Legend of Wyatt-Chapter 1461: The Second Floor of the Hall of Merit

Chapter 1461: Chapter 1461: The Second Floor of the Hall of Merit

"Just around the corner?"

Upon hearing Wyatt Barnes’ words, Elder Fire retorted, "That’s a bit premature to say. These materials can repair about sixty percent of the third layer of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Tower, and that’s primarily thanks to the Nuwa Stone fragment. Among them, just the Nuwa Stone fragment alone accounts for forty percent of the repair."

Elder Fire’s words were like a bucket of cold water being poured over Wyatt’s head, completely extinguishing his inner excitement and agitation.

It turned out that the impressive repair was all due to the Nuwa Stone fragment.

In that moment, the status of the Nuwa Stone fragment in Wyatt’s heart soared dramatically.

"Elder Fire, I’ve heard of a legend, saying that the Great Sage Equal to Heaven—Monkey King—was formed from one of the multi-colored stones that fell when Nuwa was repairing the heavens... And you seem to have mentioned before that Monkey King is not an indigenous being of Yanhuang Star but was transformed from one of Nuwa’s divine stones. Are these multi-colored stones really so miraculous that they could give rise to a monster like Monkey King?"

Wyatt asked curiously.

"Ordinary multi-colored stones naturally could not birth a monster like the Horse Officer... The particular multi-colored stone that birthed the Horse Officer was the most precious part of the multi-colored stones, known as ’Essence of Five-Colored Stone.’ It harnesses heaven and earth’s natural power and is imbued with extraordinary spiritual essence, which is why it could create a monster like the Horse Officer."

Elder Fire explained.

"I see."

Wyatt suddenly understood, then asked again, "So the multi-colored stone fragment I just obtained is only from an ordinary multi-colored stone?"

"Yes."

Elder Fire responded briefly.

"Elder Fire, since these multi-colored stones are so miraculous... Do they provide any help for me?"

Wyatt couldn’t help but inquire.

Thinking about the impressive qualities of the multi-colored stones, Wyatt hoped they might offer some benefits to him—it would certainly be more useful than just feeding them to the Seven Treasures Exquisite Tower.

"If it were a complete piece of multi-colored stone, it would undoubtedly provide significant benefits to you... But a fragment of an ordinary multi-colored stone offers no help to you whatsoever."

Elder Fire remarked.

Upon hearing this, Wyatt was immediately a bit disappointed.

Having already purchased the necessary materials, Wyatt left the first floor of the Hall of Merit and headed to the second floor. "The second floor of Hill Mountain City’s City Lord’s Main Mansion is where high-grade martial arts are stored... I wonder if the second floor of Moon Radiance Sect’s Hall of Merit is the same."

Wyatt walked into the second floor of the Hall of Merit, only to find that it wasn’t where high-grade martial arts were kept.

The second floor of the Hall of Merit was a place to trade merit points for various types of materials.

The materials here included items for refining tools, alchemy materials, components for inscribing Taoist Talismans, and even rare items for engraving Saint Markings.

These materials stored on the second floor of the Hall of Merit were all extremely precious... Ordinary materials wouldn’t warrant anyone trading merit points for them within Moon Radiance Sect.

After all, within Moon Radiance Sect, the value of merit points far outweighed that of Holy Stones.

"I wonder if the rare materials stored on the second floor of the Hall of Merit might include those needed to repair the Seven Treasures Exquisite Tower."

Thinking about this, Wyatt felt a surge of anticipation.

Currently, the third layer of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Tower was about seventy percent repaired, leaving only thirty percent to go before it was fully restored.

At the entrance to the second floor of the Hall of Merit sat a counter with an old man behind it. The man appeared to be dozing off, yet exuded an unusual presence.

As Wyatt passed by the counter, he had a strange feeling of being observed.

Instantly alert, Wyatt glanced carefully at the old man, realizing that while the man seemed to be dozing, he was, in fact, sharper than anyone else.

"Leave the storage ring here before entering."

As Wyatt cautiously eyed the old man, the man opened his sleepy eyes and spoke flatly.

Wyatt nodded and promptly took off his storage ring, placing it on the counter.

He understood that the sensation of being observed earlier was likely the result of the old man using powerful spiritual energy to inspect his storage ring, gauging how many rings Wyatt had on him... Fortunately, the Seven Treasures Exquisite Tower wasn’t something the old man’s spiritual energy could probe into.

Leaving the storage ring on the counter didn’t bother Wyatt.

The ring was bound to him by blood; unless he died, nobody else could access its contents.

Of course, Wyatt wasn’t surprised by the rule requiring visitors to hand over their storage rings on the Hall of Merit’s second floor.

On this floor, there was evidently no one guarding the materials, with only a few scattered individuals choosing what they needed.

If storage rings weren’t handed over, some might silently stash materials within rings to evade merit-point transactions.

After entering the second floor of the Hall of Merit, Wyatt addressed Elder Fire, "Elder Fire, take a look and see if there are any materials here that would be useful for repairing the Seven Treasures Exquisite Tower."

In most cases, Elder Fire wouldn’t observe the outside world unless Wyatt initiated communication.

Wyatt appreciated this fact.

