Chapter 5: The Merit of Taking Life
“Two thousand five hundred pounds—this is the strength I possess now!”
Having successfully transformed the intent of the Rolling Stone Palm into the Hunyuan Palm, Lu Sheng quickly cultivated the Hunyuan Palm to perfection. The Rolling Stone Force within his body was soon converted into Hunyuan Force as well.
With that momentum, after repeatedly comprehending the true meaning of Hunyuan, Lu Sheng pushed his Hunyuan Force to its peak, attaining the state of complete mastery that so many dream of, where he was in full command of his own power—
Two thousand five hundred pounds! That was the conclusion he reached as he sensed his strength after achieving complete mastery.
This number was nearly eighteen times his current body weight, vastly surpassing the ninefold strength that ordinary people could ever hope to reach!
Even compared to some martial warriors, Lu Sheng was not at all inferior in terms of strength. Moreover, with his mastery over his power at this level, he even had a chance at victory against them!
“And by using the Three Treasures Wishful Art, I can further triple my body’s strength.”
“All of this power, at the level of complete mastery, remains entirely under my control!”
“With a strength of seven thousand five hundred pounds, I am not inferior to some martial masters!”
Lu Sheng’s father, Lu Hai, was himself a martial master, so Lu Sheng was quite clear on what kind of strength martial practitioners possessed before reaching the level of master.
Generally speaking, martial disciples in this world could possess around a thousand pounds of strength; once they developed inner energy and became martial practitioners, this could surge to one or two thousand pounds, thanks to the bonus from inner energy. After forming an internal cycle of energy and becoming a martial warrior, with their energy now thicker and more robust, they could usually unleash two to three thousand pounds of force.
Except for those exceptionally gifted, two to three thousand pounds was the upper limit achievable below the master level!
Lu Sheng’s current strength was two thousand five hundred pounds. Although he had not yet generated inner energy, with his mastery over his power, he could spar with, or even defeat, some martial warriors who hadn’t reached this level of control.
“However, without Profound Energy, I still cannot compare to a martial master!”
Inner energy is like a needle, while Profound Energy is like a blade. Lu Sheng could barely withstand the stabbing pain of inner energy, but the sharpness of Profound Energy was simply beyond his ability to resist.
When a martial master senses the world’s energy and transforms inner energy into Profound Energy, their body undergoes a transformation under its tempering. Not only does their strength rise to at least three thousand pounds, but they can also channel Profound Energy to their surface, dramatically increasing the power of their strikes.
Because of this, martial masters can truly be said to possess bodies like steel and iron; not only are they impervious to ordinary blades and swords, but they can also crush iron in their grip, or wield their hands like sharp blades—such feats are not difficult for them!
With his tripled strength reaching seven thousand five hundred pounds, Lu Sheng could indeed surpass some martial masters in raw power. But if he foolishly sought out battles with them, the outcome would surely be disastrous!
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“Fortunately, there are no demon pythons in the Snake Pit at present. Their tough, resilient hides can only be pierced by martial masters who have cultivated Profound Energy!”
“As for those snakes and insects with demon python blood, though they are troublesome, most pose little threat to me now!”
“With my current strength, I am more than capable of leaving the Snake Pit!”
With these thoughts, Lu Sheng sorted through his belongings and the items in the hidden chamber. After recording once more the contents of the map and the animal hide, he unhesitatingly crushed them into powder!
Now that he alone remained of the Lu Family of Blackstone Island, these inheritances had no use so long as he could remember them.
But as he gazed at the three remaining inheritance stones, Lu Sheng hesitated:
“These three inheritance stones are not only extremely precious, but most likely serve as tokens of identity, representing the Lu Clan of Bingzhou!”
“Moreover, the stones are so hard that with my current strength, I cannot damage them at all.”
“To truly destroy them, I would need to spend merit.”
“No, better to bury them here.”
In the end, Lu Sheng decided to leave them behind. The place was well concealed and unlikely to be discovered. Even if someone did find them in the future, with the all-powerful force of merit, he was confident he could locate the inheritance stones whenever needed.
Considering that Hun Yuan Gong was a technique of the royal family of the Great Jing, ordinary people would not dare to cultivate it even if they obtained it. So Lu Sheng left the inheritance stones, intending to retrieve them in the future.
