In the Nanyuan Mid-grade Academy.
Chen Hao went to the preparatory class since he had to go for his lessons. Su Yu, on the other hand, headed straight for the resources department.
...
"Su Yu, you want to redeem ironwing bird blood essence?"
The resources department's administrator asked, feeling a little surprised. "Thousand Pound Realm blood essence is only useful for those in the Thousand Pound Realm. Not only is it not helpful for those in the Origin Opening Realm, but it's also poison. What do you want to redeem this for?"
"Teacher Zhang, can I redeem them?"
Su Yu smiled and said, "You know that I've been studying about the myriad races. The ironwing bird is a race that I study more about, so I want to procure some of their blood essences for research. However, they are too expensive, so I came to the academy to ask..."
"It is possible to do so. You've obtained the qualification certificates for 18 all-races languages. Other than the three compulsory languages, there are rewards for the other 15 languages. So, you got a total of 15 merit points for them and three merit points for reaching the third level of the Origin Opening Realm, coming up to a total of 18 merit points…"
The resources department's administrator checked the records and quickly said, "But you've spent six points in the library, so you're left with 12 points."
"Mn, I know."
Su Yu smiled and asked, "How much blood essence can I redeem with the remaining 12 points?"
"You want to redeem this... This is really not useful. It's too much of a waste!"
The teacher in charge of administration couldn't help but remind Su Yu, "The Thousand Pound Realm ironwing birds are considered very strong for you, but they are merely cannon fodder in the Allskies Battlefield. Merit points can be used in all major academies and can even be accumulated to redeem invaluable resources in high-grade academies.
"You can accumulate 18 points easily when you're in a mid-grade academy, getting one point for learning one all-races language. But it won't be that easy to earn points after you're in a high-grade academy.
"It's not worth it to redeem these! When you get to a high-grade academy, you might need to use merit points to redeem some secret information, advanced cultivation arts, and even some courses. These merit points can be used in the military as well…
(I know these things too, but I'm left with no choice, alright?)
Su Yu smiled bitterly. He knew about these.
But wasn't it because he didn't have money?
Well, he did have some, over 200,000 coins, which wouldn't be a problem for him to purchase five drops of ironwing birds' blood essence with. However, he still needed living expenses.
People in the Origin Opening Realm didn't have much means of earning money, so he still had to keep some money aside to use in the high-grade academy.
Merit points were one of the most important trading systems other than Anping coins.
Anping coins could be used to purchase many things, but there were also many things that they couldn't buy.
High-grade strategic resources, high-grade cultivation arts, and even some legacies required merit points for one to gain access to them. Merit points represented the human race's contribution to mankind.
If one didn't have any contribution to the human race, then even if they had a lot of money, they might not be able to buy certain things.
The earning and expenditure of merit points were all recorded, including the initial accumulation of merit points from the very beginning. For example, Su Yu had obtained 18 merit points. Even if he spent all 18 points, the records would continue to accumulate his points starting from this 18-point mark.
After Su Yu reached 100 points, he would be able to get greater access.
This also prevented many humans who only had money but did not make many contributions to the human race from privately buying merit points and rarer strategic resources.
Even if some rich people managed to buy over ten thousand worth of merit points, their initial level was not high enough, so they wouldn't be able to buy certain stuff with those points.
Hearing that, the resources department's administrator sighed and said, "Then I won't try to persuade you any further. Actually, it's still too early for you to be doing research now. Nanyuan Mid-grade Academy's conditions are lacking and can't support the research of students. After you go to a high-grade academy, you'll be able to apply for subsidies for certain research. Also, the higher-ups will give out resources to help you in conducting research."
"The ironwing bird is commonly seen in the Allskies Battlefield, and the value of research on them isn't high either. If it were up to me, I'd say that you should change to another research target..."
Su Yu smiled and said, "What you said is true too. Then does the academy have lu fish blood essence?"
"…"
The administrator looked a little sheepish. "We don't. Those things are in the Di Mountain Realm and aren't often seen in the Allskies Battlefield. Moreover, even the weakest of them who go to the Allskies Battlefield are at the Ten-Thousand Stone Realm or even the Soaring Realm. The Great Xia Civilization Academy definitely has their essence blood, but we can't procure them."
That ended the conversation.
Su Yu could recognize a minority of the races he had dreamed of in the past. Out of which, lu fish was one of them.
However, they were at least from the Ten-Thousand Stone Realm. If he were to take Ten-Thousand Stone Realm blood essence right now, even if that booklet could absorb most of the energy, his physical body wouldn't be able to bear it. He might end up exploding.
As for the blood essences of the other races, he didn't dare to take them recklessly. If the booklet couldn't absorb the blood essences of the races he hadn't dreamed about, his body might not be able to endure it.
After much thought, the ironwing birds' blood essence was still the safest for now.
"Teacher, let me redeem some then."
"How many drops do you want? One merit point can get you one drop. It's really not that worth it..."
The administrator continued to remind him, "Are you thinking that the merit points don't seem to be worth too much? The face value of one point is only 10,000 coins, but some things can't be measured with money. You know what I mean."
"Thank you for your reminder, Teacher!"
Su Yu quickly nodded and said, "I'll just redeem three drops first. If it isn't enough, then I'll come back for more."
"Sigh, I don't know what to say to you!"
Seeing that Su Yu wasn't willing to listen to his advice, the administrator felt a little helpless and made arrangements for someone to go bring the blood essence over. While waiting, he gave it some thought before reminding, "Your father went to the Allskies Battlefield two days ago. The academy knows about this matter as well. With your father not around at home, you should be more careful now. Those guys from the All-Races Sect are very active in the Great Xia Prefecture. You should have heard about this as well."
"Mn, but there shouldn't be any relations with me, right?"
"How are there no relations?!" The administrator reproached, "It doesn't hurt to be careful!"
"Those b*stards from the All-Races Sect don't primarily target the experts or geniuses, at least, not cultivating geniuses. They target the sages!"
"Although you aren't considered to be a sage, you're one of the few potential candidates the Nanyuan Mid-grade Academy has for the Great Xia Civilization Academy!
"There's a limit to the destruction experts can cause, but the destruction that sages can cause is limitless! The reason the human race can hold its place for several centuries in the Allskies Battlefield isn't just relying on those unrivaled experts but also the sages in the backline!"