Rise of the Wasteland in Cultivation

After exchanging his contribution points, Leng San returned to his room and was stunned the moment he opened the door. It turned out that Chen Xi had dried her face at some point, and her delicate little face was once again spotless, fair and glowing.

"What did you do?" Leng San frowned, then suddenly noticed the empty bottle on the ground and a large puddle of water, and his expression changed drastically.

"You spendthrift woman... no, you spendthrift girl, you actually washed your face with drinking water? And you used a whole bottle, 596 milliliters!" Leng San's voice was trembling. He was so angry that his heart was bleeding from the pain. That bottle of water would have been enough for him to drink for ten days before.

Leng San raised his right hand high, ready to slap this spendthrift girl, but remembering the searing pain in his soul, he could only withdraw his hand, pretending to clean his ear to ease the embarrassment, and warned, "Don't wash your face with drinking water next time, it's very expensive."

Chenxi remained expressionless, clutching a damp handkerchief in her hand, standing there without uttering a word.

"Fine, I'll endure it for the sake of the two gene enhancement drugs!" Leng San took a deep breath, took the wet handkerchief from Chen Xi, wrung it out, and hung it on a rope stretched horizontally below the top of the container.

Chenxi glanced up at the rope, walked to the corner of the container, seemed to hesitate for a moment, took out a silk scarf from her bag and spread it out before sitting down.

"Is this little rascal a germaphobe? He's kept so clean. I wonder how that woman in black takes care of him," Leng San thought to himself, pulling a vial of nutrients from his backpack and handing it to him, asking, "Hungry? Want some?"

The little girl sat there quietly with her knees drawn up to her chest, not even glancing at the nutritional supplement. It was unclear whether she wasn't hungry or simply looked down on such a low-quality food.

"I won't eat it, I'll save it!" Leng San poured the nutrient solution into his mouth, then took out the sealed box of gene enhancement potion. After hesitating for a moment, he finally chose the first-tier one.

After all, this body's foundation is too weak, and he's worried that his body won't be able to withstand the use of a second-tier gene enhancement drug.

Leng San injected the first-level gene enhancement drug into his body and immediately felt a savage force rampaging through his body, as if a raging fire was burning his meridians and bones, making him feel like he was about to burst and melt.

Fortunately, Leng San had taken similar spiritual medicines in the cultivation world in his previous life. The medicine was extremely potent and could torment people to the point of death. Compared to that, this level of gene enhancement medicine was relatively mild.

Leng San sat cross-legged, focusing his mind on the dantian, eliminating all distracting thoughts. He gradually forgot the pain in his body, letting his veins bulge and sweat pour down his face, yet he remained unmoved.

The little girl, who had been sitting with her knees drawn up in the corner of the container, finally couldn't help but glance at Leng San, but quickly looked away and returned to her quiet, absent-minded state.

It's unclear how much time passed, but it was already dark when Leng San finally "woke up" from his meditation. He felt sticky all over and had an unpleasant odor, somewhat like he was expelling impurities from his body after breaking through to the first level of Qi Refining.

Leng San clenched his fist, his knuckles cracking like popping beans. His originally thin arms became noticeably stronger and more powerful, with his biceps slightly bulging and six-pack abs appearing on his lower abdomen.

Leng San stood up and jumped, easily hitting the top of the container with his head. His eyes were also brighter. Sure enough, his strength, speed, and six senses had all improved significantly, and he felt full of energy.

Leng San pinched his slightly bulging biceps with delight. His body used to be too thin, but now it was just right, and he stood up straight.

However, this gene serum also has a downside: it causes a noticeable change in body shape. Leng San's physique has become much stronger, but since he was originally too thin, it wasn't very obvious.

If Leng San were to inject the second-stage gene serum again, he would probably turn into a burly, strong man, and others would be able to tell at a glance that he had been injected with the gene serum.

The process of a cultivator refining their Qi is also a process of body tempering. They absorb spiritual energy to nourish their physical body, increasing its strength without them even realizing it, without causing any obvious changes in their physique. After completing the Foundation Establishment stage, a cultivator's physical strength is already so great that ordinary swords and blades cannot harm them, yet their physique remains the same as that of a normal person, and others cannot tell the difference at all.

Unfortunately, this wasteland lacks spiritual energy. If it did, Leng San would never have chosen to inject the gene serum. Although it works quickly, it certainly has many side effects.

"You stay here for a while, I'm going to take a shower!" Leng San grabbed a set of clean clothes and went to the shower room. He was so dirty and smelly that he wouldn't have wasted his money.

There are special shower rooms in the camp. It costs 3 contribution points to take a shower, and the time limit is three minutes. The water used is only routinely filtered and cannot be drunk. It can only be used for bathing and washing clothes.

When Leng San arrived at the bathhouse, he found that there were very few people taking baths. No wonder, who would be so bored as to waste money on this? Many scavengers only take a bath once a year, or even not for several years, because they are so dirty that they can't stand it anymore, so they go to the bathhouse.

Leng San spent 3 contribution points to quickly take a shower and wash his clothes as well. He walked out of the shower room feeling refreshed, only to run into a buck-toothed man.

