Chapter 301: Auto-Pickup Left On, Wild Ingredients Devoured

Chapter 301: Auto-Pickup Left On, Wild Ingredients Devoured

No Money to Cultivate Immortality?

Scalding air flowed down his throat, sending faint stabs of pain through Li Xiao's lungs.

Feeling the searing heat all around, Li Xiao had no choice but to circulate his mana and temporarily convert it to Cold-Type Mana to keep his body from overheating.

He continued moving through the perilous factory zone—clearing rubble, transporting supplies, building makeshift fortifications, sealing toxic leaks, assisting with Spiritual Energy circuit repairs and array stabilization…

Despite being exceedingly cautious, a sudden explosion still left large burns across Li Xiao’s body.

After inhaling the lingering toxins in the air over and over, he began to feel dull aches in his organs and a creeping numbness in his limbs.

Even so, despite the danger and grueling work, the thought of earning five times the pay sent a surge of strength through his exhausted body.

“If I can get through this stint, next time Ying Xin and the others ask me to join them for cultivation, I won’t have to turn them down.”

“I won’t need to worry about this month’s loan interest either…”

As Li Xiao picked up speed to deliver a batch of Spirit-Energy materials, a strange aroma suddenly hit his nose.

The next moment, the world spun, and with a thud, he collapsed to the ground.

He tried to get back up, but the limbs he normally took pride in now felt like jelly. After a few feeble flails, he was down again.

Meanwhile, the sweet scent in the air grew thicker, and his consciousness blurred further.

“No… this isn’t right…”

“Toxic leak…”

Li Xiao bit the tip of his tongue hard, trying to regain clarity. But the toxin spread fast and fierce. Strength drained from his body at an alarming rate, and soon he could no longer even feel the muscles in his limbs.

“This… this won’t do. If this keeps up, the poisoning will only deepen…”

A flicker of fear surfaced in his eyes. He fought to keep them open, resisting the heavy sleepiness taking over his mind.

He was genuinely afraid that once those eyelids closed and opened again, he’d wake up deep in the Spiritual Realm—

Only to discover that his body had been collateralized to pay for medical treatment, and his soul was now waiting for labor reassignment to pay off his debt.

“Damn it, legs! Stand up!”

Regret crept in. “If I’d known, I wouldn’t have taken such a risk.”

“So what if I earned a bit less, spent a bit less… would that have been so bad?”

While Li Xiao was wrapped in fear and regret, a pair of large hands suddenly gripped his collar and hoisted him up like a kitten.

The air split with sharp whooshes as the scenery around him shifted rapidly.

When he came to, he realized he—and several other workers—had been dumped with a

thump

in the open space outside the factory gates.

Breathing clean air again, a rush of relief filled Li Xiao. He looked up at the retreating figure of Zhang Yu, a complicated expression in his eyes.

Beside him, Ying Xin witnessed the scene and thought to herself, “Risking financial ruin to dive into that hellhole just for money—and he still has time to rescue others?”

She shook her head, not even bothering to watch further, and walked away.

At that moment, several security guards walked over. One addressed the group: “Please cooperate—we need to make sure none of you accidentally brought dangerous materials out of the factory.”

Li Xiao knew they were trying to prevent workers from smuggling anything out.

Right then, they found several packets of raw pharmaceutical ingredients on another worker.

“Captain, we found the guy who stole two tons of materials,” a guard said.

The man turned pale. “I only stole these few packs! I didn’t take two tons!”

…

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu had already reentered the billowing smoke.

His physical body had been tempered through countless trials, far exceeding the toughness of his peers.

With the boost of the Earth-Wood Saint Body, he was terrifyingly resistant to all hazards in the factory.

Scorching heat brushed his skin like a warm breeze.

Toxins and contaminants wafted into his nose and mouth, carrying an oddly fragrant sweetness.

Explosions, shrapnel, and clouds of poison smoke? None of it could really harm Zhang Yu.

And even if something did manage to injure him, the Sacrificial Oxheart Technique would rapidly accelerate his healing.

Returning to the spot where Li Xiao had fallen, Zhang Yu muttered, “Good, no one around anymore.”

He found the site of the toxin leak and began gathering the discarded alloy fragments that no one else seemed to want.

Wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth, Zhang Yu was tempted to eat them then and there. But he held back.

The area was still dangerous, and he needed the protection of the Earth-Wood Saint Body.

Without switching to the University Saint Body—with its digestive boost and synergy with his techniques—the efficiency and effects of consuming materials would drop sharply.

So he decided to collect for now and wait until the end of his shift to taste them in safety.

He tucked the alloys into his clothes, then turned to a collapsed section of the pharmaceutical workshop where wild high-polymer materials had spilled out.

Thus began Zhang Yu’s dual-task routine—working while casually foraging for wild ingredients no one seemed to want.

