Tao Mu crouched beside Lin Shu one last time, his sharp gaze scanning the boy's pallid features and inspecting the patchwork of half-healed wounds and dried blood. He wasn't merely checking on the injuries—he was checking for signs of hidden poison, subtle enough to escape even the wounded's notice. Jiang Yunfan was not known for mercy, and he was certainly not the type to miss an opportunity.
After several moments, Tao Mu nodded. "You'll live," he said simply, then stood in silence, arms crossed, wind still dancing faintly around him.
Twenty minutes passed.
Lin Shu's breathing slowly evened out, his Qi now flowing enough to allow movement. His steps were shaky at first, but steadying—enough to run if needed. He was nowhere near his peak, barely half-strength at best, but it was enough. He wouldn't need to fight—not with Tao Mu beside him.
The return journey was grueling. Tao Mu's pace had to slow considerably to accommodate Lin Shu, whose every step sent jolts of pain through his joints and ribs. But neither spoke. The wind whispered through the trees, the forest passed them like a blurred memory, and the blood-stained thoughts in Lin Shu's mind kept him sharp, awake, and silent.
Eventually, looming out of the mist and rising like a fortress carved into the land itself, the outer gate of the newly reinforced camp came into view—high wooden walls reinforced with metal bindings, watchtowers on each end, and defensive formations etched faintly into the ground at its base.
They passed through the gate, soldiers nodding toward Tao Mu and glancing uneasily at the bloodied young cultivator limping beside him.
As they entered, Tao Mu gestured toward the towering wall to the right—a massive dark slab of stone embedded with glowing lines of spirit inscription.
"That," he said, "is the Merit Wall."
Lin Shu narrowed his eyes.
"From now on," Tao Mu continued, "students earn merit points for their missions. The more dangerous the mission, the greater the reward. Merits can be exchanged—for weapons, herbs, techniques, pills, artifacts. Even… cultivation methods."
Lin Shu's breath caught slightly.
Tao Mu smiled faintly. "Your name is on there. Ranked 13th. You've earned 2,565 merits."
Lin Shu's eyes snapped to the wall. His name was there, etched in clean, bold lines just beneath the names of high-stage cultivators. He could hardly believe it.
Tao Mu added, "After today, you'll probably make the top ten. Killing a Jiang Clan young master, surviving a siege of that scale? That's not just commendable. It's… valuable."
Lin Shu stepped closer, his eyes quickly scanning up the board.
The top three names were beasts in human skin. Each had over ten thousand merits, all peak-stage Rank 1 students—young elites from ancient clans with bottomless resources. Names that resounded through the entire Institute.
Further down, in places nine and ten, he spotted two more familiar names: Yun Qiu and Wu Jian.
"High stage?" Lin Shu murmured. "Last I met them, they were still at mid stage…"
Of course. Both were heirs of powerful clans, and talent flowed in their veins like molten gold. Their rise was expected.
Then his gaze flicked lower.
"Wait… where's Zeng Shiyang? Han Yi? Xie Lang?"
He scrolled down the names on the stone with growing confusion. Then, finally, he found them:
Rank 28: Zeng Shiyang – High Stage Rank 1
Rank 30: Han Yi – High Stage Rank 1
Rank 32: Xie Lang – High Stage Rank 1
"All of them high stage already," Lin Shu muttered to himself. "And yet… not even in the top twenty?"
It baffled him.
"With their status, strength, and cultivation… they should be above me by a wide margin." But they weren't. Not in this new game, where risk brought reward and survival forged the standings.
He turned to the other side of the wall where the exchange list was displayed. There, glowing softly with inscribed light, were the available items for trade.
Rows of herbs, rare pills, enhancement materials—and weapons glinting faintly within protective arrays.
Most of the techniques listed were low-tier Rank 1. A few were mid-tier. But three names caught his eye—three high-tier Rank 1 techniques:
Rank 1 — Low Tier
1. Grass-Sway Step – movement
Lets the user glide aside like bending blades of grass; good for short dashes and dodging.
2. Clear-Breath Method – poison-nullifying
Slow, steady breaths push minor toxins from the meridians and lungs.
3. Sharp-Thorn Flick – ranged
Snaps a needle-thin strand of Qi from the fingertip; limited range but piercing.
