Chapter 301: Automatic Pickup Left On, Stuffing Face with Wild Ingredients

Chapter 301: Automatic Pickup Left On, Devouring Wild Ingredients Wildly

The searing air flowed through his throat, provoking a series of faint, stinging pains in Li Xiao's lungs.

Feeling the scorching environment around him, Li Xiao could only circulate the mana within his body, temporarily transforming it into ice mana to continuously cool his physical form.

He continued to trek through this perilous factory area, endlessly clearing rubble, transporting supplies, building temporary fortifications, sealing leaks of toxic substances, and assisting in the repair of spiritual pathways and formations...

Although Li Xiao had been exceedingly careful, an accidental explosion still left extensive burns across his body.

Furthermore, continuously breathing in the residual toxic substances in the air caused a dull ache in his internal organs, and his limbs gradually felt a slight numbness.

Despite this, and though the work before him was dangerous and arduous, the thought of five times the usual pay allowed a trace of motivation to surge once more through his otherwise exhausted frame.

"Once I finish this stint, the next time Ying Xin and the others ask me to go cultivate with them, I won't have to decline anymore."

"I won't have to worry about this month's loan interest either..."

Just as Li Xiao quickened his pace to transport a batch of spirit-conducting materials, a strange, exotic fragrance suddenly caught the tip of his nose.

In the next instant, Li Xiao felt the world spin around him; his body swayed, and with a thud, he collapsed onto the ground.

He struggled to crawl back up, only to find that his limbs, usually so robust, were now limp and powerless, collapsing back to the ground after a brief, writhing effort.

At the same time, that sweet scent in the air grew richer and richer, causing his consciousness to blur more and more.

"Not good..."

"It's a toxic leak..."

Li Xiao bit down hard on the tip of his tongue, trying to clear his mind a little, but the toxin came so fiercely and swiftly that he only felt the strength within his body drain away rapidly, gradually losing all sense of muscle power in his hands and feet.

"No, if this keeps up, the poisoning will only deepen..."

A trace of terror surfaced in Li Xiao's eyes as he struggled to widen them, fighting against the increasingly heavy drowsiness in his mind.

He was genuinely terrified that if he closed his eyes and opened them again, he would wake up deep within the Spirit Realm.

Only to discover that in order to pay for the medical expenses to treat his physical injuries, his physical body had already been mortgaged, and his soul was awaiting a job assignment to repay the debt.

"Dead legs! Stand up for me!"

At this moment, a tinge of regret gradually swelled within Li Xiao's heart: "If I had known, I wouldn't have taken such a risk."

"What would it matter... to earn a little less, to spend a little less?"

Just as Li Xiao's mind was filled with fear and regret, a pair of large hands gripped his neck, hoisting him up like a kitten.

Following that, the sound of rushing air echoed around him, and the scenery before Li Xiao's eyes shifted in a blur.

By the time he recovered his senses, he found that he and several other workers had been dumped with a thud onto the open ground at the entrance of the factory area.

Breathing the normal air outside, a wave of relief washed over Li Xiao's heart; raising his head to look at Zhang Yu's departing silhouette, his gaze turned complicated.

Watching this scene from the side, Ying Xin thought to herself, "Rushing in to make money at the risk of bankruptcy, and he still has time to save people?"

She shook her head, no longer bothered to look at the situation over here, lifted her legs, and left.

Just then, a few security guards walked over, looked at Li Xiao and the others, and said, "Everyone please cooperate, we need to perform a check to ensure you haven't accidentally brought out any hazardous substances from the factory."

Li Xiao knew this was to prevent them from stealthily smuggling things out of the factory.

Right at that moment, a few packages of pharmaceutical raw materials were searched out from a worker's body.

The security guard said, "Captain, the person who stole two tons of supplies has been found."

The worker turned pale with fright and said, "I only stole these two packages of things."

"I didn't steal as much as two tons!"

...

Meanwhile, on the other side, Zhang Yu had already re-entered the rolling smoke and dust.

Zhang Yu's physical body had originally been tempered a thousand times over, possessing a power far exceeding his peers.

