I Idle in the World of Immortal Cultivation
Chapter 49: Hall of Good Deeds
On the third day after Bone One finished off the Ironback Centipede, Yue Long crouched by the spirit field, staring blankly at her phone screen.
Merit +1, merit +1, merit +1 – the intervals were growing longer and longer. She poked the little wooden fish on the screen with her finger. The little figure ignored her and kept knocking.
"Master."
"Yes, little bunny." Lin Luo leaned against the stone wall, carving a piece of bone. Not for artifact refining – he had discovered that carving it slightly increased his mental strength. He had originally wondered whether he could add runes to Bone One's crossbow bolts, so he wanted to try carving the basic shape of a bolt himself.
"The merit is slowing down. More and more."
"Normal. Your merit points are higher now, so you need more to level up. Like running a hundred meters – the first lap is easy, but the tenth lap makes you out of breath."
Yue Long thought for a moment. "Then how many merit points do I have now?"
"It's on your phone."
Yue Long opened her status panel.
[Merit points: 1840.]
[Next level (Essence Gathering Layer 2) requires: 2000.]
"One hundred sixty more."
"The idle speed will continue to slow down. What you're seeing now may not be the speed you get later. The speed might actually increase after you level up."
Yue Long's eyes lit up. "Really?"
Lin Luo put down the bone and looked at her. "Find a way. You're really slowing down now."
Yue Long stood up, brushed her skirt, and paced back and forth by the spirit field. Her rabbit ears stood up, twitching. Rat One ran after her heels, thinking she was playing.
"Master, the mortal told me something a long time ago."
"What?"
"He said that when he was young, he thought about starting a 'charity foundation.' An organization dedicated to helping people. Not just one or two, but many, many people. The more people he helped, the bigger his reputation would grow. The bigger his reputation, the more people would want to help him. Then he could help even more people."
Lin Luo didn't speak.
"The mortal said he never succeeded. Because he was too poor. And he had no spirit stones, no influence, no connections. He was just one person." Yue Long stopped, turned around, and looked at Lin Luo. "But we're different. We have the Idle Sect. We have the mine. We have the inn. We have you. We have Bone One. We have Rat One. We have Su Xiaoxiao. We have a lot."
Lin Luo was silent for a moment. "Go on. What do you need?"
"A name. A box. And – starting spirit stones."
"How many?"
Yue Long bit her lip. "One hundred."
Lin Luo counted out one hundred spirit stones from the Shared Storage and laid them neatly on the stone table.
Yue Long's rabbit ears sprang up. "Master, aren't you going to ask what I'm going to do?"
"No. You already said it."
"But aren't you afraid I'll waste them?"
"It doesn't matter if you waste these hundred stones. If you succeed, I won't lose anything, and you'll be helping others. If you waste them, consider it paying for the experience."
Yue Long opened her mouth, but no words came out. She put the stones into her storage pouch, then took out a worn wooden box from the same pouch – it had once held Glow Mushrooms. It was empty now, but she hadn't thrown it away. She placed the box on the stone table, opened the lid, put the hundred stones inside, and closed it.
"Master, I've decided on the name. 'Hall of Good Deeds.'"
"Hall of Good Deeds. Not bad."
Yue Long smiled. She hugged the wooden box to her chest and closed her eyes.
She thought of that mine. Pitch black, lit only by the dark red glow of demon crystals. Blood on her hands, her feet trembling, the overseer's whip cracking against her back, burning with pain. Back then, she thought – if someone came to save her, she would spend her whole life repaying them.
Then the mortal came. The mortal broke the formation and brought her out of the mine. The mortal cooked Glow Mushroom soup for her, taught her to read, and told her stories about the Idle Sect. On his deathbed, the mortal said, "Go find him. Train hard and go to the upper realm to find Founder Lin Luo. Tell him the last disciple of the Idle Sect didn't let him down."
Yue Long opened her eyes.
"Master."
"Yes?"
"If the mortal knew about the Hall of Good Deeds, would he be happy?"
"No. He'd be jealous. He failed to do it, but you're doing it right in front of his most revered founder. And you're even being praised for it."
Yue Long smiled and lightly kicked Lin Luo a few times. She put the wooden box back into her storage pouch and stood up. Her phone buzzed.
[Detected initial establishment of charitable organization "Hall of Good Deeds."]
[Special achievement completed: The Gift of First Intent.]
[Reward: Sect contribution +10000.]
[Reward: Merit +20000.]
[Current sect contribution: 10080.]
