Chapter 735: Reward

The upgrade drastically enhanced various aspects of the United Force, such as its efficiency. Now that he had raised it to the Law Level… the change was simply epoch-making.

He glanced at the two remaining Qi Fortune Light Balls and shook his head. He’d originally planned to use them slowly after the meeting, but he got carried away and spent them all again!

Depressing!

So painful!

He simply closed the panel. Out of sight, out of mind.

In the Magic Room, Zhang Deming began to carefully contemplate the various changes brought about by his Cultivation Technique reaching Tier Seven. He also studied the newly acquired Five Elements Flying Escape Technique and how to use it in conjunction with his new Law-Level Technique, United Force.

…

Several hours later, once Zhang Deming had a solid grasp on everything, he stopped his experiments.

With a thought, he arrived in the Spirit Nurturing Space.

He looked at his Karma: 8.2 points. Though it pained him, in order to get more Energy, Zhang Deming resolutely took out a red Karma Light Ball and activated the Subprogram editor.

A moment later, another Subprogram appeared before Zhang Deming. It was another Cultivation Technique Subprogram, the type that could only be linked to a single Cultivation Technique.

Furthermore, because he had been unwilling to add a loop function, this Subprogram—just like the one for his clone—had a forced-operation feature but required manual activation and couldn’t run automatically.

Of course, even this was absurdly powerful. The simple fact that his Cultivation was quantified as Experience Points and the script’s forced use of his Spiritual Power was enough to rival any Spirit Root Talent.

Zhang Deming looked at the new Subprogram, spent one Merit point to add another function, and then finalized the creation.

As he watched the Subprogram slowly coalesce, Zhang Deming took a deep breath. It transformed into an exceedingly complex Rune and began to float around him.

Looking at the Rune, Zhang Deming waved his hand, and a ball of light appeared.

Rune Summoning: Spirit Nurturing Vine Demon Summoning Technique ● Feng Mingyou!

The ball of light rapidly stretched out. A moment later, Elder Huang appeared on Xuanhua Tower, his expression indifferent and his aura transcendent.

After opening his eyes, Elder Huang glanced at the Subprogram Rune floating beside him. He raised a hand, and the Book of All Living Beings flew down from the sky to hover at his side.

Having done this, Elder Huang surveyed his surroundings. Finding no other issues, he lightly tapped the empty air before him.

In the sky, ten special points of light—representing those who had attended the second meeting—began to glow.

…

On Spirit Nurturing Peak, Qin Shizhong, who was quietly waiting for the meeting, suddenly paused. His vision began to change.

At the same time, Qu Qingxian, Feng Mingyou, Pei Xiaoxiao, Li Shifan… all ten members entered a trance as their minds were pulled before Xuanhua Tower. With the addition of the two “fakes,” Zhang Deming and Zhang Wu, all twelve members of the meeting were now present.

The first thing the group saw was Elder Huang standing at the edge of the tower, his hands clasped behind his back. His Daoist Robe and hair drifted in the wind as he gazed at them with an indifferent expression.

What was different this time was that, in addition to the ancient-looking book hovering near his shoulder, a peculiar Rune was also circling around him.

The ten members noticed the object at different times. Each of them froze for a moment, and then, as if realizing something, their eyes began to flicker with understanding.

Elder Huang swept his gaze across the group and said, “The Five Elements disaster within the borders of the Celestial Spirit Sect has been brought under initial control. As members of the Celestial Spirit New District, your individual performances have varied, but all are worthy of praise.”

“The Alliance has witnessed the efforts of every one of you. In light of your good performance, the Alliance has conferred and decided to offer you a choice before giving out your rewards.”

The members’ expressions stirred. Zhang Wu, at the forefront of the group, took the lead and asked, “Elder Huang, might we subordinates know the options beforehand?”

Elder Huang waved his hand, and two giant pages materialized before the group. They read: Star Promotion and Special Function.

Seeing everyone staring at the pages, Elder Huang clasped his hands behind his back and said indifferently, “The option on the left, Star Promotion, is just as the name implies. Each of you will receive a one-time Star Level promotion. It will be a direct one-Star increase, regardless of Contribution.”

“The second option is to unlock a non-basic universal function for your Celestial Spirit District.”

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Qu Qingxian and Zhang Wu in unison, even though this was supposed to be a group decision.

If they chose the first option, however, Two-Star Qu Qingxian and Three-Star Zhang Wu stood to gain the most. After all, a promotion from One-Star cost one hundred Contribution points, a promotion from Two-Star cost five hundred, and a promotion from Three-Star cost a whopping three thousand.

Seeing the group’s silence, Elder Huang spoke up. “You may discuss it amongst yourselves.”

Zhang Wu paused for a moment before asking, “Regarding the function that would be unlocked—do we get to choose it, or is it predetermined, or random?”

“Giving you such a choice is already a great favor, and you still want to pick it yourself? You’re getting more and more cunning, you brat.” Elder Huang glanced at Zhang Wu and said, “The function is: Commerce Dao!”

Hearing this, Zhang Wu looked back at the others. Seeing that they were all looking at him, he asked, “What are your thoughts?”

After a moment’s pause, Qu Qingxian spoke. “Steward, is it difficult for a new district to unlock a new function?”

Zhang Wu paused, then explained, “Many functions require a great deal of Contribution. Some can only be unlocked through sheer luck or by completing specific Alliance missions. This Commerce Dao is one of the primary regional functions, costing around twenty thousand regional Contribution points.”

Hearing this, Li Shifan said, “In other words, we’d be making a huge profit if we choose this function, right? After all, the combined value of all our promotions would only be three or four thousand Contribution points.”

Zhang Wu nodded. “You could say that.”

At this, the others fell silent, ceding the floor to Qu Qingxian and Zhang Wu.

‘Calculated this way, it was as if they were getting to crowdfund the Commerce Dao at a discount. But… the gap between what they were putting in and what they were getting was enormous.’