Rise of the Wasteland in Cultivation

Camp C-361, belonging to the Scavengers Alliance, is one of many scavenger camps near Shenzhen. It is built on the southern outskirts of Shenzhen and is constructed of shipping containers and sheet metal. It is surrounded by a protective net more than ten meters high, with watchtowers at all four corners. Guards with machine guns are on duty 24 hours a day, providing basic shelter for scavengers.

However, this place isn't free. All the scavengers living here have to pay rent monthly. Of course, some thrifty scavengers will pay daily, because no one knows if they will be alive tomorrow, and paying monthly would be a loss.

However, paying by the day also has a drawback: occasionally there will be a full house, in which case you'll have to sleep in the wilderness that night. In the wilderness, where zombies and mutated beasts roam, it's very dangerous at night, and you could easily lose your life. It's really not worth it to save that little bit of money.

Therefore, unless they are extremely poor scavengers, they will choose to pay rent monthly, go out in teams during the day to search for supplies to exchange for contribution points, and return to the camp at night.

Leng San and his group rented a place at the C-361 scavenger camp. They rushed into the camp just before the acid rain arrived.

—Bang bang bang

The torrential acid rain pounded violently against the camp's tin roof, producing a terrifying sound. Fortunately, the tin roof was coated with a waterproof layer that could resist the corrosive effects of the acid rain; however, the acid rain also contained a large amount of radioactive dust, and after a rain shower, the radiation levels in the surrounding area increased significantly.

Although twenty years have passed since the nuclear war, nuclear radiation is still ubiquitous. The surviving humans have long been accustomed to living in low-radiation environments. Of course, some high-radiation areas are still quite dangerous, such as the former nuclear explosion centers, where excessive nuclear radiation can kill people instantly. These places are usually called "forbidden zones".

At that moment, two camp guards armed with assault rifles were looking at Leng San, who was scrambling and crawling, with amusement, and teased, "If you had been any later, you would have been torn to shreds."

Leng San got up, underwent a security scan by the guards to confirm that he was not infected with the zombie virus, then picked up the woven bag, dusted it off, and walked straight into the camp.

He is a monthly renter with his own room, but it is only two square meters in size, about the size of a toilet, and the monthly rent is 30 contribution points.

"One's gone, Black Dog's missing. I bet it won't be more than a month before Stupid Leopard's scavenging squad is completely finished!" one of the guards said confidently.

Another guard scoffed, "It won't take a month, just ten days. Silly Leopard's scavenging team was already weak, and now that one of them has been killed, they're even weaker. Within ten days, even if they aren't devoured by zombies and mutated beasts, they'll be taken down by other scavengers."

This is a chaotic and disorderly world where the strong are respected. There are certain restrictions within the camp, prohibiting attacks on each other, but in the wild, strength determines everything. It's common for scavengers to steal from each other; Leopard and his gang have done just that.

Meanwhile, Leng San returned to his dwelling—a two-square-meter space partitioned off from a shipping container. Not only was it cramped, but the soundproofing was also extremely poor; he could hear even a fart from next door.

Leng San casually tossed the woven bag he was carrying into a corner, rummaged around on his clothes for a while, and couldn't help but sigh.

This body is far too weak. I was once a Golden Core cultivator, but I never expected to fall to such a state. Moreover, this desolate place doesn't even have a trace of spiritual energy. Thinking about rebuilding my Golden Core is nothing but a pipe dream.

It turns out that Leng San at this time was no longer the scavenging boy Leng San from before, but Leng Shan, who had transmigrated from the cultivation world to the wasteland. He was originally a cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage, but he failed to transcend the tribulation when forming his Nascent Soul and was almost struck by heavenly lightning, which nearly shattered his soul. In the end, his soul transmigrated to the wasteland world and possessed the body of Leng San, a wasteland boy.

In other words, at the moment the gas cylinder exploded, the original Leng San was already killed, but his original memories were completely preserved and inherited by Leng Shan.

Although he couldn't sense any spiritual energy, Leng Shan was still unwilling to give up. He sat cross-legged and used his cultivation technique to absorb spiritual energy, but naturally, he didn't absorb anything at all, though his stomach was growling loudly with hunger.

In his previous life, as a Golden Core cultivator, he had basically stopped eating and had long forgotten the feeling of hunger. But now, however, he was so hungry that he could hardly bear it. He could only open the woven bag, take out a tube of synthetic nutrient solution, and wolf it down.

From Leng San's original memories, it is known that most people in the wasteland world rely on this nutrient solution to maintain their physical needs. Forget about fresh grains and vegetables; the soil and water contaminated by the nuclear war simply cannot grow crops. Even if they do grow, they are mutated, deformed, and enriched with radioactive elements, making them completely inedible.

Products left over from before the nuclear war, such as sealed canned goods, are edible, but they are very valuable and only the upper class can afford them. Ordinary scavengers, even if they occasionally collect some canned goods, are reluctant to eat them themselves and instead exchange them with the Alliance for contribution points to buy other necessities, such as water, nutrients, weapons, and medicine.

