Chapter 18

Chapter 18: System Quest—Be A Helpful Person! Farm Merit Points!

Afterward, Zhao Jin picked up the Blazing Flame Blade and swung it around.

The Blazing Flame Blade carved trails of firelight through the air, its momentum awe-inspiring.

After toying with it for a while, Zhao Jin opened the Simulator. System, how do I run more simulations going forward?

The 1st simulation had been free—he needed to figure out how to continue from here.

【Ding. The system provides 3 simulation pathways.】

【1. Merit Point Simulation: The host's current martial cultivation realm is Innate Realm 4th-Tier. Each simulation costs 400 Merit Points. Current Merit Points: 0.】

【2. Timed Gift: The system will grant the host 1 free simulation opportunity each month. The host may wait patiently.】

【3. System Quests: The host may accept system quests and earn simulation opportunities upon completion.】

【Note: All 3 simulation pathways will change as the Simulator is upgraded.】

【Please select one.】

Zhao Jin's brow furrowed slightly.

He had absolutely zero Merit Points on hand right now, and the 2nd option required waiting a full month.

Seemed like only the 3rd option was viable?

"3rd option!"

He was actually curious what kind of quests were on offer.

【Ding. Congratulations, the host has triggered a Merit Quest: Be A Helpful Person.】

【Be A Helpful Person: The future Female Emperor, Xiao Yue-huang, recently came to you seeking to dissolve the engagement. But as a great philanthropist, how could you grant her that wish? Please write a letter at once stating that you have had a change of heart, and help the Female Emperor learn what it truly means to live in a treacherous world!】

【Quest Reward: 1 simulation opportunity.】

【Failure Penalty: None.】

"Good. Very good!"

The moment Zhao Jin saw this quest, he knew he was absolutely going to help with this one!

Xiao Yue-huang was truly too naive, thinking that accompanying Zhao Jin for one night was enough to make him agree to dissolve the engagement.

A girl this innocent and soft-hearted—once she stepped out of the imperial palace, she would doubtless be cheated and taken advantage of countless times.

As a great philanthropist, Zhao Jin genuinely felt it was his duty to help her see the harshness of reality.

Zhao Jin quickly wrote a long letter—the kind that would make anyone's blood pressure skyrocket—and had one of his guards deliver it to the palace in the name of Guardian King's Manor, addressed to Xiao Yue-huang.

All that was left now was to sit back and wait for the quest to complete.

During this time, Zhao Jin was not idle.

He was looking over the requirements for upgrading his Talent Tags.

Currently, Zhao Jin possessed 5 tags: Tag Plunderer, Hard Work Always Bears Fruit, Extreme Yang Constitution, Born With Brute Strength, and Extraordinary Bone Aptitude.

The first 2 were Green Spirit Grade; the last 3 were White Mortal Grade.

However, even within the same grade, talent potential varied—and so did the Merit Points required for an upgrade.

Take 【Extraordinary Bone Aptitude】, for instance—the tag Zhao Jin had cultivated through the Marrow-Cleansing Scripture. It was a 4-star potential tag and required only 400 Merit Points to upgrade.

The 5-star potential tags—【Extreme Yang Constitution】 and 【Born With Brute Strength】—each required 500 Merit Points.

And that was just for White tags.

For Green tags, the cost was even steeper.

Both 【Tag Plunderer】 and 【Hard Work Always Bears Fruit】 were 6-star potential tags, and each required a full 6,000 Merit Points.

Over 10 times more expensive than White tags.

The sight made Zhao Jin click his tongue.

This is a little absurdly expensive.

I wonder how easy Merit Points actually are to earn?

If they're difficult to come by, that's going to be a real problem.

After that, Zhao Jin began wandering around Guardian King's Manor, looking for opportunities to do good deeds.

He helped the maid Zhu Xiang wash clothes, helped the stable hand Sun Wu feed the horses, helped the divine physician Elder Chen sort medicinal herbs…

All this wildly out-of-character behavior gave the servants a terrible fright.

None of them had any idea what this pampered wastrel was up to now.

Was he scheming to mess with them in some new, roundabout way?

The uncertainty had them all on edge, nervously dodging Zhao Jin at every turn.

He had done plenty of kind and helpful things—and yet not a single Merit Point had come his way.

