Chapter 1768: The Big Picture

As soon as he finished speaking, the Reincarnation Mountain Lord and the Nascent Soul cultivators standing behind him all knelt on one knee and declared in unison, "We are willing to abandon our physical bodies and follow the Great Sage to our deaths!"

The implication was that they were all willing to become vessels for the Great Sage of Reincarnation's spirit possession. This included the Reincarnation Mountain Lord, who had just attained sagehood.

The entire venue fell silent. What should have been words of loyal devotion instead evoked an indescribable sense of horror in everyone present. No wonder the Great Sage of Reincarnation had spared no expense to enhance the strength of his disciples, ensuring they were all at or above the Second Heavenly Tribulation stage. It turned out that all these disciples were merely physical bodies he had prepared for his own possession.

Jiang Fan frowned, an unspeakable discomfort welling up within him. How was such conduct any different from the demonic path? Yet, ironically, the Great Sage of Reincarnation was currently fighting for Middle-earth at the Source of All Evil.

With his hands behind his back, the Great Sage of Reincarnation said, "Junior, give me your merit, and I will take you as my disciple later. Training you to become a sage will be effortless."

Jiang Fan's brows furrowed even deeper. With so much merit, even if he compressed it into a Merit God Orb, he was guaranteed to achieve sagehood in the future. Why would he need the Great Sage of Reincarnation's charity?

"Jiang Fan, if you don't want to, refuse. No one can force you!" the Grand Wine Sacrifice of Tianzhou stated with a deep hum.

Hearing this, Jiang Fan's heart eased, and he replied without hesitation, "My merit has a purpose, Senior. Please seek merit elsewhere."

Several sages subtly breathed a sigh of relief; refusal was for the best. How could one publicly pressure a junior into giving up their merit? If such a precedent were set, wouldn't future Merit Conventions see sages vying to imitate it? In the long run, if the weak risked their lives to gain a bit of merit only for it to be claimed by the strong, who would still fight desperately for merit in the future? This trend must not be allowed to continue!

The Great Sage of Reincarnation frowned. "Young man, it's not good to be so concerned about merit. You must understand the bigger picture, understand?"

With the Grand Wine Sacrifice's backing, Jiang Fan had nothing to fear and spoke frankly: "I can give away my merit, but you cannot take it by force! As for the bigger picture, I am the first on all nine steles. What about you, Senior? Have you ever been nominated as first? How many Divine Steles have nominated you as first? In terms of understanding the bigger picture, I am no worse than you, Senior."

At these words, several sages secretly applauded in their hearts. Precisely. Fighting at the Source of All Evil is indeed fighting, but isn't staying in Middle-earth to protect the local lands also fighting? Those who constantly invoke the "bigger picture" are often the ones who truly lack an understanding of it.

As if supporting Jiang Fan, the nine Divine Steles vibrated once more. The steles' surfaces reverted to their ancient, weathered appearance, displaying the names of eternal heroes inscribed for posterity. At the end of the last name, a golden light shimmered. The golden light meticulously outlined a name on the stone stele, stroke by stroke. The characters 'Jiang Fan' were swiftly engraved upon it. Moreover, it was also a nomination from all nine steles!

Every Merit Divine Stele of the Ancient Sages acknowledged Jiang Fan's supreme honor of being etched into eternity. The gazes of the sages present trembled once more. This was the highest honor for a Middle-earth sage! Bar none! With his Nascent Soul cultivation, Jiang Fan surpassed all contemporary sages and successfully had his name inscribed. And his name was inscribed on every single stele. Historically, those who had achieved this could be counted on one hand!

Even the Great Sage of Reincarnation's indifferent gaze showed a flicker of surprise. He, a sage of the Three Calamity Realm, had never received such an honor.

The Grand Wine Sacrifice of Tianzhou chuckled, "As expected. After all, he's first on all nine steles. It would be strange if he couldn't have his name inscribed." He looked towards the Great Sage of Reincarnation and scoffed, "Comparing your understanding of the bigger picture with someone whose name is inscribed on the steles? You can't compare!"

