"First, to Jindan Cave," Wu Yu said.
Nangong Wei was still anxiously waiting for him there.
She had to be beside herself with worry, because all she knew was that Wu Yu was going to use the Soul Devourer Talisman to deal with Zhang Futu.
Wu Yu still thought that Zhang Futu would start a fight with him as they flew.
Along the way, Zhang Futu's expression was neutral, as though he were emotionless. He looked preoccupied with something. At least when Wu Yu told him to go to Jindan Cave, he did not comment, but headed straight there.
And since he did not say anything, Wu Yu would not either.
He had never treated this Zhang Futu as his master, only as an enemy.
Whoosh!
Zhang Futu obediently moved at full speed, without stopping.
He moved very quickly, and Wu Yu felt that he had to be at least at the sixth tier of the Jindan Dao Realm - stronger than the other Huang sword rank disciples.
Not long later, they reached Jindan Cave. From above, Wu Yu could see Nangong Wei sitting in a corner on the snowy ground, chin cupped in her hands. Her face was pale, and she looked nervous and fidgety, as though seized by a difficult decision.
Without further ado, Wu Yu leapt down and landed before Nangong Wei with a bang.
"Wei Er." Wu Yu called.
Nangong Wei's head jerked upwards. Seeing that it was him, her tears fell immediately. She jumped up and hugged Wu Yu, crying hard. She said in a hoarse voice, "Big Brother, I thought I would never see you again!"
"It's alright. I won't die so easily." To find a girl in this foreign land who cared so much about him, Wu Yu felt a warm feeling within.
He gently patted Nangong Wei on the back, calming her down.
Suddenly, Nangong Wei saw Zhang Futu descend behind Wu Yu, and her expression changed. She tensed and said, "Big Brother, why is he still alive...."
Wu Yu motioned for her to be calm, then he spoke softly into her ear, "The situation has changed. He is no threat for now. I will have him escort us to the Achievements Hall. For now, just follow me. No need to panic."
"Wei Er understands. But what exactly has happened...." She still could not comprehend the situation.
"I'll tell you later." Wu Yu added, then he led Nangong Wei by the hand towards Zhang Futu. "Now bring us to the Achievements Central Hall. We have never been there before, and I'm afraid we would waste quite a bit of time otherwise."
Zhang Futu still adopted his neutral expression, and simply did as he was told.
His behavior made Wu Yu still think him dangerous. Because Zhang Futu had not yet turned his thoughts around. If he did, he should now be trying to fawn over Wu Yu, and not show him a cold and blank expression.
Perhaps because he had been played by a young man from humble origins like Wu Yu, he was unable to get over it, especially since Shen Xingyu had said that he was too weak to mentor Wu Yu.
Along the way, Zhang Futu traveled with speed. The Achievements Central Hall was located close to the Clear Sky of Shushan, so they had to travel quite a way. Luckily, all of the central halls were in the same place.
Compared to the branches, the central halls were much bigger in scale. Wu Yu had even heard that in the central halls, one had to use the Art of Sword Flight to move around from place to place.
Even at Zhang Futu's speed, they still needed two days' time to reach the central halls. They flew over other major sword palaces, and both Wu Yu and Nangong Wei were very wary of him. When Wu Yu saw many huge and majestic palaces clustered before him, he knew that they had reached the region of the central halls and were close to their destination.
"Wei Er, after I have exchanged the Corpse Flower for roughly 1,000 merits, we will each take 500. How's that?" Wu Yu had already decided to split the Corpse Flower with Nangong Wei as well. After all, the two of them had gone out as a team.
They had already decided this before, but when Nangong Wei saw the central halls, she suddenly shook her head. "Big Brother, that won't do. I've decided that the discovery and harvesting of the Corpse Flower were all by your efforts. And I only survived because of you. I don't want a single merit from the Corpse Flower."
This did not sit well with Wu Yu either. He was very serious as he replied, "That won't do either. I can't take all the credit alone. Both you and I need cultivation resources. Besides, didn't you want to refine immortal medicines as well?"
Refining immortal medicines required manuals and medicinal furnaces.
Nangong Wei could not beat him in an argument and was forced to speak into Wu Yu's ear. "Big Brother, since it's come to this, let me speak more honestly. I think you must have guessed that I'm not an ordinary disciple. I.... came from the Clear Sky of Shushan. My father is a powerful person, and he can give me anything I want. These merits do not help me at all, but they are of great use to you.... I've just been sneaking around because I don't want him to find me. But actually, I'm sure he knows where I am at all times, only he's been going easy on me...."
Before, she had not been straight about it, but now she spoke of it directly.
That meant that she could have anything she wanted. Only, she was temporarily left hanging because she had snuck out. She felt that these 1,000 merits were of great importance to Wu Yu, so she had chosen to refuse them.
She had become familiar with Wu Yu and simply wanted the experience of earning something for herself.
Wu Yu understood now.
Nangong Wei had been full of goodwill towards him, and actually, the merits did not mean much to her. Although he did not know why she was avoiding her father, Wu Yu did not care about such things.
