Chapter 125: Merit Order

Xu Chengzhu sighed, but still issued the city-wide muster order!!

The city-wide muster order calls upon every person in the city who still considers themselves a cultivator of the sect, excluding the elderly and young who cannot care for themselves. Everyone—yes, everyone, regardless of age—must take part.

To contribute their share to the purge operation of Xiancheng.

The next morning, neither Su Jian nor Su Hanlin had returned.

Liu Yunniang wanted to take Su Hua and Su Jin to school herself.

Su Jin did not agree. She told her sister-in-law: "Sister-in-law, you stay home. There's still Xiaohe who needs looking after. Big Brother and Brother Su Hanlin haven't come back—they must still be busy."

I'll bring Bai Bai along. She can absolutely protect Su Hua and me and get us safely to the clan school."

Liu Yunniang could only nod helplessly: Fine, Bai Bai really is more reliable than me!

If anyone has the combat strength to defeat Bai Bai, then there's no point in me going either.

So Su Jin and Su Hua walked hand in hand to the clan school.

The moment Su Jin arrived at the clan school, she found the whole place tense and busy. Whether students or instructors, every single one of them was hurrying along.

And the atmosphere was taut, heavy and oppressive.

When she stepped into the classroom.

"Su Jin, hurry over here. You're the only one missing."

The instant Su Jin's foot crossed the threshold, she saw Su Cheng beckoning her over. Five people had already gathered in a small circle.

There were Su Wuji, Su Cheng, Su Yunhu, Su Linyuan, and Yang Guan.

"What happened? Why does everyone look so tense?" Su Jin asked quickly.

"You don't know?" Su Wuji asked back. "You didn't notice anything unusual when you came in?"

"What's unusual?" Su Jin was surprised.

"You really have nerves of steel. The atmosphere in the clan school is that tense, that busy, and you didn't sense anything unusual at all?" Su Wuji complained, speechless.

"It's not that—I did feel something was a bit strange," Su Jin said quickly.

"Forget it, I'll tell you. Xu Chengzhu issued a city-wide muster order. Anyone who still considers themselves a member of the sect in their heart must answer the call. Voluntarily follow the arrangements and contribute a share to Xiancheng." Su Wuji said.

Su Jin heard this and was immediately shocked. "That's bad then. At home there's still my sister-in-law Liu Yunniang with my niece who's just over two years old. If my sister-in-law gets conscripted, who's going to look after my niece?"

"The clan will definitely make arrangements. Let's talk about ourselves first. The students at the clan school will definitely be conscripted. Under the city-wide muster order, not answering would be the real disaster. As long as the sect is still around in the end, they'll come after you for it later.

But we're still young, we can't do anything major. We'll definitely be assigned by the clan to places that need someone to do the work but don't really need high cultivation." Su Wuji guessed.

"I guessed the same thing. The first three grades at the clan school definitely won't be sent to the outer city or outside the city—even if we went, we wouldn't be of any use. The last three grades might be able to serve as message runners or something." Su Linyuan lamented.

"Even if you can't be a message runner, you don't have to sigh about it, do you?" Su Jin felt Su Linyuan's sighing was a bit strange.

"Xu Chengzhu issuing the city-wide muster order shows Xiancheng has reached a critical moment, and they alone can't maintain the city's safety and stability. So after we answer the call, there are merit points to be earned. These merit points apply to everyone.

Not just one or two people—everyone gets them.

The more important the work, the more merit points you can earn.

Merit points are the sect's hard currency. You can exchange them for many rare benefits.

Generally speaking, we can only qualify for the Merit Order once we become registered disciples of the sect.

With the Merit Order, you can accumulate, save up, and exchange merit points and other things.

Now that we've answered Xu Chengzhu's city-wide muster order, we can obtain the Merit Order early." Su Wuji explained to Su Jin and the others who didn't understand.

Su Jin's heart immediately began to pound as she asked: "So if we have the Merit Order, does that count as being registered disciples of the sect?"

"It doesn't, but we can enjoy part of the treatment reserved for registered disciples." Su Wuji said. "The sect can let you enjoy good treatment early, but it will absolutely never let you exploit a loophole. Registered disciples outside the sect—even if they're just menial disciples—still enjoy a lot of sect benefits.

Why would the sect let you take advantage for free?"

He rolled his eyes again.

Su Jin's face immediately fell. Good things really never come that easy.

"But being able to obtain the Merit Order early is already very good. With the Merit Order, we can start earning merit points early. Three thousand points can be exchanged for one Foundation Establishment Pill. To get your hands on a sect Foundation Establishment Pill, you'd normally have to start queuing five or six years in advance.

We've obtained the Merit Order early, so we can join the queue five or six years ahead of everyone else." Su Wuji said.

"That doesn't add up. There are so many clan students across all of Xiancheng, plus students from the four great academies. By your logic, all of them could get the Merit Order early.

If that many people all start queuing for Foundation Establishment Pills years ahead of time, when would it be our turn?

The year of the monkey, the month of the horse?"

The moment Su Jin finished speaking, Su Linyuan and Yang Guan both burst out laughing.

"Impossible. Merit points are extremely hard to come by. A city-wide muster order like this one in Xiancheng is already a once-in-a-century event. And even if we answer the muster, during the entire muster period, earning one or two points would already be considered decent.

If you want to save up three thousand points, that has a certain degree of difficulty to it." Yang Guan said.

"Ordinary students will find it very hard to save up enough points in a short time. In the end, the ones competing with us for Foundation Establishment Pills will number at most a little over a thousand. That handful of people can't even stir up a ripple in the sect's massive Foundation Establishment Pill queue." Su Linyuan said proudly.

Su Jin felt it definitely wouldn't be that few.

But she was even more curious about one question: "What do you mean by the sect's Foundation Establishment Pill queue?"

"To get a sect Foundation Establishment Pill, you need three thousand points, and not only do you need the points, you also need the right status. If you're a menial disciple, even if you've reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, you still have to queue at the back. Only when the sect's Foundation Establishment Pills are plentiful will you have a chance to get one and establish your foundation.

And the sect will only exchange one Foundation Establishment Pill for you. If you use that pill to attempt foundation establishment and fail, then sorry—any future breakthroughs, you'll have to find your own way to get a Foundation Establishment Pill.

The sect won't give you a second welfare Foundation Establishment Pill.

After all, outside the sect, Foundation Establishment Pills are priced but unavailable on the market.

The output is very small, and a single pill can sell for tens of thousands of spirit stones.

Take our clan, for instance—we have our own herb garden, and every ten years it produces a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills to help those clansmen who have been unable to establish their foundation for a long time.

Of course, if you're an outer disciple, you can queue ahead of all the menial disciples. Basically, the fastest is three to five years, the slowest seven or eight years, and you can get your Foundation Establishment Pill."