Ethan Sutton smiled and said, “Then how much Ironwing Bird essence blood can I get for the remaining 12 points?”

　　“You want to exchange for that... This really isn’t very useful, it’s too much of a waste!”

　　The administrative teacher had to remind him, “Ironwing Birds at the Thousand Jun level are strong for you, but on the All-Heavens Battlefield, they’re just cannon fodder. Merit points are accepted at all academies, and you can even accumulate them to exchange for some valuable resources at higher academies.”

　　“At a mid-level academy, you can easily accumulate 18 points. Learning a language of the myriad races gets you 1 point as a reward, but at a higher academy, it’s not that simple.”

　　“Exchanging for this isn’t worth it! At higher academies, some confidential materials, advanced techniques, and even certain courses may all require merit points to obtain, and even the military uses them...”

　　“I know all that, but I don’t have any other choice.”

　　Ethan Sutton gave a wry smile—he understood.

　　Isn’t it just that he’s out of money?

　　He did have some money, over 200,000, and buying 5 drops wouldn’t be a problem, but the key was he still needed to live.

　　At the Kaiyuan stage, there’s no real income, and he still had to save some money for use at the higher academy.

　　Merit points are the most important transaction system besides Anping coins.

　　Money can buy a lot of things, but there are also many things it can’t buy.

　　High-level strategic resources, advanced techniques, even some inheritances, all require merit points. These represent a person’s contribution to humanity.

　　If you haven’t contributed to the human race, even if you have a lot of money, you might not be able to buy certain things.

　　Both the earning and spending of merit points are tracked, including the original accumulation. For example, Ethan Sutton has earned 18 points—even if he spends them all, his total will keep accumulating.

　　Once he reaches 100 points, Ethan Sutton will have even greater privileges.

　　This also prevents people who only have money but little contribution from privately buying up large amounts of merit points to purchase rare strategic materials.

　　Some wealthy people, even if they buy tens of thousands of merit points, if their initial level isn’t high enough, they still can’t buy certain things.

　　The resource office administrator sighed and said, “Then I won’t try to talk you out of it. Actually, it’s still too early for you to do research! Nanyuan’s mid-level academy lacks the necessary conditions. Once you get to a higher academy, you can apply for research grants, and sometimes they’ll even provide resources for your research.”

　　“Ironwing Birds are very common on the All-Heavens Battlefield, and their research value isn’t high. If you ask me, even if you want to do research, you should choose something else...”

　　Ethan Sutton smiled and said, “You’re right. Does the academy have any 鲤鱼 essence blood?”

　　“……”

　　The administrator looked a bit embarrassed. “No, we don’t. That’s found in the Dǐshān Realm and is very rare on the All-Heavens Battlefield. Besides, those who come to the battlefield are at least at the Ten Thousand Stones stage, or even the Soaring stage. The Great Xia Civilization Academy definitely has it, but we certainly don’t.”

　　Well, that settles it.

　　Ethan Sutton could recognize a few of the races he’d dreamed about, including 鲤鱼.

　　But with Ten Thousand Stones as the starting point, if he took Ten Thousand Stones-level essence blood now, even if the atlas absorbed the energy, his own body couldn’t handle it—it might even explode.

　　As for essence blood from other uncertain races, he didn’t dare to take it lightly. If it was a race he hadn’t dreamed about and the atlas didn’t absorb it, he wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

　　After thinking it over, Ironwing Bird was still the safest option for now.

　　“Teacher, then please exchange some for me.”

　　“How many drops do you want? One merit point per drop—it really isn’t worth it...”

　　The teacher reminded him again, “Merit points may not seem that valuable—on the surface, they’re just 10,000 per point—but in reality, some things can’t be bought with money. You know what I mean.”

　　“Thank you for the reminder, teacher!”

　　Ethan Sutton quickly nodded and said, “Just exchange 3 drops for now. If it’s not enough, I’ll come back for more.”

　　“You...!”

　　Seeing that he wouldn’t listen, the administrator was a bit helpless. He quickly arranged for someone to fetch them. While waiting, he thought for a moment and reminded, “Your dad went to the All-Heavens Battlefield a couple of days ago. The academy knows about it. With your father away, you should be extra careful these days. The Myriad Races Cult has been active in Great Xia Prefecture—you should know that.”

　　“Yeah, but it doesn’t have anything to do with me, right?”

　　“How could it not!”

　　The teacher scolded, “Better safe than sorry! The Myriad Races Cult scum—their main targets aren’t the strong, nor the geniuses, at least not the cultivation geniuses, but the wise!”

　　“You may not count as a sage, but you’re one of the few reserve students for the Civilization Academy at Nanyuan’s mid-level academy!”

　　“The destruction caused by the strong is limited, but the destruction caused by the wise is limitless! On the All-Heavens Battlefield, the human race has been able to hold out for hundreds of years not just because of invincible powerhouses, but also because of the wise in the rear!”

　　“Which top researchers at the Civilization Academy haven’t been targeted for assassination? These people decipher the myriad races’ techniques, delve deep into their civilizations, and help increase the number of human powerhouses, giving us more confidence to face the myriad races...”

　　The administrator said with some admiration, “They’ve made silent contributions, no less than any invincible powerhouse! Yet most of them lack the necessary combat strength, so even in the rear, they often become targets of the myriad races, and assassinations are all too common.”

　　“The Myriad Races Cult causes trouble within the human race not just to assassinate a few strong people—their main targets are these people!”