“That’s right. This second incentive policy is precisely the Royal Treasury, which is exclusively open to those of New Money and Great Clan status.”
As Yu Feng’s words fell,
Lu Chen’s heart truly gave a jolt.
【The Royal Treasury】—just those four characters alone said it all.
He vaguely remembered his teachers mentioning it back in class.
They’d said this treasury contained everything under the sun—every marvel imaginable. It was the highest-ranking and most abundantly stocked treasure vault in the entire dynasty, bar none.
Ordinary people could go their whole lives without ever laying eyes on it.
“I never expected this reform to go so far. They’re even opening up the Royal Treasury to the public!”
Lu Chen couldn’t help but be moved.
“Only to the special class, though. Everyone else still doesn’t qualify.”
Yu Feng added with a smile.
Lu Chen suddenly recalled Deng Jiajia’s phrase: creaming off the top. Looking at it now, this wasn’t just creaming off the top—it was practically designed to unleash the full potential of the most elite talents…
Soon, the two had reached the depths of the City Lord’s Mansion.
A magnificent hall, adorned with ornate carvings and painted beams, stood before them.
On the plaque above the entrance were four golden characters: 【The Royal Treasury】.
“My Lord!”
The guards before the hall bowed upon seeing Yu Feng.
The two stepped inside.
The space opened up before them—a vast, airy chamber.
Countless display shelves stood in orderly rows.
But what hung on these shelves weren’t actual items, but jade tablets engraved with faint, indistinct inscriptions.
“These jade tablets correspond to the resources available for exchange. Any supernatural power, ritual implement, or elixir you can think of—you’ll find it all here. And some things you can’t imagine, too!”
Yu Feng gestured for the supervising elder nearby to bring over a tablet computer and hand it to Lu Chen.
“We’re keeping up with the times now. You can browse your choices on here.”
Lu Chen took the tablet and looked.
The exchange catalogue was exactly as Yu Feng had described.
It was divided into: 【Supernatural Powers】, 【Ritual Implements】, 【Elixirs】, 【Heavenly Treasures】, as well as the rather unique categories of 【Imperial Favor】 and 【Other】.
Six major categories in total.
Lu Chen casually tapped on the 【Supernatural Powers】 section.
—【Nine Heavens Heart-Purifying Thunder】: A thunder-based supernatural power. It simultaneously nourishes the soul and dispels evil and demons. Fierce in offensive capability, yet also effective for calming the mind and soothing the spirit. Prerequisite for cultivation: Spirit-Servant Attunement with the Thunder Ancestor—【The Universal Lord of the Nine Heavens Who Responds with Thunder and Transforms with Sound】—must be at 30% or above. Required military merit for exchange: twelve thousand points.
Hssss!!!
Lu Chen sucked in a sharp breath, almost breaking into a full-on reaction meme.
A single supernatural power required twelve thousand military merit points!
And that wasn’t even mentioning the 30% Spirit-Servant Attunement requirement.
The threshold and the cost were simply astonishing!
Thinking about how he’d gotten his own 【Netherworld Divine Thunder】 for free, Lu Chen couldn’t help but feel a wave of emotion: That cold stove was definitely worth stoking!
With a flick of his mind, he typed 【Netherworld Divine Thunder】 into the search bar.
Sure enough, there was information!
—【Netherworld Divine Thunder】：A thunder derived from the gods of the underworld. Those struck by it have their souls cast into the Netherworld. It is a thunder that guides the souls of the departed. Prerequisite for cultivation: Spirit-Servant Attunement with one of the Ten Kings of Hell (any one) must be at 25% or above. Required military merit for exchange: six thousand points.
“Only six thousand? Half of the Heart-Purifying Thunder? Well, I guess the underworld doesn’t have much clout.”
Lu Chen silently griped to himself. “But hey, six thousand military merit is still nothing to sneeze at—that’s equivalent to the reward for an S-rank mission.”
“This really shows that Spirit-Servant Attunement is the true foundation for any Spirit Practitioner! As long as you have enough Attunement, a lot of problems just solve themselves. A 25% requirement… Looks like my affinity with Old Man Yan isn’t that far behind my brother’s after all.”
He also tried searching for “Yama’s Decree.”
But this time, he found that the Royal Treasury didn’t have it in its collection.
It seemed even the royal family’s power had its limits.
After that, Lu Chen browsed through the other categories to get a general sense of the pricing.
A single fourth-rank heavenly treasure cost a thousand military merit. Not exactly cheap.
“Oh, right—what’s this 【Imperial Favor】 category about?”
Lu Chen opened it out of curiosity.
The very first entry that caught his eye was:
—【Audience with His Majesty】：To be bathed in imperial favor and granted an audience with the reigning emperor in the capital, to hear his words directly. Required military merit for exchange: fifteen thousand points.
“Uh… going to see the old emperor costs fifteen thousand military merit? Who in their right mind would…”
He kept scrolling.
—【The Princess’s Banquet】：To be honored with royal grace and share a dinner banquet with the current princess, with thirty minutes of conversation. Required military merit for exchange: eight thousand points.
“Wow… this is like the royal version of the ‘Buffett Dinner’? They even offer this?”
Seeing this entry, Lu Chen felt that the Royal Treasury, which had been reasonably normal up until now, had suddenly veered off the rails…
Unbelievable.
Just… unbelievable.
The subsequent entries were even more bizarre:
—A stroll through the imperial garden with the Empress, viewing the flowers. Required military merit: ten thousand points.
—A marriage alliance with a noble clan. Required military merit: eighty thousand points.
“Talk about imperial majesty! Eighty thousand military merit to become a son-in-law of a noble house? Though… life as a live-in son-in-law probably isn’t all that comfortable either.”
