Chapter 1961: Flowing Light Merit Armor
The Merit Value Exchange Hall was as crowded as ever, with people constantly arriving to exchange their merit points.
As soon as Zhang Ruochen and his group entered the hall, they immediately drew considerable attention.
"It's Zhang Ruochen. It hasn't been that long, and he's back at the Merit Value Exchange Hall again."
"Don't you know? Zhang Ruochen went to the Northern Domain earlier. At Celestial Machine Mountain, he single-handedly wiped out two hundred thousand troops of the Death Clan. A whole bunch of their divine sons and daughters died."
"How is that possible? The Death Clan is one of the upper three clans of the Hell Realm, incredibly powerful. The ones stationed at Celestial Machine Mountain were the elite of the Death Clan. How could they be wiped out by Zhang Ruochen alone?"
"It's true. One of my clan brothers was in the Northern Domain camp and was pulled to attack Celestial Machine Mountain. He saw Zhang Ruochen display his divine might with his own eyes, destroying the Death Sacrificial Altar and annihilating two hundred thousand Death Clan troops. Not only that, Zhang Ruochen also obtained the Sky-Connecting Divine Wood at Celestial Machine Mountain, which caused a falling out with the top experts of the Northern Domain camp. I heard that Young Master Yunhai died because of the Sky-Connecting Divine Wood."
"Young Master Yunhai is dead? He was someone who could even defeat Undying Great Saints."
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For a moment, many people in the hall looked at Zhang Ruochen with changed expressions.
No one had witnessed the battle at the Sword Grave in the Central Domain, so many didn't believe it was truly Zhang Ruochen's achievement.
But the battle at Celestial Machine Mountain in the Northern Domain was witnessed by hundreds of thousands of cultivators; it couldn't be faked. Being able to create such astonishing battle results would make anyone wary of Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen naturally heard the surrounding discussions, but he paid them no mind and went straight to the Saint King Merit Ranking to start exchanging his merit points.
As he continuously poured Death Clan blood from the Space Jade Bottle, Zhang Ruochen's merit points began to increase rapidly, and correspondingly, his ranking rose.
Before this, his merit points were 3.5 billion, ranking him over ten thousandth, close to the merit points and ranking of the number one Saint King realm cultivator of the Guanghan Realm.
After pouring out all the collected Death Clan blood and saint souls, Zhang Ruochen's merit points climbed to 6.6 billion, far surpassing the number one Saint King realm cultivator of the Guanghan Realm.
His ranking on the Saint King Merit Ranking also improved significantly, reaching 3,342nd place. This was already an extremely high ranking, especially considering how short a time he had been on the Saint King Merit Ranking.
Many major realms, using all their strength and spending hundreds or even thousands of years, might not be able to get one person to achieve Zhang Ruochen's current ranking.
"6.6 billion merit points."
At this moment, the Merit Value Exchange Hall was exceptionally quiet. Everyone stared in shock at Zhang Ruochen's merit points and ranking on the Saint King Merit Ranking.
In less than a month's time, Zhang Ruochen had increased his merit points by another 3.1 billion. It was truly hard to imagine. When had collecting merit points become so easy?
"I really envy Zhang Ruochen. He entered the top ten thousand of the Saint King Merit Ranking so quickly. Getting a large amount of merit qi to temper his physical body and saint soul is secondary; the key is getting a Flowing Light Merit Armor. That's something you can't buy with any amount of sacred stones," a purple-haired Saint King said with great envy.
"What is a Flowing Light Merit Armor?"
Someone asked curiously.
The purple-haired Saint King said, "The Flowing Light Merit Armor is a top-tier armor refined by the Merit Divine Hall. Its defensive power is astonishing. Even an Undying Great Saint can't destroy it. More importantly, the Flowing Light Merit Armor can unleash a speed of a thousand times the speed of sound. Whether for attacking or escaping, the help it provides is immense."
"With such a powerful armor, why doesn't the Merit Divine Hall refine more of them?"
That person looked puzzled.
The purple-haired Saint King shook his head. "Each Flowing Light Merit Armor requires a massive amount of precious heavenly materials and earthly treasures, as well as merit qi. It's priceless, so naturally, the output isn't high."
"According to the rules of the Merit Divine Hall, to permanently own a Flowing Light Merit Armor, you need to maintain a ranking within the top ten thousand for over five hundred years. Once your ranking is pushed out of the top ten thousand, the Merit Divine Hall will take back the Flowing Light Merit Armor."
He himself had once entered the top ten thousand of the Saint King Merit Ranking and possessed a Flowing Light Merit Armor for a period of time. But unfortunately, not long after, he was pushed out of the top ten thousand and never managed to get back in.
Many years ago, entering the top ten thousand of the Saint King Merit Ranking only required 3 billion merit points. Over the years, the requirements had been continuously raised. Now, it required over 4 billion merit points, making it extremely difficult.
In front of the Saint King Merit Ranking, a large amount of merit qi surged forth, engulfing Zhang Ruochen.
Anyone who entered the top ten thousand of the Saint King Merit Ranking could enjoy this benefit.
Zhang Ruochen's physical body and saint soul were already very powerful, but the baptism of merit qi still helped him somewhat, making his physical body and saint soul tougher and more flawless.
After receiving the baptism of merit qi, a strange silver-glowing armor appeared out of thin air and automatically put itself on Zhang Ruochen's body.
The armor fit perfectly, as if it were tailor-made for Zhang Ruochen.
After putting on the armor, Zhang Ruochen appeared even more heroic and extraordinary, like a war god galloping across the battlefield.
"Congratulations, big brother, for entering the top ten thousand of the Saint King Merit Ranking and obtaining the Flowing Light Merit Armor," Feng Yan said with a smile.
