Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Chapter 912: The Golden Horizon and Zero Merits

The morning air outside the barracks carried a sharp chill as the mood among the five hundred recruits was defined by an exhausted numbness. Another week of the relentless body tempering cycle had left them thoroughly drained. Their joints throbbed from the mountain drills and their skin still carried the fading marks from the elemental strikes.Yet no one complained. Every cultivator present had known exactly what kind of reputation this army held when they chose to try to join. They understood that this elite force was forged through unyielding pressure.

They were surprised by the sheer density of the tempering though. Rumors had spread quietly during the short rest periods that previous training groups had never been pushed this hard. It had never been like this before.

The recruits stood at attention in the central plaza and their posture was stiff as they waited for the morning abuse to begin.

Lei Gang stepped onto the raised platform as he does every day. He scanned the weary faces of the young cultivators and crossed his massive arms. He could feel the heavy physical resilience starting to lock into their foundations. The constant breakdown and regeneration of their body was bearing fruit.

"Listen up." Lei Gang said. His rough voice carried across the dirt grounds. "We are doing something different today. The morning session of physical abuse… I mean training is canceled."

A sudden wave of disbelief washed over the formation. Recruits blinked rapidly and they wondered if their ears were playing tricks on them after days of lightning strikes.

"Do not celebrate yet!" Lei Gang barked as he narrowed his sharp eyes. "The afternoon will consist of a comprehensive lecture. You will learn the principles of using the physical vessel as a primary weapon. We will cover the distribution of force across the body and the activation of internal blood vitality during direct combat."

Li Yu raised his head slightly at those words. A spark of genuine interest flared in his mind. This was the exact kind of instruction he had been hoping to receive when he signed up for the camp.

"As for the morning session, it will be a break. For your weak and pathetic bodies to rest." Lei Gang continued. He gestured toward the main gates of the camp. "An open market has been established just outside our perimeter. The representative from the merchant organization that supplies this army arrived at dawn. They have set up their wares on the outer thoroughfare. You are permitted to explore and purchase whatever you require for your personal progression as before."

Cheers erupted from the front ranks. The heavy tension that had gripped the camp for a solid week evaporated in an instant. Cultivators laughed openly and began stretching their sore limbs. They were eager for a few hours of normal interaction.

"You may utilize your own spiritual resources or the camp merit points you have accumulated." Lei Gang added. "Dismissed."

The formation broke apart immediately. Recruits began huddling together in small groups as they discussed what kind of pills or specialized equipment they were hoping to acquire. Li Yu walked out of the plaza alongside the crowd. He looked toward a young man walking nearby who belonged to a local vassal clan.

"Excuse me." Li Yu spoke up. "Do we earn camp merit points from our daily training sessions?"

The recruit stopped and looked at Li Yu with a mixture of wariness and surprise. Most people had been keeping their distance from the mysterious late arrival. The simple question did not seem dangerous though.

"No." The recruit answered. He shook his head with a sigh. "We do not get anything just for surviving the day. Before you arrived at the camp, there were competitive training sessions. Those drills were ranked on a leaderboard. Depending on your final rank, the quartermaster distributes merit points to your token."

The youth pulled out his own bronze camp token. It flashed with a faint number illustrating his modest balance. "But there has not been a single ranked session or leaderboard since you got here. It has just been pure body tempering for everyone. Unless you participated in those early weeks, you have no merit points sadly."

"I see." Li Yu replied while he offered a polite nod. "Thank you."

He walked toward the heavy iron gates of the camp and he realized his current merit balance was exactly zero. The lack of a proper ranking system meant he was entirely broke in terms of camp currency. Fortunately his storage ring still contained a wealth of spirit stones and rare materials gathered from his previous travels across the realms.

The open market outside the camp gates was already bustling with activity.

Dozens of large tents crafted from silk and reinforced with protective arrays lined the wide dirt thoroughfare. The merchant group responsible for the display was a massive and mysterious organization known throughout the cosmos as the Golden Horizon.

They were an absolute titan in the trading world and some other businesses as well. They maintained numerous hidden operations and possessed vast networks beneath the surface of many prominent realms.

