“The merit has been awarded?”
Lin Yuan’s eyes lit up.
In the war between the Qingfen Domain and the Zimeng Domain, King Chisong was the commander-in-chief. With the Qingfen Domain’s victory, logically, the one who should get the most credit was King Chisong.
But King Chisong had transferred all the war merits to Lin Yuan.
The merits earned by the commander-in-chief in a war could be directly exchanged for resources and inheritances from the ancient kingdom’s treasury—immeasurably precious.
This was the greatest confidence behind why the fiercely competitive kings of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom strove so hard to win wars.
Why did the lofty Heavenly Sovereigns obey the royal family of the ancient kingdom? Wasn’t it because of the countless resources and inheritances within the ancient kingdom’s treasury?
“Brother Milky Way, your merit is one hundred and twenty thousand.”
King Chibao said, “One hundred and twenty thousand merit—it’s not a small sum. Normally, a Heavenly Sovereign-level secret treasure weapon would only cost seventy or eighty thousand merit.”
“Mm.”
Lin Yuan nodded.
He had gained too much from the war between the Qingfen and Zimeng Domains, and merit was only part of it.
There were also the spoils gained from various Great Sovereigns on the battlefield, as well as the ransom soon to be received from the Grand Ling Ancient Kingdom.
“One hundred and twenty thousand merit has been awarded. If you want to exchange it, just go here,” King Chibao gave Lin Yuan a location—the entrance to the capital’s treasury.
Anyone who had made a contribution to the Liyang Ancient Kingdom could enter and claim rewards.
“Alright.”
Lin Yuan felt a hint of anticipation inside.
The treasure vault of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom contained an endless variety of resources and inheritances. Most importantly, the vast majority of these resources could never be found anywhere else.
“Hm?”
Lin Yuan was about to continue chatting with King Chibao.
Suddenly, his expression shifted, and he looked outside the mansion.
“What is it?” asked King Chibao.
“Someone’s here to see me,” Lin Yuan said.
He had just arrived at the capital, with no family or acquaintances here, and yet someone was already paying him a visit?
“Hahaha, I almost forgot,” King Chibao grinned.
“This mansion has been watched by a lot of people. Since you moved in, Brother Milky Way, even if His Majesty didn’t announce it publicly, it’s impossible to keep it a secret.”
“So that’s it,” Lin Yuan nodded.
Besides, the nine-marked warship that had welcomed Lin Yuan was eye-catching enough to attract plenty of attention.
“So, do you want to go out and have a look?”
King Chibao smiled. “Anyone who comes to see you right away is probably coming in goodwill.”
“Then let’s meet them.”
Lin Yuan nodded, and together with King Chibao, walked out of the mansion.
“Brother Milky Way.”
“Brother Milky Way.”
Several figures immediately came forward.
“We were just wondering who His Majesty would send the nine-marked warship to welcome. Turns out it was Brother Milky Way.”
“No wonder, no wonder.”
Those who had come to visit Lin Yuan were mostly royals. At this moment, all of them looked at Lin Yuan with great enthusiasm.
Lin Yuan responded to each one in turn.
Before arriving at the capital, King Chibao had already explained the city’s situation to him.
The capital of Liyang Ancient Kingdom was divided into two main powers.
One was the royal faction, and the other was the Heavenly Sovereigns.
Within the royal faction, there were seventeen main branches, each guarded by a core member of the royal family at the extreme.
Outside these seventeen main branches, there were other royals, but these smaller branches could only depend on the main ones and did not form their own power blocs.
Theoretically, with Lin Yuan’s strength, he could easily establish the eighteenth main branch of the royal family.
“Everyone here to visit me is from the royal family. Not a single disciple of the Heavenly Sovereigns?” Lin Yuan mused to himself.
Could it be that the Heavenly Sovereigns didn’t know he had moved into this mansion? Obviously impossible.
“It seems the Heavenly Sovereign kings aren’t too happy about my arrival,” Lin Yuan understood the reason.
The most important resources of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom were naturally allocated to the core royal branches. Every additional core royal meant the resources would be divided up even further, so it was only natural that the Heavenly Sovereigns felt displeased.
What’s more, Lin Yuan’s strength already exceeded that of the usual core royal members, and he had gone even further on the path of breaking through the Heavenly Sovereign limit.
That made the Heavenly Sovereigns even more wary.
But Lin Yuan wasn’t worried. Within the Liyang Ancient Kingdom, the royal family was the absolute authority. No matter how wary the Heavenly Sovereigns were, they wouldn’t dare do anything.
After greeting the royals who had come to visit, Lin Yuan parted ways with King Chibao and headed toward the entrance of the capital’s treasury.
With a huge sum of one hundred and twenty thousand merit in hand, Lin Yuan was already impatient to see the countless treasures and inheritances collected in the treasury.
This was the main reason Lin Yuan had come to the capital: to use the resources here to accelerate his cultivation.
The Liyang capital was vast—like a labyrinth of space and time. With the map King Chibao had provided, Lin Yuan finally arrived at a grand hall.
Lin Yuan looked at the hall before him. There were no guards outside—only two statues stood sentinel.
“Hm?”
Lin Yuan carefully observed the two statues and vaguely sensed some strange fluctuations emanating from them.
“These statue guards have at least Heavenly Sovereign-level power.”
Lin Yuan’s brow twitched as he felt threatened.
