Regarding the immense merit of mending the heavens, although the various sects haven't explicitly stated it, they all tend to believe that the organization behind the scenes stole the Heaven-Mending Stone fragments for this immense merit.
Otherwise, just to save the world? What kind of innate saint would do such a thing?
The use of merit is manifold, and with the precedent set by Nuwa, this immense merit should be sufficient to be sent to the Immortal Realm by the Heavenly Dao of this world.
It's important to note here that ascending to the Immortal Realm and being sent there as a gift are two entirely different matters.
The former means that even if you're a Chaotic Great Luo Golden Immortal, you have to rely on the power of ascension to slowly make your way there.