The buck-toothed man's eyes lit up, and he grinned lewdly, "Hey, isn't this Little Sanzi? I heard you struck it rich today, and even brought back a girl. You didn't sleep with her, did you? And you even spent money on a bath afterwards. Looks like you really struck it rich."

Leng San ignored him and walked straight past. The buck-toothed man's face immediately darkened, and his right hand instinctively reached for the dagger at his waist. He sneered inwardly, "Kid, you're pretty cocky. Now that idiot Leopard isn't protecting you, let's see how long you can be so arrogant. You'll probably be taken care of as soon as you leave the camp tomorrow. Hmph, you can't be expected to live to spend money!"

The containers in the camp were arranged in rows and columns with aisles in between. Each container was divided into rooms of various sizes, filled with scavengers.

It was already dark, and the scavengers who had gone out to collect recyclables had all returned to their camps. In the short distance of just a few dozen meters back to his lodgings, Leng San encountered more than a dozen groups of scavengers, all of whom cast him hostile glances.

It was obvious that news of Leng San's fortune had spread throughout the camp. Now that he was the only one left in the team, he naturally became a hot commodity in the eyes of the other scavengers. If it weren't for the camp's rules against attacking each other, Leng San would probably have been devoured alive.

For a moment, Leng Sanzhen had an urge to immediately inject the second-tier gene serum, but this stuff couldn't be injected continuously, or he might explode and die. He had to wait at least a month or two until his body was completely stable before he could inject it again.

"Third Brother, want to come in and have some fun?" A voluptuous female scavenger leaned against the counter, striking a very flirtatious "S" shape, pouting and winking at Leng San, and deliberately unbuttoning her blouse.

This woman, known as Good Sister, was a prostitute in the camp. She didn't go out to scavenge; she supported her family by prostitution. She was quite attractive and had a good figure, so her business was decent.

In the past, the woman wouldn't have even glanced at Leng San, knowing he was penniless. However, having heard he'd struck it rich today, exchanging over a thousand contribution points at the supply station, she became enthusiastic upon seeing him, even addressing him as "Brother San!"

"No need, I have no money, and I'm still young!" Leng San waved his hand and walked straight over.

"Pah, you little brat, why are you taking a bath if you don't have money? You've clearly made a fortune, yet you're pretending to be poor to me. Now that you have money, you're not going to enjoy it, but be careful you won't live to spend it tomorrow." The woman spat angrily, but Leng San was indeed still young, only eleven or twelve years old.

However, in a wasteland where the average lifespan is only twenty-five years, eleven or twelve years old doesn't seem young.

Upon returning to his lodgings, Leng San immediately locked the door. Although attacking each other was forbidden in the camp, it was hard to guarantee that no one would sneak in and tamper with the place under the cover of night.

"Aren't you tired of sitting like this for so long?" Leng San asked Chen Xi, who was sitting quietly in the corner, while drying his hair. This time, Chen Xi actually glanced at him, but still didn't say a word.

"Could she be mute?" Leng San muttered to himself. He hadn't heard the little girl utter a single word, not even a hum.

Glug glug...

His stomach suddenly growled, and a strong feeling of hunger struck again. It turned out that the injection of the first-level gene serum had consumed a huge amount of energy.

Leng San quickly ate three more tubes of nutrient solution before he could barely feel full. His enhanced body had a significantly increased appetite. At this rate, the 40 tubes of nutrient solution he had seized today probably wouldn't last long.

Leng San glanced at Chen Xi sitting in the corner and thought to himself, "Looks like I'll have to rent a bigger room tomorrow. There's no room for two people to sleep here. I'll just have to make do tonight."

As Leng San pondered this, he sat down to meditate and habitually began practicing his cultivation technique. He immediately felt wisps of spiritual energy gathering around him.

What's going on?

Leng San opened his eyes in surprise. Where did this spiritual energy come from? He had clearly tried it yesterday, and there wasn't a trace of spiritual energy in this wretched place. Could it be an illusion?

Leng San quickly closed his eyes again and circulated his cultivation technique. Sure enough, spiritual energy was indeed gathering, although it was very weak, but it was definitely there!

Suppressing his excitement, Leng San carefully sensed the source of the spiritual energy... Gradually, the feeling became clearer and clearer!

About half an incense stick later, Leng San opened his eyes and looked at the pretty little girl in the corner with a strange expression!

That's right!

The source of those wisps of spiritual energy was—the dawn, emanating from her.

Could she possibly possess some rare and precious treasure? Or perhaps a spirit stone or something similar?

Leng San felt a surge of excitement, but then he thought again and realized it wasn't true, because the girl wasn't wearing any jewelry, and he had already looked at the contents of her small handbag; there were no rare or precious treasures at all.

So, could these faint spiritual energies have originated from the girl herself?

To confirm his guess, Leng San immediately closed his eyes and began to cultivate again. Sure enough, although the wisps of spiritual energy were weak, they were constantly emanating from the little girl's body at a constant speed. They were definitely not rare treasures, let alone spirit stones.

Because whether it's rare natural treasures or spirit stones, even if there's a slight dissipation of spiritual energy, it wouldn't be in such a stable state.

The little girl's body was like a filter, continuously purifying the filth of the wasteland into spiritual energy.

Leng San was thrilled. He thought he'd just become a god, but it turned out he'd struck gold! No, from now on he'd absolutely treat this girl like a god.