Starting from the Primordial Era, it began to devour the starry sky.

11. What a great merit! What a great merit!

Just as Qiao Lin was pacing back and forth in the camp, a voice came from behind him:

"How rare! A newcomer has joined my training camp!" A young man dressed in blue robes walked out of the palace.

"My name is Hong Ji. Are you Qiao Lin, fellow Daoist?" Hong Ji greeted him with a cupped hand.

"I am Qiao Lin. Greetings, Fellow Daoist Hong Ji!" Qiao Lin greeted him with a smile.

"Fellow Daoist, you're too kind. Please come and sit down!" Hong Ji pointed to a pavilion next to them.

"Fellow Daoist Qiao Lin, are you wondering why there are no cultivators in the camp?" Hong Ji suddenly asked with a smile as the two sat down.

"Yes, the jade slip says there are 27 reserve members, but after searching around, I only encountered Fellow Daoist Hong!"

"Haha, that's not surprising!" Hong Ji explained. "Actually, there are only six people left in the camp right now. I just accepted a mission to hunt down major sinners and earn merit."

"Oh? Generally speaking, isn't it said that you need to reach the Myriad Manifestations Realm to accept a mission?" Qiao Lin asked with curiosity. That's what it said on the jade slip.

"That's generally true, but fellow Daoist should understand that we are all cultivators practicing the Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Diagram. It's too difficult to become a Myriad Manifestations cultivator!" Hong Ji sighed helplessly.

"Indeed, the Divine Demon Body Refinement technique is extremely difficult to cultivate, especially the Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Diagram!"

"The Yinglong Guard provides some resources every ten years, which is enough for ordinary Qi Refining cultivators, but far too little for us. Therefore, we reserve members, after reaching the seventh level of the Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Diagram and barely acquiring the power of Myriad Manifestations, will take on some ordinary missions. Missions that earn one or two merits are few in number, but they are also less difficult and suitable for us."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Lin immediately understood that resources are never enough for cultivators, as cultivation is an endless process.

Cultivators of the Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Diagram are generally very powerful. It is not difficult for an early-stage Purple Mansion cultivator to fight against an ordinary peak Purple Mansion cultivator. In particular, many of these cultivators trained by the Yinglong Guard can even cross a whole level and briefly exchange blows with cultivators of the Myriad Manifestations realm.

"Therefore, most of you have gone out, and only a few of you have not yet reached the Purple Mansion level or have gained some insights and are currently cultivating. If nothing unexpected happens, once you become Purple Mansion cultivators, you will also go out on missions like us."

"I see. Thank you for your explanation, fellow Daoist." Qiao Lin cupped his hands in gratitude.

Next, Qiao Lin chatted with Hong Ji for a while, gaining a better understanding of the reserves.

In short, there are not many restrictions on the reserve force. The requirement from above is to train hard and join the Internal Security Forces as soon as possible.

The only hard requirement is that every year, one must kill a primordial god or demon of the same level as an assessment to prevent slacking off in cultivation.

Furthermore, if one fails to become a Myriad Manifestations Cultivator within a hundred years, one will be expelled.

While Qiao Lin was talking with Hong Ji, more cultivators from the reserve camp came out of their residences, and the three cultivators came to the pavilion together.

"Fellow Daoist Qiao Lin, my name is Kong Yu!"

"My name is Zhuang Yan!"

"My name is Zhang Dai!"

The three greeted him respectfully, and Qiao Lin stood up, cupping his hands in a respectful gesture: "Qiao Lin greets fellow Daoists!"

"Alright, sit down. We'll all be colleagues from now on, and the chances of us working together to hunt down the worst criminals are extremely high. There's no need to be so polite." The elder Hong Ji invited everyone to sit down.

However, Hong Ji only chatted with everyone briefly before saying:

"Fellow Daoist Qiao Lin, I still have a mission to complete, so I won't stay any longer. Please, the three of you, explain the preparation camp to Fellow Daoist Qiao!"

Very decisively, Hong Ji walked out of the pavilion, rode away on his sword, and it was clear that Hong Ji was in a hurry.

At this moment, Zhang Dai spoke up: "Fellow Daoist Qiao, you've just arrived at Yinglong Guard, so you probably haven't challenged those innate gods and demons yet, have you?"

"Primordial Gods and Demons? I've heard that you only need to kill one Primordial God or Demon each year as part of the assessment?"

"Hey, you're talking about the assessment, I'm talking about the reward!" Zhang Dai said. "Most of us who cultivate the Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Diagram can fight beyond our level, so killing a Primordial God or Demon isn't that difficult; the only difference is a few levels above. The reward for slaying a Primordial God or Demon is enormous!"

"Is there an extra reward during the newcomer period?" Qiao Lin's eyes immediately gleamed with greed, wishing for a reward ten or even a hundred times greater.

"Uh, no, but we usually regard this as a benchmark of strength, and it's also considered a newcomer's induction ceremony!" Zhang Dai squeezed his nose and eyes together, revealing an embarrassed expression.

"Currently, in our camp, only you and Fellow Daoist Sun Yun are at the Innate Realm. Three years ago, when Fellow Daoist Sun Yun came to the camp, she was three levels higher than us, killing an Innate God-Demon at the mid-stage of the Purple Mansion Realm while only at the mid-stage of the Innate Realm, and gaining 620 merit points. We are all quite envious!" Zhang Dai said.

620 merit points are an enormous fortune. 100 points can be exchanged for the Pure Yang Cultivation Technique Purple Mansion Scroll, laying an incredibly solid foundation. 10 points can be exchanged for common but extremely powerful supernatural abilities like the Law of Heaven and Earth. 1 point of merit can easily be exchanged for 1 jin of Yuan Liquid from a Yuan Shen True Person.

"Hmm? Wait a minute! Fellow Daoist Zhang, you just said that Fellow Daoist Sun Yun killed a god and demon three levels above her level? That should only be worth 300 merit points!" Qiao Lin suddenly noticed a problem.

"Fellow Daoist, are you unaware? Innate Realm cultivators cannot learn supernatural abilities like Purple Mansion Realm cultivators, resulting in a significant drop in combat power. Therefore, the rewards for slaying gods and demons are doubled at the Innate Realm!"

"What!" Qiao Lin was shocked. So, there really are benefits for newcomers?

Qiao Lin quickly began to calculate. As a late-stage Innate Realm cultivator, killing a late-stage Innate Realm cultivator would earn him 20 merit points. The reward would double for each stage he advanced. If he killed the Myriad Manifestations God and Demon, he would receive 620 merit points. If the reward doubled again, it would be 1240 points!

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, what are the requirements for fighting against a Primordial Demon God?" Qiao Lin asked.

"Requirements? There aren't any. Even if you want to hone your skills, you can always seek out and fight against innate demon gods!" Zhang Dai said.

Qiao Lin took a deep breath, suppressing his craving for merit, and then said, "I am new here, and I would be grateful if Fellow Daoist Zhang could guide me. I intend to fight against gods and demons!"

Qiao Lin's voice was very soft, but if you looked closely, you could see that Qiao Lin's eyes were full of fire, and his whole body looked like it was about to burn.

"Ha, I knew it, Fellow Daoist Qiao Lin would be unable to resist. After all, this is the only way for us to earn merit besides the ten-year reward!" Zhang Dai laughed.

"Let's go, let's all see Fellow Daoist Qiao's strength together," Kong Yu and Zhuang Yan said in unison.