did not refine it right now was because Bai Jing also wished to replicate the Great Dao of Charm from the Creation Jade Disc within this white lotus, a feat that required the divine might of a saint to accomplish.

Combining the purifying white lotus's inherent ability to cleanse all things with the power to charm all living beings—once he brandished this ninth-grade white lotus in the future, the Western faction's habitual conversion tactics would probably fail entirely, and they might even find themselves counter-converted.

The entertainment value of this spectacle was about to begin!

Having settled everything, Bai Jing contentedly put away the Yuanyang Cauldron and then turned his gaze toward the Wu clan.

After receiving a massive amount of merit, the physical strength of the ordinary Wu clan members had ascended to a whole new level.

As for the Ancestral Witches, they had tacitly chosen to put away their share of merit without using it immediately. Evidently, they also knew that utilizing merit to break through their cultivation realms in this Western land was not a wise choice.

"Fellow Daoist Bai Jing, the amount of merit obtained from repairing the Western ley lines is simply too vast. I can hardly suppress it on my end and am about to break through to the peak of the Hunyuan Jinxian realm."

"This breakthrough will take at least twenty to thirty thousand years, by which time the agreed-upon time for borrowing the Book from Fellow Daoist Zhenyuanzi will have passed."

"Therefore, I must ask Fellow Daoist Bai Jing to help return the Book to Fellow Daoist Zhenyuanzi on our behalf, and convey the Wu clan's gratitude to him." With these words, Houtu retrieved the Book of Earth and presented it to Bai Jing.

Bai Jing accepted the Book of Earth and agreed without hesitation. Coincidentally, he also wanted to take the Book to a certain place.

Subsequently, Bai Jing and the members of the Wu clan departed from the Western territory together.

Jieyin and Zhunti no longer had the bandwidth to pay attention to Bai Jing and the others; both of them were immersed in the overwhelming joy of the Western ley lines being completely repaired.

They could clearly perceive that the moment the Western ley lines were fully restored, the concentration of Xiantian spiritual Qi across the Western land instantly increased by fifty percent, and it was still slowly rising.

Zhunti trembled with excitement: "Senior Brother, was the Xiantian spiritual Qi of our Western land really this abundant all along?"

"I didn't expect it either. But Junior Brother, the higher the concentration of Xiantian spiritual Qi after the ley lines are repaired, the greater the karmic debt our West owes to the Wu clan!"

Upon hearing this, Zhunti felt as though a bucket of cold water had been dumped over his head, instantly extinguishing his previous excitement and elation.

"Senior Brother, how on earth are we supposed to repay such a massive karmic debt owed to the Wu clan?" Zhunti asked.

"I do not know either. Apart from the Wu clan, you and I, Senior and Junior Brother, also owe a heavy karmic debt to that Red Cloud. Had Red Cloud not voluntarily ceded his position, we would never have attained this saintly status."

"Our Western land was already barren to begin with, and now we owe two such colossal karmic debts. The Heavenly Dao is truly not..."

"Junior Brother, watch your tongue!" Jieyin rebuked angrily, cutting off Zhunti's words.

Zhunti also realized he had spoken out of turn and quickly clamped his mouth shut.

"Junior Brother, karmic debts incurred by our West must be repaid. Every debt has its debtor, and there is no escaping it."

Hearing Jieyin's words, however, Zhunti seemed to have thought of something. He lowered his voice and said, "Senior Brother, you are right that every debt has its debtor and we cannot escape; but what if the debtor no longer exists?"

Upon hearing this, Jieyin was stunned for a moment, and then a smile appeared on his face. That was right! If the debtor no longer existed, wouldn't this karmic debt no longer need to be repaid?

Returning our perspective to the Wu clan, Bai Jing and the members of the Wu clan soon returned to the ancestral land of the Wu clan at the foot of Mount Buzhou.

Perhaps due to the acquisition of massive amounts of merit, Bai Jing discovered that the calamity qi enveloping the Wu clan had actually diminished by about fifty percent.

If the calamity qi did not increase any further, even if another major war broke out between the Wu and Yao clans, the Wu clan would suffer at most the loss of some ordinary members, while the Great Witches would hardly perish, eliminating any threat of total annihilation.

However, could the calamity qi really stop growing? Once the Wu and Yao clans went to war and clan members fell in battle, the calamity qi would naturally increase. Expecting the calamity qi to stop growing was clearly unrealistic, so reviving the Netherworld Dao was still the most reliable path!

Thinking of this, Bai Jing said to Houtu: "Fellow Daoist Houtu, once back with the Wu clan, you should be safe. After returning the Book of Earth, I too must head back into seclusion. I wish Fellow Daoist mastery over the Dao of Reincarnation and attainment of the Hunyuan Daluo Jinxian realm at the earliest date."

"Many thanks, Fellow Daoist. I likewise wish Fellow Daoist an early realization of the Dao and attainment of Hunyuan."

Bai Jing smiled and nodded, then transformed into a streak of escaping light and departed from the ancestral land of the Wu clan.

After leaving the ancestral land of the Wu clan, Bai Jing opened the Book of Earth, using it to locate the destination he wished to visit.

After a brief search, Bai Jing locked onto his target and flew straight in the direction recorded by the Book of Earth.