After finishing these tasks, Lu Sheng filled his belly, took some food and water, and finally triggered the mechanism to open the secret chamber’s door.
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Atop the door to the chamber lay a purple-patterned brocade snake, lazily basking. Though it possessed demon python blood, it could not suppress its hibernating nature, and after three or four days, it had not left.
Unknowingly, it had ended up right on the chamber door.
Suddenly, the ground beneath it gave way and the purple-patterned brocade snake fell. Just as it caught a familiar scent, its mind went blank—a moment later, it lost all consciousness.
“Original owner, I have avenged you! As for the name we share, I promise to honor it!”
Upon opening the door and discovering the familiar venomous snake among the fallen stones and debris, Lu Sheng casually picked up a dark short dagger and sliced the snake in two.
“Though this short dagger is stone, it’s sharp enough—ideal for killing snakes!”
A bit surprised at the dagger’s sharpness, Lu Sheng was delighted. He had just found this stone dagger while sorting through the chamber. Now, after a quick test, he saw it was indeed extraordinary!
“It should be an obsidian surgical knife!”
Searching his memory, Lu Sheng quickly recalled the relevant knowledge. Blackstone Island was named after its abundant obsidian.
By now, most of the best obsidian had been mined out, but occasionally, one or two good pieces were still found.
This surgical blade was likely crafted by Lu Hai, a physician, and left here for some unknown reason.
“Though obsidian is brittle, it is also extremely sharp. It can injure even martial masters, and is usually used for surgery.”
“Some craftsmen can engrave arcane patterns onto obsidian, reinforcing its brittleness and forging arcane weapons that can conduct Profound Energy for martial masters to use.”
“My short dagger is certainly no arcane weapon.”
“But if I use my strength well, it’s more than enough to kill snakes!”
With these thoughts, Lu Sheng checked himself once more, then prepared to leave the chamber.
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“Huh! My merit increased by 2 points, and my karmic burden by 1 point—what’s going on?”
“And my fortune has risen to 72 points, instantly reaching eight times what it was before!”
Instinctively checking his mental attributes, Lu Sheng immediately noticed something strange. Originally, his stats were: ‘Essence 1.96, Vitality 1.96, Spirit 1.96; Fortune 9, Merit 14, Karma 11.’
Now, it had become: ‘Essence 1.96, Vitality 1.96, Spirit 1.96; Fortune 72, Merit 16, Karma 12.’ He couldn’t make sense of it.
Focusing his mind on Fortune, a line of information appeared:
‘The origin of your essence, vitality, and spirit has increased and is tripled; fortune rises to 72 points!’
“So, it’s because my essence, vitality, and spirit have increased, and the Three Treasures Wishful Art amplified it,” Lu Sheng realized. Earlier, he had thought it was the inheritance that brought this change.
“I never imagined the Three Treasures Wishful Art could boost not only essence, vitality, and spirit, but also fortune. What a marvelous secret art!”
“But aside from the threefold amplification, what was the rule for the previous increase?”
Since Wishful had not explained, Lu Sheng could only wait to explore that in the future.
“One point of fortune can be converted into 100 points of merit. Before, with only 9 points, I didn’t dare to use it. But now, with 72 points, I should be able to spare some in times of need!”
With 72 points of fortune—enough to convert into 7,200 points of merit—Lu Sheng felt even more confident about leaving the Snake Pit. With this merit, he could overcome most dangers ahead!
Focusing his mind on Merit, he saw the reasons for the changes in merit and karma:
‘You killed a living creature, helping it return to its origin—gain 2 points of merit!’
‘You killed a living creature and were struck by its resentment—gain 1 point of karma!’
“Killing living creatures! Killing living creatures!”
Murmuring the phrase, Lu Sheng was overjoyed, exclaiming,
“So, killing living things in this world actually grants merit, and even more than karma!”
“Is it that the merit for killing creatures here outweighs the karma, or did that purple-patterned snake simply not manage to unleash more resentment?”
“And that merit—is it the legendary merit of an Asura gained by killing?”
Having finally found the source of merit, Lu Sheng felt as if a weight had been lifted from his heart. He had thought merit came only from doing good, and karma from committing evil; if so, he would have to work hard at good deeds to gain merit.
Yet that slain purple-patterned brocade snake had shown him:
“Killing also brings merit in this world!”