And that wasn't all.
The most critical gain this time wasn't just the Dao Attainment or the Dragon Clan's growing fortune—Ao Qing had earned another Evolution Point!
Counting the unassigned point he already had, that brought the total to two Evolution Points for subordinates… and three for himself.
At this rate, it almost felt like his Evolution Points were never-ending—as if he could never run out, no matter how many he used.
However, at this moment, Ao Qing's attention wasn't on the points. Instead, he slowly opened his system interface.
[System Panel]
Name: Ao Qing
Title: Dragon King of the Four Seas
Dao Attainment: 8,800 years, 232 days
Treasures:
• Mountains and Rivers Society Fate Map
• Fire-Tipped Spear
• Wind Fire Wheels
• Red Armillary Sash
…
Dragon Clan Fortune: 53 points
Evolution Points (for subordinates): 2
Evolution Points (for self): 3
Fate Sources: Taiyi Zhenren, Nezha, Li Jing, Lady Yin
Military: …
Nation Grade: D-rank
The moment Ao Qing glanced at this panel, even he was a little stunned.
Without realizing it, the Eastern Shore under his rule had already advanced to a D-rank nation. Not long ago, he was still wallowing at F-rank!
His Dao Attainment, too, had skyrocketed to over 8,800 years—just a thousand years shy of breaking the Ten-Thousand-Year Dao milestone.
To say he wasn't excited would be a lie.
Even more intriguing was the addition of a new system stat: Fate Sources—clearly tied to his recent fortune-stealing from major figures like Taiyi Zhenren and Li Jing. The system was now logging his conquests directly.
Clean. Efficient. Extremely satisfying.
And just as Ao Qing was processing this new information, a new set of cheerful system prompts rang in his ears—
[System Notification]
Congratulations! The citizens of Chentang Pass have built a Dragon King Temple in your honor!
You have gained 10 Merit Points!
[System Notification]
Congratulations! The citizens of Chentang Pass have built a Dragon King Temple in your honor!
You have gained 10 Merit Points!
[System Notification]
Congratulations! The citizens of Chentang Pass have built a Dragon King Temple in your honor!
You have gained 10 Merit Points!
Your Dao Attainment has increased by 102 years and 123 days!
Your Dragon Clan Fortune has increased! +1 point!
[System Notification]
Your recent actions have shaken the Three Great Saints!
Your Dragon Clan Fortune has increased! +5 points!
At first, Ao Qing was stunned.
Then, a broad grin spread across his face.
He hadn't expected that stealing Taiyi Zhenren's fate would reach the ears of the Three Saints so quickly—and even earn him an extra 5 Fortune Points for the Dragon Clan just from their panic alone!
As for whether the Three Saints would retaliate?
Ao Qing didn't fear them in the slightest.
If anything, he welcomed their hostility—it only meant more opportunities to rake in fortune and Evolution Points, and further rewrite the fate of the Dragon Clan!
What excited him most, however, was this unexpected gift from Chentang Pass.
The citizens had actually started building Dragon King Temples in his name! And the rewards were far from trivial—they were giving him Merit Points!
He knew just how important those were.
In the Mythic World, countless Saints had relied on Merit to attain the Dao. Take Nüwa, for example—her creation of humankind and mending of the heavens had earned her massive Merit, eventually allowing her to become a Saint.
The same applied to the Primordial Saint, Taishang Laojun, and others. One had founded the Chan Sect, the other the Human Sect—each an effort to gather Merit and prove the Dao.
Even the Bodhi Patriarch and Guiding Daoist, who spread Buddhism and recruited countless followers, did so to amass enough Merit for Sainthood.
You could think of Merit as a kind of spiritual incense—and spiritual incense is the foundation of divinity.
In other words—
Anyone could gather incense. Anyone could accumulate Merit. And building Dragon King Temples was clearly one of Ao Qing's primary paths to Sainthood!
"Looks like sparing the people of Chentang Pass was the right call after all," Ao Qing chuckled, the corners of his mouth curling with amusement.
He hadn't killed those humans back then because he knew they had value—as tools to farm Fortune and build up his Merit base.
He just didn't expect them to act so quickly.
As he took a moment to sense his inner state, Ao Qing could feel it clearly: the Merit glow now flickering faintly around him, forming the early outline of a seven-colored halo.
"A Merit Halo!?"
Ao Qing was elated.
Many of the Mythic World's top-tier powerhouses had such halos. To possess even the beginning of one meant that he was now eligible to contend with the world's true apex experts.
He didn't even bother reacting to all the other changes happening around him right now.
At this moment, his full attention was locked onto the three unassigned Evolution Points for himself.
[System Notification]
You have 3 Evolution Points (Self-Use)!
You may spend 3 points to evolve into:
Eight-Clawed Hunyuan Dragon of the Five Elements Calamity Suppression!
After evolution, you will gain the ability to summon Thunder Tribulations (Minor Grade).
Any enemy unable to withstand your tribulation lightning… will be obliterated—body and soul erased for eternity.
Your cultivation realm will rise to: Great Firmament Golden Immortal.
All living beings and demon clans along the Eastern Shore will have:
Loyalty forcibly set to 100%
Cultivation speed increased by 100%!
Ao Qing blinked.
Then he laughed.
He finally understood why this evolution required all three self-use points. The higher the level, the greater the cost—but this was worth every point.
Forget the loyalty and cultivation bonuses.
The ability to summon thunder tribulations at will? That was horrifying on its own.
Everyone in the cultivation world feared tribulation lightning—because advancing realms always required passing through the skies' judgment.
And now… Ao Qing could wield that judgment like a weapon.
He grinned.
"Nice. Very nice."
Without hesitation, Ao Qing selected the option to evolve, allocating all three points to himself.
[System Notification]
3 Evolution Points assigned to Host.
Host will now begin evolution:
Evolving into Eight-Clawed Hunyuan Dragon of the Five Elements Calamity Suppression!