Since Nangong Wei wanted him to be better, then he would not stand on ceremony. He nodded assent. Truly, this meant that he have a lot more room to play with.
"Thank you, Wei Er."
Nangong Wei smiled contentedly, saying, "No need for thanks. Big Brother saved Wei Er's life. All of this is as it should be."
"The Corpse Flower incident was my fault too. It wasn't just me saving you."
The two chatted as though Zhang Futu did not exist.
As they spoke, they arrived at the Achievements Central Hall.
Actually, the Achievements Central Hall was the smallest of the central halls.
Before Wu Yu was a golden palace, which was the Achievements Central Hall. The walls were adorned with thousands upon thousands of swords, each one different. It was a grand sight.
At the door of Achievements Centra Hall stood roughly 30 Huang sword rank disciples. They were martial cultivators of roughly Zhang Futu's level, and Zhang Futu even recognized a few.
One Huang sword rank disciple stood up and said to Zhang Futu, "What are you doing here? This is a place for ordinary dan disciples at the fourth tier of the Jindan Dao Realm and above to trade for merits."
Zhang Futu did not speak, and Wu Yu stepped forward, showing Shen Xingyu's Earth Sword plaque. "Seniors, this is the Earth Sword plaque of the Earth sword rank disciple Shen Xingyu. She bid me come to the central hall to trade for merits."
"Shen Xingyu?" Hearing that name, they all turned to regard Wu Yu. They realized that Wu Yu was young, but indeed strong for his age. They assumed that he was an ordinary dan disciple who Shen Xingyu favored, and did not dare to hold him back. A Huang sword rank disciple stepped forward and greeted them. "Please enter."
As expected, this Earth Sword plaque was something different. And instead, it was Zhang Futu who went unnoticed, as though he were just a disciple here to show them the way.
Zhang Futu had not been invited, and therefore did not enter. Wu Yu and Nangong Wei were ushered in by the Huang sword rank disciple. When they entered the Achievement Central Hall, they realized that it was much bigger inside than it looked. It probably contained some Na Word Array spirit design or something similar enchanting it. Perhaps because the Leaderboard of Swords and Immortals was ongoing, there were very few disciples here to trade for merits.
The Huang sword rank disciple brought Wu Yu to a golden stone table, where a fat matron sat. She was currently doing her makeup, and glanced at Wu Yu and Nangong Wei before exchanging a look with the Huang sword rank disciple. Instantly, she was all smiles and she straightened up, saying to Wu Yu, "Young Master, Young Mistress, what would you like to trade today?"
Wu Yu pulled out the Sumeru Pouch containing the Corpse Flower, as well as a few more things that they had won in the Demons' Abyss. He put both Sumeru Pouches on the table.
She opened the bag from the Demons' Abyss first and rifled through the things inside. She looked at the Huang sword rank disciple again, who smiled heartily. He said, "These two are the juniors of Shen Xingyu."
"Oho." The matron simpered, saying, "What a good haul. These things are worth 50 merits." Actually, she was a little unsatisfied. The items were not even worth 40 merits, and they had come all the way here to the central hall. What a waste of effort. They could have just exchanged them with their own assistant hall masters.
However, because of Shen Xingyu's reputation, she gave them 50 merits.
When she opened the second Sumeru Pouch, she was shaken, exclaiming, "Corpse Flower?"
"That's right." Wu Yu nodded.
The matron immediately smiled. "Impressive. The pair of you are truly impressive, to bring a Corpse Flower. Although the Corpse Flower is not useful to Shushan, it is still a great work, worth.... 1,200 merits."
Again, higher than expected. Clearly, Shen Xingyu's reputation....
Wu Yu had received more than 1,000 sword cores, and he stashed them in his Sumeru Pouch. They weighed him down heavily, a fortune. It was his first time having such wealth, and even Wu Yu himself was a little shaken.
"The next time both of you come, you need not display the plaque." The Huang sword rank disciple smiled and led them out. He also pointed Wu Yu towards the Immortal Treasures Hall.
Wu Yu was planning to get an immortal treasure and then secure a medicinal furnace.
Coming out, he saw Zhang Futu, and was not as afraid of him anymore. In truth, Zhang Futu was nothing in the whole of Shushan. Those like Shen Xingyu, whose presence could gain Wu Yu an extra fifth of merits, were the truly powerful ones.
"These two young geniuses must have come from the Clear Sky of Shushan. How I envy them." After Wu Yu and the others had left, the 30-odd Huang sword rank disciples discussed.
Zhang Futu continued to play the part of chauffeur, taking Wu Yu to the Immortal Treasures Hall. When Wu Yu pulled out the Earth Sword plaque, the Huang sword rank disciples on guard reacted the same way, immediately ushering Wu Yu into the Immortal Treasures Hall. The Immortal Treasures Hall was 10 times as large as the Achievements Central Hall. Therefore, he asked Wu Yu what type of immortal treasure he wished to see, as well as the rough value, before he would bring Wu Yu there. He would also provide suggestions to Wu Yu.
"I want a medicinal furnace," Wu Yu said.
He and Nangong Wei looked at each other. Their dream of refining immortal medicines was finally about to be realized.