The Great Sage of Reincarnation's eyes remained unruffled as he said, "Very well, this sage was merely asking. Since you are unwilling, I will not insist." It paced back to the Reincarnation Mountain Lord's shoulder and transformed back into the small jade figurine.

The Reincarnation Mountain Lord cast a deep gaze at Jiang Fan, withdrew his sage power, and led his disciples away.

The nine merit feathers, now unimpeded, descended upon Jiang Fan under the envious gazes of the crowd. His body was unable to contain them, so the feathers entered the little Qilin's body instead. Because a different recipient was involved, the nine feathers successively compressed, finally forming a large, fist-sized Merit God Orb that disappeared into the little Qilin's belly.

The long-dormant little Qilin was so full that it opened its bleary eyes. But it stretched out its small, stubby paw, rubbed its belly, rolled over, and went back to sleep.

Jiang Fan's mouth twitched. Was it going to keep sleeping indefinitely? Furthermore, such a large Merit God Orb was enough for a Grand Venerable at the Fifth Heavenly Tribulation stage to directly achieve sagehood. Since the little Qilin could accept merit, it should also be at the Grand Venerable realm, shouldn't it? Why hadn't it manifested a Merit Divine Stele? Or was there another reason the little Qilin could accept merit?

Regardless, the merit had at least been preserved. This was far better than converting it into other resources, as resources could be bought and sold, but merit was very difficult to acquire.

At this moment, the nine Divine Steles vibrated again, and merit feathers of various sizes flew out, descending upon everyone present who had contributed to the battle against the ancient giants. For those unable to contain merit, the feathers transformed into equivalent resources upon landing on them.

Grand Venerable Red Demon's cultivation directly advanced from the Third Heavenly Tribulation stage to the Fourth Heavenly Tribulation stage, and his residual soul was significantly restored. Venerable Truth, meanwhile, gained enough enlightenment to challenge the Third Heavenly Tribulation stage at any time, with the spiritual liquid previously gifted by Venerable Wuhen proving immensely useful. Venerable Heart Demon, Ice-Fire Demon Lord, Jiang Wuya, Pingtian Bodhisattva, Rat Buxu, and other Nascent Soul cultivators who had rendered great service in Taicang Great Province all received significant improvements. Even Green Pearl and King Mingye Asura, two powerful members of the Asura tribe, were granted a precious resource by the Merit Divine Stele of the Ancient Sage Yunhuang.

For a time, exclamations of surprise, hearty laughter, and even the sounds of on-the-spot breakthroughs rose and fell. This completely dispelled the somber atmosphere of the great battle and left the participants feeling immensely satisfied. In addition, the nine Merit Divine Steles also emitted streaks of merit power, flying towards various provinces to reward the Core Formation cultivators who had made contributions, ensuring that everyone who had risked their lives for Middle-earth received their due rewards.

Finally, the nine Merit Divine Steles slowly receded into the vortex and vanished. The auspicious clouds filling the sky began to disperse. The sages and powerful figures from various provinces also prepared to depart.

Jiang Fan's eyes flashed. As if prepared, he soared into the sky and announced loudly, "Fellow Daoists, Seniors, please wait! Regarding the ancient giants, I have something to say!"

Venerable Wuhen retracted his half-stepped foot, giving an awkward smile. "You could have said so sooner." Hearing the first half of the sentence, his conditioned reflex was to flee. However, being advanced in age, his reaction was a beat too slow. Sages such as Venerable Thundermaster, Venerable Cold Moon, and Ancient Zen Buddha Venerable had already dematerialized and vanished. Upon hearing the latter half, they returned to their original positions, seemingly unfazed. Only the Nine Nether Demon Lord and Venerable Heavenly Artisan, unaware of human treachery, remained where they were.

The crowd, who had been preparing to disperse, also stopped. As the first on all nine steles and one whose name was inscribed, Jiang Fan commanded significant prestige. Especially concerning the ancient giants, he held even greater authority.