Pi Guang hesitated for a moment and said, "Follow me, to the Merit Hall."
This hall is a very important place in the sect. It has many functions.
All the merits accumulated by the disciples and the points earned from daily hard work can be verified in this hall and exchanged for resources.
Silver ingots, gold leaves, elixirs, and even top-grade skills and secret bamboo slips can all be obtained with points. If you need a "points ticket" - a bamboo slip as a token for disciples to show their points to outsiders or other halls, this place can also issue it.
Pi Guang was originally one of those who do cleaning chores, and the points he earned on weekdays were managed by Instructor Hu Jiaoshi. Instructor Hu was in charge of the low-level who did miscellaneous work in the temple, and they didn't need to cross the line to enter the merit hall when Hu Jiaoshi was there.
However, the current situation was different from the past.
Pi Guang was confused and wanted to confirm the authenticity of his 500 points, so he mustered up his courage and went straight into the hall.
In the Merit Hall, the elder guarding the hall, wearing purple clothes, was checking the book with sharp eyes. When he saw Pi Guang stepping in, he frowned slightly and asked in a cold voice, "You are a temple sweeper disciple, did you get in here by mistake?"
Pi Guang bowed his head and said. "Elder He, I am here to verify the 500 merit points awarded today."
The elder was stunned at first, then laughed. "Five hundred points? You? Don't you know how to distinguish illusions from dreams?"
Having said that, he still picked up a scroll of green bamboo slips, flipped through it casually, and hummed.
Soon, the elder's expression suddenly changed, his eyes fixed, staring at the bamboo slips, and whispered. "That Pi Guang, five hundred points, is indeed in his name..."
The air seemed to freeze.
"Huh... Really?" The elder muttered, looking up at Pi Guang, his tone suddenly changed, with a hint of sarcasm and surprise. "You really got 500 points, wonderful, wonderful. May I ask, in what form do you want to receive it? Silver? Gold? Pill? Slip? Book? Or secret book?"
After hearing this, Pi Guang stood there in shock as if struck by lightning. After a long while, he slowly nodded and said in a voice as soft as a mosquito. "Silver... and bamboo point slips..."
This was the answer he had been waiting for. It was not a dream, nor an illusion, but a real five hundred merit points added to his name. The sect recognized it, and the heaven and earth could bear witness!
©
Within the bustling city market, mist coiled through the air as voices rose and fell like waves. Pi Guang stood just by the corner of a stall, a heavy pouch of silver in hand as his brow furrowed in confusion.
He never expected that in just one day, he would be holding seventeen pieces of silver and four point slips.
A single piece of that silver could purchase half a bag of fine grain. Just one.
That alone could feed him for over a month. After all, his body had long adapted to frugality—thin porridge, cold leftovers, those had become his daily fare.
"Maybe… I can use one more piece to buy some flour," he thought to himself. "A bigger water jar. A stove that doesn't leak smoke… Yes, that should be enough for two silvers."
It was simply too much silver. Seventeen.
Just then, Li Wanwan called out softly, "Master… how can you take so much silver? Are you really going to use it all at once?"
Pi Guang smiled, a roguish grin tugging at the corners of his lips—not truly frivolous, but teasing. Deep down, he knew the truth: he only had one day to spend it. If not used today, the fortune would vanish come morning like mist.
"Could it be that this Heavenly Bell is spoiling me? Tempting me to indulge in rich spending? Or is this just a single day's grace, and I'll return to poverty once more?"
He sighed quietly, but said aloud, "In that case, we shall shop."
"As for clothes… I don't know much about them. So you'll pick one for your master."
Li Wanwan's eyes sparkled, as if sunlight had broken through clouds.
Her master, the quiet man her whole family respected like a towering mountain, would one day wear something she chose herself.
Even if that day was far away, the honor was immense—far greater than balancing inner qi or circulating energy, which had always been her daily start up cultivation when her former master visited the Li family.
She nodded eagerly. "Yes! Master!"
She moved to kneel and bow her head to the ground in deep respect like earlier, but Pi Guang quickly stopped her.
"No need for all that. Just go. Hurry."
"Yes!" she answered and darted away, her robe fluttering behind her like a swallow across the street, heading toward the stalls of silk and robes, her heart light and joyful.
Pi Guang remained where he was, glancing up at birds gliding across the sky, still lost in thought.
"Silver can buy clothes, rice, pots, and stoves… but it can't buy fate….
…But today is different. Today, I'm a rich man."