"Ow…"

The Eel King could only whine and groan. Then, he fell to the floor as blood dripped out of his mouth. Trembling, he pointed at Ao Feng and Ao Shu. "You...you guys…"

Ao Feng said, "Sorry. You're the only criminal here. We're the good guys."

"Alright, enough. Stop fighting!"

Ao Cheng hurriedly stopped them. "Try to ensure the quality of the meat. We need it to taste good."

Lord Taoist Taihua was slightly confused. He said, "Dragon King, they're…"

"One of us," Ao Cheng smiled and said. "Under the authority of the expert, they were converted to our side."

Lord Taoist Taihua nodded in understanding. "I see. How smart of them."

They greeted each other and let Ao Cheng carry the dead body of the Eel King.

Back in the Western Sea, everyone was smiling with relief. The battle…was tough. It was also an important battle for the Heavenly Palace.

Thankfully, they won. All thanks to the expert!

Lord Taoist Taihua looked at Li Nianfan with respect. The strategies before the battle, the zither music during the battle, and the purple lightning bolt that ended the battle were all crucial.

They were able to win the battle mostly because of the expert!

If he was not there, they would probably be goners.

He hurriedly went over and saluted, "This victory is all thanks to you, Lord Saint. That lightning bolt was too crucial. Are you alright, Lord Saint?"

"I'm fine."

Li Nianfan smiled and waved it off. Then, he said with gratitude, "Actually, I have to thank the Jade Emperor. He gave me the defense armor. Otherwise, that attack would have been terrifying. By the way, the armor is quite nice, the defense is shockingly fantastic. It's a great treasure."

"Ha…"

Everyone tried their best to force a smile.

'Fantastic armor? Yeah, right. It's only fantastic because it's on you. Try and put it on somebody else. They'd be goners with that Octopus Demon attack.'

However, they were used to it. They successfully went along with the expert.

Lord Taoist Taihua smiled and said, "No matter what, the credit for winning this battle goes to you, Lord Saint!"

Ao Cheng hurriedly went over with the dead body of the Eel King. He showed it to Li Nianfan. "Oh yeah, Lord Saint, look at this Eel King. The meat's intact. What do you think?"

Li Nianfan had sparkly eyes. He smiled and said, "Awesome. It's so long. I can cook it in different ways. I must try it out."

Everyone kept nodding. "Of course. As you should."

Li Nianfan looked at everyone and smirked. He calmly said, "The Western Sea Demons illegally took over the Western Sea. They were extremely evil. We were able to get rid of the Western Sea problem thanks to everyone. You all should be rewarded."

Li Nianfan spoke normally without using any spells. However, everyone could hear him clearly. Their hearts were thumping hard.

They were so excited that they held their breaths.

'The Deluxe Merit Saint said that, so—'

'Are—are we…going to get some sort of reward?'

Li Nianfan continued, "Alright, take out your weapons. There isn't much Deluxe Merit so think about how you're going to properly divide it."

"Yikes—"

Everyone, especially the soldiers, could not believe their ears. They opened their eyes wide and were irrecoverably excited.

'Not much is still Deluxe Merit. I'll take whatever I can get!'

'What's generosity? What's kindness? The Deluxe Merit Saint is the definition!'

Xiao Chengfeng held his sword up and immediately bowed. "Thank you for the reward, Lord Saint."

Everyone bowed at the same time. They said, "Thank you for the reward, Lord Saint!"

"It's what you all deserve. You're welcome." Li Nianfan laughed. Then, he looked at the longsword held by Xiao Chengfeng and asked, "Cultivator Xiao, are you going to use your Deluxe Merit on this sword? Should I save your Deluxe Merit first?"

He could see that Xiao Chengfeng borrowed Lord Taoist Taihua's sword. It was apparent that his sword was not that great.

At that moment, Li Nianfan suddenly felt like that NPC who rewarded players. He was there to help improve their weapons. They had to choose the right weapons to upgrade. Otherwise, the reward would be a waste.

Xiao Chengfeng caressed his longsword and said, "My sword's an ordinary Spiritual Treasure but it has been with me since I was in the Above Immortal Realm. It's still a sharp sword. I'll be using it!"

He believed that he would gain more Deluxe Merit to improve his weapon into a Deluxe Merit Treasure.

Once his weapon became a Deluxe Merit Treasure, it would be way powerful. However, he would require…a lot of Deluxe Merit.

Styx Laozu's two weapons were able to become Deluxe Merit Treasure because he imitated Goddess Nuwa. He created the Asuras and gained Deluxe Merit. He was originally planning to use it to become a Saint.

In other words, the Deluxe Merit required to create a Deluxe Merit Treasure was lesser than the Deluxe Merit required to become a Saint.

Li Nianfan nodded. "In that case…"

He waved. Golden Deluxe Merit Light instantly showered over everyone like raindrops. Everyone straightened up and held their breaths.

Some chose to use the Deluxe Merit to improve their weapons, some chose to use it for power improvement and sin deletion. They wanted their futures to be better, and if it was not possible, at least they would have a nice afterlife.

At that moment, everyone instantly felt re-energized. They felt like the tiresome battle was all worth it. They felt like they had chosen the right side. It was beneficial to be with the Deluxe Merit Saint.

Xiao Chengfeng and Ye Liuyun looked at their weapons with excitement. Almost as if they saw a 'weapon level up +1'.

Ao Cheng and Juling Shen were even more excited. They were grinning from ear to ear. It was obvious they achieved a 'weapon level up +2' moment.