4. Shadow Slip – movement
A half-blink sidestep that blurs the body for a heartbeat.
5. Sweeping-Palm Draft – ranged
Fans out a flat gust of force that can knock back unguarded foes within five paces.
6. Bitter-Root Guard – poison-nullifying
Hardens the organs and slows the spread of moderate poisons; does not purge them fully.
Rank 1 — Mid Tier
7. Mist-Veil Steps – movement
Footwork that leaves drifting after-images, letting the user shift direction in mid-stride.
8. Ironleaf Shot – ranged
Compresses Qi into leaf-shaped blades that whistle through the air with decent cutting power.
9. Pale-Lotus Flow – poison-nullifying
Cycles energy along the eight extraordinary channels to expel most toxins within minutes, at the cost of heavy fatigue.
10. Silent-Arc Bolt – ranged
A curved Qi arrow that bends slightly toward a moving target and lands without sound.
11. Twisting-Root Footwork – movement
Irregular pivoting steps entangle an opponent's sense of distance, ideal for close-quarters dueling.
Rank 1 — High Tier
12. Blink Step – type : movement
Instant short-range teleport inside the user's field of vision with a brief cooldown.
13. Deep-Cleanse Pulse – type : poison-nullifying
A forceful surge that neutralizes high-grade toxins but drains a large share of spiritual energy.
14. Moonclaw Hands – type :transformation / close-ranged attack
Shapes both hands into the sinewy, fur-lined claws of the Steelhide Moonwolf—a peak-tier beast famed for rending steel. Because the technique relies on human skin and bone rather than the beast's own flesh and ivory, its might drops from peak-tier to solid high-tier strength. Claws last a few breaths before the user's hands revert, leaving soreness in the joints.
No peak-tier techniques. But even these were worth coveting.
His gaze lingered, silently making calculations.
He'd browse the wall more carefully later. Right now, he needed the promised rewards.
Tao Mu turned, gesturing for him to follow. They walked through the newly constructed wooden hallway leading toward the command buildings, its floor reinforced with stone, banners flapping gently above.
And as they entered the tao mu's quarters, Lin Shu's eyes burned—not just from exhaustion, or lingering poison, or pain.
He followed.
Silently.
Hungrily.
Instructor Tao Mu sat comfortably behind the broad wooden desk, his eyes scanning Lin Shu's bruised, half-healed figure. He gestured toward the plain chair opposite him. "Sit. You've earned that much, at least."
Lin Shu said nothing, merely lowering himself onto the seat, his posture tense but still holding that signature sharpness in his gaze.
Tao Mu leaned forward, interlocking his fingers. "Now, let me calculate the merits due to you. I've already reviewed the field report and cross-checked it with the traces left behind. While Jiang Yuyan escaped, you brought down her brother—Jiang Junxi." He paused, letting the name hang in the air. "And according to our files, he was the more dangerous of the two. Killing him is no small feat."
He continued, "As for Yuyan… from what I saw of her expression, she's shattered. Whether she becomes a husk who can't pick up a blade again, or she throws herself at you in blind vengeance, it works to our advantage either way. If she comes back, we eliminate her. If not, she's as good as dead."
Tao Mu reached for a document and scribbled down a few notes before speaking again.
"So, your reward: 3,500 merits. That brings your total to 6,065. Congratulations—you're now ranked sixth on the merit board."
Lin Shu didn't react outwardly, but the number pulsed in his mind.
"Be warned, though," Tao Mu said, his tone growing colder. "While you're not the strongest student here, you're rapidly becoming one of the most efficient. Efficient killers tend to earn high bounties."
He tapped the desk with one knuckle. "I wouldn't be surprised if the Jiang Clan has their own version of a merit wall—except theirs tracks corpses, not accomplishments. You've become a high-priority target now."
He leaned back, voice lower but sharper. "You're not untouchable, Lin Shu. Your path from here won't get easier. But if you keep surviving like this… it might just get interesting."Lin Shu didn't understand what he meant so he simply nodded as he got up and then showed his respect before leaving,tao mu was left on his desk thinking"i just wonder how long will it be, before you realize or rather accept that your future is already set by your talent and in all honesty most decide to refuse acknowledging it because of the feeling of weakness injustice and rage they feel that eats them from within and i for one know just what type of torment it is to know that no matter what you do you'll always be destined to mediocrity"