[Current merit points: 21840 → 1840 (-20000)]
[Yue Long's Buddhist cultivation increased: Essence Gathering Layer 1 → Essence Gathering Layer 6.]
Yue Long felt heat surge through her body and immediately sat cross-legged. Golden scriptures lit up all over her body, flickered five times, then spiraled in an orderly fashion into her right arm and right eye.
Yue Long's eyes went wide. "Master! My cultivation went up! And I have over ten thousand sect contribution!"
"That's like a cheat code. Not bad."
"We can exchange for Jade Rabbit Runs to the Moon now! And the compass! And so many other things!"
"Yes, yes, yes."
"Can you say something else!"
"Hall of Good Deeds Hall Master. Congratulations."
Yue Long froze for a moment, then smiled. She pressed her phone to her chest, her rabbit ears twitching.
"Master, the first charitable donation of the Hall of Good Deeds – one hundred spirit stones – how should we use it?"
"Who do you want to help?"
Yue Long thought for a moment. "I want to help people like me. Those locked in mines and forced to dig. Those who are abused. Those without freedom."
Lin Luo was silent for a moment. "I don't know of any places like that for now. And you probably can't help many people right now anyway."
"Then I'll help one person at a time."
Lin Luo looked at her. "Start with the Cangxuan Sect first. Among the chores disciples, there are those who don't have enough to eat or warm clothes to wear. Among the outer court disciples, there are those bullied by inner court disciples. Help them first."
Yue Long nodded. "Okay."
She put the box away and walked to the mine entrance. Rat One followed at her heels, squeaking.
"Rat One, are you coming too?"
Rat One squeaked twice and jumped onto her shoulder.
Yue Long looked back at Lin Luo. "Master, I'm going to the market. I'll do good deeds today. Many of them."
"Go. Be careful."
She ran off. Her rabbit ears bobbed in the wind.
Lin Luo leaned against the stone wall and took out his phone. He opened Blood One's interface – Blood One was still hidden in the Demon Abyss second layer. The Blood Clan Elder had rarely gone out to patrol lately. He stayed in his lair every day, busy with something.
Blood One's cultivation was still Qi Gathering Layer 8. Too slow.
Lin Luo frowned and turned off the screen.
---
Meanwhile, on the Demon Abyss second layer.
By the blood pool, the Blood Clan Elder was busy, his dark red eyes fixed on the pool's surface, pacing around nearby. He had been busy for several days already.
Blood One shrank back in the crevice, not daring to breathe. His cultivation was too low. In the eyes of a Golden Core Layer 6 Blood Clan Elder, he was less than an ant. What he did every day was wait – observe the Elder's movements, wait for him to go out on patrol. Then he would sneak out, absorb some blood nourishment, and shrink back into the crevice.
But the Elder hadn't gone out in many days.
He stood up.
Blood One's body went rigid.
The Elder turned and walked toward the crevice. His steps were heavy, each one vibrating against Blood One's heartbeat.
"Come out."
Blood One didn't move.
"I said, come out."
Blood One crawled out of the crevice. His legs were trembling – not from fear. The Elder's presence pressed down on him, and his body trembled instinctively. Golden Core Layer 6 against Qi Gathering Layer 8 – two full major realms apart.
The Elder looked down at him. "How long have you been here?"
"I… I don't know…" Blood One's voice shook.
"Don't be afraid. Follow me." The two walked over to a formation. "Sit across from me, facing away."
The Elder slowly raised his hands. Blood seeped from his palms and burrowed into the spine of Blood One's back. Blood One felt heat surge through his body – if Lin Luo had been controlling Blood One at that moment, he would have recognized it as the feeling of a breakthrough.
This was power transference. Qi Gathering Layer 8. Qi Gathering Layer 9. Body Refining Layer 1. Body Refining Layer 2. Body Refining Layer 3 – his cultivation skyrocketed, his meridians nearly bursting.
[Blood One's cultivation increased: Qi Gathering Layer 8 → Body Refining Layer 4.]
Just as Blood One began to feel the surge ease, an invisible force bound him in midair. He couldn't move at all. The Elder swallowed a piece of blood food. His body flashed red for a moment, then he returned to his full, peak state.
"One month. You stayed with me for one month. You drank so much of my blood, absorbed so much of my spiritual energy, and even peeked at my formation layout." The Elder reached out, pinched Blood One's chin, and lifted his face. "Did you think I didn't know?"
Blood One's pupils reflected the Elder's face. That face held no anger, no killing intent, not even any emotion. Only one thing – expectation.
"What… what are you going to do?"