They were most famously recognized as one of the wealthiest merchant organizations in the entire cosmos. Their supply lines stretched across countless territories and they regularly provided high quality goods to military outposts and capital cities alike.

The recruits were groaning as they approached the stalls.

"The treasures are amazing but the prices are terrible." A recruit muttered to his friend nearby. "That representative never gives a single discount. He treats you like garbage unless your background is absurdly wealthy."

"Aye his deals are black." Another agreed while he shook his head. "He only helps people if he benefits immensely. Even Chief Instructor Lei Gang has a hard time negotiating with him for the camp supplies."

The man they were speaking of was the lead representative for this sector. He was a cultivator named Jin.

Jin was a powerful turtle beast who had fully assumed human form. He possessed broad shoulders and a sturdy posture. His expression seemed permanently frozen in an aura of cold professionalism. He sat behind an ornate wooden desk inside the largest central pavilion. He was reviewing a set of jade ledgers while his assistants handled the lower tier transactions outside.

The Golden Horizon was a strictly governed entity but they had a good reputation. Their true origins were a closely guarded secret even among their own ranks. Legends said their mysterious founder had established a set of laws that were etched directly into the bloodline of the descendant of the founder.

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What was actually known was that there was a soul oath that had to be taken for higher executives. A lesser soul oath was then taken by every single person joining Golden Horizon. Jin was a bloodline descendant of the original founder but it wasn’t known how many generations down he was. He was a ruthless businessman who prided himself on cold logic and maximum profit. He never let emotions or anything else cloud his deals.

Li Yu stepped into the bustling thoroughfare and the sheer variety of resources on display was incredible. Assistants dressed in matching golden robes stood behind the counters and they presented rare sword forms recorded on jade slips.

They displayed heavy bottles of vitality pills and shimmering sets of light armor. The staff members were exceptionally professional, knowledgeable and each person was good looking. They answered questions with cold precision.

Li Yu walked up to a nearby weapon display and his eyes fell upon a beautifully crafted dark sword resting on a silk cushion. It looked like an excellent piece of craftsmanship.

"May I examine this blade?" Li Yu asked politely while he looked at the assistant behind the counter.

The assistant was currently in the middle of a highly lucrative conversation with a wealthy recruit from a prominent clan. The wealthy youth was waving a pouch full of top grade spirit stones and demanding attention.

The moment Li Yu spoke, something strange happened.

The assistant's neutral demeanor fractured instantly. A bizarre look of focus overtook his features. An unexplainable urge bubbled up from deep within his chest and he completely ignored the wealthy recruit mid sentence. He turned his back on the pouch of spirit stones and he carefully lifted the dark sword from the cushion with both hands.

"Of course honored, customer." The assistant said. His voice dropped into a tone of reverence that shocked the nearby buyers. "Please handle it as you wish. The weight is balanced toward the center and the core is forged from a special iron."

Li Yu accepted the sword and he turned it over to check the balance. He had not ordered or demanded anything. He simply asked a few basic questions about the forge work while the assistant stood perfectly still. He answered every comment with a level of eagerness that bordered on desperation.

A few feet away, the wealthy recruit gasped in offense. "Hey! I was in the middle of purchasing a set of pills! Why are you ignoring me for someone with zero camp merits?"

The assistant did not even glance back at him. His entire focus was locked onto Li Yu. His deepest instincts demanded that this specific young man receive priority. Li Yu handed the sword back. "The craftsmanship is excellent but it is not quite what I am looking for. Thank you for your help."

"It is our absolute privilege." The assistant replied. He bowed his head and kept it there until Li Yu walked away.

As Li Yu was walking away he felt a bit confused by the intense customer service. As he explored the other tents, the exact same pattern repeated itself multiple times. Whenever he approached a counter to ask a question about an item, the Golden Horizon staff would instantly drop whatever they were doing to serve him first. Much to the anger of the others. It wasn’t just recruits that had their service dropped this way, it was instructors and actual army personnel as well.

He never raised his voice and he was never rough. He simply asked basic questions and the staff reacted as if their very lives depended on his satisfaction. Several recruits noticed the bizarre treatment.

