Chapter 275

"This is Master Zhi Fa of the Golden Vajra Temple, responsible for calculating the merit points of the Golden Vajra Temple's disciples—no need to be discreet." The black-armored man, seeing Wang Yu's expression, spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Disciple Wang Yu pays his respects to Master Zhi Fa," Wang Yu said, bowing deeply to the emaciated monk.

Master Zhi Fa merely nodded, saying nothing.

Clearly, a late-stage Qi Condensation disciple held no special weight for this Golden Vajra Temple's Foundation Establishment monk—though the black-armored man's earlier mention of Wang Yu's possible connection to the Li Huo Ancestor had drawn the emaciated monk's fleeting attention.

At that moment, Wang Yu gradually withdrew from his storage pouch a series of identity tokens, each a different color—one, two, three…

The black-armored man and Master Zhi Fa's eyes slowly widened!

After a candle's time, Wang Yu walked out of the wooden door, his face beaming with joy.

Inside the wooden room, the two men stared silently at the dozen or so demon sect disciple tokens neatly arranged on the wooden table.

Among them, three especially exquisite True Disciple tokens stood out particularly prominently.

"Brother Jin, your disciple Wang Yu has only been in the sect for a few years and is merely an inner disciple—is he concealing his cultivation? Is he secretly one of your sect's late-stage Qi Condensation prodigies, hidden by your Ancestors?" Master Zhi Fa suddenly sighed and asked.

"I'm not certain whether Wang Yu truly has any connection with our sect's Ancestor, but I personally reviewed his admission several years ago—he was merely a four-element root disciple."

"Even if Wang Yu is concealing his cultivation, none of these demon sect True Disciples are easy to kill. The previous late-stage Qi Condensation disciples who turned in tokens didn't bring even one demon sect True Disciple token, let alone three each." The black-armored man spoke slowly, his face still expressionless, yet his eyes flickering with disbelief.

"A four-element root disciple reaching late-stage Qi Condensation is no small feat, but killing three demon sect True Disciples alone—I still find it hard to believe. Could it be these three demon sect True Disciples weren't slain by this disciple Wang Yu, and there's some other reason?" Master Zhi Fa paused, then spoke with growing doubt.

"Brother Zhi Fa, you don't disapprove of our disciple accumulating so many merit points, do you?"

"As instructed by the Four Ancestors, this temporary merit point calculation is token-based, not person-based—to prevent disputes, any demon sect token may be exchanged for temporary merit points." The black-armored man's gaze darkened as he countered.

"Amitabha, Brother Jin, you overthink. How could I possibly think such a thing?"

"In that case, this disciple Wang Yu shall temporarily be ranked first in merit points."

"With this disciple's over four hundred merit points, unless another disciple has obtained the fifth Jialan Key, no one else can possibly surpass him." Master Zhi Fa's eyes flickered twice, then he smiled and firmly denied any suspicion.

The black-armored man nodded, saying nothing more—but inwardly resolved to keep close watch on this disciple Wang Yu from now on.

Not long after, word spread like wildfire through the encampment that a disciple of the Four Symbols Sect had turned in three demon sect True Disciple tokens—even reaching the ears of the Jin Dan Ancestors.

…

Wang Yu returned to his temporary quarters and fell into a deep, snoring sleep, determined to fully relieve the accumulated exhaustion from his journey in the secret realm.

He slept for an entire day.

No one came to disturb him during that time.

At noon the next day, he finally awoke, tidied up the various items he had collected in his storage pouch, and pondered whether to immediately seek out the Tian Chan Ancestor and present the box of Xue Yuan Mushrooms—or wait a little longer for Xi Men Mei to see if she had also safely emerged from the secret realm.

As Wang Yu contemplated this, he stepped out of his quarters, intending to observe the return status of disciples from the other four sects.

The moment he opened the door, he saw someone nearby gazing up at the vortex in the sky.

"Senior Brother Wan."

Wang Yu, recognizing the figure, was taken aback.

It was Wan Shan.

"Disciple Wang, you've finally emerged."

"You probably don't know yet—you've become the talk of all four sects' disciples."

"Hmm, you killed three demon sect True Disciples alone! How many demon sect True Disciples were there in the entire Jialan Secret Realm?" Wan Shan turned his gaze from the sky, bowed, and grinned broadly.

"Senior Brother Wan, you flatter me—I merely got lucky, barely managed to succeed." Wang Yu smiled in reply.

"Haha, whatever you say, it's true. But it's a pity—if someone hadn't obtained the fifth Jialan Key, you might have been the top performer of this Jialan Secret Realm trial." Wan Shan suddenly remembered something and spoke with deep regret.

"Someone obtained the fifth Jialan Key? Who got it?" Wang Yu froze, recalling the moment in the tower when Gong Yue had casually tossed the key into the air.

"Rumor says it was a disciple of the Sunset Sect, but no one knows exactly who."

"But strangely, the key reportedly fell from the sky and landed directly on this Sunset Sect disciple's head." Wan Shan added, his expression turning slightly puzzled.

"That's odd. By the way, Senior Brother Wan—have you seen Senior Brother Tian Junzi?" Wang Yu, somewhat speechless, asked.

"Senior Brother Tian emerged, but he was severely wounded. One of the Foundation Establishment elders said his injuries are grave—his entire meridian network is shattered; whether he'll fully recover is uncertain." Wan Shan hesitated before replying.

"How could this happen? Did Senior Brother Tian encounter the demon sect's Foundation Establishment cultivator?" Wang Yu's heart tightened.

"Yes. Senior Brother Tian did encounter the demon sect's Foundation Establishment cultivator in the secret realm's center. One of his companions—a True Disciple of the Golden Vajra Temple—was killed on the spot. Senior Brother Tian barely escaped with his life using a life-saving technique granted by your sect's Ancestor." Wan Shan explained briefly.

"Senior Brother Tian Junzi is indeed fortunate to have survived. Senior Brother Wan—do you know how many disciples have returned so far?"

"I recall the Ancestors once said that once the talisman guiding the secret realm's exit is activated, the exit can only remain open for three or four days." Wang Yu sighed, then asked again.

"From what I've learned, since we didn't anticipate a Foundation Establishment demon cultivator entering the secret realm, our four sects have suffered heavy losses. Less than a third of the disciples have returned so far. Though more may still emerge before the exit closes, the numbers won't increase much."

"But because of this, I've heard the Four Jin Dan Ancestors, to boost morale and because we've obtained the fifth Jialan Key, have increased the number of items available for exchange with temporary merit points by thirty percent."

"Also, our temporary merit points cannot be combined with our sect's existing ones—we must spend them all on good items." Wan Shan's voice grew increasingly excited.

"A thirty percent increase? Our sect really went all out this time," Wang Yu said, his spirits lifting.

"By the way, I came here specifically because I met Senior Sister Xi Men Mei right after exiting the secret realm. She asked me to wait here for you and tell you to go to our sect's Ancestor's magic vessel as soon as you wake up." Wan Shan suddenly added, a hint of mystery in his expression.