Since repelling the Shamans, Wei Yuan would think of the 100,000-strong Western Jin army stationed nearby. And every time the thought crossed his mind, he would feel a deep sense of frustration and the urge to just simply march his troops over and crush them.

But he couldn’t. At least, not yet.

After seeing the Cui clansmen off, Wei Yuan planned to visit the merit hall and exchange for a few historical texts to read. He was hoping that the reading would calm his nerves.

One could not base their whole life around novels. Besides, novels never held up to repeated readings.

Upon entering the merit hall, Wei Yuan noticed that the Bay Laurel Immortal Tree had borne fruit once more. After offering up a vast amount of nether soil last time, this subsidiary hall of the true merit hall had reaped significant benefits as well: its quality had improved, its absorption of worldly origin qi had accelerated, and its cycle for bearing fruit had shortened by one day. Now, they could perform an exchange once every two days.

Wei Yuan opened the jade tablet and, out of habit, checked his merits total first. At first glance, he thought that he might be seeing things, so he rubbed them before bringing the string of purple-glowing numbers into focus:

Wei Yuan—Total Heaven Merit: 6,200. Current Balance: 5,020.[1]

Wei Yuan rubbed his eyes again—vigorously this time—but they didn’t change. It really was Heaven Merit, not merit; 6,000, not 1,600. Even with Wei Yuan’s composure, he needed a moment to steady his nerves.

He pulled out the merit booklet next and flipped through his past records,...