Chapter 98: Merit Points

Su Jin, hearing this, immediately nodded in satisfaction.

She was very much in favor of Little Blood having this kind of awareness. Knowing to come home early was good.

Lest it vanish the moment you let go!

Later she told her elder brother the things Xuechiluo had already agreed to.

"Elder brother, Xuechiluo agreed to help. But if you find anything tasty, you have to share a portion with it," Su Jin emphasized.

"That goes without saying," Su Jian nodded hurriedly.

Who works without taking wages?

Absolutely must take them.

Even if Xuechiluo didn't take them, he would help collect them — couldn't let the Patrol Bureau's people get a freebie.

"Also, after eating that mother worm, Xuechiluo has grown bigger," Su Jin dropped another astonishing bombshell.

"What? Grown bigger?" Su Jian exclaimed in surprise. "How big?"

Su Jin immediately gestured: "About a chi tall now. Originally it wasn't even a palm's height."

"Grown that much? That mother worm was really that nutritious?" Su Jian was shocked.

"After eating that mother worm, it can also talk now," Su Jin continued, fearless of stirring up trouble, spilling the news.

"It can talk? Wait, you mean it can talk like a human? That's impossible." Hearing this, Su Jian's composure broke and he cried out.

Then he saw Su Jin looking at him with a face full of astonishment.

Su Jian immediately tucked away his broken composure, forcibly restoring calm as he spoke. "Although Xuechiluo is an ancient shamanic spirit, it shouldn't have this kind of ability to speak. Unless it has transformed. But it's only been a few days since it was hatched — it couldn't possibly have transformed this early, right?"

"Xuechiluo said that after eating that mother worm it could talk. It must be because of that mother worm," Su Jin immediately tossed the blame. In her heart: definitely not that her Xuechiluo grew crooked — must be that worm's influence.

"Mother worm?" Su Jian frowned. That was indeed possible. "Alright, you go to school first. I'll look into the reason later."

If all else failed, he'd swallow his pride and ask.

"Mm, mm, okay." Su Jin didn't think much of it. After breakfast, she cheerfully went off to school with Su Hua.

Su Jian didn't go to work — he had taken the day off today.

Mainly planning to accompany Su Hanlin to the Medical Department for a checkup.

If it was confirmed he had healed, he could return to work, then Su Hanlin planned to go back to work tomorrow.

Actually it was just that Su Hanlin couldn't sit still — he'd rested less than three days and couldn't stand it anymore. Insisted on returning to the Intelligence Bureau.

Truly a born workhorse's fate!

Su Jian found his behavior of forcing himself to work despite his body very incomprehensible.

If he were injured, he'd just lie flat immediately.

Only when completely healed through and through would he go out to work.

But there was nothing to be done — who could blame Su Hanlin for being his own brother? He still planned to accompany him to the checkup, just to be safer.

Otherwise, who knew if the Medical Department also had spies who might stab him again?

If stabbed once more, he felt Su Hanlin could drop dead on the spot.

But before they even stepped out, Su Huchen arrived with a physician.

That physician even brought a medicine chest. Now they didn't need to go to the Medical Department at all.

The physician directly re-examined Su Hanlin's wound, re-applied the salve, took his pulse and judged his injuries were mostly healed, then fed him a third-rank healing pill before leaving.

The whole process was brisk and efficient.

"When you go to work tomorrow, just join the search for the worm nest," Su Huchen decided as soon as the physician left.

"Alright," Su Hanlin said happily.

"The Intelligence Bureau has six stewards in total. Although you only handle part of the work, as long as you do well, it's not impossible to keep rising to become Vice Head of the Intelligence Bureau," Su Huchen drew a pie for Su Hanlin outright.

Few bosses in the workplace didn't know how to draw pies.

Su Jian really couldn't watch anymore and complained: "Hanlin's body isn't fully healed yet — how about you wait two more days before letting him work? If that won't do, at least don't let him join a big operation this early. Excavating a worm nest isn't exactly a danger-free job.

What if there's still something fierce squatting in the nest and Hanlin gets caught in it?"

"Just keep your distance from the start," Su Huchen said immediately. "Precisely because there's danger, Hanlin going into battle while injured means the sect's merit points will be doubled. Once Hanlin is fully healed, what merit is there to earn?" Su Huchen said, exasperated. "You know as well as I do, a sect is different from a clan — in a sect, merit points are the hard currency. When spirit stones can't get you something, merit points can.

If you want a promotion and raise, merit points are likewise the most important measure.

Besides, Hanlin wants to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill — that needs three thousand merit points.

He's already at Qi Refining seventh layer now. If he doesn't save up enough points early and queue up for the Foundation Establishment Pill soon, then when he reaches the peak of Qi Refining, is he supposed to be stuck at the peak realm unable to advance further?" Su Huchen said bluntly.

Su Jian, hearing this, immediately dared not speak.

But he dared to glare.

He just said Hanlin had originally planned to lie around for a few days — why suddenly insist on going back to work? It must be that Su Huchen had quietly swayed him.

"Glaring at me is useless. Hanlin isn't like you, with a Venerable Purple Palace Realm cultivator backing you up. If he wants to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill through normal means, he has to fight hard now. He has no backing," Su Huchen said.

Just like himself back then. No fighting meant staying at the bottom forever.

Su Hanlin smiled upon hearing this.

He knew that although these two people before him had different ideas, they were both doing it for his good.

"Here, this is for you. This is an eye from a Transformation Tree Demon I found for you. Refine this eye and fuse it into your eye socket that's missing an eye. From now on, observing the aura and movement trajectories of wood-type flora and fauna will be much easier."

Su Hanlin opened the small wooden box Su Huchen handed over — inside was exactly a green eyeball.

"Many thanks, Da Hu Zi," Su Hanlin said happily. Relying on himself alone, he definitely couldn't have gotten such a treasure. He just didn't know how much of Da Hu Zi's favors and merit points this eye had cost. "This eyeball is from an Osmanthus Tree that had eaten a Transformation Grass but had low cultivation — only Qi Refining sixth layer — and transformed. Its transformation wasn't complete; it only grew facial features and limbs. But its movement speed was extremely slow, and a cultivator passing through that area discovered it and cut it down on the spot.

Its body was taken straight into Xiancheng's treasury. I happened to discover it by chance. I happened to go to the treasury that morning to exchange for something.

It cost eight hundred merit points to exchange this one eyeball for you. I had just exchanged one eyeball in the morning, and when I went back in the afternoon to exchange for an arm, I found everything was gone.

Its body in the treasury had all been exchanged away by others."

"A wood demon — and a Qi Refining realm wood demon at that, one that hadn't amounted to anything — how did it become such a hot commodity?" Su Jian asked, puzzled.