The Elder didn't answer. He let go, turned, and walked to the blood pool, raising both hands. The liquid in the pool began to churn. Dark red blood mist rose from the surface and condensed into a massive rune in the air.
Blood One's body was still pulled upward by that invisible force, his feet leaving the ground, suspended in midair.
"Little thing, don't be afraid." The Elder's voice became very soft, as if coaxing a child. "Now is the most glorious moment of your sacrifice for me. I will return to the Five Realms and inherit the legacy of the Blood Clan Emperor. Enjoy this gift you are giving to your sovereign."
Blood One struggled desperately, but his body wouldn't move at all. A violent surge of spiritual energy poured from the Elder's palm into Blood One's body. Not gentle energy – tearing, crushing, the kind that felt like it would burst his meridians.
"Ahhh—!" Blood One let out a scream.
The Elder's mouth slowly curved. "Yes, that's it. Scream. The louder you scream, the smoother my spiritual energy flows."
Blood One's cultivation skyrocketed again and stopped at Body Refining Layer 9. The power infusion ended. But his body still hung in midair, his entire face covered in blood markings. The rune above the blood pool grew brighter and brighter, shifting from dark red to blood red, from blood red to a blinding crimson light.
Blood One looked down and saw his body fading. Not disappearing – dissolving. Skin, muscle, bones – all dissolving into blood mist bit by bit, sucked into the rune.
"What… what is this…" His voice no longer sounded human.
"An ancient blood sacrifice teleportation formation." The Elder spread his arms. "Using a Blood Clan body as the sacrifice to open a passage to a hidden place in the Five Realms. I have been trapped in this world for eight hundred years. Eight hundred years. Finally, another Blood Clan has appeared."
Blood One's body had already dissipated. His phone sent a message to Lin Luo.
[Blood One's cultivation increased: Qi Gathering Layer 8 → Body Refining Layer 4.]
[Blood One's cultivation increased: Body Refining Layer 4 → Body Refining Layer 9.]
[Warning: Alt account · Blood One has died.]
[Yes / No to consume 1 Spirit Stone to revive?]
The blood mist was devoured by the rune. The rune split open into a crack. The Elder stepped through. The crack closed. The blood pool returned to calm.
The Demon Abyss second layer was empty.
---
In the mine, Lin Luo's phone vibrated violently.
He picked it up – Blood One's interface had turned gray.
[Warning: Alt account · Blood One has died.]
[Yes / No to consume 1 Spirit Stone to revive?]
Lin Luo stared at the screen. His fingers hesitated.
"What strange thing happened?"
Yue Long ran back from outside, a leaf stuck to her rabbit ears, a cloth bag in her hand. When she saw Lin Luo's expression, she slowed her steps.
"Master, what's wrong?"
"Blood One's cultivation went up."
"Congratulations, Master."
"But Blood One died."
Yue Long froze. "Died? Didn't he go up? Can he revive?"
"Yes. But it feels very strange." Lin Luo turned the phone to show her. The gray interface and the line "body fully dissipated" stung Yue Long's eyes.
"How could this…"
Yue Long crouched down, her rabbit ears drooping. "Master, can Blood One come back?"
"Yes. But first, find out what happened."
"Right. So how are you going to investigate?"
Lin Luo turned his phone face down on his knee. "First use the system to check the surroundings. If nothing's wrong, then revive."
Yue Long stared blankly for a moment, thinking. Then she stood up and put the cloth bag on the stone table.
"Master, today's good deed haul. I helped an old man fix his roof, helped a woman find her chicken, helped a child with his homework, and helped a chores disciple carry water. Four people. Every one of them said thank you."
Lin Luo looked at her. "Weren't you tired?"
"Tired? I couldn't even find enough people to help. If there were more, I would have helped even more." Yue Long puffed out her cheeks adorably and emptied the bag onto the table – a few spirit stones, a handful of peanuts, a piece of cloth, a feather. "These are what they gave me. Not worth much, but they came from the heart."
Lin Luo looked at the pile. "Pick out what you can use. Put the rest in the box. These are their thanks to you. Even if they're useless, keep them in the box for someone who might need them."
Yue Long put the items away, walked over to Lin Luo, and sat down beside him. Her rabbit ears slowly drooped, resting on his arm.
"Master, do I look pretty today?"
"Yes. You look especially pretty today. You're practically glowing with golden light, like an angel."
"Angel? What's that?"
Lin Luo looked at her, didn't speak, turned, and walked away.
Yue Long chased after him. Her phone rested on her chest. The chibi figure hit the wooden fish again and again. Merit +1, merit +1, merit +1.
Just keep idling.
---
(End of Chapter 49)