First-Year Internship—And You Went to Site 749 to Contain Monsters?!
Chapter 286: Three Thousand Five Hundred Contribution Points—A Fortune!

...

Lu Ding barely managed to catch it—half-heard, half-guessed—something like “...Observer.”

Old kid, old kid.

That phrase was dead-on.

Uncle Crooked Mouth was so old, yet still acted like a kid—

Mumbling through things.

“Aiya, doesn’t matter, doesn’t matter. Just remember this, kid—no matter who you’re up against, no matter who shows up, no matter how big their background is—”

“Before this Daoist, none of that matters. If I can’t beat ’em to death, I’ll curse ’em to death.”

Lu Ding saw how hard it was for him to admit anything.

It’s not like he needed anything from the old man.

What difference did the realm make?

Whether Cultivator or ordinary man—

It didn’t change how Lu Ding treated him.

The old man helped him once.

He ought to return that kindness.

Gratitude should last a thousand years.

Even if Uncle was in the Heaven Observer Realm, Lu Ding figured—with enough effort—he’d reach that himself one day.

He’d already more or less pieced together the full picture.

So he went and submitted a report to HQ.

Approved and saved—for now. No need to wait until everything’s a mess to hand it in.

Once the old man was fully healed and bouncing around again, arms and legs in working order,

Lu Ding would tell him about Dragon Wall.

Give him something to strive for in his cultivation.

No worries, no risks.

When the old man reached Heaven Observer Realm in full again, Lu Ding would personally arrange to have him sent to the Second Circle—

Safe and sound. Let him “ascend” without any danger.

That was how Lu Ding planned to repay him.

Uncle Crooked Mouth, of course, had no idea that his centuries-long pursuit of ascension had just been casually decided by Lu Ding.

After breakfast—

The old Daoist mulled over what kind of inheritance he should pass on to Lu Ding.

But no matter how he thought about it, nothing felt quite right.

If he gave him something minor, it’d look petty.

Lu Ding was already in the Si Ming Realm—small tricks would just seem cheap.

But major secrets?

Those required official entry into the sect—name registered, Dao title, lineage, formal rituals. Not something you could just hand out.

There were rules to it.

The Founder’s blessings weren’t doled out equally.

Uncle Crooked Mouth wanted to fight for Lu Ding to receive more.

But his current strength wasn’t back yet—he couldn’t fight for sh*t.

Anxious, he scratched his head in frustration.

He didn’t know that Lu Ding was already permanently One with Heaven and Man.

The Founder was practically fuming with impatience.

Come on already!!!

Just give it to him!

Get the kid in first!!!

The Founder was panicking. And so was the crooked-mouthed old man.

In his heart, he cursed whoever dug up his corpse.

You really deserve to die!!

If my corpse hadn’t been dug up, I wouldn’t have gone to divine it.

If I hadn’t divined, I wouldn’t have gotten injured.

If I hadn’t gotten injured...

Well, honestly, I probably wouldn’t have noticed Lu Ding either.

The old man kept calculating—until he calculated himself into depression.

So wait—this whole path to recognizing Lu Ding as his successor...

Started with that corpse-digger?

This...

“No, no, no no no, this is wrong... can’t think of it like that...”

Lu Ding blinked at the old man, confused. “Uncle?”

“Wrong.”

“Uncle?”

“WRONG!!”

“You okay?”

“Definitely wrong!!”

Lu Ding sighed.

Great—looks like the damage wasn’t just physical. Might be some mental scarring too.

He glanced at the time.

Almost time to head back to 749 Bureau to divide up the merits.

He stood up. “Rest well, don’t wander off. I’ll come back to visit after I finish up. Here’s a phone I got for you—I'll have the housekeeper teach you how to use it later.”

“My WeChat is already saved in there. If you need anything, send me a message, alright?”

As Lu Ding spoke, he turned to leave.

A voice came from behind: “Eh, got it!”

Lu Ding: …...

...

Back at 749.

Lu Ding’s battlefield report came out first.

Normally, major contributions were the last to be finalized.

But Lu Ding’s situation was special—

He still had a lot to do.

Plus, the Scouting Winds, Slaying Dragons trainees from the training center had been out for a while.

Not much time left.

So the higher-ups fast-tracked his results.

Reward breakdown:

First, reporting and confirming intelligence on Huokang Village and the Tianli Cult—500 points.

That was just for verifying accurate info and preventing greater fallout.

Second, his command role and field reconnaissance in Huokang Village—200 points combined.

Third, the elimination of Huokang’s leader Feng Shang—1,000 points, since Feng Shang was in the Earth Observer Realm.

Fourth, thanks to Lu Ding’s tip-off, two Tianli Cult Deputy Leaders were captured.

(Though Lu Ding wasn’t involved in the fight led by Deputy Director Chu.)

He also dealt heavy damage to the cult’s elite forces.

Then there was the elimination of Fireball Children, the perpetrator behind the Broken Bridge Pier explosion.

Plus the reward for submitting new techniques.

All totaled: 2,000 contribution points.

Grand total: 3,700 contribution points.

A huge haul for Lu Ding.

Minus 200 spent on potions earlier—

Leaves 3,500.

Plenty. More than enough!

With these points, Lu Ding could squeeze in one last power boost before the Monster Room Trials kicked off.

Foreign geniuses—prepare for disaster.

Looking at the report and the reward summary—

Lu Ding was grinning ear to ear.

He wasn’t some emotionless elite—he couldn’t help it.

At his core, Lu Ding was still a regular guy.

And regular people live like people—smile when it’s time to smile, get mad when it’s time to get mad.

All of this was earned with his own effort.

Bai Hemen, watching from the side, had eyes so red with envy they practically glowed.

He didn’t say a word—just stared, dead on.

Creepy as hell.

Lu Ding turned to meet his gaze. “Don’t look at me like that. I told you not to drink so much. You didn’t listen. You insisted on doing poetry duels.”

Bai Hemen tilted his head, then said,

“I was misled by alcohol. From this day forth—I quit drinking!!”

Lu Ding had heard that one before.

Still, of course he wasn’t gonna leave Bai Hemen out.

They were brothers-in-arms.

He couldn’t eat the meat and not let Bai Hemen have the soup.

Lu Ding tapped away at his phone for a moment, then said—

“The Bureau’s found some hidden Taishui Mine sites linked to the Tianli Cult. They need people to destroy them. I grabbed one of the slots ahead of time.”

“But with all these contribution points, I’ve gotta focus on boosting my strength. Time’s tight. Sigh—guess I can’t go...”

Bai Hemen immediately shot up a hand: “I’ll go!!!”

Missed the appetizers last night—

No way he was missing the leftovers today.

“The task details are on your phone now. Just don’t smash the mine cores—they need to be returned intact.”

“If you find any extracted Taishui Ore, bring that back too. It’s valuable.”

If they didn’t recover Wild-Haired One and Hanging Guest,

Lu Ding wouldn’t be able to complete the set.

He wasn’t letting that go.

Used to be a two-for-one combo.

Now that a four-piece set was within reach—Lu Ding was definitely going to see what the hell that was all about.