Growing irritated, he asked the system what exactly he had to do to earn Merit Points.

The system gave him the same answer it always did.

【Only deeds of great virtue and great goodness will yield Merit Points.】

This vague non-answer made Zhao Jin thoroughly exasperated.

What counts as "great virtue and great goodness"? Is small-scale kindness not enough?

Are good deeds really graded by size?

"Cousin, give me another 3,000 silver taels—I swear I'll win back everything I lost last night!"

Just then, his cousin Zhao You, who had been searching for him half the day, came charging over and latched onto him, refusing to let go.

Zhao Jin had spent half the day trying to accumulate Merit Points at the manor and come up with nothing. He was already seething.

And now this man was asking him for gambling money.

"Money? I'll give you a slap across the face!"

Zhao Jin backhanded him and sent him flying.

Zhao You clutched his swollen left cheek and stared at Zhao Jin in disbelief, unable to fathom what had gotten into him this time.

But at that very moment, the system notification chimed.

【You slapped the gambler Zhao You across the face and helped him turn over a new leaf. Merit Points +1】

At the sight of that message, Zhao Jin threw his head back and laughed out loud.

His Merit Points had finally arrived!

Then, under Zhao You's horrified gaze, Zhao Jin seized him by the collar and delivered a relentless barrage of slaps to his face.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

The crisp sound of palm strikes rang out in rapid succession, accompanied by a cascade of system notifications.

【Helped the gambler Zhao You turn over a new leaf. Merit Points +1】

【…Merit Points +1】

【…Merit Points +1】

……

The notifications only stopped after Zhao You had been slapped into unconsciousness.

By then, Zhao Jin had farmed over 40 Merit Points off him.

So this is what "great virtue and great goodness" means.

Zhao Jin felt as though he had attained enlightenment. He began roaming the manor, "accumulating virtue and performing good deeds."

【You whipped the stable hand Sun Wu once and helped him overcome arrogance and impatience. Merit Points +1】

【You knocked over the maid Zhu Xiang and helped her experience the joys of womanhood. Merit Points +1】

【You kicked over divine physician Elder Chen's herb basket and helped him air out the damp medicinal herbs. Merit Points +1】

……

Under Zhao Jin's ceaseless crusade of virtue, Guardian King's Manor descended into absolute pandemonium—livestock and people alike scattering, screams erupting one after another.

The neighbors next door shook their heads at the racket, knowing full well it was Zhao Jin—that 3rd-Generation Heir—doing what he did best.

Zhao Jin had never realized that accumulating virtue and performing good deeds could be so simple.

Wasn't this just… doing everything he had always done, all over again?

Practically effortless!

An hour later, Zhao Jin had already farmed over 500 Merit Points.

For the first time, Zhao Jin felt that this system truly suited him—it wasn't a trap at all.

And at that moment, a double blessing arrived, as the system notification chimed once more.

【Ding. Xiao Yue-huang has received the host's letter. In her innocence, she has finally come to understand the treachery of people's hearts. Congratulations to the host for completing the Merit Quest. 1 simulation opportunity has been granted!】

Looks like it taught her quite a lesson.

Zhao Jin let out a sly chuckle.

However, he had no intention of using the simulation right away.

The Merit Points in his hands were still far too few.

At the very least, he needed to upgrade 【Tag Plunderer】 first before launching the next simulation.

Only then would he be able to plunder more powerful tags and gain even a sliver of a chance at surviving the great calamity that would destroy his family 3 years from now.

Running the simulation in a rush now would most likely still result in his death 3 years later.

Because at his current cultivation pace, he would reach at most Innate Realm 7th or 8th-Tier in 3 years.

Against a family-annihilating catastrophe, that was completely insufficient.

So could he simply flee in advance?

That was, in fact, what he wanted most.

But escaping had one enormous obstacle that needed to be resolved first.

The 4 Elite Shadow Guards at his side.

In the simulation, they had never shown themselves—not even until the moment of Zhao Jin's death.

They had even been late to arrive during his very first assassination attempt.

Those 4 had almost certainly betrayed him.

Once they turned traitor, they would transform from his protectors into his greatest threat. He needed a countermeasure before any escape plan could succeed.

Innate Realm 7th or 8th-Tier would definitely not be enough to deal with the 4 Elite Shadow Guards.

His only hope lay in his Talent Tags!