With Lin Yuan’s current strength, only a Heavenly Sovereign-level existence could threaten him.
“Bloodline verified, merit verified, entry permitted.” As Lin Yuan observed the statues, a voice echoed in his ears.
“I can go in?” Lin Yuan immediately walked forward.
The doors of the great hall opened, and Lin Yuan stepped inside.
After entering, he found himself in a separate space.
Not far away, flames gathered to form the figure of an illusory elder, who smiled and said, “Descendant of Liyang, please choose the treasure or inheritance you wish to exchange for.”
“Please look.”
With a wave of the elder’s hand, endless flames intertwined, forming images of countless treasures and resources.
“These treasures and inheritances are ranked from high to low according to the merit required for each,” the illusory elder said with a smile.
Lin Yuan nodded and immediately started looking from the top.
The first item was not a treasure or inheritance, but rather an opportunity.
It required a hundred billion merit to exchange for—
The chance to possess an Ancestor for one time.
To possess an Ancestor, to comprehend the profound mysteries of an Ancestor’s level.
Lin Yuan’s eyes widened.
To possess an Ancestor?
To possess the Liyang Ancestor?
The Liyang Ancestor was a thirteenth-rank time lifeform. To possess such an existence, to view the timelines from a thirteenth-rank perspective—Lin Yuan wouldn’t have even dared to imagine such a thing.
What kind of beings were thirteenth-rank time lifeforms? How could they possibly let mere ants possess them?
As for training disciples, thirteenth-rank time lifeforms didn’t even need to do so. Even if they were in the mood, they’d just create inheritances like the creator of Infinite Void in the chaos void and toss them out for whoever could obtain and cultivate them.
But to possess them?
Forget thirteenth-rank time lifeforms—even Lin Yuan himself wouldn’t let others possess him. In that state, someone could sense his physical body and soul, and many secrets would be hard to hide.
“The Liyang Ancestor really…”
Lin Yuan shook his head slightly. He could sense just how much effort the Liyang Ancestor had made to nurture his descendants, even offering the chance to possess him.
“I’m not sure how this could improve my odds of passing through the time cycle, but possessing a time lifeform and experiencing past and future along the timelines would certainly deepen my understanding of the essence of time.”
Lin Yuan thought to himself.
Even that single drop of time bloodline left behind by the master of Devil Jade Tower had taught Lin Yuan so much, let alone possessing a living thirteenth-rank time lifeform.
“But a hundred billion merit?”
Lin Yuan’s mouth twitched. He’d originally thought his hundred and twenty thousand merit was a huge fortune, but compared to a hundred billion, it was nothing at all.
One must know—the war between the Qingfen and Zimeng Domains was turned around almost singlehandedly by Lin Yuan. On top of that, he’d slain Ling Shen King, a peak core royal.
And even then, he’d only received a hundred and twenty thousand merit.
Normally, winning a war at that level—merely repelling an enemy domain’s invasion—the commander-in-chief would only get twenty or thirty thousand merit.
Maybe even less.
That’s why King Chibao had said Lin Yuan’s one hundred and twenty thousand merit was already a lot.
More than half of Lin Yuan’s merit had come from killing Ling Shen King, the peak core royal.
“No matter what, I have to seize the chance to possess the Liyang Ancestor,” Lin Yuan decided.
Although a hundred billion merit was unimaginably far off for him right now, at least he had something to strive for.
This was already a million times better than those Supreme Saints in the chaos void.
One after another, the Supreme Saints in the chaos void had paid untold prices to chase after thirteenth-rank time lifeforms, but Lin Yuan could directly possess one?
What kind of fortune was this?
Lin Yuan reined in his thoughts and continued looking down.
The next treasures, inheritances, and opportunities to enter mysterious places were all unimaginably precious, and Lin Yuan was tempted by all of them.
For example, an opportunity to cultivate in the origin land of this world? Lin Yuan had once entered the origin land of the Immortal World, where the laws of a whole realm were laid bare, and comprehending the rules was as easy as eating or drinking.
And to cultivate in the origin land of this source world? How many real law manifestations must there be?
Even though this chance didn’t cost a hundred billion merit, it still needed nine billion—just as unattainable for Lin Yuan.
There were also some secret treasure weapons, their power beyond imagination.
Lin Yuan steadied his mind and kept looking.
“For me, there’s no need to exchange for secret treasure weapons,” Lin Yuan thought. He was more interested in exchanging for inheritance guidance.
Because once he understood the guidance, he could apply it to his main body and soul clone in the chaos void—the cost-effectiveness was much higher. As for secret treasure weapons, bringing them into the chaos void required spending source power to break the boundary.
Although Lin Yuan currently had a lot of source power from breaking the boundary—having absorbed and accumulated over a million thanks to the Great Collapse of the universe—there was no need to waste it here.
Compared to the external force of secret treasure weapons, Lin Yuan preferred to improve his own strength.
Boosting power by relying on secret treasures had many limitations, and if the treasure was lost, he’d be back to square one.
“Which one should I pick?”
Lin Yuan focused directly on inheritances below one hundred thousand merit. Truthfully, there were many inheritances worth millions or even tens of millions of merit that tempted him more, but there was no helping it—he just didn’t have enough merit.
“This is the one.”
After looking for a long while, Lin Yuan finally made up his mind.
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