At the Heavenly Palace.

The usual desertedness was gone. The lights were up and running. The workers were significantly lesser than before the catastrophe but they could manage. They started to work.

A few surviving guards held weapons and guarded the Heavenly River.

However, upon closer inspection, one would realize that they were all glancing toward the Southern Sky Gate from time to time. The guards and chancellors were all distracted.

Suddenly, a buff giant carrying a white jade pillar slowly walked over. He said in a hoarse voice, "Don't gather here at the Southern Sky Gate. Can you afford to disturb the Deluxe Merit Saint?"

An Immortal with a red hat on had to ask, "Juling Shen, how can you say that about us? If I recall correctly, you've already walked back and forth six times with this pillar, right? What are you doing? Morning exercise?"

He wore a hat and had a pencil mustache. He also had red silk clothes that hugged his slightly chubby figure. His puffy stomach had a yellow word printed on it, 'Food'. He looked like a friendly fatty.

Juling Shen felt exposed. He was instantly angry from embarrassment. "God of Cookery, aren't you supposed to be studying recipes in the kitchen? What are you doing here so early in the morning? You aren't doing your job!"

The God of Cookery fiddled with his pencil mustache. "Says you! Hurry up and install the pillar of the Southern Sky Gate. Why are you going in circles?!"

Suddenly, a guard rushed in to report. His helmet was lopsided because he rushed too fast. He quickly said, "Stop talking! The Deluxe Merit Saint's here!"

"In your positions!"

Everyone immediately looked alive. They automatically rehearsed the scripts they had prepared for themselves.

A golden light slowly appeared from the faraway horizon. The golden light was utterly bright, as if it was the shiniest spot in the realm. It grew larger while everyone watched.

Slowly, Li Nianfan landed, stepping off the Deluxe Merit Cloud with the Seven Princesses surrounding him.

The Southern Sky Gate was still the same. Half of it was damaged. It seemed like no one repaired it yet.

He landed at the door and saw a buff guy with bushy eyebrows. He walked over with a sky pillar. Then, he put the pillar aside with a loud thud. He silently wiped the sweat off his forehead.

The buff guy turned around. He acted like it was a 'coincidence'. "Hey, the Seven Princesses are back. This must be the Deluxe Merit Saint. I'm Juling Shen, nice to meet you."

"So, you're Juling Shen. Hello."

Li Nianfan looked at the giant baldie in front of him. He was a legendary cannon fodder. Then, Li Nianfan asked, "Are you…fixing the Southern Sky Gate?"

"You're so observant, Saint. You could tell instantly."

Juling Shen instantly grinned. Then, he lifted and carried the giant pillar again. He started to put it in place. He looked like a serious hard worker.

Li Nianfan nodded his head and complimented, "Truly, Juling Shen, you have such great strength."

"That's an over compliment, Saint. You're the one who saved the entire Heavenly Palace. You're our savior. I only do the heavy lifting like moving stuff, it's nothing much."

Juling Shen prepared and rehearsed that speech for a long time so it sounded sincere. "If you ever need someone to move things, you can just come to me, Saint. I don't have a lot of hobbies, but I do like this job!"

Li Nianfan felt his passion. He smiled and said, "Thanks."

'Friendly guy. What a friendly Juling Shen.'

The other Immortals instantly felt awkward. They thought to themselves, 'I have to know how to act if I want to be successful in this realm!

'Sigh, what do I need my dignity for? What a burden!'

Suddenly, a red chubby figure flew in with hot buns in his hands. He sounded caring as he said, "Juling Shen, you worked all morning, you must be exhausted. Hurry up and eat some breakfast for some energy."

Juling Shen was startled for a moment. Then, he hurriedly said in a touched voice, "Really… Thank you so much!"

The God of Cookery sounded gentle. They had an intense bromance. "Hurry up and eat, don't be courteous."

'Friendly. What a friendly Heavenly Palace!'

Li Nianfan liked the Heavenly Palace even more.

Suddenly, the God of Cookery 'coincidentally' noticed Li Nianfan. He greeted, "I'm the God of Cookery. Greetings to the Deluxe Merit Saint."

Li Nianfan smiled and said, "Truly the God of Cookery. These are nice buns."

The God of Cookery immediately said, "No, no. I've heard about your cooking, Deluxe Merit Saint. I can only hope to achieve your level."

Li Nianfan felt like he found someone with a common hobby. He said, "Haha, we should cook together sometimes."

The God of Cookery instantly looked energetic. He was astounded by the pleasant surprise. He kept nodding. "Of course, for sure!"

The others looked at the God of Cookery with envy. The God of Cookery won the lottery just by that sentence. He was so lucky.

Juling Shen at the side looked jealous, too. 'Why just the God of Cookery? Can't you carry pillars with me, too?'