He felt like a village bumpkin seeing a seafood buffet for the first time—bewildered by the abundance, unsure what was worth the most or what was most nourishing. So he grabbed a bit of everything to try later.

Besides the common discarded materials, what tempted him most were the raw ingredients from the pharmaceutical plant.

But without activating the University Saint Body, he refrained from sampling and focused on collecting first. With his powerful digestion, he’d try them one by one later.

…

Outside the factory gates.

Li Xiao was starting to feel better—his limbs no longer numb, his mind clear again, and the pain from his burns now fully present.

While resting, he saw Zhang Yu carrying out injured workers over and over, dumping them on the ground nearby.

Li Xiao's gaze toward Zhang Yu grew increasingly conflicted.

To him, sacrificing your work time to help others was the height of foolishness.

“Hss…”

Feeling the stinging pain from his burns, Li Xiao knew that if he didn’t get treatment, his studies and cultivation would suffer.

Thankfully, the Spiritual Realm Network still functioned outside the site.

With a thought, he called in remote medical services.

Moments later, a doctor’s projection appeared in his EyeNet and conducted a preliminary scan.

Five minutes later, a medical student arrived, launched a flurry of spells, inserted some silver needles, and poured in a potion. Li Xiao felt much better.

But then the bill showed up in his EyeNet—and he felt grievously wounded again.

“0.78 Spirit Coins?! That’s outrageous!”

Even with insurance covering part of it, the cost was crushing—and it meant his premiums next year would skyrocket.

Before he could catch his breath, his claim got denied.

“What do you mean it’s not covered?!”

As he argued with the insurance company, a new reminder popped up: his loan interest had now been overdue for three days.

After hesitating, he messaged his uncle.

Uncle:

Send me your credit report and spending log.

Uncle:

30 Spirit Coins?! You spent that much in five months?

Li Xiao:

My classmates invited me to cultivate with them—how could I say no? Otherwise how would I keep up in class?

Li Xiao:

And a decent EyeNet is essential too, or my learning efficiency would tank.

His uncle didn’t reply.

Li Xiao let out a deep sigh.

Just then, Tu Lishan sent out a notice: pay for the pharmaceutical plant work had been raised again—to eight times the usual rate.

Staring at the smoke-choked factory in the distance, Li Xiao clenched his teeth.

“Let’s do this! If I can earn this paycheck, with that 8x salary, if I’m just a bit more careful, I can make it through…”

He thought of all the cultivation services and products he enjoyed with Ying Xin and the others… of the EyeNet he sold… of his current ranking…

He couldn’t bear to let those things slip away.

He understood clearly—in Kunxu, you could have nothing, but you could never be without money.

So once again, he stood up and charged into the smoke.

And he wasn’t the only one. With the pay hike, others who had left, who had been injured, who had given up—started trickling back, diving into the toxic mists once more.

…

Inside the factory.

Zhang Yu frowned as the number of workers increased again. More eyes around meant less freedom to scavenge.

“Especially these Qi Refinement kids. Even if your pay’s multiplied, is it really worth it?”

He shook his head. Luckily, the poisonous smoke was his best cover—it let him move unnoticed.

But with his growing stash, Zhang Yu started hiding materials deeper in the rubble. That’s when he discovered—one of his stashes had been raided.

“Damn it… I knew I wasn’t the only one picking up scraps.”

Before clocking out, he retrieved his remaining loot and found a safe spot.

After checking for cameras using a Detection Ritual, he opened his Feathered Tome, flipped to the Chain Diagram chapter, and dragged over several techniques to switch from the Earth-Wood Saint Body to the University Saint Body.

Unlike technique specialization, which required a day’s cooldown, the Chain Diagram allowed body switching with only a few seconds' delay.

He grabbed a few metal scraps and shoved them into his mouth.

His digestion, honed at the peak of Foundation Establishment, surged. Under the boost of the Soil-Eating Divine Technique, the alloys were ground into fine powder and fused into his bones.

“Mm… this alloy’s hard. Might reinforce my skeleton.”

“This high-polymer stuff is tough but flexible—maybe it can be used to strengthen the skin?”

“What’s this gooey substance?”

“Sigh. I need more knowledge. Gotta look this up later…”

He ate and took notes—tracking each material’s traits, appearance, and flavor.

“Wild-sourced always tastes better.”

But he soon realized—not everything was digestible.

At least three substances stood out as extraordinary. Even with his digestion and Level 20 Soil-Eating Divine Technique, he couldn’t break them down. He had to spit them back out.

With that lesson, Zhang Yu became much more cautious about the raw materials leaking from the pharmaceutical plant. He didn’t want to eat something that could wreck even him.

He muttered, “I’ll have to ask my sister—figure out what these things are.”

More and more, Zhang Yu grasped the value of knowledge and intel.

After all, what good is a buffet if you can’t even tell what’s worth eating?