Chapter 835: Merit Exchange
Currently, Shen Mo can still further enhance the overall strength of the soul generals inside the Soul Refining Flag!
If he only stores the soul generals within the flag and does not condense a Soul Body for them, nor lets them engage in fierce battles in the Outer Realm, it is not a big issue; even with a Sixth Rank Demon Soul General, Shen Mo is confident he can suppress it and prevent any backlash!
However, storing the soul generals inside the flag versus releasing them for battle represents a world of difference for Shen Mo in terms of mana consumption and soul burden.
Now, the soul generals that can be gathered to form the God Slaying Array have already reached the limit of his control in terms of overall strength.
Shen Mo can promote more Class IV Demon Soul Generals to Class V, to act as the array core, or enhance the strength of existing Class V Demon Soul Generals. But in doing so, the number of soul generals forming the array base below Class V would decrease; if he increases the number and overall strength of soul generals below Class V serving as the array base, he must reduce the number of Class V soul general array cores...
In other words, under his current cultivation level, the power of the Soul Generals Array cannot make a qualitative breakthrough!
The Thousands Insects Evil Corpse Roc is a middle-stage great demon of Class VI; Shen Mo, relying on various extraordinary methods and the Soul Generals Array, can hold his own against it, which is already commendable; if the Soul Generals Array does not see further improvement, there is no way he could defeat it, let alone slay it completely!
Instead of wasting effort, it’s better to focus on refining the flesh and blood of the Longevity Demon Lord, striving to step into the late-stage of the Divine Bridge Realm soon, at which point he can command more and stronger soul generals!
Below, the cultivators of the Red Flame Sect and powerful practitioners outside the sect have cleaned up the battlefield and begun to complete various building facilities at the Hou Corpse Cave stronghold; the imitation Taihua Mirror that they hadn’t had time to set up is finally erected as well.
Shen Mo released Fairy Pei Yu, the Possession Ghost Yang Chengxiong (Horse Groom Lv), and other Class V Demon Soul Generals, and let them pursue the direction in which the demon forces retreated. Then he returned to the cave mansion in the stronghold to begin recovering from the losses of this battle.
He does not worry about "Hallow Venerable," this Demon True Immortal, possibly breaking through Jade Spring Fairy’s restraints to attack him again... He left a gecko Separation in the Green Cloud Cave; if [Chanjue] Destiny warns of danger, he can immediately use the Reverse Yin and Yang Skill to transfer his real body back to Jade Spring Mountain.
As for the members of the Red Flame Sect at various strongholds on Five Dragon Mountain, during the time when [Chanjue] Destiny warns of an attack from "Hallow Venerable," Shen Mo also has time to notify them using the Communication Talisman to hide in the Mirror Realm, seeking the protection of the Taihua Mirror;
The most dangerous are the sect disciples who can’t reach the imitation Treasure Mirror in time!
But with various formation fortresses and Teleportation Arrays as supplements, even if "Hallow Venerable" shatters the entire Five Dragon Mountain with his magic, the casualties wouldn’t be too severe.
Upon returning to the Hou Corpse Cave stronghold, Shen Mo summoned the Demon-Suppressing Tower and entered the sixth level of the tower room to begin refining the flesh and blood of the Longevity Demon Lord.
Aside from cultivation, he does not forget to communicate with the Drunken Immortal Pot about insights related to Elixirs, spiritual items in the world, and fine wine, deepening his relationship with the Artifact Spirit, hoping it will soon acknowledge him as its master.
Also, the hairpin spiritual treasure obtained from a "Disciple of the Immortal," Shen Mo handed over to Chen Mengze shortly after returning to the Red Flame Sect. She is now trying every means to subdue the Artifact Spirit of the hairpin, hoping to refine this lower-grade spiritual treasure for her use!