Zhang Ruochen showed a smile. "I was just worrying about not having a suitable armor. This trip to the Northern Domain was well worth it."
"The Merit Divine Hall has prepared four types of Flowing Light Merit Armors for the top-ranked experts on the Saint King Merit Ranking. The speeds they can unleash are a thousand times the speed of sound, two thousand times, five thousand times, and ten thousand times, corresponding to the top ten thousand, top one thousand, top one hundred, and top ten rankings respectively," Feng Yan explained with a smile. He was very familiar with these matters.
"The Merit Divine Hall places great importance on the experts who enter the top ten thousand of the Saint King Merit Ranking, as they can all play a huge role on the merit battlefield. That's why they specifically crafted the Flowing Light Merit Armors to enhance the survival capabilities of these experts."
If the benefits weren't so great, why would so many people want to squeeze into the top ten thousand of the Saint King Merit Ranking?
There might be other similar armors, but they would undoubtedly be extremely precious. Even emptying the wealth of a top-tier Saint King might not be enough to buy one.
Zhang Ruochen turned his gaze to the Saint King Merit Ranking, locking onto the 9,325th place. This person was named Ji Kongyuan. Before Zhang Ruochen, he was the only person from the Guanghan Realm to have made it onto the Heavenly Court Realm's Saint King Merit Ranking.
Ji Kongyuan was the first son of Emperor Ji Mie. He was a natural prodigy. Many years ago, he had already entered the top ten thousand of the Saint King Merit Ranking, and over the years, he had maintained his ranking without being pushed out.
When Zhang Ruochen first entered the Heavenly Court Realm, Ji Kongyuan's merit points were 3.8 billion. Now, they had grown to 4.3 billion, which was the reason he hadn't been pushed out of the top ten thousand.
Calculating the time, Ji Kongyuan should have been in the top ten thousand of the Saint King Merit Ranking for over five hundred years. This meant he could permanently own the Flowing Light Merit Armor. Even if he broke through to become an Undying Great Saint now, the Merit Divine Hall wouldn't take back the Flowing Light Merit Armor.
In recent years, the Guanghan Realm had become extremely weak. It was truly remarkable that Ji Kongyuan could squeeze into the top ten thousand of the Saint King Merit Ranking and maintain that position for so many years.
"Emperor Ji Mie is truly formidable. He single-handedly produced so many offspring, and many of them have extremely high talent," Zhang Ruochen silently praised.
He felt that if the Guanghan Realm had a few more Emperors Ji Mie, its overall strength would increase significantly.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen finish exchanging his merit points, Feng Yan also took out the saint souls and blood of Hell Realm cultivators he had collected and exchanged them.
"Eight hundred million merit points. Another two hundred million, and I'll be on the Saint King Merit Ranking." Looking at his merit points, Feng Yan couldn't help but smile.
Originally, Zhang Ruochen had planned to give Feng Yan some of the Death Clan cultivators' saint souls and blood, but Feng Yan declined. With the help of the Feng Clan, getting onto the Saint King Merit Ranking, and even entering the top ten thousand, was just a matter of time.
Pei Yutian also took out a Space Jade Bottle, pouring out quite a bit of Death Clan blood and saint souls. His merit points smoothly exceeded one hundred million.
Without further delay, Zhang Ruochen and his group of five headed towards the merit treasure exchange counter.
With a large amount of merit points, they naturally needed to use them, exchanging them for merit treasures to make themselves stronger.
The Merit Divine Hall offered a great many merit treasures for exchange, each one very precious, requiring sufficient merit points to obtain.
Last time, Zhang Ruochen had spent over 3.5 billion merit points to exchange for many merit treasures, but most were prepared for others, as the Sword Grave battle was not his achievement alone.
The only merit treasure he had exchanged for himself was the Merit Sword Washing Marrow, used to refine his sword soul.
After using dozens of bottles of Merit Sword Washing Marrow, Zhang Ruochen's sword soul had become very powerful, far beyond what an ordinary sword cultivator's sword soul could compare to.
"Using another twenty bottles of Merit Sword Washing Marrow should allow my sword soul to undergo an essential transformation. The sword soul I cultivated was already very strong, yet it still requires seventy bottles of Merit Sword Washing Marrow to achieve this transformation. It's really not easy," Zhang Ruochen clicked his tongue in amazement.
Each bottle of Merit Sword Washing Marrow required ten million merit points to exchange. Seventy bottles of Merit Sword Washing Marrow would cost seven hundred million merit points. An ordinary person simply couldn't afford it.
After thinking it over, Zhang Ruochen exchanged for an additional twenty bottles of Merit Sword Washing Marrow. In his mind, a figure of peerless elegance appeared.
"I should go to Wuding Mountain to see her. What must be faced, must eventually be faced."
Zhang Ruochen had long intended to go to Wuding Mountain to meet Ling Feiyu, but various matters had kept him occupied, causing delays. Thinking back to Ling Feiyu's resolute departure back then, Zhang Ruochen let out a long sigh.
Twenty bottles of Merit Sword Washing Marrow would serve as a gift for her.
"Chunan, what merit treasure do you need?" Zhang Ruochen turned and asked.
Xiang Chunan shook his head. "I don't need any. I haven't finished using the Merit Turbid Divine Fire I exchanged last time. Refining eyes is troublesome and takes too much time. I haven't been able to use my clairvoyance lately."
Zhang Ruochen nodded slightly, then turned to look at Ji Fanxin and asked, "Does the fairy need anything?"
"You don't need to consider me," Ji Fanxin said.
Zhang Ruochen didn't insist on this. He turned his head back and began carefully examining the introductions of various merit treasures, looking for ones that could greatly help him.