And with the blessing of the Civil Engineering Holy Body, his physical form possessed a terrifying defensive power against the various hazards within the factory area at this moment.

The blazing high temperature swept across his skin like a warm breeze.

The toxic and harmful substances in the air rushed into his nose and mouth, bringing with them waves of refreshing and sweet fragrance.

As for the accidental explosions, the shrapnel shot out by the blasts, and the rolling toxic smoke... none of it could harm Zhang Yu at this moment.

Even if his body sustained damage at times, he would use the Broken Ox Sacrifice Heart Incantation to activate his body's vitality, accelerating the self-healing of his injuries.

Returning to the exact spot where Li Xiao had just collapsed, Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Now there's no one left at the scene."

He located the place where the toxic substances had just leaked and gathered the alloy fragments scattered around that looked like nobody wanted them.

Wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth, although Zhang Yu really wanted to swallow these alloys right now, he did not do so.

After all, the environment at the moment was quite dangerous; he still needed the Civil Engineering Holy Body to guarantee his safety.

If he did not switch to the University Holy Body, without the super digestive power and the cultivation method enhancement brought by the University Holy Body, both the efficiency and the effect of eating would be greatly discounted.

Therefore, he intended to collect them first, and before leaving the factory area after work, find a safer location to switch to the University Holy Body for a proper tasting.

Thus, for the time being, Zhang Yu tucked the alloy fragments into his bosom and looked toward another pile of ruins, where wild polymer materials belonging to the pharmaceutical workshop lay.

So, during the following period, Zhang Yu worked in the factory area while handily gathering some wild ingredients that nobody wanted.

Zhang Yu felt as though he were a country bumpkin visiting a seafood buffet for the first time; his greatest problem when facing the dazzling array of dishes was not knowing which was more valuable or which would be more nourishing to eat, so he could only take a little of everything to try them all later.

And aside from the unwanted materials all over the ground, what made Zhang Yu's mouth water the most were the various raw materials of the pharmaceutical factory.

But without activating the University Holy Body, he likewise did not intend to eat them recklessly, choosing instead to collect them first and taste them one by one relying on his powerful medicine-consuming ability after switching to the University Holy Body.

...

At the entrance of the factory area. Li Xiao felt that he had recovered a great deal; at least his limbs were no longer numb, his head was no longer dizzy, and the painful sensation of the burns on his body had become incomparably clear.

During the time Li Xiao was resting, he watched Zhang Yu carry injured workers out of the factory area several times and dump them onto the surrounding ground.

This caused Li Xiao's gaze toward Zhang Yu to grow increasingly complicated.

In his view, this kind of thing—wasting one's own working time to help others—was absolute foolishness.

"Hiss..."

Feeling the increasingly painful burns on his body, Li Xiao knew that if he did not heal this injury, his subsequent study and cultivation would likely be affected.

Fortunately, the outside of the factory area was still connected to the Spirit Realm network.

With a shift of his thoughts, he had already summoned a remote medical service.

A moment later, the silhouette of a doctor manifested within his ocular skeleton, conducting an examination on him.

Five minutes later, a medical student had already arrived at Li Xiao's side.

Accompanied by several blasts of mana, a few silver needles piercing down, and a final dose of medicine poured down his throat, Li Xiao felt much better.

But a few minutes later, when he looked at the medical bill manifesting within his ocular skeleton, he felt as though he had been grievously wounded all over again.

"0.78 spirit coins? How can it be so expensive?!"

Although health insurance covered a portion, Li Xiao knew this would still be a massive burden for him, and his health insurance premium for next year would definitely skyrocket.

Before he could calm his emotions, he discovered that his health insurance application had actually been rejected.

"Why the hell won't you reimburse me?!"

Even as Li Xiao was locked in a fierce dispute with the medical insurance company, today's debt collection notice arrived right on cue.

The interest on this month's loan was already three days overdue.

After a moment of hesitation, Li Xiao eventually turned to his uncle.

Uncle: Send me your credit report and spending history first.

Uncle: Thirty spiritual coins?! You spent that much in just five months?