"Just who is that guy?" A recruit whispered. He watched a senior alchemist push past three clan heirs just to offer Li Yu a closer look at a lotus root. "The Golden Horizon merchants usually treat us like beggars. Why are they acting like he owns the place? Is he the heir from this place?"

Li Yu remained oblivious to the underlying mechanics as it didn’t make much sense to him either. He could see that he was getting better treatment than others but he didn’t know why. However, he did enjoy the experience.

He had thoughts that maybe the other recruits must have been too harsh on the merchants. That if you are nice to them they are nice to you. That theory was quickly thrown out as most people were being nice.

There were talks earlier on that this group wasn’t nice to deal with since you could never get deals but it was a perfectly pleasant organization in his eyes. He eventually wandered into the massive central pavilion where the premium wares were displayed.

Jin sat behind his large desk and his cold, amber eyes scanned the room. He had been watching the minor chaos outside through his divine sense. He felt a deep sense of irritation at how poorly his staff was behaving.

They were acting completely out of character and he would need to talk to them after this event was over. They were abandoning profit margins just to cater to a single youth who had not bought a single item yet. It was uncharacteristic of his people.

'Incompetent fools.' Jin thought to himself while his jaw tightened. 'I will handle this personally and correct their posture later. We are the Golden Horizon. We do not fawn over anyone. We only make the best deal possible for our own interests.'

Jin stood up and his heavy frame radiated the cold authority of an apex merchant ruler. He walked directly toward the display case where Li Yu was currently looking at a premium collection of weapons.

The moment Jin stepped closer to Li Yu, his internal thoughts shattered.

An overwhelming wave of instinctual reverence slammed into his consciousness like a physical blow. His turtle beast heritage began to tremble and his heart hammered against his ribs. An intense and inexplicable desire to please this human youth flooded his mind. It was a primal urge buried so deep in his lineage that he did not even know it existed until this exact moment.

Jin froze mid stride, his eyes widened as his professional mask cracked entirely. He did not know who Li Yu was but his bloodline was screaming at him to be accommodating and nice. He managed to suppress the urge to bow through willpower but his cold demeanor vanished instantly.

Li Yu turned around and he noticed the large and broad shouldered man staring at him with a wide expression.

"Hello." Li Yu said while offering a warm smile. "Are you the lead representative?"

"I am... yes. My name is Jin." Jin spoke up. His voice lacked its usual icy edge that everyone knew. It carried a strange breathless eagerness that left his nearby assistants paralyzed with shock.

Jin looked at the young cultivator and his mind raced to find a way to be useful. He noticed Li Yu was looking at the premium weapon rack. These items could only be purchased via camp merit points.

This was a special agreement the Golden Horizon maintained with the army here. It encouraged the recruits to perform well during drills and take on missions assigned by the leaders. This allows talented youth without wealthy backgrounds to acquire good equipment without being outbidded by just having a great background.

Normally Jin would demand to see a recruit's token to verify their merit balance before even allowing them to touch these items. If the balance was zero he would have them thrown out of the pavilion without a second thought.

"Are you interested in our premium inventory?" Jin said. His voice turned incredibly kind from the start. He did not even ask to see Li Yu's token as he walked past the display glass and unlocked the primary rack with his own Qi signature. "Please let me show you the finest pieces we brought from the main warehouses. Do not worry about the restrictions."

He carefully lifted a gleaming heavy spear and offered it to Li Yu. Then he pulled a set of dark iron gauntlets from a velvet box. He presented them with both hands for Li Yu to evaluate.

The assistants in the pavilion stared at their boss in absolute horror.

"Guild Master Jin is helping him directly?" An assistant whispered. His jaw parted slightly. "He did not even check the boy's merit balance. Yesterday, he threatened to execute a clan elder just for touching a scroll without paying first!"

The other recruits inside the tent were also completely confused by the scene while Li Yu smiled warily. He accepted the weapons to feel their weight before handing them back with a polite comment.

He was entirely unaware that the merchant organization was currently breaking every corporate rule in their registry just to make sure he was treated well.