Additionally, the top-grade Spiritual Artifact, the Taiyi Sword, showed signs of advancement last month;
For the past month, it has been nurtured within his Dantian to avoid interrupting its transformation into a spiritual treasure during a fierce battle, so he has reverted to using the Demon Slaying Sword, which has been upgraded to a high-grade Spiritual Artifact.
Several days later.
Shen Mo concluded his cultivation and put away the Demon-Suppressing Tower, feeling the guidance of the mirror light in front of the imitation Taihua Mirror, and entered the Mirror Realm.
It remains the brightly illuminated space with dazzling mirror light, where mirrors float unanchored, and the image cast within the facing mirror is the form transformed by the Artifact Spirit of the Taihua Mirror.
"Please, fellow Taihua, calculate the recent gains in merits," Shen Mo expressed his request to the Artifact Spirit of the Taihua Mirror, and the figure in the mirror smiled slightly, pointing a finger at him.
The small bronze mirror he wore at his waist began to emit a hazy glow.
After a moment, the Treasure Mirror’s light swirled, revealing the characters "Thirty-two thousand merits."
"To have Jade Spring Fairy personally teach me requires two hundred thousand merits. To exchange for a lower-grade Immortal Artifact, it requires around one million merits!"
Browsing through the rewards he could exchange with these merits, Shen Mo murmured softly, "If we manage to seize complete control of Five Dragon Mountain in this campaign, all merits should total around three hundred thousand. And if I personally slay that Sixth Rank Thousands Insects Evil Corpse, being able to earn half of the merits from it would already be remarkable."
"I’m still quite short of listening to the Immortal Master’s discourse..."
"The rest, either from acquiring from other Immortal Mountains or by offering spiritual item resources to fellow Taihua to make up the difference!"
The demon-slaying merits given by Jade Spring Fairy through the Taihua Mirror cannot be traded independently, but can be exchanged directly by offering various spiritual item resources to the Taihua Mirror.
However, exchanging spiritual items for merits and exchanging merits for spiritual items are not equivalent, the former being extremely unprofitable.
For example.
The cultivators and strong practitioners of the alien tribe who participated in the campaign against the Corpse Mountain Range can exchange one merit for one hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones, or one Middle Grade Spirit Stone, through the Artifact Spirit of the Taihua Mirror!
But to exchange Spirit Stones for one merit, one must offer ten Middle Grade Spirit Stones to the Taihua Mirror, which converts to one thousand Lower Grade Spirit Stones.
In this exchange, the Taihua Mirror earns ninety percent profit.
And such merits cannot be traded independently, severing the means for strong practitioners to directly spend Spirit Stones or spiritual item resources to obtain merits from other people!
However, upon careful consideration, it does make sense...
Rewards like Immortal Level Magical Instruments and an Immortal Master’s discourse can’t be simply exchanged for purely Spirit Stones and ordinary resources.
For Shen Mo, who isn’t interested in ordinary rewards and is only drawn to the top rewards in the exchange options, he either accepts the tenfold price difference by offering a large amount of cultivation resources to exchange for merits, which indirectly bears the high costs borne by Jade Spring Fairy for this campaign;
Or sacrifices life and death, fiercely battling demons in the Corpse Mountain Range, pushing the battle in a favorable direction for his side!
"I am separated from the Formless Realm by two Minor Realms, so for now, there is no hurry to consult Jade Spring Fairy."
"However, before Jade Spring Fairy’s decisive battle with Hallow Venerable, I must accumulate two hundred thousand merits for her to teach me the Formless Path, lest she loses this battle or there’s another unexpected incident!"
If Jade Spring Fairy is defeated by Hallow Venerable, slain by this Demon True Immortal, or severely injured requiring her to go into seclusion, then no matter how many merits Shen Mo accumulates, it’s unlikely he would receive her personal discourse, losing merits in vain and also missing the grand opportunity to listen to an Immortal Master’s discourse!
After offering some of the demon materials recently acquired and magical artifacts to the Artifact Spirit of the Taihua Mirror, Shen Mo exchanged for over a thousand merits and then exited the Mirror Realm.