Additionally, there was the 【Gold-Plated Exemption Token】, which could pardon a single individual’s death sentence for just two thousand military merit.
And the 【Iron-Clad Pardon Charter】, which could pardon a clan that had committed grave sins—but that required a steep ten thousand military merit.
Lu Chen spent a good ten minutes or more just browsing.
He was thoroughly impressed!
This really was the 【Royal Treasury】!
“Finished looking?” Yu Feng’s voice pulled him back from his thoughts.
“Yeah, I’ve got a general idea.”
“See anything you like? Something you want to exchange for?”
“For now… not really.” Lu Chen wasn’t about to spend a single point of military merit right now.
He was still far from his goal of fifty thousand points—he couldn’t afford to squander it on any of these.
“No worries. If you ever need anything, you can come exchange for it anytime.”
With that, Yu Feng’s gaze swept over Lu Chen, pausing briefly on his empty hands, then turned and gave an order behind him: “Go fetch a Sumeru Ring.”
“Yes, Lord!”
The supervising elder searched around and came back with a brocade box.
Yu Feng handed it directly to Lu Chen.
“Since you’re here, I don’t want to send you back empty-handed. This Sumeru Ring is a gift for you. It’s a storage implement with about five cubic meters of internal space—roughly the size of an average swimming pool. If it’s ever not enough, you can come back and exchange for a bigger one.”
“Thank you, Lord!” Lu Chen’s heart leaped with joy, and he accepted it without hesitation.
A storage ring! This thing is going to be incredibly useful!
No more carrying a backpack everywhere from now on.
He opened the brocade box. Inside lay a silver ring, engraved with exquisite patterns.
Lu Chen immediately slipped it onto his finger.
Yu Feng smiled at the sight. “Last time you were all polite and hesitant. This time, you didn’t hold back at all. But that’s good—if this City Lord gives you something, just take it.”
“Thank you for your kindness, Lord!”
The two then left the Royal Treasury and returned to the office.
On the way, Yu Feng casually started the conversation: “Since you’ve finished this mission, when are you planning to start the next one?”
Lu Chen, having gotten more than he’d hoped for from this visit, saw no reason to hide anything—besides, he wanted to ask Yu Feng about the protocols at One Residence anyway. “To be honest with you, Lord, I’ve already accepted a new mission.”
“Oh? Tell me about it.” Yu Feng’s interest was immediately piqued.
“The first mission is called 【The Academy of Rebirth】. Lord, has there been trouble in the outskirts lately? I’ve heard of some kind of malevolent spirit causing harm.”
“So it’s that mission.” Yu Feng clearly knew the details. “Yes, word has it that a concentrated mass of resentment has taken form and grown powerful enough to become a Ghost King. Wait a minute—you’re only first-rank. You dare take on a mission like that? Don’t let your success go to your head, kid. Don’t do anything reckless!”
Yu Feng’s expression tightened.
He didn’t want to see such a promising talent die from sheer recklessness.
“Thank you for your concern, Lord. But please rest assured—since I dared to accept it, I have my ways of dealing with it.”
Yu Feng’s gaze sharpened, as if sensing something, then nodded with a smile. “Fair enough. You do serve King Yan, so you have a natural advantage against these ghostly beings. But even so, don’t underestimate the dangers of an S-rank mission.”
“Don’t worry, Lord. I would never gamble with my own life.”
Yu Feng gave a slight nod, then furrowed his brow again. “You said ‘first mission’ just now? Don’t tell me… you’ve taken on two missions at the same time?”
“That’s right. I’ve taken on two S-rank missions simultaneously.”
“What an audacious brat!” Yu Feng said, though a hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He stopped walking and gestured for Lu Chen to continue. “So, what’s the second one?”
Lu Chen also paused. “The second mission is to treat a chronic ailment of the wife of the former Grand Governor of Jiang Province…”
But before Lu Chen could finish,
Yu Feng’s expression suddenly shifted like a storm rolling in. His pupils contracted sharply, clearly taken aback. “What did you say? You picked that mission?!”
Lu Chen’s heart tightened. “Lord, what’s wrong with this mission? Is there something off about it?”
Yu Feng gave Lu Chen a long, searching look, then let out a heavy sigh. “Kid, you’ve got a real knack for picking the toughest nuts to crack! When you accepted it, didn’t you notice that on the surface, the mission seems simple, yet the military merit reward is absurdly high?”
“Yes, I did notice that.” Lu Chen’s mind stirred—clearly, Yu Feng knew something. And it made sense; as a city lord, of course he’d be aware of matters concerning a former Grand Governor. Lu Chen immediately cupped his hands in a formal salute. “Please, Lord—enlighten me!”
Yu Feng took another deep breath, let it out slowly, and continued walking, speaking as he went. “This mission is just like the one in Longhu County—it’s been out there for a long time. Plenty of Spirit Practitioners have gone with great enthusiasm and come back with none, because none of them could make any headway with it.”
“What kind of illness is it, that it’s so hard to treat?”
“It’s not an illness at all!”
The moment those words left Yu Feng’s mouth,
It was like a thunderclap exploding in the air!
Lu Chen’s eyes flew wide open. “Not an illness?!”
Yu Feng nodded. “Exactly. It’s something called… a ‘Pestilence’!”
“Pestilence? Like a plague?”
“That’s right—but also not quite. The ‘Pestilence’ is only the surface. The root cause… is something else entirely.”
Yu Feng stopped again, turned to face Lu Chen directly, and spoke each word with deliberate, ringing clarity: “Have you ever heard of a kind of calamity known as…”
“Heaven’s Trigger of Slaughter!“