Li Xiao: My classmates invited me to cultivate with them. I couldn't just not go, or how else could I keep up with my grades?

Li Xiao: And a decent ocular remnant is absolutely necessary, otherwise my study efficiency wouldn't keep up either.

Staring at the silent chat screen where his uncle had stopped replying, Li Xiao let out a deep, heavy sigh.

Just then, a notification came from Tulishan, announcing that the wages for the pharmaceutical plant's rescue and repair work had been raised yet again, now surging to eight times the baseline pay.

Looking at the thick, roiling plumes of smoke billowing from the factory grounds not far away, Li Xiao gritted his teeth.

"I'll risk it! As long as I earn this sum, as long as I get this eight-fold pay, as long as I'm a bit more careful, I can definitely pull through..."

Thinking of the various immortal-path services and products he used to enjoy alongside Ying Xin and the others, thinking of the ocular remnant he had been forced to sell, and thinking of his current ranking...

Li Xiao simply could not accept letting these things slip away from his life.

He understood profoundly that in Kunxu, you could lack anything, but you absolutely could not lack money.

Thus, he pushed himself up once more, charging headlong into that rolling cloud of smoke and dust.

It wasn't just Li Xiao; as the wages soared, even the workers who had previously backed out, been injured, or walked away gradually began to return, throwing themselves once more into the smoke-choked factory grounds.

...

Inside the plant.

Watching the crowd of workers swelling around him once again, Zhang Yu frowned slightly, thinking to himself that too many people meant too many prying eyes, making his scavenging operations rather inconvenient.

"Especially that pack of Qi-refining brats—even if their wages multiply a few times, how much is it really? Is it worth risking their lives like this?"

Zhang Yu shook his head, thankful that the toxic smoke offered him the perfect cover, allowing him to press on with his activities.

Yet because the haul he collected grew larger and larger, Zhang Yu had simply hidden his findings in a few deeper pockets of the ruins, only to discover... that the items in one of those spots had been pilfered.

"Dammit... I knew I wasn't the only one picking through the trash."

Before clocking out, Zhang Yu retrieved his remaining stash and retreated to a relatively safe vantage point.

After utilizing a detection ritual to confirm there were no surveillance cameras nearby, Zhang Yu opened his Feather Book, flipped to the chapter on the Law-Chaining Diagram, and dragged the various cultivation techniques around, swapping his Civil Engineering Sacred Physique for the University Sacred Physique.

Unlike the Cultivation Specialization which required a full day's cooldown to switch, the Law-Chaining Diagram could be toggled at will, requiring only a few seconds to take effect.

Next, he grabbed several shards of scrap metal and shoved them straight into his mouth, swallowing them down.

The digestive power of a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator instantly ignited, and under the enhancement of the level twenty Earth-Eating Divine Art, the alloys were ground to absolute powder one by one, refining themselves directly into Zhang Yu's skeletal structure.

Zhang Yu thought to himself: "Mmh... this alloy is remarkably hard; it should be useful for strengthening my bones."

"This polymer material possesses both flexibility and strength, perhaps it can be refined into my skin?"

"What on earth is this gelatinous substance?"

"Sigh, my knowledge is too lacking, I'll have to go back and look it up..."

And so, Zhang Yu memorized the properties, appearances, and tastes of the various materials even as he ate.

"Wild ones really do taste a bit more flavorful."

However, Zhang Yu quickly realized that not everything could be broken down by his digestive tract.

There were at least three materials that looked extraordinary at first glance which defied both his natural digestion and his level twenty Earth-Eating Divine Art, leaving him with no choice but to spit them back out in the end.

Armed with this experience, Zhang Yu became far more cautious regarding the raw materials leaking from the pharmaceutical plant, terrified of consuming something he couldn't actually handle.

Zhang Yu mused silently: "I'll have to ask my sister and properly identify what these things are."

More and more, Zhang Yu felt the absolute critical importance of knowledge and information; otherwise, it was like walking into an all-you-can-eat buffet without even knowing which dishes were the premium delicacies.

(End of Chapter)