Lord Taoist Taihua also said, "I need two guards. Listen to my orders, go to the Underworld and greet them on behalf of the Heavenly Palace. Let the soldiers who died today have reincarnation privileges."

All was settled. Everyone rode on clouds again and went back to the Heavenly Palace.

Lord Taoist Taihua stood on a cloud with a smile. He looked victorious. He was thinking of ways to announce their victory.

At the same time, he was also in deep thought, wondering who was behind the scheme.

In the end, he had to sigh. He said, "The Demons… Who was behind all of that? Reclaim the Demon Palace? Ha!"

Li Nianfan heard that. He looked up at him, smiled, and said, "Lord Taoist Taihua, it is easy to guess."

Lord Taoist Taihua focused. He hurriedly asked, "Do you know, Lord Saint?"

"I don't but it's not hard to guess."

Li Nianfan paused. He combined his knowledge of the legendary stories and figured out the history of Demons. He said, "Since the beginning, there were two Demon Kings birthed by the Sun, Di Jun and Taiyi. They created the Demon Palace. However, they both died. Then, Hou Yi shot the Suns. There could only be three people left that are related to the Demons. Goddess Nuwa, Lu Ya, and Lord Kunpeng."

Li Nianfan instantly made it clear. Lord Taoist Taihua nodded and said, "It seems so."

Then, he analyzed, "Goddess Nuwa was always a neutral character. She was a pacifist amongst Demons so I guess she wouldn't scheme against the Heavenly Palace. Lu Ya loves freedom and being free from the bonds of the three realms. Lu Ya was always nowhere to be seen. Only Kungpeng's ambitious like that!"

Li Nianfan continued, "If there are no other powerful Demons, he's most likely the one who planned this scheme."

'Another bigshot. The Heavenly Palace just keeps running into disasters. No one dared to offend the Heavenly Palace back then. But now, they've all appeared, fighting to rule the world.'

He had a thought. He frowned.

'In that case, the Fire Phoenix and Daji are in trouble. They wanted to rule the Demons. Isn't that going directly against Kunpeng? That's so dangerous.'

Lord Kunpeng was a bigshot character who was a Saint. His power was as good as Di Jun. They called him Lord Kunpeng because he was a Master of all Demons.

He had to say, "Lord Taoist Taihua, you have to beware. Especially with the Fire Phoenix. She might catch the attention of the Lord Kunpeng."

Lord Taoist Taihua focused. That was a direct order from the expert. He instantly grew serious. He carefully said, "Don't worry, Lord Saint. I'll watch out for Kunpeng!"

Ao Cheng also heard it at the side. He remembered the name. He was going to let everyone take notice when he returned. 'The expert has spoken so no matter what, that Kunpeng…has to die!'

Then, everyone did not speak anymore. Li Nianfan pursed his lips and thought to himself. 'If it's possible, I have to give more Deluxe Merit to Daji since she's family.

'I have the chance to earn Deluxe Merit as an agent fee. I have to look out for Daji. I can't keep rewarding Deluxe Merit to other strangers. I have to take care of my family. I'd be a fool if I didn't take advantage of this.'

It was dark out when they returned to the Heavenly Palace.

Everyone felt victorious. They simply celebrated and left. A bunch of guards were happily boasting to the civil servants about their Deluxe Merit.

The recruitment of the Heavenly Palace would be much easier from then on. Deluxe Merit as a reward was plenty tempting.

It was night time but Li Nianfan could not sleep. His experience during the daytime was impactful for an ordinary man like him. The epic battle and the gory sights would not go away. Of course, he was also slightly worried about Daji.

He went to the highest spot in the Palace of the Deluxe Merit Saint alone. He held his wine gourd and wine glass. He started to drink alone.

He poured himself a drink and chugged it.

He looked at the glorious Heavenly Palace from up high. He felt that it was dreamy. He was able to befriend a bunch of Immortals. Also…he became their boss that rewards them with Deluxe Merit. He was loved by them. It was quite interesting.

Then, he had to look up to the stars.

He was sitting at the best viewing spot. He could look up at an endless sky full of stars. It was different from viewing stars in the Immortal Realm. The stars at the Heavenly Palace felt much closer.

Especially that round moon that looked like a white Jade plate. It shined brightly but it was not blinding at all. It felt cool.

The moon displayed itself like a scenery painting in front of Li Nianfan.

It was very beautiful but lonely at the same time.

He felt inspired. He had to recite a poem. "The candle shadow of the mica screen was dim, like the long river that gradually falls as the stars sink. Chang'e should be regretful for stealing the elixir, but she regretted it every night in the heart of the blue sea and the blue sky.

"Chang'e should be regretful for stealing the elixir, but she regretted it every night in the heart of the blue sea and the blue sky."

An echo came back but it was the soft voice of a lady. Her voice was beautiful like the voice of an angel. Her emotions were complex.

Li Nianfan looked over and saw a figure slowly flying toward him from afar. He thought he was looking at a painting at first sight.

He saw a lady in a long white dress with her hair up. Her body slowly floated over as if she was weightless.

'A fascinating soul of the god of autumn water, a half-tuned song, and a shadow floating.

'Super pretty lady.

'She's just as pretty as my Daji.'

He noticed her tone and thought of the location. Li Nianfan could guess who she was.

"Lord Saint, you're truly talented. Your poem almost made me, Chang'e, cry. Perhaps you knew I was coming, so you purposefully came here to see my tears?"