At the very least, it ensured Elder Fire didn’t infringe on his privacy.

In this regard, Elder Fire was quite considerate.

As Wyatt was the master of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Tower, he could always immediately sense whether Elder Fire was watching the outside world through its power.

Knowing Elder Fire wasn’t currently observing, Wyatt reminded him directly.

After a circuit around the second floor of the Hall of Merit, Wyatt found approximately a dozen materials that could be used to repair the Seven Treasures Exquisite Tower. However, these materials combined would only repair about ten percent of the third layer.

"Seems like my luck really broke through back on the first floor."

Wyatt thought to himself, somewhat in awe.

The materials on the second floor of the Hall of Merit all had clear marked prices, and no bargaining was allowed.

The dozen materials Wyatt selected totaled fifteen thousand merit points—ten times the amount he spent on the first floor!

Even Wyatt couldn’t help but feel a mix of emotions.

Of course, he knew the comparison was meaningless.

The extraordinarily rare Nuwa Stone fragment from the first floor was included as a free bonus; it hadn’t cost him any merit points.

Returning to the counter, Wyatt neat-handedly spent fifteen thousand merit points via his crystal card, putting the storage ring back on and packing up the materials he’d purchased from the second floor.

"Thank you, Elder."

Before proceeding to the third floor of the Hall of Merit, Wyatt expressed his gratitude to the old man behind the counter.

The old man’s spiritual power was stronger than anyone Wyatt had encountered before... Of course, this referred only to those who had demonstrated their spiritual power in Wyatt’s presence.

For those who hadn’t revealed their spiritual power, Wyatt couldn’t gauge its strength.

This led Wyatt to speculate the old man might be an Inner Sect Elder.

"I wonder how Elder Easton measures up to him."

Wyatt mused to himself.

Elder Easton was Pete Garcia, the Grand Elder overseeing the Outer Sect area of Moon Radiance Sect—a man Wyatt had met once before.

Since Elder Pete hadn’t used his spiritual power to inspect Wyatt, Wyatt was unsure how strong it was.

On that occasion, Wyatt had paid Pete Garcia one four-grade Holy Stone and ten fifth-grade Holy Stones to issue a public statement... This statement tied to the life-and-death duel between Wyatt and Sail Fenning that took place days afterward.

The announcement had caused a stir among many.

Few would have expected Pete Garcia, the Outer Sect Grand Elder, to make such a declaration and pledge to honor Wyatt’s gamble in the case of his death.

Many were keen on speculating about Wyatt’s relationship with Pete Garcia.

However, no matter how they guessed, they couldn’t imagine Wyatt had merely secured Pete’s cooperation by paying him eleven Holy Stones.

What truly mattered, though, was the significance behind those eleven Holy Stones.

Within the territories surrounding Moon Radiance Sect and across the entire Nine Sect Alliance region, the Holy Stones predominantly circulating were sixth-grade at most... Sixth-grade Holy Stones could even be mined from seventh-grade stone deposits.

On the other hand, fifth-grade Holy Stones, even when flowing into the Nine Sect Alliance region, were rarely seen, as few would trade them openly.

Instead, they would typically use them for cultivating.

It was common knowledge that higher-grade Holy Stones didn’t necessarily increase cultivation speed.

However, higher-grade Holy Stones crucially enabled sustained high-intensity cultivation without disruption or requiring replacement... Many Martial Artists and Taoist Cultivators had missed crucial breakthrough opportunities because of disruptions during cultivation caused by needing to swap out Holy Stones.

Hence, high-grade Holy Stones were deeply coveted by advanced-level Martial Artists and Taoist Cultivators.

With higher cultivation levels, the period of closed-door training was often several years—occasionally decades or even centuries weren’t out of the question.

Wyatt had offered Pete Garcia ten fifth-grade Holy Stones and one fourth-grade Holy Stone.

Fifth-grade Holy Stones required at least sixth-flow powers controlling sixth-grade mines to produce; they rarely entered the Nine Sect Alliance’s market, though not entirely uncommon.

Fourth-grade Holy Stones, however, were nearly unheard of in this region of the Nine Sect Alliance.

Those required at least a fifth-flow power overseeing fifth-grade mines and were only obtainable in the core areas managed by those forces.

It would be virtually impossible for anyone within the Nine Sect Alliance to possess a fourth-grade Holy Stone unless they ventured into one of those regions.

Alternatively, someone from these core areas may have traveled into the Nine Sect Alliance territory and left some behind.

Wyatt’s ability to produce a fourth-grade Holy Stone had undoubtedly piqued Pete Garcia’s curiosity about Wyatt’s origins.

This had been Wyatt’s intention all along.

It was precisely this curiosity that had led Pete to cooperate so readily.

Otherwise, why would a mere Outer Sect disciple gain the favor of Pete Garcia, the esteemed Outer Sect Grand Elder?

"There aren’t many polite youngsters like you these days."

The old man smiled, surprised by Wyatt’s proactive expression of thanks.

Normally, visitors to the second floor of the Hall of Merit would simply leave after collecting their materials, barely paying attention to the old man.

"Little fellow, what is your name?"

The old man inquired kindly.