"Mr. Li, please, follow us. Your palace is next to the observatory from last time." Hong led the way. She was wearing a red dress. She sneakily glared at the nearby Immortals to warn them to behave themselves.

Li Nianfan saw a different Heavenly Palace. The energy was not the same as usual. Immortals flew by from time to time and they all seemed busy. However, they would stop by to greet them with friendliness when they saw Li Nianfan and the others.

Moreover, the Heavenly Palace became shinier. It looked good and there was more background music. A halo phenomenon accompanied the sounds of the rivers and fountains. It was much more high-class and beautiful.

Soon, they were at the observatory. Li Nianfan instantly saw something else constructed in the building. The purple rooftop was completely different from the other palaces. It was unique and visually impactful. The palace was three levels high and it seemed to be emitting halos. More importantly, it did not have any buildings and obstructions around it. It was right at the edge of the observatory, as if it was blended into the vast universe.

It felt like… A building made in the stars. It was mysterious, dreamy, and noble.

If the building was in the past realm, it would be equivalent to a bungalow made in the center of the national forest protection area.

'How luxurious!'

Li Nianfan could see the sign of the palace as they got closer. 'Palace of the Deluxe Merit Saint'.

He raised his eyebrow. He said, "I remember the last time I came here, there wasn't any building here, right?"

Cheng smiled and replied, "Mr. Li, we prepared this palace for you. Naturally, we built you a new one."

Meanwhile, the Jade Emperor and Empress walked in from afar. They smiled at Li Nianfan and said, "Mr. Li."

"Emperor, Empress," saluted Li Nianfan. Then, he had to say with sentimentality, "You guys are too kind. What did I do to deserve a specially built Immortal Palace here?"

'You overestimated us, expert. You should be asking 'what did we do to deserve this?' instead.

'The Heavenly Palace is made for you!'

The Empress smiled and replied, "Mr. Li, you're the Deluxe Merit Saint. Our Heavenly Palace was able to be revived mostly because of you. You deserve this Immortal Palace."

Li Nianfan still shook his head. "It's inappropriate."

The Jade Emperor instantly felt his heart skip a beat. He went pale and hurriedly asked, "Mr. Li, are you unsatisfied with anything?"

"It's good here. But it's too good, I feel guilty accepting it." Li Nianfan looked at the Palace of the Deluxe Merit Saint. He paused and said, "I'm able to become the Deluxe Merit Saint based on pure luck. Helping the Heavenly Palace is a total coincidence, too. You really don't have to do this, Emperor and Empress."

The Jade Emperor and Empress noticed how genuine Li Nianfan looked. They moved their mouths but no words came out.

'We would've believed you if we didn't know that you forcefully robbed Deluxe Merit from the realm, and became the Deluxe Merit Saint on a whim. We would've believed what you just said if we didn't see you knead the puppet dough into a Heavenly Spirit.

'Expert, your acting's too realistic. You… You're making it hard for us to go along with it!

'Sigh, being around the expert isn't an easy job after all. It's so testing to the mind.'

The Seven Princesses were flustered. They were panicking and did not know what to do.

"That… Mr. Li." The Jade Emperor had to force himself to say something at important moments. "You're the Deluxe Merit Saint. That's the truth. No matter what, you truly are the Deluxe Merit Saint. Please, don't reject us."

"This…" Li Nianfan noticed that the Jade Emperor seemed to be tearing up. His genuine reaction made it hard to reject. He could only nod and say, "Alright."

Then, he helplessly shook his head and softly sighed. "You guys… I'm feeling embarrassed. I have the title of the Deluxe Merit Saint but I couldn't do anything. My Deluxe Merit Flesh is just a means of protection. It's not beneficial to others. Look at Juling Shen, at least he's carrying pillars. I am useless apart from having Deluxe Merit. I'm just an ordinary man, I can't do anything."

The Jade Emperor and the other looked at each other. They saw a bitter smile on each other's faces. The corners of their mouths kept twitching, too. 'Listen to that, is that the words of a person? He's killing us!'

However, it was very fortunate that the expert accepted their offer.

Juling Shen who finished fixing the Southern Sky Gate came rushing in from afar. He was about to be near the expert so he could kiss up to him.

He suddenly heard the expert say his name. He instantly jolted. At first, he was in disbelief. It was daunting. Then, he was overjoyed. He grinned and smiled from ear to ear.

"The expert said my name? The expert must be complimenting me! At least the expert remembered my name! That's good! That's good news! This is the peak of my life. My life starts from this moment."

The Jade Emperor did not dare to delay. He announced with seriousness, "Everyone, bear witness today. Mr. Li Nianfan's the first ever Deluxe Merit Saint of the realm. The Deluxe Merit Saint shall be respected by all!"

Buzz!

