"Hmm? Of course I have that, but what do you need it for?" Ling Shengjie asked, puzzled.
"Sigh! It's about that Zhou Zhiye from last time. You taught him a lesson, so he doesn't dare trouble you—and since he knows I'm under your protection, he won't touch me either. So instead, he went after a brother of mine from my days in the Stupa Grotto and planted a Blood Essence Insect in him!" Lin Haoming lamented.
"What? A Blood Essence Insect? That brat actually dared to plant one of those on a fellow disciple? He's got some nerve. Where is this brother of yours?" Ling Shengjie actually sounded intrigued.
Lin Haoming pointed toward the private room. "Right inside!"
They entered the soundproof room together. Bao Wenliang, having overheard their conversation, immediately bowed respectfully. "This disciple greets Senior Brother Ling!"
"Cut the chatter. Let me see the insect," Ling ordered.
Bao glanced at Lin Haoming. Seeing Lin remain silent, he peeled back his robes. Ling Shengjie's eyes lit up. "It's almost fully formed! This is a good specimen. Kid, you're lucky you ran into me today!"
Ling reached out and grabbed the insect. A layer of bloody light radiated from his palm, seeping into the creature's body. Slowly, the Blood Essence Insect unhooked itself from Bao's heart and crawled out, landing as a fat, squirming blob in Ling's hand.
"Haha! A Blood Essence Insect raised willingly by a cultivator really is different. This little thing will save me at least a month of bitter cultivation. What luck!" Ling laughed, stowing the insect into a Spirit Beast Bag at his waist.
A Spirit Beast Bag is a specialized spatial tool. Unlike standard storage bags which cannot hold living things, these bags can—making even a low-grade version ten times more expensive than a storage bag. Even among inner disciples, few could afford one.
Having gained a nice prize, Ling Shengjie didn't linger and left in high spirits.
---
The Blood Oath and the Bead
Once he was gone, Lin Haoming breathed a sigh of relief. Inside the room, Bao Wenliang applied healing medicine to his chest and knelt before Lin. "Senior Brother Lin, I will never forget this kindness as long as I live!"
He slapped his chest, forcing a thumb-sized clump of essence blood from his wound. He struck a hand seal, causing the blood to glow with an eerie light. "I, Bao Wenliang, swear to follow Senior Brother Lin Haoming from this day forward. If I break this oath, let the heavens strike me down!"
The blood flared brilliantly before dimming and flying into Bao's forehead, vanishing.
The moment the Blood Oath was completed, the Merit Bead inside Lin's body reacted violently. A massive surge of merit flooded in—enough to either unseal the fourth layer of the Spirit Accumulation Bead or the first layer of a second bead.
Lin comforted Bao. "Junior Brother Bao, your cultivation is damaged. Focus on recovering for now."
"Yes!" Now bound by the oath, Bao was entirely devoted to Lin.
Lin retreated to his stone room and summoned the Merit Bead. The gold line on the Spirit Accumulation Bead was thick but not yet solid. He realized he had a choice.
The Spirit Accumulation Bead currently produced twelve low-grade spirit stones a day. Unsealing the fourth layer would likely just increase its capacity or speed slightly. Is it worth it? he wondered. Why not see what the second bead is?
He made his decision. With a thought, the gold light shifted from the first bead to the second. A thin gold line appeared on the new bead's surface.
Information flooded his mind: The second bead was the Magic Accumulation Bead. It functioned exactly like the first, but instead of gathering spiritual qi, it gathered demonic qi.
At first, Lin felt it was a waste since he couldn't use demonic qi yet. But then he realized the logic: Yin and Yang, Spiritual and Demonic—they were two sides of the same coin. This realization brought him a moment of sudden enlightenment—a Satori—elevating his mental state far beyond a typical Qi Refining cultivator.
Furthermore, he realized that saving a life provided massive amounts of merit—easily equal to three months of shopkeeping. He wondered if he should look for more people to save, but quickly checked his ambition. His priority was still reaching the Great Perfection stage and entering the Second Level of the sect.
---
Six Months Later
Three days later, a partially recovered Bao Wenliang became the shop's new assistant. Lin let the old attendant go with a generous parting gift of spirit stones—which earned him even more merit.
With Bao handling the daily chores, Lin threw himself into cultivation. However, he still spent three days every month going harvesting with his secret boss, Xie Ruolan.
In a flash, another six months passed. Lin Haoming's cultivation finally broke through to the 9th level of Qi Refining.