For a scavenger like Leng San, the contribution points he earns are barely enough to make ends meet. The two tubes of synthetic nutrients left in his woven bag are his rations for the next four days.

Actually, boys Leng San's age usually drink three tubes of nutritional supplements a day, but he only drinks half a tube a day, no wonder he is so thin.

Fir Tree finished both vials of nutrients in one go before feeling a fullness in her lower abdomen. She let out a burp and muttered to herself, "This tastes awful!"

This stuff is synthetic, designed to provide basic nutrition for the human body, not to satisfy cravings. Taste is naturally not a consideration for the maker; cost is the primary factor.

Looking at the two empty pipes, Fir was in a bind. He had ate four days' worth of rations in one go. What would he eat next? And Leng San's contribution points had been completely used up when he paid the rent yesterday.

"Sigh, this little brother is really doing terribly." Leng Shan frowned deeply. He had to find a way to get contribution points, otherwise, let alone anything else, he would starve to death soon.

The acid rain was still falling outside, pattering loudly against the shipping containers. Since there was no way to cultivate anyway, Fir simply went to sleep to conserve energy; he still had to go out searching for supplies tomorrow.

The acid rain stopped sometime during the day. Fir was woken up by Skinny Monkey knocking on the door. He promptly slung his woven bag over his shoulder and left the camp. Leopard and Scarface were already waiting at the camp gate.

"Brother Leopard, Sister Scar."

Fir greeted him as usual and then fell silent, but his eyes sharply swept over the two sweet potato grenades hanging on Leopard's waist, and Scarface's butcher knife had been replaced with a machete.

This was obviously purchased from the camp's supply depot. As long as you can afford the contribution points, you can even buy big weapons like rocket launchers. As for laser weapons, they are not sold at the camp's supply depot; you have to go to the Scavenger Alliance's Class B Shelter to get them.

The Scavengers' Alliance shelters are divided into three levels: A, B, and C. Level C shelters are like scavenger camps such as C-361, with a capacity of less than one hundred people. Level B shelters are much larger and have more complete facilities, accommodating more than five hundred people. Level A shelters are already large communities, capable of accommodating thousands to tens of thousands of people.

"Let's go!" Leopard Brother slung the AK47 over his shoulder and strode towards the ruined city, with Leng San and the others quickly following.

In fact, scavengers are just like farmers in the past. They have to work in the fields every day, and scavengers have to go out every day to collect the remaining materials in every corner of the city in order to exchange for their daily necessities, otherwise they will starve or die of thirst.

As Leng San and his group set off, the scavengers in Camp C-361 also set off one after another. Most of them were in teams, but some chose to go alone. These people were either extremely strong or too weak, and no team was willing to take on such a burden.

Leng San was actually quite weak, but he had a special ability: his hearing was exceptionally sensitive. He could keenly hear even the slightest noises and thus issue an early warning of danger.

It was precisely because of this that Brother Leopard recruited Leng San into the team.

Just then, the roar of a motorcycle came from behind. Leng San quickly stepped aside, and two scavengers sped past on a green Jialing motorcycle, splashing dust all over everyone's faces.

"Pah! What's with the attitude? Once I've saved up enough contribution points, I'll buy a Harley-Davidson motorcycle." Skinny Monkey spat in envy and jealousy.

Although the nuclear war destroyed the entire planet Earth, many good things were left behind. For example, that Jialing motorcycle was obsolete before the nuclear war, but now it is an expensive means of transportation, worth 5,000 contribution points.

Skinny Monkey was just indulging in wishful thinking; even if he didn't eat or drink, he might not be able to afford it in five years, not to mention that this thing requires gasoline, which would be a huge expense.

There are big differences among scavengers. Some are doing very well, while others struggle to even eat. Leopard's scavenging group is doing poorly. Although they don't starve, they are still poor. The whole team only has an old AK47, the kind that often jams. The other team members are still using cold weapons.

Black Dog died yesterday, and Leopard Brother was obviously under a lot of pressure, so he spent a lot of money, using the contribution points he had accumulated over the years to exchange for two grenades and two more magazines. Scarface also replaced her butcher knife with a machete.

The butcher knife had already ended up in Skinny Monkey's hands. This kid was also poor, so he could only buy the butcher knife from Scarface at a discounted price.

As for Leng San, everyone knows that he has trouble even eating, so naturally he doesn't have any contribution points to change his weapon and is still using that dagger.

Soon, the group reached the edge of the ruined city, but this place had already been searched hundreds of times by scavengers, so there was no way there would be any supplies left. If they wanted to find something good, they had to go deep into the city center and search the buildings that hadn't been searched before.

However, due to their limited mobility, most scavengers dare not venture too far into the city center, as they must return to their camp before dark. If they miss the deadline, they will have to spend the night in the ruins.

The ruins at night are far more terrifying than during the day; one could die at any moment. If it weren't for the enormous profits involved, no one would be willing to spend the night in the ruins.