Chapter 1451: Foolishness

In the Hall of Merits, the cultivators here hadn't heard the news of Fang Chen's promotion to a core disciple yet, so when Fang Chen arrived, it didn't attract much attention.

Fang Chen scanned the room and soon spotted Elder Qin from last time, dealing with a group of external cultivators.

After those cultivators finished exchanging their items, Fang Chen walked over and cupped his hands in greeting. "Elder Qin."

Elder Qin glanced at Fang Chen and casually asked, "Hmm, what are you exchanging for?"

Before Fang Chen could speak, Elder Qin suddenly took a closer look and immediately smiled. "It's you."

After carefully sensing, he noticed the Immortal Essence surging within Fang Chen, and he nodded with satisfaction. "You didn't waste that immortal herb. You've advanced to the first transformation, right?"

Fang Chen smiled and nodded. "Exactly, and I must thank you for it."

"Thank me for what? It's your own achievements that earned it. If you must thank someone, you should thank yourself," said Elder Qin. "If it weren't for cultivators like you working diligently, the Hall of Merits wouldn't have so many rare and valuable treasures."

He joked, "So, what do you want to exchange this time? There doesn't seem to be much of your merit points left."

"I would like to exchange for some peak-grade spirit stones. But I'm not sure—"

Fang Chen noticed Elder Qin frown, his expression turning rather cold.

"Peak-grade spirit stones? Are you trying to find a way through the ancient spiritual energy within them?" Elder Qin said indifferently. "Playing with these things is like losing one's focus. Because of this, although the Hall of Merits does have a batch of peak-grade spirit stones, their price is quite high. It takes thirty merit points to exchange for one peak-grade spirit stone. Are you really planning to exchange?"

Thirty merit points for one peak grade spirit stone?

The price was indeed quite steep.

However, it was clear that the Enlightenment God Palace had a lot of peak-grade spirit stones. Fang Chen could easily pick out the ones suitable for the Great Heavenly Sovereign Chapter. This was much more efficient than blindly acquiring them outside.

With eight hundred and fifty merit points, I can exchange for... twenty-six peak-grade spirit stones. Adding to the six types of ancient spiritual energies I've already refined, the Great Heavenly Sovereign Chapter can be directly improved by a third. Fang Tianzun could advance to the third transformation, or even directly break into the fourth transformation.

With this thought, Fang Chen cupped his hands and said, "I indeed wish to exchange for some peak-grade spirit stones. I wonder if you could provide a list."

"Wait a moment, I'll have someone take you to see."

Elder Qin waved his hand coldly and called someone over to lead Fang Chen to view the stock of peak-grade spirit stones. He then resumed attending to the external cultivators who were there to exchange items.

Fang Chen noticed Elder Qin's cold attitude but didn't say much. The Great Heavenly Sovereign Chapter was not something that could be made public.

In the Nine Mortal Realms, everyone had to ascend through the Immortal Path. Even for him, who was walking the Sword Immortal path, that was no exception. Fang Xuanyang and the others could circumvent that because they were avatars.

But the Great Heavenly Sovereign Chapter was different. It was a unique path to ascension. By refining ninety-nine types of spiritual energy, a person could turn themselves into a Heavenly Supreme Pill, gaining immense strength.

"Fellow Daoist, please follow me," said the guide.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

He then led Fang Chen to a small compartment in the Hall of Merits. After telling Fang Chen to wait for a moment, he rushed inside. Moments later, he returned with over two hundred peak-grade spirit stones, placing them before Fang Chen.

"There are not many peak-grade spirit stones in stock. Mainly, these things are rare even in Qingming, and their value isn't very high. Most of the time, no one is willing to risk fighting for them." The guild smiled faintly. "Pick the one you like and let me know."

Among the stones, Fang Chen saw the Frost Water Immortal Flame, Azure Lightning Energy, Ice Wind Energy, Yang Corrosion Flame, Great Yin Divine Lightning, and Primordial Origin Qi. He also saw the Treasure Light Buddha Qi he had encountered in the Formless Purgatory.

Most of the peak-grade spirit stones had overlapping and repeated spiritual energy. Though there were over two hundred stones, the number that contained the ancient spiritual energies needed for the Great Heavenly Sovereign Chapter was likely very few.

After carefully selecting, Fang Chen ended up with only twenty useful spirit stones. He smiled at the cultivator and said, "I'll take these twenty."

The cultivator nodded lightly. "Alright, take the token to—"

He suddenly froze, his expression darkening as he looked at Fang Chen.

"Are you joking with me? The Hall of Merits doesn't allow random foolishness!"

"I'm not joking. I truly intend to take these twenty spirit stones. My token contains enough merit."

Fang Chen took out his jade tablet, which shimmered with light.

The cultivator's face was filled with disbelief. "Eight hundred and fifty..."

The person in front of him wasn't an old, seasoned external cultivator. How could someone like him have so many merit points saved up in his token?

"F-fellow Daoist, please wait a moment, I'll be right back."

The cultivator switched to a much softer tone, even stammering slightly, clearly treating Fang Chen with the attitude one would reserve for a wealthy patron.

He quickly took back the peak-grade spirit stones in front of Fang Chen and rushed to Elder Qin.

"Elder Qin, I..."

Elder Qin furrowed his brow slightly. "Spit it out quickly, can't you see I'm busy?"

A second-transformation immortal smiled wryly. "It's fine, Elder Qin, you continue with your work. As for whether I should exchange that third-transformation immortal herb, I still need to think about it."

A third-transformation immortal herb cost six hundred merit points. Even though that immortal had gained significant rewards from recent explorations, exchanging that many merit points would wipe out his entire savings. Afterward, applying for the Core Disciple Assessment would be impossible.

"Hmm, think it over."

Elder Qin nodded and then turned to his subordinate. "What's going on? Didn't you take that junior to exchange for the peak-grade spirit stones?"

The cultivator, a first-transformation immortal, wore a bitter smile on his face. "Yes..."

"Then give them to him." Elder Qin sneered. "Playing with things like that...

hmph!

Coming to the Enlightenment God Palace and not cherishing the opportunity. Look at him wasting such precious merit points on peak-grade spirit stones? Doesn't he realize why we set the price so high?"

"Someone exchanged merit points for peak-grade spirit stones?" asked the second-transformation immortal in disbelief. "Doesn't one cost thirty merit points? That's too much of a waste, isn't it? If you're really interested in those things, why not buy them outside the Palace? Five immortal crystals can get you one peak-grade spirit stone."

The cultivator who had been leading Fang Chen laughed bitterly. "No, Elder Qin... if he just wanted one, I would've exchanged it for him, but he wants twenty—twenty! That's six hundred merit points! I'm not sure if I should agree to this..."

Elder Qin suddenly felt a cramp in his calf. He stared at the cultivator, his eyes widening in shock. "You said... he wanted twenty peak-grade spirit stones!?"

"Twenty?"

The second transformation immortal staggered back. He quickly calculated the merit points needed to buy that much and was astounded.

Six hundred merit points!

Paying that much for peak-grade spirit stones was not just a waste; it was borderline reckless spending!

The second-transformation immortal said indignantly, "With that much merit, couldn't he exchange for an immortal herb? Why waste it on peak-grade spirit stones? Who's so foolish as to do this?"