As the Jade Emperor said that, a seal of the realm flickered in between his brows. A row of words leaped out and projected in the air, then blended into the realm. It was like a figure of the holy orders. It was kind of like the official approval of the realm.

Li Nianfan was astounded at the sight. The orders formed by the Jade Emperor were much more high-end than the orders made in the Immortal Realm. He learned something new.

'From now on, I'm a chancellor, right? And I appear to be some higher level…chancellor?'

The Jade Emperor saluted and congratulated, "Greetings from Hao Tian to the Deluxe Merit Saint!"

The surrounding Immortals did not dare to delay. They greeted in a formal tone, "Greetings to the Deluxe Merit Saint!"

"Alright. It's just a title. A real Deluxe Merit Saint would have actual abilities."

Li Nianfan waved it off. However, he then raised his eyebrow. There was a golden light in his eyes. He stared at the Jade Emperor and was curious about something.

The Jade Emperor tensed up. He asked anxiously, "Mr. Li, what… What's going on?"

"Don't move," said Li Nianfan. Then, he lifted his hand. Endless Deluxe Merit golden light poured out from his body. The intense golden light covered the place like a sea. It blinded everyone. They could hardly breathe.

They felt like a bunch of beggars that suddenly saw a billion dollars. It was an unimaginable sight.

'I'm able to look at so much Deluxe Merits, this life is worth it!'

Then, they stared at them. They were dumbfounded. Li Nianfan slightly pointed at the Jade Emperor.

Deluxe Merit instantly flowed towards the Jade Emperor like tap water. Some of it flowed towards the Empress. A smaller part of it flowed towards the dumbfounded Ziye and Cheng Yi.

The four of them looked at the pouring Deluxe Merit and felt thirsty. Their hearts were pounding at the highest rate and their pulses stopped.

'Deluxe Merit!'

'Oh my Lord, the expert rewarded us with Deluxe Merit!'

Ziye and Cheng Yi did not know how to react. They screamed internally.

'Happiness came too suddenly!'

Suddenly, they heard the Empress's rushed voice, "Quick! Stop being in a daze. Hurry up and use the Deluxe Merits to make Immortal Items!"

Ziye and Cheng Yi snapped out of it.

Ziye hurriedly took off her hairpin. She transferred the Deluxe Merit to it. Cheng Yi transferred the Deluxe Merit to her orange ribbon that flowed in the wind.

The Jade Emperor held a three-foot-long sword. The Empress had a golden bracelet. She directed the golden Deluxe Merit light on it to create a weapon.

They were irrecoverably excited. They were flushed from excitement and could not control their smiles.

'The expert's too awesome. He blessed us with Deluxe Merit just because he wanted to! So capricious!'

The Deluxe Merit was too important. It had too many functions. A huge amount of Deluxe Merit was required to become a Saint. There were three common uses for Deluxe Merit. Firstly, it could improve powers. However, it was the most wasteful use for Deluxe Merit. They would only use it to improve their powers if they had to. Deluxe Merit was too hard to gain and there were many other ways to improve powers.

Secondly, it could create a Deluxe Merit Body. The cost was expensive, and one would need to come up with ways to keep collecting Deluxe Merit. It was too difficult to achieve. A Deluxe Merit Body was not the same as a Deluxe Merit Flesh. However, once succeeded, it was a great defensive shield. It would be their first choice if they wanted their lives to be protected at all costs.

Thirdly, Deluxe Merit could create weapons!

It was the most functional use for Deluxe Merit, and it was also highly effective. Immortal Items were like the second in command for cultivators. It was too important to them. Once Deluxe Merit was merged with their items, the items would greatly improve and become a Deluxe Merit Treasure. If there was enough Deluxe Merit, it might even become a Deluxe Merit Ultimate Treasure. The power would be indescribable. They might even kill without the karma! They could perversely have zero consequences for their powers!

The Abi and Yuan Tu swords of Styx Laozu were Deluxe Merit Ultimate Treasure. They could kill people without karma. It was terrifying.

Previously, the Jade Emperor and the Empress were defeated by the Styx Laozu because their weapons were weaker than his. However… Their items were finally improved. They were utterly excited.

The surrounding Immortals stared with envy. They watched closely and almost drooled.

Li Nianfan naturally noticed their reactions. He looked conflicted.

He felt kind of guilty.

Actually… The Jade Emperor and Empress earned the Deluxe Merit because they rebuilt the Heavenly Palace. The Heavenly Palace rewarded them the Deluxe Merit. However… He accidentally pointed at them with his finger. Causing them to think that he blessed them with the Deluxe Merit.

In other words, he merely helped them to point it out. They were mistakenly grateful to him. And…if he wanted to, he could even take away their Deluxe Merit…

'Holy cow!

'I am such a shameless Deluxe Merit Saint…'