Pushing aside his stray thoughts, Lin Haoming cast a series of incantations toward the children. Soon, all dozen or so woke up.
They stared at him with wide, terrified eyes, bracing for a torment worse than death. Lin spoke softly, "Do not fear. Qian Yuanshu and Yongfu are dead. I will remove the insects from your bodies, and then you will be free."
The children looked at him in disbelief, but Lin didn't wait. He began the extraction process. Some children shrieked instinctively, but the expected pain never came. Instead, small red insects flew out of their bodies and landed in Lin's hand.
Lin placed the Marrow-Eating Bugs into a spirit beast bag. Since he intended to practice the Divine Bone Art, these bugs would be useful. Their spiritual marrow had already been taken from the children; he had saved their lives, so he considered the bugs his payment.
"It is over. You may go," Lin said, severing their restraints. As they hit the floor, the realization of their salvation finally sank in. Many wept with joy and knelt to kowtow.
---
A Massive Harvest
Lin felt a surge of powerful merit flowing into the Merit Bead. It was confirmed: only cultivators—even those as weak as these children—could provide him with merit. Scanning the bead, he found he now possessed seven Small Merits. He was immensely satisfied; saving lives truly was the most efficient way to gather merit.
Suddenly, Lin's expression darkened. "What are you doing?" he barked.
The fleeing children froze. Lin glared at a few who had stepped on Li Wanru's body in their haste to escape. "Who gave you permission to trample her? Are you even worthy? Get out! All of you!" Terrified, the youths scrambled up the passage and out of the palace.
Lin looked down at Li Wanru's corpse. To his surprise, her soul remained trapped within her body. Examining her closer, he realized Qian Yuanshu had placed a restrictive seal on her. It seemed Li Wanru was right; her master never intended for her to survive his success.
Lin cast a few more spells to dissolve the restriction. A sphere of soft, white light emerged from her shattered forehead, radiating a profound sense of peace. The soul orb circled Lin three times—as if in a final gesture of thanks—before drifting up the passage and into the night sky, where it eventually dissolved into the starlight.
---
The Power of Redemption
In that moment, an unbelievable amount of merit flooded the bead. Lin was stunned. He now had the nine Small Merits required to unseal the fourth layer of the Spirit Accumulation Bead, plus an extra one for the Demon Accumulation Bead.
Helping a tragic enemy find peace had yielded a greater reward than saving a dozen innocents. Lin vowed that he would never forget the name Li Wanru.
Outside, the children gathered around Li Shuntian. Lin landed nearby and ordered, "Shuntian, pick out the ones with the best aptitude to bring back to the sect. I'm going to the Soaring Cloud Tower to rest."
Li Shuntian understood that rest meant studying Qian Yuanshu's secrets, but he didn't dare complain. Besides, bringing back talented youths was a valid excuse for the conflict; the sect wouldn't punish them for killing an inner disciple who was sabotaging potential recruits.
---
Upgrading the Bead
Lin flew to the top of the Soaring Cloud Tower. The room was bare, containing only a low-grade prayer mat with a basic spirit-gathering array—useless to Lin, who used the Five Elements Array.
He activated the tower's protective wards and immediately used his merit to unseal the fourth layer of the Spirit Accumulation Bead.
As expected, the bead's capacity expanded. More importantly, its recharge rate increased significantly. After some observation, Lin calculated that it now only took one day to fully recharge a Mid-grade Spirit Stone.
Lin was thrilled, but his excitement was tempered when he checked the requirements for the fifth layer. It had tripled: he would need twenty-seven Small Merits to unlock it.
Gaining nine had been a stroke of incredible luck. To find twenty-seven would be a monumental task. I need to find a more consistent way to earn merit, he thought, settling in to begin his new path of body refining.